RAVE: In a few weeks, THE STANLEY CUP will be residing in CAROLINA!!!!!!!!!! :-d GO 'CANES!!!!!!! (Sorry, BuffaloGirl ... Someone has misinformed you! X-( )

RAVE: CAPH52's great news!

RAVE: ((&)) Puppies ... God's best work! My Trissie has been gone for five weeks now, and after sixteen-plus years with him, I still look for him and wish I could be snuggling him this minute! :-(

RANT: Elliott off American Idol ... if he looked like Ryan Seacrest, he'd be the NEXT idol! I'll buy his CD when it comes out ...;;)

RAVE: Going to Yadkin Valley Wine Festival tomorrow .... I love the small ones, and the weather should be gorgeous!

RAVE: Carolina Hurricanes WILL beat Buffalo Sabres tomorrow ... I hope the Buffalo fans BEHAVE in *our house.* :D

To all who have any sort of problem or worry, I send good thoughts and hugs. Have a great week, everybody ....

Rave: Almost done with my birdhouses, I have found some that are all different and painted them to resemble mine and my parents childhood homes, right down to the pets and flowers and addresses. Then I also have a few dedicated to some of my favorite places I have been painted like local buildings.
Rant: If I don't stop, my backyard will look like a shantytown soon I have so many :-).

Good Friday to all...

Jorr--It's a shame about your trees. What a waste. We have two trees in our front yard that were singed by a lightning strike, and I don't think that they'll make it.

Scarlett--GREAT news about the positive diagnosis. Cheers to good health.

Caph--:-) Yea! Those check-ups are always pretty scary, and I'm so happy that they came out well.

Enzian--Welcome, and congratulations on being a survivor. May you continue to enjoy good health.

mcnyc--I'm crossing my fingers for you and that job offer.

marigross--Also great news. I'm glad that there are some good things in your life right now. Hang in there. I'm still so jealous (and excited for you) about your trip to Switzerland. What a beautiful country.

AnnMarie--I second your rant on gossip. I've been dealing with some of that here. Ugh.

Ethel--have fun trying on your dress. I'm sure you will look stunning in it.

Big Rave--World Cup is starting in a few weeks. GO USA!!! (oh and for DH--Go Italia!)

Rant--Jason Terry of the Mavs is suspended for the game tonight. He deserves it, but man, is that going to suck for the Mavs. I hope we can still pull off a win, though, because I don't want to have to go back to San Antonio!

Rant: My high school alma mater was in the news this week because 18 teachers had to go to the hospital for digestive problems. Apparently, someone had dropped off a batch of muffins tainted with marijuana at the teachers' lounge. Yikes.

Rant: Nothing I can get into, but work has been so emotionally stressful this week. I have so many emotions running through me, but most of all I feel completely betrayed by some of the people that I trusted. Good news is that school will be over next week.

Rave: Beautiful weather.

Rave: Dad's doing better, and I'm finally making progress on my mom's paperwork.

May everyone have a blessed Friday and weekend.

Wednesday--send some down to me. :-) I love birdhouses, but I still haven't started buying any.

Ethel, we posted at the same time! Ten pounds is wonderful, and I'm sure you'll be a gorgeous bride! (I'm still fighting the re-gained ones... :-( )

Miz Scarlett, so happy everything turned out well for you and yours! A pat to Pup ... I'm sure I will ever stop missing Trissie ... :-(

CaliNurse, so happy about your good news! That is fabulous ... :-) Enjoy that sweet little poodle!

LeeAnn, have a terrific time in California. I'll be doing a lot of visiting there soon as my son will be living there ...

Trish, I'm jealous ... continue to enjoy your vacation in the islands!

Wednesday, your birdhouses sound adorable ... how creative!

Okay, outta here ... wonderful weekend to you all! :-)

I am not a usual rant and raver, but happened to open up the thread this am.

Didn't know so many fodorites were also pet lovers.

RANT: Our beloved basset hound died suddenly last night at home. I stayed with her until 8am when we drove her to vet for cremation. Very sad for my husband, young daughters and I. Can't believe we will go home to empty house this afternoon. Prissy was 11 1/2 years old.

RAVE: None today.

Edye--I'm so sorry to hear about your beloved Prissy. Our cat, Hector, crossed the rainbow bridge 7 months ago yesterday, and our house still feels empty. My heart goes out to you.

Thanks DivingAggie and Bonnie for the kind words. It's 22 lbs. total, which I know is nothing to sneeze at.

I'm so sorry, Edye, for the loss of your beloved pet. My heart goes out to you and yours ...((U))

I'm sorry, Edye, about your sweet hound.

rave: ireland trip went great! i'll do my first trip report on the europe forum...i think we had better weather there than new york did last week!

rave: seeing my friend from college after 11 years in ireland!

double rave: first weekend off in over 7 months!

rave: dinner with cousins tonight!

rave: i'll be at the beach next weekend.

rave: reducing stress and worry in my life. a positive thinking me starts now!

rant: not seeing my mom for mothers day this year.

marigross...my thoughts are with you and your sister in this stressfull time. hopefully she hangs in there. good news on your mom though!

edye...so sorry to hear the news. the truth is, you are never the same after you loose a pet. i lost my first cat 8 years ago.

:-D

rave- Glad to hear all the positive health news! that is always such a relief.
Just returned from Naples, Fla a few days ago - a girls getaway. We had a ball!
Rant - My daughter's private school. They truly care more about taking in money than they do about a young lady's education and self esteem. It is a machine to make money and such a joke. They care about my check book and THAT IS ALL! Shame on them. I am pulling her out, as are many other famiies.

Big raves for the good health news...Scarlett, CAPH's DH, marigross's mom, Enzien (and welcome, E.)

Gyppielou, hope you're lurking cuz you're one of my favorite posters--Best wishes to Max for a speedy recovery!!!

Edye-- so sorry about your dog! Big hugs!!

Trish--How can you be in paradise if we're not there sipping drinks w/umbrellas in them next to ya???

Ethel--may your honeymoon dilemmas be the most difficult part of your married life...ps my vote goes to Italy!

Bonnie's back on FFRR. We missed you, girlfriend! (and I'm w/you about Elliot--love that boy's voice.

Yay, the Hippies won! Now wouldn't they be a fun pair to hang out on vacation with?!

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and wish you guys good weekends! Caio!

Oh Edye, I'm so sorry about your sweet Prissy--my thoughts are with you and your family today. Our basset, Maggie, will be two next week and is a constant source of joy to us--bassets are such quirky, funny little things. I'm sure you have so many wonderful memories of Prissy--I wish we could see a picture of her.

Raves to Ethel for the continued downward spiral on the scale, even though it's frustrating when it slows down. I'm with Bonnie and am battling a few 'added on' pounds. Darn, and I was actually feeling skinny there for a few weeks!

Rave: A weekend with NOTHING to do! Last weekend we attended 10 graduation celebrations--lots of fun but that was pretty much all we did.

Rant/rave: A week of 'lasts.' Last middle school choir concert and our DD 8th grade graduation. She's my baby so am feeling kind of nostalgic about now. Next year we'll have a high school freshman and a high school senior and my emotions are already running amok...

Happy weekend to you all :-)

Happy Friday -- it's another georgous Georgia spring day!

rant: WooGo, The Musical, was cancelled due to actor disputes.

rave: WooGo's first occupancy violation court date verdict: GUILTY! ... with fines converting to daily if the conversions don't stop.

Rave: It's Friday and only 1 more week until I FINALLY get to see MI and get to meet both a new city and a new friend, TORONTO.

Rave: Cross town classic this afternoon and all weekend.
Joke below-
Why don't the Cubs have a website?
Answer: Because they can't string three w's together.

Rave: Semester is over and no one is here that is "important"- so I'm breaking the dress code and wearing my pink Sox World Championship 2005 cap.

Rave: Everyone's good health news and AnnMarie C's rave on people who make their OWN decisions. YEAH! I sure wish I had more of those people around me.

Rant: Stock Market

Rave: A Fodorite who emailed at just the right time with an inspirational and personal message that I NEEDED.

Rant: Pancreatic cancer, cancer lesions, dementia, incontinence, dressing changes, stroke damage, inmobility and everything in the wonderful world of 85 years old plus.

Rave: Stace, a live-in everything who is an absolute saint.

Rant: She will be gone this weekend and I have it all to myself for almost 3 days.

Rant: Selfish Relatives and people who do not help, but expect to be served when visiting the dying. The same ones who bring cakes to a diabetic.

Rave: Pets who are there for us when at all possible and know when they need to peep us up. My cockatiel Sydney is a great guy.

Best Rave: Once again, so glad for good health diagnosis and no-shows on scans for others.

Last Rave: Hopefully a GTG in Chicago in Sept. to look forward to throughout the summer.

Rave--All the good medical news on here today!

Rave--My dad is out of the hospital and doing great. They never did figure out what was wrong, but the zillions of tests all came back with good news, so we will take it!

Rave--DS comes home today from a week at Outdoor School. The house has seemed sooooo quiet without him.

Rave--Friends arrive today for the weekend. Of course I am still scrambling to get the guest bedrooms made up!

Rant--Had to miss an honors dessert for DD this week. Ironically, she had too much homework to take the time to attend, lol!

Ethel--WTG on the loss! How exciting to try on the dress!!! I still remember the first time I tried mine on and what a feeling it was. Be sure to take friends/family with you to take pictures.

Ronkala--So glad the reunion was good and that more are to come. Thanks for your service:)

Edye--So sorry to hear that. Yes, pets are so much a part of our families and that makes it tougher when they pass.

I'm so sorry to hear about g'lou's pup. :( I hope he recovers.

Great news, CAPH! :)

Glad to hear you are having a fab time, Trish! I know you were really looking forward to it. :)

Glad to hear the health scare turned out okay, Scarlett.

Edye, I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. I hate thinking of the day when my turn will come, too.

Rant: It's starting to get hot here in the islands. Summer is officially upon us and we could really use some rain.

Rave: Little Statia arrives for her summer visit in two more weeks. She is bringing along a girlfriend this time. Lord help me with "two" 16-year olds to look after. I know what I was capable of getting into at that age. ;)

Rave: DH is off work all weekend.

Rave: Getting a complete new home entertainment system and hope to have it in before the girls arrive.

Rant/Rave: My mom totaled her bad knee even with limited walking in Rome on her birthday trip with StatiaSis and me. So, she had knee replacement surgery Wednesday but is doing well and is glad to have that behind her.

Good thoughts to all those who have friends and family with health issues.

Have a great weekend, Fodorites. :)

Greetings all FFR&R'ers ~

Scarlett ~ So happy to hear the scare ended up being good news, what a true relief that must be! Hope Pup is doing better as well. Soph sends her love for Pup and Max. ((&))

CAPH ~ Yeah on Mr CAPH's bloodwork!

Welcome to you, enzian and I couldn't agree more with your Rave, my DH and I watched that game. I am glad you are here to share that rave! :)

Calinurse ~ I LOVE the scent of freshly mowed grass as well! Good rave, hee.

Marigross ~ Yeah, too, for your Mom, that is fantastic! An early bon voyage for you to the land of Swiss, How lovely!

Ethel ~ You are too cute for words. (I loved the "cardinal and his wife")

Oh edye ~ I am very sorry. I had a basset many years ago and loved him so. Thinking of you.

Welcome home Otto!

OWJ ~ Hi doll.

mms ~ good news about your Dad!

Tess ~ Don't cha just love those unplanned weekend!!!

Statia ~ Enjoy your time with little Statia! Also, I know a lot of people that have had much success with knee replacements, here's hoping you Mom is among them so she can take many more trips with you!

Rave ~ I must say my this week's rave is quite appropriate with all the pet posts. My this week's Rave is ~ Cesar Millan. He has a show on the National Geographic channel called Dog Whisperer. I first came across the show a couple weeks ago and two days ago I bought his book, Cesar's Way.
Love it - love him - love his show!

Rave ~ We have two showings for a property we put on the market this week, one right now as I type this and one on Sunday, ohhhhhhhhh how I hope this put in a offer! We put in a lot of work so hopefully someone will find it a gem.

Funny Rant ~ (At least I hope you think it is funny, hee) Cookbooks without pictures - ladies what in the world are they thinking. I believe all cookbooks without pictures should be banned. Seriously, am I alone in this thought? I like a pix.

Rave ~ Summer, orange dreamsicles, lying on an air mattress floating in a pool with only the thought of a light breeze on your face.

Have a happy Friday all! ((L))

Welcome to enzian and I'm glad for the good health reports of most of you!
But sorry for the loss of your pet, Edye.

Mikemo: congrats for yours - makes life alittle easier!

marigross and Statia: hope your mom's continue to do well!

ethel: We were so eager to get back to 'begin our life together' that we actually cut our honeymoon short! Went back a couple years later when we were more 'relaxed' about things. Therefore, I would tend to agree with your NY plans. Just put 'travel' in your budget and start saving for another future vacation!...you two HAVE talked budgeting, I hope, since that is a major hot point with most couples, post marriage.
My DH doesn't care for beaches either, and I love them, so that can be an issue that may need to be discussed also...some compromises on both parts.

DH calls....

Have a great week!

Rant - didn't book a last minute trip for this weekend. Where did the week go?

Rant- can't find what I'm looking for at work

Rave - my complaints being only the two above, things aren't so bad

Rave - sun peeking through the clouds here in Boston as I gaze out over the state house and sun in the forecast for tomorrow

Rave - all these people here who love their dogs. I wake up every morning to see if my 19 year old one is still breathing and happy to see she is. I've been checking since she was 13.