<p>good morning all! coffee is ready… supposed to be in the 70’s this weekend!!</p>
<p>thoughts for ML’s son and checkers daughter</p>
<p>heading into birthday week at our house…all three sons and H, within the next 10 days</p>
<p>Happy birthday to parent56family! What a busy month!</p>
<p>Happy birthday to p56’s" boys"</p>
<p>Thoughts for ML</p>
<p>jackief, thanks for the tip about the 2nd passport. I didn’t know that was even possible. I travel enough internationally that I had to get extra pages put into my passport a couple years ago, so that I had room for a visa for China. It would have been much more convenient to have just gotten a 2nd passport. I could have avoided the excitement I had once where I had back-to-back international trips so couldn’t get a visa in advance, and picked up my passport with visa at the Chinese consulate in New York City at 10am, hopped into a taxi to Newark airport, for a noon flight to Beijing. Amazingly, I made the flight with time to spare, but not an experience I wish to repeat.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to P56 ’ family ! It will be a busy 10 days !</p>
<p>D15 is feeling much better. Thanks for the well wishes !</p>
<p>So, added Platos Closet to our list of stops tomorrow when we go into the city shopping. :rolleyes: Not sure I should walk in with my head high , or slink in the back with my sunglasses. 
Hoping to find some things for our cruise. Hate to spend tons since I don’t normally wear rhinestones & glitter at home. We’ll see what I find…</p>
<p>High of 65 today. LOVE it. Too bad the next 5 days call for high in the 40’s and snow Monday. Oh well, we’re on the down hill slide now.</p>
<p>wow sacchi, that was intense. Yes the things we don’t know that we don’t know… I am surprised the study abroad people didn’t mention this option to us, and a travel agent friend didn’t even know these existed. We were going to do an expedited visa, but with the recent delay that would still not have been enough time… D will now have visas for Russia and China in her passport! Me, I got nuthin…</p>
<p>I am by no means an expert but wanted to share this little known thing</p>
<p>checkers - so glad you checked in and that your D is doing better. I was starting to worry there.</p>
<p>So today is my last day in my regular office for a week. But alas I am not off on a vacation. Instead, I will be spending next week in our LA office, doing a “Quality and Risk Management” review. Yes, they send us around to “spy” on each other and figure out if we’re doing our work in accordance with protocols, try to identify best practices, etc. I hear that it is a lot of work, in addition to the fact that my clients here will still be expecting my attention. How was it I got myself into this? Ah well - at least the weather will be better. They are telling us there’s another snowstorm coming in here on Monday.</p>
<p>My D is off to get a massage this morning - her first, sponsored by me to try to work out some of the kinks from injured feet/unusual walking pattern as a result of the bus accident. Hope she enjoys it! My S is finishing exams and a book report (yes, you read that right) through tomorrow afternoon, and then he will head to Georgia for spring break/frisbee tournament. I will be biting my nails during his drive.</p>
<p>Hope everyone is having a good Friday.</p>
<p>Good morning!</p>
<p>I hope everyone enjoyed pie on Pi day. We had some sort of raspberry cheesecake pie that was delicious. I might have to pull a “checkers” and have a piece for lunch. </p>
<p>S2 has finals next week. He seems to be stressing more about March Madness basketball and his fantasy baseball draft though. </p>
<p>Happy birthday to the P56 family. We have a few March birthdays in our family, but it doesn’t compare to September.</p>
<p>Checkers Wishing the best for your D15s recovery! Glad to hear that she is on the mend! Be sure to find age appropriate items at Platos Closet. ;)</p>
<p>ML Continued prayers for your family!</p>
<p>Aliceinw Glad you had a nice visit and enjoy your role as Agent 99 in LA next week!</p>
<p>Mommusic Congrats to you for having your spirits lifted by your talented Ds artwork!</p>
<p>LAF Good luck to you and your D with her :rolleyes: Avoidance 101 class.</p>
<p>
Women can be so fickle. ;)</p>
<p>
My interpretation is that June is the busy month in the P56 family! Happy Birthday to the P56s! D2 has her 21st next week, ergh! I am praying she has a ton of homework. ;)</p>
<p>
This week, lets not. I have had to have some less-than-pleasant discussions about the blessed event this week, ergh! Im not doing a very good job of balancing D1s excitement with the newness and my desire to squash her exuberance like a bug. Im about ready to hire GWAR to play this one!</p>
<p>Footballmom I would categorize my wedding in The Princess category too and would do it the same way again. I enjoyed my wedding without going over-the-top. Besides, I left with the best prize ever. :)</p>
<p>Speaking of my best prize ever, you may remember that DW got a speeding ticket trying to get a berserk cat home that she had taken to get spayed (which turned out to be unnecessary since the cat was a neutered male). DW decided to take her plea to court since she hasnt had a ticket since D1 was 3 months old. She thinks the judge was visiting since she didnt know him, but we know most of the local law enforcement people in our area. So she shows up at court and the courthouse guard from the sheriffs department asks her, Mrs. <#>, what are you doing here? I know you havent done anything wrong. Were YOU speeding? So she asks the guard if he thought that she should just pay the fine and leave. Oh no, Mrs. <#>. Youre here now, you may as well come on in. Once inside, the other bailiff waves to her from the bench, Hey Mrs. <#>! How are you? DW had her paperwork from the vet, brought the speedometer calibration report that did not exonerate her much, had her story prepared, got the state trooper (who we do not know) to admit he heard the cat, and apologized for taking up the judges time. For added measure, she wore her tightest skirt. :rolleyes: The judges verdict, We do not let it go when someone was driving that much over the speed limit, but in this case
Dismissed! Have a nice day Mrs. <#>. 
If it had been me, Id be posting this from the Department of Corrections wi-fi. ;)</p>
<p>In college news, D2 must be working on summer employment options as she sent me a resume to review and some application-y sounding questions at all hours of the night. She did hear that she did not get the one long-shot fellowship for which she applied oh well, expected result. She also let me know when her last exam is and we set the date for her to come home! Uh oh, it conflicts with DWs Hunter Haynes concert. :rolleyes: It is almost storage unit / SUV rental time again already! :eek:</p>
<p>page 2 rescue</p>
<p>DS is performing in a circus show tonight. I hope someone videotapes it.</p>
<p>ML–Your S is in my prayers.</p>
<p>coffee is ready! </p>
<p>love the speeding ticket story gsharp!</p>
<p>Thanks P56, and Happy Birthday to you family! </p>
<p>Rainy day here in the burgh.</p>
<p>ML - adding my prayers</p>
<p>Alice - Hope the massage works out the bus bruises!</p>
<p>G# - thanks for all the laughs/chuckles. I’ll just be stroking a check for the bar bill when the big day comes, and will happily do so. Have you considered valium?</p>
<p>had a very nice time on the cruise, though dressing for dinner is not in the least relaxing. Enjoyed zip-lining in Jamaica and swimming with sting rays in the Grand Caymans. Most of all enjoyed being away from the Blackberry.</p>
<p>Thanks for coffee</p>
<p>Antsy day here, D is taking the GRE with very little preparation. Please send some PVC to the mid west. And she cannot take her phone with her so I’ll have to wait until she gets back home to hear about it</p>
<p>G#–you said what I was thinking…<em>March</em> wasn’t the busy month! :D</p>
<p>Awoke to T-storms this morning…it must be getting warmer! Of course that means tornado season is coming. </p>
<p>Son is home for spring break. I had to pick him up after all, since he missed the last shuttle bus from campus (it goes to the CC campus which is about 1/4 mile from our house.) In his defense, the buses aren’t on a printed schedule, they just run back and forth, and the last bus is not AT 6:00, that’s just when the buses stop running. So the last bus incoming did not make another trip out at 5:45, as it would have arrived at the CC after 6. Sigh. </p>
<p>I didn’t mind picking him up, it’s just that I was about to start the final preparations for dinner, and guests were coming in a half hour! Including one in a wheelchair which always requires a couple of people to organize the ramps for our 2-step entrance. But it all worked out…luckily, rush hour traffic was light. :)</p>
<p>initiate–your cruise activities sound lovely!</p>
<p>mega pvc’s munequita!!! good luck to your D!!</p>
<p>have a wonderful time with your son mommusic!</p>
<p>glad you had a great cruise IL!!</p>
<p>PVCs to Munequita’s D! Good luck to her!</p>
<p>Mommusic - enjoy your time with your S! D came home for spring break last night, and she’s already gone. 
I know she’ll be coming back sometime next week, but I wish she’d stayed home for at least a full 24 hours before leaving. </p>
<p>LOL at D’s train ride into the city this morning - overflowing with “green people” (D’s words) heading into the city for the parade and other festivities. S and his friends will be heading into the city soon - and they will be celebrating. They’re still in high school, so hopefully alcohol will not be involved. And yes, S and his friends will be “green people” today.</p>
<p>GSharp - glad your DW was able to fight her speeding ticket. I recently heard that NYC (or maybe the state) is considering putting in speeding cameras (like the red light cameras). Not exactly sure how they’ll work, but if that happens, then I might be in trouble. </p>
<p>Sending birthday wishes to P56’s household! </p>
<p>IL - yay for fun cruise activities!</p>
<p>My post went away. Did not do too well, will retake later. At least she knows she needs to prepare</p>
<p>Munequita . I’m sorry </p>
<p>MaineLonghorn: I PM’d you.</p>
<p>Munequita: sorry that your D did not do as well as she hoped but as you noted, perhaps she recognized the importance of test preparation.</p>
<p>IL: welcome home from your cruise. Have you gotten your “land legs” yet?</p>
<p>G#: Thanks for a good laugh with your fantastical wedding primer. </p>
<p>While others are wearing the green, this morning I was turning under the garden & planting the greens. This afternoon we went to watch my 12-yr old nephew’s ice hockey tournament. I was amused to see numerous banners on the sides of the hockey rink advertising blood donor services and dental/orthodontist services. :D</p>
<p>munequita do they get the gre score right away? or does she just think she didnt do well? either way she now knows what to expect if she takes it again</p>