rave: the heat wave is near it's end. it was as bad as you've all heard and much worse, here in nyc.

rave: having electric and power. what's been happening with con ed is criminal.

rave: going to the beach this w'end.

rave: saw my friend who i haven't seen in way too long last w'end.

rave: dinner at mario battali's "otto" (ha! my screenname!) last w'end. it was great!

rave: toronto in 2 weeks!

glad to see you this week jorr!

go owj! ;-)

karens...fun song. i've been very nostalgic for that period of my life and the music lately.

:-D

Rave: I leave for a week-long camping trip to Yosemite tomorrow. Both DD and DS are bringing a friend, neither have been before. Youngest DD can't bring a friend but is content w/ our companionship.

Rant: We are leaving our baby (6 mos. Shih Tzu) home w/ my mom :(

Rave: My DH and I will celebrate 18 years of wedded bliss on Sunday :)

Rave: I'm planning a surprise bday party for DS turning 13. I love surprises!!

Rave: I've lost 9 Lbs. in the last 2 weeks. I've worked so hard and it's paying off. Yippee!

Rave: the 375 pictures I took from my Paris trip are ready at Costco today. I can't wait to see them!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Had to kind of zip through these. Will read more thoroughly later. But just wanted to say that my fingers and toes are crossed that you'll be taking that leave, OWJ! ((F))

And Happy Birthday to your son, STW! ((^)) The day after my son turns 17! You said yours is your sunshine. Mine is my squeaky wheel without whom life would be unbearably dull!

Wishing everyone a fantastic Friday! :)

Rave: The heat wave has broken here and also for our friends in eastern PA. They still have hot weather, but it's normal hot, not excessively hot.

Rant: There's a mouse in our house. He's been showing up in the bedroom every morning at 5:30 am (do mice wear watches?) scrabbling under the bed. He manages to flip the traps without getting caught in one.

Rant: Spaniels are useless when it comes to mice. We need a cat.

Rant/Rave: The mouse racket made me finally vaccuum up the mob of dust bunnies under the bed.

Rave: Husband is bringing home a big box of Krispy Kremes tonight.

Rant: Krispy Kremes have calories

Rant (serious rant): The plan to kill half a million dogs in a Chinese city due to a rabies outbreak. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14181622
There are far better ways of controlling rabies than this.

So many raves, no room for rants...

Rave - Son and new DIL's wedding last week at Malibu was the best wedding we've ever attended, period. Beautiful bride, beautiful venue, lots of stories to tell. Feel like making up some silly bumper sticker like "ask me about the wedding" - but won't.

Rave - now in the countdown for London, Prague and South Africa; leaving in less than 3 weeks. Assembling packing list, meds, setting up house-sitter arrangements. IMO this is about as fun as it gets (aside from actually going somewhere.)

Rave - finally announced my "transition" from employee to consultant at my job. When we get back from Africa I'll be my own boss, consulting with my current employer (and others in the field) but also expanding my current (sleepy) travel consulting biz into a more active enterprise plus will be affiliating with a big TA firm as a part-time/home-based TA. I'll have to watch my Ps and Qs here to not market my amazingly wonderful commercial services. ;)

Rave - Hot weather broke, dog is restored to near-normal energy levels (after staying sprawled on concrete basement floor for days on end.)

Rant - okay, one rant. Dog is restored to near-normal energy levels. Oy.

Rave: new people who become regular posters

Rave: OWJ news

Rave: Paula1470 was in San Francisco, and we had a lovely long dinner

Rave: another GTG coming up!

Rave: older son is back from Belize, the pictures look great, and he's tired

Rave: can't log in at work, so have more time for Fodor's

Rant/rave: getting son on COBRA, didn't realize we need to pick a primary doctor, they did it for us... in another city! But one call fixed it all.

Rave: just rave. No reason.

I think Tom Waits sings that song too :)

OWJ...in my own way, I have been there, those sleepless nights, knowing how much work there was to do to prepare..there is nothing like it, and what comes after ((L))

rave: My hubby just got back from a week long trip and I'm happy to have him home.

rant: Service at Applebee's restaurants

Have a great weekend everyone!

OWJ~May it all go well!

Rave: dinner in Point Reyes(Olema) with Razzle and Mr. Razzle. We washed down the freshest oysters and generally very good grub while gabbing
about this and that.

Rave:fractures are healing. The boot is cumbersome but seems to be working.

Rave:weekend trip next week to Healdsburg. A member of our wine group bought another winery. We having a tasting in the cellar. Sunday night just the two of us head to Cyrus for our 20th anniversary dinner. We have twp anniversaries..this one and the 'legal' one.

Rave: 20 years and it seems like only yesterday I baked a tart tatin and did not get to eat it until the next morning. We did make it through the lambchops and half of the Billy Holiday special on PBS.

Love really does triumph all.

Have a great weekend everyone.

BTilke - those poor dogs!! What a serious rant - and what an absolutely crazy thing to do. :(

My only rant (other than that story) this week is MOVING. Ugh. What a lot of work! Especially in the 95 degree heat. Thank goodness it's over now.

Rave: finding things in boxes I forgot I had - it's kind of like Christmas around here.

I haven't read through the whole list of R&Rs but positive thoughts to everyone. Have a great weekend!

Happy Anniversary to Mama and PamSF!

AnnMarie..I love Casting Crowns too!

Another Rant/Rave: Fodors is very addicting!! My teens think I'm certifiably nuts for looking at it all the time and make fun of me!! My DD couldn't believe I logged on while in Paris but I knew I could get the name of a airport shuttle service, and by golly, I did! So there!

Buon giorno my beautiful Fodorite friends ~

Rave ~ Good news for anyone, especially an anyone as lovely as our OneWanderingJew.

Tiny Rant (I know, your Tiff doesn't Rant often, but here I go) ~ Young adults (teens) that possess a sense of entitlement. Food, clothing, shelter, guidance, hopefully religion, education, with a huge dose of countless years of love, etc. That is what you are entitled to. The rest is what you earn. Funny how many confuse need with want. Luxury vs. necessity.

Rant ~ When the above grow into adults and still don't get it.

Big Rave ~ Those that DO get it! Work hard, play hard, travel, travel, travel, and do not expect 'someone else' to flip the bill. Think of others BEFORE you think of yourself, lol, you get the idea, I love ya, you unselfish grown ups you! (hee)

Rave ~ I had a dream that I was sharing a glass of wine with an old friend who lives out of state last night, and this morning I feel like I actually had a good chat with her! The dream was so real.

Rave ~ I'm in a Italy state of mind, it's kind of a permanent condition. HGTV's House Hunters International helped my cause this week. I actually shrieked when I saw it was on Montefioralle and Greve in Chianti. Scared my lil Soph for a second!

Welcome to Mama and Schnauzer and others that look new to me :B

Happy skating, AnnMarie

((^)) to Mr. P_M and STW's son

((&)) Soph says welcome to crefloors Lhaso, what is your name, little one?

Bon voyage fun2travel!

Go GoT go! Congrats on your continued marathon training! We're proud of you.

Happy weekend all - love those near you. ((L))

PM, you may have fallen into The Office Donut Scam. It happened to me and here's how it goes down. You're the new guy in the office or department or maybe someone who just hasn't been hit yet. One of the guys brings in a huge box of donuts and he offers one to you. You say no thanks but he absolutely insists and will not go away so you accept one. The next week the donut mafia comes to your cubical and tells you "its your turn to buy the donuts". What? It doesn't matter if you didn't want that donut last week because you accepted it anyway. Now you are a permanent unwilling member of the Office Donut Mafia. Watch out.

I think it may be a splinter group of the Texas Breafast Taco Mafia out of San Antonio. I fell for that one too.

very funny jorr!

I did notice a lot of breakfast burritos in Arizona as well. Thanks, but no thanks.

Now, Navajo fry bread with butter and honey! OMG!

starrsville, in most parts of the US they are called breakfast burritos but in San Antonio its breafast tacos or you're some kind of yankee! Which I was even though I lived there 16 years. Great city and nice people except for the Breakfast Taco Mafia.

I wanted to try the blue corn mush in Chinle - but decided to play it safe right before a 3 hour jeep tour. All the locals were eating it though - and the Navajo guide said it was the best breakfast of all!

WooHoo - fodors came through for me again! Many thanks, chasechow, Mrs. Jen, ajaq and mms!!

Rave: Instead of my usual salad I bring for lunch, I made a big one for the entire office which triggered an impromptu BBQ for all of us. Someone ran to the buthcer and dollar store around the corner and got hot dogs, rolls and charcoal and we all enjoyed lunch together. Yum. Nothing like working for many years with people you really enjoy (well, at least 90% of them).

Rant: we all had to get back to our desks and work.

Looking forward to a relaxing weekend without a million pre-planned events.

Good wishes to all.

**==Happy Friday from rainy Alaska!

((*))Rave~ OWJ.. I wish you the best and congratulations on your news. I had to wait five years for my second son, and there were many prayers during that time:)

Rave~ soon to meet two new Fodor penpals in Hawaii.. the only thing that could be better would be having Elle McPherson's bod,lol.8-)

Rant~ I ordered a drink at Starbucks yesterday and the girl gave me one totally different.. then she said "well, if you don't like it, I can make you the one you ordered"... HUH??:-? Gee, thanks ever so much, I'm so sorry I am difficult(I thought,lol).
((L)) J.

Rave: my first post on Freaky Friday.
Rave: Thank You so much for all your nice suggestions when I asked about going to the Mall of America or the Alamo. 35 more days and I will be at the place I have dreamed of for so many years, the Great Mall of America! It will be a lot of firsts for me. First travel experience, first airplane ride, first hotel stay. Mama wouldn't approve but now that she is gone, I am starting to live.
Rave: all of you nice people here, it is like having a family. when I return from my trip, I hope to be able to help others with questions about the Mall of America and someday the Alamo.
Rant: the mean people here who do not take kindly to new posters. Sour milk causes indigestion so try to be polite.