Freaky Friday Rants & Raves 3-3-06
 

Rant: That freak show Baptist church which pickets soldier's funerals to promote their perverted sick agenda.

Rave: The biker groups organized in many states which try to chase the freaks away from funerals. They got rid of them this week at a funeral here in Minnesota but only after the freaks yelled to the soldier's mother that she was going to hell with her son as she was going into the church.

Rave: whew, got that off my chest. no smilies.

Rave: Headed to Copper Mtn in Summit County, Co tomorrow for four days of skiing w/DH.

Rave: DS has been accepted to Purdue, despite the fact that he took the SATs waaaay late and applied to Purdue even later.

Rant: I teach at least 8 aerobics classes/wk, lift weights w/trainer regularly, spend a couple hours a week on the treadmill, exercise with each of my 31 elementary PE classes, eat like a rabbit all day and then blow the whole darn thing by eating GIRL SCOUT COOKIES late at night!!! %&$#@ those Girl Scouts!!!

Jorr- I'm in agreement with you about those nut jobs. I thought it sickening when they picketed AIDS victim funerals, but now they picket any military funeral too ... I guess on the grounds that the victim fought an immoral war??? No matter the politics or morality of the deceased, the survivors deserve a dignified ceremony.

Where's a crazed sniper when you need one?

I never heard that story, but I'll look it up.

Rant: Mom lost her beloved cousin to diabetes this week. It was a long battle. Mom has very few first cousins left, it's sad to see that generation going away.

Rave: Mom is still here. :-)

Rant: Elderly FIL behaving strangely....this behavior comes and goes.

Rave: Lovely weather in Austin this week!!

Rave: Planning a trip in a couple of weeks to DFW. Looking forward to the Gauguin exibit in Ft. Worth. For the art lovers out there, you MUST check out the Kimball Art Museum if you are ever in Ft. Worth.

Rave: Only 5 more weeks until London/Madeira vacation!! YIPPEE!!

Happy weekend, all. :-)

Rant: What Jorr's talking about. I have not heard about this but boy is that disgusting. Sometimes I just don't get how some people's minds work.

Rave: I had a great weekend in NYC last week. Took my 14 y.o. daughter and her best friend and shopped and ate, shopped and ate (and I wonder why my pants feel so tight). What was great to see was how these two just have a good time with each other laughing and acting like kids. They were fun and polite and it was just such a positive experience. I hope they take away some fond memories of their time there.

Rants: The continuing problems in our school district!!!

Rave: It's March which means Spring is coming right?

Rave: Spicy V-8 juice. I love this stuff and drink one every morning at my desk and I love it!

Rave: My students who are giving me a hard time as I type this during homeroom.

rave: TGIF

rant: there are too many people here in Florida.

rave: The weather is wonderful

rave: we have some great restaurants.

rant: they're too crowded.

Rave: It's Friday!

Rave: I'll be with my boyfriend in 8 hours!!!!!!!!!

Rant: Agree with Jorr. What a sick protest. I am a firm believer in the right to protest, but this group abuses that right. A funeral, even if shared with the public, as many military funerals have been, are private events. Respect is due.

National Public Radio has covered the funeral situation several times. You might check the NPR website for info. Limiting free speech is the issue for those who are trying to figure out how to limit the group's activity. The group appears to be largely a family unit.

P_M, sorry to hear about your mom's cousin. It is hard for our parents to see friends and family of their generation pass away. My mom is noticing it, too.

Rave: Rome trip with StatiaMom and StatiaSis is getting closer and closer. Only 12 days to go. :D

Rant: The automatic wheelchair I wanted for my mom won't fit in the lift of our apartment building, so I guess I will really build my arms up with pushing her around in a manual all week. ;)

Rant: We need rain because I'm tired of having to spend money to fill our cistern with water. Somebody please send some rain this way.

Rave: DH and I have really been enjoying working at our property on the southern tip of the island. But, we need that rain to keep it green.

Have a great weekend, everyone. :)

Rant: The baptist church group. This happened in Sarasota, a few weeks back. A local soldier died in Iraq and those idiots actually came out to protest at his funeral.

Rave: Thank you for the Vet's biker group--they came to the funeral and provided a barrier between the idiots and the family and mourners.

Rave: Bikers--they have heart!!

Wish I had some raves this week but all I can think of are rants. But, I'm alive and well so that's a huge rave.

Rant:Coworker was just told on Monday that she had a tumor on her brain stem. At this point, she doesn't even know if it's cancerous, if she can have it surgically removed or what's going to happen. She just knows she has it. She meets with a neuro on Monday so hopefully she'll get some answers then. It certainly put some things in perspective for me. I keep her in my thoughts and prayers and know she can pull through this. I just wish she would get the thought out of her head that "once it hits the brain there's nothing they can do".

Rant: I haven't lost any more weight in at least 2 weeks. I don't understand. I've been pretty good. I was so depressed when I got off the scale this morning.

Rave/Rant: The snowstorm we weren't supposed to get is now coming our way. I'm looking forward to having a fire and just watching it come down.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Rant: My husband's uncle passed away. Though not related by blood to us as he was my husband's aunt's husband, he was more like an uncle to us all than many related by blood. He was born in Italy, moved to the US, fought in WWII including in Italy and at Normandy. Worked hard his whole life. Just an all around great guy, real old school Italian who loved food, wine, and his garden. Not many of that generation left in our family and like P-M said its getting very sad.

Rant: Members of local government who run for office and yet refuse to be leaders. Our school district has sunk to a new low. It may be time to bail out. I wish my dad and my mother in law were alive to give us guidance.

Rant: Why isnt more being done in New Orleans to clean up? Why were Americans treated that way by their own government? I am sure it was not malicious but incompetence but either way people suffered unnecessarily.

Evab - I am glad you and your daughter and her friend had a great time in NYC. Sounds like a trip I need to take soon.

ethel- Don't despair over the plateau. Hormonal changes, building muscle and losing fat... lots of reasons why you may be "good" and still not lose.

Try not to live and die by the scales. Don't focus on weight so much as clothing fit and you won't be setting yourself up for disappointment.

Just keep eating healthy food in appropriate amounts and you will succeed. You just can't command the timetable for it to happen. Don't beat yourself up.

Rant: All kinds of groups as jorr's -re protesters at inappropriate places, this is not being human- period.

Rant: Naming a street in Chicago "Fred Hampton Dr." in memory and to glorify an old Black Panther, who now supposedly is politically correct. This for an embezzler who thought shooting policemen was a real hoot. My kind of town. All those who re-write history to fit their current politics as well in this rant. More and more of them all the time.

Rave: Meeks and some other alderman of all races who have been fighting this name change.

Rant: Berghoff closes in Chicago Feb. 28 after 104 years.

Rant: Cancer

Rant: Having to drive 100s of miles a week when you are pulled in 3 different directions.

Rant: Getting repeatedly sick from all of the above. Sore throat and cold big time today- second time this month.

Rant: Weight obsession (sorry, believe me I am sympathetic with dieting- done it my entire life)- but there are lots of worse things than being fat.

Rant: You'd never know it from the way
Americans parallel their self-esteem re their appearance that day. And not just women.

Rave: Big people who love themselves.

Rave: One of my favorite big people, my Mom, she's putting on weight and I've got her eating again. Now they WANT her to do this.

Rant: She doesn't fit in the special chair I carted around for hours. After 84 or so- I can't believe how much you can shrink lengthwise and yet grow other places.

Rave: Biker groups on the whole, they do tons of good in three states around me.

Rave: Amazing Race started, finally something to watch on TV other than PBS.

Sorry I'm so negative today. Hope everyone avoids the long term suffering that I'm seeing and that is becoming more common, not less, at the ends of our lives. We wouldn't put dogs or animals through the stuff we do to humans.

Rant: TRAVEL rant- the Dan Ryan/Bishop Ford Expressway is going to be closed for 3 entire years starting soon. They are saying to use Ashland as an alternate route. LOL, LOL!

Biggest Rave: Only 1 more month until Opening Day at U.S. Cellular Field- now how the h*** are we going to get there!

Happy Friday!!
Rave: My company got it's WBE Certification (Woman's Business Enterprise) yesterday! A very big deal for us, and will be a great marketing & competitive advantage in our industry!

Rave: Great friends - both online and in person, good health, and an abundant life. We can always want more, but overall we're very lucky and happy.

Rave: 70 days 'til St. John Vacation! ((#))

Ethel, amwosu is right about turning fat to muscle (muscle weighs more), but also you must create a calorie deficit in order to loose weight - burn more calories than you take in each day. The idea that you are not gaining weight means you're efficient, but to loose you've got to burn more. Not easy...I can't find time to get to the gym even though I know I need to. (My clothes are getting a little too snug.) Stick with it! Loosing weight slowly is healthy.

Have a great weekend everyone! Trish :)

Rant: The company I've worked for the past 12 years had a downsizing this past week. Unfortunatly, I was one of the people let go. The company has been sending alot of work lately overseas to Asia, so they don't need as many workers.

Rant: Outsourcing jobs overseas is killing this country.

Rant: I've been planning a trip to Philadelphia in May to see my beloved Red Sox play the Phillies...now I'm not sure if I can afford to go.

Rave : My wife tells me at least I have my health...oh well.

Rave: We watched the documentary, "Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" last night. Wow, it was actually very interesting! Even my easily bored 3-year-old was able to watch for most of it.

Rave: I know that I haven't been part of the Fodor's family for very long, but I have grown very addicted to it.

Rant: My mom has gotten much worse. She has been placed in hospice care, and she is much worse than she let on. I'm the caregiver, and my DH is gone for weeks at a time, so I'm also alone with my little boy while trying to take care of my mom and teach full-time at the high school. I'm finding myself barely able to keep my head above water, but I know that it's something that I have to do.

Rave: Reading all the posts here gives me a sense of escape. Thanks!

rave: 30th birthday weekend is here!
oh crap... ;-)

rave: billy joel last night at madison square garden! he's still got it!

rave: lion king tickets (matinee!) and oscars on sunday.

rant/rave? new position offer at work didn't pan out...the money offered just didn't make sense...



amwosu...how good are the samoas? have to freeze those bad boys!

bennie...sorry to hear about your uncle. i very much know what you mean about sometimes being closer than blood...my family is very blended, and have very unique situations, but am more than blessed, and feel very close with everyone. and regarding new orleans, you are certainly right. but i'm glad to report my best friend is going to new orleans next weekend for a methodist youth relief group to help!

:-D

Thanks amwosu and Trish. I know all that but for some reason can't seem to trick my mind into knowing it.

JJ5--you are absolutely right. There are much worse things to have to deal with than weight. I apologize for dwelling on something so trivial when I know you are dealing with so much. I guess my wedding is making me stress about it a little more.

kenm: A big hug to you and your wife. My DH is a manufacturing engineer and has been "downsized" (kicked in the stomach is a better term IMHO) twice. It may never happen again but I will probably never feel totally secure again either. You do have your health and you will survive and good things do come out of it...people will say all those nice things to you...but I always liked it when someone acknowledged...Wow! that SUCKS!! We moved the 1st time, and in the long run that was positive but it was awful in the short term. My DH has been commuting 50 miles for the past 3 years so our daughters could finish HS in this town. We are contemplating a move closer to his job now that the younger one is graduating. I hope you got a severance and/or insurance. We bought a 6 month policy from Fortis that had a big deductible but would cover catastrophic care. It was way cheaper than Cobra. Treat yourself tenderly. Hang in there.

jorr: Amen.

Rant: More daylight and sunshine! I feel energized!

Rant: We are taking our HS daughter to a reception at her chosen University tomorrow; her sister is enrolled there so we will all get to have dinner together.
Happy Weekend, Fellow Fodorites!