Kimmy, you are right; darling, you beat me fer sure in quantity.

But in quality -- and by that I mean sheer ADHD capacity -- I win HANDS DOWN.

And this from a woman who once steadfastedly insited that ADHD is a "terribley overdiagnesed disorder" and "my children could never benefit from meds".

HA!!!!!!!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!! (That's hysterics for all of you who can't quite hear my shrieking -- but I'll bet Kimmy can!)

Yes, please pass me that cupcake -- I will devour it on the way to dragging the littlest monster into her bedroom. She has carpet burns on her a$$ but she chooses to go nekkid anyhow. Ask me why. Go ahead, ask me. BETTER TO FONDLE HERSELF, MY DEAR! AAAAAHHHHHHH! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> She's not even THREE!!!!

I will never make it to my well-deserved break in front of my beloved sci-fi tonight!


LOLOL ::crazy-woman loony-laughter:: <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

slh

Remember the friend I was talking about last week, whose father abandoned him and his sisters when he was 4 yrs old and they were infants?

Tonight we went out. Had a fun time. Afterward, as we were grabbing a bite, he asked me about how he's feeling about a recent breakup, one that was pretty painful for him.

I told him about suffering, how we've all got it coming to us, if we live long enough. I talked about how some religious traditions believe in a place where our souls spend eternity, where we have transcended all suffering. I talked about how in other traditions, they believe that there is no way to appreciate happiness without the constant presence of suffering in one's experience.

I told him I think the best thing is to not be too surprised when we suffer, because we do all have it coming, and for most of us, it's not only when our loved ones live to a ripe old age and die in their time. We usually get it in other, unexpected, less "fair" ways.

He said that he knows that feeling, because he's never had a "real" family.

I said, "But you do. You have a mother who you probably would not be so close with if you and she had not suffered together the way that you did. You have sisters that you feel you need to protect, and the energy you spend protecting them makes you love them more, and it might not be that way if your father were around. Rather than comparing your situation to what might have been if your father hadn't left all of you, rather than comparing it to what you think is ideal, look at all the things that have come after your father's selfish and cruel behavior, that have come to be because you and your family are decent people. You might not love your sisters and your mother the way you do if it hadn't been for this terrible thing your father did to you."

He said, "Dude, you gotta stop; you're gonna make me cry."

I think, for this one time at least, I was totally totally right.

GC

GC, I just wanted to say how well you took your own experience in life and shared your heart with your friend. God put you both together for a reason. That was beautiful. I am crying too.

Insight.

GC, can we add this to the list of why women would love you?

slh

So true Gray, and the same will be true for you too. Regarding love.

SLH, oh my gawd, that did sound bad didn't it, about my nephew. LOL when I read your response.

BTW, still sweating my [censored] off. And getting little done, sigh.

SLH, oh my gawd, that did sound bad didn't it, about my nephew. LOL when I read your response.

LOL, Weaves. Well, ya DID say he was a hottie once, didinja? But you also ammended that statement super-fast by saying he was young young young and you were related. LOL.

Now, if you were livin' down south with some of us. . . .ROFLMAO. . .

slh

Hi all.

Brief update.

We were going along okay, when the other night he started acting very tender and I freaked out.

I could not be sure if he was being real or if it was an act, another lie to appease me.

I knew he had still been in contact with her anyway. I confronted him and he lied.

So I am single again, but I think maybe its better to be alone than to be with someone I can't believe.

Otherwise I am fine. I got to spend time with my daughter and son and 2 grandchildren, whom I hadn't seen in nearly two years, since they moved away.

I feel sorry for my H. He threw away so much.

Shul, I hope you're really okay. Are you single until he decides to come back again?

I saw the movie Heights today to escape the heat. This is an art-house picture. I liked it quite a lot. It's the story of a young couple, a famous actress, an aspiring actor, and a handful of others, interacting over the course of a long day and night in Manhattan.

There's cheatin' in this picture, but the people who do it never have an excuse, and the suffering of the people who love them is not minimized. The cheaters are given a little sympathy while also being portrayed as selfish chickensh*ts.

There are also characters who pass up opportunities to mess around, and times when characters make hard choices out of obligation. Instead of whining about not being able to follow their dreams, they say, "Hey, c'est la vie, I'm bummed out, but I have made promises, and those matter too."

Glenn Close chews the scenery! She's so much fun to watch.

I recommend this picture.

GC

1. No skinny dipping. Wife nixed it.

2. Three days of 114 deg weather. Lucky for me the air conditioning works.

3. Gray, you were spot on. SLH IS RIGHT, this is yet another reason girls will like you. One of the things that will happen if God is real (and he is) and if you are trying to find out about him, is that he will help you do things that will bring you the most happiness. Think about this one - it may explain a lot.

4. Just J,
I would love to sit and talk to you for a day or so. Will you be out west this year?

5. More lightening caused fires near town. We are not in danger at all, but the smoke smell in the morning reminds me how puny man is ..........still. It doesn't matter though, I am happy anyway.


It has been said that:

Fun is physical
Happiness is mental
Joy is spiritual.

When a person can blend all three - that is heaven. I believe home can be a heaven on earth. One of the reasons I believe in heaven, is that I have seen it here, and it is good. It is very good. I am working on making it permanant.

Wish I was better at it.

SS

Happiness is mental.

SS, Hmmm, are you of the Happiness ia a Choice line of thinkers?

What if you are a total pessimist? <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> What then?

Glad you had fun, though I cannot believe your wife wimped out on the SD. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> Aside from hiding from the heat, what did you do? Did you cook, canoe, explore? I am so jealous. I can't imagine what it's like to go on a date, much less a vacation, with your spouse. Guess that's why we're still kickin around the idea of H's parents moving over here, with us. Babysitters, date time. Something we've never had in 10+ years of kids (too expensive or family lived too far away).

JJ, I've stumbled across a few of your posts by accident lately and might I say, you have a beautiful way of expresing yourself. I love reading them.

GC, I have a few single girlfriends, some of them extremely pretty. Does that mean I would send them your way if they lived in your area? Heck, no. And why? Take a deep breath here, Gray -- I think you deserve better.

I love these girls. We enjoy eachother's company, we laugh together, we've been there for eachother, gone through a heckuva lot. But does that mean I would trust them with a dear male friend's heart? Um, nope, no way.

I'm not saying anything that makes sense, I'm afraid. Let me try again -- I guess what I am trying to say is that perhaps the woman you seek is as rare as you are, but not to lose heart, as she is out there. (Maybe. . . wondering where the heck you are! <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> )

FF, haven't seen you lately and hoping you are well.

weaves, all the nasty after-effects of that concoction wear off okay? No lingering desire to jump on your relatives (LOL)?

Kimster, how was the party? Any cupcakes left?

Where's ole 2Long? We need some tunes!

Oh, on an off-note for those interested in science and engineering, my husband is doing engineering design work on a British Petroleum platform out in the gulf (of Mexico) when Hurricane Dennis tore through there last week. Of course he was evac'ed, but look, just look! at what my husband did! No, really, scroll down and look at the pics to the left -- the platform was listing at 30 or so dergrees a few days ago, and there are even worse photos of it actually taking ON water that H has on his compuer from this weekend -- pretty phenomenal. And the thunder Horse was supposed to be a really big deal in this area. Hubris, huh?

Guess he won't be going back out to reconfigure those programs and sensors anytime soon! Yikes!

slh

Oh J,
one more thing.

The tomatoes are not doing well. While it was cool in early June, they were coming on like weeds, but when the heat came, many of them (including the ones that were just about ready) began to die. The soil where we live was "truck farmed" for years before we bought the land, and it is has all the organisims that attack and kill useful plants. I am slowly improving the soil, but with the tomatoes, the heat, plus the other problems take their toll.

So, we have gotten a few off, but then the plant dies and leaves green ones. There are still some plants that are doing well, but they are not ready yet. By now, I am usually giving they away to the neighbors, but this year we don't even have enough to make BLT's every day yet.........

Zucchini though - you can have some of that because we have LOTS of it. I'll even share what tomatoes there are, but they are not the best.

SS

Shoot, SLH. C'mon, lemme borrow one of the purdy ones for a while. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

GC

SLH,
We do dates nearly every week. What you can do, and what we did when the kids were small, is make friends in the neighborhood, and trade baby sitting. We watched their kids one week, and they did ours the next. If you don't have neighbours that you can trust to do that, you should move, and find a better place.

His parents can live CLOSE, but not with you, that would work too.

We drove to a small town about 15 miles away, and ate in a small old fashioned diner. On the way we watched a lightening caused fire turn ugly, fanned by the high wind. (We have a 10,000 ft mountain about 15 miles away as the crow flies.) The air tankers were dropping retardant, and I could see the forrest service, and BLM crews leaving the main highway on their way to the fire.

After dinner (prime rib, and it was good too) we drove down a country road and watched the changing scenery - we took some photos and we talked. Their were clouds going over, the ones that follow after a major thunderstorm, and the light patterns were fun to see. This was in an area between the mountains and the desert. Sage brush, cedar trees, red sandstone formations, and mountains in the distance. We stopped and watched the clouds for a time, while we talked about things. We did spend a little time talking about our marriage. Improvements we have made, and things we still need to improve upon. We agreed that being in love is a wonderful thing.

Discussed upcomming vacation (next week) to Yellowstone national Park. Is it Friday yet?


SLH,
When you really want somethihng, you make it work.
We had no money, no time, and no sitters many of the places we lived - and we had 8 kids. Set a date and work to that deadline. Once you have the date, and the location, you will figure out how to make the other things work.

Live your dreams, it takes the same amound of time that not living them takes, but it is much more rewarding.

Oh, and about happiness.
It depends.

SS

Gray, thanks, you made me laugh.

SS

That would be my dear hubby. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> We could get into a loooong discussion on this subject <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

I am here, SLH and fine thanks for asking. I spent a lot of time alone with DS this weekend. H and DD went camping as I said before. First day was hard, I was lonely for conversation and then suddenly it was OK to be quiet. I enjoyed reading for pleasure. I enjoyed not cooking for everyone, I enjoyed not rushing around to have things clean before H came home from work. DS and I enjoyed some naps and stuff together. I also spent far too much time on the two threads about patterns and power. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Oh lordy me too! Gray you could find a girl here. The bars are just loaded with them. In fact one time a tourist told me, "if you can't get laid in ________, you can't get laid anywhere".

Oh that's right, you're looking for a nice girl. Sorry, can't help ya.

SS,

Glad you had a good time on your date.

SLH, I wouldn't fix Gray up with any of my friends either.

Faith, Hi! You know, I haven't been spending hardly any time here either. And none at work (yeah), so my company thanks me, for finally putting in a decent days work.

Going to go work out now...got a huge fan in front of my machine, so hopefully won't pass out from the heat. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hi Weaver, Hi SS and of course, GC. Where has 2l been?

SS, you knew exactly what I wanted, and you described it all to me, beautifully. Thank you.

I do expect to see pictures, though. Do you have a web or photo page, hmmmmm, LOL?

Gc, nope. Uh-uh. None uh dem good enuff fer you. SS knows what I mean.

Or I could look up some hokey quote about the purest of hearts from some movie. . .

Hey, until I can get more room for our home web pages, wanna see some pics of my girlies? Very basic photos and Yahoo, so be patient with the pages getting overloaded, sil vous plait. . .

slh's monkeys

Okay. Got to go chop the sausage for the Jambalaya tonight. Yum!

slh

Oh, hey Weave, hey FF! :: waving furiously :: Hope to see more of you guys tonight. Got to get the vittles on, Chere!

slh

Photos ?
I plan to get space on a server soon to post some photos for other things, I can probably do a link to a few photos of trips, and dates.

SLH, really........set a date, discuss it with tiger. Pick a place that both of you want to see. Some of the trips we did were just camping trips, because we had no money. Once you have the date, and the place, all the other stuff start to work it self out.

"Tiger, is this weekend, or this other weekend (SLH points to two different dates in Sept) best for going on our 2nd honeymoon trip?"

It can be fun, I promise.



Hi Weaver, I've been thinking about you some more, you are an interresting person, in many ways a lot like me.
I keep wondering when you will finally feel free. It will be good for you.

Faithful,
did the happy campers come back safely?
Are you back into the same old thing, or is it fresh and exciting having him home?


Graycloud,
Are we doing a wood cutting saturday any time soon? I can't imagine this little wood pile will last all winter. There are some thinning projects out on the north Kiabab, and I just got a new chain for my chain saw. I can cut wood and do haricuts, all in the same trip. (the new chain does a lot better job on hair)

SS