A special message from the Department of Troll Control, come and get it!

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans and ban certain undesirables from using our airlines. They demand the right to criticize and blaspheeme the name of our supreme commander and cheef George W Bush while forcing multiculturalism down our throats and praising Bill Clinton. We all know however that it's totally Clintons fult for everything bad in america. Now we are at war and we must make a decision. support the safty of America and defeat terrorists, or support civil liberties and give victory to the enemy. Its all because of Bill Clinton and civil liberties that we are in this war so it is only fair that we give it up. no one said life was supposed to be fair you liberal crybabys. Dont give me that rubbish about equality and diversity. WE ARE AT WAR! If your not for Bush and against civil liberties your a terrorist! Your probably even a Communist and should be detained. Therefore fellow Americans we must throw all of our trust and resources behind George W Bush and behind this war with no ifs ands or buts. Be sure to report any and all detractors and freedom supporters to your local military and never question. Bush knows what hes doing and we will win this war once and for all. Thank you and May God bless America.

I guess the only thing you can do is sleep as much as possible until your body adjusts.
When that's done, you can come home.
;-)

Sleep? The only time you can sleep on a trip like this is when you're in front of a customer... or a conference.

I will never forget arriving in Beijing (jetlagged) at 9+ PM at night, staying up past midnight going over the presentation with my translator, and then speaking to a room of some 200 (government?) suits at 10:30 the next morning. The only thing that saved me were the pauses while she translated my English to Chinese; I could puzzle out what I had intended to say next...

...the rest of the day remains a blur -- the Forbidden City was closed by the time we arrived, Tiananmen Square was absolutely *huge*, our "simple" (and quite delicious!) mall-restaurant dinner included a proud lecture from young translator #2 on the art of Chinese cooking (and I won't argue; they appear to pay much more attention to this than Americans do).

Good morning!

My workouts are going well and I'm feeling chipper.

Among my many appointed tasks for the day: figuring out if Primus and Secundus qualify to swim in the "last chance" meet for JO's; finalizing garden plans; and calendar planning. This is what I get to do for fun, after the morning lessons are over. Yippee!

How are all of you?

Good morning! At least in the sense that any morning you're not in the hospital is "good" ...

Vlad was up half the night with gas pains, with only occasional dozes in the recliner. I'm going back on a diet of toast and oatmeal for a while; obviously our other meals are disagreeing with him. He should be happier in 24 hours or so.

Tomorrow is Girl Scouts' Thinking Day, and Elen and Sally (#4 and 5) have a big program with their troop. We have to make fried rice for Sally to take, and some kind of South American dish for Elen, and also practice Elen's dance and make sure their costumes fit. Today's emphasis will be on getting all our ingredients, and tomorrow morning we'll cook everything.

I also plan on sending a few more baby annoucements, to people who don't email. And get Elen's Girl Scout camp application in, and look at the schedule for Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts camp, so we can see whether Anoreth can go to the science fiction writing camp at UNC-Charlotte. (I need to have at least one larger child at home all the time, when we have a baby, so they can't all be at camp the same week!)

Whoops, there goes Vlad again! Time to muster the troops for prayers and Bible study and feed the ravenous mouth again :-).

Egads! My morning looks positively peaceful in comparison.

Sorry to hear about Vlad's gas pains. We never had much trouble with whatever I was eating, even broccoli and cabbage. Hope everything returns to normal soon, so that you can both get some sleep.

This will be the first time one of my chicks flies from the coop. Secundus will be spending 6 weeks with KODT, Prout, The Bull of the Woods, and the Trainer and his wife. Secundus will be working the track, learning to ride, and learning to fish, S. Ga. style. He and I are both nervous about him travelling on a plane all by himself, but we're getting used to the idea. I'm sure I'll end up sending him with phone cards and extra money sewn into his clothes!

Chat when you can.

I'm sure Secundus will have a great time! Bill went to the farm with my dad for 3 weeks when he was about 6. Anoreth has been going away to Girl Scout camp for 5 years or so, but she's bored with that now. The university has several programs that interest her, so if the dates are bad for the writing camp, she can do something else. Elen will be going to overnight camp for the first time this summer (5 days).

Bill will have a week of camp with the Boy Scouts, and I think Tom has 4 days with the Webelos. We'll look into day camps for them, too, and also for Sally, who isn't old enough for "real" camp. Last year the boys went to Civil War reenactor camp, which was really fun, but it was a long drive to the historic site. I'll be looking for something closer to home this year. Tom suggests horseback riding camp.

I don't want to beat a dog while it's down, but to comment on last nights conversation:

I had a crush on a guy from Japan, once a long time ago, and we had a lot of fun together. One of the reasons was that he told me early on, "You were born the day I met you."

I understood that to mean that within reason, what I had done in my past was to stay there, except for the lessons I had learned, and I decided that for me, it was most likely better that I apply that in my relationships in the future.

I try not to ask too many questions in the beginning, except the ones that help a person feel relaxed. If something will come of the relationship, it will evolve on its own. Otherwise....well, life has a way of providing those we need at the times we need them, even if it's only "for a little while."

Morning, TC!
Your days sound like mine used to. Odd...it seems I had more time when I was busier than I do now...
It sounds like you have it all under control, anyway, and for that, I admire you, big time!

Morning, 'Face! We are hanging in, which is all that can be expected at this point :-). The baby is fed and diapered, the laundry is done, and everyone has something to eat, even if it's only toast. Priorities, ya know...

;o]

Yep! I still find myself being a Mom, only not in quite such demand. I have friends who need a mom, nieces and nephews...siblings...and I always tell my daughter, when she thinks I'm the one who needs to be "corrected," that I'm the Mom with Time In grade! It settles a lot of disagreements with a laugh!

My deal with OldTax-lady is that she can nag and give advice as much as she likes, and we will listen politely ... and then do whatever we think is best, irrespective of her opinion. Everyone gets along without friction, almost all the time :-). Being in different states helps, of course!

My mother said, "I'll listen politely to what you want me to do (be, say, etc) but when your back is turned, I'll do what I feel is best at the time."

I had no idea she was so wise!

I'm outta here for a doctor's appointment. I'll see you when I get back. (I'm so glad you are "back to normal"!)

Sure. All of my friends think being single is a nonstop party.

Or at least there's no nagging or expensive children.

Of course, I think that women are the expensive ones. I certainly can't afford one.

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