Rant: Had my eyes examined today. No surprise, I need reading glasses. Now I have to decide if I want progressives.

Rave: Doctor says my eyes are good......RANT: then he says my optic nerves are asymetrical and I need to have further tests done because this could indicate the beginning of glaucoma...but of course he said "Don't worry". I'm still working on the part where he says my eyes are "good".

P_M: hope your mom continues to do well.

Tandoori_girl: sons are funny that way sometimes. Soon enough he'll cut you loose and you'll want to glue that damn cord back on!

Patrick: I couldn't agree with you more...a sad situation for many.

Rave: Bonniebroad, outstanding :D

Rave: The tree is up and my DH and I survived yet another "tree fight". We always make especially certain we are both extremely cranky and tired when we put the tree in the stand - ah, the joys of family traditions :)

Tomorrow night the house will be filled with many friends for drinks, dinner, and laughs.

Wishing everyone in Fodorsville a wonderful weekend.

buckeyemom, you would be buckeyewoman or Ohiowoman not bucketwoman:-D

Hope your week gets better!

How fun for your family TG! One of my girlfriends lives in Park Slope. I love Brooklyn. One of my favorite parks of NYC!

Rant: Last night, driving home from DFW, I dodged something in the road only to smack 3 of those rubber flat lane divider thingees that stand about 3 or 4 feet high. Do they damage your car? Hell yes! To the tune of 1500.
And my deductable is 500. :(
Rave: I was not hurt!

Rant: Tomorrow I am 41
Rave: I still FEEL very young and much smarter!

Rant: I have surgery next Friday and will miss Rants and Raves next week.
Rave: 8 weeks 'recovery' working from home :) :) :)

Rant: missjana & Txtravelpro's accidents - glad you were not hurt.

Buckeye--Hope next week's a better one for you!

And TxTravelPro--Sorry about you're luck...car accident, surgery... although it sounds like these two things are unrelated. And happy bday!

Rant: Good, decent, intelligent men and women who in the context of their very lucky lives with so much leisure time and life choices who could easily choose to be kind and inclusive, but instead are arrogant, snotty, and on occasion derogatorily name-calling just for the "fun" of it.

Rave: That Christmas is here and that I can see it in action in my workplace, as international students and very opposing religious/racial groups chose to be inclusive to each other, regardless of difficult times. What a gift they all give! To live it, instead of just singing or wording it. I think it was the original Christmas gift, inclusion in the human club, with kindness and peace as its hallmark emotion. Hope it flows to where ever you are!

Rave: nice daytime weather in DFW this week.

Rave: My 60th was last Sunday (Utah was the 33rd state to repeal Prohibition in 1933 on 5 Dec).

Rave: My 60th was celebrated with a bunch of '82 Bordeaux (Ch La Mission Haut Brion; Ch Leoville Las Cases; Ch Gruaud-Larose; Ch Sociondo-Mallet), the other worldly '85 Sassacaia, and a VG to EX '87 R Mondavi RES cab.

Rave: I have been spared any US Gov't paid health costs since leaving the USN in 1978. Further, I would not want to be a burden on US taxpayers. My elderly parents, prior to their "sudden" deaths, fortunately were not either.

Rant: The US HIPPA privacy laws which required a costly update to my various "power of attorney" documents.

Rave: English DIL had a 6 mm embryo with a normal fetal heart on Monday and she is about to become a dual US/Brit citizen. She is selling her London flat, but I would imagine those profits will remain in the UK (why bring them here?, lol!).

Rave: My world class Internist - we speak the same languages having been trained with the best of the best here in the US.

Rave: The money pit house of nearly 25 years will "close" next Friday. Worst investment I ever made.

Rave: To those of you celebrating the Holiday Season: Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo, mis amigos!

M

Rant/Rave: My firm's holiday party is this evening... yawn... :&

BIG RANT: It's pouring outside! What is the deal with the rain this week? I feel like I am perpetually wet!

Rave: Get to see one of my best friends tomorrow night -- So excited!! :D

Rave: At least it's Friday and I don't need to work this weekend -- either from home or here in the office.

Rant: the problems everyone here as faced.
The rain, eaw rain here that has curtailed my travels in the area.
Rave: Tommorrow is another day and hopefully will make us all feel, be better.

Rave: After the deep near-freeze, it's gonna be a hot weekend!!

Rant: Trolls back here on the Forum ("travdis" topping all of his/her old, dumb threads)....

Rave: Got my Xmas shopping started.

Rant: One gift out of-- what? 90 billion or something. Darned large circle of friends and family...!

Rave: Good health in the family.

Rant: Still in my office at 4:56 PM PT on a Friday.

Rave: Just about to head out.

¡Buen fin de semana, todos! And for mikemo, ¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo right back at ya!

Rave: Almost all the holiday shopping is finished and gifts are wrapped.

Rant: I have no earthly idea what to get the people for whom I have no gift yet.

Rant: It's raining again.

Rave: I don't have to shovel rain.

Rave: travelling to warmer climes duing the winter

Rave: long legged Argentine women dancing the tango

Rave: Argentine beef

Rant: Hyacinth Bucket's contraception is broken.

Thank you, thank you..... jasper, indie, Statia, Ants430, OneWanderingJew, travelinwifey, Marilyn and seetheworld. I'm pushing for 30 lbs. off by December 22, when I'll "break" until Jan. 2. Say a prayer for my scale and me! :p

TxTravelPro, hope all goes well for you next Friday! Be thinking of you.

TxTravelPro, Congrats on your 41st. I feel so much better now because you said you are smarter now. Since I got you beat by a couple of years that makes me smarterer than I thought. I thought I was getting dumberer. O-)

Rant: I missed posting yesterday as I was knee deep in serious housecleaning
with help from 8:30 am to 2 pm.

Rave: the house smells wonderful(lemon oil to everything wooden) and sparkles. Silver has all been polished and all glassware cleaned. The house is ready for family festivities. It's an absolute pleasure to do this(go figure).

Rant: strikes and all the bad feelings they generate, Arnold and all his damned stupid comments about nurses. May he get sick and need one who is too busy with someone else to attend to him.

Rave/rant: I'm back at work after being locked out for five days.

Rave:These are my worries.

Patrick--

Because of your e-mail address I thought you were a physician and now know the frustration of getting appropriate help for a family member as well as for a patient. :-B

A HAPPY HOLIDAY TO ALL

Here I go again:

RAVE, RAVE, RAVE: Santa is coming today. DH and I are going out to buy a 60" Sony LCD/HDTV (rated #1 by Consumer Reports) this afternoon. Wonderful price at Circuit City, in-house manager's special, until closing tonight! Had thought we wouldn't do it yet because the costs are expected to fall a lot during the next couple of years, but this is a great price, and I want one NOW. It will be delivered between now and Tuesday, maybe even tomorrow!

YES!!!!! :-d