AWESOME!

It took both bottles of champagne to get out on the front lawn.

Geez Karen, I've never heard that one before. Though today you could actually do that. It's spectacular, mid 70's, no wind, the grass is sorta green, so why not?

Happy May Day to one and all

Picked my horse, picked my mint for the Juleps and am ready for the KY Derby! Will tear up when they play "My Old Kentucky Home". Never got to the Derby but have been to Churchill Downs a few times and it is really fun. And don't forget ........... "Hey, hey its the first of May ....... outdoor screwing begins today!" (that is from my past neighbor in Pittsford, VT and I feel compelled to pass it on every year)! Enjoy!

Wow I could figit for quite awhile if it burned 400 calories. That wonderful!

Fidgeting to lose weight is a little farther than I am willing to go, but the web site that I found claimed that all that nervous energy is good for burning about an extra 400 calories a day.

Boy Richard, with that list I ought to be skinny as a rail. I spend 6 hours a day walking back and forth in a class room that's twice the size of a normal room. It's also on the second floor so it's up and down over and over. I have read where figiters tend to be thinner. All that nervous energy is burning calories. I'd like the answer to uncorking the champagne.

The restaurant is on Topanga Canyon, Roland. It's called Inn of the Seventh Ray. Nice setting, nice music, good food--a lot of organic stuff. It's kind of New Age. A lot of hippies and nudists (I've been told) live on Topanga Canyon.

I like those exercises, Richard. More my style than the gym!

I'll try to remember, Karen.

Any official word on how many calories used to uncork a champagne bottle??????????? Lori, the answer to your question is August.

Pat, it punchman@joimail.com. Did you copy? No punchman1@earthlink for quite awhile. Yes, I've had some problems with Outlook Express too when I first used it and occasionally thereafter. On the note of the physical thing. I have always tried to take care of myself as its almost too late now. I am not into the gym thing but have many interests and being a couch potatoe was never one of them. That restaurant sounded great Lori. And in the LA area too!!!! What town or area is it? Richard, there is something to that list. Its again forming better habits. Like the one of parking furthere and walking a few more steps. The food thing does work to an extent and coffee has been one of my vices and I have cut back quite a bit but only to replace it with select loose teas (green being one)

Don't under estimate those finger excercises. Here are some ideas for burning calories that I just found on the internet:

Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Drum your fingers
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Don’t use the internal phone – go in person
Use the upstairs bathroom
Park in the furthest corner of the car park
Stand up when you’re on the phone
Clench and release your muscles

And here is my favorite: Eat Spicy Food. There is evidence to show that spices, especially chilli, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten a spicy meal.



Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.

I don't break much of a sweat that way Lori, not sure how many calories I'm burning.

Finger exercises? I'm pretty good at that one too!

-Yeah, I worry that I waited too long to take care of my body. I'm a work in progress. I want to be sure to be healthy and active when I'm a grammy! Ooo that felt funny to say. Dave is way too active, drives me nuts. I can't begin to keep up so I've stopped tryng. We do different things for fitness. Though we both enjoy golf. I'm awful at it but sometimes I like it. Only when there aren't people behind me so I don't have to worry about holding anyone up. Most people ask to play through. I keep my fingers slim and strong by using my keyboard everyday!

Glad you had such a wonderful and lengthy birthday celebration Lori.

Better to concentrate on the ping pong shot than the other things, Richard! Karen, when is your birthday?

I worry about things with my body, like not ever developing a slam shot in ping-pong that is reliable (and I'm still working on it). I worry about other things too and have become more active and careful in hopes of avoiding all those bad things. What I don't get is why I waited until 50 to care.

Gee Lori, I can't weigh in on that .......... I am only 49!!!!!! Haha!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone and thanks for the birthday greetings! It's been a sort of extended celebration, instead of 1 big party. It started with my 80-year-old friend, Blanche, taking me out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. The next thing was a few days later--going out to eat with Avi and the kids and with my brother and his wife and kids (they're visiting from Vermont). We went to a place around here that was new to me, and I always like going to new places. My daughter's boyfriend and my son's girlfriend also came. It was also a celebration for his girlfriend since she and I were born on the same day. And yesterday my friend, Irene, took me out for the day to see some nice gardens where a dance performance was going on, and then for dinner at the Inn of the Seventh Ray, a nice place in the forest and near a brook (not typical L.A.) and then to a concert in a church--Albanian music. So I didn't get to MOCA, Richard, but I have been there before. I didn't celebrate yet with Avi's family, so maybe the party's not over yet! I'm having fun, but for some reason being 50 has made me feel suddenly aware of all the things that can go wrong with the body. That probably sounds pretty morbid, especially when there's not really any reason for me to feel that way--just a few minor things that you need antibiotics for. Did any of you feel like that?!!!

Pat, I would also be challenged by the temptation to be a cool surfer dude and act like one of the kids, but I think all respect would be lost if I ever tried. Even if I was 20 something, I don't think that I would do something that would cause me to lose my job, but like Jimmy Carter, I would certainly be guilty of lust in my heart.

After almost 20 years of fulfilling my contract of trust with my kids and being very involved in their needs, I am starting to regain focus on the things that used to matter a lot to me. That is why I am committed to doing more woodworking this year, spending more time alone with Gerda, and starting to think that their will be life beyond this Dilbert cubicle that I sit in (because I face into a corner and never turn-around, it only takes 2 walls to create privacy).

Richard, what is you're focused on? I don't feel focused. Sometimes at school I forget that I'm not one of the kids. That can be dangerous. I have to catch myself from saying something in class I might say in my backyard. Even though though it might be funny or just fun it can so easy to be inappriate. After all, my job opened because the early 20 something first year teacher there had inappriate social activities with some of her students and boys will talk. OOPs. Her name and photo now appear under the "A" section of sexual predators of Aroostook County. We're all pretty proud. (It's an alphabetical listing.)

I sent out a new class listing today. The darned Outlook Express had dropped at least a dozen names from my address book so I had to re-build the address book entry and then send out the ammended list. I don't know why it does that but it does. I've already gotten back several including yours Roland. No more Punchman? I've removed 13 names because they kept coming back undeliverable. Guess I do the same this time. Even Deb and Ron Young, Lindas Brochu and LaBonte among others.

It is a great accomplishment to be 50 Lori! Very courageous and nicely done. I still haven't quite got my arms around the fact that we are 50- not that it's bad, because I have needed some time to work out my nervous energy. I am just wondering- now that I am focused, what does that mean? I think it mostly means having fun. I hope that you are having fun. If I were you, I would definitely go out to lunch and I would probably go to the MOCA Geffen Contemporary. There is a show of photography there now that I saw a little of on line. It looks really interesting. Have you ever been there? It is kind of hidden on a street in Little Tokyo.

Happy 50th Lori! Hope your coming year is a happy one. Well, Roland it seems that legend has variations as the guys at work told Rich that Cumming was the last bastion of the KKK. Maybe everyone wants to get in on the notoriety???? I thought it was quite pretty with lots of horse farms and not many eyesores. The traffic however is not my cup of tea. Here we had 60's today and sun. I got out and mulched some of my gardens. What did you do for your special day Lori?

oh Lori ! Happy Birthday I hope you are doing something wonderfully fun to celebrate !

Too bad about the guess Richard but i'm glad to see you're looking ahead to next year. never too soon to organize your thoughts.

First, Happy birthday Lori!!!! I have about 5 email addresses I use for different purposes Pat but if you could just send it to that one please. Thanks. Alphetta is a strange place to learn and Marietta is even worse as they seem to lie crosswise of each other. Alphretta used to be a stronghold of the KKK but has changed much in the past 5 years. One of their neighbours used to have a sign out that read, "Don't let the sun set on your ass N----!" It only was removed about a year after I moved here. I could't believe it. Ga has a great climate physically and the mental one is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Hey Richard, my first rose bloomed yesterday. Been away so long now I just can't imagine being so cold for so long but I know its really beautiful when the weather breaks.

Hey, you guys, aren't you going to say happy birthday?!!!!

Sad to say, mine was not the winning guess! However, I am already consulting the Farmers' Almanac to formulate my bets for next year.

Mostly the newsletter is pictures form the parade, updates on the alumni weekend events That sort of thing.

So Richard was your's the winning guess?

News flash from North Danville, VT! The concrete block fell through the ice on Joe's Pond at 3:22 PM yesterday. The winning guess was exactly right and paid out over $3,700. This year nearly 9,000 $1 bets were placed by people from 40 US states and 8 countries. The balance of the money is used for Joe's Pond activities, none of which seemed to be going on at the time that the block fell. After all, it's pretty quiet at Joe's Pond on most any day, particularly in April.

Oh well ........... I will survive without the SHS newsletter.

You're right Karen they were 20 when I paid mine also. That was the last year it was that price and it went up the next year. Seems like a lot to me. You don't appear on the list of missing members so I don't know why you aren't getting the paper.

Just got back from your neck of the woods Roland. Didn't buy a house but I got to know my way around Alpharetta a little more. Seems like we ate and drank our way through the five days so now I have to get some discipline going .... AGAIN! Seems to me that I paid the lifetime dues at one point when they were only about $20, but I don't get a newsletter anymore ........ used to though. I could be wrong. Maybe I am missing and don't know it!!!

Roland is that a new email address for you?

I found the newsletter, $5.00 yearly $40.00 lifetime membership. SHS Alumni Association, Inc. 60 Park Street, Spfld.

There's also a website; www.springfield.k12.vt.us/schools/shs/alumni/index/htm

thanks Patty. Please email that info @ vtkid1967@yahoo.com. I'll gladly send her the dues. I never knew about any of that of course I left Spfld almost immediately after graduation and mom sold the house and moved to CT.

there's no updated list for me to forward Roland, the list appears in the newsletter which members of the SHS Alumni receive. You just have to pay your membership dues to get it. it's an annual thing. Anyway, the thing to do would be to get in touch with Louise Peale. I think that's her name. I'll look for my newletter and find a number or an address you can write to.

Well, how are ya'll coping with being a half century? Most of the time I don't feel it and or think it until one of my relatives passes away or mom informs me of some other thing in my past that got torn down or rebuilt. Happy fat day Richard!! Pat, yes, please have someone forward the updated list so I can receive a letter. Thanks for informing us. Easter here was spent helping my friend out on their farm building a few new chicken coups and moving some machinery around. We're getting ready to reuuild my buddys engine (Ford 460) from the oneton dually. They have exocit goats also and they follow you round like pets. The pigmy ones are really cute. There is one tan and brown (Duncan is his name) and he is lovable. Their gots don't stink either. I went home with some fresh eggs and goats milk. I love it when its real cold and fresh. I did however make my traditional yellow egg cake with chocolate icing. I set it on a gold platter couvered with green cocoanut (for grass) and surround it with individual egg cakes with fondant icing and decorate the entire mess with a mixture of real (candied) flowers and some made from the icing. Its always a hit. I took it to Jimmy Caters house one year and all they said was, "golly, this Yank can sure bake!".

I'll accept that! Hiking is one thing that I have not made time for that I really miss. Note to self.

I try not to eat like a pig, but I'm not on any kind of diet. I'm still hiking, though--so I guess that takes care of some of the fat! Acceptance takes care of the rest.

Zone eating is good stuff. very well rounded. I have zone bars in my desk drawer at school and usually have one in my purse. I don't feel guilty if I snack on one when I'm really hungry, and in a pinch I have used them for meal replacement. Though a couple hundred calories isn't much.

Thanks for the birthday greetings! I enjoyed myself without an ounce of guilt. Gerda's mother is an excellent baker and will be back from Florida next week. My favorite ethnic German dessert is bienenstich. It's delicious and there probably is a bienenstich in my near-term future. I haven't had coffee since last October. A slice of one and a cup of the other could be just what the doctor ordered.

Carbs really are the devil though, aren't they? Brian King pushed me toward The Zone's view of eating about 18 months ago and I have adopted that as my core beliefs for eating smart. It was the first time that Gerda realized that she has consistently been eating too little protein. We are all healthier now.

Happy Birthday wishes from me too, Richard! Mine's coming up on the 22nd. Fifty seems like something that should be marked in a special way, but so far I haven't thought of anything I really want to do. I'm not much of a party person! (Maybe it's not something to celebrate.)

Happy Birthday Richard! That's definately a cake opportunity. Especially if you ran this a.m. Even Weight Watchers lets you eat more if you exercised that day.

Happy Birthday Richard, hope it is a good day! We had a good trip through the south and a great visit here with my older sister for Easter weekend. I am now going to take a couple of days of down time and then will be flying to GA this weekend for a few days of house hunting and meeting with some friends. On the subject of diets, Rich and I were faithfully on the South Beach diet from Aug. to Dec. and had success and felt good. We got away from it around the holidays and then when he left to start his new job we didn't have the support of eachother and the routine was gone. I will get back into it though as I feel I am a carb addict and need to stay away from them. I would never diet on my birthday though Richard, so go for it!!

Maybe today is a fat day, Roland. I have now been 50 for the last 129 minutes. I ran this AM and feel pretty good.

By the way Roland, did you know that you are missing? According to my recently received H.S. newsletter, you are. So are you Lori. In fact, quite of few of the people who live in the greater Spfld. area are missing. As well as several people who came to our reunion. I wonder John, are you out there?? If a list of addresses being held by you for mailing purposes should be sent to Ms. Louise Peale, to clear this up? Or would that be infringing on people's right to be missing? What does everyone think?

Happy Easter weekend folks. I've been "off" for a while and see that the great weight debate is, dare I say it -- abating. Here's my 2 cents anyway. It's all a crap shoot. What works for one doesn't work for the other. That's why there are so many ways that are considered successful. I believe in moderation and portion control. Eat what you want but be sensible about it. Heaven knows we can tell when we went too far. But no matter what we do nutritionally, if we don't move it we're never gonna lose it. When we were kids biking down Route 5 to Bellows Falls for a picnic lunch (remember that girls?) every weekend we never had to think about our sizes even though we ate whatever we wanted. I graduated from college weighing in at 102 lbs. Until I sat in an office chair I never had to consider deliberate exercise. Lets face the reality according to Me: we all know what to do but we don't, Myself included want to do it. The miracle pill is yet to come but we keep popping them in the hope that this is the one. My sermon is over, thank you for listening. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go buy more jelly beans and marshmallow chickens. Did you know they come in purple now, the chickens, I mean.

Happy Easter from the frozen north.

Living in the South and getting to know the "locals" I have had a hard time believing how stubborn they are about change. Is that a human trait in general. Its too bad that soem of my friends haven't at least started on better habits. If one dosen't start, even a little, its SOOOOOOO hard later to change and then........it becomes too late. I had a great young Estonian work for myself and he always made me mad because he said Americans were lazy or took the easy way out and basically we seem to. I hated my European (German) nanny when I was much younger but she instilled in myself some habits that I draw on even today. One of which is that if I don't put it away now it pbobably won't get put away but this flows into the rest of our lives too.... if I don't do it while I am thinking of it or right now it probably son't get done and that spirals into bad habits which my young friend called lazy. I am so glad that I had some great teachers in Spfld. Even though we were a public run school we had an excellent education and the chance to form some pretty good life long habits and attitudes on life. Remember all those "hardasses" we made fun of. They really helped us out. I thank the guy upstairs everyday that I wa so fortunate. There are soooooo many out there that haven't been. In my life I have tried to share my experiences without being overbearing or bosslike. The year or so I taught school was great. I still have kids emailing myself and thanking myself for my stern ways, not harsh, just stern. In listening to all of you I think we all have done some pretty positive things and have raiswed pretty good families with good American values......so Richard....... take say just a few days of guided "intake" and always have at least one what I call "fat day". You'll see, things will fall into place within a year. And that won't be the gravity action you are complaining aout presently.

My father always says it's like a bank account. The balance depends on what you put in and take out. (But in this case it's easier to make deposits!)

Roland, you are right about the excercise more, eat less approach. I am trying, but I hate it.

Well, there is some good advice for body, mind, and spirit. Find a sports car with a nice body, ask some woman if she wouldn't mind, and if all else fails drink more spirits. Radical plan!! I love it.

Funny as usual Richard. The ol exercise more and eat less thing usually works but with each decade we add the metobolic things seems to get slower. No wonder really old people sleep alot and hardly eat. Adkins is successful and dad did it 30 years ago but really as tjhey are pointing out now its not totally what we eat but how much and relate that to exercise. I know each time I got stuck behind a desk for 40 hours I started growing a bit wider no matter what....so I try to stay where I am at least 60% up and going and 40% or less behind the desk. Besides, that stuff bores me. Be careful on the road Karen. ATL is a crazy place. Mom emailed me about that tanker on I-95 in Bridgeport, CT. I have cousins arriving from Irland and she worriede about alternate routes.

You get the medal for driving, Karen. How do you do it???? But I don't like those mid-life crisis ideas! You've got me worried now!!

HMMM Richard, most men who face this mid-life crisis thing either get a sports car or have an affair. If neither appeal then maybe you could go for the extreme makeover show. Although I think you looked pretty darned good in the pic of you, Lori and Brian. So, be happy and drink more wine. I am on the road again as of Thu. College visits this time and also seeing high schools in GA for my youngest. We will head to Wake Forest in Winston Salem, then to Raleigh (NC State) and then to Clemson in SC. Finally to Atlanta and then back home. My car has been in the shop for the last two days having the transmission rebuilt so I will be good for another 100 thou with all the college tuitions. Happy Trails and catch you all later...............

Speaking of turning a negative into a positive: I need to lose 20 lbs. of fat, gain 20 lbs of hair, and I feel like I never swang through the air like an apeman the way I should have when I was younger. Any ideas?

Great thoughts (as usual) Richard. Always turn negatives into positives and why not electrically charge them too!! Glad all went well Karen. Yes, its hard being a kid in a grown up body but thats life. A few of my girl friends told me they couldn't figure me out as I change and I replied to just enjoy and stop trying to catagorize. We can still be kids but just make more sound decisions. As they also say the older the boy the more expensive the toy.

Thanks for all the condolences. We got back on Thu. at about 4pm. Everything went very smoothly and there were laughs interspersed with tears ....... his family is amazing like that. Rich spoke and Lisa sang ....... it was really touching. My kids were great, the two older boys helped with the driving and we managed to find a decent motel despite the fact that it is springbreak. Now it seems that it should be a Monday and it is the weekend. I don't like being a grown up, or more truthfully ... having to fake that I am one. Thank God for family.

Pat, It is good to see you back from your last blast of winter. Don't let cabin fever get the best of you. I like to use cabin fever as a way of heightening what I already have in spades. My craziest design ideas always come in March. This year is no exception.

Karen, so sorry to read about Rich's dad. It's a particularly difficult event when a parent dies. Changes everything. My condolences and prayers to all of you.

Karen, sorry to hear about Rich's dad. It is good that he is not suffering. My gram had that and was quite sick in the end. Condolences to Rich please.

On an upnote, everyone always likes most anything to do with food. When I was in FL uw used to take some w/e trips via boat and raft together up river where the waters run clean and have one big food fest. I don't do as much anymore but am preparing the patios for a few get togethers this summer. I'll do the progression thing but go from front to inside to back patio and everyone brings an item that they do best. Keeps the cost down and makes it ineresting and will everyone being so busy it means we all don't have to wait for someones elses favourite.

Hi Karen, I am sorry to hear that Rich's father died. I did not know him, but always thought he had a great look of being classically handsome and strong.