Members' News

I started using 'z' for a while...added some pizzaz to my life...but I bought a USB keyboard and all is well.

Woke up and mum said that Obama had won. Happy happy day.

Well I'm back home for good and I'm looking for work and waching TV with Obama giving his victory speech.

My great granmother is not very well. The truth is she is on her way out. She's 98 and has lead a full life. I will miss her and I know that it will it us all hard.

But yay for Obama I thought I would not be able to see an african-american be presedent. It's time to party

:;hugs peapod::

I have sinusitis. Again. Back to the doctor I go and we'll see if they can sort it out this time.

Ha, I read that as "snort it out"....

Sinusitus sucks.

Yes it does. If only snorting worked because I would be snorting away.

Drink a hot toddy with lots and lots of alcohol...it mightn't get rid of your sniffles, but you sure as heck won't care!

*****

I'm still trying to work out if I had a great holiday or not. I went with my sister (high maintenance and has a hissy fit at the drop of a hat and cannot cope with people disagreeing with her or being different...-not people she doesn't know, more people she does, ie. the people she went on holidays with...and she's always right, and you are always wrong...), my mother (hitting 70 soon, problem with walking, complete hypochondriac, can wind up my sister without even meaning to...every five minutes), my aunt G (early 60's, very used to doing her own thing, including living alone...needs a lot of quiet time like me, doesn't care if she upsets my sister close on becoming my favourite aunt) and my auntie M (also in 60's, and has alzheimers).

Needless to say, there were quite a few mini-fights, hissy fit's and losing my auntie M who has the attention span right now of an easily distracted brick. We lost her a lot. It was quite upsetting. Especially for my mother who was trying to mother everybody; much like my sister who doesn't seem to realise that I am 27 years old. And I quote from earlier in the week: 'I have a mother, she is very much alive and honestly, Cath, she is standing right there beside you, thank you very much now stop giving out or I will plant a fake spider in your bed tonight!...and yes I am wearing sunscreen now will you get off my back!'

But the apartment/complex was fab, the weather was perfect and I actually got a bit of a tan. I ate, I drank, I didn't quite get merry but then, I didn't kill anyone either. Considering some of the "Discussions" that went on between my mother, sister and aunts, that was amazing.

Wow... congrats on finding a new well of inner strength, Mazekin :wink:

Maze, next time go alone.

The book signing was good fun. Small, about 25 of us, but you couldn't have fitted more into Murder One's romance section. Robin read from two of her books and answered questions before signing. Found out later that she would have read from what she's currently writing if things had gone quiet but we missed out on that.

It was more cosy that a Pratchett signing and I was there for about an hour and half, indoors and not queueing.

Well, I'm in Paris for the weekend with dear old BH, Paris is big, dirty, hurts feet and heads and I have never understood how people can find it romantic... Also, we are sharing a very small apartment with his colleague, so not much peace and quite. But still we're together for a while, that's good and we should make the most of it.

Struggling to feel sympathy. ALthough I'm sure Paris is crud, i mean its full of French people, but surely theres got to be some redeeming features about the place?

Well, there is that big metal thingy down by the river...

Nah, Paris is ok when you're with your other half, but on your own it's miserable. Big and dirty still hold, as do hurty feet but I will admit there are some pretty bits. The rest of the weekend was ok, we did some of the crappy touristy things and had fun, but now I'm heading back to Oyreland and he's back at work...

Katcal, repeat after me: husband away for 2 months is still better than husband away for a year!

:redface::sad: True. Sorry Mowgli... And missing birth of first child certainly outweighs a slightly awkward Christmas too... *big hug*

Mowgli did brad leave a life sized cut-out of himself so you and the baby can remember what he looks like? And it has the option of sticking it over the cradle so the baby thinks that dads there...

::big returned hug:: It's cool, Kat - here's to our menfolk, may they get their bums home ASAP :smile:

::looks frightened:: no, Spikey - that would freak the HELL out of me in the middle of the night! :shock: I mean, really, can you imagine waking up to a strange man-shaped silhouette in a dark room, especially one looming over a cradle?

Brad comes home:
"Dear, why does my cardboard cutout look like someone has beaten it into pieces, then taped it back together, then beaten it again?"

He DID leave a teddy bear with a little playback device in its belly, onto which he has recorded his voice. I keep it next to my pillow. Sometimes I accidentally lie on it, with humerous results.

When the kid arrives, I'll let him listen to the Daddy bear. Then, when the kid hears Brad's real-life voice, he/she'll wonder why Daddy no longer sounds all scratchy and staticky...

:smile:

And why he's big and not furry... But that is a cool idea.

This is how revolutions get started...

Just as I finally came to terms with the notion that the only semblance of a maternity leave to which I can lay claim after giving birth is 3 months of UNPAID absence from work - during which time my company is legally bound to NOT fire me...

... I am now told that during those 3 months, I'll have to pay my own insurance premiums. Currently, they're at around $740 a month (I earn about $1800 per month), but are supposed to go up starting next year.

HOW DO PEOPLE MANAGE TO HAVE BABIES IN THIS COUNTRY????????

(And yes, one way to go about it is to save up as many vacation/sick days as you can BEFORE giving birth. In my case, if I took absolutely NO vacation/sick days all of previous year, I'd have about 3 weeks worth of paid leave. Which is lovely. But EXCUSE ME for wanting to spend some time with my husband before he goes off to Iraq for 8 months!!! Likewise, excuse me for taking a sick day here and there because HELLO I'M PREGNANT, and going to work sick, as opposed to resting up in order to nip a cold in a bud, can cause bigger - and more expensive - problems later down the road!!!)

And yes, I should be working right now as opposed to complaining. I'm going to work now.

::GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR:::

Gee Mowgli, that sucks Not much I can do to help unfotunately, I know next to nothing about the laws and regulations of the country I live in, let alone that big one acrss the pond, but I sure wish I could. **big hug**

::hugs Katcal:: Thanks for the sympathy!

PHEW - apparently I got the wrong information, and I DON'T have to pay any more for health insurance during my mommy leave than I already do now.


:uts down the torch and the pitchfork, starts to dismantle the barricade::

::hugs Hsing:: Thanks :smile: (and don't get me started how the US is the only "developed" country other than Australia that doesn't mandate a paid maternity leave. The evil socialist Aussies, in the meantime, allow for a full year of unpaid leave before they fire your bum)

True its not mandated, most larger companies give at least a couple of weeks. The government gives 3 months paid maternity leave my university gives 6 months leave. So if I was going to pop a sprog I would be well cared for...

Non-paid leave is just a way of saying that if society wants any new workers than workers must pay for their own future labour force. But i may be a Marxist and therefore burned at the stake in the US.

Darn skippy, Spiky!

Using "society" in the same sentence as "pay" is Communist, and therefore highway robbery.

On the other hand, imposing one's "morals" on the same "society" is the only way to prevent that society's extinction.

In other words,I'm not contributing a dime to keep your kids off the street and out of a hospital, but I'll fork over a month's savings to buy chastity pledge promise rings for the lot of'em. ... And then wonder why there are so many sick, uneducated people around. Must all be the feminists' fault!

(sorry, I REALLY ought to stop reading the conservative websites)

On the other hand, I'm trying to find out if I can get short-term disability for a month or so after the sprog is popped. Big question: "Would pregnancy be considered an intentional, self-inflicted injury?" (no money if it is)

:tongue:

Its not intentional if you can prove immaculate conception. All hail the new King!

My short term disability insurance covers pregnancy, not that I plan on using it for that, I think the long term disability would also cover it in some circumstances. The company does allow for unpaid maternity/paternity leave, but since it doen't provide any daycare services other then a couple extra days absence for daycare emergencies, I would say it could really stand some upgrading of benefits, not that I would hold my breath or anything.

Good luck with the pregnancy Mowgli! *hugs*

As I mentioned on a separate thread, I'm back after being gone for a while; this probably wasn't the best time to return, seeing as it's almost the end of the semester which means I'm suddenly absurdly busy with tests and papers of doom to write and study for.

It's been a difficult semester. While all the stupid drama I had to endure among my circle of friends has died down, life decided to spring up and smack me a couple of times. My Dad's younger brother, my uncle Dave, died at the end of October of lung cancer, so that was a bit of a curve ball for the family that really shook us. That said, some good came of it because out of the dire need to distract myself from feeling sad I decided at the last minute to do NaNoWriMo. It was a success, and even though my schoolwork suffered it was completely worth it. I now have a novel in need of editing. Glee!

I've had some crappy classes and some decent ones, which are almost over. I have papers to write and projects to finish, but I will get it done. I will!

I turned twenty-one on halloween. I've since discovered that I'm a fan of Cruzan Cherry-flavored rum and Mike's Hard Lemonade... but not together. And only because they taste good: it's so much more entertaining to sip, watch my friends get hammered, and then have some tea.

Things are still going well with the boyfriend. I passed him a copy of Men At Arms in September and since then he's been reading every Discworld book he can get his hands on. I'm so proud ^_^. In response he's been trying to convince me to read Robert Jordan, which was going well until November. Might pick them up again over Christmas break, that's the hope. Over break I'm going to meet the boyfriend's family in San Diego. Any excuse to get away from the snow and into the sun. *cackles*

Still working on comic projects, still slogging through attempting to get my English degree and working two jobs. Life's been tough, but I'm dealing. And I'm happy to have wandered back here.

Don't! Don't! DON'T DON'T DON'T!:shock:

Sorry...but of an over-reaction there, but...he died midway through writing the last book! Don't do that to yourself hun, please, I beg you! Wait until his nephew or cousin or son or whoever is supposed to be finishing it finishes it! Please, please, please don't do that to yourself...it's not worth it until you know book 12 is going to actually be published...

Sigh...sorry...second over-reaction is over now...:sad:

And we're really glad to see you back

I fly home in a week to visit my friends, family and partner. It's been 8 months since i've seen most of them...and i'm absolutely itching to go. Still have a whole darn week + Christmas shopping before then though. Aaargh!

Thanks for the hug, Hex - and congrats on turning your guy onto Pratchett!!! Yay, more minions for the Marther!

Gypsy, sounds like you and your folks have a lot of catching up to do :Smile: Have fun!

REG IS HOME REG IS HOME REG IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(sorry for the delusional number of ! but, really: !!!!!!!!!!)

Tomorrow is the work black tie christmas do, t'will be Reg's first Black tie event and first ever tux, and only my second ever, and the first time I get my hair done by a hairdresser, will be going with all the girls from work, so quite excited really, even though I'm not much of a girly girl usually...

Apart from that, life is good for the weekend.

::smile::

A Black Tie Party for work, well I don't really aspire to that, but it would be sort of nice if we were going to have our work Christmas party someplace other then the ...lunchroom, at the plant, as it is on my day off I might not even go this year. I may actually be needed at home. There is some sort of hearing about the fate of Connor and Celina that day, and my folks will probably want to go to that.

There is a foot of snow predicted for this weekend with strong winds and falling temps, goody goody, winter is really here! My hot water line was frozen this morning, so guess what I'll be doing this evening( I already checked and the pipe has thawed).

I've got a cold and am in A Christmas Carol. Not a good combination. Mr Cratchitt is a stopped up fellow.

I have sinusitis... Again. Its getting ridiculous, this is the 5th time in 3-4 months its like living with a permanently exploding face...

On the up-side its the last week before a big long christmas break and I'm very much looking forward to the break. Although I'm suffering from that all encompassing sense of family guilt as I'm spending xmas with my dad and not my mum even though its her turn. *sigh* no matter how old you get your parents still make you feel like crap.

Went with Reg to the airport this morning, so up at 4am. Then to the other side of Dublin where I had to go for a blood test. The seccy pp types away, entering the details of the tests the doctor has listed and tells me how much it's going to cost. I still don't know how I managed not to faint or just turn round and run away. 278€. And I have to go back tomorrow for another one after having taken a pill at midnight to see if the new treatment does anything. It had bloody well better do something! Sheesh!

...eep? Why blood test?

Hugs to Hex. I have lost an uncle to lung cancer. I don't remember much, since he died when I (and very sadly, his three sons as well) was little. What I do remember was me and sis getting into trouble because we were playing around with his pack of cigarettes and destroyed the lot. Afterwards I wished I could have gotten to them sooner.

Gypsy, Katcal, congrats on the reunions.

From the sniffles front I remain yours sincerely

The storm is finally over for me, the plow guy came! It took him a little more then 15 minutes with a bobcat and I can go to work now. It is very very cold and I got nearly a couple of feet of snow blown into the yard, maybe more. It took an hour and 45 minutes to drive home and i live about 6 miles from work, I was aided by a neighbor who was kind enough o go get his plow truck and clear a path for me which i drove off, into a ditch mere feet from my house, but he helped me out of that mess and made it possible for me to get home, i am so glad they let me out of work early, i would have been stuck in the dark probably otherwise. I missed a day and a half o work but it could have been so much worse. And now it looks very probable there will be a White Christmas.

Tam is your f key not working?

I have a new laptop and in 1/2 hours time it will be fully kitted out software wise (thanks to the IT guys at work) and I'm looking forward to some fully sick spunky laptop action with my dedicated graphics card, my 4Gigs of RAM and crucially the 320 Gigs of storage so Ican finally get my entire life in to one place.

**Rubs hands in glee**

Nothing serious, don't worry just checking the old levels and testing a new kind of treatment to see if it's worth it before prescribing the full monty... Still, rather dear for a check up I must say! Next time I'll get my GP to do it, she only charges 20€!

And so recently married too...:razz:

R.

Donchaknow that dedicated graphics cards make a better marriage?

So dad went in for a heart cath this morning.They told him he was going to get operated on this afternoon. He is now in surgery having five bypasses. I've got a show tonight, then it's back to the hospital to see how everything went. Should be an interesting weekend.

Good luck with everything.

Keep in mind that you also have Tricare to use as secondary insurance.

Hey guys - just been trying to catch up on all your news - not easy after being away for a while. Hugs and congrats to all who need and deserve - hell, hugs to all.

Not much news to tell - I haven't been up to much - not been fit enough due to pregnancy. It was a case of go to work come home and collapse until the next day.

I worked up to Christmas Eve (the last legal day I could work due to public and company holidays), yup mad. With hindsight I would have liked to have stopped a few weeks earlier, but as I have to return to work full time I want as much time as possible with the wee one when he/she arrives.

I am now overdue! Which the midwife did predict. Oh joy - seemingly I am having a big baby, not just long, but big too! Yes I need help putting my shoes on. :lol:

Things have been quiet over the festive period (Christmas and New Year), and it has been very enjoyable, a refreshing change.

Any hoo have to go now - hopefully (I'm not promising anything mind), I'll not be away from here for too long again - so much to catch up with.

Rewr

Rewr, good luck on the delivery.

Big babies run in my family, as well as past due babies (two weeks is the average). My little brother and three of my nieces were all over ten pounds. The lightest of my family was my older brother's youngest and she was 8 lbs 9 oz. One cousin was fourteen pounds and he's still pretty husky now at the age of 50 .

I hold the record for the longest baby in the family at 23.5 inches and 9 lbs 8 oz.

Question: Why do I know all of their birth weights off the top of my head? I still haven't figured that out.

I've just got back from spending chrissie and new years at my dad's. All in all it was a good time, too much food and drinking but thats normal in my family.,..

The biggest adventure occurred when we decided that the weather was too crap for swimming or fishing so we got in the 4WDs for bit of bush walking in the nearby mountains. All went well getting to our destination but it went down hill from there. To start with the paths had all overgrown as the parks service hadn't maintained the area and no one had been through in a while. So we spent a goodly part of the time trying to find the path or tripping over things. there were leaches. Lots of leaches and thats all I'm going to say about that.

We made it to the water hole at the first waterfall but couldn't go any further, so we had our swim and started back. While trying to step up a steepish embankment my left ankle turned throwing me off balance, I tried to lift my right foot to correct the fall but it got stuck under a tree root tipping me further of balance. I've then gone face first with my chin into a rock and boy did I see stars. When the damage had been assessed it was found that it could've been a lot worse. I had a lumpy bruised chin, a rock under my belly that bruised, a limp and a raging headache. As I was still able to walk I did the last half hour of the wlak back to the car unassisted...

If only that was it. I was sitting in the front seat with an ice pack to my chin and my dad's trying to get his 4wd back up the steep rocky hill that led to the creek. Only problem is that something weird was going on with the car so we're sliding sideways and backwards and we definitely weren't going to the top of the hill. The first problem was when the car went diagonally backwards into a tree, which they had to jack themselves off. Then he got stuck half way up a hill and in giving up tried to back down again but got a log stuck in the whell surrounds that did all sorts of damage.

While all this is going on I've still got ice to my face and it's started raining. After about 2 hours we give up and pile into me sisters Subaru and we get home in an hour but not very comfortably with 6 people in the car. They try and mount a rescue attempt with another 4wd that evening but it was raining too hard and the attempt was aborted. The following day when they finally got my dad's car out they discovered that the dodgy bastard who'd sold my dad the car had gone into the dashboard and put tape over the lights that show that ABS and traction control wasn't working. So its turned into a very expensive problem for my dad.

After all of that my dad has a car he can't take off road and I have some doozy bruises. It was one of those days that the family will talk about for years.

Ha! serves me right for being absent for so long - no horror stories! Thanks guys. Tis amazing what some folk think will happen if you have a niggle that they didn't have. Friends, acquaintances and strangers have had me on crutches, bed ridden and other lovely things.

OH hasn't been much better. After my first day of having nothing to do, my hair was going curly, I was half way up the wall/round the bend. Not used to not doing anything, or being able to do anything - shouldn't have let OH come with me to the physio...

OH 'What you doing'?

Rewr 'getting a drink'?

OH 'Sit down, I'll get it'.

Tis great if I can get him to go out with the dog - tho he's gotten wise and is only out for short walks now. Great what the house fairy could do.

OH lost a bet in the early hours of this morning - could he manage the whole morning without asking if I was alright, or if I could feel anything. I think he lasted 10 minutes. :lol:

I'm amazed Redneck that you know the brith weights of your family - we had to phone round. Seemingly I'm the first with a big baby, on my side at least - but then we are of short stature. But baby will be whatever weight he/she will be, and will arrive when he/she will want to.

Thats my philosophy, the same with the birth etc, what will happen will happen.

Hope your wounds heal quickly Spiky, that is definitley as you say an adventure that will be talked about for years.

Hello everyone, it looks like it has been a very busy festive season.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It still seems unbelievable that 2008 has come to an end, but it has been a full and eventful year. I came home from Japan for 2 and a half weeks of beautiful summer and only returned from a 6 day trip to the Margaret River wine region today.
A beautiful and relaxing trip, with a twist in the middle! I ended 2008 by getting engaged!

My partner of almost 4 years proposed at sunset on New Years Eve Day.
We were in one of our favourite places down there, with a bottle of grenache, watching the sunset, snapping a few pics, and then wham. I'm engaged! Yaaaaaaay!

Just getting used to the idea now and trying to not get freaked out by wedding thoughts, and dealing with the fact that in 2 days i'm flying away from my fiance (not to mention SUMMER) to complete the final 3 months of my teaching contract in a Japanese winter!

Love and peace to you all,
Gypsy
xxx

Congratulations, Gypsy - 3 months isn't so long - you just have to be patient - I've heard of engagements which last for years!
A late afterthought - my late parents were married for 65 years, but the first few years of that Mum was driving trucks in the UK, and Dad was serving in the North African desert (there was a war on at the time!) - 3 months isn't long to wait for what (I hope) will be a lifetime together.

Wow, Gypsy, congrats, that sure sounds like a great romantic proposal! You've done quite a long time already, 3 months isn't too long if you remember how much you have already waited...

Congrats Gypsy!! Now which way are you going to go the relaxed 'I don't care so much about the wedding I just want to be married" or the 'I'M A BRIDEZILLA! HEAR ME ROAR'?

Thanks everyone...

At the moment i'm at the 'Don't talk to me about the wedding! I've only just found out i'm engaged!' He told everyone he was going to ask me while we were down south... so everyone else has moved on from shock to planning mode. They were enlisted to throw me off the scent. They've all had 2 weeks to get used to the idea, but i've only had four days!....The next person that asks me about bridesmaid's dresses is going to get a nasty surprise...

I hope to be one of those calm and collected brides...but right now i'm just working on being a calm and collected fiancee (is it the girl that's fiancee and the guy that's fiance? or the other way around?)

...ee - woman
...e - man.


sorry - congrats by the way.

R.

Congrats Gypsy, I'm sure the 3 months will fly by. Plenty of time to have mastered the calm collected fiancee look, when faced with all the questions about the wedding!

That's one helluva Crimbo pressie, Gypsy. Congratulations from me and the Joc'trix. Yay, yet another excuse for a celebratory drink?

Now they do say, it's incredibly lucky to have a Morris side dance at your wedding. When do we all fly out there?