Rave: The house painting is Complete. And it looks great. We used "Duration" paint and will hopefully never have to paint again. =D>

Funny Rant: My poor dog looks like a dried-out paint brush. I groom him often but he just could not stay away from paint. ((&))

Rant: Email Spam. It not only drives me nuts but it filled up my inbox yesterday and made it impossible to receive some file attachments...which may result in loss of confidence of a prospective client. >

Rave: Americans who are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in. ><

Rant: Eminent Domain based on financial gain.

Rave: The liberation of the Gaza Strip.

Rave:My oldest sons (6 and 3) are with their Nana and Papa for three nights!

Rave:The baby stayed home with us!

Rant:I'm too tired to move.

Rave: Going to bed early.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Hi jorr !
Wonderful about your newly painted house !
I can echo all your rants and raves
except the dog, my cats might faint !

Rave: My cedar shingle siding is freshly powerwashed and stained-my house looks like it lost 20 years-think the process would work for me?


Rave:Cirque du Soleil tickets in SF in December for a special Christmas gift !
Love those performers !

Rave: 2 weeks til St. Louis to see the smile on Mr R5's face as he watches
his beloved Cardinals...

(tiny)Rant: The humidity in St. Louis-surely I shall wilt.

Have a nice weekend everyone !
R5

Rave: My coworkers are going to help me fix my car AND wash it for very very cheap! Well, it does come with a price. Same coworkers are shocked at the terrible state of my car and now look at me like I'm one of those ladies who owns 200 cats. ha ha!

Rave: My niece is going to Beijing on Monday.
Rant: For a year!! I'll miss her!

By the way, it's still Thursday here in Honolulu, and I'm 3 hours away from my "poison!"

Wow, you're on top of things this week, jorr! Glad to hear your house is painted!

Rant: We leave next Friday to take our daughter back to school. I'll miss her terribly.

Rave: It'll be my only time out of state since we took her last year. Really looking forward to the trip.

Rave: Although she'll miss us, she'll be very happy to be back at school. And that makes me happy. I truly believe she's found her niche.

Happy Friday and good weekend to all Fodorites!

Happy Friday!

Rave: I just booked my honeymoon 5 minutes ago! 4 nights at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and then 5 nights in Princeville at the Hanalei Bay Resort--private condo rental with the perfect view. I am going to dream of a drink with my DH at the Happy Talk Lounge tonight.

Rant: We are not leaving until the end of September.

Cheers and happy Friday to all!

Greetings all you wonderful FFR&R'ers ~

Jorr ~ Congrats on the finality of the house painting project, I can see those lovely shutters from here!

Razzle ~ Could you FedEx that powerwasher over to me next, lol.

CAPH ~ and well wishes.

Alisa ~ Aloha & Happy Honeymoon, darlin!

Rant ~ Insomnia, good grief, must be the full moon.

Rave ~ Insomnia led me here and Jorr's FFR&R reminded me: "Ta Da, oh ya, it's Friday!" Thx, Jorr, you doll.

Rave ~ All you shiny, happy people sending great travel advice, and hugs from afar!

Rave ~ That God led a little lost three year old named Abby across my path a few days ago and I was able to bring her in safe arms. Thank you God for not letting it be some crazed person that found this little trusting soul. Bless you, Abby, With love.

To LoveItaly ~ >< a hug, you know why!

Margot ~ I hope your Mom is doing well.

Elizabeth ~ How is Max adjusting?

Jersey ~ I hope your Dad is continuing to do well.

PM ~ Hope the job front is promising, hang in there, honey!

OWJ ~ We miss you now that you’re at school. Waa

Bonniebroad ~ Hope you are enjoying that little GD of yours!

I will HAVE to come back and say hi again when it is daylight. I can't imagine not making a FFR&R entry over my morning Earl Grey! Perish the thought!

Have a super day and splendid weekend, everyone! Tiff

Congratulations, Alisa!

Rave - going to Turks and Caicos on Saturday with our 16yr old son.

Rant - not checking whether or not his passport was valid before I booked our flights and rooms!

Rave - thanks to the passport expeditors who helped us get a passport in such a short space of time.

Rave - thanks also to the British Embassy who realised it was a 'rush' job and came through.

Rant - Jorr's FFRR post for making me realise I need to think about packing

jorr - glad the house painter finally finished, Is the weather better?

Thanks, Tiff, and right back at ya! Hope you have a great weekend!

Rant: My kids just called me a liar and, technically, they're right!

In my earlier post, I said that taking my daughter to school would be my first trip out of state since taking her last year. Completely forgot I'd been to Wisconsin in June and Missouri in October, April and May. How could one forget such excitement!? I *am* being sarcastic as I enjoyed all of those trips! But they don't quite compare to being able to cross several states to get to Massachusetts!

it's still Thursday in these parts but I've got to rave

Rave: Nurses strike avoided @ Alta Bates(Berkeley,CA) I think. Two more years and things are seemingly moving in the right direction. Ahhnold still tries to undermine the health of the masses but the nurses(and teachers and firefighters) are fighting back!!

Rant: Cindy Sheehan leaves Crawford,TX

Rave: A long awaited day off for trimming and planting the late summer garden and roasting an organic chicken. Ah..and having the windows of the house wide open for a full day!!!!!!!!!!!!! And, laundry going non-stop!! This is how you know it is a well deserved day off..I am excited about grocery shopiing, cooking, cleaning and laundry.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Wow, 11 posts and it's only 4.30am EST!

Yay, Jorr! It is a happy day when those painters finish and get out of your house!

Tiff--Insomnia here too. Guess we have more than Fodors in common, girlfriend
And you are the Hero of 2005 for saving that little girl!

Rant: This is going to be 'one of those school years'. You should see my crew--some LD kids mixed with everyother exceptionality, including one girl who I am pretty sure is mentally ill. It looks like she needs a therapeutic program more than my class.

Rant: It will probably take all year to get her the help she needs.

Rave: I'm going to have some funny stories from the goings on in my classroom--in special ed, if you don't laugh, you won't last!

Rave: It's Friday

Rave: We weren't going to get a new pet but got a 9wk old kitty Monday. He was abandoned and on the brink of death when someone dropped him off to our vet. She nursed him back to health and now he's ours! He's so darn cute and loves to cuddle!

Rant: We don't know what to name him. They were calling him Fly at the vet's b/c he came in covered w/bugs. We tried calling him Marty (as in McFly from Back to the Future) but that's not working. Now we're testing out Bueller b/c he's naughty and funny at the same time :-?

To those who need a hug, here you go ><

Rave: Going to a wedding of a forever friends daughter this weekend.

Rave: Will get to see lots of people that I haven't seen forever and ever.

Rave: The wedding is where I grew up, so I'm looking forward to seeing the big city...Population 625!

Rant: It's a 6 hour drive from where I live now.

Rant: The prom queen (that's me) is still overweight!

Rave: At least I have nice shoes for the wedding!!!

Happy Friday ALL

And, R5....darlin, you will "glow" in St. Louis.

Happy Friday, all!

Congrats on the new kitty OWJ. Nothing better than puppy breath and playful kitties. Glad you let a new bundle of love in your lives.

Rave: Life is good.

Rant: Posters who "don't have the time" to read the wealth of information on this board and ask the most basic of questions. What in the world is it like to live with such folks?

Happy weekend to all!

Good Morning Everyone!!!

Rave: I, too, have a wedding to attend tomorrow. It's an old friend from my old crowd. I don't keep in touch with him as much as I'd like but I'm very thankful that he still thought enough of me to invite me to the wedding.
Rave: I am so excited to see my old "posse". Everytime we do get together it's like no time has passed at all.
Rant: I know I won't be feeling good at all on Sunday (insert emoticon for major hangover (if there is such a thing) here)

Rant: my poor Hector's (that's my cat) breathing hasn't been so great lately. I've been giving him some extra Lasix, which usually helps with the fluid but it doesn't seem to be helping. I'm sooooo not ready to lose him yet!!!! I just pray that when he does go that it's peaceful and I can be the last one who holds him. I can't stand the thought of coming home from work or an outing to find that he went all alone...ok, must stop crying now.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Man, I just reread my posting and boy do I sound old, talking about my "old crowd". I'm not even 30 yet!

Rant: Garth cat, age 14, had to spend 3 nights at the hospital -- after being incredibly healthy and wildly active throughout his years.
Rave: picked him up yesterday and he's doing all right.

Rave: Max cat, age 7 months, is a true bundle of joy!

Rave: made salsa this week and probably more this weekend.

Rave: the rains have been wonderful for our yard and garden.
Rant: I own 1/4 of the family farm and the rains are damaging to the wheat harvest.

Rave: looking forward to reading about Fodor pals on this thread!

Alisa, happy honeymoon, sounds like it'll be great!!

Tiff, you are Abby's angel. And thanks for your good wishes in my job search.

Ellindi Pickle--By the time I got back to finish reading last week's R&R's the editors had already stopped the thread. I have waited all week to offer my condolences for your loss. So very sorry.

OWJ, I'm thrilled about your new kitty!!He won't take Shayna's place, but he will help fill that emptiness we all feel when we lose a pet.

iceeu2, have fun at the wedding.

ethel, I am so sorry to hear of your sick cat. I know how hard it is, I've been there myself. As I told our OWJ a few weeks ago, listen to your kitty and he will tell you what he wants. I will hope and pray for the best for Hector.

Now for my stuff:

Background--for anyone who is new, my job will be ending next year, so I'm looking really hard for something else.

Rant: OFFICE VULTURES!! A few days ago some big ugly vultures came into our office and started talking about how they will use this space when we officially get the boot. Apparently they are very excited about moving in to our office when we're gone. I wanted to yell, "Hey, you @#$%heads, we still work here!! Can you let our bodies get cold before you start making plans for our space!!" Thankfully I held my tounge, but the cold glares from me and everyone around me was enough to scare them away. We were all offended by this, as we thought it was terribly insensitive.

Rant: I still don't have an answer yet regarding the job I interviewed for 2 weeks ago today. They will be interviewing through next week but they say they will decide at the end of the month. More waiting....

Rave: I have another interview next Thursday morning. I am encouraged that my resume is bringing in some calls.

Rant: This will be at another company so it will not be as informal as the in-house interview I did 2 weeks ago. They sent me a schedule of the interview process. It reads:

--30 minute tour of the facility
--1 hour for writing sample. I will read a case study and write a report. Then I will do a presentation to the panel of my findings.
--1.5 hours of formal interviewing

This sounds like 3 hours of torture, but if I get the job it will be worth it. If I don't get this job, I will have learned something from this process.

Rave: I learned that Colorado is another state with a lot of oil and gas jobs, so I am registered w/a headhunter there. DH is all for that move, it would be so fine to live in CO, as we love mountains. I am a lousy skiier, but could improve with practice. But I will continue looking in my current home city as well.

Happy Friday and hugs to all my Fodor pals!!

WOW, it's only 8:24 a.m. and already 17 posts! Glad your house was finished jorr

Rant: A bit of a scare landed me in the cardiologist's office yesterday.

Rave: I didn't have to go to the ER.

Rave: My last exam of the summer is tomorrow morning. I'm so glad - my brain is fried.

Rave: My very supportive family

Rave: The four of us are going to see a baseball game on Sunday for my birthday. It's the one place I can scream like a freakin lunitic, and no one will really know the reason why, lol.

Rave: My dear husband is off next week. He's going to slow down my pace - thank God!

PM: How's it going? Been thinking so much about you.

OWJ: Good luck with your "crew" and your new kitty!!!

Tiff: Thank you for what you have done.

For those of you who are getting ready to send your son or daughter off to college, best of everything to them and to you! It's always a time filled with such mixed emotion.

I need to get some tea before I can read on and reply.