oops...I guess I do...

LOLLLLLLLLL agree with Amwosu! Sick of those pushy mothers who cell whatever they can at work!

RB traveler, forget the sniper, send THE quail hunter!

Best wishes to everybody with health and other problems. Hugs to all who needs them.

My travel agent called yesterday - I bought a tour through AffordableTours.com as they give a 10% discount - and left a message "call me, it's urgent" - just 6 days before the tour!!!

Being a panicky person as I am, I was sure I was bumped off the tour and in 10 minutes it took to hold for the agent, I went through all back-up plans :)

Turned out, she thought she made a mistake writing down my departure date - I made my own after-tour arrangements. Well, at least she didn't try to hide the possible mistake!

RAVE: meeting a fellow Fodorite tonight.

RAVE: off to Israel on Wednesday. 10-day tour, 2 week trip :)

RAVE: have I mentioned I'm going to Israel :))

Rave: I'll be packing on Sunday.

RAVE: oh, forgot to tell I'm going to Israel on Wednesday!

Rant: Sunday marks the passage of year since my father died.

Rave: My 9-year old daughter is an amzing soul.

Rave: 68 days til my solo trip to the Caribbean!

Rave: Just got my passport renewal photo and it's actually pretty good!

Rave: Planning on our first family overseas trip next year - to Ireland - just got three guidebooks to start dreaming through!

GoTravel - our prayers are with you.

GoTravel, I was stunned to read your news. My prayers are with you and your family.

I really only have rants, so this is your warning...

Rant or Rave, depending on your perspective: The "Sandwich Generation". It's difficult taking care of both our parents and our children divingaggie. You have my prayers.

Rant: My darling MIL had a fall on the ice yesterday. Lately her wounds are not healy properly due to her Lukemia, which is cause enough for worry. Now she fell, bumped her chin on the car, and fell on her hip. This all came out in a late night phone call. She refuses to go to the hospital to have things x-rayed - she doesn't believe she broke anything...sigh, I hope not.

Rant: I lost my temper with my father yesterday and I regret it. Since his stroke he is having difficulty with cognition. Lately, he has been calling me repeatedly, and it's not the chatty type call, which I can handle, but the interrogation type call. The <i>same</i> questions, over and over again. It's very sad when your own father keeps asking how old you are. Please God give me the patience that I need to handle him AND the kids that I work with.

Rant: Last night, my husband handed me this year's travel itinary. Stringent accounting practices have ruined my life.

Caph, thinking about you. ((l))

Tiff, I need something stronger than tea, lol. ((d))

For those of you who are dealing with the loss of a job, the failing health of a loved one, and difficulties, I wish you strength and peace.

GoTravel: I felt like a knife in my heart when I read your post. My son has been gone almost a year and I grieve for him every day. I hope you feel the energy of people who wish you well; sometimes I felt as if I were being propped up by friends. One day at a time is all you can do..

My wife's dearly beloved 96 year old brother-in-law who was like the brother she didn't have has slipped into a coma.

She just called the farm where he had lived all his life.

There was no answer.

Ed and RNcheryl, I am so sorry for your loss. GoTravel, I cannot put into words how I feel. You have always been such a bright spot I hate that you and your dear husband are in such pain. May you give each other strength and as Cheryl so poignantly put it, please draw the energy and love from others who so want to help you. Peace.

Ed,Go,RN...my sympathies to each of you. May the thoughts and prayers of your friends and families help in your healing.

Rave: its almost quiting time.

Rant: I'm learning new laws (bankrupcty) and new computer programs (to file thoses bankruptcies) and its more than my little brain can handle. Too much technology for this mid life lady.

Rant2: #2 son didn't get into National Honor Society. Why bother inviting him to join? High enuf grades, never gets in trouble, works, repsectful in school (teachers comments are always &quot;a pleasure to have in class,&quot; established own business with a friend, plays sports, does volunteer work, what more are they looking for? I think I'm more disappointed than he is. One of his best qualities is how positively he handles things. We need more school districts to be more inclusive like the one in Greece NY where the autistic boy scored the most points in a basket ball game, then being elite and exclusive. Sorry for the extended rant but i guess that's what this thread is about.

Have a good weekend all.

jorr: I agree those people are nuts! However, I do want to say that all Baptists are not the same. I've been one since college and NONE of the churches I've belonged to would support that idea! So please don't think all Baptists are bad people. Last time I looked, the Bible teaches that Jesus LOVES all his children. What those protestors said/did was anything BUT showing God's Love.

I am So sorry for all the hurting with sick and lost loved ones this week. I hope each of you receive comfort and support from your families and friends.

Rave: Special patients who return to 'show off' how well they have recovered and who say 'Thank You'. It certainly is a 'High' for me!

Ethel: Hang in there! Sometimes changing up your workout routine will help you break out of that slump.


Rave: Signs of Spring approaching!

Huge rave/rant: My multilingual and multitalented 20 y/o niece is graduating from the University of Paris/and applying to Law Schools.
M

Mikemo, have you heard that layers joke... ;)

I have tears in my eyes for you, GoTravel. I don't know what to say but I send you a hug for whatever that's worth.

JJ5, STW, DivingAggie and anyone else dealing with illnesses in the family...it's hard to believe, but somehow, somehow we get through this.

Tiff--A wonderful man like your dad is surely looking down and smiling at his sweet girl. I'll toast him tonight for you.

Rant: I join the group of friends/relatives who have loved ones w/cancer. In two phone calls this week, I learned that my mom's cousin-in-law (and a fave rel of mine) has ca of the liver's bile duct and my dear friend from college has breast ca. My friend is the 3rd sister of 3 to be striken.

Rave: They caught my friend's ca early

Rant: She wants a double mastectomy b/c she's so afraid of what could happen next. I'm 1000 mi away and don't know how to help her. (And she won't let me fly up there to provide moral support)

Rave: I see so much love on this board and in my real life. I feel so fortunate for that.

Giant bearhugs, for all who need them and for those that don't too!

{{{GoTravel}}} I am so sorry.

I'm praying for those of you who are dealing with ill relatives and other stresses.

Lee Ann

rant: GoTravel, I can't begin to imagine the pain you and your husband are feeling. Wishing you both some solace in this terrible time.

rant: kenm getting downsized. Keeping fingers crossed that a better job is near and that he'll see the Red Sox in the spring.

I'm just getting back to the board now and I can see this hasn't been a good week for most people on the R&amp;Rs. So many of us are dealing with illness and the loss of loved ones. Although most of us only know each other in cyber-world, we still have a connection that cannot be understood by people who are not a part of this community. I will continue to pray for your strength and that peace will return in your lives.

I am thankful that we have each other. Hugs to all who need them.

GoTravel, my heart goes out to you and your family. You're in my thoughts and prayers.

I have to agree with what P_M just said. This hasn't been a good week for most of us. Thank God we have each other!

divindaggie, your post struck such a note with me. I've often thought it was fate that got me started reading Fodor's several months before my husband's cancer diagnosis. I'd checked it out much, much earlier, probably 2 or 3 years, and had bookmarked the site. But just didn't get into the format. Something brought me back here a year ago this past fall. And I'm so glad it did! I don't know how I would have gotten through this past year without it!

I'm so sorry for all you're going through, divindaggie. But so glad that Fodor's has given you some escape.

JJ5, I agree with your comments on weight. I have a real problem with all the vanity issues of weight obsession. But, unfortunately, some of us have to be scale obsessed for health reasons. If I don't get down at least another 8 pounds by late April, I'm really afraid my blood work results will be such that my doctor will insist on putting me on Lipitor. And I really, really don't want to have to go on a statin.

Tiff and STW, thanks for your kind thoughts.

STW, I'm really sorry to hear that you had such a tough week. It takes so much patience sometimes to deal with parents and in-laws who you worry about and who often don't want to do what you think is in their best interest. It's a real toss-up sometimes as to whether your kids or your parents are harder to deal with! And then there's the kind of patience needed to do the work you do...

I'm not even going to try to classify this as a rant or a rave because there are so many elements of both. I went with my husband this morning for his bone marrow biopsy. We're meeting with the doctor Monday afternoon for an hour long appointment during which he'll fill us in on all the details of where we stand and what's ahead of us. But I guess the bottom line at this point is that the next 6 weeks are going to be hell. And that there's a 75% chance that this will do the trick.

Rave: My husband is driving downstate tomorrow AM to visit his mother. I think he really needs the distraction.

Rant/Rave: Our son and I can't go with him because of the big dance tomorrow night. It would have been totally unfair to the girl who asked him to bug out at the last minute. It's the first time our son has gone to one of these things and it's part of the &quot;high school experience&quot;. And I think it'll be good for my husband to have some time alone with his mother. I guess the only real rant part is that I'll be alone much of the weekend. But that's okay too. I can't say that I feel real sociable right now anyway.

Rave: The nurse who was there for the biopsy this morning was absolutely wonderful. She was so genuinely supportive. And that's saying an awful lot. After all, she has to see this sort of thing day in and day out. To be able to remain &quot;open&quot; and compassionate is just incredible.

As we were leaving, after she'd talked to us about how hard the next six weeks will be and how difficult it would be getting through this weekend, etc. she said, (laughingly, of course)&quot;So drink heavily this weekend!&quot; Sounds like a plan to me!

Caph52, I'm very sorry for everything your family is going through right now. I know it is taking all of your time and energy. When my husband had cancer, his treatment seemed like a full-time job for both of us. Our children were around the age of your son and we tried to keep life normal for them- especially letting them participate in all the school activities. I hope your son has a wonderful time at his school dance.

You will make it through this difficult time. Your family will develop a strength that you did not know was possible. When my husband was sick, the positive thing was how close our family all became to each other. Twenty years later we are still especially close because of our experiences together.

You are in our prayers.

Glad to say I had a rather quiet week,but this picketing at funerals does make me sick. With emotions high, it would be easy to see it take a violent turn.

My thoughts go out to all that are dealing with &quot;rants&quot;...it's a comforting feeling when you look back and people you only know through here offer encouragement through your bad times.. Have a good week!

Hey CAPH,
Couldn't sleep and came on to check RRs hoping you would have time to post. I just want to say hello and let you know I'm thinking about you.

And STW, sorry I forgot to acknowledge your post. I wish you strength and patience in this difficult time. Big hugs to you, sweetie!