r5,
Hey Hey Hey!!! You a wanna me to sleepa wit da fish??? :-O

Ani,
CONGRATS!!! Kalena is a very pretty name (right Kalena?). The kid have a job yet? Start 'em early, I tell ya!

Marilyn,
I find Helen Mirren to be one of the sexiest gals on TV. Should I be worried?

Raves:
Nothing hurt when I got up.

Had lunch with an old buddy of mine that I hadn't seen in over 10 yrs. <hic>

6:00 softball game tonight so time for pizza and beer afterwards.

Rant:
People who don't know how to turn left while in an intersection with oncoming traffic. "GET OUT IN A DARN I/S then turn left when the light turns red...don't wait behind the limit line DAMMIT"!!!

I have a "The Apprentice" ear worm!!!.
I watch TV...The Apprentice...
I read the paper, The Apprentice...
I listen to the radio, The Apprentice...
ARRGGHHHH...I think I'll go watch to "The Andy Griffith Show" so I can get the darn whistling stuck in my head instead.#-o

Rave:
Welcome Back Grasshopper! Rome must be missing you already~

Kal -- just FYI, not because I haven't been just as frustrated w/left-turners -- but in some states it's illegal to do that and at some intersections, if there is a sign that says "Do Not Block Intersection." A friend found out the hard way from a judge what that means.

Ani, congratulations! What's her name? Is she gorgeous and beautiful? (What a question - of course she is!) Would she like to meet an older man? My grandson is 5 months old and doesn't have a girlfriend yet! :)

Ms Cass,
Here in Cali we have the signs too, but it's meant not to have cars try and enter an i/s on a yellow especially when traffic is backed up and they may wind up blocking the flow in the other cross direction.

We were always taught to get into the i/s and wait for the on coming traffic to clear then turn left...if not once your light turns red, you're already in that lane of traffic turning that direction. I think I 'splained it right.

But, you know if a judge wants to nail you, they will nail you. :'(

As for the people who hate that Omarossa gal, try "netlaughter.com" and look her up. There is a "Slap Oamrossa" game.
You have to try and slap her hard enuff to knock the chip off her shoulder.

I never watched it but I heard she was the Erica Kane of the program?

THanks so much for all of your kind words and congrats! Her name is Riley Larkin and she IS beautiful and gorgeous! And currently crying....time to go-thanks again!

Kal, you 'splained it right, and that was how I was taught too. Then I moved to other states and sometimes had to unlearn it, esp. in states where you aren't supposed to enter i/s on yellow. I'll remember when I'm back in Calif. what you 'splained.

But meanwhile: WHERE is slap-Omarossa game??! Went to website, clicked around some but couldn't find it ("Slam a Celeb" had others...). PLEASE 'splain what to click on to find it. ;-)

Ms Cass...try to cut and paste this: http://www.netlaughter.com/funpages/view.cfm/2525

BTW, I remember my Dad almost getting a
ticket in Pittsburgh, Pa one year.

After living in San Diego, Calif for about 7yrs. he was used to turning right on red lights.
He did it on our trip back to The Pitt and was pulled over.

The officer gave him a warning once he saw our Cali plates and his Cali D'License. Phew.
That would have been a cross country rant! #-O

Rave - Mazel tov Ani on the arrival of little Riley! Enjoy every moment.

Rave - It's Autism Awareness month. Maybe it will help to find a cure.

Rant - Ziana's days are numbered.

oops -- last one was a rave too. No rants this week.

Ani, one last thing: Call me romantic and silly, but I would print out all your fodors Freaky Fridays for the last few (8 or so?) wks. where we have followed your final hours, so to speak, and put them in the baby book. Who knows what type of mass communication tools your little one will have available when she is older, but regardless of the increased technology you can show her the "old style" internet travel chat buds who rejoiced w/you in 2004.

RANT-Assarosa makes me ill...even more ill that we all talk about her..if they bring her back , I will for sure not watch.
RAVE- Bill won and Kwame has a job offer...I want Troy to get a great one ,too.
RANT-Congrats, Ani..I have a baby girl ,too...she's almost seven but it seems like a second ago that she was just born..
RANT-Spring in the South..Ill be on the lake tomorrow with a cold margarita and a hot man...does it get any better??

Whoops sorry...my last two rants were supposed to save Rave....lol

missjanna: Re: getting your cat in the carrier ... try putting a catnip toy (or some FRESH catnip) or an open jar of baby food (meat) in the back of the carrier. Leave the carrier door open (of course) and see if kitty won't go in on his/her own. I have trouble keeping mine OUT of the carrier, especially if there's a towel or something soft for them to lie on. Is "kitty" going on vacation with you?

By the way ... did anyone see the clip on Conan O'Brien where they showed what a baby of Donald Trump and Assorama would look like? They superimposed Asso's evil eyes and big-toothy mouth on Trump's face ... hilarious!

I "collect" malapropisms and "made-up" words. Yesterday I heard someone on a radio call-in show telling us that as a teen she was a terror, would scream and yell and her mother and go on a "rant-page."

What a great word -- and half of what this thread could be called!!

....AT her mother.....

A BIG FAT GIANT Rave: Hubby was a victim of a frivolous lawsuit. Not only was he exonerated but all other parties involved were also. There is still justice in this country, this case has restored my faith in the jury system. And to quote the great late MLK: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty we are free at last!" >:D< [-o< \:D/((L))**==

One last Rave: The Red Wings are leading in game 5 against Nashville - scored twice in the first two minutes of the game. Life is good!

Ani, congratulations!!! How did you find time to visit Fodors? You must be more organized than I was with a newborn!

Rave: Tomorrow I leave for three months (three weeks in NYC, the rest in UK, Italy, and France). Hooray!

Rant: My elderly mother who is in an assisted living facility is convinced she'll never see me again -- either because I'll be killed in some terrorist activity, or because she will die during the course of the next three months. Each time I stop by, she starts crying. Geez, it makes it difficult.

Patrick, That has to be tough! But rest assured, she and you will probably be around next year to go through the whole thing when you leave for your next 3 month trip.

Have a FANTSTIC time!!! We'll miss you around here. But I'm already looking forward to hearing about your trip.

Ciao!

Bon Voyage, Patrick, you will be missed but I ( and your mother) will be looking forward to some sort of report or comments when you return ~
((F))

Ani- Congrats! My baby girl is 15 (years, not days). I did blink.

Patrick- we'll miss you, have fun, and give your Mom a kiss for me. Mine died in January and I wish I had her here to kiss.

Rave- Just got back from DC where my older daughter is being recruited for soccer.

Rant- The traffic was brutal.

Rave- What a blessedly beautiful day ourside.

Patrick, promise your mother you'll call at some pre-arranged times during your trip, then invest in a phone card while in Europe (make sure it covers calls to the US). It'll help her a lot to know you care that she doesn't worry and that you'll at least TALK during those 3 months. If you have some specific phone "dates" ("Tuesdays and Fridays, around breakfast time....", she can look forward to hearing from you between calls and won't feel so far away. She'll also know you have a phone card and can call her if something unexpected happens. Also reassure her by giving the A.L. facility (and her?) a few contact phone numbers.

Hopefully, she's wrong about seeing you again, but she may not be. Everyone's life is short. You'll always feel better about easing her sorrow at having you so far away -- doing otherwise could ruin your memories of the trip more than feeling that she's a "burden" now.

Ani, CONGRATS! Patrick, have a great trip. Suggestion of promise to phone Mom is a good one, won't cost you much time or money.

Patrick, it is so important that you keep in touch with your Mom while you are away. I put off traveling by air for many years, because I was afraid my Mom would worry herself to death. She passed away last year at age 92, and was always a good sport about my travels, even though I knew she worried a lot.

Before each trip, I would write out an "itinerary" for her in a spiral notebook, so she could keep up with where I was and what I was doing. (Yes, I did some things that would have made her hair stand on end -- hot air ballooning, helicopter ride, lots of walking around late at night -- but I didn't tell her about those until later.) I also brought her a magnet or a coffee mug from different cities I visited, and she was really proud of those.

The idea to set pre-arranged times to call her is a great one. She will feel much better, and so will you.

By the way, I realize you've already left on your trip, but I wanted to post this anyway. Have a great time!

Hope this is not too late, Patrick,
Have a great time and tell mom, you have hundreds here praying for your (and anyone traveling,) a safe return. meanwhile, Sunday rant, no hot water, broken didposal and can't find someone willing to come here to fix it.

Sunday rants and raves:

Rave: The weather in NC is wonderful. Soccr did a good job describing it on Friday.
Rant: The yellow pollen coating everything.

Rave: Ani's new baby (aaaahhh)
Rant: with a rave like that, there can't be a rant

Rant/Rave: The Apprentice. Most every task was selling oriented, but the winner will oversee a construction project. Wouldn't have made sense to have more tasks related to the final job offer?

Bon Voyage Patrick, I look forward to reading your trip reports.

Monday rant: My computer is on the blink. Internet company says I have a "winsock" problem. What is that? I thought a windsock was something you stuck in your yard. I am using my daughter's computer while she is at school; however, her internet is networked through mine. If I have to have mine serviced, her internet probably won't work either. What ever will I do? (Also, my son was climbing the walls yesterday. Help!)