I'm so sorry Lori to hear that things are so difficult at the immigration office. It must be terrible that he has to go back to Israel and wait again. It doesn't seem like it should be this difficult to have the correct paperwork. Yet it seems as though this particular individual is being impossible on purpose.
Our house buying life is all screwed up again. We keep thinking we've found the right one but it doesn't turn out that way. I think this is the hardest move we've ever made and yet, we've done it many times before. There is a glut of available properties but not in our price range/desires.
I'm looking forward to spending a few days in DC in a week. It'll take our minds off all this I hope. We'll be right back into it though as I have to go down and see a house that we put an offer on, contingent on my having seen the house and consented to the purchase by the 26th. I've only seen photos you see. In order to protect the house from possible sale to others we put this weird contract on it. We've already starting walking away in our minds though. It's just not the right one. We come back on the 24th. Yikes.

Yes, I agree, that First Love story is one we need (want) to hear.

I don't have any boa stories, just another bad-ending story at the Immigration office. We went again this week without an appointment, but with the lawyer (or actually an associate of hers who works in her office). This woman managed to get us in without an appointment, which seemed like a good sign. We met with the same officer who made problems the first time. I was afraid to breathe, but it seemed to be going well--until he got to my sister's birth certificate and again found it unsatisfactory. The other time he complained that my parents' names weren't on it. This time my parents' names were on it, but it was from the hospital, not from the Civil Registry office, and a hospital certificate isn't good enough. I think it's ridiculous, but he wouldn't budge, and when we asked to speak to his supervisor, that didn't help either. She backed him up. They also didn't think we had enough proof that my sister lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years--despite transcripts, etc. It's such a headache to get citizenship that we feel like giving up. On the other hand, it seems stupid to stop in the middle. Anyway, Eli is flying back to Israel on Sunday. The Immigration dept. will send him another invitation to come in about 3 months. If he decides he wants to go ahead with it, we'll try to get all the required documents, and he'll come back for the interview. It's just really maddening that the lawyer didn't do a better job of making sure everything was ready. I feel bad that Eli came to the U.S. especially for this, and it didn't work out.... Oh well, enough complaining, I guess. I have a hard time accepting reality sometimes.

Okay, good story Richard. All the right elements were there; interesting subject, suspense, humor, imagry ..... BUT, you are talking to a bunch of women and you cannot just drop a tease about your FIRST LOVE and not give us more! We want to know about that tail, uh tale!!!!

Ever since I moved here I have been meaning to start a list of all the things that I have heard the traffic reporters say are blocking at least a lane of the highways around Atlanta. There has been a wide variety; refrigerators, ladders, mattresses, dead animals (and I mean a horse), truckloads of goods. Its just amazing how stupid people can be when transporting things. Well, today took the cake. There was a baby zebra found injured grazing next to the interstate. He had apparently fallen out of the back of a trailer, but no one had claimed him. He has now had surgery and is doing well. I guess its never too late to start that list.

One of my boys is coming home for the weekend. Unfortunately, its going to be cold and miserable.

kathi, thanks for taking the time to read my story. you are right that birthdays sure do beat the alternative. i will be spending mine with my first true love. how sweet is that?

Richard, I think you need to write a book. You certainly can weave a tale! I am glad that my cat and laptop triggered that memory. Are you preparing for the big birthday weekend? I know that Pat's birthday was in January...Richard and Lori in April...Mine in May...Karen's in August...
I love birthdays....a little old lady once told me...."It beats the alternative honey"....

how is a cat's head sleeping on a laptop like a boas head that is asleep on a life insurance salesman's lap? the answer is that it is not the same whatsoever. i will tell you why. a seventy-four year old man once sat next to me at a bar in a relatively deserted town. it was a town that saw it's last renovation during the california gold rush. that's right, not much new had happened since then. we were sitting in the bucket of blood saloon and i am serious. the delta queen was just next door and some other saloons you might have heard of were nearby. you remember the tv show, bonanza? at the start of the show the guitar played- bling da-da bling, da-da bling, da-da bling bling. bling da-da bling, da-da bling, da-da bling bling bling. then a map of virginia city would burn up in front of your face and the stars of the show came individually riding in on horse back. the gent and i were sitting in virginia city. it was a cold february evening and i could have tied my car up to the hitching post outside if i had a rope. the place really hasn't changed in its look. there were big nevada snow flakes coming down about horizontal to the ground and moving at about the same speed as the tumbleweeds that rolled along beneath them. no kidding. there were two things i found strange and one of which was just plain disgusting. as desolate as that town was, there were hundreds of dune buggies that rolled through town for a dune buggy luv fest scheduled for the weekend there. they all had that hotrod look and they have these fifteen foot fiberglass poles with a little triangular flag at the top. these are mounted coming up off of their bumpers. they swarmed like bugs and would then disappear. none of them were drinking at the bucket of blood. it was just me, the old guy, and the bartender there. the truly disgusting thing was that i went to the bar where the dune buggy drivers were hanging out to get the best steak in virginia city. that was long after my education in the ways of a boa and the heartfelt moments at the bucket of blood. i walked in to a crowd of smokers at the bar with super steaks. i ordered a beer and (of course) a steak. i like 'em medium rare, on the rare side. you get more flavor. every man, woman, and child in that bar was smoking cigarettes, cigars, or just breathing out a lifetime of smoking both. if someone asked my if i was in beijing, i would have said, "yes." i am telling you what. i could not see dick in there and that is when i still was one. well let me tell you the breathing in there was tough and the steak i ate was impossible to taste. at one point, i used one of those crocodile dundee knives and chopped it into a paste that i snorted up my nose hoping to find some soft tissue that still had taken sensory exception to all that damn smoke. disgusting. that's what. however, my evening had not started there. as i told you, a lonely man of seventy-four years of age sat next to me in the bucket of blood saloon and he told me most everything about his life. i bought the beers to show my interest and love for the guy. the bartender bought a couple, too. well, it turns out that the old guy immigrated from ireland about thirty years earlier. his irish bride came with him and they had settled in las vegas. his wife had worked in a vetrinarian's office back then. she had died about ten years prior to my meeting her husband and i could tell that he still missed her something fierce. well as it turns out, there was a time when a guy who had a snake act on the strip in las vegas came into the veterinarian's place with his anaconda and boa. both were sick. he dropped them off there to see what could be done, but he never came back. maybe he had hit the wall with his snake act. it is logical to think so. well, the snakes' health improved and my older friend's wife brought them home to there house in las vegas. the anaconda spent all his time in the bathtub and i have to believe they had a second bath where they could wash, because he basically just stayed in the bathtub. somehow, the anaconda grew from about 24 feet to 30 feet in length over the course of his visit with my irish friend. it may be as obvious to you as it is to me that jimmie hoffa was about six feet tall and one gulp of the anaconda could explain where his sorry ass ended up. this part is just not known. the boa entered my irish friend's house at fourteen feet stretched, muscles relaxed, with no constrictions. he was given the name of rufus. rufus grew to about eighteen feet as time went by and i know what you are thinking. hervé villechaize could explain the difference in growth, but i was told that rufus had a healthy life style that was built on rodents. well here is the thing. one day a life insurance saleman comes to the house. my friend did not notice that rufus' bedroom door was open. as they discussed the possible benefits of life insurance (and i am telling you that no money would have ever paid for my friend's loss), rufus came out of his bedroom. he cozied up to that life insurance salesman and he put his head where rufus liked to put his head. i had to ask for clarification here, because i was not sure where that might be. rufus likes armpits and a deep penetration of the crotch where blood comes closest to the surface and where human's provide a special warmth that is number one with reptiles. i was told that this has a soporific effect that had put rufus into an almost instantaneos state of sleep and relaxation. further clarification made it clear to me that rufus had not picked the life insurance man's armpit. well my friend was just barely becoming aware of all this and the life insurance salesman was all knees, elbows, and a shaking ass on his way out the door. so i think you can see that the effect of a boa sleeping on the lap of a life insurance salesman is quite different different than a cat with his head sleeping on a laptop. the laptop cannot run. as a matter of fact, my laptop sits patiently while i wrap this story up with a bow. love you all. peace. richard

My cat has decided that he likes me tonight...and is sitting next to me in my chair with his head on the laptop while I am trying to type...its a little difficult but amusing. Can you believe he slept through American Idol....haha.
It was a beautiful day here. Up in the 50s and sunny. The snow is melting out of my yard, except for the huge pile in my flower garden where the plower moved the snow....there is also this little river running through it and down the yard where we have never had water running. Finally, I think Spring is here in Vermont!
Happy Thoughts everybody.....................

I'm glad it went well, Kathi. That's pretty amazing that it's going to be in an Australian newspaper.

You go Lori!!! Isn't is amazing how we can now speak up for ourselves (of course, some of us always could) when we really need to. Sometimes people who think they have power and control just have to make lives miserable. I hope all goes well next time.
The interview went well....I think....the man was very gracious and sincere. He wanted to know lots about Springfield, childhood stuff...he was meeting with John Swanson who says he is the town historian...so I'll let him know all the important facts that I don't. It did get to be pretty emotional.....(I made him tear up....) anyways, the article is suppose to be in the June magazine portion of the Australian Financial Review....He is talking with my sister-in-law on Monday. He also watched the VT Fallen bio on Kevin.
I am going out to dinner tonight for our Support Staff Union.....

Let us know how the interview goes, Kathi. Good luck with that. And, by the way, I liked your daughter's music video. My 2 musician kids probably have a lot in common with her.

Happy Birthday, Richard. I hope the day goes exactly the way you want it to. Mine is coming up soon, too--the 22nd. Our 30th anniversary was on Thursday. All the big dates are in April. We went out to eat at a nice, quiet restaurant. I don't know if it's age or what, but I can't handle noisy restaurants anymore. Can't hear anything, can't hear myself think. So the emptier the restaurant, the better!

Patti, that's good that you reached a decision about moving to Bangor. It doesn't matter if it's the right or wrong decision; just having a decision gives peace, I think. You can always change your mind afterwards if it turns out not to be the right decision for you. Good luck!

Karen, I wish Curves was as exciting as your gym! We can't really talk much there, but I like watching women of all ages, shapes, and sizes dancing around on those squares, each one moving to her own rhythm. The whole thing together is like a choreographed dance. The fat ones barely move, but there's still something appealing about their tiny movements.

Last week I nearly killed an Immigration clerk. I went with my nephew Eli to get his citizenship, and we happened to get a bastard of a clerk this time. We had the exact same documents we used for Eli's brother and sister, so there was no logical reason for the clerk to make problems. But he did. Suddenly those papers weren't good enough, and he needs more papers. He said he'd send us another invitation to come in 2 months. It wouldn't be such a problem if Eli wasn't planning to fly back to Israel on Sunday. In the end, we postponed his flight another week. Our lawyer said we should just go back to Immigration without an appointment and take a chance that the clerk will agree to see us and accept the documents he asked for. She'll go with him this time, so it better work. If it doesn't, I'm under orders from my sister to curse him out completely.

karen, my hoped for date was opting out on me, but there is now a reasonable chance that it will still happen. she is special.

kathi, anything that you say will be fine, but the one word that you pick that tells people how you feel is the most important thing. it really is about how you feel. in the same way that many people who you know best have learned to care about you, saying the few words that explain how you feel is how many people, who you will never meet, will come to embrace you and hold you in their thoughts. love, richard

Such excitment going on! Richard with his travels and birthday fun, Karen at the gym, Pat moving, Lori wedding planner. I am doing an interview tomorrow with the editor of a Austrialian newspaper/magazine who is doing an acticle on the effects of war on a small community in VT...Springfield....I am very leary about doing interviews because I don't want them to misconstru for their own purposes ...so we will see how this goes. Hopefully it'll be a human interest story keeping the memory of lost ones alive..... He has a great accent..... wish me luck. Happy Thoughts....................

pat, the new dining room in presque isle did sound appealing. you gotta be strong to leave that behind for a man. i hope i never come between a woman and something like that. i would never forgive myself. i would probably try to make it up to her by being her sex slave or something like that. good luck :-)

Well, here's what I consider the Big News in my world. I've given my notice at school for the end of this school year. I'm heading down to Bangor later today, 6 houses to look at this weekend. I've told David I will give it all up and move with him. Somebody SLAP ME!

well, ya' know i also bought some pretty cool t-shirts when i was in memphis and i am gonna be back with the big nazo people next friday. they have a big party bash they will perform at in eight days on saturday, which is (that's right) the greatest day of the year- my birthday.

a man can stand on the banks of the mississippi and realize for the first time that the world has powers beyond what can be seen. ol' man river is what they call it- the mississippi river. the mississippi is cresting right now. it seemed to me that it must be the better part of two miles across ol' man river to arkansas and there i stood in bluff city looking at it all (memphis is nicknamed "bluff city" because of the high banks along the river on the memphis side as the mississippi flows past the city). i have stood on ocean shores and thought about men in boats that go to sea to find their living, but this was the first time that i thought that way about men who live their lives on powerful waters in a place that is away from the sea. three hundred miles down river is new orleans and still the biggest boats that you can imagine land at memphis as a major port and destination. like the river that has unimaginable currents, you can also feel that a powerful human current once existed when you stand in memphis. there is a rhythm in the air. three musical revolutions were born in memphis- blues, rock & roll, and soul music. people wonder what it could be that generated three revolutions in this one place over one hundred years of time and they come to see what it might be all about. when i say revolutions, i mean something simple that rocks our worlds. it makes you wonder about how that could be. you walk down beale street and the police have it well protected for three blocks. the rest of the downtown has less visible officers and it goes from sketchy to very sketchy to abandoned areas. and, this is the report after things have improved. what a story and what a place. it went from a cradle of music civilization to a dangerous and increasingly abandoned city to a theme park of itself and a diaspora of people that never left their city- the one they still call their home. these days, they are a diaspora because of what left them and not because of what they left behind. funny how the modern world and globalization can suck the air out of a room. blues is big in japan. rock & roll is everywhere. john lennon has said that the beatles would never have existed if not for elvis. elvis would not have left tupelo, mississippi and come to memphis if not for that sound that came from sharecropper's fields where carl perkins, buddy rich, and others came from too, i guess. soul music is black music that had blacks and whites standing and playing together, side by side, from day one. imagine that, great achievements that had their day and then faded away, and a river that stays strong. i realize that nothing is simple but i do have to tell you that the impact of memphis today makes me ask myself if there was something in their water, something in their music, and something that is still alive in all of us? god, i hope that all are true.

The hike will take until sometime in August at the very earliest assuming the boys complete the trail. That I know of they are not keeping journals though I know Colin talked of doing so.

Wouldn't it be nice if $$$ was no object....my daughter was up this weekend and we were talking to caterers, photographers and florist....along with trying her wedding dress....(amongst all the high school prom girls....these dresses are nothing like the ones we wore....cut down to the bellybutton, slits here and there....more like the red carpet stars..) I still keep looking out my kitchen window visualizing this wedding reception...hopefully, the snow will be gone by then! The city slicker soon to be son-in-law got to see the turkeys and deer...such excitement for them.
Here is the video of my daughters band, if anyone wants to check it out.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=30942012

Pat, glad that your son is enjoying his adventure...how long is suppose to take?

I also thought that Colin is the one on the left--though I kept seeing bits of both you and Dave in both of them! I think they're really brave.

Well aren't the one!!! You're right of course on all counts. Isn't he a cutie-pie???? Yes indeed they went through Stover Creek. I've been lucky that Jarrod's mom takes such terrific photos whenever she gets near the boys.

The boys' hike of the AT is going really well so far. They are coming out of the Great Smokey Mountains sometime today. although they are averaging "only"10 miles a day for this, their first month, the weather and terrain have been worth going slow in. They're getting a strong slow start which I hope will set them up well for the long trek ahead. We get weekly notices from them by text messages. The other set of parents is within a couple of hours drive from most parts of the southern end and hopes to make physical contact one more time before they get more than a days drive ahead. Hopefully we're going to get more photos. The last for a long time; probably until Dave and I find the boys either in Rutland hopefully or in the White Mountains for sure. Which one of these boys do you suppose is mine?

karen, it was just luck to be on that street in providence. anyone else would have just walked by. i walked in. that is the difference. i did not know of this shop. it was complete chance. i definitely plan on seeing arminio again sometime. the big nazo funk band is going to be playing at a party in providence on my birthday. i have tickets to cirque du soleil in hartford, ct for that night, but if my date bails i will give the tickets to my son and go to rock out to big nazo in providence. i don't know how i walk into these things. i just always love it when i do. i am off to memphis tomorrow. i hope i get the room with bobbie whitlock's piano in it. i will be playing the blues on it if i do- trying to touch greatness. otherwise it will just be blues, booze, and bbq out on beale street. you know i do work on these trips. sleeping is extraneous.

check out http://www.bignazo.com/resume/video/vid05.php i laughed my ass off with the big kahuna of this group.

it is early to tell, but i think it worked. thanks. i visited a friend who is struggling and maybe things are getting better. i hope so. then i touched down in providence and walked the city. walked and walked. i guess it is my own form of bikini bootcamp. yeah, feeling tight in the cheeks now. nice. well i knew that magic had struck when i saw plate glass windows lined with giant outrageous puppets. i was on a side street downtown. the door to this first floor studio was open so i walked in. i spent the next three hours sitting, talking, trying out puppets, and laughing my (tight) ass off with the puppet master who owns the shop. he told me where to get the hippest buritto in town and that is where i went for dinner. i walked back to the b&b where i am staying and all is well. love, r

Tomorrow you can tell us if our finger-crossing worked--if you got what you wanted. I hope it works.

Whatever you need Richard, we're on your side. - pat

I'm sure we'll all keep our fingers crossed for you today, Richard.....good luck in whatever it is you need it for!

hi. cross your fingers for me on thursday. thanks, i just need a little extra luck. richard

Those turkeys are around all the time now...when I came home at 5:30, they were about 20 feet from my garage. Males with their ruffled feathers strutting around..so I stood there making turkey noises at them and one male, really fluffed up, stared and started walking my way. He must be the protector....I was either saying the right thing to him and he was checking me out...or I was annoying him....wonder which. I didn't stay out to see. I'm actually hoping that they go away pretty soon so they don't rage havoc on the garden..... I remember Arlene coming as a visiting author a long time ago...she has more then one book. Cute stories. Our school is going to the movie Horton Hears A Who tomorrow, down to the movie theatre. Exciting fieldtrip walking down for the 10:00 showing...I'll give you a review ....haha.

We have possums walking around our neighborhood, and my sister-in-law said she saw a coyote, but definitely no deer or turkeys. Richard, you carry us all away on your adventures.

kathi, i am big on turkeys and i like your story. i can't say that i am a turkey porn dog, but i like ruffled feathers more than most. i am lucky to see three squirrels in my backyard. i suppose that my cat may have something to do with that, although the wildlife here does not seem too intimidated by him. on the subject of less than intimidating cats, do you remember tim dubanivich in our class. he has an older sister named arlene. (years and years ago) she wrote a great childrens book called- tom's tale. it is a about a cat that loses his piss and vinegar as he ages. eventually, he sleeps most of each day and mice actually start to taunt him while he sleeps. talking about great literature, i have to tell you that the mouse in 'tom's tale' who stands on the toilet seat yelling, "flush it again, sam!" is an all time favorite of mine. it seems much more eloquent than kafka's neighbor turning into a cockroach (talk about a wildlife story, please).

Richard, you weave quite the tale! Much more intriging then the turkeys in my backyard!

hi karen and travel lovers. i don't know how my last trip will come across. it was a lot of work and only moments of exuberant play. i flew to calgary about two weeks ago and moved in with a great guy that i work with for the next four days. we made sales calls on friday and then headed for the canadian rockies on saturday morning. we went snowboarding at lake louise, which is actually a bunch of mountains that have a view of the lake. it is a gorgeous place. my friend had the whole fam along so it was not wild back country snowboarding until later in the day. the largest peaks that i saw up until then were when the waitress bent over at lunch. they obviously do not have the same parental controls that are applied in the presque isle school system. i am only trying to point out cultural differences here. well lunch left me with a board that was ready to go straight down hill and we headed for the high terrain. after going up on some leisurely chairlifts, the last leg is done on a poma lift. let me tell you that riding a disk on a pole while you are latched into a snowboard is no small feat. this one has the added benefit of going up a 45 degree section where the poma just about pulls your knees out. after that, we hiked for about half an hour along ridges that led to really remote headwalls of snow. it was so steep that i had to put my back foot under my board to jack it up toward a level position that i could latch my front foot into. we sat and waited for the sun to light up the slope and then we jumped in. the views and the boarding were spectacular. i was completely whipped by the end of the run. it really was special. we did the apres ski thing and then i had my friend drop me off in banff. i spent the night and the next day there. there are sulphur springs in a cave that you can check out and there is a 102 degree swimming pool at about 1500 feet above the village that you can hang out in. i floated around listening to young canadian mothers (how could you not, they have loud crass voices that throw out the f-bomb every other word) talking about how they would be going to bikini boot camp to get their asses to tighten up. i am not sure that there asses are the only part that is effected by this protocol. maybe they should release the full nelson that has been placed on the intelligent parts of their brains. whatever. from there, i was on a non-stop schedule of meetings, plane rides and hotel rooms. it went from calgary, to vancouver, to portland, to san jose, to newport beach, to phoenix. in phoenix, i met my friend richard loveless for art, dinner, drinks, and a runway fashion show. we met in scottsdale at a lowrider car show. wow, talk about the extreme application of passion to a silly car that has been made oddly spectacular. you sure don't see that in vermont. after that we went into a cool place for drinks and dinner. i love talking to him. he has seen so much that is so great and his mind wraps itself around it all and takes it further. we met a young couple who are friends of his and the guy in the couple could not believe that there was a second richard loveless. he publishes a local magazine and shot a picture of us together. then an amazing sean connery impersonator joined our conversation. i swear you would not know he is not the man, himself. well, that meant more pictures and the possibility that a richard-sean-richard photo may show up in the "who is out partying" section of this guy's magazine. how funny would that be? after that we all headed to the lowrider bikini fashion show being held at the museum next door. i will spare you the descriptions of that one. it would be too much culture for one blogger post. the next night, i got stuck in detroit. i went to the henry ford museum to kill some time last saturday. that was nice. i made it home saturday night and that is the end of the story. richard

28 turkeys and 11 deer in one day? That's amazing! Will they be at your wedding celebration?!

This is a picture of the turkeys that were in our backyard the other day...One of theses males crept up to the unsuspecting female....and imagine turkey porn in the field.....anyways, they all returned tonight, males stuttling up the bank and the females on the other side of the garden walking between 7 deer. It was a pretty amazing sight.....Wildlife on South Street....I have never seen 28 turkeys and 11 deer in one day in the 22 years we've lived here. Such excitement! Have a wonderful weekend and Easter!

Glad to hear you're still enjoying the poems, Patti. This hasn't been a very productive year for me as far as writing poems goes. My pace has slowed down a lot--ever since I published the book in Israel. Oh well, hopefully it will come back. I think my mind is too full of wedding plans this year.

button off. it's a classic. catches me a few times a year. i just wrestled through a connection to get on now. i am in oakland, california. i have been traveling for about a week. had some dynamite moments on my snowboard this weekend. now it is just work and it is okay. love to tell you great stories, but i am whipped. just thought i would let you know (sorry).

I just don't want you guys to think that I am just a whinner....I do appreciate you listening to me sometimes ramble on and on. I try to stay positive because it is so easy to get dragged down by the negative energy and it is so hard to get out of that frame of mind. Anyways, thank you.
Everyone knows how I am trying to learn more computer things..well, I couldn't get the wireless to work on my laptop...I tried unplugging all the different plugs on the modum and to make a short story long...I finally figured out that I had shut the wireless button off on the front of the computer...I was glad that I figured it out and didn't have to call my kids to ask for help.

Yeah me too. I'm a talker. If I don't have the chance to get things out verbally, they fester and get worse. I feel better if my "girl friends" give me the chance to kvetch. But that's me. I have a very dear friend here who rarely speaks out her feelings. That's her way. You'll alwaysknow what's the way for you. right?

I've told you guys things here that I haven't said out loud to folks here in my real world. Funny and wonderful how having all of you to listen has been of such great comfort to me over this last year.

I was reading your poems again today Lori. Such a treat.

Kathi, don't feel you have to keep things to yourself if there's anything you feel like sharing here. I don't think any of us would consider it a burden. I know everyone has different ways of dealing with things, and not everyone has a need to talk about things. For myself, I know I DO need to keep talking and talking until everything's out. Otherwise it stays inside like a ticking bomb.

kathi, i am glad to hear that you spoke your feelings. i sure don't know much about all of the personal things you are feeling, but i do really believe that grief is when you re-start living your life- speaking about how you feel and integrating your son with your life and how it is for you now. a lot of people think that all of the other feelings that come first are grief. i think that grief is when you start living your life again- always knowing and never forgetting. lots of love, richard

I spent the day at a Grief Seminar put on at the VA hospital in White River for the VT Fallen families. It was very well conducted and the people were very nice. I usually just sit and listen but today I participated in the discussion group. It was highly emotional. Big discussion on the media roll in keeping grief on the surface for the families. So it was interesting to hear what others had to say. Personally, I think it is easier to keep stuff to myself instead of making my "friends" listen all the time....so thanks for listening.
It was snowing a little bit here this morning but the temperatures went up to 40 and it didn't stick to the road. I would much rather worry about snow then tornados! I hope they stay away from your area, Karen. Stay safe!
I can't see many self help books being read by the males in my house unless they were on the sports talk shows or the game show network!
I am still trying to figure things out on my computer like how to make DVD copies.....I might have my email worked out...we'll see.
Well, have a good rest of the weekend....we'll hope for calm weather all around!

I had been wondering how you're doing, Karen, after hearing the news about the tornado in Atlanta, so I'm glad to hear you're okay. I hope your daughter is safe, too. And I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who finds it tiring to have guests now--even if they're the nicest people in the world. My nephew is still with us, but that's different. I don't feel like I have to go out of my way to entertain him. When people come for a short time, I do take "time off" from my own life and that's why it's so exhausting. My nephew finally got his appointment for his citizenship interview at Immigration. It will be April 1, and then he'll go back to Israel on April 6. We just hope the April 1 appointment is not some April Fool's joke!

Patti, how was the Oprah class? I didn't get around to checking it out, but I discovered we do have that book, A New Earth. I think Avi has every self-help book in existence! He reads them over and over, so they actually have an influence on him. I read them once, get inspired, and then forget everything a little while later. My friend Peggy (who's 86, a poet, and also a psychotherapist) recommended that I read Emerson's essay, "Self-Reliance." I found it on google. I printed it out. They also had a "translation" into modern, more understandable English. Have any of you ever read it? I liked it. All about trusting yourself, not letting other people's negative opinions influence you, speaking the truth instead of just agreeing with people when you don't really agree, living in the present, etc. etc. Peggy is one of my favorite people. She married her second husband, Norm, at age 60 (he's 12 years younger), and they're SO happy together. It's nice to see that. You would never guess she's 86. She's so young-spirited and open-minded. She's like a mentor to me. I've learned so much from her.

Thanks for the website....I wouldn't have had any idea to even look for a vista website...I started reading through some of it, hopefully, I'll learn something! I think in my next life I'll have a job where I only work 3 days a week! Sounds perfect, of course, it would have to be a better paying one.....oh well, dream on. Gas prices are up to $3.29 here in Springfield....up more then 10 cents in a couple of days....makes you wonder where this will end. Can't imagine what heating prices will be for the next winter. It was only up in the 30s today but at least it was sunny.

Vista4beginners.com has a section on migrating your mail from outlook to Vista. should be just what you need Kathi. Let me know if it's helpful.

sunny day, blue ski sky; lovely day.

I have used the help menu but its not giving me the answers I need..lol....my daughter will be home next weekend so I'll make her help me! Just wanted to figure things out by myself before I had to ask the kids! Sun is shinning here today!!! Birds are starting to come back. I actually saw Robins the other day....there are a few spots where they might be able to find worms....still chilly but Spring is coming! Sorry, Pat.

Sorry Kathi I'm using XP. I hate to say it but you might have to use the help button on your menu bar.
There's no such thing as a wedding planner here in the north country. I think it would be fun to talk with someone like that. I think I'm too "hands on"to give over my will to a planner. It seems a great idea for busy working people however. I remember having fun with our plans. We had a good time on the mountain. Do you remember Janice???? Yoohoo, are you out there today?
Snow, wind and wicked cold still here. I've been picking up small pots of spring bulbs to have in my kitchen window. I miss seeing the ground!!!!

I wish that the wedding reception was going to be held somewhere other then my backyard. I am starting to get a little overwhelmed with the idea of getting everything ready .....I'm sure everything will be fine...I need a wedding planner, organizer, and landscaper! Anyone open to those suggestions??? lol..... Lori, enjoy and have fun with it.
Pat, do you have Windows Vista? How do I set up Windows Mail to import emails? I thought I had everything all set but I can't seem to get the new emails to open in that program...I am really not computer literate and need step by step instructions....
Time to get ready to watch American Idol....I really do like to figure out who will get eliminated....

forget to mention, talked with Doc noble and Larry Cruse was supposed to have lunch with her and erconnect I guess. Also got the iphone to keep in touch better and let me tell you its a learning curve but one well worth it. does all but dust and wash clothes! ciao R

hey guys I'm back after a small hiatus so to speak. wow another one of us gone to our maker, it makes me think of the years. I am currently back in school at Beacon University for theology and was recently voted onto the board of directors for our county's crisis center. still haven't decided what to build / buy but will firm that up by summer. you guys have really had a great winter it looks like for skiing and out of doors activities. my bulbs are up and have been for about a month and a half and the trees are now flowering and the annual Atlanta Dogwood festival is scheduled. probably will be in Fl for Easter to honour my Aunt & Uncle who started me off in life financially. I redo their grave site every year, its peaceful there, old with all the Spanish moss etc. glad to see the regulars are hanging in there and well. My brother gave me his class reunion paper so I finally got the adress etc and can add my name to the class info etc. ciao ya'll and God Bless!! R

That's a really nice site, Kathi, and nice pictures, and, yes, she does look exactly like you. We've been busy with wedding plans, too. The wedding will be at the Skirball Cultural Center on July 13. The lady at the Skirball told us we really should get a wedding planner to help us organize everything, so we met with 2 this week. One is a mother/daughter team who have been doing it for years and seem really professional. We'll probably go with them. I get so overwhelmed with these things. It seemed so simple when we got married, and now there's all these details you have to think about--like the color of the table cloths, the way you want the napkins folded, what kind of chairs. I don't even remember what flowers we had at our wedding. Luckily my daughter knows what she wants cuz I'm not much help. Nice people, good music, good food--that's all I care about. I don't really notice the other stuff. Is something wrong with me?!!! Aren't women supposed to notice these things?!!

Thanks for the link Kathi, it was fun to check out the site. My goodness she looks just like you. I'm sure you've heard that before but it's quite remarkable.
It's quarter past 6a.m. and pitch black out there. Tough to get up and go. But I must.

kathi, a picture says it all (more than a thousand words and who is counting anyway?). you have a beautiful daughter. i am sure that john knows how lucky he is. that leaves me with a nice smile that i will take into dream land.

Happy Daylights Savings time to us! I am so happy that it is later in the evenings...makes the rest of winter not so bad. Last night it was light until almost 7:00. Of course, its dark in the morning longer but I find that easier to deal with as I'm just getting ready for work anyways.
My daughter is making a wedding website...it is really fun to look at...she isn't finished quite yet but I'll give you a little sneak peak...just don't tell! www.johnandsu.com . I am sure she will change it all around, plus John has to finish his page. Anyways, that its from here. Happy Thoughts......

That's terrible news for the Picard and Maxwell families. I'll check out the Herald.

I haven't seen and hadn't heard about The Power of Now before but Dave is now listening to it in his vehicle.

i am so sad to hear about marianne and the loss to bruce. i live in a world that has some ends, but it has lots more beginnings by comparison. i don't know how i will handle my life when it has more ends than beginnings. i really don't.

Sad news. I heard today that Marianne Picard Markwell died on Tuesday. She was married to Bruce.
You can read her obituary in the Rutland Herald or Eagle Times.
Warm wishes to her family....

I haven't read that Tolle book, but we have The Power of Now--the book and CDs. Actually, Brian once recommended it. Avi loves it.

Richard, I dreamed about you last night. You were about to get on a bus to go traveling all over the world, and I was there saying good bye to you. Don't know what that means.

The class is every Monday night on-line. Get yourself a copy of Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth and start reading. Log into Oprah.com and register as member of her site. Then follow the link on her site to register for the class. There's a simple download (free) of a program that allows the web contact. You can ask questions during the class or make comments.
Eckhart and Tolle sit and discuss the chapter of the week for 90 minutes. there are people who are using web cams from all around the world. this was the first class so chapter 2 is next Monday night.