That was funny Wolf! :lol:

:eek: Super woman! I would like to see your arms. :D Woman, do you get back pain. My back hurts just reading that line. :lol:

Glad that you're feeling a bit better Dana. Tell us, tell us, what was in the package from Sundae? (and this calls for a bit of a jump up and down and clapping Japanese girl style).

What euphemism does Sandy Possum remind you of?

A dirty map of Tasmania?

A woman with a vagina that's seen better days, maybe?

That's actually the type of collar that he wears, although, of course, his is a more manly blue.

I have found his collar, without him in it, on the stones in front of my porch. I was a little concerned about that, because I was fearful that someone had run him over and put the collar on my porch because they'd seen me with him.

In retrospect, based on how he was cleaning his fur, it looked like his leg and paw had gone to sleep.

Maybe pins and needles, kitteh-style.

And still it begins
Needles and Pins!
The tears I gotta hide
Because of all my pride!

Tomorrow it's Mrs J's birthday. She'll be 50 next year.
I pointed out to her that in a weeks time I'll be 40 next year.

"Oh, we'll definitely have to celebrate our birthdays together!" she said.
For a split second I was about to demur, thinking she'd far rather celebrate with her family... luckily I realised she meant combining staffroom celebrations before I said anything dopey.

She's the Teaching Assistant I will be working with next year (I volunteered in her class too) and is so lovely as a person. So even our brief conversation made me feel quite uplifted. She isn't the sort of person to forget or fall out with people, so I know next year we'll have a great 40/ 50 lunch treat.

She suggested strawberries and cream, I suggested cold cuts, bread and cheese.
Okay it' a year away (and I promise I won't start planning for at least another 10 months), it's just a nice future event to think of.

I've also solved my birthday cake 2011 dilemma. I am making one that I have made before, which was YUMMY. And I'm going to get Mum to make her strawberry and jello flan. It's simple, tried and tested and always goes down well. Like me.

I could make the latter myself, but I usually overdo it, slicing the strawberries too thin, trying to make it more decorative. Mum has the knack of just getting it right because she's made it many times before and goes with what works.

I'll save the frozen strawberry & raspberry cake and the Dalek cake for another occasion... Who knows, I might even practice them first!

Sundae, I think we need a number of countdowns in your footer: one for panto, one for Glasgow and one for your birthday.

Cleaning out the rooms.

Whew. I gotta lotta junk.

Connectwise! We are installing it at work, Ive been doing Connectwise University, it makes my geeks buds tingle.

I DID have.
But I thought it was horribly self indulgent!

Don't encourage me....

FTR currently:
5 sleeps til payday - 30 June
6 sleeps til birthday - 1 July

2 weeks until Torchwood is shown in America - 8 July
Approx 1 month until my holiday in Great Yarmouth - 25 July

51 days until Much Ado About Nothing (Tennant/ Tate) - 15 August

6 months (19 December) until we see JB in Panto and I see ma girls again!
NB - same date, we're meeting in Glasgow to go to the panto

I can't do a birthday countdown - I mean no-one else does it. Maybe next year for the big 4-0. I promise to keep the Glasgow countdown up to date tho - that's not just about me :)

New shirts I made well received. People are clamoring for them. And the Swim Team won :D

(shirts are khaki/army green have team initials like M*A*S*H on the front and on the back say "I love the smell of chlorine in the morning... smells like.... VICTORY", green is team color)

lol awesome Monster

Brilliant Monster. Any sparkles or sequins though?

I got through to Sarge tonight.
Literally two minutes, as it's an overseas call to a mobile which is ouch, lotsa £££.
But it was worth it - as ever - to hear his accent :)

I really need to get serious re skype....

Ahhh....very good! Was he extremely happy to hear from you? He's a bit hurt that no one noticed he's been gone.

Went to go see my chiropractor for a general "make my shoulders stop hurting please" tuneup, and learned that they have a deep-tissue massage therapist on site who is not only covered by insurance, but her services count as part of a single appointment if you schedule everything back-to-back, so it's covered by the same copay. Basically, it's a free one-hour massage whenever I go in!

The drawback: this is no scented-oil, chanting monks, hand-you-tea afterwards kind of massage. This is a very buff old lady who has been teaching massage for decades, and it damn well hurts. It's like sports massage.

I've done spoken to both of you now :)

Sarge has limited windows in which to speak to people. And for me, the time difference is an issue as I'm living with my parents. I'm always aware if Sarge isn't around, I just don't draw attention to it as I assume there's a reason..

So if I speak to one Dwellar I'll probably speak to three or four.
And if I'm lucky, Sarge is one of therm.
Actually - there isn't really an unlucky scenario when it comes to calling Dwellars. Unless they keep me hanging on for a long time while they fix a sandwich, by which time I'd like to think I got the hint.

Phone call from Sundae!

Nothing better!

Life is good.

It's summer, kids' swim and dive are going well, pool is open and uncrowded and I'm swimming, and I'm biking to the pool with no hands (I love that), the weather is better than predicted most days, not yet into aircon-essential-zone

It's just good right now. And I'm happy.

Got to ride around on the new bike today.
Drank and played poker with some new friends tonight.
Cedar Point tomorrow with a bunch of folks from work.

I'd noticed, but figured he was busy.

:thumb:

FTR, I too noticed that Sarge hadn't posted lately, but I checked his dwellar page and he had visited on 23/6, so I let things be.

Being told I look skinnier. And getting stuff done. And lovely weather.

The splinter I got in my finger while hiking two weeks ago has worked its way out.

(No, I don't expect you to be, or to have been, sorry about mah fingah.)

Now if my back would stop hurting ...

Yesterday's three hours of serious mtn biking, piano move, and marital duty performed has me close to relaxed, closer than I've been in weeks. I'll clean out my classroom today maybe setup my summer classroom tomorrow then its ADK rivers and lakes for me.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner
 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5311/...4c6bfcc0_z.jpg

Global Conquest at Hell Survivors, Mi.
The guy in the front row with the head scarf on ( in front of me ) is Narf from our team, this is the fourth year in a row he has lead a side to victory (there are 7 sides in the game, each is themed as country), we have had other members lead the winning side on previous occasions too, the games only been runnig about 8 years.

Some of it's about fighting, but also in this game there is hidden treaure on the 120 acre field, my team recovered 5 of the 6 staches of gold, nobody recovered the other one, we knew where it was but it was too deep in enemy territory to retrieve, we only won becasue of these bonus points :D

More lovely weather. about to get more stuff done.

I was really happy about something only a half hour ago and now I don't recall what it is.

Fuck it, I'm watching a movie.

chinese food?

HAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA11!!

Chi realignment?

:lol:

Getting stuff done. And lovely weather.

I set wheels in motion that put our Office Manager in a new car with more options and lowered her payments by $15/month.

I see a roast beef swammich from Bread&Bagel in my near future.

We're trying to discourage the use of food as a reward. Maybe she could give you a handjob in a stationery closet?

This made me happy.

My partner has been threatening to get a helmet camera set up. The video is set in Virginia where riding has a different (but still awesome) feel. Around here the hills are steeper making both climbs and descents more technical. Our trails have more roots and rocks so smooth speed runs like the video shows are fewer but very appreciated. Mtn biking is a very "local" sport you build a set of skills for what you ride. What passed for mtn biking in the Olympics was no more that a long flatteneded pump track, a fun fitness activity but no connection to local terrain.

One sleep til payday (even if it's all allocated)
Two sleeps til my birfday.

And I have prizes already delivered from Dani and a card from another Dwellar, so I'm making out like a bandit this year :)

Also Friday at school is a sponsored bounce for the children, all good fun.
They get to bounce on a bouncy castle for a minute - most are simply sponsored a flat fee, but the TA's (which includes me) are counting those who are sponsored per bounce. Sounds like a fun birthday to me!

Oh and all sponsorship to MacMillan Cancer Fund, a trust very close to my heart as you'll all understand.
There is a large variation in amounts pledged, but it looks to average out at £7 per child - over £2000 across the school.
That's pretty damned cool.

Fucking cancer with every bounce.

Might as well put it here, although it's not quite happy news:
Tennant's Mum - thyroid cancer - is going into hospital next week for radiation treatment.
I can't work out whether it's one week or two or even more; I thought I knew, but have been told different things by different people. She has to be in isolation, especially from her son.
The consensus seems to be she will not be able to see Tennant until after the end of term.

She came in yesterday for a visit with Mrs P, and got his end-of-year report.
I've printed out the school dinners menu until the end of term (as Grandma doesn't use a computer).
She knows what he is to wear on Sports Day and Grandma and Great-Grandma are coming to cheer him on.
Tennant is in the same house as Tiger, so I'll be looking after both of them on the day.

Still, boy without Mum (single parent).

We'll do our best of course.
And at least he'll have the normality of a school day.

And Mum is very matter-of-fact.
"I just have to get throught this"

Well hopefully you can FUCK CANCER Tennant's Mum.

not sure if this is happy or not
broke up with b/f completely, totally this time

Fuck cancer. Fortunately thyroid cancer is very treatable. Strange that she is in isolation though, my mom had to have radioactive iodine and says she was never told to be separate from us.

Well done you!!!!!! Yay! Stick to it!

:thumb:

It will be. Hang in there.

Mort, I am recusing myself from commenting on the awesomeness of your decision.

:thumb:

Fuck cancer indeed. Things aren't looking good for the family friend I mentioned recently.

But this is the Happy thread so:

Been feeling a bit more competent and up beat about life. Still having difficulty getting to sleep and then getting up, but at least I seem able to do some basic shit that was stumping me before (phonecalls, emails etc). Got some wardwork done today that's been hanging over me. Always a nice feeling!

Maybe you don't feel totally happy now, but my guess is that you will feel great about it soon. Seems to me like he was a bit of a weight on your shoulders.

Pilau dog:)

Mum and I took the boys for a walk to a local park, and it was so warm they were panting within minute. Had a really good mooch about, lots of sniffing, lots of exploring (on the extender lead, can't let him run about much). Got back and he's totally flaked. He's currently asleep in the direct path of the electric fan, so as the fan turns slowly on its arc it's ruffling his fur. Between his front paws is the corpse of a fluffy toy, forgotten as he sleeps.

I'd take a pic but if I get the camera out he'll move :p

Looks soooo sweet.

Went for a stroll this morning and ran into a friend of mine and went farther than I had expected and found a tag sale. Dude broke his back this year and is all kinds of fucked up, doc said no more hunting for you mr.

So he was selling off a lot of hunting stuff, bought a pair of fiberglass longbows for fun $5.00 a kid's beginner compound bow for $10 for the inchling, a very nice tree stand for $15, and a really old Marlin 60 with the 19 round magazine!

He had a few other rifles: a 7mm Savage with a beatiful scope (forget the brand) $350 he's asking, he had a SS and synthetic stock black powder .40 with powder and all the other associated crap for $300 and a Remington 1100 12ga shotgun for $300. and a few misc scopes and stuff. None of that interested me though.

sweet.

My water lost pressure and we fixed it no plumber YAY!

Tiger and I went up to Class 2a this afternoon.
I have been preparing him for it, and he was quite happy.

I worried this morning after outdoor PE because he didn't want to get changed and wanted to be babied - telling me to sort out inside-out clothes and find those that weren't immediately apparent, and put his top and shorts on for him.
I was doing it for some other children on the table who are younger and genuinely struggle.

Because of that I met him part-way, helping him find clothing and turn it right-way up and talking him through dressing. Autistic children don't really "act-up", they just show distress in different ways. For example he does struggles with socks, but he got them on fine today - and he's never had trouble with shorts before but was on the verge of tears because he said he couldn't get them on.

I hope I walked the right line today.

Anyway - no problems when we went into his new class.
We have two afternoons there; this applies to all pupils across the school. On Wednesday we're back to normal classes until September when they officially move up.

I'm so pleased he dealt with it so well.
A child in the class above him who has emotional issues really kicked off and has had his break time cancelled tomorrow.
Tiger by comparison was an angel and better than that showed no actual distress.
But then I've had help in preparing him for this and I do think that might have helped.

Good news for all of us that it worked anyway.
Obviously I don't like to see him upset.

Actually, this may not belong in the happy thread. I was sitting in front of the computer and I heard a *bang!* so I went to the front door and saw the trash can sitting on it's side. When I opened the front door, a large cinnamon bear stood up and looked over the trash can at me, from about 10 feet away.

The bear walked a few feet away and I saw that it was walking on three legs, with its left rear leg off the ground. I wonder if it was hit by a car.

The bear walked about 20 feet away and watched me as I picked up the trash and put it back in the can, which I then put in the garage.

I feel bad for the bear, but it's really not a good idea to feed them. It's also unusual for bears to be out raiding trash cans during daylight hours, so I think it's hungry.

I wish I'd gotten a picture.

16 months ago my hub lost his wedding band when he forgot to take it off when we were going to pull a calf. It fell off in our barn yard lot which would be the equivalent of losing it in the ocean except this was an ocean of straw and cow shit. Every year we use a pay loader to haul manure to spread on the field after the crops are harvested.

So we mourned the loss of this ring. It was a custom made Indian Shaman inspired white and yellow gold, soul catcher that matched my band. I found his ring today in this 80ft by 120ft cement lot that has about a ton or more of manure in one corner waiting to be loaded in the spreader after they pick our mint in 2 weeks. I just looked down and there it was. So amazing because there are five cows walking around in there waiting to be bred and doing what cows do... eat, poop, eat, poop

:)

excellent

One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,
one ring to bring them all and in the barn-lot bind them.

Well done!

Do you think it went, you know, through a cow?

Why do cows have horns?

'cause their rings don't bell! :lol2:


What?

I saw a programme recently about urban bears. According to that programme the way to stopm bears getting into your trash and effectively burgling houses and garages for food is in fact to feed them :p According to this programme it's a myth that it will make the situation worse, in fact feeding them alleviates the need for them to trash the area and they are less of a problem.

Totally Fixed That For You ;)