There is always room for Happy Thoughts. Spring is finally here! We are not gardening...there are still piles of snow but the weather has been in the 40s with 50s for Easter Sunday. It has been a long time coming. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

it's probably safer for everybody if you two don't know the powers that you have! don't snap your fingers and definitely don't wiggle your noses. do have fun this weekend!

That's great, Richard! But, Karen, are you saying our well-wishing had no effect on anything? I wanted to believe we had a part in his success! Just kidding. I guess I have to admit I don't have that kind of power--but I'll keep pretending I do and wishing him well.

Congratulations Richard. I am sure it was the strength of your ideas and not the well wishing that came through for you. You will have to explain it to us more when things start to happen. Its going to be 70 here today and I will get out and walk and maybe put in some edging along my walk. My daughter had jury duty at the Atlanta court house about two weeks before Brian Nichols went on his rampage. I never thought of her as taking any risk when I dropped her off downtown near the courthouse. You just never know. We were on our way to FL that morning and saw lots of cop cars and helicopters. The news here was full of all the funerals and controversy over security last week. Very sad and senseless.

i made it through the first round for the federal grant that i am applying for. i will get instructions next week for how to prepare my final proposal. i think all of your crossed fingers and my rabbit's foot collection did the trick. i will let you know the next time i will be needing some mojo (may 1st). yahoo!!

I had company, a college friend, so didn't get to watch the VT/Mich State game. Too bad they lost. We are die hard UK fans so we still have a team to root for. One of my sons is at Wake Forest so that was a disappointment too. I love college basketball. The KY/Cincinnati game was fun for us because my son who goes to UC was watching it with us and we were cheering for UK and he was cheering for UC.

go cats go! i watched the last ten minutes and was amazed with the outcome. college ball is fun cuz you never know who is going to be psyched and great because of it. i don't usually care a lot about it, but as a chubby white boy, i liked this one.

Woo, Go Vermont!!! Wasn't that an exciting game! We had to chuckle at the chubby white boys jumping around like they had won the whole NCAA tournament! Now to see who they go up against ......... Have a good weekend!

We are all shoveled out from a foot of beautiful fluffy snow. The best thing about snow this time of year is that you know it won't last for months!! It was in the 40s today so it settled down a lot and is suppose to be nice all week. That should get rid of the bulk of it. We went out to make a snowman because our grandson wanted to see Papa in the snow. Thought about making snow angels but a. I didn't want to get wet! and b. I might have been stuck! lol. Hope all is well with everyone. Must be a very busy week. Take care and Happy Thoughts.

I don't let it get to me anymore, Richard. I send out poems, hope something will be accepted, but I don't get upset if they're rejected. I've had so many rejections by now that I hardly react now when the rejection letter comes in the mail. I immediately send the poems out somewhere else. Acceptance is a really subjective matter anyway. I can send the same group of poems to 10 different places and get rejected and then finally fall on an editor who likes one of the poems. So I don't take rejection to mean the poems are bad--just that that particular editor didn't find them suitable for his/her magazine.

wishes for luck are so nice to get. waiting for a decision to be made is really hard. lori, you must be feeling constant anticipation when you have poems submitted. how do you do it? i mean, how do you make it a positive part of your life? this is harder than taking care of small children.

Thanks, Kathi.

Our fingers are crossed, Richard!

Hi from Vermont....nasty weather here today. It started out in the 30s and rain and by 10am was snowing, windy, and cold. We now have at least 8 inches of new stuff with ice underneath with blowing winds and temps around 12. Wind chills are -20 something...oh well, only 2 more weeks until SPRING. Haha. Patti did you get your bathroom finished? Lori, exciting news about being published and Richard congratulations on getting your grant in. I'm sure good things are in the horizon. Happy Thoughts.

i submitted my pre-proposal for federal grant money today. i will find out if i am invited to make a final proposal on 3/24. keep your fingers crossed, please! maybe i will be a woodworker again someday.

Okay, Patti, I'll print out some poems and send them to you.

Lori, I 'd love it if you'd send something, I'll e-mail my address. I'm staying here alone. Colin is living around town but I see him most days.

Patti, my poems have been in various literary magazines. Some of those magazines can be found in bookstores and libraries, and some, I think, are only available by subscription. They're not like those mass circulation magazines that they sell at newsstands or supermarkets. Maybe it's easiest if I just mail you a few poems. I'm glad you had a good time with Dave. Are you alone at home or is one of your sons still at home with you?

Hey Kathi I'm glad to hear your brother's unit is safely returned. I look everyday for the e-mail that says my friend Will is on his way home. I know they are "waiting" to be shipped home anytime now.

Lori, I don't think I realized, you'd been published. Though I knew you were writing. That's really wonderful. Where can I find your writings? I'd love to see them.

Patti glad that you had a nice trip with your husband. Neil and I went to NC last week to see the Grandbabies. He hadn't seen Camille, she is 2 months. And Caleb is a charmer. It is hard being so far away from them. They are coming for 2 weeks in April. That'll be fun. We are expecting at least a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow. March is coming in like a lion...hopefully, it'll go out like a lamb...and there will be a Spring! I am ready. The daffodils were blooming in NC. My brothers National Guard Unit arrived back in Burlington on Monday, for which I am very thankful. Hopefully all the rest will be safely home soon. Hope all is well with everyone. Happy Thoughts.

Hi folks I'm back from my trip to DC and Baltimore area. DC was fun, we walked off our feet and saw almost every Smithsonian and lots of other things that we really enjoyed. Weather was wonderful.
Baltimore, not so much. 3 inches of snow sent everyone into a panic. sily, unprepared people. We did find the Peabody Bookstore and Cafe on Center Street not far from the Washington Monument in Baltimore but at 7:22 on Friday night they were closed. I was disappointed. But we did find it.
Nice to be back but I wish I could have brought Dave back with me.

I'm impressed that you remember that line, Richard! Yes, I'm still writing, and it's going well. No acceptances lately, but that doesn't stop me. I keep sending them out. The poem you referred to was accepted by The Comstock Review, and it finally came out last week. It 's always good to see it in print--at least it's out there somewhere and not stuck in my drawer. That's the poem that won "special merit" status in the competition run by that journal, so I feel good about that one. I'm going to try out another poetry writing group this week. It's smaller than the one I'm in and also on a higher level, I think. A friend of mine is in it, and she invited me to join. I have a lot of respect for her work, so I'm excited about trying this out. You sound a lot happier with your work now.

What's new with the rest of you out there? How are you all doing?

hi lori, i have been travelling for work and will be back on the road monday in roanoake, va. i have had to travel more than usual lately. it's okay, because the projects interest me. my woodworking grant proposal is due on friday and i am in pretty good shape for that. i really hope it gets funded because the people on my team are sooooo great!

i hope you are writing "with a drop of citrus tingling on the tongue." i love your work and insight.

Thanks Richard, I received the CD and hope to view it this w/e. Very busy right now with the critters, plants etc.

Richard, are you traveling for work or for your woodworking project?

i am off to cedar (not very) rapid, iowa. my big moment is likely to be either at a diner out on route 380 or possibly at duffy's car museum. yahoo!

Roland, got to shsalumni.com and click on the email and give them your updated information and that will do it.

Yes Lori, its ok to be "found" if you want to relay the info. I don't know how to get it done. I've tried. Thanks for the update.

I was updating my address with the SHS Alumni site and noted that Lori and Roland (Bill) are listed as missing. Several other easy to find people were also on there. Do you want to be found? It just means getting the once a year missive about alumni weekend and the dues, activities, etc.

Have fun on your trip, Patti. Richard is a good travel agent. He knows what to recommend. Maybe that's another career for you, Richard?!!

karen, i was feeling the love of anticipating that you would ask me what kinda love i was feeling. thanks! hope yours was good too.

pat, here is my list of to dos in baltimore and dc. the baltimore blast have an indoor soccer match downtown at the waterfront this saturday night. it's fast and fun. the peabody bookstore is a speakeasy from the 20's but i couldn't find it on line. it is 5 or 6 blocks from the waterfront, maybe on charles or maybe gone. berthas is a seafood place that is cool- great bumper stickers. dc has so many museums. the nat'l museum of the american indian is one i would like to check out. air and space is always awesome. bring a big wallet for food, drink, and music- but georgetown has some good jazz and blues usually. oh well, back to work.

I was feeling the long distance love yesterday and hopefully the fact that my roses wilted overnight is not a statement of my love relationship!!

I leave Sat. a.m. for a week in Baltimore so we'll have some fun in DC catching up and sightseeing before Dave goes back to work Monday. I'll have this car all week so I'll venture out on my own. Advice anyone?

Apparently they are all still too busy "feeling the love" to respond! And what kind of love did you feel ALONE! I seem to be humming "learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all"!

90 minutes till valentines day! i hope you are all feeling the love. she-love, he-love, first-love, first-time-today-love, nerd-love, hunk-love, last-time-was-oh-so-sweet-love, hope-he-comes-back-soon-love, hope-she-remembers-my-name-love, that-was-the-best-love . . . i hope you are feeling the love. unfortunately, my valentine isn't here right now.

hi, i have done my vermont thing- shoveling all that snow. i wish there was something solid to say about my woodworking adventure. there are good things, like how much other people are willing and able to do. I wrote to the sixteenth player for my team who is the remaining question mark. if he joins then the potentail for a grant is good. if he refuses it would be an emotional let down but not the end. he is the chief curator for the Museum of Art and Design in NYC. He owns one of my suspended lamps from back in the day, 25 years ago. he worked for the smithsoninan at the time and bought a lamp for the museum as well. we'll see!!

Hey all, spoke with Doc Noble last night. She is turning 65 but dosen't want to retire. They put her into the physical planning department and she hates it. She was in research & development and has some patents pending. She probably will retire in another year. She asked me about getting a commercial cook stove and I refered her to Wolfe. She still does hobbies and cooking. Said to say hello to all.

Wow--falling trees, bathroom problems. We just have a lot of rain right now and huge puddles in the streets. People here don't know how to drive in the rain, so there are always a lot of accidents when it rains.

Congratulations, Richard. We're rooting for you!

Actually, this one just sheared off about 8 foot up Roland. But I have since heard the same thing that you said. We have lots of trees on all sides of our house and I love the privacy and shade but this is the second tree to come down. The first one was a Sweet Gum and it just took out a few branches of other trees. Everytime the wind picks up, like today, I am nervous.

My best to everyone. Especially Richard in your new venture and Pat with the bathroom. Oh, I forgot to say that after they finished my bathroom ceiling on Monday, patched the hole and painted ....... the roofers came on Tu and the main guy lost his balance and put his foot through my bathroom ceiling!! Hope you are having better luck Pat.

Karen, forgot to warn you about the pines here. You really don't want any near your house as they will eventually come down on it. They have a very shallow root system and those ice storms and winds just knock them over espically after long rains when the ground is totally saturated. They do look nice though.

Bite your tongue tongue Kathi! If we got that much snow we'll have no school tomorrow which means an extra day on the other end. No thank you very much.

So glad things are looking good for you Richard. Doesn't it feel good when things are working the way you hoped?

Big Snows in Vermont today. No School!!! The storm has moved north so we are only suppose to get 8-10 inches instead of the 12-20 inches that Patti will probably get...sorry!!! We'll see. Sad days in the schools...a 5th grader in Linda Labonte's class was killed skiing at Okemeo on Monday. Send some Happy Thoughts...to his family and all the other children in Springfield.

hi lori, my meetings went really well today. there is synergy going that i hope won't stop. i am exhausted now. i have the best people that i can imagine who are willing to help me and i am having fun. they are having fun too. if i can just win this grant money we will do some awesome work that will surely by in a magazine or two. got a long way to go.

How did your meeting go today, Richard? Good luck! Hope it's going the way you want it to.

Karen, I'd like some of your leftovers, too!

Karen, I would love to come over. I'll bring some friends (a lot of them). Don't worry about the roof, we like fresh air and loud music is good. Kinda like partyin at Fergies pits, I'd say.

I wish you could all come to my house and eat all my leftovers from our Super Bowl party. Some did not show up and I guess I overshot on the food and beverages. I didn't get to see much of the game but I guess I am glad that the Patriots won. We have been having some very pretty days so I am hoping my roofers show up today to repair the hole where the pine tree came down at Christmas time. The squirrels will be disappointed that they are evicted from their new digs. Have a good week ........ wow, Feb. already, and almost Valentines Day!

I explained Ground Hog Day to a person in Switzerland on Thursday and assured her that spring would come early this year. She said that my explanation helped her to understand the movie with Bill Murray (which she liked), but can you imagine seeing that movie without knowing what Ground Hog Day is? Didn't he wake up every morning to "I got you babe?"

Okay Lori, no secrets. I am having fun because I am organinzing a grant application with a team of wonderful people. There are some stellar local people and some from the national forestry scene as well. A lead researcher from the Forestry Sciences Lab in W Va and a forestry professor from NC State are flying in to Burlington to spend Wednesday with me. I have never had people take me quite this seriously before. Gosh! So, get those rabbits feet and whatever mojo you got in the backroom out of the closet. I need GOOD VIBES over the next few months or else I will continue to be the charming clerk that I am during my Clark Kent daytime role for the rest of my frickin life. I'm not dissing it. I am a pretty cute clerk.

I'm doing it all myself and that's why it'g going to take forever. I'll looking forward to seeing it done. I'll feel proud but jeez it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Not the room, the job. the room is big enough. It's the size of a small bedroom. A waste of space really but there you are.

I'm going out on the the 19th to spend the week with Dave in Baltimore.

Hey Ya'll, General Beauregard didn't see his shadow this week so looks like Spring is coming. He lives at the Yellow River Game Ranch a few miles from here in Stone Mountain. Up north we call them hedgehogs and the ACJ carried a story on the myth etc.

What are you having fun doing, Richard? Or is that a secret?

hi guys, life is soooo crazy. i'm having fun though. hope you are too.

Patti, it sounds like you're keeping yourself busy in your life as a "single." Just don't get too used to it! Just kidding. When will you be seeing Dave?

Are you doing all the work yourself or having someone come in and help? Hopefully, you have another one you can use while working on this one!!! A friend of mine is coming over on Saturday and we are going to craft together. She does a lot of stamping and its always fun to get new ideas. We are busy in the Valentine mode in Kindergarten. Lots of hearts and giving of phone numbers around. Thats the new thing...to write down your phone number on a tiny piece of paper in hopes that your "friend" will call you. Not sure how many parents appreciate it, but at least they are practicing number writing!! It was in the 30s here today....although it is predicted that there will be six more weeks of winter!! Like seeing his shadow really makes a difference! Hope all is well is everyone....happy thoughts!

the bathroom project kathi is a whopper. I've already run into the oops factor and so it will of course take me longer than hoped for but I'm pressing on.

This coming weekend I'm working as a scorer at the Jr. Biathlon. Although an official race this is our last "practice" before the Jr. Olympic Biathlon next year. Pretty exciting stuff. I have purchased new long johns for the occasion!

Hey all, Iced in today till about 11 am. Good things it was a weekend. I did venture out for mundane shopping and of course Wally World was packed. At least the last ten years of campaigning for safe driving in this weather has paid off. Everyone seemed to be doing about 35 and slowing for the intersections and being patient with one another. Home now and catching up on emails. Stoked the fire and put a pot o joe on. Its grilled cheese, chips, salad, and tomatoe soup tonight! The temp only dipped to about 28 here but thats cold for us and cold enough to cause a few inches of ice everywhere. Luckily we're on one of the strands that keep the little men peddling regardless so we have lights

BRRRR...it is so cold here. I now know why "old" people move to warmer climates. Tonight is suppose to be the coldest night so far. It is minus 5 already not sure what the wind chill is. Cold enough so children stayed in all day at school. Plus with the full moon this week....wild things!!! Richard, glad you finally made it home safely. Patti, got the bathroom done yet?? Tomorrow is Friday!!! I'd like to be hibernating! Enjoy and Happy Thoughts!

Lori, I am too rational to be part of the passional airport nut force. One 80 year old guy told a pilot that he hoped the pilot's plane would crash and that the pilot would die. How crazy is that? I was very glad to get home 48 hours after I was supposed to. I know the Detroit airport very well now and I have to recommend Rio Wrap at Gate 60 as the winner of best food at the airport.

Richard, you sound amazingly calm considering all the trouble you've had with your flights. Or maybe the scream just isn't coming across on the blog.

my extra time in new orleans was great. i found a friend that i had not seen in 23 years this morning. he has a really nice gallery and studio where he does his work. his name is thomas mann. check out his stuff on line. thomasmann.com, i think. i am now stuck in detroit. i got here and had a 3 hour lay over that was followed by a 4 hour delay that was concluded with cancelling the flight. now it is just drudgery to get home. i have a collapsible toothbrush in my brief case and that is about it. people at the airport were yelling at each other. i have a free hotel room and a $10 voucher for food. yahoo- i'll be super-sizing breakfast with that. i can't wait to have some real home cooked food. one more po' boy sandwich and i will die.

Good for You! What are you going to do???? How much did you get in Maine? Today started out below -11 but warmed up to the 20s and the sun was shinning. Maybe another snow storm on Wednesday. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Richard have a good flight home. Do you fly into Burlington? Boston had limited service today. Happy Thoughts...

In the spirit of non-one here to say me nay....I have begun to remodel my bathroom!!