CAPH52--fingers crossed that all goes well and your husband gets good news at his next doctor's visit.

Ani--had to laugh at your 'no winter' comment. We're next door to you in western Nebraska and are snowless, too. We'll probably get socked with it in March, as usual.

Rant/Rave: For all of you doing the weightloss thing, keep up the good work! Ethel, I'm jealous--3 glasses of wine? I've been sooooooooooo good this week (only had one glass of wine the whole darn time) and only lost 3 pounds. I'm happy to have lost but with all the exercising and 'healthy eating' that I've done, thought it would be more...oh well. There's always next week! Nine pounds down, 11 to go.......

Rave: DH is finally going on a diet and exercise program, too. The catalyst was hearing about a co-worker his age who just had quadruple bypass surgery.

Rant: Blasted National Honor Society application. Am so proud of my son, who was invited to join as a junior in high school this past week. The application process is amazing, though--pages and pages of things to fill in about his student life, community life and volunteer efforts, plus 2 letters of recommendation from people vouching for his character. I've heard that only a few kids make it as juniors in our school system. Kind of irritating that it's up to the individual schools to decide the criteria--a friend of mine in Colorado has a son who was just sent a letter saying, 'Welcome to National Honor Society.' No application needed--it was based on grades only. Oh well, NHS or not, he's a great kid and we're so proud the person that he is.

Rave: Keeping my chin up and concentrating on the glass that is half full.

Rave: Weight slowly coming off. My MD attributed my slow weight loss to the fact that I had quit smoking and my metabolism is slower.

Huh? Slow is one thing but gaining weight training for a marathon?

Rant: Having to miss the Miami 1/2 marathon this weekend.

P.S. I know that slow weight loss is healthier for the body. I'm just sure that there's a skinny person waiting to emerge from the stuffing and it's hard to wait!!

Ciao bella FFR&R'ers from Florence!

Sending all my ((L)) and wishing you a great weekend.

My precious DH just fell fast asleep into a wonderful vacation afternoon nap, and so I thought, "what a good opportunity to say hi to my fellow Fodorites".

We are having a fantastic time, the food, ahhhhh, the wine, ahhhhh and last night we had our first Limoncello, how delish!

I hope everything is good with all of you!

Looking forward to providing a good trip report.

Ciao from Palazzo Niccolini, Florence.
:) Tiff

RAve: Tiff's post. How delightful!

oooh, Tiff! Sounds wonderful :)!!

Rave: last weekends short trip to Los Cabos with my DH! Boy was it great to get away!

Rant: No more trips in sight until at least August...

Rant: how did I gain 5 pounds in 3 days?!? Maybe it's a good thing it was only 3 days!

Rave: The sun is out and will hopefully melt the couple of inces of snow I was too lazy to shovel this week. The snow on Monday was soooo heavy (heart attack snow) that the measly couple of inches on Tues. and Wed. was left on the driveway (and became ice by this a.m.).


Bennie- I feel the same way about the music PLUS I actually attended jr. high at this school so it is a TOTAL flashback for me! I like the music Todd plays because he avoids rap (the kids don't appreciate it but I do) Drag about the renovation issues.

Go Travel:Keep at it! I quit smoking 5 years ago and I attribute my extra roll to that! I am much healthier and happier now though and I actually find it gross now!

Oh Tiff I wish I were in Italy right now!!Jealous!

RAVE>:D<

Big party tomorrow with all the "kids" and grandkids for wife's birthday :-B

Rave: Jorr and this thread!

Rave: Kal is back, gotta sharpen my bantering skills now :)

Rave: hosting my father's 79th birthday tomorrow

Rave: once a year my job puts 5% on my 401K plan, got the letter of how much, woo-hoo

Rave: if the biggest problem is the rain this weekend, my life is not that bad!

RAVE: After 6 years of my stressful job, I finally quit this week!

RANT: I don't start my new, cool job for another 4 weeks...just keep telling myself to hang in there!!

RAVE: We leave for our Seattle/Portland trip in 12 days!

SG

Bonjourno to Tiff ! We're having even less Winter than usual (so far). Heading to the beach next weekend. No rants except for the Scot trying to take her child to Paris but...' she won't eat French food post'. What is that about ?!?

Rant:Chevron posts a $4.4 BILLION profit in the 4th qtr while gas prices in Hawaii are the highest in the nation.

Rant:Property taxes are up over 25%. The state will have a surplus of $500 million and is undecided if any will be given back.

Rave: Dsis does not have the clogged brain artery diagnosed by her hometown Dr.! She, in fact has a clean bill of health in that regard!!(Per specialist in B'ham)... Yeah!!

Rant: The local hospital MRI that indicated she had an 80% blockage in her MCA! Now, her question, rightly so, is how do you know (in advance) of where to go for imagery, etc.? Like she says, if you go to a restaurant, at least you have a county Health Dept. rating to give you some indication of how (safe) the restaurant is ...but what do you use to rate the hospital's reliability?...where do you find it??? Needless to say, it stessed us all out...probably took at least a day or two off our(family members) lifespans! The Dr, had told her it was probably genetic, and he didn't know how she hadn't already had a stroke! ...so I was thinking I needed to get an MRI myself!! Not to mention my mother's anxiety!! I work in the Health Care field and can't answer her ?

Rant: Dson won't graduate as expected in May!((N)) Dropped French II!

Rave: He has a job lined up after this semester and we will (hopefully) not be his sole financial resource after May...plans to take that last class as he starts his new job. I've gotten where I don't really care anymore,I just want him financially responsible!!

Rant: A friend with Hx of breast CA had colon surgery for recurrence last week!

Rave: No signs in her lymph glands!

Buffalo Girl: I'm with you on the no trip of the horizon((N))...actually that's not true, I'm going to Rapid City, Mich. in April for a DH meeting, but it's not where I want to be...Kauai!!

STW: The job is just a matter of time...I can tell just from your posts that you're a prize!! My weight is a struggle too, so hang in there! (Only 1 # this week, but was surprized to see even THAT!).

Earl: Welcome back! Strange, I posted as you did, but was not banned?!

klr6773: Glad to hear your DBF is doing better!...enjoy your vacation...shall we expect a TR?

CAPH: Glad your DH had his last chemo...hope your future together is bright!

Starrsville: Enjoy your museum trip...looking forward to your TR!

Bennie: You are blessed to have a DD that takes her grades seriously!

Tiff: Thanks for taking the time to post while on vacation! It somehow rekindles hope in me (for a great trip!).

Belle

It's Friday & I'm in Vegas!!

Rave: DH is in the air on the way and will be here too in a couple more hours.

Rave: Business conference was excellent. I learned a lot & met great people in my industry!

Rave: Got upgraded to a very nice suite in Caesar's Palace without even asking.

Rant: No time for exercise & no weight loss here...yet. Great job to those who've been better than me!

Happy Weekend Everyone! Trish

All you medical fodorites or fodorites with loved ones with medical issues... I am sending you all my best!! For health and happiness!

RAVE: New job starting Wednesday....
RANT: Old job ending Tuesday..so no mini-vacation room in that timline :(

RAVE: Being feted and sent off by all of the great people at my current job.. Truly I felt the love ;).

Rave:Thyra, good luck with new job. You can do it!!
Rave:Caph--GREAT news about your husband!!!! Yes!! Trip planning is so therapeutic. The day I asked neurosurgeon could I please,please go on a trip first, and she said yes...what a relief and welcome spirit-lifter. Enjoy the joy of anticipation!
Rave:Tiff, that brought a smile to all our faces!! Looking forward to your trip report on Europe board, as I'm starting to plan a plan, tentative for France/Italy for October. Yippeee!!!
Rant: working two 16 hour shifts this weekend. Been working lots lately, so sleeping more when i can. and less time for fun, like this board!
Rave: working those shifts pays well--as in, credit card paydowns toward trips! And for all its "challenges" I usually love what I do.
Rant: people who call phone number but say nothing, over and over. You hang up wordlessly, they call back, etc etc, til they get bored with it. A nut case with time on their hands, or OCD?

p.s. Rave to Faina's Dad. Mazel Tov on his 79th!! Is he wearing the pirate eyepatch to his celebration?

Rave: Reinstatement of posters. welcome back, earl!

Rant: I wish I were Tiff.
:(

Rave: I just found out my friend (sort of) teaches her kids geography using me as an example. When I leave on a trip, she'll get out a map and say, "Where is Aunty Melissa now?" And they have to point to the appropriate parts of the map and say, "She flew from here.....to here.....and then she went here."

OSB,
There are lots of intracranial vascular artifacts on unenhanced MR images, but any competent neuroradiologist is aware of that and knows the techniques to resolve such issues.
That (false positive result) is only one of many problems associated with medical imaging "screening" exams.
Also, sounds like your DF has a BRCA gene.
M