Nina, too funny! I could picture it and I would have been aggravated. How were the manicurists about it? And they were in wet bathing suits? Kinda rude leaving the chairs wet for the next customer!

I agree...why does a little kiddie need a mani and pedi????

I long to try a spa-chair pedicure, but in my city there have been many tells of yucky infections from them. Sigh.

The manicurist said "Very loud, people!" I said yes, very loud.

Rave: SO arrived home from E. Europe last night.

Rave: SO is a headhunter for airline industry execs and one of her placements 8 + years ago (until recently a very senior exec at an int'l carrier) just resigned, moved here, and bought a very popular restaurant (the papers were signed this PM).

Rave: He and his wife are staying at our house until 1 June and our celebration will be on Sunday (poor guy is working Tuesday - Saturday).

Rant: The VA's loss of data (DOBs, SSNs, etc.) on 26.5 M vets; lame statement by the honcho; lame recommendation(s) response; lame $50K reward for the hard drive.
Great prelude to Memorial Day weekend and
Perhaps the "mother of all class action lawsuits"?
Alas, unlike Corp America, no torts in the Fed Gov, lol.

Feliz fin de semana.

M

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend and takes time to honor those who have sacrificed to give us the freedoms that we all get to enjoy on a daily basis.

Rave: Daughter who lives 2-1/2 hours away is so good about e-mailing me pictures of the grandkids. Just got photo of first-born grandson (high school junior) in his tux (SO handsome!) and photo of him with the cutie he took to the prom (I don't remember high school girls looking that grown up in the 'old' days - lol!)

Rave: After lamenting the fact that I haven't had a trip in the planning stages since Paris last October, a trip back to Paris is on the horizon (as is a trip to Tuscany with son and his SO next fall). The Paris trip won't be until next year, but I've got lots of research to do, since my last visit (first solo ever!) was a serendipitous one with no real agenda. Wonderful trip reports by Beatchick and others have given me ideas of things I want to seek out and enjoy next time.

Rave: Two weeks from now son and SO will be here (from Florida) and we will be spending time with daughter and grandkids in northern Michigan and Mackinac Island. When I can be with my whole family, life is good!

Rave: Sister's granddaughter is top sprinter at her high school and has qualified for the state finals, so sis and I will be spending next weekend in Grand Rapids, MI to watch her run. Its as exciting for me as watching my own grandkids' hockey games!

Rave: Weatherman says the holiday weekend is gonna be warm and sunny in my little corner of the world. I see yard work in my future.

Rant/rave: After a year of being retired and traveling to New Orleans, Montreal, Quebec City, and Paris, as well as traveling all over Michigan for hockey, etc., I'm missing some aspects of working; i.e., the camradarie of fellow employees and having more responsibility than just to myself. This past week I interviewed for two part-time jobs, and unfortunately both wanted four hours/five days a week. One of the things that appealed to me about retirement was NOT having to work five days a week! So I'm in the process of developing business cards to pass out at the next local Chamber Business-After-Hours to people looking for temporary help when employees are on vacation, sick leave and maternity leave.

Best wishes to all Fodorites for a lovely and relaxing weekend, and to the Enron crooks, its so nice to see people get what they deserve!

Rant----the people who joked about the death of 3 Iraqi tennis players, as though they were killed by the fashion police for wearing shorts.

Rave----Fodors for deleting the thread.

Rant-----the person who belligerently challenged me as to what I meant by "normal" when I tried to call in a little compassion by saying they were jut trying to live their normal life, and it wasn't a joke.

Since the thread was deleted, I can't answer her, so I will here: by "normal" I meant living their normal lives, as they wanted to live, in spite of the war. That's all, no broad cultural statement or judgments about what is "normal". They were tennis players, human beings, not cartoons, and I thought it was time for a little compassion, not joking.

Shalom,

Nora S.

Rave: I feel lucky to be alive and to have a beautiful family and to be so richly blessed.

Rave: For all the soldiers who paved the way that I might be so lucky.

Rave: My kids and their love.

Rave: Just closed a huge business deal.

Rave: Breathing in the fresh spring air, very deeply.

Rave: Morning walks with my wife.


Nora_S, have a great weekend!

In that these FFR&R's seem to get deleted a lot I will just post this:

I have so much gratitude to all who have served our country from the bottom of my heart.

And my prayers and best wishes to all who have lost loved ones or injured ones during their service to our country.

Their sacrifices will never be forgotten by me or my family

Rave: Nora_S

Rave: LoveItaly

Rave: That we are able to live "normal" lives without giving the privilege a 2nd thought.

Rant: That many of us don't give it a 2nd thought.

AnnMarie_C, it was in fact a block off of Bandera Rd. and Leon Valley has a reputation which I was told about after it happened.

Rave---that we can learn things here and grow. And admit that we were wrong to be so skeptical.

This one is for you, Kelly.

Have a nice weekend too.

Rant: Insomnia...replaying my interview replies, over and over again in my head! Make it stop!!!

Rave: Congratulations to Caph's son!! Have a great trip!

lucy, great news about your daughter!

mms: congrats on completing your knitting project! I should really pull out my needles and work on something. What will you work on next?

Waiting for laundry once again! Fortunately, other than what's in this load, I'm pretty much ready to go. Good thing as DH wants to hit the road in 8 hours or less!

Want to add my thanks to those who've served our country. Both my father and FIL were WWII vets. Will be thinking of them both this weekend (and always).

STW, good luck with those interviews. And with getting some sleep! I think I know how you feel as I seem to have spent most of this week either wired or exhausted! Think it's end of the school year syndrome?!

Again, wishing everyone a safe, happy weekend!

CAPH52, you have been doing laundry since Thursday night. Home many kids to you have anyway? Hope you have a washing machine. LOL

Speeking of. My biggest fear when I went off to college was that I wouldn't know how to do the laundry if I couldn't bring it home. As a teen I was expected to do every household chore there is...except the laundry...which was hallowed ground only for my mother.

STW--I started a hat...sort of a beanie style. Schools colors for the kids, lol! Learning to knit in the round and use double pointed needles. Will see how it goes, lol!

jorr--Same here...my mother never let us touch the laundry (except tp help fold. So when I arrived at college, I remember standing in front of the washing machine trying to figure out how to work it. My roommate was speechless, lol!

Oh, Jorr, wish I had been so lucky! I owned one pair of jeans in junior high that I wore most every day and in order to "brighten" them doused them with bleach. Not knowing better at the time I poured the bleach directly onto the fabric. Got jeans? They looked like cow hide. Yes, the kids at school didn't need to look far for things to make fun of me with--I gave them plenty of amunition!

mms, you'll have fun knitting those hats!

I made a black cap for one of my sons -- think Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" -- that's exactly what he looks like everytime he wears the hat.

Rave: To all the men and women serving their respective countries. Thank you very much.

Rant: people being attacked on the boards. self-righteous people baiting others.

Rave: 3 day weekend

Rant: It's already 1/2 over!

Rave: Road trip tomorrow...

Rant: Early morning tomorrow and I can't sleep!

Rave: My puppy's such a happy doggy! ((&))

Rant: Buying a house in the boroughs of NYC is getting steep, but so is buying a condo in NJ!!! Ouch! I need me a sugar daddy! $-) :-"

My thoughts are with all the veterans and soldiers who served America. Thank you for your sacrifice.

To my friend Joe and all his friends serving in Afghanistan! Be safe, there's a cold beer waiting your safe return!

And mcheryl, my thoughts are with you.

Rant---Passive agressiveness.

Rant---Not knowing the whole story. Jumping to conclusion with a clique-like mentality of us versus them. Silly and juvenile, especially from those of such a different age group.

Rant---Censorship. A question is a question wether you are interested in or not. The people who are the most discouraging in life are those who insist that person does not have a right to ask or to know.

Rave--- Espresso, a good cafe, and the ability to laugh at the silliness of it all.