oh my god! I think I'm going to start balling! I was working on my Ginny picture. You know, shading and coloring and outlining it. And I've been working on it for several HOURS, I mean like close to FOUR HOURS on it, and then........................ A warning pops up on the screen saying "This program performed an illegal operation and will be closed." so I'm freaking out, because I haven't saved it yet, and it won't let me save it, so when I hit "ok" it closed the program and my entire drawing along with it. It was looking great, I had nice shading and detail in the eyes and hair, and I was ALMOST DONE with it! What am I going to do??? I guess I have no choice but to start again, and just save every 10 minutes or so. Oh god, this is almost as bad as losing my photographs!

Dangit- I lost my post from earlier. My computer froze up and I had to shut down. OK- sooooo let's see.

Leslie- Your dinner sounded great, even if it wasn't sensible. Email him- it couldn't hurt! (Yeah, I know, this coming from me who has *no* idea of what to say to Todd to get a signed pic). You're witty enough, I'm sure you could say something that would get him to do it! Can you also send one to Todd for me.....LOL! I'm lacking wit lately ;-p LMAO- you're right- what's up with the tan suit???? Your hubby is such a romantic *sweetie*! You're a lucky gal!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* GROUP HUG ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jen- I think you stole the dream I was supposed to have last night- LMAO! I thought for sure that I'd dream something *REALLY* good about him, but it didn't happen. Guess I need to see more of the jeans segment! Glad you're having good dreams though! You deserve them! ;-D I just could not imagine being subjected to all those food ads and *not* screaming in frustration. I hope the staple removal goes well and that it does bring relief- I would imagine that they must itch like *crazy* too as well as cause some pain. *DO* let us know how it goes tomorrow!

OK- this is weird- at home I have the split blog. Not sure why it's this way at home and the other way at work. This one's easier to do at work since it's not so obvious. OK- 4 trips to the PO today & *nada*. I'm *really really really* hoping for tomorrow......I think I'm the last one here to get mine *cries* ;*(
I guess my being able to see him in jeans last night was my consolation prize- LOL! I'm soooo bummed. I really hope it's there tomorrow, otherwise it's gonna be up to me to email him a *third* time for it (or Sherry can ask for me when she requests hers- lol!).....I don't know if I can do that. *WAILS* Prolly doesn't help that my PO tends to be slower than molasses too. Come to think of it, I've got a couple of packages that haven't shown up yet that should have...grrrr....

Jan- YAY JAN! You got it!! That's *got* to be a good sign for me! At least he varied on what he said! Didn't ya just love Leslie's images too? Those were too good! I was afraid someone at work was going to ask me why I was smiling so big- LOL! I *do* like the name LevenGals too......even though we have a lot of fancies here.

I thought that it would be a total repeat of Rick on last night- it started off about the same that I remember until I see him walking on the grass and then I was like "holy cow, this *isn't* the same!" Good thing I had insomnia, otherwise I would've surely missed it. Gals, that's about the one thing that's kept me going today! At least I got more done- but I still have a lot to go.

Jayel- you have me very curious! I'm wondering if we're on the same page with our suspicions.....there was something really strange that happened on another message board thing (it was a Tori Amos related site, but it seemed to run very much like us- every now & then- particularly when a new album or tour was happening they'd post about Tori, otherwise just about whatever else was going on. I've always read more than I posted there & they tended to be waaaay too liberal for me, so it kinda turned me off. Anyway, this guy started a flame war and the weird thing is, that either he or one of his friends was sending posts in as someone else. It was really creepy, cause it was a different email address & I *think* IP, but it was from his house- I dunno- it was weird. They ended up banishing him from the list. You know, at the B & N here they have these little mini kit things (there's slinky, magnetic sculpture, take out, bansai, etc.)- they have a voodoo one....hmmm..... ;-)

Jen- Wow, I just *can't* imagine getting to only have that.....1 1/2 tsp of mac n'cheese??? You poor girl!! I'll bet that stuff gives you odd dreams- LOL! Just be careful- I've heard how addicting those kinds of meds can be. I'm sure you'll prolly need 'em for at least the first week or two though. You take care! Just remember that you're getting better, not worse- it may be slow, but it's always going to be improving no matter how slow it seems to go.

Melissa- Yeah- Tobin doesn't do much for me. I'm so picky that even if I admit that the other guys *are* good looking, that the only two that *really* get my attention at the moment are Rick & Todd. LOL I use IE at work- but I'm not sure what version I'm on there. Your sketch looks great!! WHEN I *finally* get my Rick pic, I'll scan it and send it to you as well. Maybe we could have a space for our signed stuff? I have some other things to scan, so I'll do them all at once. I also need to get that thing hooked up through the USB of my computer instead of the serial port- the latter is MUCH slower than the former from what I understand. I have *no* earthly idea why I did it that way.

Denise- congrats on being the Maid of Honor! That old saying "always a bridesmaid & never the bride" has always been "always the bride & never the bridesmaid" for me- LOL

Sherry- congrats on the last day- that must've been sooooo liberating! I dream about that feeling- it would be so great to do that, but eventually the reality of less money would slap me in the face. I'm so happy for you! What happened with the girl sleeping under her desk on Saturday? Did you get to find out before you left? LOL- Yeah, I figured for sure that I was on a roll with seeing Rick late last night, Todd early this morning- it should just follow that the pic would arrive- but I think this week's just going to be *a lot* better than last week. I'm actually ready for June to be over- it's been a rough one. Here's a thought- can you imagine if there was a hurricane Rick? Todd? Shepard? Greg? Adam? this year or next- LOL! Hurricane Bill makes me think that someone really PO'd Bill O'Reilly so he's coming at them.....

I think tomorow when I go to the PO, I'm going to yell through my box, "HEY!! ANYONE BACK THERE?!?!?! GIVE ME MY PICTURE!" LOL I'm goofy but really bummed- what a strange combo! Something funny about the mail.....it took a week for my sister's birthday card to get to her (from San Francisco to San Diego- I could've walked it there faster). So- who knows. I'm really hoping for tomorrow- at *least* before the 4th- I don't want to go through another long weekend of suspense again (my first response from him was the Friday before Memorial Day). Hey did you see my city on Fox Report tonight? That's always weird to see it on Fox- it's like, Hey, that's here! LOL Apparently CA is 40 Bil in the red. Gee- wonder why? (Ok- starting to get cynical- sorry!) The bad thing is that Kevin works for the City & County of San Francisco, which I'm sure is closely tied to the state budget. I don't think his job's in jeopardy, but they're already making cut backs other ways.

OK- since Rick's been slow on his sending his pic- I need you gals' help. I *know* I should know what to say to request a signed Todd pic, but......I have *no idea what* to say. Any suggestions???? I'd totally ROFLMAO if Todd sent one in a fraction of the time as Rick....(Rick, if you ever read this- sorry, but I have the patience of a 3 year old. *NONE*- LOL!)

Hey girls. I didn't see Rick at all today, but I was channel surfing a lot. I did see Jeff Goldblatt though! *yummm* He was looking mighty handsome! And Mike Tobin was on a lot, but I just don't care for him that much. I'm fine if I'm listening to him from another room, but if I look at him it's all over, I mean the man looks like he got punched in the nose one too many times. And his nose distracts me from the report. Well that and the fact that his head is much too small for his "bulked up" body. LOL I don't like "bulky" men anyways. I'm so mean I should be nice. So I'll just shut up about that. :) Seems that Greg Palkat (sp?) is reporting from Israel again, maybe him and Greg K. switch back and forth.

Jan - don't worry about that rude poster, I don't think she's here. We would know I'm sure. I'm sure we've said enough things that would spur her to retort to our silly banter.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I'll keep the blog just for us from now until whenever I feel like adding more people. And I'll make a message board for the site so the "unwashed masses" can use it. :)

Nat - it may be just your computer at work. Do you use Internet Exploer or Netscape as your browser, or something else? Plus if it's not a recent version of either of those browsers, then it may not be able to know that it's supposed to be a split screen. Well let's hope that your pic comes tomorrow. Denise and Lynne, how long ago did you request your pictures? That might make a difference too.

Lelise - So glad you're back! I was begining to worry. I'm a worry wort. Hope the girls are doing fine, lord knows you're keeping them well fed! Can I come live with you, and you cook for me? LOL

I spent an hour and 1/2 working on a sketch today. It looks ok, but I'm going to try to color, outline and shade it on my computer now, but here's what I have so far. It's my version of Ginny Weasly from the Harry Potter books. :)

What do you guys think? Well I'm going to try and color it now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Dangit, dangit, dangit! 3 trips to the PO & *still* no photo! I guess I'm getting my exercise, though- it's 6 blocks round trip from my office & takes me 10 minutes total each time (I walk very fast- I'm one of *those* people- lol! I don't know the meaning of walking slow....) Argh. One more trip today & then I'll have to wait till tomorrow!

Yay Lynne! LOL- how can you *forget* something like that? Just kidding! I'm hoping that yours and Denise's arrived Saturday since you're closer....but that doesn't explain why Jan didn't get hers then too. Jan- any luck today?? Maybe he mailed out part of them and the rest are there on his desk till he gets back from vacation (assuming that's why he's been AWOL from Fox in the last week).

Melissa- I'm for keeping the blog for ourselves too- I've really gotten accustomed to our demented little family here! I'm quite fond of our little blog. Depending what's easiest/works out best, I'd also say have a "message board for the unwashed masses" as Leslie called 'em- LOL! Definitely a big huge *THANK YOU* for all the hard work you've done on these!! :-D I was seeing a divided screen, but not anymore. Then again, as crazy as Friday was, it may have been like this on Friday too- maybe it's the way it is at work, and at home I have the divided screen.....I'm not sure. Then again, I'm not sure what I did to change it to the divided screen; if I did, I did it by chance- LOL! Not to rub it in, but girl, he looked *AWESOME*.........I think my eyes popped out. Come to think of it, Todd looked good this morning, too- LOL. Lately when I've gone to B & N or B. Dalton (which seems to have the chick-lits better displayed) I've been drawn to the chick-lits. It tends to vary, but usually I'm buying more fiction than non.

Leslie! Glad to see you back! Congrats on your upcoming 10th anniversary!! Yay! I'm sure you guys will have a great time in Amarillo! I grinned from ear to ear about the "special pictures" especially after seeing that boy in jeans last night.....*way* too active imagination. Stuffed manicotti......I'll be on the next flight out.

OK- gotta finish wolfing (sp??) down lunch so I can go train Samantha on cancellations (we have to do about 20 before tomorrow afternoon). I'll check in later- prolly tonight. Any Rick or (any other) Todd sightings today? (Those of you who are Fox-accessible. BTW.....Work has eaten my brain- please forgive any mangled words or phrases here- lol.
Later!

Gah! I was in the middle of typing a long post and my computer decides to freeze up!

Nat - you're not seeing a divided screen? I do. How about the rest of you? I'll try and figure out why that's happening for you though. Maybe I can log in under your username and try and figure out why it's doing it with you. Well you know if worse comes to worse we'll only have to deal with blogger for a while longer. Oh crap! I missed Rick in JEANS?!?! *cries* I completely forgot about Fox Magazine!!

Denise - You know I don't know if the new "blog" has spell check or not. I haven't set it up, and it's really really complicated. *fowns* I may just have to pay to have someone set it up. I'll figure something out though.

As for blog VS. message board. Well a message board is like what they use over at the MSN or Yahoo Groups. Where someone posts a message with just the "topic" and then you have to click on the topic to read it. I prefer a blog as well, I like being able to directly talk with you all. But I was thinking maybe for the Rick site I should set up a message board for other fans, and maybe all of us, can just keep this blog for ourselves. Maybe we should change our names too, 'cause you know I'm pretty sure more than 1/2 of us prefer Greg over Rick, and we talk about more than just Rick. So maybe we should just be our own little Group. I could still put a link of the Rick page so people can still come read, but if they want to post they'll just have to use the "comments" or join the message board instead. I dunno. Maybe I won't have a message board at all. It's just an idea I've been throwing around. Though if I think about it, I probably wouldn't have time to maintain a message board.

I really do hope that the guys have been randomly working on voice overs for a ward coverage DVD. FOX need to get off their rears and put one together. Though maybe it's taking them longer since they have SO MUCH great coveage!! :)

Sherry - sounds like you had fun camping! You know it's funny because I live in a small town called Raytown here in MO, just thought it was funny that they have very similar names, but we dont have a lake. :(

Jen - I feel your pain girly. Like, last week when I was craving chocolate SO bad, and I can't have it 'cause I'm on my diet. I know it's not the same, but it'll get better as time goes on. Hope you didn't laugh too hard making your stomach hurt. :)

"I'm going to Barnes and Noble later on, hopefully I won't buy too much." -- HUH! What was *I* thinking?! I should know better than to go there on a boring rainy day, especially when I'm sleep deprived. I spent $75, well my mom actually gave me $20 when I got home so I guess I only *spent* $55. I got my mom the new (but actually old) *Oprah Book* "East of Eden" by John Stienback, so she gave me money for that. I also decided to get B&N's Readers Advantage Card, so that's $25 a year. And then I got a couple illustrating and cartooning books. I used to be really good when I was a kid at drawing cartoon figures, especially the disney characters. So, I figure I'd try my hand at getting better. I figure it'd give me something to do on a rainy day, or a day like today when I have no car, instead of surfing the net all afternoon, buying things I don't need. :) Maybe I'll scan and post something if I get something half way decent drawn. :)

That's weird- the blog looks like it did after they did the update (no divided screen to see the posts as you type). Is there something I'm missing here (like something I need to click) or is it Blogger itself? PU- so far nada this morning (so it didn't get here Saturday.....but I think they're still working on today's mail, and not only that they seem to be slow (as mentioned before) a lot of the time. Hopefully today or tomorrow. I *have* sorta had a streak of luck in the last 12 hours (except for sleep- only got 4 hours). Did ya'll catch the Fox Magazine last night? Rick was on about the suicide of the PA miners rescuer....which I thought had aired before....but this time was different. Unless I completely missed it last time, in this airing, he was walking through the area (presumably) where the mining accident took place. And he was wearing jeans. Dark jeans. With a pale blue shirt. OMG. This was around 11:45 PM my time- prolly why I couldn't sleep- LOL! And then this morning, Todd's been on Fox & Friends and then Fox News Live reporting from CT about Katherine Hepburn's death. I'm sure he'll be on a lot today about that, but at least I got to see him twice. I had a hard time waking up this morning, but *THAT* got me going- I was *wide* awake then!
:-D MmmmHmmmm...... OK- I just wanted to post that stuff really quick- I'm going to have to catch up reading during lunch today. I have a million things to do- including putting my contacts in so I can see! LOL (So pardon any mistypes here- LOL).
Later!

How sad- they're just reporting that Katherine Hepburn died today- she was 96. I didn't think she was that old, but wow.

Sherry- glad your camping trip went well! Thanks for the prayers! ;-) At least Denise getting hers is a good sign!

Melissa- girl, it sounds like you've been *BUSY*!! I kinda like the blog format- I guess I'm used to it. I haven't used a message board before so I'm not sure what the differences/similarities would be. I like that we can post and then respond to other's posts (like I am now & also the 'comments' option). I think you'd prolly be able to do the comments thing, since that came from another website & wasn't provided by blogger. The way we have it now makes me think of it as a sort of time delayed IM- LOL! You know what bookstore gets me *every* time? Borders. I can't go in there & leave w/o buying something. I hope you're right- I hope there's a nice manilla-like folder there from Rick/Fox! I'm going to have to remeber to use the idea you had- pretend to look for something under the desk when I have tears of frustration. I usually just sit there trying to hide the tears which is not easy since I sit on the walkway- everyone sees me.

Jayel- I'm with you & Jan about the video/dvd option. I would think that now that CNN is doing it that Fox would follow suit. Good idea about contacting Richard O'Brien the same way.....this could work. The only tricky part would be the apostrophe- I have the same dilemma with my last name- O'Neill. My work address uses the apostrophe, in fact it MUST HAVE the apostrophe or it won't go through. There have been other sites where I have to put my home email address because I can't use the work one- wouldn't allow the apostrophe. Gotta be one way or the other though- either Richard.O'Brien@foxnews.com or Richard.OBrien@foxnews.com. If I think of something creative I'll share it here and email it (Work has kinda sapped the creative juices lately- with the exception (strangely enough) of my story idea....).

Speaking of work, I brought some stuff home to work on today- I have no other way of hoping to catch up unless I do that. I know, I know......bad girl.

I'll check in sporadically today- gotta get these apps finished & then start dinner around 3:30- Mexican Casserole.

Morning ladies! I've been up all night so I'm on like this delusional insomnia high. "When you have insomnia, nothings real. Everything is far away. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy." (from Fight Club)

I've been pouring my sweat and tears over making a new layout for my new personal domain and I've still got ZIP. However I *DID* get www.Rick-Leventhal.com registered and working! Hopefully I'll be able to build the new site for him soon. =) Lemme ask you this, would you all rather have a blog, or something more along the lines of a message board on the new site? Let me know, so I can set it up.

Well I'm hungry, so I think I'll go eat some breakfast, and then I'm going to Barnes and Noble later on, hopefully I won't buy too much.

Jan and Nat I hope you are surprised with a nice gift in you mailboxes on Monday! :)

Oh, and whoever said their co-worker was sleeping under the desk.....OMG I just can't believe it! I mean sure there's probably been a time when we've all though it, but never in my wildest dreams did I think someone would actually do it. The worst I've done is pretend to be looking for something I *dropped* under my desk when I can no longer hold back tears of frustration. Wow, it's kind of funny though. You should've got a picture, it would have been hilarious! Hope she gets fired, I mean crap if you're THAT tired, call in sick. Well talk to you all later.

Jan- Bummer! I was *really* hoping you would have received yours today! Monday....maybe Monday.....LMAO, did he capitalize! It was another warm day here- around 85+ today. Better than it was, but I'd like to see it around 75. The nights are cooler, at least! It's 67 now- much easier to sleep in than 87! Speaking of books......I just combined & have been editing some of my stories- on MS Word, it's about 72 pages right now. Ouch. I've never edited anything that big before- I think this is going to be a long but fun project. That's not even all of my stories- just about half of them. You know, I still have yet to read a book and put different images for the lead characters- of course, I'm still working on the book that I have as my "currently reading" on my favorites page on my site. Oh well! One of these days! I tend to read 3 different books at once (I think this came up before too.....) and I'm able to keep them straight, no problem. That sounds like an interesting series! I'm going to have to take note of those. I know what you're saying about Anthony Michael Hall- I can't believe how different he looks now! I always think of him as the geek in 16 Candles (one of my favorite movies). LOL about the RWS- that's why it takes me so long to get through books- I'm always thinking I'm going to read it wrong if I read too fast; I might miss something.

Jen- Sorry food commercials keep finding you! Like Jan said, think of all that stuff as the pot of gold you'll find at the end of the rainbow. Sounds like you're doing a lot better than before - that's great that you're up walking! You *go* girl!

LOL- I had intentions of getting the cleaning done first before I came back to the computer, but just haven't been able to resist checking in (and downloading some Tori Amos songs). Denise- ah, OK- that's right (sorry I have severe brain fade sometimes!) - so Jan should also hopefully be receiving hers today too since she's in the midwest as well. Actually we get our mail at the PO box in SF (we're in San Rafael) since it's more convenient to get to from where I work. Fortunately it's been convenient to reach from both jobs I've had since we've had it. Sure gives me incentive to go in though! Plus I don't think the hubby would like to see that I got something from Rick- LOL! I'm always the one to go check since it's more convenient for me, unless I run out of time or if I stay home - then he goes to check. Do any of you watch "Monk" on USA on Friday nights? The one last night was good- he puts this letter in the box & actually sticks around to make sure the mailman gets it. My hubby laughed and said something about me being like that. Yeah, I'm a little mail intensive- I'm always concerned that something will be lost or I won't receive something (gee- wonder what that "something" is- LOL!). Actually when you consider how much mail goes through the system, it's a wonder we get what we do. What he wrote was short & sweet! (Although, as it's fairly short- makes you wonder why it took so long, huh!) We'll see what he puts on Jan's & mine- prolly the same- I'm sure they all have a similar way of signing- short and to the point. How exciting!! I just bet you're floating on air today! Are you going to put a copy up at work? I'm thinking about it.....I've got a blank space of wall that I cleared out about three weeks ago.....
OK- back to work. ;-p

Denise! I'm so excited for you!!! But.....*wails* WHERE'S MINE????? Oh, I really really hope so!!!! Oh, good Lord, it's going to be forever till Monday! LOL! I've *NEVER* so looked forward to MONDAY! *hoping hoping hoping* it's there.......please? Pretty please? With a ......oh nevermind- I won't go there! So, what did he say on it???? You're holding out on us! ;-D LOL- I've *joked* about curling up under my desk to hide/sleep but I'd never *actually do* it. Hopefully she gets what she deserves.... but I know what you mean. My saying is, if someone can get caught, I will be the one that gets it- so that's why I tend to play by the rules and not stray more than an inch from 'em. And I'm a *horrible* liar, so I couldn't do any better than dig deeper if I did get caught doing something I shouldn't- LOL Thanks for the condolences- wow, I'd find that really creepy if I dreamed of someone being pregnant and then there was a death- that's heavy symbolism!

Oh, gosh, I'm sooooo excited now- I hope he mailed all of us LevenGals who are waiting for pics our copies too! WOO HOO!!!! :-D

Jan- any luck????? OK- I know if you got yours too, then mine's gotta be there either Monday or Tuesday- (Denise- if I remember correctly, you're on the East Coast, so it would make sense that you'd get yours fairly close to the postmarked date).

Melissa- Yeah- I *love* "Life in Mono" There is just something so great about that song- the music, the words- awesome. LOL- I have one of those fat mead books too- I usually use it for a food/pts journal (Weight Watchers)-which I haven't lately- but the other day I scribbled down some ideas that were just springing to my mind. I'd do a tape recorder, but I can't stand the sound of my voice- LOL! I've been told though that you get used to the sound of your voice and that it is also an excellent tool. BTW- the Cristy Lane ad's on again- I think of you every time they play it-LOL! Remember how much they were playing it when the war was really going strong? OK- back to the tape thing- yeah, I could see how that would work too for your photography. I know what you mean about trying to get the perfect picture. There have been so many times where I see the light hitting something in such a way that I want to capture it and when I see the photo later, it's just not the same. That's gotta be one of your greatest pet peaves I bet, 'cause you're trying to capture a specfic moment. One ever so slight change (of light, etc) changes the whole feeling of the picture and it's just not the same. That would drive me crazy as a photographer- I'm such a visual person that it would be extremely (very) important to me- LOL. Oh, good Lord- that dream sequence- I could *totally* see that.....mmmmmm..... you know, I've always said that if I wrote a trashy romance novel I'm going to have to use a pseudonym- LOL I *loved* "Where the Heart Is"- great book (I've only seen bits of the movie- but I almost always think the book's better- I'm a detail person & movies always leave out a lot of them). I have "White Oleander", but haven't read it yet. "Losing Julia" sounds familiar....but can't place it. I remember "A Wrinkle in Time" but haven't read it- I'm going to have to check these out one of these days. Yeah, unfortunately there's *way* too many people out there lacking common sense. Hope you have fun babysitting! :-D

Well, I thought I'd check in before I did the cleaning & stuff. Also trying to get the contacts to gel and it helps when I'm doing something (like posting/reading the blog) while they gel. With my allergies, they tend to burn my eyes for the first 10 minutes. Yeah, yeah, I know- I need to get into the eye doctor. I know it's prolly 'cause my eyes are dry *note to self- need to use eye drops*- LOL I hope today is at least a Todd day- I know he tends to pop up sometimes on the weekends every so often. OH YEAH! Rick's going to be on Fox Magazine tomorrow night - you can check it out here. I think it's a repeat clip though from when he was on a couple of weeks ago reporting about the suicide of the guy who helped save the PA miners. OK- gotta get to work- LOTS of laundry to do & cleaning up. I'll check in later...

Leslie, where are you????? I hope everything's OK!!

Nat - I've never heard the "Great Expectations" whole soundtrack, but I ADORE "Life in Mono" by Mono, that is like one of my absolute favorite songs! And dont even get me started on Mouling Rouge. I think I must've seen that movie a dozen times at the theater (for free though, 'cause I used to work there.) I'm sorry to hear about your old friend. That's so sad! You know what I do to not let myself forget things? I carry around a small "fat mead notebook" in my purse with a pen, and I also carry around a small handheld tape recorder. I record on it when I get ideas while I'm driving in the car. I think I'm going to start using it for my photography too, so I can remember what settings I used for a certain picture.

Denise- yeah I LOVE the idea of being Rick's personal portrait photographer. =) I can see it now.............*blurry dream sequence* "Now Rick I want you to turn to the side, for a nice profile shot. Ok now look up here -- yeah right into my eyes. Now give me that lovely smile. GREAT, now we need a casual picture. Ok go ahead and take off that tie, and change into something a little more comfortable...." Ok I'll stop now before I go overboard and it starts turning into one of those trashy romance novel type things. LOL

JEN! Wow I can't believe you're posting already. Sounds like you're doing pretty good. I hope you're feeling ok, those staples don't sound like fun at all. Maybe now you can get your Greg fix while at home =)

Me choose books? Hmmmmmm, let me think. *going to look at what books I have LOL* Ok, let's see.. "Losing Julia" by Jonathan Hull was good from what I've read so far. I never got to finish it, because I started reading something else and packed it away before we moved in Nov. of 2001. I just recently found it about 3 months ago, but I plan to finish it soon. I also liked "A Walk to Remember" by Nicholas Sparks, it's a very easy read and it's a really touching story (MUCH better than the movie, though I liked the movie too.) And when I was in Jr. High I LOVED the book "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeleine L'Engle, people might think it's a *kids* book, but it's really really good, like the Harry Potter books, it's enjoyable to just about anyone who's willing to give it a chance. And speaking of *Oprah Books* I fell in LOVE with "Where the Heart Is" by Billie Letts. It was the first Oprah book I read. I also like another Oprah book called "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch.

I'm starting to get really irritated with my job too. I just can't believe sometimes how ignorant, naive, and just plain stupid some people are. I hope you all start having a better time at your jobs. =) Or possibly find happiness in something else. =)

Oh yeah one more thing. If your post, posts again by itself, you can always edit it. On the bottom 1/2 of the screen in blogger where it shows like the 5 most recent posts, you can click "edit" next to your name on your post. You can also make it change how many posts are being shown in the bottom 1/2. On the right hand colum it says "Show ______ items" you can change it to show up to 50 posts at one time. Hope this helps. =)

Well I have to baby sit tomorrow night, so I probably won't post until late. Talk to you all later.

Jan- LOL- we're on the same page! We watched "One Fine Day" last night & of course George Clooney's in it- and who did someone here (and my hubby) compare to George Clooney? Todd Connor- plus George plays a reporter- so there ya go. LOL! Thanks for the condolences (sp? it's late & I'm tired)- I know I shouldn't feel guilty. It's times like this where you just think "wow, I really need to contact people before it's too late"- it just smacks you right in the face. I'm glad to hear that you won't have that guy telling you (in extreme detail) about his life anymore! I could use that many vacation days too- I have 5 left that I haven't planned. Do you think we'll ever get our pics???? This is becoming excrusciating (sp? again- late, fading fast). LOL!

OK- I'm almost falling asleep here while I'm typing- hubby's already snoring- argh. Chat with ya'll tomorrow!

Hey! I like this muuuuuch better!! :-D

Jen!! You're writing! You sound like you're doing good- I'm glad you're on your way to recovery! :-D I couldn't imagine eating only what you listed- wow. I'm so glad to see you posting so soon after!

Denise- Unfortunately as bad yesterday was, today was worse. I'm having Merlot now, though and I'm home, so I'm better- LOL You sound like me - frustrated to tears- literally. I usually go out for a walk to the post office- still looking for that Rick pic. I really could have used it today. This is starting to remind me of waiting for that phone call from the cute boy in high school (a little wry humor attempt there). I'll keep ya updated on the book progression! I did a short screenplay in my first creative writing class- it felt weird, but it was fun. We explored three genres- poetry, short story, & screenplays. It's so strange in a way to look back at my old stuff- sometimes it's like where did *that* come from and other times, it's like *wow* I wrote that! I have a hard time sometimes with endings- I always like things clear in the ends- no guessing. At the same time, it doesn't leave anything for the imagination to ponder. Oh yeah, I've thought of things and thought, "oh, I'll remember later- I'll write it down then"- 9 times out of 10 I forget and I could just slap myself silly. This time I wrote it down ;-) Usually it's when I'm at work, sometimes at night from a dream. Girl, I know what you mean about taking days off- last year we had flex days- I had every other Weds. off and each & everytime, I would check into the webmail (work email access from home) and reply- pretty sad! I would do that occasionally when I was sick too. In boxes are heinous- I often want to take a match to mine- LOL! Hey, I keep offering to bring the marshmallows for the bonfire, but no one's taken me up on the offer as of yet..... I think you're right about it being prevalent in most companies- that's also why I choose to stay- at least I'm used to what goes on where I am now, and I'm almost 1/2 vested in the 401k. It's just too hard starting over again too & learning new stuff. Oh yeah- and remember the girl that I was kinda mad (well, ok - REALLY mad) at yesterday? She was nice to me today and apologized. I feel kinda guilty 'cause I think she's in sort of the same position I am - just very overwhelmed and really having to start saying 'no' to people. But still, I don't know. I hate being caught in the middle. It's funny that you mention the humor factor on Fox- my hubby was just saying tonight how he thought that's the reason why they're doing so great. Dennis Miller was great on H & C- I was ROFLMAO! God knows I needed some humor today.

I second Melissa's choice of books- you have great taste, girl!

There was just this one account that's a huge problem - it's not even mine, and I was stuck having to rate it with the actual premium for 2002 & the estimates for 2003. Our system is a pain and there's this lovely CIGA charge that California now requires that we collect on 2003 premium....it was just a mess. I worked on the same acct. all day long and I kept having people come up to me with rushes (7-1 is a real nightmare in our business anyway- there's so many med students finishing residency & they're applying at hospitals so they need everything fast so they can be credentialed). I really don't want to be a bitch to people, but it's getting hard there. I think the main problem is that I'm too much of a "yes" person. I need to say no and put my foot down more. To make matters worse, right when I was breaking down again (i.e., crying) for the 2nd time about this mess of an account, my hubby calls & said that he found out a good friend of ours (one of his co-workers from cable cars- he actually introduced us in a way) had died and the funeral mass was this morning, and he only found out this afternoon. It was a huge blow, and it was just so awful, 'cause we kept saying that we should get in touch with him (he retired in 98 or so) and didn't. The last time I saw him, he'd given me a hug and as I walked away, I had the oddest feeling that it would be the last time I'd see him. I haven't ever shaken that feeling, and it really should have been enough motivation for us to keep in touch with him....I feel so guilty and just blah.

Denise & Jan- your VCR/TV stories are great! I remember that for a short while we had this rectangular box that had numbers & a slide tab that you moved to change the channel- it had a long cord so you could take it to the couch. I think it went up to 40 or something- MTV used to be 33. (I have *NO* idea how I remembered that......this is like 20 years ago- LMAO- talk about a strange selective memory- full of useless information! LOL). OK- now I have an unsettled feeling- so the three of us are waiting for pics now.....and we all emailed about a month ago. Well, I guess we know three of the ones buried there! Denise- I'm going to have to include you when I ask Jan about whether the pic arrived or not. I sent mine on May 22 I think, and then the follow up email on June 18th....which was almost a week & a half ago. I second your nomination to have Melissa take his picture!

Hey- one more thing that I meant to ask before & forgot. Have you all heard the soundtrack to "Great Expectations"? There's a couple on there I'm not crazy about but I love most of the CD- I've been listening to that a lot lately. Another (not too common artist) that's pretty good is Rufus Wainwright (his second CD "Poses" is better than his first, I think). He had a song on the "Shrek" soundtrack ("Hallelujah") and also on the "Moulon Rouge" soundtrack- that one escapes me right now, but it's also good. Both of these just kinda fit the mood I'm in- some of the inspiration I've gotten the last couple of days have come from the "Great Expectations" soundtrack songs.

Melissa- I'm *so* glad you heard from Jen & that she's doing fine. I'd just go *crazy* if I was in the hopital and didn't have Fox to watch- what a bummer. I just hope he sent the pic before he went on vacation (assuming he's on vacation).....I will keep ya'll posted on how the novel's coming. I'm going to work on it this weekend- I'm still fired up about it, so that's a great sign! I'll send excerpts at some point & you can give me your take. It truly is amazing how one seemingly minute thing can inspire something huge. I think I like the other blogger better- it was easier to send a post while I'm at work- this one is just too obvious- LOL

Happy hour was a lot of fun last night- I laughed like I haven't laughed in ages- where tears were coming out of my eyes, stomach hurt, & I couldn't breathe! It was *such* a release- a badly needed one at that! I just had a glass of Merlot & then left at 6:00; so, alas, I missed Todd on Fox Report. I think they tend to replay his reports on the weekend though, depending on what they are. I'll keep my eyes peeled tonight for him on FR (as I *should* get home in time to see at least half of it (I hope!) and then this weekend- apparently *he's* back from vacation. It sounds like I missed a *really* funny FR yesterday- sounds like Shep was in his element! It's supposed to be hot again today- I swear, the coolest I was yesterday was in the bus on the way home. It's 70-80 where I work- they claim they're having problems with the AC, it was 95 in SF yesterday & Kevin said when he went home that it was 100+ outside & 100 inside the boat. Maggie was fine- he said she was laying in the sun sometimes- crazy girl. I left the fans on today (hopefully it was a wise decision- I hate leaving things on like that when I leave). I think it was 85-90 again inside when we were going to sleep at 11:00. Another day or so and the fog should be coming in (aka natural AC).

Sherry- yeah, I'm sure we can commiserate with each other about job stuff- sounds like you have some of the same bad actors we have here. We have people who are 'repeat offenders' for going out on 'stress' leave- I feel for them, however what they don't realize is that someone has to pick up their slack and gee, that kinda stresses us out too. So in that way I lose a lot of sympathy towards them. I could have easily gone out a few times but chose not to- I just don't feel right about doing that to other people- but that's just me. It is really a shame that it's come down to that in offices where you can't let someone go because of their performance- even when they're lying- because everything is so PC now. It seems that the people who call in sick a lot don't get reprimanded, but then I knew someone who hardly even abused it and she got a lower review. I couldn't believe that when she told me- we both knew of others who really abused time off. So, yeah- I know *exactly* what you mean- I think it's prolly (unfortunately) common business practice today. I'm really glad you're getting to leave your job & going back to school- it will be a really nice break. I just have to make it 5.5 more years here- then Kevin will be retiring (early)- I'll be 100% vested in my 401k & as well as for the pension they offer. That's the only thing keeping me here. Have fun camping this weekend!! Hope you have *excellent* weather!!

OK- gotta get to work and do this thing that the other chick "didn't have time to do" - oh yeah- BTW....she didn't have time to help me out on this, but she had time to show up for happy hour last night- even if she only stayed like 45 minutes. Oh well! OK- let's keep our fingers crossed for a pic in the mail! (*How many times* have I said/ended with that- LMAO) Have a great FRIDAY everyone!! :-D

hmmmm, I'm not sure how much I like this new blogger, it's awful small. *wonders how to add new members now*

Jen called me just about 15 minutes ago. She's doing fine, and enjoying her protien shake *not!* And has the unjustice of NO Fox News at the hospital. She thinks she gets to come home tomorrow, but probably won't post until this weekend. I was relieved to hear from her, since I was a little worried last night.

Natalie - sorry to hear about your icky time at work, and no photo yet. If Rick is anything like me, then he'd forget his head if it weren't attached to him, even though it was right in front of him. LOL Hey you know what they say, "If it weren't for the last minute I'd never get anything done." I'm sure he's just procrastinating, or the people at the PO are. LOL Your book sounds awesome! You'll have to let us know how it's coming along, and if you get stuck you can always feel free to ask me for input. :) It's funny what little things can inspire such big things.

It's very awesome that FNC is beating CNN! And don't worry you two aren't the only butter knifes on the blog, consider me just about as dull as they come. :) I, like you, had never heard of Rick before the war. Oh well, now I have, and it's great knowing I can get reliable news from such a stud. :)

Well it's time for dinner and my tummy is grumbling at me, so I must do what it asks of me. LOL Talk to ya gals later. Oh yeah, and for all you all *roasting* in the sun, all I have to say is it was 70 degrees here today! =P

Jan- I just saw your post. I think I know that song- you're right- that's like us, huh! Looks like we were on the same wavelength with the picture email- LOL! I say give it another week or so maybe. You're right- he could have done it and then it's sitting there in the Fox mailroom. About the writing- you betcha! Everyone here will get advanced signed books! ;-) As long as I get it written and then published that is......LMAO about the stranger being the hot Jewish reporter.....hmmm....wonder if I could work that in......the thought has crossed my mind. Of course, I'd have to change some identifying stuff though.

Melissa- You've been quiet! I hope everything is OK! Have you heard from Jen yet?

Chat with ya'll manana.

Ok- before I reply, I have to vent a little- I'm even more inspired now to write that book after today. I *know* things will get better here at work, but there are a couple of folks who are just really pushing my buttons this week. I've had it with people who basically say "I don't care" and then complain about the outcome. I've had it with people who play the pity role all the time ("I'm just too overloaded with other emergency problems today....I do not have time to work on this today and frankly tomorrow either....I know that's not what you're hoping to hear but I just frankly have too many emergency things to do and too many meetings to be in....I certainly want to offer you my help but honestly I will be in this weekend as usual working"....yadda yadda yadda). It's the same thing all the time from this person and I'm just tired of being left hanging (and it's not only me that she does this to). It's just so irritating and I don't have patgience for her spoiled child-like attitude. OK- 'nuff said- *venting over*

Jayel- Gosh, I hope he's not on vacation this week- I still have *yet* to get that picture......I had a lot of mail today, but not from FOX....argh. You started watching Fox for the same reason I did- it was actually my hubby who got me on to it- betcha he wishes he hadn't now! LOL! I didn't take notice of the guys on there before either till the war started. I guess I'm the other not so sharp knife in the drawer ;-) Great news about Fox toppling CNN- Fox & Friends likes to take shots at them too- there was something a couple of months ago where they said "that other news network that starts with a "C" and ends in two "N"s" LMAO! I think we nicknamed CNN as the Communist News Network (although I'm sure that was coined by someone else before us). Rather appropriate considering the comment that you said that a CNN embed made about the Marines. Shame on him!

Well, we're sweating out the heatwave in the Bay Area. It's 95 here in SF which is way above normal- I feel like I'm back in AZ again. It's 100 at home (San Rafael)- yuck. I hope my kitty's OK! My hubby went home early today (snuck out) and I'm staying for happy hour but just for an hour since my last bus out of town leaves at 6:15. Hopefully I can find my way to the stop LOL- just kidding- I'm just having a glass of merlot. Leslie- I'll be sure to toast to you! ;-)
I prolly won't post again till tomorrow AM.

Jan- any luck with the mail today? You may want to start that email....LOL!

Holy cow, this looks so different! I liked it better when I could easily see what people have posted so I could respond.....can't do that anymore as far as I can tell, so I guess I'll be doing the split screen thing. I was so bummed that it wasn't available yesterday. I was in such a strange mood and now it's gone and it's hard to describe. It was a really crappy day at work, and I just had this feeling like I wanted to run away, and then I started thinking of story ideas and one thing was leading to another so I wrote down the basics in this notething I had in my purse. I think I'm just so tired, and when I get like that I start thinking on different levels (I'm sure ya'll know what I mean)- it was like a heightened sense of awareness and my mind was open to a lot. I had to take the bus (hubby took the day off so he could get some work done & also take Maggie to the vet for her check up) which was really funny (I told Sherry & Leslie I think) on IM last night. There was this guy who asked if I was waiting for the 32 and it was funny, 'cause off hand he kinda reminded me of Rick - but much younger. LOL I guess that's kinda what got my story idea too- the character is prolly going to be a Bridget Jones type- not flashy, not plain- just in the middle & having gone through lousy relationships where she's met guys everywhere but nothing seems to pan out. So when a stranger asks what time it is, etc- she doesn't take notice until this time, yadda yadda yadda. I don't want to spill too much- but I also got the idea of putting a few of my short stories together as chapters. I'm really stoked about this. I just really want to be excited about something and my job just doesn't do it for me. LOL- ya'll may be picking up *my* chick-lit book some day! Oh yeah- I had the strangest dream last night- I think I'll put it in my blog and you can check it out there- I feel funny posting it here at the moment- dunno why though. It wasn't dirty, just kinda weird- typical for my dreams.

Melissa- Have you heard from Jen yet? God, I hope she's doing well- I'm sure she is- she's a real trooper. That horoscope *was* similar huh! No pic yesterday either. Either it's still on his desk or the PO is losing my mail. We'll see today....unfortunately I have a 2 hr mtg this morning followed by a welcome lunch for my new sprvsr, and then happy hour at 5. Let's see- I guess I'll get about 2 hours of work in today- LOL It'll be another day of missing Fox Report- oh well-but the first drink is on the VP- hard to pass that up. I couldn't stand when everything was DOS- but you know, our system here at work used to be DOS based & it worked *better* than the crappy windows based one we have now- not as many issues (which require issue reports= more work). What book are you starting next?

Sherry, Jan & Leslie- it was fun chatting with ya'll on IM- challenging, but fun! It's supposed to be 95 here in San Francisco & 97 where I live. When I went to bed last night (at 11:00) it was 75 outside & 87 inside. I was melting. I had the fan on, but it's a small one and for all the noise it makes it just doesn't put out that much of a breeze. Oh yeah- and there was virtually no breeze outside- earthquake weather is what they call this here; it's an urban legend. The AC at work is dismal - they use the excuse that the "heat wave snuck up on them"- uh huh, right. Just get the darn thing fixed! LOL So......yeah, it's gonna be a hot one here today. I checked the temp in Austin & Phoenix where we have family and we were close to matching them yesterday. I'm going to try to check in to weather.com to see what the current stats are- I'm always curious about weather (so much so that I almost considered changing my major to meteorology in my first year at SFSU). Oh yeah- before I forget- someone had asked about where that list of stuff came from about the Pac Man, Pong, TVs with 13 channels, etc. It's something that Beloit College puts out every year now- you can find it here

OK- gotta get to work. Talk to ya'll later- have a good day! :-D

Sherry, I'm sorry about the blog. But that should be fixed here soon since I FINALLY got my debit card in the mail and will be buying and setting up a new site very soon and we won't have to use blogger anymore. :)

Nat - isn't that very similar to the horoscope you had yesterday? Hopefully it's right :)

My brother and I used to have those old tv's with only 13 channels and you had to turn the knobs. And I'll never forget when we first got a computer. heh heh, and all the programs had to be loaded in DOS with a REAL floppy disc. And I remember too when AT&T used to have commercials "for the future" with video phones and I would think "That's never gonna happen!" and I remember when AOL used to charge by the hour. And cell phones used to be as big as cordless phones. And let's not forget Super Mario 3 when you could FINALLY go backwards in a game. :) Ahhhh the memories.

Denise - sounds like you had a pretty good time at your concert! I was supposed to go to the Warped Tour concert yesterday, but with my friend being pissed at me we didn't go. Oh well, there were only a couple bands I wanted to see anyway.

I did the math this morning, and with the H.P. book being 870 pages and me reading it in 4 days (not counting the 1 page I read Friday night LOL), then I read an average of 217.5 pages a day. Not too bad especially when 3 of those days I was home and had nothing else to do But now I'm reading book #1. I only read 1/2 of it the first time then skipped to the second book since I had already seen the first movie. I have a feeling I may have missed some important details. And I have this horrible habit of trying to figure out a book and/or movie before it ends, and I LOVE it when I'm right. LOL It's really funny because when I read it I picture Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and basically everyone else the way the look in the movie, except Harry. I picture Harry like they draw him on the books. It's Very strange really.

Well luch is almost over and I'm gonna check my e-mail and read some. Talk to y'all later. :)

OK- here we go again with the horoscope: "Regardless of the weather, the day may have special appeal for you, especially this afternoon, when a sense of euphoria lightens your spirit." It's definitely going to be another *warm* day (it was 83 inside last night- ick) Maybe the sense of euphoria will be........

Sherry- I hate when I lose a blog post- it just never turns out the same..... Yeah- VCRs used to be pricey. I think getting the VCR was like getting a Microwave, very expensive then (and very cheap now), and it was a *huge* deal when we got each of them (microwave was back in 1980 or so). I felt like I was in the "in crowd" LOL Remember Pillsbury frozen microwave popcorn? You had to keep it in the freezer- I was just reminiscing about that the other day with my hubby. I remember the Hooters! Didn't the lead singer have something to do with Cyndi Lauper? I think he was in the "Time After Time" video. Ahhhhhhh......still agonizing for missing Todd- sounds like he was looking *good* yesterday. I need to get better at recognizing their voices- that'd prolly help, huh?

Denise- glad you had a great time at the concert! OH YEAH! I know the email you're talking about....I think I have the link saved at home for the university that does that every year- I'll have to look it up. OMG- a TV with 13 channels - we were like that till 1982- LOL- BETA TAPES- LMAO- I'd almost forgotten about those! Pong was great. Remember the Pac Man song that came out around that time? I don't remember how it goes though....you could prolly find it on WINMX or any of the other music downloading sites. The guy in front of you at the show had a good idea- I'm going to have to remember that next time I got to a show. It's like making your own concert shirt! That's funny what your family does- my dad's side of the family (me included) tend to run late to dinners & stuff- but my grandma is so well known for it that we always tell her a half hour earlier too. I've been wondering about Rick (or lack thereof) too- where *is* that boy! Not only that, but the picture hasn't shown up yet- I wonder if it's still sitting on his desk... ;-p And I agree with you about him being more attractive and more amusing to watch than you-know-who. Yeah! Check out those sites- check out the picture! If you didn't feel old before you will now- they look older and Roger looks a lot different to me than before. LMAO about Nick's makeup.... Amen to your comment about how we all gather here for a common interest and how we come from different ages, backgrounds & stuff- I think it's amazing and awesome too. I agree America *IS* grand! :-D

a h - I sort of liked the Cure, but I was always more into DD than them. I was really surprised they regrouped too- I never expected it to happen, and you're right- it was never the same after they split & added the new guys.

Melissa- I'm sorry you're feeling down! Hopefully today will be a better day. Wow, I *still* can't believe that you got through HP that fast!! I hope Jen's doing good too- definitely let us know if you hear from her, and tell her that we are all thinking of her. Know what you mean about hospitals- ick. I liked a bit of the early/mid 90's alternative stuff but not so much of the hard stuff though. There's current stuff I like now, but I find I'm kinda picky about it.

OK- later- gotta get to work. :-l

Ellen- Good to see you posting! It was me who likes Todd (as well as Rick)- I still can't believe I missed him today. Gotta start paying attention to the voices when that's all you can see/hear & when I come in on the middle of a segment.....

Jan- I thought about getting that video- lol- actually I was thinking about DVD....had all my favorites on there. Now *THAT* really brings me back to Christmas 1984- it was good & bad- I was in one of those "awakening" or epiphany stages you go through being a teenager, plus it was the first Christmas after my Grandpa died. Live Aid- I watched sooo much of that and if we had a VCR I would've taped it all. Can you believe, 1985, and when we wanted to watch videos, we rented a VCR??? We didn't get a VCR till later 1985- like around Christmas. That seems so late to me now. LOL- I'm going to have to check out TYO on DVD....good idea, thanks! :-D Sorry ShepHerders, but ROFLMAO about even imagining Shep with facial hair!! Never thought about that till you mentioned it- hehehe. Shep's *much* better cleanshaven.

OK- I'll check in with ya'll in the AM- gotta get settled in for bed (yeah, it's only 8:30 here, but I have to start early so I can wind down and be able to sleep).
Have a good one!

Hey girls. Guess I can't really relate to the 80's scene. In the late 80's when I was old enough to remember songs, my mother shelterd me with country music since she hated all that 80's pop. Oh well, I don't mind some of the 80's songs, but I'm more of an 90's gal since that was my jr. high and highschool time. =)

I got to the end of the book today, page 870. I read this morning on the way in to work, I read for about 1/2 an hour before I had to work, I read at lunch, and later in the afternoon when we were really slow. Then I read more on the way home, and read in the car while my mom stopped at the gocery store to pick up a couple things, and by the time we got to the driveway of our house I had exactly one page left. =) It was very bittersweet indeed.

I don't hardly ever read that fast, but I did it with the last HP book too, they just get so intense close to the end. J.K. definately knows how to build up the climax (which is usually closer to the end of the book rather than the middle) and she knows how to let ya down nice and easy. There were a LOT of questions answered in the book, and I'm happy for that. Any theory I had going in my head of what was going on in the story has been destroyed, so it's back to the drawing boards with my predictions. I really shouldn't read that much in such a short amount of time. It kind of puts me in this weird zone. I'm feeling paticularly sour today. It doesn't help that my best freind is mad at me because I can't afford to go a road trip we were supposed to go on over 4th July. But it's hard to go on a road trip when you're car has broke down, and you need to save for a new car by the middle of August. *ho-hum* :(

I hope Jen is feeling ok, I'm sure she's fine. She's a real trooper. If one thing scares me, it'd have to be hospitals. I always get anxious in hospitals. Not to mention there's always that odd smell in a hospital.

Ok, I'm gonna go for the night, I'm not being very cheeful at the moment. Maybe a little Rick sighting will be just the ticket tomorrow. :)

Jan- funny you should say that Todd was looking Cloony-ish- when my hubby saw him one time, he said the same thing - that he looks like George Clooney. Does he still have the goatee? Dang, I can't believe I missed that- *slaps self up the side of head*. Good analogy- Walking on Sunshine is *definitely* like "It's a Small World". I think I must look younger too- seems like people's jaws drop when I say I'm 34. You know what's sad, is that for all my planning things out ahead of time, I *still* manage to run behind. Oh well! I've been able to change the outcome of dreams (usually where I've talked my first ex out of shooting me- yeah- I had a lot of nightmares like that after that divorce). My sister used to *LOVE* Huey Lewis- I'd tease her about that & she'd tease me about my favorites. Ah yes- the days where MTV was really good. We got cable in summer 1982 and that was my first taste. It was Rio, Hungry Like the Wolf, Love Plus One, uh.....can't remember. But it was great. LOL- do ya'll remember "The Young Ones"? A friend had "Neil's Heavy Concept Album" on LP.....I got it on CD ;-D LOL (wow, all this 80's stuff is throwing me back....lol)

Lynne- my favorite was Roger too! Then after he left, it was Simon. Check this out.....I don't know if you've heard- and I don't remember where I heard, but supposedly they're all back together- John, Simon, Roger, Andy & Nick- and working on new stuff. They have an official site with a picture here. You can go to www.duranduran.co.uk and www.duranduran.com to see more stuff too. I got curious one day after I thought I'd heard them getting back together & did a Google search & that's what I found. I've about always been a day late & a dollar short...I got into them about a week after they came to AZ in Feb. 1984. I think I still have my buttons & books in storage somewhere. Just couldn't part with it (hey, I've said before that I'm a packrat!). LOL Don't feel bad- I got a bunch of stuff on CD that I had on vinyl- yeah, don't you hate the "bargain bin" thing?? I remember that INXS video! Was it "The One Thing"? I had a friend that made up a dance for "Pop Muzik"- it was a blast. Whoa- that's a lot for a concert (especially to pass out....)! We were thinking of going to see them- I should check out their latest dates- I'd checked before, but haven't checked for updates for awhile. My dad & stepmom have seen them and the Rolling Stones in Vegas a couple of times. They live in AZ, but Vegas has some good venues so they go up there. I really think I get my music know-how from my dad- he & I've pretty much always known who does what. For all the 80's (& 70's & 90's) fun stuff, I'm a rock n roll girl at heart. My dad went through 2 vinyl LPs of Led Zep's first album- LOL- he wore them out. He now has it on CD. Hmmm....must be where I also feel the need to play music LOUD from.....

Melissa- hope you're feeling better! Did you finish HP yet? :-D

Sherry- LOL- I know *sob* you'd think I'd recognize his voice by now....I heard the report and was kinda down the hall when I heard him say "Todd Connor" and by the time I got back he was gone- so I heard 'im but didn't see 'im. Better luck next time! LOL- you thought the same thing I did, girl.....I was like, OK, Todd, Greg....where's Rick??? It's funny what I forget....I forgot that Rick Springfield was on GH. I remember him being all the rage when I was in HS (I think? maybe JHS). I think a lot of people thought a lot of those guys were gay- Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, etc. I remember how some seem shocked when Nick Rhodes got married- they were like, "married? to a girl???" LOL Tainted Love- wow- remember the remix of that which added the "Where Did Our Love Go"? Hey, remember that Flock of Seagulls song called "I Ran"? My dad used to parody it by saying "And I raaaan, I ran across the streeeet, I had to go baaaack 'cause I forgot my feeeet"- used to *always* crack me up with that.

OK- Poll question- did anyone here like that song "Walking on Sunshine"? If so, don't worry, we won't beat you up over it. ;-) I'm just curious- I've never known anyone who *did* like it.....

BTW- I was soooo busy this afternoon at work that I didn't get another chance to check the PO Box.....so I'll give you a PU tomorrow. (I had nada this morning when I went, so they may have not gotten to our box yet.) Whew, it's warm here. It's 85 outside, 80 in and we don't have a cooler or AC (unless you call the fog that, which should be in in 3 days time- rule of thumb). I just hope it cools off by bedtime- it's hard to go to sleep when it's hot. Time to break out the fans.

Leslie- Mock-aritas- love it! I'll be right over- but gimme a "Marga-real-arita" too- LOL I think I'd really have to be craving that burger to puree it....LOL Well, unfortunately I ran out of time to go back to the PO, so we'll find out tomorrow. LOL- I'm going to hunt down that Doonesbury comic strip for you- it's a good one. I've heard (and believe) the simultaneous cycle thing too- a few of us that sat close & interracted a lot at work were really close- we used to check in- "did you get yours yet? I forget when mine should be coming" (for those of us-me- who have funky 4-5 week cycles......LOL- I dunno- all of us having PMS at the same time could be scary! ;-D I had too many favorite 80's songs- my 'theme' song was "Wouldn't It Be Good"- Nik Kershaw. My nickname in HS was "Nik"- had it even on my marching band shirt- LOL. I *loved* U2- Bono was really good looking in the mid 80's.....loved that "Sunday Bloody Sunday" video they did at Red Rocks. NO Dan Rather in a Speedo, and CERTAINLY NOT Peter Jennings in a thong- ewwww gross! ;-p Sounds like you succumbed (sp?) to the pool hype with the girls! Either that or the sun went down enough to not burn them more.

Nan- Always remember and repeat after me: *age is all in the mind; you're only as old as you think you are*- I'm 27 ;-) (No, not really, but I feel abou that). You have the right idea! :-D - age is all in the heart- it's really about perception I think. The classic rock that you mention tend to really be the good old days for me- there's something warm & fuzzy about the 70's & 70's music for me- I think I was prolly happiest growing up then. I had a lot of good times in the early 80's in HS, but I felt more awkward then and there were more pressures (although not as much as I have now- lol). There's just something about hearing the Eagles & Jackson Browne that really reminds me of home & makes me homesick for those days. 80's music is fun to listen to- usually puts me in a good mood, 70's is wistful but also puts me in a relaxed mood. I go to early 90's alternative when I'm feeling angst and there's also a certain feel of freedom (I guess 'cause I was going through a lot then) with that too. Music is a *HUGE* part of my life.

Hey- check out a blurb from my horoscope for today: "Regardless of the weather, the day may have special appeal for you, especially this afternoon, when a sense of euphoria lightens your spirit." Hmmm.....could it be a special delivery to my mailbox? LOL!

Denise- LOL- I'd forgotten about Rick Springfield! Isn't it funny how all the words come back? It's so funny that we can retain so much trivial stuff like that and yet forget simple stuff like whether the rent was paid, etc. That seems to be the case with me- I'll have a little panic attack until I check the checkbook. Yes- life was definitely simpler. Like my father in law says, life should be lived in reverse- that way you really would know everything you need to know when you're younger. I'm amazed at how much time I prolly wasted- I should have read more when I had the chance! 80's music does bring back that carefree feeling, but I think I sense it more with 70's stuff, 'cause then I really *was* carefree- better times, I guess. Let us know how Pearl Jam was & if Eddie spouted off or not- maybe he got it out of his system before ;-)

Jen- I know you won't see this till you're back home, but you bet we're all a pseudo family! :-D You're especially in my thoughts & prayers this morning! (While I was getting ready for work, I thought- it's 5:30 here, and 8:30 there- you're in surgery and I know you're doing great). We'll miss seeing your posts for a few days- take care and post when you can!

Melissa- 500 pages into the book?!? Wow- that's impressive- it would have to be a great book for me to read *that* fast! I know what you mean about reading the other books to put it together- I read Anne Rice's "The Witching Hour" and the subsequent books- I had to write down characters in a family tree kind of thing to keep everyone straight. Then I was like, this section relates back to something that happened in the first book, but now I can't remember what happened......I'd like to read all of those again, but they're also huge books. You know, Shep asked at the end of Fox Report yesterday if anybody has read the new HP yet and if it was any good- you can always email him! ;-) LMAO- that passage is *TOTALLY* me! I gotta read that book too- have it, just haven't read it yet....(same story different day for me with regards to books- LOL). Thank God I'm not the *only* one who reasons like this- that means I'm at least half normal-LOL! The theory is that if you write your dreams down regularly you'll be able to retain more of them as time goes on. I've never been consistent, so I don't know- but others have agreed with this. That's the same problem I have too- I can't quite capture what I saw, and it's like the more I try to remember and write it down the more it equally becomes unattainable. Hey- now that you brought it up- a friend of mine told me once that if your rub your inner knees with your thumb (there's a pressure point there) it alleviates cramps. It feels like a really tender spot but it really works.

Sherry- you're going to Pearl Jam too- how funny! Well I wish you a good show too w/o political overtones/running of the mouth. There's only one 80's song off the top of my mind that *really* got on my nerves then and still kinda do now- "Walking on Sunshine (gosh, it hurts just to type it- LOL). I think that one somehow finds it's way on a lot of those compilations- LOL! Glad you're finally having decent weather! :-D

OK- as always- gotta get to work. More importantly gotta try to get my contacts in again so I don't have my nose 3 inches from the screen- LOL

Awww Jen, we'll miss ya! :) I'll be thinking of you first thing in the morning, and I mean FIRST thing! LOL I'll just be waking up at 6:30. (7:30 EST)

Well, it's been a boring day for me, just lounging on the couch. I took a nice long nap and read the rest of the evening. I'm almost 500 pages into the book! I want to get to the end so bad, but I don't want it to end at all! I really need to re-read the books so I can put together clues. I had a theory going on about the story, but was proven compltely wrong today in one of the chapters. Not that any of you care about this. Maybe I actually will have to e-mail this all to Rick. LOL!

I think the same way you guys do about time and how to prepare in the morning. Nat do you remember that book Milkrun, well it has this passage in it, that completely explains my thinking process when I do things. Here it is:
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Tomorrow is Saturday, so I can't stay out late tonight. Not too late, anyway. If I have to be at the Tae Kwon Do studio at eleven, then I'll have to leave my house by 10:30, which means I have to get up at ten. Wait--I should probably eat before I go. You're supposed to wait at least an hour after you eat before going simming; it's probably the same for martial arts. Okay, have to be finished eating by 9:45, which means I have to start eating at 9:30, which means I have to get up at 9:15. Maybe 9:25, considering there's no point in showeing if I'm only going to get all gross.
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When I read that, I was ROFLMAO because that's Exactly my thinking proccess to a T!

I tend to have bad dreams when I'm stressed, or if where I'm sleeping is uncomfortable. I used to write my dreams down, but I haven't in quite a while. Maybe I should again, but it's funny because sometimes I'll wake up and remember a dream and then I'll go brush my teeth or go to the bathroom and at that point I've forgotten what my dream was about. :) And a lot of my problem is that I'm so tired that I can't put my dream into words that make any sense when I read it later, or I've lost a lot of the visual images of the dream and now it's just cluttered words on a page.

Most men are SUCH babies when they're sick. You should see my brother or my father when they're sick. They're just compltely hepless and whiny as all getout!

Well, I'm not tired considering how much I slept today, so I think I'll just go read some more. My tummy still hurts, but I'm pretty sure that's because of cramps (not that you all wanted to know LOL) but I do feel a little better. What am I gonna do when I'm finished with this book by Wensday (maybe tomrrow)? :( I'll have to go buy some more books, and perhaps try to read some of the ones collecting dust on my bookshelf. :) I'm like Nat in that case, I buy more books than I need to, and can't keep up with reading them all. Well I hope you all have a good day tomorrow. I might not be able to post until really late tomorrow night, so have a great day!

Jen- I have to laugh at the way you look at time, 'cause I think the same way- I think backwards to make sure I have enough time for everything I need to do in the AM- and I'm even worse when it's before something out of my regular routine. You know, something just occurred to me- would it possibly work to write the bad dreams out of your head? In other words, use them as fodder for writing. I don't know if you write in journals or have tried short stories, but maybe there's something you need to get *out*- you know what I mean? I've tried that before and it seemed to work somewhat. Wow, I couldn't imagine eating a lot of baby food. (It makes me think of the Toro Lawnmower commercial where the dad is trying to feed the kid & he's trying to convince the kid that it's really *good*- LOL) I'm sure you'll do *great* tomorrow. You're a very strong girl- I really think you will always do great at what you set your mind to. Keep focused on the end result, and know we're all thinking of you!

Sherry- LOL- I think *most* guys are babies when they're sick- what would they do without us ladies?? ;-) What kind of 80's music do you like? I had that need some years ago to get some stuff on CD that I used to have on vinyl & tape; every now & then I pull them out and listen to them- they're really good at work. *Please don't laugh at me everyone-lol* but I have Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, U2 etc. I was more into the um...I can't remember now what we used to call it- modern rock I guess? Or maybe new wave? LOL- that sounds so funny to me now! I morphed a lot in the 80's I think, but have kinda returned to my roots of classic rock (I had 'hip' parents-lol). Here's a thought/suggestion: maybe Melissa will be able to have it so we can be able to set up photo albums (like MSN Groups have the ability to) and we could put some "then & now" shots in there. I look back and laugh sometimes, but I wouldn't have had it any other way- there were some good times in those days. Ah....innocence!

Leslie- About the books you've been reading & your mindset- maybe that means you're a conservative ready to hunt and strike down the evildoing bloodsuckers of this planet (and I don't mean vampires....although that *would* make things very interesting.....). LMAO- when you mentioned the frisking of Shep, the first thought I had was "oooh Leslie would *love* that!" and then I saw your next sentence- well it was funny when I first saw it. Sure, you can join the pale minty green club! (I have an old Doonsbury cartoon- I'm going to have to find it & scan it along with the pic *when* I receive it and email it to ya'll. It was something about tanning lotion for all skin types- pale minty green was the palest. I do the same as you- burn, blister, peel, and freckle. LOL- yeah, I have my tendencies every once in awhile to put on the disco station on the Launch.com site when I'm at work. I think my favorite is "I Will Survive" - there's just something really empowering about that song. Bee Gees Greatest was a great LP. OK- this is prolly the time to confess what I was also listening to (in addition to the classic rock) before "the mod 80's" came around & I jumped onto that bandwagon (so to speak). Er.......Abba & Olivia Newton-John- LOL. They were my absolute favorites when I was in Jr. High (this would've been around 1980. Scary, huh? Alright, all- time to 'fess up to what ya'll listened to that you normally wouldn't say!

Jan- LOL- I hate to see what his desk is like. I was thinking about it today- I sent that 2nd email Weds., so *if* he mailed them Thurs. (which I hope he did- we know he was busy on Friday), then we really should have them by, well, tomorrow at the latest. Hmm. Well, maybe he sent them today, since he wasn't on? Dan Rather-not - LMAO! I like that 'nickname' (for lack of a better word at the moment). ROTFLMAO about the soap!

Melissa- I broke down & bought the new HP book- earlier than I thought I would! In the end I got it for 50% off since I have one of those B&N discount cards. I've seen the first movie but not the second. I'm going to put those DVDs on my Amazon wish list (if I haven't already) so my family can see that I want them. I hope you feel better soon! Maybe it's just the weather.

Nan- ah, so you have Clorox legs too, huh? Welcome to the club! I gave up on tanning during HS when I realized that it just wasn't going to happen for me. LOL about the sunglasses- yeah, I think I've heard that one before too..... We've been docked at the same place for the last 4 years- the only moving we've done is from F dock to J dock- LOL. It was docked in San Diego when we bought it and then my hubby, his son, & a hired hand brought it up but ran into trouble (long story, but suffice it to say that a mechanic working on it before they brought it up *really* messed it up- we filed a claim and were awarded & everything) just outside the Channel Islands, so they brought it into Santa Barbara for about 6 months where it was fixed. We hired someone else to bring it up from there to San Rafael where we currently are. We thought about moving to San Francisco, but Pier 39 can be obnoxious tourist-wise & sealion-wise. We really like where we are- it's quiet and pretty much no problems with parking our cars.

Sherry- Glad you're getting a sunny day for a change! It's about time, huh? Yeah, the rain tends to keep allergies down (unless of course you're allergic to mold, then you may have problems still....) It's been sunny here as many days as you've had rain, and lately the wind's been blowing so I'm sure that doesn't help for me. All in all though, we've had decent weather compared to those who are going through days & days of rain, tornadoes and such.

Leslie! Yay- you're back! Oh no- he's going to Puerto Rico for TWO MONTHS?? You poor gal! I wish you luck with flying with the girls. My first time flying I think I grabbed my dad's wrist the whole time- I believe he had nail imprints when we landed. My sister just kept looking back at me from her seat and laughed at me. Hopefully they'll think it's the best thing since the trampoline! Sounds like a very nice pearl necklace! You go, girl! That's some heinous thunderstorm! I'm glad your neighbor is good. You just *had* to mention Krispy Kremes! LOL- that's ok though, thinking about them won't put on the pounds :-D Wow- impressive sports history! I assume you're watching Wimbledon then? Kevin's mom watches that every year (and all the other tournaments in between) and commented to us yesterday that she was getting up early to watch it today.

Lynne- Yep- Old is jsut a state of mind....my joke is that I feel like I'm around 27....have been for some time now- LOL! I'm going to ask about the Zyrtec- that's the one that advertises that it works for indoor & outdoor allergies. Poor Nicholas! I have a friend who had to get tubes in her ears when she was really young- I haven't known anyone else getting those, but apparently they still do it. I agree- there's got to be other things to try first.

Has anyone seen Rick today? I set the VCR for 6-10 AM & then for 11-1 (to cover the 2nd Fox News Live & then Studio B). I'm prolly a day late & a dollar short- LOL! PU- nada so far. Jan? I have one more trip today. I'm thinking this week, but prolly midweek. Anyone want to place any bets? Just kidding! Jan- it will be your turn to remind him next LOL!

Morning Ladies! I'm home today, and I feel like crap. ick! It's storming pretty bad again today, but no torado warnings, so I'm cool. :) One of my dogs is terrified of the thunder, she's attached like glue to my leg. I was supposed to go to a "save the buzz" rally this morning for our local radio station (96.5 the buzz) but with it storming so bad and me feeling like crap I didn't go. I guess it's fine and the station isn't getting canned after all. That reminds me I'm gonna go check dc101.com to see if they have the interviews up real quick. -- Ok, they must be re-vamping the site or something, because I'm having problems accessing certain pages. Oh well, that hopefully means the interviews will be up soon. :)

Natalie, if you've seen the first two HP movies, you could probably get away with starting with book 3, though in the book there's some extra characters, but I wouldn't take you too long to get used to them. J.K. Rowling keeps saying book 2 is much more significant that we all know, so I think I'm going to re-read that so I can try to pick up on some clues, but I think I may have a small idea what's going on. I really like the books just because she writes with simplicity, obviously because the book is for kids. It's not like trying to read Lord of the Rings, where everything is much more detailed, down the the last speck on a leaf LOL.

I hope everyone is having a good morning and I'll talk to y'all later. :)

Jan- I think we're prolly in the same age group- I graduated in 86. Sheesh that seems like a long time ago, but subscribe to your thought- "I may bet old, but I'll never grow up". Every once in awhile I'll pull out some of that "old" stuff and & listen to it- LOL. Usually doesn't last long though- I also like classic rock & some current stuff- depends. I guess I go through phases, but I also have a wide range of likes when it comes to music too. LOL- my mom used to be an avid Cubs fan- she really liked the pitcher (Eckersley I think??) Yes- definitely good luck to us today!! I'm heading over there (to the PO) around 10:00 and again around 2:30. X X (fingers crossed). Sorry your sinuses are bothering you too! : ( I hope you're better too! It's the dang wind that's been around here for the last couple of weeks that's doing it for me. Sneaky Pete- I love that name! :D Cats sometimes have a way of turning non-cat people into cat people.

a h- I saw the Tony Snow thing- that was great, huh! I think Tony or someone said before that he (Tony) plays flute. LOL- the image that came to mind was Tony being like the guy (the name escapes me at the moment) from Jethro Tull who plays the flute.

Denise- We saw the same thing I think- which was really funny. When the war started, I began to set the timer on the TV so I could fall asleep while watching Fox. Well, old habits die hard for me so I still set it, and had just set it and turned over to go to sleep when I heard John Gibson say the "Here's Rick Leventhal...." So, here I am, back to the TV facing my hubby in bed, eyes closed, trying to not react to hearing that & his voice. While he's in the middle of the report I casually turn over and open one eye to watch the rest- LOL I'd seen this report before- I think it was on last week.....but I don't remember when or at what time.

Melissa- I'm anxious now to get the book (and I haven't even read the first four....lol)! I do know what you mean about relating to a book- it just makes it more personal in a way- it's like you match mentally/emotionally with the character and know where they're coming from- kinda wistful in a way, I guess. LOL- no offense taken about the Raiders- I only root for them when all my other teams are exhausted from the playoffs-lol! I can't *stand* that Romanowski guy- I didn't like him when he was with the Broncos & he spit at one of the 49rs (I think it was a 49-er anyway)- this was back in 97 or 98 I think- I just remember that he seemed like a real creep.

Leslie- Hope you come back today! I know you had to catch up with the hubby & stuff- but we miss your wicked wit here! :D Really though, I hope you got to spend some quality family time while he was back.

OK- gotta dig in to a great heap of.......WORK! LOL I wish it was something better.......

damn damn damn! I come here to post and catch up, and what happens?? I MISS Rick's report!!! Well, I'm back everyone. (incase you haven't already noticed) LOL! Well, actually I souldn't be man 'cause I haven't watched FOX at all today *gasps*! Oh goodness, where to start? Yesterday we had a birtday party for my brother and my grandma, and celebrated fathers day with the family. (We do this every year.) Anyway it was pretty fun. I got browines, and chocolate cake, and ice cream, and lots more *bad* stuff, but it's ok 'cause it was my cheat day. :) My great grandma had TWO bottles of Shmirnoff (sp?) and she was being a chatty cat yesterday. I mean this is a woman who's over 80, and probably weighs no more than 80 pounds!

Denise - Oh wow, I'm sure the view was lovely this afternoon, firefighters are a sight to behold! I *should* e-mail Rick about the Harry Potter book, but since he seemed to thoroughly NOT enjoy his story last week, I think I'll keep it to myself. LOL! Speaking of the book...........I'M ADDICTED! I'm like 200 pages into it already! (and OMG it's a friggin 800+ page book!) Ugh! It's sad, I'm a 20 year old woman addicted to a children's book. But it's even more sad because I realate so much to how J.K. writes Harry. I mean, I was *SO MUCH* like him (feelings/emotions wise) when I was 13/14/15. I hate it (but yet love it) when I can relate to a book so much. I mean there are times I'm reading the book and just KNOWING how she's gonna make the character respond, it's really eerie sometimes. I get that way with books. I know I call a lot of my reading *guilty pleasure* reading, but I'll only stick with a book if I can truly relate to it. And I hate days like today where I'll be reading all day, and time will cease to exist, and it's all cloudy out and my real emotions start being affected by a book. It's so silly. But I'll have to put a book down and just remind myself that it's just a story (yes even with *extreme* stories like Harry Potter.) UGH! ok sorry, I've been rambling too long, on to new topics.

I LOVE football too! My parents have season ticket to the Chiefs. They are my favorite team and when I get to go to a game (usally once or twice a season) I have such a BLAST! I love my Royals, and am VERY proud of them this year, they're doing pretty good this year. We live like 10 minutes away from the stadiums, so when fireworks go off we can hear them. My hometown teams are so fun, and the only team I DESPISE is the Raiders (sorry to any fans here, but ugh!)

I have a cat, and she only makes that awful noise if she sees another cat outside, or accidently gets caught in the rain, or is really hungry. She quit sleeping on my bed 'cause I get pissed and kick her off, she only slept by my head once, and I don't think she liked the reaction and never did it again. LOL I just shut my bedroom door now, so she sleeps on the couch or in her kitty bed in the basement.

I instructed Jen to call me Wensday if she's up to it. I'll prolly be at the Warped Tour concert Tuesday, besides she'll probably need her rest.

Leslie, I hope you're having a GREAT weekend "catching up" with your hubby :P *wondering if it's as much fun as "making up" is?* LOL that's probably none of my business!

Natalie - sorry to hear about your sinuses, my dad has been feeling really crappy from all his allergies lately. I *hear* ya about the good food week, I have to give myeslf the pep talk tomorrow since I spluged so bad this weekend.

Well, I'm off to emearse myself into my book again, I prolly won't get any decent sleep tonight, either that or I'll wake up with a puddle of drool on one of the pages. LOL

Jen- I'm glad you finally got to see Greg!! Yay!!

I think I'm going to have to call it an early night- my face hurts again (sinuses) & I think I'm going to try to wrap things up early tonight so I can try to get to sleep easier. I always have trouble falling asleep on Sunday nights and when I'm doing stuff up to the time I'm trying to go to sleep (other than reading), it's hopeless. I'll prolly check in tomorrow morning and find twenty new posts on here- LOL! *OOOH* I just realized (yeah, ok, I'm a little slow) that tomorrow's Monday....which means *mail day*- well *that* gives me something to look forward to tomorrow- that and the girl who's desk I was covering *should* be back tomorrow & we have the lunch that we were supposed to have on Friday (provided that my sup. is back). This is a total food week- I'm gonna have to be good and really pay attention to what I'm eating (the old "do I really need it" talk).

LMAO- they just showed a Best Buy ad where they're river rafting- that's about what it was like when I went. Which reminds me- I got my pics back- they mostly came out good (hubby's camera worked better than mine- mine came out kinda blurry as if water got in there or something (they were both waterproof cameras, but one was Fuji & the other Kodak. Haven't taken the time yet to figure out which is which).

Good Lord, it scares the crap out of me when some of these people come in with their boats- nothing like seeing someone coming in, a little fast, looking like they're headed right toward you (especially when it's a huge cruiser). For those of you who don't already know, we live on a sailboat- which is different and mostly fun, but I miss my space sometimes. Maggie (our cat) likes it too, but we haven't taken the boat out with her on it, so time will tell....Usually I'm sitting here in the back on the bunk with the laptop on this large table top thing; the TV is in front of that- very convenient for typing and watching TV at the same time. I'll post some pics sometime on my page and let ya'll know when they're there.

LOL- if Rick (heck or Todd for that matter) was on today as much as Greg has been (he's on now) I'd be a *very* happy gal.....I'm glad for all the KellyGals here- you gals have hit the jackpot today! :-D

Yay Nan! Another west coast girl here! I'm up in the SF Bay area. The only one I've emailed is Rick, and I sent it to rick.leventhal@foxnews.com. I'm not sure if that format will work for all of them or not. I also like to watch football- it's actually the sounds that I like- it reminds me of being at my grandparents house or really holidays when my family was still together and my grandpa was still alive. I guess it's a comforting sound; I have grown to like actually watching it more (instead of just having it on for the background noise) since I've been with my hubby. We like the 49rs of course, but also the the Houston Texans (as my hubby was born in Houston), Cowboys, and every once in awhile I have to kinda root for the ill-fated Cardinals since they're in my homestate of AZ. Oh yeah, and the Raiders if the 49rs are losing- lol! We also watch some of the college games- Texas A&M, Notre Dame, ASU, Navy.....I'm sure there's more, but they aren't coming to mind at the moment.

Denise- My cat does the same thing- she likes to lay around my head as well. She also will dig to try to get under the sheets and then curl up by my tummy. It's funny, this morning she was laying to where her whiskers or eyebrows (?? you know, the long ones above their eyes) kept tickling my nose. I think I've opened my eyes before to be looking right into hers- lol! Hope you have/had fun watching the firefighters- lol!

Yeah, Greg's been on like 4 or 5 times since I've had Fox on today (since around 9:00 PDT this morning). I keep thinking, "all right- where is Rick???" I wish he'd get some good stories- some that would be on during the weekend for a change. I always miss him during the week since he's usually on while I'm at work. I'm setting the VCR tomorrow & Tuesday- you never know, Tyson is going to court on Tuesday and Rick *may* be the one covering it.....we'll see.

Sherry- sounds like your cat is like mine- pays attention to the hubby instead of you. Maggie will always watch my hubby and not dare do the things to him that she does to me- lol! She's not afraid of him 'cause she goes up to him as much as me and in fact 'talks' to him more than me. She just knows where she stands with him and she knows how to push my buttons when she wants to, and because I'm a pushover I don't punish her. (Yeah, and then I wonder why she keeps doing that.....lol) You're working on your soaps & I'm working on a bunch of catalogues- how is it that those dang things stack up so quickly??? And I'm *so* compelled to tear out the pages of the stuff I like, even though I really don't have room for anything else and I should be saving my money anyway.

Jen- Glad you had good dreams last night! :D If you are able, *do* let Melissa know how you're doing so we'll know- you'll be in all our thoughts and prayers! I know it will be a great success! :D

Denise- Yeah, I've typed out a whole thing only to have it disappear on me- rare but it does happen; sometimes user error, sometimes random.

Leslie- Hope you're having a good weekend catching up! We miss ya around here too! :D I guess we've all really grown on each other!

Jan- LOL- I was thinking the same thing- that I hope I don't sink the boat! Kevin says that it adds to the ballast & makes it more stable- LOL Don't get me wrong- I'm a sorta packrat supreme. I'm always trying to find niches to stick stuff.....and when I can't it's time to go through stuff & put it into storage. I think I'd classify myself a "neatnik" (hey, on the "Which Friend Are You" I was Monica...), but lately I'm so lazy or tired so it doesn't bother me as much anymore. If I had the space, I'd prolly be worse- things would be put away more. Yeah, what's up with Fox having both Trace & William at the *same* location??? That is a creepy story....what is it about 70+ old men hitting on young girls?

Sherry- LOL- nope I haven't sent that email yet- still thinking about what to say.....I think I'll wait till they have him on again before I send. I kinda wonder If when they're on vacation and then come back to a full email box and hit "delete" on those that aren't from coworkers. That first email I sent to Rick he didn't reply to & I sent that when he was on vacation & never heard anything until I re-sent it again later. Not sure, but it's just speculation on my part. Besides, then I'll have something recent to comment on. :D Know what you mean about a NY story finally breaking & it's on a Saturday.....the same thought crossed my mind too. My kitty likes to attack me just as I'm going to sleep or in the middle of the night. She's playing, but it kinda annoys me. Kevin says she's trying to show she's the boss & that I need to show her she's not. She just goes into attack mode- and she only does this with me. It's not often- prolly twice a week or so. She's a tortie (tortoiseshell), and I've heard they have quirky personalities anyway so I guess it's just par for the course....

Ok all- time to get to bed- SWEET dreams - NO nightmares!! :D

Dang, I don't check in for a day & look what happens- LOL! This may be a long post :D ! After I 'chatted' with Melissa & Jen, I pretty much conked out....only to wake up and see my hubby with a camera in hand grrrrrrrrr. The pics are on digital- they may be 'accidentally' deleted. Then again, I'd prolly feel guilty if I did that so maybe I won't. I don't like pics of me anyway, and CERTAINLY not while I'm sleeping. I'm *SOOO* bummed that I missed all the Rick action yesterday- it sounds like it was pretty funny. *note to self* need to start paying more attention to my intuition.....I will set the VCR next time. LOL- I can't remember the name of the guy, but the one they have on Weekend Live who does the entertainment stuff was wearing guess what- pale pink shirt with a darker pink tie.....hmmm....maybe he borrowed 'em from Rick? I'll prolly write a super long post & then check in later. I need to finish my spring (well, I guess it would be summer now) cleaning & do the laundry- you know, the usual domestic stuff. My God, I can't believe Prince William's 21. I remember when 'Chuck & Di' were married & when he was born- I used to watch that stuff with fervor- had (and still do) a lot of the books that came out, etc, etc. *I feel soooo oooooold now!* I only feel old when I see people who used to be wee things turning 21 or graduating from HS & college (like my cousins). I was a senior when my youngest cousin was born.....now she just graduated from HS.

Sherry- well the lunch was called off since my supervisor didn't come in, but my manager made up for it by bringing in doughnuts- I had 2 1/2.....bad girl. LOL- I'd debate the crab thing and say that San Francisco has the best crab, but since I don't eat seafood I guess I can't debate that. Yesterday *did* seem like a long day.....and yet not long enough for me to get what I needed to get done done. Next week's another week, though! Geez, Rick was on *3 times* yesterday?? LOL- I *knew* I should have set the VCR. I get the impression that he would like better stories to cover- I just sense that there's some underlying frustration on his part that either nothing is going on to cover or that he's not getting 'the good stuff'. Hard to say- but then, what do I know? LOL Denise- I was thinking the same thing, that his girls are prolly really excited that he's getting to cover what would prolly be a 'big story' to them. Kinda cute! I can see it now- "MY dad's covering the Harry Potter story!" I'm sure he made them proud! You sound like me- all the 'wifey' stuff- LOL I *do* find solace or some weird kind of cathartic relaxation though in cleaning. I'd much rather do that I guess than what I do on a day to day basis. There's just something cathartic and cozy about it. Guess it's that nesting instinct- LOL Also - thanks for the heads up on when you usually set the VCR. I guess that'd be from 6-10 AM my time- Monday I'm setting it.

Welcome Nan & Denise to our happy quirky family! I'm sure you'll enjoy it here! We love to have fun and *most* of what we joke about with the guys is tongue in cheek- LOL As you can see we're pretty active here- miss a day sometimes & you'll come back and say *whoa* look at all the posts! Glad to have you!

Are there any West Coast gals here???? Teri is, but I know she's unable to post at the moment- are there any others??? Maybe my suspicions are true....I'm one of the very few conservative Fox Lovin' gal on the West Coast- LOL!

I have everyone who has given their IM screen name here on my "LevenGals" buddy list. I'll keep updating as we go along. As Melissa said, my IM screen name is GuinnevereONeill.

Jayel- Yeah, I'd go for the tight jeans and & polo shirts or t-shirts....I guess that's what was an added benefit (for us fans anyway) of seeing Rick & Greg in Iraq- they were in casual clothes instead of in suits & ties. Then there's the skanky desert hat too.....

Jen- you are absolutely welcome! I'm always glad to be of help - but I think Melissa is the one to mostly thank! ;D I hope he responds soon!

Poor Jan! That's gotta really make a workday (or worknight) long! Oh yeah! Let us know if the pic arrives today- that would *hopefully* mean that mine will be in my box on Monday! :D You know, I haven't seen Todd on there in quite some time....but maybe he's on vacation. I think if we all were to meet up somewhere, we'd have to meed in the midwest- that seems to be where most of us are- LOL I guess that would be a "central" point too. That would be fun maybe to do someday.....if I can get my *** on a plane. Someday I'm sure I will- my defenses are slowing coming down again (it's about time- only took a couple of years).

Melissa- You're also a girl after my own heart- I *always* seem to attract the weirdos. I have *no* idea what it is, it's like I have a sign on my forehead or something. Remind me sometime to tell ya'll about the flight I took from Phoenix to SF where an 80+ old man was talking to me- or more like hitting on me nonstop for the 2 hr flight. His 40-50 year old son next to him slept the whole time.....I was trapped in the window seat. *ICK- shivers down my spine* I'm glad you got your book though- now I'm kinda anxious to get it- must be all the talk on FOX and your talk of getting it- LOL! I also have the first four, but haven't read them (what else is new- I prolly have hundreds of books & haven't read 'em yet....but like I always tell my hubby- I will!). I just *love* books. I'm a book-a-holic- I guess there's worse things.