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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (5)Lady Arabella Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:55 pm

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Catherine - Feb 15, 2005 6:51 am (#2151 of 2956)

Hello, everyone.

I enjoyed watching the Westminster Dog Show last night, but admit that I went to bed after the judging of the Toy breeds. But, Loopy and others, you can still watch the Hound and Sporting Groups tonight, along with Best in Show. I hope the Bassett Hounds do well in honor of Flash, Roscoe, Lulu, Cooter, Daisy, and Jesse! **waves to Loopy Lupin's dog siblings**

We got some good Valentine's Day news last night. My parents are officially getting the little shih-tzu I mentioned last week. She has come through her eye surgery, and getting a little spunkier every day. My mom wants to change her name, and I submitted a list, most of which were Harry Potter-related. Sshh! They don't need to know!

Fawkes, I've had a bruised tailbone, and it is a right pain. I'm sending some Levitation Charms so that you can float just above your chair!

See you all around the Forum.

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Elanor - Feb 15, 2005 6:52 am (#2152 of 2956)

Fawkes, I really hope that you will feel better soon, to be hurt there is NOT fun. *waving**

About "crêpes", my grandmother used to put some orange-flower water in them and it was delicious too!

Good afternoon to my fellow europeans and good morning America!

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mollis - Feb 15, 2005 7:10 am (#2153 of 2956)
Edited by Feb 15, 2005 6:11 am

Good morning all. I've decided to try and keep my priorities straight and take the time to post. Maybe even try and get my money's worth out of this premium membership.

Fawkes, I too have injured myself in the past (similar to Essidji. It did indeed take up to 3 weeks to heal. People may give you funny looks for sitting on one of those donuts, but if you are working that hard and that stressed out, I'm willing to bet you could shoot any laughers a look that would scare even the dementors away.

And Mare, my husband makes the best "strange fluffy thingies that Americans eat for breakfast" I've ever tasted. With plenty of Vanilla, brown sugar, lemon juice, and a few other things. Yummy. The orange flower water sounds interesting, Elanor. I've only used that before in one other recipe - Ramos Fizz (also has gin ). Grandpa makes them Christmas morning.

I am starting to fear that I am giving the impression of being an alcoholic - please be assured this is not the case. I just love experimenting with all the different flavors it can give to recipes. Oh, the Guinness stew last night was very good. So were the leftovers...

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 15, 2005 7:11 am (#2154 of 2956)

About "crêpes", my grandmother used to put some orange-flower water in them and it was delicious too!---Elanor

Leave it to the French to put orange-flavored water in anything. ***goes off to drown her pancakes (those "fluffy" things) in maple syrup to disguise the bland taste and feels, if possible, worse about her lame cooking skills than she did before reading this***

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Ydnam96 - Feb 15, 2005 8:31 am (#2155 of 2956)

What is a non-fluffy pancake like? Being an American I didn't know there was another kind Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (6) I have had crepes before, but to be honest I wasn't a fan (must be the Yankee in me) or maybe they just weren't very well made. (We had French Belgian exchange students who made them for us when I was a child...they did bring us goooooood chocolate and little statues of a man who is.... well you can figure it out, I guess it's famous in Belgium)

It's 7:30 am and I don't want to go to work. I'm just telling myself that I can take a nap when I get home, it's the only way I think I will make it through the day.

And, there is NO SHAME in a donut seat. I think that if you are in pain you should just get one. Who cares about your coworkers if you are in pain. We'll send them bat-boggie hexes if they make fun of you!

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Julia. - Feb 15, 2005 8:31 am (#2156 of 2956)

Good morning everyone.

Fawkes, I'm so sorry you've hurt your tail bone. I hope you feel better soon! *sends huggles and healing charms your way* Yeah, the donut is going to make you look a bit silly, but it will make you feel better.

Ummmmmmmmmm, pancakes. I love those fluffy things we Americans eat for breakfast. The dining hall always makes them with chocolate chips, but I like them better without them better.

Well, I'm off to clear the threads, then giving blood then class. Have a good day everyone.

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septentrion - Feb 15, 2005 8:48 am (#2157 of 2956)

and little statues of a man who is.... well you can figure it out, I guess it's famous in Belgium)

LOL It's indeed very well known !

goooooood chocolate

Living near the belgian frontier, i can tell you it's sometimes difficult to keep good resolutions think of Leonidas chocolates ...hhhmm

Leave it to the French to put orange-flavored water in anything.

Not in everything. And the arabs use it still more.

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megfox - Feb 15, 2005 1:26 pm (#2158 of 2956)

Fawkes, I can soooo sympathize with the tailbone issue. Because of my two car accidents this summer/fall, and now being almost 8 months pregnant, my tailbone is scraping against the top of my pelvic bone (it has something to do with the ligaments being loose, in preparation of pushing). It hurts so bad. Every time I sit down or stand up, I can feel it move. And I can't take any pain medsbecause they aren't good for the baby. OUCH! I could use one of those levitation charms too! I hope that you heal fast - I will still be in pain for at least another 5 weeks!

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VeronikaG - Feb 15, 2005 1:30 pm (#2159 of 2956)

Hello lovely people. Hope you have a nice Tuesday.

Fawksey, here is a healing charm for you:

*~*~*~*~*~*Get Better*~*~*~*~*~*

To go back a LOT of posts, what I meant to say was that Loopy was revealing his age, and ended up accusing him of having a rather poor romantic life, he he. And I thought I could speak (write) good English...

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Catherine - Feb 15, 2005 1:55 pm (#2160 of 2956)

To go back a LOT of posts, what I meant to say was that Loopy was revealing his age, and ended up accusing him of having a rather poor romantic life, he he. And I thought I could speak (write) good English... –VeronikaG

Oh, you do write very well in English. We just couldn't resist taking the opportunity to tease Loopy Lupin! Forgive us if we caused any hard feelings!

Meg, your woes made me wince in sympathy. Wingardium Leviosa! I hope that charm lasts well after your child's arrival!

I'm feeling light-hearted at the moment. My "little brother" got some long-awaited and much-anticipated news today: He was accepted into graduate school to pursue his MBA! He only applied one place, so what a relief for him. He's really excited, because he gets to stay in Charlottesville. **waves to Madam Pince, Loopy Lupin, and Accio Sirius**

Well, I have dinner to prep and homework to check. See you all later.

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Julia. - Feb 15, 2005 2:17 pm (#2161 of 2956)

Wooo! Mazel tov to your brother Catherine!!

Awww, poor Meg! I'm so sorry you can't take any pain meds for your tailbone. *sends baby-safe healing charms your way*

Well, my Thursday afternoon had been much nicer than my Thursday morning. *waves to Veronika* I gave blood this morning, and as a result was pretty light headed for a while. I also managed to leave my cell phone at the blood place, so after walking half way across campus to eat, I had to walk back to get my phone. So after all this I was still feeling rather light headed and yucky, so I decided to skip my Latin American history class and take a nap instead. My Inner Hermione is not very pleased, but I am feeling a lot better and will get the notes from a friend.

Off to attack the mountain of reading. *waves to forum*

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VeronikaG - Feb 15, 2005 3:02 pm (#2162 of 2956)

Waves back to Julia* Good job giving blood.

Catherine, of course I have no hard feelings. I just wondered if I had been funny on Loopy's account without realizing what I had said. And I had...

Awww Meg. Here is my healing charm:

*~*~*~*~*Get Better*~*~*~*~*

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 15, 2005 5:23 pm (#2163 of 2956)

Not in everything. And the arabs use it still more.---septentrion

I can't tell if you're annoyed or not but to clarify, that was my rather awkward way of offering a compliment and acknowledging the superiority of French cooking.

At the risk of offending further I have to pass along what I'm watching on the Food Network. Alton Brown's Good Eats is a hilarious and educational (he explains the science of cooking) show and today's episode involves a character called The Mad Frenchman, who's sort of an evil genius with food. Alton Brown is determined to best him and so he and his partners follow The Frenchman around to steal his secrets. There was even a very bad pun (the show's full of them) about the "gall" of The Frenchman. The reply was, "Of course he's a Gaul. He's French." Well, I thought it was hilarious.

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Pinky - Feb 15, 2005 6:26 pm (#2164 of 2956)

Mare: there is also a big difference between those strange fluffy thingies that Americans eat for breakfast (??!!) and real pancakes.

Ok, so what is a real pancake?????? :curious:

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Eponine - Feb 15, 2005 7:08 pm (#2165 of 2956)

I LOVE Alton Brown. Good Eats is such a fun, fun show. You can watch a cooking show and learn things at the same time. Yes, the show is full of awfully bad puns, but it's such a good show I usually overlook the cheesiness.

I'm currently watching the Westminster Dog Show. I'm so fascinated by these dogs. They're just so cute. I love the long-haired ones because when they run, it looks like they're gliding. Question for anyone who knows...when they show the dogs' names down at the bottom of the screen and it's preceded by CH, what does that stand for?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day.

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Denise P. - Feb 15, 2005 7:12 pm (#2166 of 2956)

CH stands for Champion. Each breed competition (think dog show) has a certain number of points awarded to the winning dog (used here to indicate both male and female) of each breed (they get no points for winning the entire show). In order to become a champion, a dog has to win a total of 15 points, including 2 shows that are "majors" under two different judges with the remainder of the points coming from judges other than the major judges. A major means that 3 or more points were awarded (1-5 pts is the range). These are difficult to get in certain breeds because it requires a huge number of dogs to be entered (Labs, for example, need almost 200 animals entered). It is actually a little more complicated but I would have to use a bunch of dog show related terms that make no sense out of context.

For example, in my breed, Rottweilers, a 5 pt major requires 20 females to be present, 23 males to be present. A 3 pt major requires 14/18 split. In Catherine's breed, a 5 pt major can be obtained with 10/13 where a 3 pt major is only 7/8. Majors are hard to come by and nothing upsets people more than someone breaking a major....not showing up which messes up numbers. It can be very frustating to choose a show for the major and then the last moment, the number changes and it becomes a 2 pt show.

The number of dogs required for a major vary by location and breed.

More than you ever wanted to know...

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Eponine - Feb 15, 2005 7:25 pm (#2167 of 2956)

Thank you so much, Denise. It's not more than I wanted to know. I love learning about new things of which I previously had no knowledge. So, can you tell me why they usually have such fancy names for the dogs? Does it have anything to do with breeding like in horses? At least, I think horses are sometimes named according to the sire and (insert proper horse terminology for mommy here).

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Denise P. - Feb 15, 2005 7:34 pm (#2168 of 2956)

Yes, there is usually a kennel name involved or a sire/dam name involved. In some cases, the breeder also has either a theme or a letter they require the new owner to use. For example, one of my dog's is Stone Fort's Eternal Hope, CGC, CD.

Stone Fort is the breeder's name, all of her dogs use the Stone Fort prefix. My girl came from the "E" litter, all of the dogs in her litter are Stone Fort E... I could have chosen to name her Stone Fort E Susie. I chose Eternal Hope but it had to be an E name. We call her Daria. CGC is Canine Good Citizen (a test she had to pass) and CD is Companion Dog, an obedience title. Not all breeders require you to use their name or theme, it varies. There is also a limit of ....25 letters, I think.

How do I get Daria out of Eternal Hope, no one asks I like the show Highlander, where immortality is a theme. With immortality, you can have eternal hope. Daria is named for a priest on the show, Darius.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 15, 2005 7:51 pm (#2169 of 2956)

Yes, the show is full of awfully bad puns, but it's such a good show I usually overlook the cheesiness.---Eponine

Overlook? OVERLOOK? Geez, those awful, abysmal, appalling puns are the best part.

Hey Denise, the Irish Terrier was robbed!

My hopes rest with the Bloodhound, my son's favorite. Go Knotty!

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Eponine - Feb 15, 2005 8:14 pm (#2170 of 2956)

Lupin is Lupin, the show would not be the same without the puns and the cheese, and I do love his horrible jokes. Don't you just love his nephew? His sister is quite a character as well.

Denise, thanks so much for the dog show information. That's what I love about this place. Just ask a question, and someone will know the answer or where you can find one.

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Denise P. - Feb 15, 2005 8:15 pm (#2171 of 2956)

dog geek AND HP geek Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (7)

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Catherine - Feb 15, 2005 8:25 pm (#2172 of 2956)

Count me in for Dog Geek and HP Geek!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 15, 2005 8:25 pm (#2173 of 2956)

Eponine, I've missed both the nephew and the sister. I can't believe it! Does he name them as such? I'm usually doing something else as I watch him so it would be easy for me to miss stuff. I'll have to watch more carefully.

Did anyone notice the Corgi named Harry Potter? HP is everywhere!

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Eponine - Feb 15, 2005 8:36 pm (#2174 of 2956)

Yes, he is usually teaching his nephew how to cook something, and his sister comes in and protests her sweet little boy using sharp knives or grating things or using a stove. The sister is portrayed as quite an annoying know-it-all who doesn't know a thing about cooking. They're on the show occasionally, but not terribly much. Good Eats comes on every weekday at 7:00 PM on the Food Channel, so I catch a lot of reruns.

And yes, the dog named Harry Potter was great. I love the cute little terrier named Coco. All the dogs are so precious, though, I don't know which one I want to win.

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Denise P. - Feb 15, 2005 8:40 pm (#2175 of 2956)

I saw one of the working group last night was named Chamber of Secrets, although it could have been a dog profiled on one of the little outspots.

Well I was rooting for the little Norfolk, she was working the crowd but the winner was very lovely as well and moved so nicely.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 15, 2005 10:10 pm (#2176 of 2956)

Thank you Eponine. I will keep my eye out for them. He makes cooking fun--and that's saying something for me.

Well, I thought the Border and the Pyr were both eye-catching but the German Shorthaired Pointer never put a foot wrong. Her poses were amazing.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 16, 2005 12:13 am (#2177 of 2956)

Thank you Denise P. for your run down on dog shows. I had no idea it would be so complicated to get the points.

I have been trying to reduce the photos of my other two dogs in order to use them as avatars. No go so far. I only have the photo editor that came with the computer and haven't felt the need to get a better photo editor. Now might be the time to start looking.

I have suddenly discovered another time consuming "hobby", creating my own web page! I had started using a shareware program that did most of the work for you, except I found it difficult to work with.

So in my spare time at work (lots of it), I went hunting on the net for HTML code sites etc. There are a lot. I printed off heaps (on the laser printer) of tutorials, articles, lists etc and now I am having lots of fun doing it the hard (easier) way by hand.

It took two hours to get the dog photos up. It pays to proofread everything and look for errant spaces.

Pancakes have never been popular within my family, piklets won out every time. The only pancakes I make are the ones which you stuff and put a sauce on the top. The only variety I make is Zucchini and Carrot, with a tomato based sauce, for when I don't want to eat meat.

Have a wonderful day on Wednesday

Lizzy

EDIT: spell check decided piklets should be piglets

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The giant squid - Feb 16, 2005 12:40 am (#2178 of 2956)

Denise, with all you do you still find time to follow dog shows & rattle off that litany? I bow in further awe.

either that or I really am turning into Bridget Jones--Fawkes Forever

For heaven's sake, girl, stay away from goofy, stammering editors, then!

As for your coccyxal misfortune, I can empathise. Last July my wife slipped on the stairs and broke her tailbone--not bruised, not fractured, broke. For the next three months(!) she was hobbling around, wincing at the slightest movement and, yes, sitting on a doughnut-shaped pillow. Actually, since it happened during the summer she got a bunch of kid-sized pool floats; they're the same size as the "medical doughnut pillow" but cost 99 cents each versus 40 dollars. If one springs a leak, it's a lot cheaper to replace! They'd probably be tough to get this time of year, though, unless one of our Aussie friends wants to send some to you...

--Mike

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Elanor - Feb 16, 2005 12:59 am (#2179 of 2956)

Lupin is Lupin, don't worry, you didn't offend the French cook in me at all! Your show sounds fun BTW! If they want to show all our weird culinary habits, they've got a lot to do... Even the sayings have often culinary references here: for example "they've got a lot to do" would be said "ils ont du pain sur la planche" ("they have some bread on the board") here... See? And I don't tell you about "quand l'appétit va, tout va" (when appetite goes well, everything goes well)...

Eating and cooking (or cooking and eating, it depends) are really a national pastime here. It's not good for our weigh but it is very pleasant during grey winter weekends. Too bad I am still sick and can't eat anything but soup or tea those days... Just typing this was enough for my breakfast today! LOL!

Have a great Wednesday everybody! Here, the day promises to be snowy and cold again, enjoy the sun if you have some!

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 16, 2005 1:24 am (#2180 of 2956)

Elanor: I'll send some cheering and get well charms your way. I noted the last Rugby match was very close and France won. I am looking forward to seeing a few matches on TV this year.

Also some get well and cheering charms to Fawkes and Meg for your sore backs. I hope they settle down soon.

Mike: thanks for the suggestion regarding the kid sized pool floats. I might go get a couple and stash them away for when I do my lower back in again.

Lizzy

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Elanor - Feb 16, 2005 1:42 am (#2181 of 2956)

Thanks Lizzy! This flu is a real nuisance.

I watched the match last Sunday and it was very close indeed! To be honest, at half-time, I thought it was over (we have another culinary saying here for saying that: "les carottes sont cuites", "carrots are cooked") but we were luckier with the penalties than the English. Did you notice that the English team had a player named Moody? Well, as the other players, it was only at the end of the match that he started to look like the "real" one... Next time, we'll play Wales and it promises to be a tough match too since the Welsh won their first matches as well. Fortunately, we will play "at home", I hope it will help!

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septentrion - Feb 16, 2005 1:57 am (#2182 of 2956)

Lupin is Lupin, no offense for me either. In fact, I just meant ordinary, everyday cooks don't use that much orange flavored things. My mother, who cooks very well, never uses them. Yet it's tasty in crêpes and pastry.

Elanor, some healing charms from me too. My husband doesn't feel so well too. His allergy seems to get worse. If he isn't better this evening, I think I'll take him to the hospital. He's scratching himself so much that he had begun to take dots of skin off.

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Fawkes Forever - Feb 16, 2005 2:56 am (#2183 of 2956)

Hmmm, no dementors about... hee hee... think I'll have a quick post there then...

See, thats what I love about you guys.... Cheering & Levitation Charms a go go Meg.... you poor pet.... I'm sending all my charms your way, as I think your need is greater than mine. Hope all is going well with you and junior When are you due by the way?

As for the great pancake debate. My way of looking at it was, the fluffy things are pancakes, whereas the thin ones are crepes? Perhaps thats an over simplification on my behalf? Either way, I'll eat both However the pancakes I make tend to fall somewhere in between on the thickness scale... just to confuse the issue that little more

As for the Belgian Statue... is it the one on the Fountain in the Grand'Place in Brussels? The Mannekenan- (I'll not say the rest of the name) If so, I've seen him (my sis used to live near there).

Mike (aka Giant Squid)- For heaven's sake, girl, stay away from goofy, stammering editors, then!

Hee hee, that was a 'spew' moment! It's a good job I don't work in publishing then... but I don't think I'd have no problems steering clear of any Hugh Grant lookalikes ... now Colin Firth.... just kidding... I'd have to find one first

Good call on the kids floats as a cushion, I may pop into the local pound... opps I mean Euro store on the way home (discount store). They have all sorts of odd things for sale at various time of the year... so who knows!

Got some good news yesterday. A friend of mine living in England had a baby boy & she's called him Harry (I don't think after the books however), but her surname begins with a P, so he's Harry P He's even got dark hair!

OK, the dementors have arrived... (they must have slept in this morning) so I'd better get back to work & back to silently cursing the manufacturers of this chair... (Mutley Style) I'm in a bad enough mood that I'm missing my BasketBall practice tonight... just when I was getting into it too.... *insert grumpy.. I'm feeling sorry for myself face*

Oh yeah... I'm enjoying the 6 nations rugby at the moment too... especially that we're not doing so bad Going to try & get tickets for the Ireland Vs England match on the 27th... should be an interesting match

Oh... dementors floating close by.. got to go... TTFN

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septentrion - Feb 16, 2005 4:10 am (#2184 of 2956)

You've got it right for the statue Fawkes.

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boop - Feb 16, 2005 4:49 am (#2185 of 2956)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ozymandias!!!!! I hope you have a great day.

Everyone have a great day!!!

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Steve Newton - Feb 16, 2005 7:01 am (#2186 of 2956)

Hey, can you hear the horsehide hitting the leather? YES! Spring training is here! The season of rebirth is here, again.

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Denise P. - Feb 16, 2005 7:12 am (#2187 of 2956)

Mike, although I knew how many points and the breakdown of judges to get a major, I had to go look up the specific numbers for a major. You give me too much credit.

After two beautiful days, the cold wind is back here. Brr!

I am off to mail postcards to a certain child of a certain Forum member today. Got to go and deposit the rest of the cookie money so we can close that out even though husband asked me last night to get another case of somoas.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 16, 2005 7:40 am (#2188 of 2956)

I am off to mail postcards to a certain child of a certain Forum member today.---Denise P.

Thanks Denise. We really appreciate it!

Elanor and septentrion, I'm glad you weren't offended. Elanor, I LOVED those sayings. They got my mind going and I'm hoping other people's as well. Does anyone have a favorite saying? The more parochial the better. I would especially like to have any non-English speakers translate their sayings. When I grew up, if I got upset my mother would admonish me not to "take a bird" but when I went out to Colorado, they said "have a cow". Recently, I've been using the expression "tell 'em where the dog died" to express the exercise of telling someone off. Growing up, a friend's father could endlessly reinvent the phrase "whatever floats your boat". I can't remember them all but the two I do remember might not be fit for all forum readers so I'll keep those to myself. I'm also terribly fond of "come to Jesus meeting" which happens when someone is going to be re-educated as to how things are done.

I bet this group can come up with some truly unique, regional expressions. I'll admit to a prejudice that the Southerners in the crowd, with their rich, literary heritage, can do well here. And I'm hoping Fawkes will pass along some authentic Irish sayings and not the lame ones that are plastered everywhere I go in Boston.

No pressure though folks. I just thought it might be fun.

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Julia. - Feb 16, 2005 8:15 am (#2189 of 2956)

Good morning everyone.

Oh, favorite sayings. There are so many. A few favorites in my house are "When in Florida, do as the old people do," (I appologize to any non-old Floridians I may have just offended) "Nu, you're turning this into a MushkaGupin," for when someone is making mountains out of molehills, and of course, "The cat's among the pixies now."

Happy birthday Ozy! *hands Ozy butterbeer* Hope you have a great day and an amazing year.

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Denise P. - Feb 16, 2005 8:20 am (#2190 of 2956)

“You're about as thick as molasses in winter” is a way of insulting someone around here. Another popular one is “That dog don't hunt” which pretty much is calling someone useless and lazy. Who can ever forget “You need to be drop kicked through the goal posts of life!” when the lack of common sense is displayed.

A non regional one but a favorite around here comes courtesy of a popular cartoon character. “You are such a maroon!” Wow, most of these are insults...just saw that.

In the south, you can get away with a lot if you just add a few little words to the end of the insult, “bless her heart.” “She is about as thick as molasses in winter, bless her heart.” Somehow, those three little words at the end seem to take the sting out and make it okay. It can come at the beginning too. “Bless his heart, he just doesn't fire on all his pistons.”

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Ydnam96 - Feb 16, 2005 8:51 am (#2191 of 2956)

Denise, I've always heard "you are as slow as molasses in winter!" from my grandfather. Interesting difference, as he was actually referring to someone's speed (for instance at getting ready to go somewhere).

So my goal of the day is to call one of my school loan lenders and argue with them about supposedly missing a payment, which I am 100% certain I posted online. They never took the money out of my account. Now I have a late fee and have lost some sort of interest deferment option. I tried talking to them last night, but I was so angry I started crying and hung up on them. (I hate it when I cry!) So I need to try again today. Bleh. Makes me wonder if college was really worth all the money and mess afterward.

Well I'm late for work again...should go.

Happy Wednesday, almost to the end of the week!

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mike miller - Feb 16, 2005 9:03 am (#2192 of 2956)

Denise - Have you discovered some way of modifying the space-time continuum? How do you fit everything you do into the day? I only sleep about 5 to 6 hours a night and still fall way short of getting everything done!

On the "expression" front, for someone who has a run of unexpected good luck - "Even a blind pig finds a acorn now and then." Come to think of it, it's all good luck unexpected?

EDIT: Has anyone replaced a "motherboard"? Still having home PC issues.

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Elanor - Feb 16, 2005 9:37 am (#2193 of 2956)

I love those sayings too! Okay, here are some more that come to my mind:

- "arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe": "to arrive as hair on soup", meaning "to turn up at the most ackward moment"

- About hair, those ones are famous too: "se faire des cheveux blancs", "to have your hair going white", that is to say to be very worried and: "avoir mal aux cheveux", "to have a hair-ache", for "to have a hangover"...

- There are also several ones for saying "to die" that I find funny: "avaler son extrait de naissance" (to swallow one's birth certificate), "manger les pissenlits par la racine" (to eat dandelions by the roots) or "passer l'arme à gauche" (to put one's weapon in the left hand - I believe it wasn't a good omen...)

Fawkes, you'll be very lucky if you can go to the Ireland/England rugby match, it promises to be a great one too! I've seen part of the Ireland/Scotland match on Saturday and your team was very impressive!

Sept, I hope your husband will feel better soon!

Ydnam, I send you cheering charms and I hope everything will work out all right.

Ozymandias, happy birthday! And a good Wednesday to you all!

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Madam Pince - Feb 16, 2005 9:37 am (#2194 of 2956)

“Well, shut my mouth and call me Shorty!” (to express surprise)

“It's cold as a welldigger's arse in January!” (Man, is it ever cold today!)

“What do you want me to do, stand on my head and spit nickels?” (I'm not sure exactly what this means, but Mr. Pince says it a lot when I ask him about some sort of problem....)

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Chemyst - Feb 16, 2005 10:23 am (#2195 of 2956)

Elanor, your "manger les pissenlits par la racine" (to eat dandelions by the roots) reminds me of our "pushing up daisies." Another death one is "assumed room temperature."

On a more pleasant note; Happy Birthday Ozy.

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 16, 2005 10:42 am (#2196 of 2956)

Mmm. Expression, eh? Some of these are regional and some are just expressions that have taken hold in my little circle of friends.

“You shot who in the what now?-- What?” or I didn't understand a word you just said.

“Christmas gift!”-- A greeting one states as they walk through the door; not really said on Christmas day as that would be redundant.

“ 'I see,' said the blind man”-- I never really got this one myself and I've seen various web sites give different explanations. I understand it to be used when someone is expressing understanding but with some measure of reservation.

What are you doing? Response: "Bluing. Wanna buy a box?"-- I don't really hear this much ever. It refers to "Bluing" laundry detergent which used to be sold door to door. The point of the stinging retort, I suppose, is to tell the inquisitor to stop being so nosy. (You see, the South is not always marked by rapier wit or cleverness.)

ABC-- This means "Anybody but Carolina" and expresses the correct attitude towards any University of North Carolina sports team, but especially the basketball team. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (8)

I'll see if I can think of some others.

Anyway, hello to all. And, "Go Hoos!"

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I Am Used Vlad - Feb 16, 2005 11:23 am (#2197 of 2956)

I always say, "I see,' said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw." I have no idea what it is supposed to mean.

Happy birthday, Ozy.

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Gina R Snape - Feb 16, 2005 11:38 am (#2198 of 2956)

My father used to say "'I see,' said the blind man to the deaf mute."

I think he thought he was being funny. But the quote is about a complete lack of communication and a degree of pointlessness. I wonder, Vlad, if your quote is another version of the same thing.

Happy birthday, Ozy.

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Denise P. - Feb 16, 2005 11:45 am (#2199 of 2956)

I have a good friend who grew up in Georgia. She had two sayings that she used frequently.

“He is busier than a one armed paper hanger with an itch.”

and the ever popular

“That is as ugly as the day is long . . .”

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Catherine - Feb 16, 2005 11:54 am (#2200 of 2956)

Some of my phrases have already been taken by others.

Some of these may be specific to my family:

“Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.”

“I'm going to wear you out.” (Irate parent threatening a spanking)

“Well, excuse me for living, but the graveyard is full. “(when someone is not appreciative of your efforts, or has snapped at you, or is in a cranky mood)

“I'd like to snatch her bald.” (When someone has irritated you so much that you want to pull all their hair out)

“Were you raised in a barn?” (Implies that you are acting in an unmannerly fashion; at my house it was said if you slammed the door too hard)

“They won't buy the cow if they get the milk for free” (What my elderly babysitter said about moral behavior)

“You are getting on my last nerve.” (said when a child or situation is so exasperating that it is actually painful)

“I got thrown under the bus.” (when someone betrayed you, or made you look really stupid, or otherwise ruined something for you).

Hope you enjoyed these. I had fun writing them down!

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (9)
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Loopy Lupin - Feb 16, 2005 12:15 pm (#2201 of 2956)

“Thrown under the bus . . .” Oooh, that's also an office phrase around here. For example, when I come into the office expecting a leisurely day pushing paper and maybe checking out the Forum once in a while **ahem**, but find out that I have to cover a DUI case at 9:30 a.m. where the defendant had a .25 blood alcohol level and caused a 3 car accident, I have been "thrown under the bus."

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Ozymandias - Feb 16, 2005 12:54 pm (#2202 of 2956)

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I can't believe you remembered! I feel so special now.

It's been way too long. Im going to have to mark the whole forum as read.

Hopefully I'll be able to log in more often now.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 16, 2005 1:05 pm (#2203 of 2956)

I love those expressions! You've all given me a chuckle. Here are some of my favorites.

“He's (or she) about as interesting as watching cement dry.” About a very dull person.

“She jumped on her horse and dashed off in all directions.” About someone who panics easily.

“Vachs wie a tzibele mit dem kopf im drerd. “Yiddish insult--Make like an onion with your head in the ground--get lost, butt out, etc.

A variation on the "you think life is hard, listen to how it was when we were kids"—“Life was so tough when we were kids, there was no such thing as water. We had to take two hydrogen molecules and smash them into an oxygen molecule.”

As the phone rings, call out, "Better get that. It might be the phone!" Gives people, especially kids, a pause.

“Don't hock me a chinick.” More Yiddish/English (Yinglish)--to prattle on like a boiling kettle--that's "chi" as in china--your jabbering is making me crazy, or you're really trying my patience, or yeah, yeah, I'm not buying it; you're speaking complete nonsense...or telling lies.

Ciao. Barb

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Essidji - Feb 16, 2005 1:07 pm (#2204 of 2956)

A few more French expressions related to food:

“Faire chou blanc” (to make a white cabbage) : to fail

“Avoir la frite” (or la pêche or la banana) (to have the fry/chip, the peach, the banana) : to be on form, in a (very) good mood

“Noyer le poisson” (to drawn the fish) means to elude a question for me. My dictionnary says "to tire out one's opponent", however.

“Faire le cake” (to do the cake) : to show off

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John Bumbledore - Feb 16, 2005 1:20 pm (#2205 of 2956)

Girls Scout Cookies, I can get the Double Dutch. Well I think they still have more as deliveries just started on the 12th.

Fang, is one mastiff dog all-right. ** hears chirping crickets **

Don't know what else I was going to say..

(John) Bumbledore

P. S. Sayings:

“Does this train-of-thought have a caboose?” (Insulting comment to a long-winded talker.)

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 16, 2005 1:32 pm (#2206 of 2956)

“Does this train-of-thought have a caboose?” (Insulting comment to a long-winded talker.) – Bumbledore

Oooh. I like that.

I thought of some others:

“Slow as dirt.—“This is a reference to someone or thing, such as service in a restaurant, that is not very fast.

“Old as dirt—“ A variation on the above to refer to someone not very young.

“Old as Methusaleh—“ Same as the above, but with a Biblical slant. Methusaleh was a person in the Bible who was, reportedly, about 900 years old.

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John Bumbledore - Feb 16, 2005 2:17 pm (#2207 of 2956)

“Loopy, "'I see,' said the blind man"-- to his deaf son. “(I am not sure if that is a response to the first part or a correction to include the full quote. I think there is a third part, but alas, Mrs. Bumbledore is the one who knows the complete phrase.)

The following comments do not reflect the opinion of this poster.

“A few bricks short of a full load” or "a few cards short of a deck" (Implies insanity or a lack of intelligence or common sense..) Have you ever notice how uncommon, common sense seems to have become?

“he/she has lost his/her marbles” (gone crazy or acting insane)

“Beauty maybe skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone.”

“Suicide blond” one who dyes his/her own hair. (as in the chemicals have left them a few bricks short of a full load.)

“Kivorkian blond” one who's hair is dye with assistance.

“Darwin awards” this can be found on the Internet, usually given to someone who has pruned their own family tree, so to speak.

(John) Bumbledore

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Julia. - Feb 16, 2005 2:30 pm (#2208 of 2956)

I forgot about a few.

“Gay red tzum der vont,” Yiddish for "go talk to the wall" when someone is endlessly blabbering.

“Shlug kopf in vont und shrai 'Bravo!' “Also Yiddish, meaning "Bang your head against the wall and scream 'bravo!'" My dad says this is used when I want do so something stupid, and he tries to talk me out of it, and I won't budge, and he ends up telling me to bang my head against the wall and scream bravo.

Perhaps one of the French members can help me out with this one. I believe there is a phrase in French used when someone has taken leave of his/her sences. I think it translates into "*insert person's name here* is out of the dish."

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Chemyst - Feb 16, 2005 2:36 pm (#2209 of 2956)

You lie like a rug. ...said to someone who has just told a major falsehood.

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Elanor - Feb 16, 2005 2:54 pm (#2210 of 2956)

Julia, maybe the saying you're searching is ""a name" n'est pas dans son assiette" ? It means "not to feel quite yourself". It can also be said "être à côté de ses pompes" (to be next to one's shoes) or, meaning also "to be crazy", "il a une araignée dans le plafond" : he has a spider on the ceiling (of his head)- not a good sign... Ron would like this one .

Edit: I've just remembered a funny one you can say to someone who is too familiar with you and you don't like it: "dites donc, on n'a pas gardé les cochons ensemble!" (we didn't look after the pigs together, honestly!)

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 16, 2005 2:55 pm (#2211 of 2956)

Ooh this is interesting. I love the French ones to do with pushing up the daisies (death).

First of all, happy birthday Ozymandis

“That's the way the bikky crumbles.” Meaning that's what life has thrown you; now get on with it. There are a few variants of this.

“Were you born in a tent?” Usually said to a person to continually leaves the door open when they enter or exit a room. Meant to be sarcastic and in my town (where many of the older indigenous population (50-65+ years) were born in tents or tin huts) - it is also an insult.

“Take the time to smell the roses now, cause you can't when you're six foot under.” I can never get this one right, because there is so many variants. It basically means slow down, you are taking life too fast.

If I think of any more I'll post them later.

Have a great day everybody.

Lizzy

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mollis - Feb 16, 2005 2:55 pm (#2212 of 2956)

“This is about as exciting as watching grass grow.”

“(s)he's got a screw loose” (a little bit crazy)

“(s)he got hit with the ugly stick” (not very attractive)

“(s)he got hit with the whole ugly tree” (

really

not very attractive)

“(s)he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down” (you don't want to know!)

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 16, 2005 3:22 pm (#2213 of 2956)

“He has a hair piece, but he should have bought the whole piece”-- A comment on a particular bad and obvious toupee. Think of Benny Hinn.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 16, 2005 3:55 pm (#2214 of 2956)

Oh, I'm so happy to see people taking the ball and running with this.

My husband (the lawyer) gave me a couple:

“I don't have a dog in this fight.” (meaning one has no stake in an argument)

“That doesn't pass the sniff test.” (to make a bogus argument)

My mother would often say, "You're quite a card. Fifty-one more and you'd be a full deck." A mild insult to someone who thinks they're funny but is not and may have a screw loose.

Another version of the death themed sayings, this one commonly said by a local radio show host, so-and-so "won't be coming down for breakfast."

How about "a few sandwiches short of a picnic" for someone not right in the head.

I'm beginning to believe all French sayings do involve food, as Elanor (I believe) said. They are very amusing.

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Catherine - Feb 16, 2005 4:04 pm (#2215 of 2956)

My dad likes to use the phrase, "Coyote ugly."

My brother and I have always joked about "Don't dip your toe into THAT gene pool."

Lastly, we like to say about unfamiliar/exotic food, "Tastes like chicken."

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Madame Librarian - Feb 16, 2005 5:42 pm (#2216 of 2956)

Here's one that I think I came up with by myself:

“This _____________(whatever) is about as exciting as a speed bump...and as annoying.”

More:

“He's reading on a different page of the book.” For someone who's out of touch with the real world.

“A real double-bagger.” Horrible frat boy comment about a someone who's so ugly wearing one bag over her head is not sufficient. (Sorry, this one is just too tasteless. Bad Barb, bad Barb....)

Ciao. Barb

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Marie E. - Feb 16, 2005 5:54 pm (#2217 of 2956)

I love these little sayings. How about these I heard in Georgia:

“She was dropped on her head when she was just a child.” (Somebody is not thinking quickly.)

“She's meaner than a striped snake!” (Apparently the striped ones are mean.)

My dad called me last night. For those of you who have been here awhile, you may remember me mentioning that Dad is a bit of a packrat. (I can hear squidboy sniggering.) Another beloved trait of Dad's is remembering what a person likes and buying them stuff until they are utterly sick of it. My sister collects Coca-Cola items. She now has an entire bedroom full of Coca-Cola. I mentioned 10 years ago that I liked unusual-looking salt and pepper shakers. I have so many now that I have some in boxes. The latest is, luckily for me, HP Legos. I mentioned earlier that my mother bought the Hogwarts Castle on sale. It was actually my father who found it. He also found Hagrid's Hut. So yesterday's phone call was "Do you have Professor Lupin's Classroom? I saw it today at KMART." Mike, if you want a piece of this action, call Dad. NOW!

Sorry for running on a bit. Happy Wednesday!

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scully jones - Feb 16, 2005 6:49 pm (#2218 of 2956)

“I see, said the blind man, and he picked up his hammer and saw.” That's what I remember from that one...

So how is everyone? We just got back from Tahoe and are both very stuffy and sick and coughing and sneezing. We feel wonderful!

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Julia. - Feb 16, 2005 7:08 pm (#2219 of 2956)

Hey there Sarah! I hope you and Brandon feel better soon! Glad to hear that you two had a good time in Tahoe.

I'm in a bit of a mood right now. I had a run in at dinner with someone who is, as Marie said meaner than a striped snake. If you really want the details you can check out my LiveJournal. The link is in my profile. Click on my name to get there.

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Eponine - Feb 16, 2005 8:24 pm (#2220 of 2956)

I have just returned from the UNC/Virginia game. It was a decent game, but not all that exciting.

I wanted to note that the trailer for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is on Amazon.com now. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Go check it out if you're interested.

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I Am Used Vlad - Feb 16, 2005 8:43 pm (#2221 of 2956)

Thanks for the heads up on the trailer, Eponine. It looks pretty good, although I'm afraid that some of the humor won't translate well to film. I was happy to see that the whale is listed as a character.

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Amilia Smith - Feb 16, 2005 8:51 pm (#2222 of 2956)

Hi! Back from San Francisco (great fun all around) and finally caught up on this thread.

Julia: I'm sending cheering charms your way. What a time for a run-in: dinner. I have trouble eating for days after confrontations.

Question for all of you good cooks out there: Do you have any good recipes for Brie? I work in a deli, and we had a LOT of Brie go out of date on us, so we can't sell it, but I can't handle throwing it away either. It's still perfectly good. I just don't know how to do anything other than spread it on French bread.

I've really enjoyed reading all of the different quotes. Some of them I'd heard before, and some of them were completely new.

The version of the blind man quote that I've always heard goes as follows (slightly edited to make sure I am forum friendly): "I see," said the blind man as he spat into the wind. "It's all coming back to me now." You say this when someone has had to explain something very simple to you that you should have already known.

“Running around like a chicken with its head cut off.” Trying to do too many things at once and accomplishing none of them.

“Up the creek without a paddle.” Boy, you sure got yourself into a mess. Now let's see you get out of it.

“Life's tough. Then you die.” Get off your soapbox and quit complaining.

“Would you like some cheese with your whine?” Same as above.

“You better spray your bangs up a little higher tomorrow.” That just went completely over your head. Maybe you would have been able to catch it if your hair was bigger. I actually haven't heard this one much anymore since big bangs went out of style.

And finally, my favorite from my high school Russian class, spelled phonetically as I don't know how to post Cyrillic letters, "Potomu shto pochemu, a konchi'etsa na u." Because I said so! Literally: "Because it ends in u."

Mills.

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Denise P. - Feb 16, 2005 8:55 pm (#2223 of 2956)

Oooh, there is a really yummy veggie dish you can make with brie cheese. Use any green veggie, green beans, asparagus, broccoli. Melt in a pan 8 oz Brie, 8 oz cream cheese and 4 oz of butter. Stir well until melted nicely. While that cooks, crumble some bacon on the veggies. Pour the cheese on top and bake at that universal 350 F until the cheese starts to just brown. I steam my veggies prior to baking to speed the process up. If you are baking the veggies too, I would cover the mixture. I loooove this stuff!

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Madame Librarian - Feb 16, 2005 9:06 pm (#2224 of 2956)

You can simply bake the brie and then schmear it on whatever tasty breads or crackers you like. The baking will stop the further aging and prevent spoilage for a while.

As for exact baking time, well...I can't remember exactly, so what I'd do is visit epicurious.com and search for baked brie recipes. This site really has loads of good stuff on it. It's sponsored by "Bon Appetit" or "Gourmet" magazine (I get them mixed up, but they're both wonderful).

Denise, your recipe sounds heavenly, but ohmigosh, quite loaded with calories! However, it is a veggie dish, so I suppose that's a redeeming feature. I'll keep it in reserve for when company's comin'.

Ciao. Barb

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 16, 2005 9:07 pm (#2225 of 2956)

I am completely baffled,I got this e-mail today:

Greetings from Amazon.co.uk

You previously signed up to be notified when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) became available. Unfortunately, our suppliers have told us that this item will not be available in the foreseeable future.

But don't give up yet. Have you returned to Amazon.co.uk recently to see whether the item is available from another seller? One of our Merchants or Marketplace sellers might have it in stock, either new or used. If so, it will be listed on the product's information page, and you'll be able to . . .

What does this mean?

“I see said the blind man as he took his hammer and saw” is my sister's favorites, she says it ad-nauseum. My mother's was "why is there never time enough to do things right the first time but plenty of time to do it over again".

This one falls more to the movie quote: man: "Hard to believe I'm wearing a toupe?" audience: "wig!"

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Denise P. - Feb 16, 2005 9:28 pm (#2226 of 2956)

I forgot to mention an important step in the cheese stuff. Before melting the Brie, you do have to remove the coating.

The recipe was given to me by a friend of mine who is a cook with SCA. She will only cook authentic dishes from her time period, which I believe is 15th century. The recipe is actually called Savory Toasted Cheese. If you do a google search, there are all kinds of variations.

When I make this, usually only on special occasions, there is a fight to see who will do dishes since the one doing dishes hides the leftovers and then acts innocent later. "I don't think there was any left" while sneaking it out to eat themselves later.

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Amilia Smith - Feb 16, 2005 10:04 pm (#2227 of 2956)

Thank you Denise! It sounds delicious. I have written the recipe down and will try it tomorrow.

Thank you as well, Barb. I hadn't thought to bake the cheese to make it keep longer.

Mills.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 16, 2005 11:05 pm (#2228 of 2956)

Mills; our family often used to add to this quote:

“Up the creek without a paddle and the boat.” It still has the same meaning and often the first person says "we're up the creek without a paddle" and the second person replies thus "and the boat".

Now that we are spread so far apart it doesn't get said much anymore.

Lizzy

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Essidji - Feb 17, 2005 1:47 am (#2229 of 2956)

Hello everyone! First post of the day!

One of my friends made me laugh a lot recently : she has expressions of her own that are full of imagery , see : il a un pèt' au casque (he has a crack on his helmet), an equivalent for "he has lost his marbles".

Two very simple recipes with Brie :

- Slice cooked potatoes in a dish, salt, pepper, and then put slices of Brie above(you can remove the coating or not). Put in the oven until the cheese has melted. Serve with bacon, delicatessen, and with dressed green salad.

- Toast slices of bread. When they are slightly coloured, gently rub a peeled clove of garlic on the surface (the clove should suffice for about 6 slices of bread). Then put one or two slices of cheese onto the bread and put back into the oven to melt the Brie. You can also try this recipe with goat cheese or gruyere. I also recommend a green salad to serve with.

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Marè - Feb 17, 2005 3:34 am (#2230 of 2956)

A receipe with brie?

Try putting some of it in dough. (this premade kind: Can't find the correct english word...)
Add a spoon of honey, if you have some you could add some rosemary or thyme if you like that. Wrap the dough around the whole thing, close it well (don't want the honey leaking out) and put it in the oven till it's good.

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Julie Aronson - Feb 17, 2005 4:46 am (#2231 of 2956)

Mare, that is very similar to my favorite Brie recipe:

Wheel of Brie

Eggwash

Frozen puff pastry

Sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 400F (or whatever temp. is recommended on the pkg of puff pastry) Depending on the size of the cheese...thaw pastry and roll it into a square apporximately 1/3 larger than its original size. If you are using a kilo-sized wheel, place one sheet of the pastry in a 9-inch pie plate, set the scraped (if you want) cheese on the crust, brush the edges of the crust with egg wash, place the other sheet on top, seal the two sheets, folding them decoratively toward the top, brush with more egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until golden and let stand for 20-30 minutes so you don't get scalded by hot cheese.

MMMMMMMM

Julie

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The giant squid - Feb 17, 2005 5:42 am (#2232 of 2956)

I can hear squidboy sniggering.--Marie E.

I did not snigger! Okay, maybe a snort. Possibly a scoff, but not a snigger! I'll have to give Dad a call tomorrow.

As for pithy sayingth, I have a couple:

“You did what to who, for how many cookies?”--similar to Loopy's "You shot who in the what now?", indicating I either didn't hear or didn't understand the speaker

When I lived in Georgia a common one was "I heard that!", meaning "I agree." I adapted it to "I heard that with both ears!" to mean I agree a lot.

Here's one that was in the movie Sweet Home Alabama; I still don't know what it means, but I've been assured that it's an actual phrase: "If I'd known company was coming, I'd have put on the dog." Now I get the image of Catherine walking around with a shih-tzu on her head tidying up...

As for "'I see' said the blind carpenter as he picked up his hammer and saw," it's a pun. Think of "saw" as a verb instead of a noun.

--Mike

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Catherine - Feb 17, 2005 6:09 am (#2233 of 2956)

Now I get the image of Catherine walking around with a shih-tzu on her head tidying up... –Mike

Ok, I did snigger at this! It would probably look like one of those huge Russian fur hats people used to wear in the 60s and 70s, except with eyes and a plumey tail.

I remembered one more saying from a friend in college: "I'll just stay home and lick the cat." This is useful when one feels left out of something, or one is stuck at home with nothing to do, or has boring or repetitive tasks to complete.

We have a teacher work day today and tomorrow, so the kids have no school for two days. Naturally, this coincides with a cold snap in which our lovely 60-70 degree weather has dropped to the 20s, 30s, and 40s. They're just gonna have to bundle up, and go outside and play, to avoid getting on "Mom's last nerve."

Enjoy your day, everyone. Now...where is the cat?

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 17, 2005 6:26 am (#2234 of 2956)

I thought up some more overnight.

“A Chicago bankroll.” --a roll of bills which looks like a lot of cash but is mostly ones.

“That boy has a face like the map of Ireland.”---to describe someone who's very Irish looking.

“He's all that and a bag of chips.” ---to describe an extremely attractive man.

EDIT: I almost forgot one of my favorites. “Get behind me, Satan, and don't push.” What one says when faced with a temptation which shouldn't be indulged.

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Elanor - Feb 17, 2005 6:50 am (#2235 of 2956)

I love those expressions! For a very attractive man, here you can say:

beau (or "belle" for a girl) à faire damner un saint : so handsome that even a saint would be damned (he would not resist)

or, more familiar, il (elle) est canon: he/she is canons (a pun with canon=cannon too in French)

and, to stay with the food ones j'en ferais bien mon quatre heures... He/she would make a perfect snack for me...

For someone not too bright, I like this one from a famous movie here: "Je ne voudrais pas dire du mal, mais, effectivement, elle (il) est gentille (gentil)": I would not speak ill of her (him) but, indeed, she (he) is nice...

About the Brie recipe, I like to put some in a quiche too instead of gruyere, it is very tasty like that!

Have a great Thursday everyone! I'm still fighting the flu's side effects (I'm really exhausted) so I have decided to try another therapy for boosting me: the chocolate-therapy, as we say here too il n'y a pas de mal à se faire du bien...: there is nothing wrong to do yourself good...

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Chemyst - Feb 17, 2005 7:03 am (#2236 of 2956)

“Put on the dog” means to get fancied up.
I knew that, but I checked it out for you anyway, (thanks to a great web site that Madame Librarian once referenced.)
See World Wide Words: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-put1.htm "It has been suggested that it developed out of the rise in popularity of ladies’ lap dogs in the period after the American Civil War. Such animals were presumably pampered and beribboned, and this might have suggested that to put on the dog was to show off."

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Ydnam96 - Feb 17, 2005 8:34 am (#2237 of 2956)

See I always thought the "If I knew company was coming I would have put on the dog" meant that they didn't want company and they would put out their mean growly dog to scare people away.

haha!

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septentrion - Feb 17, 2005 8:49 am (#2238 of 2956)

Hi everyone !

Happy belated birthday Ozy !

Some other expressions :

“il a un poil dans la main” (he has a hair in his hand) means being very lazy

“croire au père Noël” (to believe in Father Christmas) is to expect something which won't probably occur (such as a pay raise)

“regarder l'herbe pousser” (to watch the grass growing) means to do nothing

“brasser du vent” (to brew wind) means to act as if you were busy but doing nothing at the end

“avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre” (to get the butter and the money for the butter) is said about someone who wants more than they're due.

“avoir une langue de vipère” (to have a viper tongue) is told of someone who speak ill of everybody.

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librarian314 - Feb 17, 2005 11:40 am (#2239 of 2956)

Hey all!

I must second Denise's love of Savory Toasted Cheese!! When I read the description I knew immediately what it was and made the appropriate Homer Simpson noise, "mmmmmmmmmmmm...savory toast cheese...gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. (please excuse me as I jump to one of my other geekdoms ;-) ) It is almost considered Atlantia's (the SCA kingdom that encompasses MD, most of VA, NC, SC, and a tag of GA.) national dish, it shows up at so many feasts. It's so good I cook it at home for my family. For a whole meal, try adding some ham to your veggies and smothering the lot with Savory toasted cheese.

Hmmm....sayings I have heard/used: “The porch lights on but no one's home” (meaning that the person isn't too bright)

On a similar note: “person X is as bright as a 10 watt bulb.” (Similar to the above. My dad's an electrician, what can I say :-) )

One my dad has been known to use: “about as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs”

And my personal favorite (as in I use it all the time): screaming idiot as in, "Well isn't that person driving like a screaming idiot." It's similar to running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Meanie Mom - Feb 17, 2005 12:13 pm (#2240 of 2956)

Some more expressions: “You look like an unmade bed” (self-explanatory)

“Its not my(his/her) first time to the rodeo” (means they have been around the block before)

“Not room to swing a cat “(meaning a very small space) sorry to all cat-lovers.

“If Jimmy jumped off a bridge, would you too?” (to a teenager sure that every other kid is allowed to do something stupid)

I am sure I can think of more, in fact I have but didn't write them down.

Mary Kay

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Madam Pince - Feb 17, 2005 12:48 pm (#2241 of 2956)

“What - do you think I just fell off the turnip truck?” (said to someone who has just told you something that's probably not true, and you're not stupid enough to believe it.) Also known as: "Do you think I was born yesterday?"

“Were you born in a barn?” (similar to above variations -- meaning "It's cold in here, why are you standing there with the door wide open???" -- said often by Madam Pince to Mr. Pince. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (15))

“You lie like a dog in the summer sun.” (Similar to Chemyst's 'lie like a rug.' Means "Oh, did you ever just tell a whopper!")

“She's five years older than God.” (She's really really old.)

Denise, I always heard "That dog won't hunt" as meaning something like "That just isn't gonna happen." (For example, if Sirius had been from rural Virginia instead of England, when Snape told Sirius to remain at 12GP instead of going to help Harry at the DOM, Sirius would've told Snape "That dog won't hunt!")

Loopy, my Mom says "Christmas Gift!" on Christmas morning, and I have also read of this tradition. Supposedly, when everyone gets up Christmas morning and comes into the room together, whomever chimes out the words "Christmas Gift!" first is the one who is supposed to receive a small token from everyone else.

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Phoenix song - Feb 17, 2005 1:26 pm (#2242 of 2956)

Oh! Regional expressions, what fun! I think that what I hear most often isn't regional so much as gender-oriented. "Humph! Well, who does she think she is?" Which is often directed by women to other women about another woman who has dared to "step out of line".

My dad always liked, "Well, they must have went to different schools together." It indicates two people (usually dishonest) who aren't related but who have similar ways of thinking.

Another favorite one is, "If you'll buy that I've got some ocean front property in Arizona to sell you..." For anybody that doesn't know US geography very well, there isn't any ocean front property in Arizona for sale or otherwise. It means that if you'll believe his/her story, then you're pretty gullible.

When my relatives drop in without notice, which happens often, I've been known to say, "Well, if I'd've known you were coming I'd have baked a cake." Which is a nicer way of saying, "Gee, it's good to see you, but I wish you would have called me first."

I agree about the how Southern woman can often "sweeten" up an insult by adding "Bless her/his heart" to the statement. Such as, "He's such a redneck that he probably goes to family reunions to pick up women...bless his heart" Then there's always the oh-so-tender, "She's as wide as she is tall, bless her heart."

Barbie

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John Bumbledore - Feb 17, 2005 1:43 pm (#2243 of 2956)

I have to post some more sayings that I remember. This time I am focused on being positive. I do hope it works...

“(S)he is as sharp as a tack.” Meaning: The person is smart or intelligent.

“quick as a whip! Meaning:” Intelligent or clever person.

“quick as a wink!” Meaning: completed quickly or immediately.

“(S)he was dressed to the nines.” Meaning: Well attired, in an elegant, formal, or fashionable manner.

“You’re a mess!” Meaning: Nearest I can determine from the usage (in the Carolina states) is that the person addressed is very humorous in action or statement.

“Go rid-up your room.” Meaning: to clean or rid the room of mess or clutter. I believe it is regional to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“Six to one, half-dozen to another.” Meaning: the two items are the same just expressed differently, or that they are nearly the same in distance, or time such as for comparing two routes of travel. I don't know it that is regional.

(John) Bumbledore

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 17, 2005 1:49 pm (#2244 of 2956)

My brother and I have always joked about "Don't dip your toe into THAT gene pool." – Catherine

In my line of work, you often **cough** find yourself surrounded by people whose genetic make up or place on the evolutionary scale is somewhat questionable. In such situations, we say, "I felt like I was in Darwin's waiting room."

”That boy has a face like the map of Ireland.”---to describe someone who's very Irish looking.-- Lupin is Lupin

That reminded me of another one which "The Simpsons" deserve credit for but which also became a part of my friends' lexicon, as it were:

“You think you could Irish-up this coffee”-- to inquire whether one has any whisky.

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Catherine - Feb 17, 2005 2:01 pm (#2245 of 2956)

LOL, everyone!

Thanks for the "Bless your heart," Barbie. That is definitely one I hear all the time.

I'll have to remember the "Darwin's waiting room."

Bless your hearts! I do declare that y'all are just as funny as you can be."

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Kip Carter - Feb 17, 2005 2:14 pm (#2246 of 2956)

I have always liked the put-someone-in-their-place off-handed comments like:

“I don't care what everyone else says, I like you!”

“If someone gave you a million dollars, I think you would amount to something.”

“You are so ugly that the stork that brought you into the world should be arrested.”

“You are so ugly that you have to sneak up on a glass of water to get a drink.”

“Don't let the door hit you in the rear on your way out!”

And definitely what some mothers have uttered when angry, "I brought you into this world and I can surely take you out of this world."

“My way or the highway!”

“You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind! “ (courtesy of Jim Croce)

“Pay attention now ... your other right foot!” No, this is not directed with someone with more than two feet.

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Phoenix song - Feb 17, 2005 2:33 pm (#2247 of 2956)

Thanks for the Bless your heart," Barbie." You're welcome. Always glad to give a giggle.

I've remembered a few more:
“If you don't __(insert instructions to your children here)__ I'll be all over you like white on rice”! Which is a threat meant to encourage their swift, effective and prompt responses.

And how about this one... "He so ugly that I bet as a baby his momma had to tie a porkchop around his neck to get the dog to play with him... Bless his heart."

My mom use to say this about an acquaintance of mine that thought she was "All That and a Bag of Chips"...
“If you could buy her for what she was worth and sell her for what she thought she was worth you'd be a millionaire!"

Barbie

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Elanor - Feb 17, 2005 2:50 pm (#2248 of 2956)

LOL everyone! Kip, your last one reminds me of one we're saying here for someone very clumsy: "tu as deux mains gauches ou quoi?, (have you two left hands or what?)

There is also: "avoir été bercé trop près du mur" (to have been rocked too close to the wall), hence intellectual after-effects... Or "Il/elle n'a pas inventé l'eau chaude" (he/she has not invented hot water), the same exists with "le fil à couper le beurre" (the cheesewire).

For a long and useless work, we say "faire ça ou peigner la girafe": "to do that or comb the giraffe"...

For something very unlikely, we say it will happen "quand les poules auront des dents (when hens will have some teeth).

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Catherine - Feb 17, 2005 3:18 pm (#2249 of 2956)

Elanor's and Kip's posts reminded me of a few more. I particularly liked your "superman's cape," Kip. My dad is particularly fond of that phrase!

“Fell out of the ugly tree” (implying that the person is the ugly fruit of the tree; not that the tree itself is ugly)

“Does a chicken have lips?” and "Does a snake have ears?" (said when the answer is no, or when you really want to frustrate the person asking the question)

“If it rained, she'd drown” (implying that the person is very snobbish and stuck up, with her nose in the air)

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Detail Seeker - Feb 17, 2005 3:40 pm (#2250 of 2956)

It was hilarious to read all your sayings. So let me bore you with some german ones For a slow person: “Man ihm /ihr beim Gehen die Schuhe besohlen” (you can fit soles to his/her shoes while walking)

For a notorious liar: “Lügt wie gedruckt” (lies, as if is was printed)

For a very ugly or nasty person: “Dein Vater mußte Dir ein Steak (Kotelett, Schnitzel) um den Hals binden, damit wenigstens der Hund mit Dir spielte” (Your father has to tie a steak (or some other part of meat) round your neck, so that the dog agreed to play with you

To show that somebody tells you really old news: Das wußten wir schon, als du noch nackt mit der Trommel um den Weihnachtsbaum ranntest (we knew that already, when you were still running naked with a drum round the christmas tree)

Uh, why did I remember only negative sayings ? (Runs off to find some positive ones - or find the words to translate them properly)

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Meanie Mom - Feb 17, 2005 4:02 pm (#2251 of 2956)

“I was born at night, but not last night” (I am not that stupid)

“I don't know, some cereal” - answer to Whats that? especially if you have no way of knowing what it is. (referencing the famous Life Cereal commercial with Mikey)

“If momma ain't happy, Ain't nobody happy” Bad grammer for a lesson in family dynamics.

“I'll show you where the bear went through the buckwheat” - offering to prove your point in the face of skepticism.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 17, 2005 4:29 pm (#2252 of 2956)

“Where does he live?
Oh, pretty far out...you know, where God lost his (her) shoes.”

[obviously, for someone or someplace that's really a long drive or in a remote 'burb.]

Ciao. Barb

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 17, 2005 9:58 pm (#2253 of 2956)

Kip, that left one is one of my favorites. “Take the next left. (turning right) Oh, I guess you didn't like that left"

also “I can't meet anyone new until some of the people I know die.” “Can't add any new names to my address book until some of the people in this one die.”

I said both of these all the time when my kids were young.

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Amilia Smith - Feb 17, 2005 10:10 pm (#2254 of 2956)

Thank you Essidji, Mare, Julie and Elanor for sharing your recipes with me. I have copied them all down and will be trying them in the next few days. :-)

Denise: The Savory Toasted Cheese was wonderful. We did it for our lunch special at work, and it was a huge hit. All my coworkers copied down the recipe to make for dinner as well. Thanks again.

Lizzy: I am going to add "and the boat" the next time someone says we are up the creek without a paddle. Love it.

In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, TLC posted a mention about the strange email Mrs. Sirius (and many others, apparently) received.

In closing, here are a couple more sayings I have thought of:

“Is the Pope Catholic?” Yes. Of course. Need you even ask?

“You put the accent on the wrong syl-lab'-ble.” One of my dad's favorites. We are all readers in my family, and we tend to use words that we have only read, not heard, and therefore mispronounce horribly.

Mills.

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Good Evans - Feb 18, 2005 1:13 am (#2255 of 2956)

one of my favourite saying is

“he / she /you’re a funny onion”

always makes me smile.

“now't as queer as folk” another good 'un

and not quite a saying but a cornish regionalism is the reference to the "Grockel box" - any non Cornish who know what it is?

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The giant squid - Feb 18, 2005 5:40 am (#2256 of 2956)

Chemyst, thanks for explaining "putting on the dog". I figured it meant something like that, it just sounds so...odd to me.

Kip, your list reminded me of "If I promise to miss you, will you go away?"

Finally (okay, stop cheering), I have this exchange to share... My uncle, the youngest child on my mother's side, was complaining about getting old. Specifically, he said he was "older than dirt." This made my aunt, the oldest, ask "What does that make me?" My uncle's response was "older than water." It was only a short leap of logic (or what passes for it in my family) to determine that my mom, the middle kid, was merely "older than mud." So I now use that term for something that's old, but not *that* old.

--Mike

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VeronikaG - Feb 18, 2005 5:59 am (#2257 of 2956)

Seems Ozy has had a B-day since last time I was posting. Happy birthday Erin!

Some sayings from Southern Norway:

“(S)He's tallest lying on his(her) back!” about a really fat person.

“So mean/stingy that you cry when you crap.” Self explainatory.

The One posted this lovely proverb on Revelation a few days ago:

“You need some style said the old woman, she got a Mahogany splinter in her butt.”

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Madame Librarian - Feb 18, 2005 7:47 am (#2258 of 2956)

On a fish theme--

“...like a fish out of water.” (Totally out of one's element. This is a very common idiom.)

“...he/she needs this like a fish needs a bicycle.” (Referring to something that will not help the situation; a useless idea.)

Maybe we could alter these and substitute squid for fish. Ah, but if the D.I.G.S. theory is proven, these might not be so apt.

Insects--

“To put a bug in one's ear. “(To make a subtle suggestion, whisper a secret, give a hint. Rita Skeeter, anyone?)

“To have ants in one's pants.” (Nowadays many people just say "antsy." To fidget, not be able to sit still, often used to refer to little kids. In Yiddish, we say, "He has shpilkes, pronounced shpil-keys.)

Humans--

Remember the old saying "opposites attract" when speaking of romance? My mom used to say, "Honey, boy and girl is opposite enough."

Ciao. Barb

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John Bumbledore - Feb 18, 2005 7:54 am (#2259 of 2956)

Family sayings
After a particularly aggravating day of dealing with disobedient children (we have four Edit: children, ages: 10, 9, 5 & 5), Mrs. Bumbledore will say, "I know why some animals eat their young!" After having used that phrase more than a few time, she built upon it with the following response for when asked how the children behaved. "I could eat them and burp contentedly."

Then when something or someone is particularly annoying or aggravating, one may say "(S)he/It is driving me nuts (or buggy)." Nuts or buggy in this phrase means crazy. Mrs. Bumbledore has formed a combination of these two with, "They are driving me bug-nuts!" Bless her hart! ** Waves to Song **

My contribution to our family phrases is, "oh, it is an egg misunderstanding." You see Mrs. Bumbledore likes them over-easy with the yoke still runny and not broken (a bubble-egg, as she calls it). She strives to turn the egg without breaking the yoke, and is most happy when this is accomplished. She is also very unselfish, so while we were still newly married she would always take the eggs with the broken yokes and give me the "perfect" bubble-eggs.

One day, after four years of dating, a year of engagement, and two or three years of marriage, we were visiting with Mrs. Bumbledore's parent. My mother-in-law was cooking eggs for breakfast and asked me how I wanted my egg. I replied with my preference for them to be cooked "over-hard" (meaning the yoke broken before turning and cooking until firm.)

Mrs. Bumbledore objected with both surprise and some outrage saying, "No you don't! You like them over easy!" After some convincing, she asked why I had never told her this. It was because she had never asked. To me it was always a special treat to have her cook breakfast for me and I do not dislike "bubble-eggs" so was quite happy to receive them.

Since that time, if I suspect or discover a similar lack of communication between us or amongst our friends, I refer to it as having an "egg-misunderstanding."

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

Edit: P.S. Oh my! I did not intend to imply that all my children were disobedient all the time but that first paragraph may lead one to that conclusion... No, they are well behaved at least in equal portion to when one or more are not. We often receive complements on how well they are behaved when not in our presence; so we are quite pleased with all four of them.

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Fawkes Forever - Feb 18, 2005 7:59 am (#2260 of 2956)
Edited by Pinky Feb 18, 2005 2:40 pm

Edited one quote to make it family friendly. I sent you an e-mail. ~Pinky

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, brie! (Homer Style)

Happy Belated Birthday OZY!

I'm laughing at all these sayings. Think we have pretty similar ones the world over, but I thought I'd add in some Irish ones (mainly Northern Irish). Most are colloquial to say the least... You've probably heard most before....

'Are your hands painted on'? – question to someone who is very lazy - likewise ‘the dead lice are falling off them’ or 'He/she has two speeds, dead slow & stop'
'So sharp she/he will cut themselves' – rather intelligent person
'There are no slows on you'? – someone who is rather crafty / intelligent
'Serpent Tongue' – one who makes caustic remarks at others expense
'And pigs may fly' – it’ll never happen
'She/he is so tight, they wouldn’t spend Christmas' – a miserly person
'Since Adam was a boy' – a long, long time ago
'Mutton dressed as lamb' – older person (normally female) dressing too young for their years
'Done up like a dogs dinner' – Overly done up male / female
'You make a great door but not a window' – said to someone blocking your view of something e.g. TV (mostly said by siblings). Also said as ‘You may be a pain, but you’re still no use as a window’
'Don’t meet the devil half roads… make him come the full way' – When tackling a problem, look at the whole picture
'Cross that bridge when we come to it' – don’t worry about something that might not happen
'Would you take my grave as quick?' – someones retort to another sitting in their recently vacated chair
'You’re as well raving there as in your bed' – to say to someone when they are acting silly or giddy
'A fool and his/her money are easy parted' – self explanitory
'A face only a mother could love' – an unattractive person
'You couldn’t like him/her even if you were after having (giving birth) to them' – a nasty person whom no one could like
'Looks like the back end of a bus' – unattractive person
'Broc' or 'Badger'(Broc is Irish for Badger) - horrible teenage boy name for an unattractive girl
'Up there for thinking' point to head), 'Down there for dancing' (point to feet) - said mostly in jest after you have a good idea

'The best thing since sliced bread' - Brilliant
'The Craic was 90' - it was great fun
'That took the biscuit' - to top something, good or bad, or in my house we’ve added 'That took the biscuit & came back for the cookie jar'
'He/She's so twisted they’d never be laid straight in their coffin' – describing someone nasty
'They would steal the eye out of your head & come back for the socket' – Someone with criminal intent
'He/She would have been bought & sold you without you knowing you’d changed hands' (changed owners) – describing a crafty / sneaky person, must date back to when people were sold into service
'He/she is in everything but the christmas crib' - someone who is involved in everything going
'Happy as a pig in muck' - very merry/happy
'Sober as a judge' - completely sober
'Jober as a Sudge' - not sober
'Not playing with the full deck' or 'The lights are on, but noone is home' - About someone who is not too bright
'Completely knackered' - Tired - or cream crackered in rhyming slang
'I’m in the middle of my dinner' - love that one… basically means I’m in the process of eating my dinner, however the visual image of sitting in your dinner is funny
Another strange one is,'Wet the tea' - To make a pot of tea
'Now you’re cooking with gas' - whatever you’re doing or working on is going well / successful
'Dead On' – Great. Perfect, Really nice. Often used to describe people and can be used in sarcasm as well when everything is not perfect
'Catch yourself on'! - Wise up
'Away in the head'. - Someone who has lost their senses / stupid
'Do you think I came up the river in a bubble'? - Do you think I was born yesterday? (This phrase varies depending on which river you were brought up by.)
'He/she/that/this, does my head in.' Drives you up the wall – alternatively – 'My Brain is Melted'

One of my all time favourites is this next one, to be honest I've no idea of it's origin... To be said in jest of another person, it's just a funny way of saying.... 'Who do they think they are?'
'Whos like me since leather face died & paper legs flew to America'
It always makes me laugh, especially the version where 'face' is replaced by another word for derriere

Gosh thats a lot.... hee hee. Enjoy!

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Marè - Feb 18, 2005 8:06 am (#2261 of 2956)

Okay HELP!

(going to disrupt the flow of conversation with a very befuddled post)
I'm writing a rather serious and important mail and I have to use one word. And I can't remember what it is.

If you want to apply to a project/job and you need to know if you "fit" all the requested thingies... how is that called?
Meeting the...

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librarian314 - Feb 18, 2005 8:08 am (#2262 of 2956)

Hey all!

I love all the sayings, especially the German ones that are so similar to ones I use all the time. (I'm half-German, both grandmothers were either the children or grandchildren of German immigrants.) I also love the French ones because you can tell that agriculture played a big part in daily life (all those references to hens and whatnot).

I thought that one comment about drowning in the rain was more commenting on a person's lack of intelligence rather than snobbishness. Domesticated turkeys are rumored to be stupid enough that if they are caught out in the rain they will look up into the sky with their mouths open and drown. (I went to college in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where poultry processing was one of the big industries.)

A few more that are less insulting...

To describe something as very expensive: “That'll cost you an arm and a leg, and an elbow.”

To describe someone as sneaky and intelligent: “As crafty (or sly) as a fox”

To describe someone as appearing very confused: “The deer in the headlights look.”

One my husband uses that Julia might like: “as sharp as a baseball” (to describe one's lack of intellect)

Another from my husband: “A mind like a steel sieve” (again not very complimentary to one's brain power)

I like reading JKR's books because it reminds me how close my Southern accent is to British English. There's a point in OotP, just after Harry has arrived in Grimmauld Place and he is talking with/yelling at Ron, et al. when he asks if Hermione thinks that Sirius is, "touched in the head". (Not quite right mentally.) I had to stop reading and laugh because thinking of Harry with a thick, Southeastern Virginia accent was just too bizarre.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Fawkes Forever - Feb 18, 2005 8:10 am (#2263 of 2956)

Mare - 'Meeting the Criteria' -

This would fit - I hope... good luck with the letter

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Marè - Feb 18, 2005 8:14 am (#2264 of 2956)

criteria!!

Thank you so much Fawkes! I knew some-one on here would help
Mail is away and I wish every one a very good weekend. I'm signing off!

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Julia. - Feb 18, 2005 8:16 am (#2265 of 2956)

'Meet the Criteria' sounds about right. *thumbs up to Fawkes*

Well, I'm off to New York for the weekend, Brooklyn to be exact. Some friends and I are going to Crown Heights, the very Jewish section. I'm all excited. Have a good weekend everyone!

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Fawkes Forever - Feb 18, 2005 8:20 am (#2266 of 2956)

Hey Guys *waves like an eejit* (hee hee, clever way to work in another saying ... eejit means Idiot in Northern Ireland)

Have fun in New York Julia.
Michelle, they say 'touched in the head' over here too... or it can be shortened to say 'A wee bit touched!"

Have a good weekend folks... I'm supposed to be doing work here... but posting sayings instead... the dementors will not be pleased... hee hee!

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John Bumbledore - Feb 18, 2005 9:04 am (#2267 of 2956)

Oy Vey! I need to make my coffee stronger. I just mistakenly poured it into my drinking glass in stead of my coffee mug.

** Toddles off to drink pee-warm, diluted coffee and grimaces with each swallow. **

** Too embarrassed to sign my "name"...

Why would Fawkes post remind me of the term "scotch" for being stingy, with something? Wrong Island entirely. ** Waves at everyone! So as not to be "scotch" with the greetings. **

P. S. Yes, I know I do need stronger coffee and a bucket of water to go with my "dry" humor.

P. P. S. Marè, I was thinking requirements but criteria sounds better to me, also.

P. P. P. S. ** cross-posted with Fawkes earlier and Gina later (during the edits) ** Gina, your phrase reminds me of an extension of a similar one in English.

S/He has "foot-in-mouth" disease. or "I/S/He puts my/her/his foot in his mouth so often I/s/he has athletes tongue."

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Gina R Snape - Feb 18, 2005 9:18 am (#2268 of 2956)

Heh.

Well, in response to Kip's 'don't let the door hit you..'

A variation of that I've heard is 'Don't let the doorknob hit you where the good lord split you.'

The only german expression that comes to mind right now is (and I KNOW the spelling is incorrect but perhaps someone can correct it for me) is 'Er/sie ist ins fettnaepschen getretten' meaning 'S/he stepped in it' or 'put his foot in his mouth' (said something stupid).

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Ydnam96 - Feb 18, 2005 10:06 am (#2269 of 2956)

nothing really insightful to add to the conversation. However when I was in High School we had several interesting phrases (I lived in Rural Virginia): “She thinks she's all that and a bucket of chicken.” To imply that a person thinks very highly of themselves. You could add "and a bag of chips and a grape soda" if the person reallllly was a snob. Or you could say "he's all that and a bucket of chicken” to refer to someone you thought was pretty amazing. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (22) a versatile saying.

I'm sure there are others but I'm too tired now to try and think of them.

Today we have the day off. My place of employment is observing Presidents Day today. So my goal is to lay on the couch, watch some movies, and crochet a bit.

Happy Friday.

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Eponine - Feb 18, 2005 10:18 am (#2270 of 2956)

I have the day off as well. It was quite nice to sleep in this morning for a little longer. Actually, the school system is doing teacher workshops today, but since I'm only doing this temporarily, I didn't have to go. So on my day off, I'm cleaning the house. We were going to have Monday off as well, but they have to make up a snow day.

So Happy Presidents Day to everyone!

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Denise P. - Feb 18, 2005 11:15 am (#2271 of 2956)

Following the variation of exasperation involving children. There is the classic Bill Cosby line, said to a child who is walking a thin line and about to push you over.

“I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it!”

Not Bill Cosby but still involving children.

“Don't make me beat you in public, then I would be arrested for child abuse.” (usually said when they are not behaving well)

Normally said from one spouse to another, first one taken from It's A Wonderful Life "Why did we have to have all these kids??!" and "You know, we can have more children" (implying if you can easily replace any child who you have taken out)

And just so no one thinks I go around vowing violence on my children, if one of these lines is uttered, I usually get a grin in return and they say "You know you love me, Mom!"

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Detail Seeker - Feb 18, 2005 11:26 am (#2272 of 2956)

Gina, you nearly got it right, just two letter too much: "Fettnaepfchen" (little pot of fat) and "getreten" (has stepped).

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John Bumbledore - Feb 18, 2005 11:51 am (#2273 of 2956)

Ydnam96, yours it the first mention of crocheting that I have seen in the forum, but then I wasn't especially looking either. So I just had to respond since, when I was home with two (on Monday and then all four on Tuesday) of my children sick with the flu, I picked up my long forgotten crochet bag and started on a new winter hat.

When I returned to work on Wednesday, I did a quick Internet search for patterns. Seems that I had lost all my pattern books. I did find a pattern for Harry's scarf, but I didn't save the link.

Any other knitters or crocheter in our forum family? Has anyone made a Harry Potter themed crafts? **Scans the forum to check for any source of sniggering laughter** Yes, I've been laughed at before for being a male that knows how to knit and crochet. My mom taught me when I was in grade school. I understand our UK members may have a more enlightened view. I was told that Sir Winston Churchill knitted or crocheted.

I find it relaxing and good for the dexterity of he fingers. I'm thinking that Mike - the Giant Squid - would make an excellent knitter or crocheter with all those tentacles... What do you think Marie E?

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

P. S. I like your avatar, Ydnam96. Is that the door to Bag End?

P. P. S. Oh, and thank you Denise P. for your post about "varation of exasperation involving children." I didn't count, but it sounds like your "brood" is larger than mine, so congratulations and sympathies as well.

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Penny Lane. - Feb 18, 2005 12:17 pm (#2274 of 2956)

I wouldn't laugh at you for being a male who knits/crochets. In our knitting circle at university, we have lots of male knitters/crocheters. It's really cute right now, because everywhere you look, people have hand knit hats and scarves. A few of us are starting on sweaters and blankets too, but I am still working on scarves, hats and mittens to match everything I own. I find it to be very entertaining. Anyway, my point was simply that I doubt it would be too hard to make a Harry-centric scarves. Although.. if anyone has an offical pattern... I'd be interested as well.

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Gina R Snape - Feb 18, 2005 12:19 pm (#2275 of 2956)

Thank you, Detail Seeker. I knew I could rely on you.

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Elanor - Feb 18, 2005 1:06 pm (#2276 of 2956)

John, I think it is really great that you knit and crochet! I am not a very good knitter but I have managed to knit a Gryffindor scarf this winter (as I have a black coat, it fits very well with it!). I was inspired by Hermione's scarf in PoA but with the real Gryffindor colours. I love it, though I am still waiting for someone asking me "Is this a HP scarf?", so that I could answer "No, this is a Gryffindor scarf" in an indignant manner... **sigh** Muggles...

Which reminds me another expression: "Qu'est-ce que tu crois que je fais? Du tricot? : "What do you think I'm doing? Some Knitting?". You say that, in an indignant manner too, when you are doing something difficult, usually that gets on your nerves, and someone asks you naïvely if it is finally done...

As for kids who get on your nerves, there is the classical but efficient: " Continue comme cela et tu vas voir comment je m'appelle" : Continue like this and you will know what my name is...

or: " Continue comme ça et tu vas voir de quel bois je me chauffe" : this one is difficult to translate, maybe something like : "continue like this and you will see what wood I use for heating".

or, more familiar but even more efficient: "Tu veux mon pied quelque part? : you want my foot in some place? EDIT: or, same inspiration, "J'ai mon pied qui me démange...", "I have my foot that is itching" (to kick you in the behind implied).

or (from a friend of mine): "J'en connais un qui va se faire chanter la Marseillaise en Corse" : "I know someone that will hear the Marseillaise sang in Corsican". Not a very good sign (don't ask - I don't want some trouble with Corsicans that would read that..) BTW, works also with "qui va se faire appeler Léon" (I know someone who is going to be called Leon soon...).

I wish you all a great weekend! I am used Vlad, if you read this, more snow is likely to fall all weekend long in the Alps, are you coming soon? The ski runs are very good now I have heard!

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Good Evans - Feb 18, 2005 1:10 pm (#2277 of 2956)

re this morning’s post ... if anyone was interested a "grockel box" is a caravan or caravanette. grockel being the west country word for a holiday maker. A particularly fine insult ... but always conjured up thoughts of cockles for me.

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mike miller - Feb 18, 2005 1:41 pm (#2278 of 2956)

“I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it!” - Bill Cosby via Denise P.

Denise - You forgot the next line, "and I'll make another one that looks just like you!"

This week has completely drained by brain. I'm actually having difficulty typing this post. I'm now off to enjoy a long 3-day weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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I Am Used Vlad - Feb 18, 2005 3:03 pm (#2279 of 2956)

Thanks for the update, Elanor. I leave a week from today. I've really enjoyed reading all the French sayings, although I'll fail to remember most of them and not be able to properly pronounce the ones I do. Foreign languages are just not my forte. I have enough problems with English.

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boop - Feb 18, 2005 3:42 pm (#2280 of 2956)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Madame Librarian and DJ Evans!!!!!!!! Have great day!!!!

Sorry it’s being posted late, but couldn't post before work.

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Ydnam96 - Feb 18, 2005 4:13 pm (#2281 of 2956)

You know, I know quite a few men who crochet and knit. I work at a college and there is a crocheting club, and it's not made up of just "geeks" and it is mostly guys. NO LIE.

It's en-vouge now I think. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (23)

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Accio Sirius - Feb 18, 2005 6:32 pm (#2282 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Madam Librarian and DJ Evans!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

I loved reading all of the sayings. My favorite being: "He lies like a rug."

Denise, loved the Brie recipe. It sounds really yummy. For a quick appetizer, you can throw a wheel of Brie on a cookie sheet, sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and chopped apples or figs and bake until slightly melted. It's great on sliced baguettes!

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 18, 2005 6:42 pm (#2283 of 2956)

Hello everyone!! Happy Birthday Madam Librarian and DJ Evans. I hope you both have a wonderful day.

I have had a bizarre Saturday morning. I got up earlier than usual (for a Saturday) and let my dogs outside and fed them. Then I decided I'd go back to bed with a bowl of Cornflakes and a cuppa tea. All was well until at about 7.50am there were two very bright red flashes accompanied by loud bangs and a puff of smoke right outside my window about 30 seconds apart. Needless to say I jumped up in shock (and knocked the tea over) at the first bang to see a car drive past and thought 'oh its backfired.'

Then when I went to get a cloth (to mop the tea up), I noted my clocks weren't on. Strange I thought, so I put the dogs back inside in the laundry and opened up the garage to go and look at my meter box. Well what do you know, the power pole outside my place was alight. And burning quite brightly. It was burning from the top down.

So I dashed inside and called the fire brigade and then spent the next four hours waiting for electricity to be restored.

No-one quite knows how the power pole decided to catch alight, but it means on Monday I will have no electricity again as the electricity people remove the burnt one and put a new pole in its place.

On the topic of men and knitting and crocheting, our local doctor used to knit and he was quite good at it. Knitting and crocheting seem to be coming back in style now.

Enjoy your weekend

Lizzy

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Acceber - Feb 18, 2005 6:56 pm (#2284 of 2956)

“My way or the highway!”-Kip. My fourth grade teacher said that way too much.

I really like this topic of phrase-a-ma-jigs, but I can't think of many. Here's one...never mind, now I've forgotten it. That must be because it's VACATION! We're going skiing in beautiful northern Vermont! I hope we'll get to pass (and perhaps stop in) the town where my camp is. The only downside is that I don't know if there's a computer in the hotel, or if we're bringing the laptop. We'll have to designate times for the four of us to use it, though.

Happy Belated Birthday Ozy and Happy Not-So-Belated Birthdays Barb and Deb!

Knitting--I've tried to knit before, but all I got was a sad piece of fabric that looked more like crocheting than knitting and could serve as an ear warmer. My mom, her two sisters, and their mother all knit with a passion. I got an afghan for my birthday a few years ago, and all of my sweaters when I was a baby were handmade.

Spring training has officially started. I can't wait until Opening Day, Sox vs. Y****** (if you want to know what that means, ask Julia). For those who don't follow baseball or reside in the United States, I'll be brief. The Boston Red Sox and the New York Y****** have a bitter rivalry, particularly because the cities are so close geographically. In 2003, both teams made it into the playoffs and to the best-out-of-7 games. The series went to the seventh game, and the game into extra innings. We lost, after a hard-played battle. This past season, both teams again made it to the same series. The other team won the first three games, and all odds were with them to win the fourth. But the tides turned and Boston won four games in a row to win the series. They went on to win the World Series. At the first home game of the season, the Sox will be presented with their World Series rings, right in front of the team that they won four straight against. OK, maybe not brief, but not long.

I'm done, I think. That was a long post. I'm going to go read the threads. Happy Weekend! Talk to you either tomorrow, in Vermont, or in March!

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Madame Librarian - Feb 18, 2005 7:24 pm (#2285 of 2956)

Thanks, all, for the b-day wishes. Today's the actual day (18th), but I'm keeping mum on the number of years. (Boop, I'm charmed that you knew the date.)

My best friend took me to lunch to P. F. Chang's--a trendy Chinese bistro. The food was sooo good and plentiful. I had ordered won ton soup and the bowl was so big, I took the leftovers home and my husband and I each had a bowl for dinner. Yum. I am so full now that I feel like a beached whale just letting the waves roll over me. Bizarre image, no?

The sharing of these expressions is a kick. I think some of the funniest are when someone--usually a sweet, ditzie airhead--jumbles up the expression, taking half of one and half of another to finish the phrase, not even realizing what she's done. Of course, just at the moment I can't think of an example (and I just read an article about someone whose aunt did it all the time, darn). Something like, "My gosh, she just up and ran around like a chicken who crossed the road. "Not quite it, but you get the idea.

Have a lovely weekend everyone, enjoy your day(s) off.

Ciao. Barb

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Madam Pince - Feb 18, 2005 7:41 pm (#2286 of 2956)

Bumbledore, I think that ScullyJones knitted quite a lovely Gryffindor scarf last year -- she may have a pattern or something!

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I Am Used Vlad - Feb 18, 2005 8:45 pm (#2287 of 2956)

Happy birthday, Madame Librarian and DJ Evans.

Have fun skiing, Acceber. Out of curiosity, where do you guys go. Jay Peak is my favorite place in Vermont.

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Chemyst - Feb 19, 2005 12:00 am (#2288 of 2956)

Since you said you like them, here is a spoonerism for your birthday, Barb:

I hit my bunny phone ~~~ I hit my funny bone

And for the few of you who may not know, there was a preacher named William Archibald Spooner who would get his tongue tied during sermons and say things like, "Our Lord is a shoving leopard," (for loving shepherd). The big word is metathesis, but "spoonerisms," where the sounds are switched around in a word or phrase, are named after him. ..indulging my inner Hermione tonight

And DJ Evans, if you are out there, happy birthday to you too!

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Elanor - Feb 19, 2005 1:00 am (#2289 of 2956)

Happy birthday, Madame Librarian and DJ Evans! With the time difference, it should be still the 18th for you I think. (Edit: oops, no, it is just the 19th beginning for you too, so happy belated birthday!)

Here, it is already Saturday and, for once, the forecast guy was right: it is snowing! Well, it snowed more or less all week long already, but today, this is some serious snow, with a very white sky. Brr... Vlad, the ski runs will be just perfect when you will arrive! A lot of people are expected in the ski resorts this weekend and next week (it is the turn of the Parisians to be on holidays), so a lot of feasts and other activities have to be planned there for the next weekend. I hope you will have a lot of fun there! Don't worry about your accent, it will just be perfect!

The holidays are nearly finished for me, weird holidays spent nursing the flu. I still don't feel well at all but school starts again on Monday so I guess I will have to open the schoolbag today nevertheless. Okay, I stop complaining! Some more expressions about that:

- "ça sent le sapin...", "it smells fir", you say that ironically when someone is complaining about his health (the fir smell refering to the coffin's wood).

We have a lot of expressions about the weather too:

- "Il pleut des cordes" : "it rains ropes" or (sorry, a little vulgar but kids love that one) "Il pleut comme vache qui pisse" : "It rains as a cow peeing" for pouring rains.

- "Un vent à décorner un boeuf: "a wind that could dehorn a ox", a very strong wind.

- "Il fait un froid de canard": "It is a "duck's cold" ", very cold.

- And more general and very used: "Il fait un temps de chien" : "It is a dog's weather", very bad weather!

Have a nice weekend everybody!

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Ozymandias - Feb 19, 2005 3:24 am (#2290 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Barb (Madame Librarian) and DJ Evans!

I'm glad to see a few knitters here. My grandmother taught me to knit a few years ago, and I've gone crazy with it. You're right, Bumbledore, it's incredibly relaxing. And I think it's wonderful that you're a knitter. I've only known one guy who knits, and that's because I taught him.

If anyone wants to make a Hogwarts scarf, it's super easy, and a great first project if you're learning. Just cast on 30-odd stitches (or however wide you want it) and knit in garter stitch (all knitting, no purls). Then, when it's time to switch colors, cut off the yarn and tie the new color on with a regular overhand knot. I just bought some lovely blue and bronze yarn to make a Ravenclaw scarf.

Off to make a smoothie and browse the other threads. Have a good weekend, everybody!

~Erin

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Good Evans - Feb 19, 2005 4:01 am (#2291 of 2956)

morning all - oh goodness Lizzy what a start to the weekend!!!!

I hope it all sorts itself out for you.

happy belated birthdays to DJ evans and Barb. Hope that you had good ones.

I am at work this morning - its that time of year - annual billing so we work all this weekend. However we have cake and a bit of a laugh so its not all bad, and for once I can log on to lexicon during work hours woo hoo!! inbetween checking computer runs etc.

ok best do some work - but just wanted to drop in and say hi.

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boop - Feb 19, 2005 6:44 am (#2292 of 2956)

My mom tried to teach me how to knit. I found it to take to long to see results of what your making. I taught myself how to crochet. I am making a Layette for my new grandbaby that is coming in April. I have made many gift for other. I love crocheting because you can see results within a few rows. I would love to learn how to knit, because the patterns are so pretty.

I have loved reading all those saying some I heard before and some were new to me. I had to laugh at some of them they were funny. Here is one I thought of " When you can't beat then, join them."

I had my granddaughter and grandson over night. Dustin is walking most of the time. They both feel so much better. They are being so good for me.

have a great weekend very one!

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Julie Aronson - Feb 19, 2005 7:16 am (#2293 of 2956)

I like knitting, crocheting, and needlepoint. I might just have to try a striped scarf--I just never got around to it before...

Julie

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septentrion - Feb 19, 2005 7:31 am (#2294 of 2956)

Hello everyone !

Lizzy, it's indeed a very strange and annoying thing that happened to you. I hope everything will be fixed soon.

Happy belated birthday to Madam Librarian and DJ Evans !

Elanor, I hope you a quick recovery since you're to be at school Monday.

About knitting, crocheting and any stuff including a needle, I simply can't do it due to a lack of patience. I can't concentrate on things so small and so precise. Guess I'd do better at crushing beetles to powder

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Madame Librarian - Feb 19, 2005 7:45 am (#2295 of 2956)

Chemyst, yes, Spoonerisms. I've read that the original one was spoken at the end of a wedding ceremony: "And now it's kisstomary to cuss the bride." The image that invokes is just too funny. There's that guy with the Capitol Steps (political satire cabaret comedy group) who does the long shtick which is all Spoonerisms, producing such twisted phrases as Billary and Hill, Lonica Mooooo-insky, Imbos in the Boffice, Yubble-Doo, Lirty Dies, and so on.

The malapropisms (literally, bad apropos, or incorrect used of words or phrases for the situation, or a general misuse of words) I was referring to is not the flip-flop of initial consonants, but the blending of two totally different sayings that have the correct rhythm to hook up, but create a meaning that is nonsensical.

Both, however, are hilarious.

Ciao. Barb

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librarian314 - Feb 19, 2005 9:10 am (#2296 of 2956)

Hey all!

Happy b-day to Madame Librarian and DJ Evans!

I am an avid fiber artist. I prefer crocheting to knitting as I tend to feel rather awkward when I knit. The needles are too long and I feel like I'm flapping like a large winged bird. I'm currently crocheting a Ms. Weasley sweater inspired by the one she wears in the movie version of CoS. (in the breakfast scene after Harry is rescued by Ron and the twins.) I've got one sleeve finished and have started the next. If anybody else is interested I can write out the pattern after I've finished (I'm making it up as I go along.)

Some of my other upcoming projects may well be some HP socks. There are several really cool ones mentioned in the books and socks are about the only thing I knit, aside from mittens. I, too, find that knitting takes too long to see results and so I do small projects like socks.

I don't know any men that knit or crochet but know one who does counted cross stitch and another who is taking up bobbin lace.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 19, 2005 3:09 pm (#2297 of 2956)

As some of you will remember, I have been applying for jobs, so I can leave the one I'm in (the obnoxious boss is getting worse by the week!). I haven't had any luck so far but I will keep trying and hope to pick up something soon.

Anyway the lack of electricity yesterday meant I got time to sit and spend time with my dogs and myself and a chance to recharge my batteries.

Two more phrases:

“I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole!” meaning there's no way I would get anywhere near "it". "it" can be a person, thing, object etc.

“madder than a cut snake” completely mad/psycho person.

Lizzy

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megfox - Feb 19, 2005 3:19 pm (#2298 of 2956)

My best friend Jenny from college (the one that got me into Harry Potter) learned how to knit and crochet during our senior year, when we lived in an apartment together. She would do it for hours on end, and everything always came out slightly bumpy and not really shaped right (think the description of Hermione's house elf clothes). She made a hat that winter, and she couldn't figure out how to close the hole on the top, so she just made this HUGE pom-pom and sewed it to the top. It was really funny looking. I used to tease her a lot about it. Well, she was at my baby shower last weekend, and she made the most gorgeous baby hat, with these cute little bunny ears on it, and little baby booties. I was very impressed. And a little sheepish .

I would love to learn how to knit, but I always drop the "stitches". I have crocheted one thing in my life, a "popcorn" garland with red beads to look like cranberries. I drape it around an evergreen garland on my banister at Christmas. It took me almost 2 months to make, but is only about 10 feet long! I don't know if I have the patience to do it again!

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Elanor - Feb 19, 2005 3:20 pm (#2299 of 2956)

I'm so sorry about your job Lizzy! I really hope you will find another one soon (**keeping my fingers crossed**).

We have nearly the same phrase than yours, except that it says: "Je ne le toucherais pas avec des pincettes", I wouldn't touch it with tongs or, same meaning, "je ne le toucherais pas/je ne le ferais pas pour tout l'or du monde", I would not touch it/I would not do it even if I should receive all the gold of the world for that.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Edit: hello Meg! We posted nearly at the same time!

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Madam Pince - Feb 19, 2005 3:30 pm (#2300 of 2956)

Meg, I meant to tell you earlier -- best wishes as you go into this last month! It won't really be as long as it seems! We'll be thinking of you! Just think, soon you will have a new little one to cuddle and love!

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Catherine - Feb 19, 2005 4:15 pm (#2301 of 2956)

Speaking of having a new one to cuddle, my parents have successfully adopted "Belle," a rescued shih-tzu from a neighboring county.

Her story is sad, but the ending is very happy, I think. Apparently, her clueless owner delivered her to the groomer emaciated, with a severe eye infection, and matted to the skin. The groomer intervened by calling the Humane Society, who convinced the owner to give up the dog in exchange for providing the appropriate medical care (spaying, removal of the eye, shots, and food).

My folks saw her picture, and were smitten, and at this very moment Belle is snoozing on my father's lap like a princess. I will post a link to her photo for interested persons.

I wish them all the best, and I hope I haven't been too boring by sharing this.

EDIT: I have put the photo of Belle in my profile. My mom is holding her at the foster mom's house right before taking her home.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 19, 2005 5:49 pm (#2302 of 2956)

Belle looks pretty happy in your Mum's arms Catherine. I also reckon your two dogs are pretty sweet as well. I also like your tulips (the pinky/purple one's?).

I'm pretty mad about dogs, you could never bore me about dogs and Harry Potter. Put them both on the same page and I'll be glued to it!

Its good to see Belle has found some nice new parents to keep her safe and warm.

Lizzy

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Marie E. - Feb 19, 2005 5:49 pm (#2303 of 2956)

Oh, Catherine, Belle is so adorable. I'm glad her story has a happy ending.

My little kitty isn't doing very well. Samantha is 17 so I guess it's to be expected but...you know. She's had some blood in her stool and today she was "leaking" blood onto the carpet. I'm preparing the girls for the possibility that Samantha may be very sick. Lexie isn't taking it very well. Right now she's under our bed, where she usually sleeps during the day. I'll keep you all updated.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 19, 2005 5:53 pm (#2304 of 2956)

I'm rather hoping it is Samantha under the bed, not Lexie. Nonetheless I send you and the girls and Samantha some cheering charms, get well charms, and some fortifying charms for the day/evening ahead.

Lizzy

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Catherine - Feb 19, 2005 6:02 pm (#2305 of 2956)

Thanks, Lizzy. Your avatar always makes me smile because that dog looks almost exactly like our beloved family pet who died seven years ago at age 17 and 1/2. Her name was Sandy, and through her own particular neuroses and gifts (and she had plenty of each), she made our lives more wonderful every day.

As for the flowers, I must admit that I planted purple and yellow pansies for the local university's school colors, although I love pansies, and don't think that you can plant too many, especially as it's really hard to kill them.

The pink tulips were an afterthought, as Claire was at the nursery with me, and really wanted to plant some. She dug the holes, put the bulbs in, and charted their growth. We enjoyed them more than I ever thought I would. I would put those tulips down as the best short-term investment our family ever made.

Most of them are coming back this year, too, so that will be fun to see. After that, it will be another trip to the nursery. I wonder what color Claire will pick this fall?

EDIT: Marie, you posted while I was posting. I'm so sorry about Samantha. I hope she's not in pain, and I know what it is like for a dear family pet to be ailing. Best wishes to you.

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Gina R Snape - Feb 19, 2005 7:23 pm (#2306 of 2956)

Marie! Don't despair.

My Fabergé (who is 16) had the same symptoms and I took her to the vet straight away. Your cat might have an ulcer and/or inflammatory bowel disease--both of which are very treatable!

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Denise P. - Feb 19, 2005 8:25 pm (#2307 of 2956)

I guess blood/personality does tell. I have two boy guinea pigs, Sirrius and Regulus. They have been together since they were itty bitty piggies. In the past two weeks, Regulus has shown his little DE tendancies. He chases poor Sirrius screaming around the cage and has bitten him. I took all the expert advice to let them work it out since they are in their piggy teenaged years. Tonight, I decided poor Sirrius has had enough. I put them in separate cages, something not done lightly since they are social little beings but my vet won't neuter pigs since there is a high rate of death from being put under. Regulus is not happy with the new set up, he is looking for a way out. Sirrius, I swear, has perked up and looks very content and happy now, not huddled in a scared heap any more. Since my vet won't neuter, I don't have much options beyond having two solo pigs.

Marie, I hope Samantha gets better. Did your Brownies have Thinking Day already? We had ours today and our troop did Lebanon.

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John Bumbledore - Feb 19, 2005 10:20 pm (#2308 of 2956)

I too would like to wish a happy birthday to Madame Librarian and DJ Evans!

Catherine, by short term investment did you mean you didn't expect them to come back? My father-in-law grows the biggest and most beautiful tulips I've seen. He digs them up each year and will place them in a very cool, dry spot in his basement/garage. I believe he suggested a short period of storage in the refrigerator because of our mild winters. But then again, maybe I'm just headed for St. Mungo's?

Marie E, I hope the best for Samantha, and that it may be like Gina's experience and treatable like her 'fancy-egg-art' named cat.

Well all, I must say good night (good morning after-noon to Lizzy, I think.) I hope your eclectric has been restored and remains stable henceforth.

(John) Bumbledore

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Ydnam96 - Feb 19, 2005 10:39 pm (#2309 of 2956)

Denise could you get more guinea pigs? One that Regulus won't beat up and one that will get along with Sirius?

It's rained all day here. To the point where after running to the grocery store upon returning it was necessary for me to take off my shoes and socks, roll up my pant legs, and wade through calf high water to get from my car to my house. The water was freeeeeeezing cold. I think that I should be constructing an ark, for real.

I did crochet a small blanket for my cat. Well really it's to put on my couch so that less cat hair gets on it. I'm quite proud of myself. It's the largest thing I've ever crocheted. It looks like one of those ovalish Amish rage rugs (in shape). It was supposed to be a square. Go figure.

So any of you Alias fans out there, any idea how to get an Alias ring tone on my phone? Right now I've had HP (from Mugglenet) and it's been there for quite a while and I'm ready for something different but I can't find one where I would just program in the notes like I did the Harry Potter one.

Well, it's about time for me to hit the threads and go to bed. Night all!

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 19, 2005 10:56 pm (#2310 of 2956)

Bumbledore you got the afternoon bit right. Right now it is 4:56pm in the afternoon. I've been meaning to get a guinea pig or two. I've been hesitant because my two boys - Macca and Sami (they're dogs) don't like cats and small fluffy things. They chase after them growling like anything. The neighborhood cats learn pretty quickly my yard is a no go zone.

I'm in the middle of crocheting another rug. Lots of smallish squares to "sew" together into one big rug. Not easy in the middle of summer with sweating hands, even when you are sitting under the air-con.

Lizzy

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The giant squid - Feb 20, 2005 12:50 am (#2311 of 2956)

Ree, I hope Sam's okay. Like you said, she's getting up there; give her a scritch from me.

“Why did we have to have all these kids??!”

Denise, this reminded me of another Bill Cosby-ism: "Why did we have four children?" "Because we didn't want five."

Happy YesterBirthday, Barb & Deb! Barb, would an example of a malapropism be "Make like a tree and get outta here!" (a corruption of "make like a tree and leave")? It's not the best example, but it's the only thing my brain would squeeze out...

--Mike

P.S. Despite my numerous tentacles , I don't crochet. I do however have enormous respect for anyone with the patience & self discipline to do so.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 20, 2005 7:44 am (#2312 of 2956)

Thanks, guys, for your good b-day wishes, and those hacked apart malaprops. Listening right now to Sunday Weekend Edition on NPR radio (it's 8:38 am Chicago time-CST-on 2/20). They're about to do a feature story on John Williams and his music score for PoA. Hope some you can catch a listen. I'll report anything interesting on the pop culture thread.

The promo for the piece came on with the lilting intro theme. My head popped up from the newspaper, and I got all wobbly in my tummy. That music really gets me all in the HP mood. Ooooh, I thought, they're going to do a meaty story on the new book (please, oh, please). Well, not quite. But it'll be interesting to hear about the music stuff. This guy, Trudeau, reviews all the music nominees for the Oscars.

Uh oh, here it is. "Shush!" as Harry would say.

Ciao. Barb

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Madam Pince - Feb 20, 2005 10:26 am (#2313 of 2956)

Marie, I hope Samantha is going to be OK!

I was watching "The Green Mile" last night on TV, and they used another little regional quote which I haven't seen here yet:

“I think that boy's cheese has slipped off his cracker.” (He's gone crazy!)

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 20, 2005 5:13 pm (#2314 of 2956)

As for the flowers, I must admit that I planted purple and yellow pansies for the local university's school colors, although I love pansies, and don't think that you can plant too many, especially as it's really hard to kill them. – Catherine

I can't believe Marcus let this slide by. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (30)

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mollis - Feb 20, 2005 5:40 pm (#2315 of 2956)

I am so glad to be back with you guys. This has been one heck of a weekend. We got a virus in our computer and had to completely delete everything and start over. Somehow it managed to mess up our IP address and we could no longer get on the net. So that took most of yesterday and today (when I was supposed to be doing our taxes - not sure if I'm upset about not getting to do them or not...) Then, in the midst of the computer repair - our TV up and dies. Just poof! dead! So dear hubby decides he can't survive a minute without a TV in the living room (we have one in the bedroom, but apparently it's not big enough and he must have one in each location for his life to be worthwhile and heads to the store. Decides that we must spend what I consider way too much money on a TV with no consideration for the bills we have to pay and all that other financial stuff. Just frustrating to have to reach an agreement with someone when the priorities are different. Thanks for letting me vent...

On a better subject, I love knitting. Have knitted many blankets and afghans and a couple of baby hats. I do want to try a layette or even a sweater, but I'm a little bit nervous to try it. I'm afraid of putting all the time into it and then it won't fit. I'll probably take the risk one of these days though.

Okay, I'm going to go try and relax now. Its just been a really cruddy weekend for much more significant reasons than the superficial ones I complained about here. Maybe I'll hit some threads and cheer myself up. I post a cute, cheerfull smilie here, but they are all gone to computer heck. I'll have to transfer them over from the secret file of them I have stashed on my work computer. Shhh, don't tell.

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Catherine - Feb 20, 2005 5:42 pm (#2316 of 2956)

I can't believe Marcus let this slide by--Loopy Lupin

Me, either. I'm a little disappointed that his work takes him away at just the wrong time. **waves to Marcus**

But at least you are here, Loopy, to carry on Marcus's work in the Uniting the Houses" thread, and in poking me about pansies.

For the record, I tried really hard to get Mom and Dad to name the new doggy "Pansy" or "Poppy," in terms of HP names. Other choices were "Willow" and "Dahlia," to be called "Dolly." Alas, earwax, her name is "Belle." I happen to like her name, as I suggested it also, but so far I've managed to give the puppy rescues HP names so far. My parents thwarted me, as they love to do.

Hope you all have a good night, and Loopy Lupin, I hope that your weekend was full of health salad, meatballs, and every other good thing!

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Denise P. - Feb 20, 2005 5:57 pm (#2317 of 2956)

The time was coming and it has finally arrived. My 7 year old has never had a hair cut, other than tiny trims and bangs. Her hair is long enough to sit on. She said she wants it cut off. Luckily, she has enough hair that we can compromise between the shorter cut she wants and my wanting some length on it. We are going to donate her length to Locks of Love. Just measuring here at home, I think it will be 13-15" that we are going to donate. I just need to call the salon here tomorrow and get her an appointment. Even getting all that cut off, her hair should still be touching her shoulders. After years of seeing her with long hair, it is going to take getting used to seeing her with significantly shorter hair.

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Catherine - Feb 20, 2005 6:52 pm (#2318 of 2956)

How wonderful for your daughter to donate her hair, and she still has hair to spare. **didn't mean to sound like Dr. Seuss just now.**

But still, it's a lovely thing to do, and very grown-up of her. What a wonderful person to be at age seven.

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Denise P. - Feb 20, 2005 7:20 pm (#2319 of 2956)

I grew up with the much hated Pixie cut and then the equally hated Dorothy Hamill cut. I always swore I would not cut my daughter's hair unless she wanted it done. My dad watches me brush her hair (and her contortionist faces) and always advises me "Cut it short, let her grow it when she can take care of it herself" Kaity and I just smile and ignore him but she has reached the point where she wants it shorter now. I am going to get a before and after picture from her back, so you can see how long it was. She is wanting me to just hack it tonight but I convinced her to wait for an appointment.

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Catherine - Feb 20, 2005 7:34 pm (#2320 of 2956)

Denise,

I so appreciate your feelings in the matter. I was a formerly long-haired girl who was forced into a Dorothy Hamill cut overnight. I was very skinny and tall at the time, and everyone thought I was a boy. I'm still not over it, and it's probably one reason why I reacted so viscerally to Daisy's scalping haircut this summer.

So I, too, have a child with longish hair who does the contortionist faces, and all I have to do is say, "You sound like you want a short haircut" and that does the trick, at least for now. Both my girls have shoulder-length hair, and that is plenty for a pony tail, a "bun" for ballet, and to feel "girly" about.

I look forward to seeing any before and after shots. It's quite a to-do for her hairdo!

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boop - Feb 20, 2005 7:39 pm (#2321 of 2956)

Mollis, Sorry to hear your weekend didn't go well. Hope you have a good week, and welcome back.

There are TWO Birthdays tomorrow. I am posting them tonight, because I might not get a chance before work tomorrow.

FEB. 20th Madam Pince, and Ladybug 220. Happy Birthday!!!! Have a great day.

Denise, that is great thing for your daughter to do. I am sure many people are waiting for wigs with real hair. I am very proud of your 7 year old to do this..

Its snowing here tonight. Then late tonight it is changing to freezing rain and sleet. We are supposed to get 3 to 5 inches of snow first. Will make it interesting getting to work in the morning.

Good night and take care, Hugs Always.

Betty(boop)

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Gina R Snape - Feb 20, 2005 7:57 pm (#2322 of 2956)

Denise, shoulder length is still *quite* long hair! I had the dreaded Dorothy Hamill cut too, when I was about 9 years old. But I confess, after getting that first cut, I loved experimenting and cutting my hair.

After years and years of going back and forth between an inch from my scalp and below the shoulders, I can firmly say whatever the hairdresser does...her hair will grow back!

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Daioma Dumbledore - Feb 20, 2005 8:33 pm (#2323 of 2956)

G'Day everyone!

Once again I have been missing in action for a little while, but for now I'm back. We've had a couple of dramas to contend with, the biggest one being a couple of weeks ago we had huge storms here and my house got very very very flooded!!!! My whole lounge room was destroyed, but thanks to Elvis the Wonder Cat, who banged on our bedroom door until it opened and then jumped on top of Ben and meowed in his face until he woke up, at 5am mind you, to let us know that there was a waterfall in our lounge room, so I was able to move my week old beautiful suede couches (sofa for you in the u.s!) out of harms way. We then put a 90 Litre (almost 20 gallons) tub under the main water entry point & went back to bed as that's about all we could do, but then when we woke 2&1/2 hours later the tub was FULL! Just about to overflow plus there was now another entry point and we had at least an inch of water almost covering the entire floor, which is floating floor boards so they are now all completely buckled and all have to be replaced & my ceiling is being held up by wooden supports put up by the emergency men that came out the next day! So I have to get a new ceiling too, as well as painting all through the living areas!!! The worst part of it all is we had almost EXACTLY THE SAME THING happen just 12 months before!!!!!! And if the insurance company had of fixed it properly rather than just patching the damage we wouldn't be in this situation!!! You could say I am rather peeved at the whole situation.

But other than that and work stress everything else is going well, we are having our engagement party on the 19th March and are organizing that at the moment & I went to my first ever bridal fair the other week-end and got VERY excited!!

I hope everyone is wonderful, I've missed talking to you all. Talk soon

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Madam Pince - Feb 20, 2005 9:22 pm (#2324 of 2956)

Oh, Daioma, that is such a bummer. So sorry to hear. But what a great cat you have! Thanks to him, the couches were saved, and you can't say that about a whole lot of cats -- usually it's the cat that destroys the couch. (I say "couch" instead of sofa, too. My Mom says "davenport.")

Denise, can't wait to see the new hair-do. Tell Kaity we all think she is a wonderful young lady for being so generous!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, Betty! ***blushes*** You are so sweet to always remember birthdays! A lot of my "real-world" friends apparently forgot ***Madam Pince has a "Harry-in-OoP moment" of feeling sorry for herself...*** No really, I had a very nice birthday -- my father-in-law called to wish me a "Happy 39th!" (Ha -- I wish -- he was just being nice.) I was brought back to earth, however, by Baby Pince coming into the room, scrutinizing me closely, and then saying "You don't look fifty, Mama!" I think he'd had some coaching from somebody who thought he was being very funny.

Extra points were scored, however, by a totally decadent dinner of crab & mushroom casserole, lobster, champagne, and Mud Pie for dessert. Yummmmmmmm, yum. Thank goodness we only have birthdays once a year, though!

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Daioma Dumbledore - Feb 20, 2005 9:33 pm (#2325 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Madam Pince!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday, much deserved I'm sure.

As for Elvis saving the couch instead of destroying it, your very right in saying he is an oddity in the cat world! Such a lovable little mite though!

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Madame Librarian - Feb 20, 2005 10:13 pm (#2326 of 2956)

Gaaa! The flood sounds awful, but the cat sounds like a level-headed pet. Handy to have around, aren't they?

Denise, give your long-haired beauty an "atta girl" for her donation. And, one for you, too, for being a supportive mom on the whole issue. I had a major haircut to a pixie when I was nine. My long hair was always up in a tight, tight ponytail or bun (for ballet class) and I was actually getting horrible headaches from the pull and stress. My mom almost didn't believe that kids could get headaches ("What do you kids have to have headaches about?"--she was very old world about things like that), and when she finally got me to the doctor, he suggested it was the weight of my long hair. We both stared at him like he was nuts, but since I wanted to have short hair anyway, we cut it all off, and voila! the headaches disappeared. Happy ending for all (except my slightly shocked ballet teacher).

Happy B-day to Madam Pince. Hey, the two madam(e)s have birthdays right next to each other.

G'night all.

Ciao. Barb

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Gina R Snape - Feb 20, 2005 10:44 pm (#2327 of 2956)

Daioma! Thank heavens for the love of a good kitty. Your flood sounds dreadful. I hope the insurance pays for a proper cleanup and repair this time.

btw, Happy Birthday Alan Rickman! He's 59 today (21 Feb).

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 20, 2005 11:55 pm (#2328 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Madam Pince and Ladybug!!!

Daioma, welcome back, I was waiting to hear if your were affected by the wild weather Melbourne had. It sounds as though you got enough water to keep you busy for a while. Has it done anything for the drought situation and water restrictions?

Mmmm Denise, I'm rather impressed by the young lady's decision to donate her hair. Well done. PS I'm really pleased you write in pink, helps me keep track of who said who. I get you confused with Catherine - no idea why.

Have a lovely day everyone.

Lizzy

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septentrion - Feb 21, 2005 2:05 am (#2329 of 2956)

Happy birthday Madam Pince and Ladybug !

Daioma, seems you had a busy week. Good luck with the insurance company, I hope they'll fix things properly this time.

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The giant squid - Feb 21, 2005 2:10 am (#2330 of 2956)

Happy semi-centennial, Madame P! Look at it this way: you're only a third as old as Albus. Birthday wishes to Ladybug as well.

Denise, your daughter sounds very level headed indeed. Can't imagine where she gets it. I've thought of donating my locks to Locks of Love when (if) I finally cut it off, but I don't know if it'd qualify. It's typical "guy" hair--more split ends than strong hair. Most women take good care of their hair; I take "just good enough" care of mine.

--Mike

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Catherine - Feb 21, 2005 5:19 am (#2331 of 2956)

Denise, I'm rather impressed by the young lady's decision to donate her hair. Well done. PS I'm really pleased you write in pink, helps me keep track of who said who. I get you confused with Catherine - no idea why. --Dizzy Lizzy

Poor Denise, to get confused with me! Lizzy, simply put, Denise is the mom who is not a Slacker!

I'm flattered to be mentioned in the same sentence as Denise. You made my day, Lizzy.

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haymoni - Feb 21, 2005 5:26 am (#2332 of 2956)

Morning all - It's President's Day, so being the lucky government employee that I am, I will be home lounging all day.

What does one do on President's Day? I don't think that there is an official way to celebrate it - no special meal or tree to put up - I don't even think there is a parade.

Stores always have President's Day sales, so if the weather behaves, maybe I'll drag the kids out and see what's what.

Probably not though!

Have a great day all!

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 21, 2005 6:36 am (#2333 of 2956)

Catherine is the one who usually has an avatar of a very cute breed of dog, just ask Lupin is Lupin. Denise, on the other hand, alternates avatars. One week it's the catcher, one week it's the first baseman, another week it's the left fielder. Have you sent the team to Florida for spring training yet, Denise?

Have a good week everyone. I don't know what one does on President's day, haymoni, as I've never had the day as a holiday in my working career. I suppose you could sit around and giggle that people like me are working.

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Julia. - Feb 21, 2005 8:38 am (#2334 of 2956)

Oy gevalt!!! I go away for the weekend and I come back to 70 new posts!

Happy birthday to Barb, Deb, Madam Pince and Ladybug. *passes around butterbeer* Hope you had amazing days and will have an amazing year.

Denise, you are the best for not wanting to cut your daughter's hair until she did. I was forced into a short hair cut as a kid, and I hated it. It looked horrible, and I really wanted it long. As a protest I have my hair long today, even though it would look much better short.

John, as for your question about anyone making HP designs, I know Sarah (scully jones) knitted a Gryffindor Scarf, and wore it to the Gathering last year. She posted a picture of it somewhere, but I can't be bothered to look for it now.

Catherine, I love the pictures you put in your avatar. Belle looks quite happy with your mum, and Daisy and Pheobe look very pretty among the pansies. Just out of curiosity, was that picture taken pre or post scalping, er, grooming?

I had the most awesome time in New York this weekend. We were in Crown Heights, which is the Chassidic section. I bought lots of Judaica, met some amazing people, participated in a random dance, got slobered on by a seven month old, and got made fun of by a five year old for buying an Aleph Bet jig-saw puzzle. I should have bought a kvart also. Oh well, can't think of everything I guess.

Classes are canceled today because of the snow. Thank G-d, I really need the day to catch up on all the work I should have done this weekend but didn't.

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Marè - Feb 21, 2005 9:05 am (#2335 of 2956)

Denise, you are the best for not wanting to cut your daughter's hair until she did. I was forced into a short hair cut as a kid, and I hated it. It looked horrible, and I really wanted it long. As a protest I have my hair long today, even though it would look much better short. – Julia

I'm just copying the above and that pretty much says it all.
Everytime I look in the mirror and think "I should have it cut short again". I realise that I promised myself I would grow it really long when I was "old" everytime my mother forced that short haircut she really liked on me...

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Catherine - Feb 21, 2005 10:31 am (#2336 of 2956)

I realise that I promised myself I would grow it really long when I was "old" everytime my mother forced that short haircut she really liked on me... >--Mare

Count me in on that one, too. I have finally accepted that my mother will never really approve of my hair. As a child, I was forced to have it cut ala Dorothy Hamill, and later endured a home perm at the tender age of 9 once I grew that cut out.

Since young adulthood, she has urged me to highlight my very dark hair. I tried multiple techniques, and my hair just wants to turn brassy red, so I quit. Now I have gray hairs popping up every once in a while, and she wants me to color those. Now the big thing is that I am too old to have "long" hair, which isn't long at all. It touches my collar bone; it's not like it's half-way down my back.

I just smile and ignore her when she makes her suggestions. They almost don't bother me anymore.

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 21, 2005 12:05 pm (#2337 of 2956)

My mother never wanted me to cut my hair. She could never get hers to grow very long, so she lives vicariously through my hair. I'm 28, and she still gets upset when I cut it to my shoulders! My mom has naturally curly hair, which she hates. I have naturally straight hair, which I hate. Are we ever satisfied?

My one perm experience was self-induced early in my teens. At the time I had hair well past my waist. It took the poor woman 5 hours to roll it because I wanted spiral curls (remember those?)!

Happy Belated birthday to Barb, Deb, Madam Pince, and Ladybug! **hands out chocolate frogs and every-flavored beans***

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Good Evans - Feb 21, 2005 12:12 pm (#2338 of 2956)

dorothy hamill cuts !! - at least you weren’t forced in to a Princess Di at the age of 10! My hair is very thick, very single minded and did not like the Princess Di cut at all!! I have for the first time since I was 10 finally got rid of a fringe, its kind of weird and kind of cold!!

snow today in the South East. First proper snow we have had, hoping for lots tonight in order to work from home tomorrow but we'll have to see!

Daioma, really sorry to hear your story, and a bummer as it is on a repeat!! I do hope you get it sorted, can you sue the insurance company for the distress???

happy birthday (passed) for those over the weekend mmmm lobster sounded nice madam pince!

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Eponine - Feb 21, 2005 1:51 pm (#2339 of 2956)

Hair. When I was younger I had short hair cut in what I believe you would call a pageboy style. I started growing it out when I was about 12-13 and had the occasional trim and sometimes cut. My senior year in high school I could sit on my hair. I kept it between my waist and halfway down my back for about 6 years from the time I was a freshman in h.s. until I was a sophomore in college. Since then it's varied between right above my shoulders and a few inches below my shoulders. It's currently just above my shoulders, and it's much easier to take care of than long hair.

Anyway, I had a message from a parent today, so I had to make my first official teacher call. Thankfully, it wasn't anything bad. They weren't calling to say their child hates me. =)

I hope everyone is having a great day today! Happy Presidents' Day!

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Penny Lane. - Feb 21, 2005 2:16 pm (#2340 of 2956)

Thanks to all the other knitters out there! I received bunches of patterns in my email box, and I'm very greatful. Now, if only ya'll wanted to send me the supplies. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (31)

As for hair, when I was 6, I was traumatized. My mom insisted that the "hairdresser" (it was back in the 80s) cut my hair into a short 'bob' like hers. It was not a bob, it was a modified dorthey hamel style that made me look like a little boy. I pretended to be sick for a week so I wouldn't have to be seen in public. Mom still thinks it's funny too. I still get angry when she tells the story and until recently I would leave in a huff.

By the time I was 10, it had grown out. So she made me get a spiral perm, and I spent a few years looking like a poodle. By the time that was over, I grew it out, and finally my hair was good. In 8th grade, I brought a picture of the 'Jennifer Aniston cut' from the early friends episodes, and somehow the styalist interpeted that into "I want a BIG UGLY MULLET". If I curled it, I looked just like Carol Brady in the Brady BUnch Movie.

Now that I'm older and wiser, I only go people I trust, which is either places where my friends have gone, or Panopolous Salons. I will pay the extra money to be sure that I won't come out looking stupid. It may grow back, but if i'm interviewing for a job, I can't not look my best. It will tear at my self confidence, and I don't want to look unprofessional because the colorest turned my highlights orange.

EDIT: Does WC still have smilies built in?

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Lina - Feb 21, 2005 2:32 pm (#2341 of 2956)

I was thirteen when I was allowed to choose my hairstyle for the first time. So I have decided to let my children choose their hairstyle as soon as they started to show their opinion which happened when they were around three.

Well it's not practical when a five years old says "I want my hair cut," and if you don't do it immediately, she takes scissors and does it by her own...

I have introduced a new punishment this year: 1 cm of hair gets cut for each not written homework. One of my daughters has long hair...

Edit: well, about a perm, I was two when I had it for the first time. And, yes, it is truth, after I was allowed to cut my hair when I was 13, I had to have a perm done for years after that. That's why my hair is straight now.

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Madam Pince - Feb 21, 2005 4:13 pm (#2342 of 2956)

Mike, important note -- it was NOT actually my semi-centennial (but thanks for the positive spin anyway!) Baby Pince was just repeating something Mr. Pince had told him to say to me, probably to make me feel like 41 (my real age) is not really so bad as I make it out to be. Thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes!

Went car-shopping today. I have no idea why, as we have no intention of buying a car for at least a year yet, and probably longer than that, even. Mr. Pince just had the day off, and so we spent it checking out the new Nimbus 2005s....er....well, new vehicles. We were quite disappointed that we had no snow -- we were expecting to be shoveling all day!

Caput Draconis, are you out there? Have they aired the first "Survivor" episode yet? I thought of you the other day and wished I'd invited you over for a big bowl of popcorn and a wallow in Survivor-world!

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Chemyst - Feb 21, 2005 4:43 pm (#2343 of 2956)

I am so there on all the long hair stories. Not only have I suffered kindred tales of woe myself, but I have also seen my daughter victimized by a stylist who must have received her diploma from the same Online College of Snipping as Catherine's ex-groomer. My daughter hasn't set foot inside a clip joint since then and now has hair long enough to sit on. About three years ago I decided to do the same. I now look like one of those old pony-tailed women the "make-over experts" would drool over because there is so much "potential" but, hey, I won't give them a chance to get close!.

Belated Happy Birthdays to Madam Pince and Ladybug.

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Julie Aronson - Feb 21, 2005 4:52 pm (#2344 of 2956)

RE: Bad Hair

I, too, have suffered the indignities of a hair-don't. Sadly, it was self-inflicted. I have brown hair that naturally falls into spiral curls, but, while in a personal rut about 15 years ago, I had it changed to short, red, and asymmetrical--complete with a step in the back! It took me YEARS (and many sets of barrettes and headbands) to grow that monster out. Now it is one length and nearly down to my waist. I highlighted it once (gently) and might consider doing it again once cost is no longer an option.

RE: Locks of Love

I think this is a wonderful program...I really do! In fact, I think the ponytail from my misadventure described above ended up there. However, in the past few years I have encountered several people who are almost evangelical in their zeal about it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's totally out of line to shout at someone in the grocery store or park or other public place about how selfish they are to "keep all that hair" for themselves.

Julie

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Catherine - Feb 21, 2005 5:09 pm (#2345 of 2956)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's totally out of line to shout at someone in the grocery store or park or other public place about how selfish they are to "keep all that hair" for themselves. --Julie Aronson

Ooh, boy, where is Loopy Lupin..I mean Miss Manners...when you need her?

Julie, I admire your self-control not to reply back to the shouter that you appreciate their generosity in donating their brain to science prior to death.

Chemyst, Iet's hear it for pure potential! Let the makeover shows salivate. I'll hand them a handkerchief and remind them to dab their lips occasionally.

If only we Forumers had the ability to grow our hair back at will after a bad haircut...it would change everything. JKR is obviously attuned to "bad hair" insecurity!

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Amilia Smith - Feb 21, 2005 5:19 pm (#2346 of 2956)

I cut bangs when I was in high school. Biggest mistake I ever made. I have a baby-face to begin with, but then with the bangs, I look younger in my sixteen year old pictures than I do in my twelve year old photos. Unfortunantly, my hair grows incredibly slowly (can't tell you how much I envy you, Gina, being able to go from short to long to short). I worked on growing those bangs out for over 10 years. It was only with this last cut (finally gave in and got layers) that I feel satisfied that those old bangs are finally worked in.

As a result of this story, I have yet to dare to cut my hair short. The aforementioned layers are about as brave as I get. What if I cut it short, hated it, and it took 20 years to grow it back?????

Mills.

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Accio Sirius - Feb 21, 2005 6:26 pm (#2347 of 2956)

I've done many a bad bang job on myself, but have finally learned the better of it. Once in junior high school, I did decide to "trim" my eyebrows, having read about it some silly magazine and managed to clip a big hole in one. I was filling it in with eye liner every day until one day I was home sick from school and hadn't had a chance to do a quick fix. My mother was none too pleased. At least I hadn't shaved them off like one of my cousins did. Of course, that still haunts me today as Mr. Accio Sirius always wants me to trim his hair with this ridiculous hair trimming (perhaps dog grooming???) set he bought and it just terrifies me!

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Catherine - Feb 21, 2005 6:40 pm (#2348 of 2956)

Mr. Accio Sirius always wants me to trim his hair with this ridiculous hair trimming (perhaps dog grooming???) set he bought and it just terrifies me! --Accio Sirius

That reminds me of the "Flow-bee" of late '80s and early '90s fame. I remember people in infomercials just absolutely loving cutting their hair at home. Recently, I ran across a new shih-tzu owner who proudly announced that she trimmed her dog with a "Flow-bee" and I am chagrined to say that this dog looked much better than Daisy did after her infamous butchering haircut. So who am I to judge?

Good luck, Accio Sirius. May a steady hand and a talent for Transfiguration be upon you when you trim Hubby's hair.

See? Hair cuts seem more scary than the graveyard scene in GoF. No wonder Voldemort is bald....plus, who would agree to trim his hair, even if he had any?

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boop - Feb 21, 2005 7:39 pm (#2349 of 2956)

I had short hair until I was 12. My mom always wanted it short. I left it grow down to the end of my back. I didn't know about locks for love or I would have done that. My hair is just passed my shoulders. I have thick hair, done care for it being so thick.

My daughter got a puppy on Friday. Its all white and is a Bichon. Very cute puppy, was scared of everything at first, they weren't held at all.

This past weekend Penn State held its annual Dance thon. The Inertfraternity Council/ Panhellenic. The 704 and dancers were on the dance floor 48 hours straight. They do this to raise money for kids with cancer. They made $4,122,483, this is $575,000 more then last year. The dorms were really quiet today, students must be catching up with the sleep they lost.

Hugs Always

Betty (boop)

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Denise P. - Feb 21, 2005 8:02 pm (#2350 of 2956)

It has been a crazy day today, this is the first chance I have had to get here and check things. Eeek! The number of unread threads. This morning, I had to take one of my boys down to Nashville so he could tape some radio promos for an upcoming radio-a-thon (to benefit the Children's Hospital). Daughter wanted her hair cut TODAY and would not wait until Wednesday (when we had an appointment) so we took a chance doing a walk in. It was not bad, only a 45 minute wait. The ponytail is gone, we ended up taking 13" off the length of her hair. It is a cute cut but looks much darker now that her sun bleached hair is not there any longer. She also has a little bit of a wave in her hair, which was never apparent due to the weight of her hair. She is very pleased with the cut, Mom and Dad are taking a bit longer to get used to it.

I am off to start catching up on all the threads for the day...or I may just go to bed Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (32)

Glad to know that I was not the only one to suffer childhood trauma related to bad hair.

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (33)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (34)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (38)Lady Arabella Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:06 pm

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Gina R Snape - Feb 21, 2005 8:07 pm (#2351 of 2956)

Oh, now, Denise. It's not the end of the world! In fact, it amazes me that people think of shoulder-length hair as short at all. My hair grows like weeds, but doesn't get any longer than mid-back. To me, anything two inches below the ear and on is long.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 21, 2005 11:58 pm (#2352 of 2956)

I've been see-sawing over the years between long hair and short hair. I have come to the conclusion that my hair just will not grow longer than shoulder length. My hair is just so fine and thin that it cracks and spilts and breaks once it hits my collar bone.

Nonetheless, I like it that length and every now and again I go and get a drastic haircut and grow it all out again.

Lizzie with the Yo-Yo hair

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The giant squid - Feb 22, 2005 2:14 am (#2353 of 2956)

Ooh, long hair... let me sound off on the "guy" side:

For the first 11 years of my life I was forced to wear the regulation military cut--what I refer to now as "Congress hair"--short on the back & sides, long on top, parted on the left & flopped over to the right--because my dad was in the Air Force. Look at any member of the US congress & you'll see what I mean. At age 12 I vowed to grow it out a bit; I ended up with a mullet for a while, but since I grew up in hockey country that wasn't so bad. Once I got to college I just stopped getting my hair cut--partially for the look, but mostly because I didn't have the money for the stylist. It's been long ever since, except for a brief time in teh early 90's when I had a choice between haircut or unemployment. I would've chosen unemployment but my sister was relying on my share of the rent. **waves at Marie E.** The last "official" haircut I got was in September 1994 (not counting the occasional trim). I held a mini party last year for my coif's 10th anniversary.

Yes, long hair can be a problem, especially at work. It's tough to get the respect of most management types when your hair goes past your shoulders, even (or especially) when you're better at your job than they are, but I've managed to get by. I've resigned myself to the fact that the better position will often go to the guy with the "corporate" look rather than me. As long as I can afford my HP Legos, I'm fine with it.

--Mike

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Good Evans - Feb 22, 2005 5:33 am (#2354 of 2956)

Oh Mike, love the priorities, You are absolutely right, HP legos rule!

lol

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Catherine - Feb 22, 2005 5:47 am (#2355 of 2956)

I ended up with a mullet for a while, but since I grew up in hockey country that wasn't so bad.—Mike

:::SNORT:::

You're not the only Forum member who had a mullet a while back! **waves to "you-know-who!"

Speaking of mullets and parental hair tyranny, I saw this family a few months ago in the hair salon, and they ALL had mullets: Mom, Dad, two boys, and a girl. The stylists called them "The Mullet Family" behind their backs. What was sad was that the oldest boy was begging the stylist to cut his hair in a non-mullet manner, and the dad wouldn't hear of it.

This poor kid is probably going to end up with "Congress hair" when he's older! **waves to Mike**

Denise, Kaity's hair looks so thick and healthy and pretty. I like her cut!

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 22, 2005 6:16 am (#2356 of 2956)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it's totally out of line to shout at someone in the grocery store or park or other public place about how selfish they are to "keep all that hair" for themselves. --Julie Aronson

Ooh, boy, where is Loopy Lupin..I mean Miss Manners...when you need her? –Catherine

Miss Manners is lying down with a cold compress after hearing that one. Bullying people into charity is quite uncharitable.

Congrats to your daughter Denise. That was very sweet.

Wow, Betty, that's a boatload of moolah for the dance thing. I couldn't imagine 48 hours of all that dancing and spinning around; I would surely lose the battle with inertia.

And let me just speak of in defense of the mullet......On second thought, let me not. ***runs off to hide pictures of 18 year-old self***

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librarian314 - Feb 22, 2005 7:04 am (#2357 of 2956)

Hey all!

No terrible hair horrors here. My mom let me do what I wanted with my hair when I was younger, so I got a really short bob when I was about 7 and it stayed short until I was about 14 when I decided I wanted long hair. Throughout the 80s I had the ever popular feathered hair-style, which didn't look too goofy.

I haven't had a "proper" hair cut in well over a decade, just the occasional trim. My hair now hangs well below my waist. I've had to put up with my mother-in-law trying to get me to cut my hair, luckily I'm pretty resistant to "peer pressure". I either pull it back in a ponytail, braid, a bun, or with a barrette. It take me less than five minutes to do my hair in the morning and I like how it looks. I've not had to muck with a curling iron since the 80s were over.

The only thing I would like to do to my hair more often is henna it. I like the red highlights it brings out but I've just got too much hair and no friends close enough to help. I'm looking forward to when my daughter is old enough to help me!

My daughter likes to wear her hair in a darling 20s bob (Think Pansy Parkinson from the movie PoA). She won't however let me put one of those huge bows on her head that are so cute. Her dad takes her to get her hair cut as I find haircuts unsettling. I always notice when someone I know has gotten a haircut. I've gotten better as I have aged. Severe haircuts used to cause me to go into vapors. Once in college I swooned when one of my friends shaved his head. ;-)

I'd really like to be a metamorphmagus because I'd love to be able to play with my hair like Tonks does. I'd love to wear violet spikes one day, auburn curls that hang to my back the next, and then blue braids the next.

Anyway, y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Madame Librarian - Feb 22, 2005 8:53 am (#2358 of 2956)

Um...OK, I give. What, pray tell, is a mullet? You cannot imagine what the name conjures up in my mind, but I'm sure what you will describe is worse. Also, where does the name come from? (Am I that out of it, she asks herself.)

I am a short-haired person, probably forever now unless some dire brain function thing kicks in and I simply eradicate things like hair/appearance from my consciousness. I am short, slight (well...I have some hips, but let's not focus on that), and my face is narrow, my features easily obscured by bangs and longish hair on the sides or below my ears. Even with a medium bob, my face gets kind of swallowed up. A pixie cut works, but I really like to gel it and spike it a little--kind of how I picture Tonks only not pink or purple. I'm lucky in that my husband actually likes me better in short hair, even very short. My last attempt to grow it even a little was a disaster. I was miserable during the growing because I detest fussing--I barely use a comb now, just fingers and a bit of gel, no dryers even, but to just look halfway presentable I was playing with blow dryers, diffusers, curling irons, special brushes and such. Gaaaa! When I caught a sideways glimpse of myself in a mirror somewhere, and wondered who that dreadful looking woman was, I was horrified it was me, and within 24 hours had my pixie cut back. Many, many people told me how much better they could see me, how my eyes stood out now. I was convinced to stay a shortie. The only issue is regular haircuts--I get one very 3 weeks and luckily the stylist is near my home and work, quick and very inexpensive ($25). It's a no-fuss deal and I can be in and out in 15 minutes. I barely tolerate his blow drying it, but I don't like to hurt his feelings.

Now as to color. Well, I started going grey (though I prefer the term silver) very early as did my mom. It was so gradual and kind of neat in my late 20s to have a streak of it that I just left it. I'm mostly silver now mixed with a few hints of the brunette I used to be, some areas like the very front is almost white, and I think it's an OK look, though it has completely changed the color lipstick and foundation I wear when I put makeup on. I do look a teensy bit washed up without at least some lipstick, but that's much preferable to have my hair colored regularly (hate the smell).

OK, enough. Mostly I want to know about the mullet.

Ciao. Barb

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Catherine - Feb 22, 2005 9:12 am (#2359 of 2956)

OK, enough. Mostly I want to know about the mullet—Barb

Much googling has still not yielded a definitive answer about how the mullet hairstyle was named, alas earwax, as a mullet is a stout, elongated fish. However, the same googling will lead you to a number of sites which can tell you more about mullets than anyone would ever want to know. Some sites portray photographs of this style, and some sites even allow one to rate the mullets within them.

In general, a mullet is a hairstyle that is very short on the top and sides, and long to quite long in the back. Think Michael Bolton way back, or early Billy Ray Cyrus.

Hope we didn't get your hopes up for something really fabulous!

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Madame Librarian - Feb 22, 2005 10:13 am (#2360 of 2956)

Thanks!

(*toddles off to google as advised)

Ciao. Barb

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Chemyst - Feb 22, 2005 10:29 am (#2361 of 2956)

Googling also turned up a picture of Homer Simpson with a mullet. I shall now sit back and watch to see if a certain forum member changes his avatar.

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Elanor - Feb 22, 2005 11:28 am (#2362 of 2956)

Hello everybody! Tuesday evening has finally come, phew! School started again yesterday and, as I was still so tired because of the flu, they were not easy days. Fortunately, I will work at home tomorrow so it should be better (I already foresee a great nap...). We still have a lot of snow (about 15 or 20 centimetres in the playground). It was not funny because there was some snow on the roads too but the kids loved it.

About hair, mine is actually half Lupin, half Harry style. I am a brunette and my hair has always been very untidy. It was a nightmare to comb when I was a kid and my Mom gave up the idea of letting them growing long quite soon, so I spent my childhood with some kinds of untidy bob haircuts. Now, I wear my hair short, and still untidy, but now I just put some hair gel on it and pretend I do it on purpose...

White hair is a family heritage and I had my first one when I was 14! Now I'm 32 and I have more than half of my hair white. I started to have it colored when I was about 25 because I was fed up with people telling me "oh, you have so many white hairs". Most of the time it was at work (when I worked in tourism) and those people who were asking for historic informations just stopped me in the middle of a sentence for saying that sort of things. I thought it was very rude and very irritating too. But now I don't really care what people think when they meet me, if my hair bother them, well I miss nothing not knowing them! (it must be the "thirty age" effect).

Have a great Tuesday everybody!

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Julia. - Feb 22, 2005 11:31 am (#2363 of 2956)

mmmmmm...mullet

Mullets are described as the 'business in the front, party in the back' hair cut. I think they're disgusting on both ends.

I was forced into a 20s bob when I was 8. It took until I was 11 to get rid of it. I still curse my mother for making me have such a ridiculous hair cut that looked horrible on me. She seemed to think it looked cute. But she was the only one. If I ever do that to my daughters, I need for someone to break out an old picture of me in 4th grade.

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Steve Newton - Feb 22, 2005 11:39 am (#2364 of 2956)

I also had my first white hair at 14. By mid thirties it was almost all white. Now it has some darkness in the back but mostly white. Of course, its been several years since I was prematurely gray. Sigh.

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Eponine - Feb 22, 2005 2:13 pm (#2365 of 2956)

Today, we had a bomb threat at school. We had to evacuate the school and stand on the football field for an hour while the school was searched. The kids thought it was great, of course since they were missing class. This is the third bomb threat this school has had this year. The one today was apparently called in to every middle school and high school in the county. So there were quite a lot of students missing some classes today in Alamance County. As far as I know, nothing actually happened anywhere, so that's good.

So, other than that, my day went pretty well. How are you?

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Lina - Feb 22, 2005 2:44 pm (#2366 of 2956)

Amilia Smith: Unfortunantly, my hair grows incredibly slowly (can't tell you how much I envy you, Gina, being able to go from short to long to short).

Well, I found out some simple facts about hair: when you want it long, it grows extremely slowly, but when you want to keep it short for a while, it grows incredibly fast. But the fact is that it grows and any mistake can be repaired in time. I have decided not to take too much care about my hair because if it gets ruined too much it can always be cut. I like to change colors and that is something I can do by myself. I manage to see a hairdresser at most twice a year and then I chose some style that doesn't look too bad when it grows longer. I took a look at the mullet style, and I must say I like it. I tried to explain it to my hairdresser when I was much younger, but she wouldn't understand. Too bad I didn't have those pictures at that time.

We had a bomb threat at the faculty I work at, few years ago. And it is just ridiculous how we were all cool about that. We had a dean at that time who was a sort of dictator and nobody dared to evacuate the faculty until he said we may. Even policemen came and said that we may not evacuate until he says so, because they had to do some exams with him. I had a business meeting at the same time and we moved to a bar when we were allowed to evacuate. Of course, it turned out to be a false alarm, we suspect some students who didn't want to have the exam that day.

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vanessa cave - Feb 22, 2005 2:50 pm (#2367 of 2956)
Edited by Kip Carter Feb 22, 2005 2:49 pm

Hi, everyone! I didn't quite know where to post this question so I'm trying here but feel free to move it. Before I start I'm addressing all UK residents really. I am wondering where to go to buy my copy of HBP? I intend to go to a midnight opening but the question is where? When OOTP was released I went to WHSmith and the book came in a lovely brown paper bag with the cover art from the book on it. Also I got a free Harry Potter pen and other bits. Well my question is did anyone go to an Ottakers midnight opening and did you get any "extras" with it, or does anybody work at either of these shops and know anything about what is planned? Sorry for rambling.
Vanessa

vanessa cave, Welcome to the Harry Potter Lexicon Forum. One of the section of the Philosophy of this Forum deals with following the rules of capitalization. The personal pronoun "I" is capitalized. I have edited your post to correct for these errors. I also made a number of other edits shown in italics. I will not do it again, but will delete your post if you choose not to abide by the Philosophy.

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Madam Pince - Feb 22, 2005 4:35 pm (#2368 of 2956)

I've never been one to bother about my hair too much -- I've taken the philosophy that "it'll always grow back." The only time I ever had a major problem was when a friend of mine used one of those home versions of highlights on me -- the kind you paint on. She worked her way around from left to right, and went way too slowly. So the left half of my head was highlighted almost white, and the right half still looked dark. We tried to repair it, but I ended up looking like a comedian of the day named Yahoo Serious (trust me, you do NOT want to look like him.) I sat by my phone calling my stylist's number every five minutes from 7:00 the next morning until he answered, when I begged him "You've got to take me today, please!" He laughed so hard when he saw me. So I've never attempted any home-coloring jobs since then.

My parents always let me do whatever I wanted with my hair when I was little, so it was just long and straight until I went to college and tried the perm route. After that phase, I went back to long and straight. Mine is sort of like Kaity's though, in that when the weight of the length is taken off, it gets kind of wavy. There are wispys around my face which just absolutely won't grow, so they always look untidy when the weather begins to turn damp and rainy.

I usually go to get a cut and tell the stylist "Do whatever you want without going too terribly short" and they look at me as if I'm nuts. I went to a pretty pricey salon a couple years ago when I thought I was ready for a change, and told them to do whatever they thought would look best -- after all, part of the reason for their high price is supposed to be that they analyze your face shape and all that and come up with something unique and stylish. Well, basically they charged me a huge fee, and did next to nothing other than a little trim. I thought it looked pretty much like it looked when I went in there -- long and straight. So anyways, it looks like I'm destined to have boring hair...

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 22, 2005 4:38 pm (#2369 of 2956)

Eponine, I went to high school in Randolph County (NC), and I remember quite a few bomb threats. They were always done by students who thought it was funny or wanted to get themselves or someone else out of a test. I remember being angry because they always seemed to happen during my lunch period or chorus. I was never really afraid since I didn't think anyone would bother to bomb my high school, which was literally across from a cow pasture. Of course, things have changed quite a bit in the decade since I graduated. I'm sure the threat was much more stressful and inconvenient for the teachers than for us, so I feel for you.

During the post-9/11 anthrax scares, my NYC graduate school was evacuated for what turned out to be sugar or sweetener spilled on a table!!

Regarding hair: like Gina, my hair grows quickly. I was amazed by the cost of a haircut in NYC. It took me three years to find a stylist, but I finally found someone I like and trust enough to do layers (I've had really bad experiences in the past).

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timrew - Feb 22, 2005 5:55 pm (#2370 of 2956)

What is a 'Colourist'? Is hair-care breaking down into separate hair-caring factions? I think we should be told.......

Will there eventually be a hair-stylist to care for each individual hair? With the 'Colourist' breaking in at every point to decide what colour each hair should be?

I think I can do without 50,000 people giving me a haircut........

(diminishing rapidly as I shed hair).........

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Gina R Snape - Feb 22, 2005 5:58 pm (#2371 of 2956)

Tim, there are stylists and colourists and even shampoo girls. Don't think on it too much, though. I doubt you have much to worry about. :evil grin:

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Ladybug220 - Feb 22, 2005 6:11 pm (#2372 of 2956)

Hi everyone! I want to thank you for the birthday wishes; I have been out of town, otherwise I would have done it sooner. I spent my 30th birthday with my immediate and most of my extended family and it was great. We were together for my grandfather's memorial service but it was definitely a celebration of his life which is what my grandmother wanted.

As for all of the hair talk, my sis-in-law just donated around 15 inches of hair a couple of weeks ago and my cousin is growing her hair out so that she can do the same. She has almost enough hair now but she is going to wait another 6 months or so to get the cut. I was also forced into short haircuts but my mom did let me start growing it out once I went to school. So after kindergarten, my school pictures looked much better. Onto the mullet talk: one of my other cousins has a mullet and has had it for at least 15 years. My brother, grandmother and I tried to cut it this weekend, however, we were thwarted by his wife (yes I said wife). The rest of the family was ready to hold him down so that the deed could be done but it was not to happen. Ok, we wouldn't have done it really but it is always fun to threaten him with a haircut just to see the look of panic on his face.

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Catherine - Feb 22, 2005 6:19 pm (#2373 of 2956)

Oh, Tim, I am assuming that you are joking with us, or not married to a "high-maintenance" kind of lady.

My mom is such a person. She recently told me she was going to scale back her salon visits. The result? She will now go every four weeks in winter (when your hair grows more slowly) instead of every three weeks.

Sigh.

No wonder she thinks I am a barbarian for getting haircuts only every six weeks!

She also despairs about my nails and lack of manicures/pedicures.

Sigh.

Poor Mum!

EDIT: Ladybug, good to see you. Good to see you back from the Memorial service. Perhaps you should submit the "mullet-head's" picture to the site Loopy posted!

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Ladybug220 - Feb 22, 2005 6:41 pm (#2374 of 2956)
Edited by Feb 22, 2005 5:42 pm

Thanks Catherine! Hmmm....I wonder if I should submit his picture..... :evil grin: hehehehe.....I might have to do that....

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mike miller - Feb 22, 2005 6:55 pm (#2375 of 2956)

Happy Belated birthday to Barb, Deb, Madame Pince, and Ladybug!

I apologize for my lateness; work and computer problems have been a plague of late. I successfully replaced the motherboard and all seems well for the time being *knocks every piece of wood within reach*.

Hope everyone has a great week!

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Julia. - Feb 22, 2005 8:18 pm (#2376 of 2956)

Oh, we used to have bomb threats all the time in high school. They could be fun, but only if you were on the A wing side when the alarm went off. If you were on the A wing side you could go across the street to the park, where you could play basketball, play on the swings, or work on your tan if the weather was nice. If you were on the B wing side, you had to go to the parking lot where you could do none of those things. Not so fun. The absolute worst was when we would have them in the middle of winter, which we often did. It was freezing outside, and we were never allowed to go to our lockers to get our coats. One day we were out there for a few hours with out our coats, in maybe 10 degree weather. Thank G-d I had the foresight to keep my coat with me that day.

UUGH. I just got back from a meeting with all the students who live on my floor, the RAs, and the hall director. Last night someone gave my RA a flyer with a swastika on it. Apparently they were tired of being told to keep the noise down. So I lost an hour of studying time for the meeting. The person fessed up and apologized, which was good. We had a talk about what exactly is meant by living in a 24 hour quiet dorm. It turns out that I'm in the minority of people in this building, which is those of us who actually wanted to live here. *sigh* Back to Shakespeare now...

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The giant squid - Feb 22, 2005 8:50 pm (#2377 of 2956)

Julia beat me to the "classic" definition of a mullet. I would like to note that mine was a minor variety mullet--the "party" only reached to my collar.

I must admit I'm rather dismayed at the blasé attitude toward bomb threats these days. Is this the 21st century version of pulling the fire alarm to get out of class? If these kids put half as much effort into their classes as they do getting out of them, they'd be valedictorians!

--Mike

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 22, 2005 9:09 pm (#2378 of 2956)

Tim, not only are there stylist, colorist, prep and shampoo girls, there is also the tricologist! And he was a Brit! Of all these specialists, the tricologist was the most unusual. He's like a hair doctor who examines and diagnoses your hair for "problems". When I was living in New York and hair mattered, I spent an arm and a leg fixing my hair.

The only thing I've ever really liked about my hair is the color, jet black. In summer after too much sun it gets very reddish and now I have generous amounts of gray. It's always been short except when I was about 9 years old and wore 2 pony tails. If I try to grow it out now, the right side grows slowly and the left side gets long and I have to keep cutting it, so I just don't bother now and keep it short.

Happy Birthday Oxy, Madame Pince and all the others that I have missed.

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Penny Lane. - Feb 22, 2005 9:37 pm (#2379 of 2956)

Julia - we also had bomb threats at my high school. In my case though, as with fire drills, we would just sneak around the school to our cars and leave like any self respecting senior would. A few times we were chased by security guards, but we never really got in trouble.

There was a woman on "what not to wear" the other day who had a mullet. My roommate and I spent the entire hour laughing at her, until the end. Finally they cut it off, and gave her some moisturizer and she looked SO much better. It's really amazing what a good hair cut and color will do to a person. It can make them look YEARS younger, and with that comes that nice boost of self-esteem and energy.

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Gina R Snape - Feb 22, 2005 9:41 pm (#2380 of 2956)

Hairdresser every THREE weeks? Four to six even? Wow. I have an excellent hairdresser. I see her about 3 times a year. She gives me a great cut which grows out looking great as it grows. I get my nails done for weddings and maybe twice a year on a whim. When I was younger I'd see a hairdresser more often because I was frequently dyeing my hair and changing my look. But I gave that up ages ago when I took a real job after finishing my Master's degree.

Isn't it funny how varied people's habits are?

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Marie E. - Feb 22, 2005 10:45 pm (#2381 of 2956)

I'm thinking we should start the Dorothy Hamill Haircut Support Group. There's a lot of trauma around here concerning that particular hairdo. It took me years to grow it out to something I could live with. Right now I have fairly long hair but I tend to yo-yo between long and short.

Samantha has an appointment at the vet's tomorrow. Since reading Gina's post I am a bit more optimistic. (Thanks, Gina!) I confess to being a bit more indulgent with her ie: sleeping on my pillow, eating a bit of forbidden yogurt, etc. Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes to "Sammie".

Denise, I bet Kaity looks adorable in her new haircut. I know someone here that donated their hair to Locks of Love. Shayla's had drastic cuts in the past, but they were due to her doing some "home haircutting" and not any thought out decisions.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 22, 2005 10:54 pm (#2382 of 2956)

I visit my hairdresser every 8-12 weeks, partly for the money issue A$25-30 every time (more for wash and style afterwards) and partly for the same reason as Gina. I get my hair cut in such a way it can grow out nice. I trim the fringe myself every two weeks and that's that. No colouring, no styling.

I have some good news, I have been successful in obtaining another job. It is only part-time and starts out a One week per month and you work your way up to Two+ weeks per month. The job is the statistical surveying done by our Bureau of Statistics. So I'm pleased. It will pay my mortgage, health insurance, car insurance and house insurance. I now have to find extra work to pay for the food (grow a veggie garden, girl!) and electricity.

I am very relieved, the interview took an hour and a quarter and it was fun. The best interview I have ever been to.

It seems sometimes, the more we see we are all different people, the easier it is to see the common thread of humanity in us all.

Lizzie

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Julia. - Feb 22, 2005 10:56 pm (#2383 of 2956)

Wooo! I'm all excited, I have to share this with you! My review of our weekend in Crown Heights is online for the whole world to see!! *dances* You can read it here. Actually, this is the version edited by my Rabbi. The better one, that actually has the full story is here. Gerg's (the boy I have an uber crush on) is here. Hope you have as much fun reading this as I did having the experience!

EDIT: Cross posted with Lizzie. Mazel tov on your new job!!!! *hands Lizzie butterbeer* I'm so happy for you!

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 23, 2005 2:15 am (#2384 of 2956)

Julia,

Thank you for your kind wishes. I have a few questions (curiosity) about some of the words/concepts used in your report. I have emailed you. PS it was a good report! If you check my profile, you will see the email address you need to look for.

Lizzy

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Julie Aronson - Feb 23, 2005 3:58 am (#2385 of 2956)

Congrats on finding a job, Lizzy!

Hopefully your luck is contagious, since I'm looking too...

Julie

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septentrion - Feb 23, 2005 4:14 am (#2386 of 2956)

Congrats Lizzy for your new job !

Seems Julia had a great time !

I googled for the Dorothy Hamill haircut, I think in France we'd call it more a "Mireille Mathieu" haircut (she's a French singer) : link here.

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Catherine - Feb 23, 2005 5:12 am (#2387 of 2956)

Hi, my name is Catherine, and I survived the Dorothy Hamill haircut.

Happy Wednesday to everyone.

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Acceber - Feb 23, 2005 5:16 am (#2388 of 2956)

Hi all. I'm in Stowe, Vermont at the moment and up at 7:00 in the morning because the floor became very uncomfortable after about 9 hours of sleeping. I've never skiied before, and I'm really enjoying it. I just read about 100 posts on this thread, but I've saving the others for when I get home. As this thread piles up the most, I felt the urge to read it.

Happy Birthdays to anyone that came into the world during these past few days however many years ago!

Congrats Lizzy! I'm glad you had fun at your interview .

I don't feel like typing in my hair story again, because we were sharing them after Catherine's dog Daisy got a shaving rather than a haircut. Here's mine. Just a note: I've decided to cut my hair next October or November, so people at camp can see how long my hair grew and people I get to know at high school will see me with long hair.

I'm going to go find my fanfic for the writing contest and hopefully finish it. Nice talking to you!

EDIT: Thanks Sept for finding out what a Dorothy Hamill haircut was, because I didn't know and was too lazy to find out.

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Accio Sirius - Feb 23, 2005 7:56 am (#2389 of 2956)

I'm sure we can only glean bits of pieces of everyone's personalities from these posts. That said, I can't decide if I am shocked or not surprised in the least that Loopy Lupin once had a mullet.

My name is Laura and I survived the Valerie Bertinelli haircut.

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Julia. - Feb 23, 2005 8:23 am (#2390 of 2956)

Hi, I'm Julia, and I survuved a 20s bob haircut.

Hey there Becca! *waves* Hope you're enjoying Vermont. I suddenly feel a bit old. I can understand Sept now knowing what a Dorothy Hamill haircut is, but you? I thought every American knew about that! I guess this means I'm getting old.

Lizzie, I got your email and responded.

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Good Evans - Feb 23, 2005 8:46 am (#2391 of 2956)

Hi Vanessa (about 20 posts back)

Welcome to the forum, as you must have guessed there are not as many UK forum members as other nationalities (especially when put together ... not that thats a bad thing everyone!! but that is why no one answered your question).

I cant answer your question, as like you I went to WHSmith and I intend to do so again on July 16th. So I am afraid I cannot say whether other retailers will give the promo packs, my instinct is that each retailer will do as they please. There is no guarantee that you will get anything other than the book anywhere. Perhaps you should contact your local retailer and ask if they are planning to do anything (you might sow a seed!)

Addressing the Q to the other forum members, did your retailers have a Harry Fest when OOTP went on sale? as Vanessa says, WHSmith (in the UK) staff dressd in costume, and gave out bags with pens, pencils, bookmarks etc. It made the queueing very worthwhile, especially the mulled wine and butterbeer that was served too.

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Ydnam96 - Feb 23, 2005 9:01 am (#2392 of 2956)

Greetings from Southern California, what's left of it anyway. It's been pouring down rain for days. I started feeling like I should be building an ark. The sun is shining at the moment, but I am not going to believe in it...it could just be a decoy to get me to leave without my umbrella.

Things at work are really stressful right now. I'm not sure I'll have a chance to get online for a while. I'll miss my HP fix. So Happy Birthday, aniversary, haircut, weekend to all!

PS: when I was a child I had my hair cut into a "boy" cut, it was horrible. It was really really short and I would have much preferreed a bob. No lie. And the ONE hair style I despise (and I hope I don't offend anyone in this) is the Rat Tail. Mostly this is seen on young boys for some reason. They have a normal short hair cut except for one bit in the back which is kept in a long ponytail or even braided. It litteraly looks as if the boy is a rat (from the head perspective). I always want to sneak up with a pair of scissors and cut it off. I have to restrain myself.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 23, 2005 11:59 am (#2393 of 2956)

I'm loving all this hairstyle memoir/confession/recovery stuff, but just remember, the fella with the absolutely, no-holds-barred, worst hair in the cosmos is...a little fanfare, please...THE DONALD! Aiiieeee!!!

Wanna see? Click here

What's it called--the Executive Combover? Gaaaa.

Ciao. Barb

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Penny Lane. - Feb 23, 2005 12:29 pm (#2394 of 2956)

I don't know... Donald's hair isn't THAT bad. At least it's clean and all. Also, I think he keeps it around now as more of an image thing. He could fix it if he wanted, but then people would talk. I bet that when ratings for "The Apprentice" start to slip, he'll do something different with his hair. If I gambled, I would bet on it. He knows how to sell his name and use his well known image to his advantage.

I'm also very amused by this conversation - I think it's starting to show people's personalitys traits, little by little. Now, if only we all had those pictures of us with our "Dorothy Hair"... *cackles*

Today was another "interesting" day in EMUland. By interesting, i mean BORING. I was up late last night finishing my midterm for a class. When I got to class this morning (12 a.m. - it's my earliest class) on time, for the first time in weeks, I was greeted by a professor who came running in 25 minutes late. He claimed that he put on his "Central Time" watch, and thought it was 11 am, instead of 12. He makes me so frustrated, because he puts these pages and pages of notes on the overhead and expects us to copy them down, even though he refuses to make the font any bigger, or put white space o nthe page. Then he doesn't even test us from the notes. OOH... sorry about the mini-rant.

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Accio Sirius - Feb 23, 2005 12:33 pm (#2395 of 2956)

Penny,

I'm sure there are pictures. It's just that someone may want to run for public office some day--or at the very least, post on the forum with a shred of dignity left!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 23, 2005 12:39 pm (#2396 of 2956)

....but just remember, the fella with the absolutely, no-holds-barred, worst hair in the cosmos is...a little fanfare, please...THE DONALD!---Madame Librarian

Well Barb, at least it's his own hair....or is it?

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 23, 2005 1:31 pm (#2397 of 2956)

Hi I'm lizzy and I survived a bowl haircut done in 1982! ouch!!

Thank you for providing a link of a Dorothy Hamill haircut Sept (even if it was a french lady). Now I understand why none of you liked it. It's the haircut that my Mum wears now and I think it suits her. Her face has rounded and matured over the years and now she can wear the cut. But on a child...urrrgh!

Have a good evening everyone.

Lizzy

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The giant squid - Feb 23, 2005 2:44 pm (#2398 of 2956)

Hi, my name is Catherine, and I survived the Dorothy Hamill haircut. –Catherine

(in unison) HI, CATHERINE!

It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that no one likes what their hair looked like in the 80's. And for those of you too young to remember the 80's make sure you have plenty of photos of yourself from ages 8 to 18 so that twenty years later you can look back and do what we're doing. :sick:

In the interest of full disclosure, Mandy, I had a rat tail, too. It was an intermediate step between the mullet and a real haircut.

--Mike

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I Am Used Vlad - Feb 23, 2005 3:03 pm (#2399 of 2956)

I must protest. I avoided all the hair-don't and fashion mistakes of the 80's. You will find no pictures of me with a mullet or wearing a red leather jacket with dozens of pointless zippers.

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Elanor - Feb 23, 2005 3:11 pm (#2400 of 2956)

The 80s... I remember I even tried to have my hair permed. I should burn those pictures... And clothes were not really better than the haircuts. Is there someone here that was lucky enough to go through the 80s without ever wearing clothes with shoulder pads? I hated those things and a lot of times I tried and take them off the clothes and it was tricky, they were often sewed inside the linings... Fortunately, at least the music was good then! For me, U2 was never better than then. And I don't mention my cult series of that time... I still have fond memories of McGyver (he was so cute!). There was also that series, I think it was called "Growing pains" in the original version. I loved it! **sigh**

Lizzy, congratulations for your job! I hope that you will enjoy working there.

Julie, good luck for your job research too! I hope you will have the same luck than Lizzy.

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (39)
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Denise P. - Feb 23, 2005 3:29 pm (#2401 of 2956)

I look through my high school year books and giggle at all the hair and the tuxedo shirts on girls. I look through my husband's and giggle at the polyester shirts and long hair (he is a child of the 70's, I am early 80's)

Wowzer, I finally got a new computer, all set up and what a difference! I am zooming with all this memory I have in it now.

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timrew - Feb 23, 2005 4:50 pm (#2402 of 2956)

I have to admit, I haven't been to a hairdresser's in years. When I need a haircut I go round to my Mother's.

She does a brilliant "Full Metal Jacket" haircut, and I don't need another one for about four months! I hate going to the hairdresser's............(hence the hat in the photo!)

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 23, 2005 5:25 pm (#2403 of 2956)

When I think of 80s hair I think one one word: BANGS!!! There seemed to be a competition among middle school girls to see who could get their bangs to stand up the tallest. Of course, if you were really cool, you had a major blow out and feather on the sides to make the bangs seem even bigger! The bathroom in middle school reeked of Rave hairspray (do you remember that sticky, syrupy spray?)!

I tended to pull my hair back on one side, and tease the bangs up and over on the other !

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boop - Feb 23, 2005 5:53 pm (#2404 of 2956)

This is a Birthday wish for Feb. 24th.

Happy Birthday Bumbledore(John)!!!! I wish you a great Birthday. Have a wonderful day.

I talked to Jim(mischafan), he is really busy with studying. Has not had time to stop in. Jim is doing great in school, just needs to take some tests. Just thought I would let the forum know what he has been up to.

Have a good evening everyone, and a great Thursday!!

Hugs Always

Betty

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 23, 2005 10:59 pm (#2405 of 2956)

Since it is now the 24th over here I will wish Bumbledore a happy birthday!!

And clothes were not really better than the haircuts - elanor

The only good thing about the eighties (apart from some good music!) is that baggy (loose fitting styles) clothes and shoulder pads helped a very self conscious teen (me) cope with her scoliosis/khyphosis (curvatures of the spine) by being able to cover up.

But no more shoulder pads now!!! But you know they are starting to make a comeback!! yucckky

Enjoy your Thursday everyone, I certainly did.

Lizzy

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Elanor - Feb 23, 2005 11:12 pm (#2406 of 2956)

Lizzy: "But you know they are starting to make a comeback!! " Oh my, what a scary thought so early in the morning Lizzy!

As it is already the 24th here too, happy birthday Bumbledore! Joyeux anniversaire!

Good afternoon, morning, night wherever you are!

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The giant squid - Feb 24, 2005 2:01 am (#2407 of 2956)

You will find no pictures of me with a mullet or wearing a red leather jacket with dozens of pointless zippers

Hey, no one mentioned zippered jackets! You've outed yourself, Vlad; thou dost protest too much.

As much as some 80's stuff is coming back, I think we're still stuck in the 70's revival. I swear I saw some kids walking home from school today that could have been plopped down in 1975 and no one would have batted an eye. well, until they whipped out their cell phones, iPods and Sum41 t-shirts...

--Mike

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septentrion - Feb 24, 2005 2:29 am (#2408 of 2956)

Bettyn you're really our mom, to have a kind thought for everyone always.

Happy birthday Bumbledore !

Can't say I regret the 80's that much too. Bad haircut, bad clothing, although good music. BTW, Elanor, U2's latest album is great.

It's been snowing since yesterday and it'll do for most of the day. We say here the sky is full (of rain, snow...). By luck, the snow melt on the floor. I've always thought snow is beautiful on Sunday afternoon, when you're at home with a pile of nice books and videos.

Everyone have a great thursday !

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librarian314 - Feb 24, 2005 6:17 am (#2409 of 2956)

Hey all!

I didn't mind the mid to late 80s. I had a decent haircut (long with feathers) that grew out nicely, I filled out a wee bit, and actually took decent school photos. The worst things were my eye glasses. They were huge, plastic frames that made me look like I had owl eyes. I started shopping for my frames at antique stores to get the silver wire rims (think Radar O'Reily from M*A*S*H*). Once I got the eye glasses figured out, I was pretty happy with how I looked.

I too avoided shoulder pads like the plague. When you are as petite as I was in my teens, shoulder pads like were worn in the 80s just made me look riduculus, so they got ripped out of everything I wore. Luckily the shops in the Richmond, Va. area were fairly conservative, so I could usually find something I liked.

I look back through my yearbooks and I am so happy that I didn't succumb to various fads. Those that did and had over-permed, big hair, or "Flock of Seagulls" style swoopy hairdos just look goofy. My fairly quiet hair looks almost classic.

Y'all take care!

Happy Birthday Bumbledore!

**michelle the librarian**

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Catherine - Feb 24, 2005 7:17 am (#2410 of 2956)

Michelle, I grew up in the Richmond, VA area also, in Chesterfield County. My parents now live in Richmond's far West End in Henrico County. Small world on the Forum.

Along with big '80s hair, I also sported the shoulder pads. However, I am pleased to report that I did not wear jackets with multiple zippers, nor did I ever sport the "single glove" look, thank goodness.

In general, I was ridiculously preppy, which is almost as embarrassing to remember as the shoulder pads. Remember The Preppy Handbook, or whatever it was called?

I'm sure that these fashion excesses will all come back to haunt us anew.

Have a great Thursday.

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Steve Newton - Feb 24, 2005 7:20 am (#2411 of 2956)

librarian314,They were huge, plastic frames that made me look like I had owl eyes."

Your real name wouldn't be Sybill would it? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (45)

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Madam Pince - Feb 24, 2005 8:14 am (#2412 of 2956)

I can see Catherine now, tripping along Shockoe Slip in her pink oxford with her green sweater, wearing her duck shoes and carrying her L.L. Bean tote bag.....

Don't worry -- I had about the same look, except I couldn't afford the L.L. Bean tote bag. And I had the huge plastic-rimmed eyeglasses too. I actually liked the shoulder pads. I have very narrow shoulders and the pads sort of filled me out a little. When we wanted to "walk on the wild side," we played dress-up with punk-ish type clothes. I have a photo of some of us with very teased hair, wearing colored tights and those long tee-shirts / sweatshirts that served as a mini-dress when belted with a wide leather belt. My choice that evening was a navy blue and gold tiger stripe pattern. Lovely, eh? I still remember that some girl came up to me in the club that night and said "Wow! I just want you to know that I really admire you for having the guts to wear that! I wish I did!" At first I was pleased, then the more I thought about it, I was afraid it was something of a back-handed compliment.... Never was too daring about my clothes after that.

It's snowing here, too, Septentrion! It's been snowing for a couple hours, and I'd say we have almost 1 1/2 inches already. It's supposed to be a fairly substantial amount before all is said and done. It is beautiful, but I wish Mr. Pince didn't have to drive to work in all this. Other than that, we have nowhere to go today, so we'll stay in by the fire. ****Madam Pince toddles off, feeling the urge to bake something****

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Julia. - Feb 24, 2005 8:27 am (#2413 of 2956)

Wow. Thank G-d I was born in the middle of the 80s. I spent the part of the 80s that I was alive for in cute little baby cloths, and then cute little kid cloths. The only shoulder pads I ever wore was when I was playing dress up with my mum's cloths.

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mollis - Feb 24, 2005 8:50 am (#2414 of 2956)
Edited by Feb 24, 2005 7:50 am

shoulder pads...tights/leggins...aqua net hairspray...banana clips with side pony tails...legwarmers...plastic bracelets(at least 12 at a time)...peg-rolled jeans...cuffed t-shirts (sleeves rolled up at least twice)

So many painful memories, so little time...

Happy Birthday Bumbledore!

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Julia. - Feb 24, 2005 9:06 am (#2415 of 2956)

Oh my gosh! I nearly forgot...

Happy Birthday John!!! *hands John butterbeer* Hope you have a geat day and an amazing year!!

By the way, Yay, I got my Smiley Central working again!!

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Loopy Lupin - Feb 24, 2005 9:44 am (#2416 of 2956)

Along with big '80s hair, I also sported the shoulder pads. However, I am pleased to report that I did not wear jackets with multiple zippers, nor did I ever sport the "single glove" look, thank goodness.—Catherine

Ah, the glove. I'm happy to say I avoided that as well. I didn't really want the zippered jacket, but even if I had, it was a few hundred bucks as I recall, so that wasn't happening. I was quite sporty with the parachute pants and upturned collar though. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (46)

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Chemyst - Feb 24, 2005 10:31 am (#2417 of 2956)

I look back through my yearbooks and I am so happy that I didn't succumb to various fads. [...] My fairly quiet hair looks almost classic. **michelle the librarian**

Good for you! With each passing year I have an increasing gratitude for having made a similar decision when I had my senior portrait made. Now I'm encouraging my own kids to do the same.

...and the big clothes & shoulder pads of the 80s had an advantage when shopping for maternity wear. You know something is grossly oversized when you can still shop in the regular women's department well into your 8th month! As they used to say, I "lucked out" on that one. (lucked out meant having good luck)

Ah yes, the single glove... I remember seeing a display in a department store once and marveling that they were able to sell one glove for more than the cost of two. This was the same store that also had a display of pricey Coca Cola apparel; of which I thought Coca Cola ought to pay me to advertise for them, not charge me more for that "privilege." I guess it is good that I never majored in marketing.

Happy Birthday <)B^D=

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 24, 2005 11:05 am (#2418 of 2956)

shoulder pads...tights/leggins...aqua net hairspray...banana clips with side pony tails...legwarmers...plastic bracelets(at least 12 at a time)...peg-rolled jeans...cuffed t-shirts (sleeves rolled up at least twice) --mollis

Banana clips! I had forgotten about those! My grandmother still wears them and occasionally gives them to me. I don't know where she gets them from. Peg-rolled jeans with cool scrunch socks (hopefully not too big). The big thing in my middle school was to wear two different-colored t-shirts so that when you rolled the sleeve, the cuff would be a different (often clashing) color. We haven't mentioned the most offensive late 80s early 90s style: bicycle pants!! I remember many guys at my school wearing these things (for those of you not in the know, picture shorts made out of shiny spandex that fit like speedos). Girls wore them too, with long t-shirts; but I still remember how bad the guys looked. Shortly after that was the windsuit. I remember my freshman year of high school as very colorful, and very noisy. That horrible fabric made so much noise as hundreds of students brushed past each other!

Happy Birthday <)B^D= !!

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Madam Pince - Feb 24, 2005 11:59 am (#2419 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Bumbledore! Many happy returns!

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Julia. - Feb 24, 2005 12:15 pm (#2420 of 2956)

Behhhhhhhh. I'd gedding siiiiiiiiick. I was dying in statistics today, so I've decided to skip Latin American history and get the notes from a friend.

What exactly does 'Many happy returns' actually mean?

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Good Evans - Feb 24, 2005 12:31 pm (#2421 of 2956)

Happy b'day bumbledore - have a great day

may I wish you many happy returns of the day - does that make more sense Julia?

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John Bumbledore - Feb 24, 2005 12:50 pm (#2422 of 2956)

Quick post, before reading over 112 posts... how long have I been away?

Thank you all for the B-day wishes (I saw a few when I used the recent link). I am happy to be remembered (like I kept it a secret ) Well, XX years isn't so old for a Hobbit, thank you!

Wanted to tell you all I just got PoA on DVD today! Woot! Can't wait to watch it .. I also got a game for the Game cube from my four children. LOTR, rated T for teen (blood & violence).. hmm how to take that Even though Hobbits refer to twenty something years as twent-teens, I am still past that.. LOL

Well, now, sorry if I missed anything. I'm headed back to scan or skim those 100 plus post I missed. Catch up with you in a few (I read slow, like a ____; Ask for understanding.)

(John) Bumbledore

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Penny Lane. - Feb 24, 2005 1:18 pm (#2423 of 2956)

The 80's had many redeeming qualities to override the "flock of seagulls" hair, the "aquanet" rave, and the lovely exercise videos of supermodels with teased hair, thighmasters, and those "step aerobics" craze....

Remember John Hughes films? Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, St Elmo's Fire? Oooooh Don't forget "The Goonies"!!!!

80's were SO much cooler than the early 90's.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 24, 2005 2:57 pm (#2424 of 2956)

Many happy returns --

In our family we joked that if you got a lot of questionable birthday gifts and went to exchange them or return them, you wish for...

(fanfare and drumroll, please) many happy returns!

Well, I never said my family was all that funny, but we amused each other.

Happy Birthday Day, Bumbledore!

Yikes, the 80s! Big tops over leggings--a pear-shaped woman's dream that was really a disaster. The shift in formality that allowed one to wear gym shoes (trainers) everywhere (as long as you had on big, droopy socks). Ah, shoulder pads--how to look like a football linebacker with one easy wardrobe change. My cousin was so hooked on them even her bathrobe had shoulder pads. My brain refuses to dredge up any more memories.

Ciao. Barb

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Lina - Feb 24, 2005 4:43 pm (#2425 of 2956)

Well, I must say, I have 80's in my best memories, the most pleasant time of my life. I was a student, away from home, not too much responsibility, but enough not to feel useless, never watched tv (I couldn't understand my folks when coming home for a visit why are they watching those series? It was Santa Barbara at that time on our tv), and I had around 30 kilograms (60 pounds?) less than today. And eventually, I got married at the end (1989). Really special time of my life. I never cared too much about trends so I don't have the fashion traumas from that time. And I had some great friends at that time, some of them are still my best friends. I like to remember the 80's.

But this global heating is starting to worry me. It has been a lot of snow this winter all around us. There are some places in my country that have snow once in 15 or 20 years, some hotels even give a day free of charge when it snows, and they had some major snowing even twice this year. But it hadn't snowed in my town. Not until few days ago. My children were hilarious. But it didn't last for long.

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Catherine - Feb 24, 2005 5:07 pm (#2426 of 2956)

I was quite sporty with the parachute pants and upturned collar though. --Loopy Lupiin

Aaacck!

Loopy just loved reminding us of the parachute pants, I bet.

Pure Crucio just thinking about it. **waves to Loopy Lupin** I'm sure that it looked positively spiffing with his mullet. Absolutely corking, in fact!

Waves to the '80s fashionably-challenged, including self.

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timrew - Feb 24, 2005 5:17 pm (#2427 of 2956)

I was quite sporty with the parachute pants and upturned collar though. --Loopy Lupin

I went the other way...........

The upturned pants and the parachute collar.

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Catherine - Feb 24, 2005 5:42 pm (#2428 of 2956)

The upturned pants and the parachute collar.—Tim

::SNORT:::

Oh, Tim...I have no words for that image.

Thanks, though....

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Gina R Snape - Feb 24, 2005 7:00 pm (#2429 of 2956)

Here, here, Penny! The 80s were amazing for some of us.

My fond memories of the 80s were the music and the immense creativity. Sure, there were kids with banana clips and coca-cola t-shirts. Then there were some of us who made our own clothing out of things and created crazy punk haircuts and fashioned jewelry not unlike dear Luna Lovegood. I had a ballet costume with a flowy skirt (NOT a tutu) I dyed black which became my standard club-wear for awhile. It looked amazing and nobody else had one.

Equally, I spent a good 8 years or so wearing black leggings and funky t-shirts as regular daywear and nothing was ever more comfortable! I worked at a student union full-time and got away with wearing that as the office secretary, with pink hair!

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Julia. - Feb 24, 2005 9:15 pm (#2430 of 2956)

Behhhhhhhhh. I'm officially sick. I was dying in class today, and this evening we had a speaker, and I felt horrible, in more ways than one. Not only did I physically not feel well, but I felt horrible because the crowed was so small, and I was snuffeling and blowing my nose throughout the whole thing.

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scully jones - Feb 24, 2005 10:08 pm (#2431 of 2956)

I've been snuffeling and coughing for two weeks now. We had a speaker in class today as well. Her name was Sarah Jones. I seem to meet so many people with my name it hardly fazes me anymore.

Speaking of Sarah Jones's... My other friend Sarah G. has been a happy mommy since December. I forgot to tell you all. And my brother Tim's going to have a baby boy sometime soon. Already got a name picked out and everything. Michael David Lee... Weird... So... Normal... I should name my kids weird names just to be different when I have kids. How about Xavier and Spinella? Hehehehe....

Sorry... Too many thin mints... Girl scouts finally brought us our truckload of cookies.

Buh bye now!

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Phoenix song - Feb 24, 2005 10:46 pm (#2432 of 2956)

Scully: "I should name my kids weird names just to be different when I have kids. How about Xavier and Spinella? Hehehehe...."

What?? You're not going to name your kids after Harry Potter characters? Aw, come on, that's one of my greatest regrets...that I didn't have a chance (or the nerve with the last one) to name my kids after HP characters. Wouldn't your child be a true individual if you named her Nymphadora Tonks Jones or named him Severus Snape Jones? Promise us you'll think about it, okay?

Just for the record, I loved the 80's. I thought that the clothes were comfortable and the music was awesome. I still love to get nostalgic watching movies like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Sixteen Candles" and "The Breakfast Club." Those were truly "the days" for me... Oh, if I could only get my hands on a time turner!!

Barbie

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Lina - Feb 25, 2005 12:03 am (#2433 of 2956)

Well, speaking about children's names, my husband and I agreed on them before we got married, but since the way of choosing the names was that I should suggest and he would accept or reject the name, I kept on suggesting even when I was pregnant. And I was suggesting names such as Felicita (female for Felix, but I swear I knew nothing about the HBP 13 years ago), Hijacinta, Perpetua and so on. My parents were desperate. My father gave us a dog saying "Com' on, exercise your weird names on him!", and my mother said "Poor your child, he/she won't know her/his name for years!" Then my husband said "Oh, it's already set up! If it is a boy, he will be Ivan (John) and if it is a girl, she will be Katarina (Catherine)." Well, my mother sounded so disappointed when she said "Oh, I like it". She had nothing more to quarrel about!

And even though I expected my daughter Katarina to meet many girls with the same name, it didn't happen. It seems that there were more parents willing to give their children some original names.

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Fawkes Forever - Feb 25, 2005 4:36 am (#2434 of 2956)

Hey Guys, hmmm, been a bit busy at work, so I see I missed quite a few birthdays... so Happy belated birthdays Betty how do you remember?

Lizzy... congrats on the job. Hope all goes well for you.

Denise, wow, you must be so very proud of your daughter. To donate her hair was such a sweet and selfless act.

To all those with colds, especially Julia, Elanor & Scully ... big hugs & hope you all feel better soon. Sending you all some PepperUp Potion via owl... however with the current weather & winds over here I hope it gets to you by this time next week

To go back a 'few' posts, re. the hair scare stories. Oh thanks for clarifying what a Dorothy Hamil was For a while as a kid I had a page boy haircut (bit like a Dorothy). Luckily by the time of my First Communion (aged 7), it had grown out a bit, so at least those photos weren't too cringey... although, I think I was missing a tooth or two My Mum also insisted on cutting a fringe (bangs) for me. Sometimes it was straight & well other times... nowhere near it. It also started from waaaay back on my head... a great big wedge of a fringe... lovely!

Both my parents don't like long hair... so when I was 11, I had it all chopped off... (cropped right up) which I hated, 'cus I looked like a boy. It was short until I was 13/14, when I made a stand that I wanted to grow my hair... which was such a painful process. The bottom grew much quicker that the top, so I had to keep getting regular trims to make sure it didn't turn into a mullet. I ended up with the 20's bob for about a year... which probably wasn't a good look considering the Hermione tendencies of my hair.

I mostly had a bob of varying lengths through high school. It did change colour to red & back a few times. I also had a hair dye disaster. Lets just say... a blonde home dye kit My mum cried when she seen it... which let me know how bad it was... think Gerry Halliwell post Spice Girls... I wore a beany hat for days before I could get an appointment with the hairdresser to 'fix it'. Now I've long hair... (since I discovered layers there was no going back) & have not experimented with hair dyes professional or otherwise for a long time. I'm thinking that I don't know how long I've left with my natural hair colour ... so I'll appreciate it for as long as possible

I was considering getting a fringe cut again... but after reading all these stories... have remembered there is a very good reason why I grew out my fringe in the first place.

I've always maintained, if I ever have a daughter, I'll let her have her hair whatever way she wants... however I will try & advise her to stay away from any dye 'paux fas'.

Talking about 80's clothes... does anyone remember the florescent socks? Pink & yellow/green. All the kids on my street wore them & you were 'really cool' if you wore one of each... a pink one & a green one at the same time.... hee hee! Thankfully I never wore any ra-ra or puffball skirts. However I did try to knit my own leg warmers once. Those knitters on the forum... I'm in awe... I can bearly cast on without some kind of a disaster. My Mum is great at knitting... however, that meant that she always made us our 'Weasley Jumpers', every year & mine was nearly always pink... I hated pink back then

As for 70's clothes... 'fraid I'm guilty of that one. Converse trainers, layered t-shirts & I love bootcut jeans. A friend of a friend (hee hee), runs her own clothes store & she was telling me that when buying next seasons stock, she couldn't buy any bootcut or flared jeans anywhere! Nooooo... I refuse to go back into those straight legged ones... Stupid fashion industry trying to make us conform.. well I refuse... I refuse I tells ya!

Anyways.. enough ranting... it's friday... it's nearly the weekend... the snow storms seem to have subsided slightly... (well it's not as bad here as in the UK). So things are looking up. Have a good day everyone

EDIT : Opps sorry for the long post

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Pinky - Feb 25, 2005 6:03 am (#2435 of 2956)

LOL Fawkes, when I see your name, I think, "Oh goodie - a long post!" Your posts are so fun, there's no need to apologize for the length!

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Catherine - Feb 25, 2005 6:28 am (#2436 of 2956)

Good Morning. If it is a good morning, which I doubt.

I walked sleepy-eyed into my kitchen this morning, and found ANTS. Grrrrr. Yesterday, no critters in my kitchen. This morning, a population explosion.

Spring may be a month away by calendar, but obviously it has arrived in eastern NC. Just about the time the tulips poke out of the ground, ants decide to wake up and make their presence known, too.

The battle has begun.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 25, 2005 7:23 am (#2437 of 2956)

Catherine, I HATE ANTS!

I cannot figure out why they intermitantly (sp?) take up residence in my kitchen. Radical temp changes outside seems to be the key factor. They are persistent little buggers. They seem resilient to squishing--they just sort of un-kink themselves and proceed on their mysterious quests for food. They hate Raid, but so do I, especially in a kitchen. The ant traps work eventually, but I think they get resistant to the poison and it takes twice as many traps as the label says so your kitchen looks very odd with their black octagons all over.

Gaaaa! I'd better stop, my blood pressure is going up. I HATE ANTS!!

Ciao. Barb

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Albus Silente - Feb 25, 2005 7:24 am (#2438 of 2956)

as in the 70's i still had to be born and in the 80's i was i child (i just can remember al those shocking-colour sweat-shirts and leggins) i don't have anything to say here. don't even know if fashion in germany was the same as in the us...

but i would have a question: How do you manage to put in all those smileys? didn't find a hint on how to do it anywhere. sorry.

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Phoenix song - Feb 25, 2005 7:38 am (#2439 of 2956)

Albus, there is a thread devoted to your very question! Go to the "How do you..." thread and it will teach you all kinds of neat tricks! Use the "search" function to find the information on smilies. It's easy, I promise. Enjoy!

Also, you might find that you need to capitalize your posts, especially the letter "i". It's easier to read that way and there are times that an uncapitalized "I" will cause your entire post to be placed in italics. I hope that I've been helpful!

Barbie

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Julia. - Feb 25, 2005 8:46 am (#2440 of 2956)

Good *cough* morning all *sneeze*

Sarah, since you're the only one I can get close enough to to hug, *huggy huggy* Lovely seeing you again. Please don't give your kids weird names. Thank of how much they'll get beaten up by all the other kids on the play ground. HP names are totally the way to go.

Beh. I feel yucky. I've skipped two classes today. I'd skip my third, but I can't do that to my dear Will.

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Albus Silente - Feb 25, 2005 9:33 am (#2441 of 2956)

Phoenix song, thank you very much! From now on I will use caps, it's just that I am not used to that:-) sorry!

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Phoenix song - Feb 25, 2005 10:31 am (#2442 of 2956)

Albus Silente, You're welcome! I wouldn't worry too much about not having used the capital letters. It doesn't bother me very much to see posts without them, as I know that many forums don't require their members to be so grammatically proper. I knew that someone would eventually have to tell you our requirements for capitalization, though. It makes the posts easier to read and understand. Many of our members are using English as their second language, (as you might if you live in Germany?) and it enhances their understanding if we're more alert to these things. I hope that I haven't upset you.

By the way, were you able to understand how to use the smilies?

Barbie

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librarian314 - Feb 25, 2005 10:37 am (#2443 of 2956)

Hey all!

I hate to admit it but I do tend to favor the dear divination professor when it comes to apparel choice. I have some pictures from my semester in London from 1989 where I look like I could be Sybil's cousin or something. ;-) The glasses though were more like what Dustin Hoffman wore as Dorothy in Tootsie. Luckily, the lenses weren't thick so they didn't distort my eyes.

I, too, sewed quite a lot of clothes in the 80s and they tended to be very conservative. Never had club clothes, as there were no clubs to go to. If I'd lived somewhere more fashion aware than southeastern Virginia, I'd've probably leaned more towards being punk.

I have though recently given in to one of my teenage fashion fantasies. I loved colorful tennis shoes as a teenager and never got to have any. They weren't sold in the shops near where I lived and even if they had been they were too expensive. About a month ago I bought myself a pair of purple Chuck Taylor All-Stars. (A pair of tennis shoes/trainers.) The only way they could have been better was if they'd been high tops. I figured that now that I was 36 I didn't care what others thought about my shoes, so I'd get what I wanted. I love them and wear them all the time.

I also will take the 80s any day over the early 90s grunge. (Music was fine, clothing wasn't.) Growing up rural, grunge was what people wore during hunting season, so it wasn't new and wasn't fashionable.

When my husband and I were dating we came up with a name for our potential kid just to freak out the parents. We were going to call our son Thingfrith Eorpvald after a couple of Anglo-Saxon kings before Alfred the Great. We ended up calling our daughter Micaela. (We thought about spelling it McKayla to go with our last name, McDaniel but that was a bit much, even for us.)

There are quite a lot of great names in Harry Potter. I like it that Prof. McGonagall is named after a favorite aunt. (Yes, one of my aunt Ruby's middle names was Minerva and I've thought it would be a great name to pass on to a girl.)

As a cataloguer that does a lot of work on personal names, I've started a collection of interesting one I've come across. These are real names of real people found primarily in the Library of Congress' catalogue but also from the data base I use at work. Recent favorites include Sophinistra (definitely a witch's name), Euphemia, and Arathusa, all female names.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Julie Aronson - Feb 25, 2005 11:04 am (#2444 of 2956)

Michelle,

Euphemia reminds me of a fabulous restaurant in Longboat Key, Florida. It's called Euphemia Haye. YUM!!!!

Julie

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Madam Pince - Feb 25, 2005 11:59 am (#2445 of 2956)

Oh, Julia, you sound like you feel terrible. So sorry. Wish I could send you some home-made chicken soup or something. Take it easy and drink lots of fluids! Sarah, too! And tell Brandon "Hi" and tell him he needs to come on and say hello sometime!

For those with ants, I have one word -- "Terro." (Assuming they're the little tiny sweet-eating ants.) It's an ant poison stuff. It's a clear sticky fluid; you put a drop of it on a piece of cardboard and put it near where you see the ants, and then you force yourself to look away and resist the urge to squish the ants when they come crowding around to eat it, because the point of the whole thing is that they take it back to their nest and it kills the whole bunch. At first you will see way more ants, then within a day or so they will all be gone and should stay gone for about six months or so. I have had the same problem as Catherine and Barb for the last several years, and I paid big bucks for an exterminator once, who told me confidentially about the 'Terro' and also basically said that there's no way on earth to get rid of them once and for all -- the best you can do is keep using the 'Terro' whenever they come back. At least it is fairly inexpensive and it sure doesn't take much of it to do the trick. Good luck!

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Catherine - Feb 25, 2005 1:27 pm (#2446 of 2956)

Thanks so much for the "Terro" advice. Someone here in town recommended it today also, so it sounds like it is worthwhile to try.

I'm gonna Terro those ants right outta my house! Bwahahaha.....**Catherine runs to the store gleefully anticipating ant demise**

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 25, 2005 2:01 pm (#2447 of 2956)

Good luck with your ants Catherine. I have them all over my kitchen all the time (summer and winter) and "Terro" or Ant-Rid as I know it; just doesn't work with these cheeky little critters.

They go for anything and water. So I've learnt to put the dirty dishes in the fridge if I'm too lazy to do it straight away.

Since I live in a single person household I have trouble motivating myself to wash one bowl/spoon from brekky (breakfast) (especially when there's another 8 clean bowls in the cupboard!!!).

The things I do to delay the household chores - lucky no one else shares the house.

Lizzy

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Accio Sirius - Feb 25, 2005 2:51 pm (#2448 of 2956)

Catherine, I have the same problem right now too--little tiny ants all around the kitchen! Funny too since we are blanketed with snow right now. Usually it is only in warm weather, but I think everyone is confused as the temperature keeps changing so fast. Thank you Madam Pince for the Terro advice. I had read up on ants since this is a recurring problem for us too. I find them fascinating and irritating. But after I read that they often come back to claim their wounded and dead, I thought maybe if I squash one and leave it there, I'll be sending a little message, ala The Godfather. Apparently, they haven't seen the movie!

Julia, Hope you feel better soon. I have friends who swear by Alka Seltzer cold medicine, although I am a big fan of Linus Pauling and always go the extra Vitamin C route. You read his theories about it here: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 25, 2005 3:49 pm (#2449 of 2956)

Spring may be a month away by calendar, but obviously it has arrived in eastern NC. Just about the time the tulips poke out of the ground, ants decide to wake up and make their presence known, too. –Catherine

Catherine, I'm sorry about the ants, but I do envy you. It snowed here last night, and I am missing Spring in NC. I know the daffodils must be popping up everywhere. They were always the first sign of spring for me when I was in NC. In NYC, I never really "feel" the season changes the same way because there aren't the same visual cues. I was surprised at how much that affected me. Every time the season changes, I have a desperate urge to escape the city for a day or two. Good luck with the ants.

Julia, I'm so sorry you're sick. At least it's Friday and you've recently had a "fun" trip, so you can stay snuggled up in your dorm room and get better. **sends Julia butterbeer and kosher soup**

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Albus Silente - Feb 25, 2005 4:33 pm (#2450 of 2956)

Hi Phoenix Song! Actually, English is my third language. Yes,I am German but I'm living in Italy since 6 years.

Today my account was moderated for some hours (or maybe it still is, I will discover that posting) because of my "i"s well, as already the good old Romans knew: errare humaum est!

It took me quite some time finding out how the smileys worked, but I think I'll be able to manage it from now on

Edited: I'm no longer moderated, thanks for making me notice that! Until now, I don't have any other questions, but I am sure there will be in future! Thanks again to all!

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Catherine - Feb 25, 2005 4:48 pm (#2451 of 2956)

Albus silente,

I see no evidence at this posting that your account was moderated. Right now, as I post this, you have full participant status, and I am unaware that you were moderated for lowercase "i"s.

Perhaps one of the "higher-ups" has more information for you, but it looks like you are just fine!

Feel free to email any further questions that you have.

Happy posting!

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Chemyst - Feb 25, 2005 6:13 pm (#2452 of 2956)

While you all were dealing with ants, I saw my first snake of the season. I usually relax my lookout during the winter months, but today I was walking along the creek bank with the dog when, slither & plop, five feet ahead of us one took a three foot plunge into the water. (Betcha didn't know our snakes have three feet, huh?
Anyway, I suspect there is a beaver dam upcreek because our neighbor's pasture is still flooded while our downstream water level is nearly normal. So someday soon, while all your ants are nibbling contentedly on their sweet Terro, I shall be out in my rubber boots whacking away at a tangle of sticks.

Julia, get away from your computer and go take a nap! I know your inner-Hermione is probably stressed with all those missed classes, but you need to rest first, study second, and (at the risk of sounding sacrilege,) the forum really does come third.

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Catherine - Feb 25, 2005 6:44 pm (#2453 of 2956)

While you all were dealing with ants, I saw my first snake of the season. –Chemyst

First snake? Oh, dear. We think ourselves lucky (if the creek don't rise) to only see one or two on my side of the neighborhood by July. After that, all bets are off, alas earwax, and ICK.

I don't really like reptiles, to tell the truth. I'm kind of a mammal/canine kind of person, actually.

Ants are not a favored sector, either, by my calculations, but at least I can trap and smush 'em. Go Terro!

I do envy Chemyst her tramping about in boots in almost-spring, surveying her grounds and deciding what needs to be done. It feels invigorating to just read about it, never mind actually doing it!

My own spring boot-walkings reveal an enormous number of winter-hardy weeds, a tender jasmine vine that did NOT survive 18 degree (fahrenheit) weather, and some tulips that, despite benign neglect, have decided to visit us again and perhaps spread their wide pink smile one more time.

So I have some cullings, and proper burials to do, but I am very excited about the camellias blooming (white and pink and red, oh my!) and the tulips, and the pansies and, finally, the weeping cherry that I planted on my retaining wall. My girls are excited also, and they, more than anyone, make me aware of the least progress afforded by these plants. Young eyes, you know...

I'm looking forward to Spring, obviously.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 25, 2005 7:05 pm (#2454 of 2956)

Madam Pince, thanks for the tip on Terro. I suspect it's the active ingredient in those ant traps. They pitch the product as "food the ants love, and take back to the nest to kill the lot" (well, obviously, I'm paraphrasing). Is Terro sold at hardware stores? I love the name. It sounds...um...retro-scientific. You can just hear an old fashioned announcer voice on late-night TV--

“Ladies, Terro is so powerful that no crawling insect can withstand its power. Clean, safe around toddlers and pets, unlike other insect traps it does not announce its presence to your friends and neighbors. Yes, ant-free living is yours with Terro!”

Something like that.

Ciao. Barb

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The giant squid - Feb 25, 2005 9:25 pm (#2455 of 2956)

Barb, I could hear that announcer perfectly. Of course, me being a comic-book geek (along with my HP fanatacism) I saw the name and thought, "Hmm, a guy with earth-based super powers."

Talking about 80's clothes... does anyone remember the florescent socks?

I know at least one poster who does...unless my sister has blocked those memories. What I was always amused by is how the term changed over the years--from Day-Glo to Neon to Flourescent. All terms for the same shade of bright, eye-straining green!

Tim, I hope you still have one of those parachute collars in your closet, because I'm going to need a picture. I don't think I want to see the upturned pants, though...

Get Well wishes for all of you under the weather!

--Mike

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Amilia Smith - Feb 25, 2005 10:49 pm (#2456 of 2956)

About different names: my mother decided that with a last name like Smith, we all had to have interesting first names. I remember when she was expecting my little brother and we were choosing names. I really liked the name James, but my mom said, "Sure. Join the Jim Smith Club of America."

As for my name, Amilia doesn't seem too bad, and I like it now, but I hated it in elementary school. I spent years being called Amelia Bedelia or Manille. I really hated Manille. It doesn't look so bad in print, but that is because you can't hear the intonation grade school boys would use. "Hey, Manille!" I remember bawling one morning and refusing to go to school over this. My dad tried to convince me that boys only teased girls they liked, but I didn't buy it then, and I'm not sure I buy it now.

Whenever I read books and come across names that I like, I run them through that test. If I could send my kid to grade school with that name, it goes onto my list of names for future children.

About cuts of jeans: I'm with you Fawkes. I will be sad to see the boot cut and wide leg pants go. (Remember the jeans with the zippers at the bottom so that you could still get your foot out the bottom even though they were fitted to your calf?) However, I won't be at all upset to see waistlines move a few inches closer to the waist.

To all those of you suffering with colds: tell yourself firmly and severely that you don't have time for a cold and that you don't believe in being sick. Granted, this doesn't always work. But the mind does have amazing control over alot of things that you wouldn't ordinarily think of. In the meantime, drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep. (That was my mother's cure for all ills. "Oh, you bumped your head. Let's go get a drink of water." "You have a headache? Go get a drink of water." "What if, instead of eating a cough drop every time you want to cough, you got a drink of water every time you want to cough.")

Mills.

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 25, 2005 10:52 pm (#2457 of 2956)

Oh, Julia! You do sound just miserable. Take lots of chicken soup, water, o.j. and one more thing that many will consider wacky. I just used this one for my son and myself and I think it really did help.

When you feel a cold is about to start, take two pairs of socks, dampen the toes of the first pair, squeeze it out well so it's just damp. Put on the second, dry pair over the dampened pair just as you head off to bed. The theory is that the blood flowing to warm your toes, keeps the antibodies moving as you sleep. My son and I felt terrible Sunday night and I did it for him and myself, didn't feel great Monday but we didn't get a cold either. I felt lousy again on Tuesday night did it again and again wasn't great the next day but I didn't 't get the cold either.

On the '80's, that was my second favorite decade of my life. The music wasn't great, but it was either upbeat or political. And the clothes, oh, the clothes! '80-'81 it was the punk-new wave looks, black clothes with very bright accents, lots of safety pins, some chains. Then mid to late '80's, I was out in the working world in the fashion industry. I wore either all black wool or silk fabrics or knits. All body contoured. Then there were those great suits in wool and silk. Great shoulder pads in the jackets, small waists. I had this one gorgeous cobalt blue silk suit with brass buttons. The skirts on the suits didn't have to be very short to look great. Oh, I had a Stephen Sprouse jacket that was a shade of orange that was hard to find not plugged in. This off course I wore over a black knit turtleneck sleeveless dress! All this was worn with the perfect, leather or suede pump. (By way of excuse I did live in New York City.)

Now that I have kids, I haven't seen a pair of pumps since my son's pregnancy, I don't own a dress, and I wear jeans or khakis with a turtleneck!

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Elanor - Feb 26, 2005 12:43 am (#2458 of 2956)

I can't wait for spring to come as well! Usually, at this time of the year, crocuses and daffodils are in bloom everywhere but those last weeks have been so cold (it snowed each and every day for two weeks now) that they stopped their growing. The only flowers I've seen so far are timid snowdrops and Christmas roses. Today, the sun is back at last, but it is a cold one, - 9°C (15°F) outside this morning, brrr... The only good part of it is that I don't have to watch for snakes or ants, they're frozen!

But I'm sure that Marè, in Brittany, has already seen flowers there, the weather is much milder near the ocean. And what about you Septentrion? BTW, you're right, the Oxford Dictionary is really huge! I love it.

I am so happy to be in weekend! After the flu, it has been a very difficult week at work because I was so tired and I can't wait to do... nothing during this weekend, I really need some rest. It will be great! Thanks for your wishes Fawkes! Are you going to the match tomorrow finally? The 6 Nations Championship (rugby) continues this weekend: today France plays against Wales and tomorrow, there is the eagerly expected Ireland vs England match. It should be very interesting!

About the 80s, I remember that my favourite jacket was a denim one, with a lot of "badges" pinned to it, I don't know their real name in English, but it is the kind of badges you can see on a page of JKR's biography on her site, see what I mean? And of course, there was also the inevitable bandana tied on it. A lot of teens wore some because of a French singer, Renaud, who wore some all the time, a kind of "rebel", I loved him!

Julia, I send you healing charms! I do sympathize! I'm just starting to feel better so I know how you must feel. Some rest and to be patient is the best I have found for fighting it!

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septentrion - Feb 26, 2005 5:22 am (#2459 of 2956)

Hi all !

The weather is still cold. The temperature is around 3/4° C at the best of the day. We had sun yesterday but today seems to be dull and grey.

Elanor, I'm sure you'll be in front of your TV this week-end ! I'm glad you're recovering and I encourage you to do nothing. That's something I do pretty well and you should find yourself better on Monday.

Healing charms from me too, Julia ! I dislike colds because you're not ill enough to skip work but ill enough to work as if you weren't there. Stay at bed and rest well.

Everyone have a good week-end !

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Phoenix song - Feb 26, 2005 8:28 am (#2460 of 2956)

Elanor, I'm so sorry that it's so cold there! We're wet and muddy, as usual. The temps vary from day to day here. Sometimes we're in the high 70's with a humidity that will kill you. Other days we're in the 30's with a humidity that will kill you. It seems like every day we're encountering rain and mud and muck. YUCK! We really do need spring...but maybe we should be wishing for summer, when HBP comes out!

Also, I don't know if there is a more "appropriate" name for the badges that were on jean jackets back in the 80's, but we called them either "badges" or "pins". I had a huge collection of them as well. Now, I can't even remember what most of them said. The ones that I do remember probably aren't appropriate to share. I loved the 80's, though. My favorite decade hands down.

Julia, I hope that you're feeling much better. If only we could buy some "Pepper-Up Potion" at our local pharmacist!

Have a good weekend everybody!
Barbie

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Acceber - Feb 26, 2005 8:30 am (#2461 of 2956)

I guess this means I'm getting old.-Julia, a few days back. Happens to everyone, no need to feel discouraged.

I had a great time in Vermont (Stowe, for those who are wondering). I'd been on skis a grand total of one time before last Monday, and I had no idea if I'd like it or hate it. If I hadn't enjoyed it, I purposely brought five books (including OoP) to keep me entertained. But I loved cross-country skiing. We went for about two hours every day, and each day I got better. By our last day, Thursday, I didn't get nearly as much snow on me as I did the first day, and I kind of mastered going down hills. Woooo hooooo!

Happy Belated Birthdays to Anyone Celebrating!

No ants here, just a lot of snow that doesn't want to go away. It looks pretty from the window over my computer, but it's quite annoying when you're in it.

Off to catch up on the threads. *goes away whistling and hoping no one notices she didn't contribute to the 80s conversation because she has nothing to contribute*

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Gina R Snape - Feb 26, 2005 9:51 am (#2462 of 2956)

Mrs. Sirius: haven't seen a pair of pumps since my son's pregnancy,

*snort*I think you mean when you were pregnant with your son, not that HE was pregnant, right?

Julia, don't worry about getting older. Just think of the alternative! Hope everyone is either feeling better or facing better weather as the case may be. NYC is still cold and we are expecting yet more snow in the coming days. Waaaaaaaah.

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Lina - Feb 26, 2005 11:32 am (#2463 of 2956)

Catherine: I don't really like reptiles, to tell the truth. I'm kind of a mammal/canine kind of person, actually.

Since we live on the fifth (and last) floor, ants usually find some food before they come to us. But therefore, bats (mammals) like to settle above our windows. Once, one of them entered my mum's and sister's flat (who live next to us). My sister freeked out (I still don't understand why). We didn't manage to make it fly out through the window, but I managed to catch it. So I had to call my children to see it (before I let it out) because it is really rare opportunity in the life to see a bat this close. And I really find them so cute. My children too. They wished to keep it at home with us. I had to explain them that we should have a good tall tower to be able to keep bats with us and still make them feel happy. So we decided that we will build a house with a tall tower once that we become rich.

And about the flu, there is a guaranteed recipe: you take an apple, cut it precisely in seven equal parts, eat one part every day, and when you eat the last part, you will be healthy.

And, Albus Silente, my second language is Italian too, even though I haven't lived in Italy but I live close to it. You might find it practical to use the "Check spelling" button before posting. Not only to make your posts more proper, but to learn something new too.

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mike miller - Feb 26, 2005 12:39 pm (#2464 of 2956)

Julia - Sorry to hear you're under the weather. My wife fought her bug all of last week. Home made chicken soup, you could probably get by with something out of a can if it has lots of veggies, really does help. If all else fails, rub Vicks all over your chest, put on an old t-shirt and stick your face under the collar. Those vapors always help me.

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Phoenix song - Feb 26, 2005 12:53 pm (#2465 of 2956)

Julia, are you feeling any better now? I hope so. Like others have said, don't feel discouraged about feeling older. It sort of sneaks up on a person, but there's nothing to be done about it. I'm just really realizing that tomorrow I'll turn 35. Yikes! I'm afraid that I've become a grown-up without even noticing it! Now, how did that happen?

Barbie

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Madam Pince - Feb 26, 2005 1:00 pm (#2466 of 2956)

Happy Birthday a day early, Barbie! "How did that happen???" is one of my most-used lines lately as well!

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Madame Librarian - Feb 26, 2005 1:03 pm (#2467 of 2956)

From Barb to Barbie--

Happy Birthday! 35 can be the absolutely most perfect age to be, I think. Enjoy.

Ciao. Barb

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Catherine - Feb 26, 2005 1:52 pm (#2468 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Barbie. We're the same *cough* age. How is it being 29 for the sixth time?

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boop - Feb 26, 2005 1:53 pm (#2469 of 2956)

AN Early Happy Birthday Barbie. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!!

The sun is out, but not for long. Sunday evening into Monday we are to get more snow. We just had a storm that gave us 6 inches. They say this one could give us more. I have been told that March will be a very busy winter month. I sure hope they are wrong. They say we are to get Five major snow storms, with little snow falls in between.

Everyone have a great weekend!!!!

hugs always

Betty (boop)

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septentrion - Feb 26, 2005 1:58 pm (#2470 of 2956)

Happy birthday Barbie ! You were born the same year than me !

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Sirius Lee - Feb 26, 2005 2:46 pm (#2471 of 2956)

I stumbled across this while cleaning out my email box today and thought it was went along well with our current line of 80's chatter. Please forgive the great length, but it's quite a chuckle!

You know you grew up in the 1980's if...

1. You ever ended your sentence with "psych"

2. You solved Rubics cube.....by peeling off the stickers (OR the PYRAMID)

3. You watched the Pound Puppies

4. You can sing the rap to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"

5. You wore biker shorts under your skirts and felt stylish

6. You yearned to be a member of the Babysitters Club and tried to start a club of your own.

7. You owned those little Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls

8. You know that 'Whoa' comes from Joey on "Blossom"

9. Three words: M.C. Hammer.

10. You thought it would be great to have a friend named "Boner"

11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales"

12. If you played the chipmunks Christmas album all year long!

13. Remember reading Kool-Aid man comics

14. You ever watched "Fraggle Rock"

15. You had plastic streamers on the handle bars of your bike

16. You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

17. You wore a ponytail to the side of your head

18. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen

19. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day on the new Apple computers with the black screen & neon green type in computer class at school

20. You made your mom buy you one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side

21. You had a Kirk Cameron poster on your bedroom wall

22. You played the game "MASH" (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House) with friends at school.

23. You wore a Jordache jean jacket and you were proud of it

24. L.A. GEAR

25. Kids Incorporated....."K-I-D-S!!"

26. Your mother wouldn't let you have Garbage Pail Kids

27. You wanted to change your name to Jem in Kindergarten

28. You remember reading "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and all the Ramona books

29. You know the profound meaning of "Wax on,Wax off"

30. You wanted to be a Goonie

31. You ever wore fluorescent, neon if you will, clothing

32. You wanted to be on StarSearch

33. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off

34. You took lunch pails to school

35. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf

36. You remember the craze, and then banning of, slap bracelets

37. You still get the urge to use "NOT" at the end of every statement you make

38. You remember hypercolor T-shirts

39. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band

40. You remember Punky Brewster & her cool bedroom

41. You loved Howard the Duck

42. You thought She Ra and He-Man should hook up

43. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged friendship bracelets

44. You ever owned a pair of Jelly Shoes

45. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you couldn't stop saying "I know you are but what am I...infinity"

46. You remember "I've fallen...and I can't get up!"

47. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates

48. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide

49. You know not to mix poprocks and soda (but did it anyway!)

50. You have played with a 'skip-it'

51. You had or went to a birthday party at McDonald's

52. You learned oldies songs by watching Alvin and the Chipmunks

53. You had a Glow Worm or watched the cartoons

54. You remember dancing along with the Bangles in "Walk Like An Egyptian"

55. If you remember Heathcliff, the orange cat

56. You saw the California Raisins Christmas claymation special

57. DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!

58. You wore socks over tights with high-top Reeboks

59. You wore like 8 pairs of socks at once, scrunched down

60. MISS MARY MACK, MACK, MACK ALL DRESSED IN BLACK, BLACK, BLACK.....

61. You remember boom boxes instead of CD players

62. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies

63. You remember the Transformers

64. You know what it meant to say "care bear stare!!" and you had a favorite

65. You remember Rainbow Bright and My Little Pony Tales

66. You remember watching TV thinking Doogie Howser was hot!

67. You remember Alf, the little furry brown alien from Melmac who tried to eat cats

68. You remember the large amounts of hairspray used

69. You remember those very stylish headbands

70. You remember Vicky the Robot (a.k.a. Small Wonder)

71. You remember the beginning of New Kids on the Block

72. You remember watching The Cosby Show

73. You remember Mr.Belvedere

74. You remember Michael J. Fox in "Family Ties" and "Back to the Future"

75. You know all the names of the gang from "Saved by the Bell"

76. You know all the words to Bon Jovi's "Shot Through the Heart" song...bonus points if you've ever sang it at a karaoke bar...

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Gina R Snape - Feb 26, 2005 3:28 pm (#2472 of 2956)

Ok, I know they aren't metal anymore...but don't kids still take their lunches to school in lunchpails with matching thermoses?

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Denise P. - Feb 26, 2005 3:48 pm (#2473 of 2956)

Gina, yes. My kids all have lunchboxes but we generally don't use the thermos. Much easier to slap a Capri Sun in there than to wash the thermos every night.

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Elanor - Feb 26, 2005 4:10 pm (#2474 of 2956)

Happy birthday Barbie! Joyeux anniversaire! I wish you joy and happiness all year long!

Lina: I too find bats cute. A lot of them live in the abbey that is across my street and I often see some flying during summer nights. They are small ones actually and I love the way they fly, with such precision!

During the summer, there are medieval shows in the abbey at night and for two years now I played in them as an extra. It is very funny! The first year, I was a poor medieval peasant and last summer a bourgeois (with a beautiful 15th century silk dress, I loved it), that is some social advance, next year, I bet I will be the Lord's wife... But I wander. The point is that during those shows, bats were flying everywhere, music and sounds had to scare them, but you should have seen the people watching the show! A lot of them were scared by them too, though they are very small and would never touch them. Actually, I pitied more the bats than the people, poor little things!

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 26, 2005 4:23 pm (#2475 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Barbie. Have a wonderful day

There's nothing much happening this week. I have come down with a crash from the high induced by the new job news, but that's OK because I expected it. Now to organise the finances and the house and car loan repayments around the new pay dates of the new job.

The weather has consistently between 32-35 deg. C the last week and the temperatures at night are slowly starting to drop off to between 15-20 deg. C. Hopefully by Easter I can switch the Air-conditioner off for the year and get it serviced ready for next summer.

The worst bit about the weather at the moment is that its being trying to storm for the last week and as a result we are sweltering in 40-70% humidity, instead of our usual 15-30%.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. Lizzy

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Gina R Snape - Feb 26, 2005 5:05 pm (#2476 of 2956)

Aaaah, yes. The juicebox/juicepouch truly was a great invention.

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Phoenix song - Feb 26, 2005 5:17 pm (#2477 of 2956)

Aw, shucks, guys! It looks like my birthday tomorrow is already shaping up to be a better one than it usually is! Thank you all!

Sirius Lee, I LOVED your 80's list. It brought back so many fond memories. Would you mind terribly if I copied your list and sent it to my old high school buddies? I think that they'd get a real kick out of it. It's amazing how a person can forget wearing their pony tail to the side and those little plastic circles with the slash across the middle that was used to artfully tie your T-shirts to your side. Or how about those large scarves with the long fringe that was tied around your waist with the pointy end on one side? (To one side must have been important and fashionable in the 80's, though I can't remember why.)

Again, thank you all for your pre-birthday wishes. I'm trying to look at 35 as a blessing, but it is easy to go a little bit into shock when you hit the big milestones.

Catherine, I think I'll join you instead in celebrating my 29th birthday (again) tomorrow. It sounds like a good idea to me!

Barbie

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The giant squid - Feb 26, 2005 7:53 pm (#2478 of 2956)

Sirius Lee, I only counted 45 of those 76 things for myself, although if you take out all the girl-specific stuff I'm probably sitting at about 80%...

Happy Birthday, Barbie. With your username, I now have a mental image of Fawkes singing "Happy Birthday". To quote George Carlin, "It's thoughts like these that kept me out of the really good schools."

--Mike

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 26, 2005 8:30 pm (#2479 of 2956)

GenXers of the world unite! Thanks, Sirius Lee, that was fun (though a bit embarrassing)!
1. yes 2. yes 3. yes 4. yes 5. yes 6. yes 7. yes 8. I was too old 9. yes 10. no (but I know the reference Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (53) 11. yes 12. yes 13. yes 14. yes 15. yes 16. yes 17. yes 18. yes 19. YES! 20. yes 21. yes 22. yes 23. yes 24. yes 25. yes 26. yes 27. I was too old 28. yes 29. yes 30. yes 31. yes 32. yes 33. yes 34. yes 35. yes 36. yes (ouch!) 37. occasionally 38. yes 39. I was too old 40. yes 41. NO (I hated Howard) 42. yes, even though they’re cousins! 43. yes 44. yes (a pair?) 45. I was too old 46. yes 47. yes 48. yes 49. yes 50. I was too old 51. yes 52. yes 53. I was too old 54. YES 55. yes 56. yes (soulful Rudolph plays in my head) 57. yes 58. yes 59. well, maybe not 8… 60. I was too old 61. yes (but I also remember 8 tracks…) 62. yes 63. yes 64. yes 65. yes 66. YES (brains are still hot!) 67. yes 68. yes (my lungs still haven’t recovered) 69. yes 70. no 71. yes 72. yes 73. yes 74. yes 75. yes 76. yes (no bonus points) 66/76=87% Shameful!

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Pinky - Feb 26, 2005 8:32 pm (#2480 of 2956)

Vicky the Robot!!!!!! For ages I have been trying to remember who she was, and have described the show to people who just give me funny looks and think I'm making it up. She really did exist! Hooray! You can't possibly understand how fulfilled that makes me feel. *contented sigh*

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 26, 2005 8:45 pm (#2481 of 2956)

Sirius lee;

That is one good list. Sadly, even though I was a teenager during the 80's only a handful of these statements actually made sense. How about 19/76=25%??? I wonder if it is because I lived in a remote area of New South Wales or because the list itself is US centric? Nonetheless it is interesting to see how much difference's there are between the countries.

Lizzy

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 26, 2005 8:58 pm (#2482 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Barb. 35! that is the age I look forward to as the perfect age. You are completely grown up and can make your decisions without having to be apologetic to anyone and still have time before reaching the point where you pick up speed going downhill!

Mrs. Sirius: haven't seen a pair of pumps since my son's pregnancy,

:snort: I think you mean when you were pregnant with your son, not that HE was pregnant, right?

*evil grin* heh heh, ain't English great.

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John Bumbledore - Feb 26, 2005 10:15 pm (#2483 of 2956)

Hey All, I finally caught up on reading... okay, just this chat thread but hey. You all are the best! Well get ready for a long post and a lot of references to old post. And speaking of old, that list sure made me feel that way, and I'm just 40 years and two days. (oops three days, after midnight here.) Good afternoon Lizzy! Good morning to Elenor, Sept, and Mare!

Ydnam = Mandy, oh, that is so clever! Wish I'd thought of it... on second thought *nhoj* no I don't!

Vanessa, oh to get a Kipendo on your first post. Never the less, welcome to the forum and have a butterbeer. **passes a butterbeer to Vanessa** **Waves at Catherine and Eponine ** Are you too out there?

Lizzy, kudos on the new job. Now are you going to be doing both at the same time or just switching over? Either way, good luck and success.

Denise P., I am jealous. My PC is one of those still running with only 16 MB of memory. Big hard drive but slow. Give an at'ta girl to your daughter for the hair donation. My daughter is nine and growing hers for the same cause.

I guess I have what Mike TGS would call a congress cut. Back in high school I did wear it longer, a David Cassidy hair cut. Always wore t-shirts, even in winter (snow belt of northwestern Pennsylvania, may I remind you.) ** Waves at Boop Mollis and Julia ** Thank you for the birthday wishes, and Mollis gave me a nice cake too! Thank you Julia! A surprise party and a butterbeer! And Chemyst and Accio HBP, how cute you both were to use my <)B^D= wizard smillie! Thank you Madam Pince, for the "many happy returns" **though that does sound like an after Christmas slogan**

Penny, I do remember Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, St Elmo's Fire? Oooooh Don't forget 'The Goonies'!!!!" A short while after St Elmo's Fire, John Parr did a concert at the University I attended and I was part of the student security detail. Alas, the University was in a "dry" county, meaning there was no bar or pubs, only a state store for liquor and a distributor for beer (nothing smaller than a case). So, one of the bands first request was for "refreshments" and I had to explain this to them. I very nearly got a couple friends to help with a beer run with plans to smuggle it onto campus for them, but realized the concert woudl be over before we would get back. Ah, the stupid luck of youth.

Happy Birthday to Barbie. Oh, I know I have missed someone else.. Madam... Librarian was it your day a few days before mine on the 24? Hmm or Madam Pince? Oh Betty, help! You must tell me how you do it. But then I have always felt lucky to just remember my 5 siblings, and parents birthdays. Alas, earwax!

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore.

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Julia. - Feb 26, 2005 10:37 pm (#2484 of 2956)

Good morning all! Well, it's after midnight here so I can say that.

Happy Birthday Barbie!!!

Thank you all for the healing charms and care packages. The chicken soup was delicious!!! I'm feeling slightly better, but not much. I was blowing my nose all day today, and the Sudafed I took isn't working too well. Sorry for not responding until just now, but I posted my last message right before Shabbos, and I was offline until after sundown today. Once I was finally allowed to come on, I went to hear a speaker with some friends.

Sirius Lee, I loved your 80s list. So many things I'm guilty of on that list, even though I didn't count. Plastic bike streamers, the pealing the stickers off the rubix cube. I just want to go on record and say that slap bracelets were the best, and that Bon Jovi is still my favorite band, next to The Beatles.

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dizzy lizzy - Feb 27, 2005 12:30 am (#2485 of 2956)

Lizzy, kudos on the new job. Now are you going to be doing both at the same time or just switching over? Either way, good luck and success. – bumbledore

I have thrown the old job away. I gave 2 weeks’ notice as soon as I found the new one.

Julia, it's great to see you back again. Hope you are feeling a bit better now!

Lizzy

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Elanor - Feb 27, 2005 1:59 am (#2486 of 2956)

Good morning / evening wherever you are! You won't believe it but it is snowing again this morning with a nice - 7°C / 20°F outside... And the forecast says the weather will be colder for the week to come with, from tomorrow, some "refreshing" air coming straight from Siberia!

It is a nice test Sirius Lee! I had 31/76, 40%. All the series / cartoons questions reminded me of great hours spent in front of the TV but a lot of the other ones were connected to sayings that didn't cross the ocean till here. BTW, does anybody here remember a series called "Dick Turpin"? It was a British series I think, I loved it!

BTW, I didn't tell you about some great news I heard yesterday. I finally met my "publisher"! I don't know if you remember but some times ago, a guy from the town council here told me that a publisher wanted to publish my master's thesis (about the old general hospital of my town during the 17th century). Since then, the publisher had the thesis for reading it and I finally met him yesterday. He said he wants to publish 200 books first, that is not much but I am so happy just the same!

I will have to work on it first because it has about 200 pages and he wants me to cut about 30 pages off it. As I will be very busy till the summer holidays preparing Accio, I told him I needed some time for doing it and he said that if I could give it back to him by the end of August, it should be perfect. So, a lot of work awaits me but I don't mind, it is rather exciting in fact!

Have a great Sunday everybody and happy birthday again Barbie since it is already Sunday morning here! Enjoy your day!

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Good Evans - Feb 27, 2005 5:00 am (#2487 of 2956)

Sirius lee - like Lizzy I think some of your "fads" passed me by, but I think you should have included Dungeons and Dragons !! I was 11 in 1980 so was definitely there!! - I loved the movie references (Gremlins I remember having to sludge through the snow and Ice in my calf high boots with leg warmers poking out of the top (yiiiiicccckkkkkk)and then meeting my little brother to take him to see the movie, i guess he must have been just old enough I cant remember the rating!. And yes I did want to be a Goonie! But more so I wanted to be in "The Breakfast Club".

Anyhow great memories...

Julia I am sending you some pepper up potion !!

Have a great birthday Barbie

Julie

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mike miller - Feb 27, 2005 6:57 am (#2488 of 2956)

Sirius Lee - As a child of the 70's I know about most of your list, although not that many directly apply. I did enjoy some of the music of the 80's. After all, SRV recorded all of his music during the 80's.

Good Evans II - D&D got it's start in the 70's. I remember all day sessions while I was in college. There were 2 of us that had worlds and could be the DM and another 2 that just played. The books available at the time could only take us so far, we ended up creating many of our own charts and table to make AD&D play possible.

Happy Birthday Barbie

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Ozymandias - Feb 27, 2005 8:07 am (#2489 of 2956)

Hello again, everybody!

Well, so much for my promise to log on more frequently. I tried to take too many classes this semester and was having problems with stress and not sleeping. I finally dropped one, but I'm behind now in a few of my classes. It's going to be more difficult to make up the work, too, since I just found out I might have to go to court to testify against a creepy guy who was bothering me last year. It has the potential to take as much as two days out of my week, and I don't get advance notice. Sigh.

I have been arting it up again, though, which makes me really happy. Knitting (I have the easiest sweater pattern in the universe if anyone is interested) and writing. I'm hoping to find the time after this whole court thing blows over to do a reread of either HP or Sherlock Holmes.

I can (with some relief) say that I've never played D&D. However, I recently went to a meet-up for an online game I play often. We got dressed up in costumes and ran around a hotel just being nerds. It was great fun.

Well, off to read some other threads, and then hopefully get caught up in school. Breakfast would probably be a good idea too.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Barbie and anyone I missed during my absence!

~Erin

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Phoenix song - Feb 27, 2005 9:45 am (#2490 of 2956)

Thank you all for your wonderful birthday wishes! They're much appreciated and have cheered me up.

I think that I should take the excellent advice that I've been provided and consider 35 to be the perfect age. It's young enough to still get around and have fun. Yet 35 is old enough that I've learned to let go of all of the petty trappings of youth, such as caring what other people would think if I decided to go for a jaunt to the store without perfectly done hair and make-up. I used to obsess about every trip out of the house. Now my hair and make-up is never perfect anymore, but I'm too much of a mom/wife/adult to much care what some strangers think about me. Yeah for 35!!

Ozymandias, you have my utmost respect on the knitting thing. I've wanted to knit since I was little, but don't know anybody that actually knits to teach me. I've tried to learn from a book...but was rather frustrated (Hermione style) that I wasn't able to "get" how to knit from a book. I'm impressed with anyone that is able to do so.

Barbie

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Good Evans - Feb 27, 2005 9:51 am (#2491 of 2956)

whoops - sorry Mick - I thought that it was V early 80's - but then you are older than me so I will bow to your wisdom.... slinks off tongue in cheek before Mick can hex to another thread!!!!!!

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Gina R Snape - Feb 27, 2005 9:56 am (#2492 of 2956)

Happy birthday, Barbie.

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Lina - Feb 27, 2005 10:44 am (#2493 of 2956)

Happy birthday, Barbie!

Enjoy being 35! I'm 40 and only 2 years ago I started not to feel like a little girl any more.. (maybe I am retarded ?) Now I can say I feel old in a pleasant way and I see my children grow up and I'm happy.

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mike miller - Feb 27, 2005 11:20 am (#2494 of 2956)

Good Evans - Never a hex! I played D&D quite a bit in '78 and '79, before most of the AD&D books and etc. came onto the market. Really, it was only a couple of years earlier.

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Feb 27, 2005 3:46 pm (#2495 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Barbie! I just returned from my oldest daughter's birthday party, she's 25. Hope everyone is having a relaxing Sunday.

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timrew - Feb 27, 2005 5:36 pm (#2496 of 2956)

Congratulations with your book, Elanor!

Happy Birthday, Barbie.........

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Albus Silente - Feb 27, 2005 5:36 pm (#2497 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Phoenix song- presumably Barbie!
*humming Happy Birthday to youuuuuuu- Happy Birthday to youuuuuu....*

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scully jones - Feb 27, 2005 6:34 pm (#2498 of 2956)

Let's see if I can do this...

1. Yes

2. Yes

3. Of Course! Pound puppies rock1

4. Ever word of it!

5. I only wore the shorts under the skirt because my mom wouldn't let me out of the house with a short skirt on.

6. Icky on the babysitter's club... Never liked those books.

7. I always wanted a strawberry shortcake doll...

8. Yes

9. Funniest performer... Not intentionally...

10. Hehe...

11. YES DUCK TALES!

12. My brothers would of killed me.

13. Yes, at a friend's house.

14. One of my favorites!

15. If I had a bike, yes I would have.

16. Yes, Saturday cartoons were the best.

17. I would of, but it was very unfashionable in MY part of the country.

18. First movie I ever saw in Theater.

19. YES! But I skipped on the Trail and chose Pharoah's Tomb.

20. I knotted my shirt on my own.

21. I wasn't interested in guys yet.

22. I expanded on Mash, made it 50 questions long.

23. I had a generic jean jacket.

24. I had a couple different ones.

25. ?!?

26. Actually my mom thought garbage pail kids were cool.

27. Not really.

28. YES!

29. Yes again!

30. My lifelong ambition.

31. Yes for a while, but it looked horrible with my complexion.

32. Not really.

33. I actually can.

34. My brother did.

35. It's a conspiriacy!

36. They never got banned at my school!

37. I do, I do.

38. Not sure.

39. They suck!

40. I remember, but I wish to forget.

41. Not particularly.

42. I did, yes. My brother had a Skunkor action figure and he even smelled! We left him on the heater once and he smelled up the whole apartment.

43. I knew they wouldn't leave for other reasons.

44. Why yes I did.

45. Endlessly!

46. My brothers did that all the time.

47. Yes, on a school trip.

48. My brother did... hehe..

49. Yep.

50. I held the neighborhood record for most skips!

51. Yeah, a friend of mine.

52. ALLLLLLLLVVVVVIIIIIIIIIIIN!

53. My friend had a glow worm and I loved it.

54. Yep.

55. I do remember heathcliffe.

56. I did.

57. Yep.

58. I would of if I had any.

59. Yes, but for warmth, not fashion.

60. I know a few more of these too.

61. Yep, I remember when my friend got a cd player for the first time. I was entranced.

62. I love Gizmo!

63. My brothers had these.

64. Night time bear!

65. AWESOME!

66. I thought he was cute, but I was a little young.

67. I disliked Alf to the nth degree.

68. I remember trying to breath through the hairspray clouds at school.

69. I had a favorite pink one with silver plastic jewels.

70. Not really.

71. My friends had all of their merchandise.

72. Yep.

73. Nope.

74. Watched Back to the Future in class ALL THE TIME!

75. I do. Screech was cool.

76. My friend Bonnie made me memorize it with her.

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Round Pink Spider - Feb 27, 2005 8:03 pm (#2499 of 2956)

Happy Birthday a second time, Barb... I'm here wasting time instead of writing...

Aw, gee, Sirius Lee, your list made me feel old. *sigh* I remember about half of those things, but I was born in '62, and I was in college in the '80s. My husband and I watched "Wax on, wax off" on one of our first dates! And, heck, I remember Michael Jackson as a kid in the Jackson 5 before his voice changed. (They even made a cartoon out of them -- anybody else remember that?)

Anybody else born in the 60s? I got such giggles seeing the fashions in the stores a few years ago -- belts with peace-symbol buckles, cut-off jeans with the thready bottoms (neatly sewn off!), and a jacket with appliqué... I told my kids that the kids of the sixties would have been scandalized, because you were supposed to do the appliqué yourself. It showed your inviduality. My sister had a jacket like that. Oh well...

Congratulations, Elanor!

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From Venus - Feb 27, 2005 8:11 pm (#2500 of 2956)

Well, I've just read hundreds of posts; I haven't been on the forum since before Valentine's day, I think. Anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all the birthday people I have missed since then and cheering charms and healing drafts to all who need them. I've missed you all; I've been very busy and have not had much time for fun stuff.

All I remember of the 80's was trying to get my boys to survive them. I was a 50's child and so I was a teen in the 60's. I think I've worn the same thing my whole life; jeans and t-shirts. Although for a few years I wore them patched and repatched and ragged; and my shirts were usually tie-dyed. Also my hair has just about always been long and straight and stringy. With bangs; until I was about 16 when I grew out my bangs. I have recently got my hair cut, because in my (ahem) maturity my hair has thinned out quite a bit and doesn't look good that way any more. I still wear jeans and t-shirts, though. I have a few nice outfits, though, mostly for church and fancy do's.

This topic was abandoned a long time ago; but while I was reading all your "expressions" and "sayings", I thought of ones that I use that I got from my mom and dad and grandparents, and I hadn't noticed any of them so I thought I'd share them...

If your child complains to you that he/she's bored and has nothing to do you tell him/her to "go sit on the floor and let your feet hang."

If your child complains that he/she has nowhere to sit you tell him/her "Just sit where your mother sat when she was a bride" i.e. on your rear end.

If your children are being very wild and noisy and you need to get their attention you shout “Quiet down or I'll rip off your arm and beat you with the bloody end of it" My sweet little old grandmother used to holler that at us when we were misbehaving; believe me, it got our attention!

Well, I'd better go and put my mother-in-law to bed, she's fallen asleep in her chair. Hope you all have a great week!

Oh, by the way, I LOVE bats. They are soooo cute and I love watching them fly. In the summertime, they fly around my backyard near an outside light I have, catching the bugs that have been attracted to it. Their aerial acrobatics are amazing![/color]

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (54)
Lady Arabella
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (55)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (58)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (59)Lady Arabella Mon Jan 05, 2015 9:11 pm

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Phoenix song - Feb 27, 2005 8:17 pm (#2501 of 2956)

Thanks everybody for their great birthday wishes! I really do appreciate it very much. All in all it was a great day, even though my husband was several states away and it was just me and the 3 kids. I cleaned house and listened to HP on audio CD all day. (The Steven Frye versions are so great!)

Round Pink Spider, I DO indeed remember the Jackson 5 cartoons. When cable TV was first available in our area the shows re-ran on the Chicago station. We would watch the cartoons after school everyday. Before school we would watch the Bozo the Clown show. I don't think that they show that anymore. Does anybody remember that one?

Elanor, I'm so happy for you! Congratulations on your success with the book!

Well, I need to get going. There's "miles to go before I sleep..." Good night, all!

Barbie

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Gina R Snape - Feb 27, 2005 8:44 pm (#2502 of 2956)

Waaaah. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban didn't win for either of the two Oscars for which it was nominated.

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Doris Crockford - Feb 27, 2005 9:00 pm (#2503 of 2956)

Ha! I've finally caught up on reading this thread. One thing I can't forget to do (because someone asked me about two weeks ago so I don't want to seem rude for not answering): Fawkes Forever (I think it was you that asked) I didn't mean Queen's University in Ireland, I meant Queen's University in Canada. It would be very interesting to go to school abroad, but a bit too expensive.

Happy belated birthday, everyone! Especially Barbie! Sounds like you had a good, relaxing day.

As for that list, I remember 36 out of 76. Almost 50% isn't bad, seeing as I was born in the late 80s.

I'm off to bed now, since I know PoA didn't win any Oscars. Talk to you later!

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 27, 2005 9:44 pm (#2504 of 2956)

It's 11:39, so I still have time to wish Barbie a happy birthday, even though she's probably gone to bed.

Too bad PoA didn't win any academy awards. I'm just glad The Aviator didn't win best picture. I think Hotel Rwanda should have won, but it wasn't even nominated Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (60).

By the way, in defense of my high percentage on the 80s quiz, during many of the fad-type questions on the quiz I was in middle school, so it was hard to miss them! (that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!)

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Marie E. - Feb 27, 2005 11:03 pm (#2505 of 2956)

I thought for sure PoA/John Williams had a chance on winning for score. Ah well, there's two more movies to go.

Happy Birthday, Barbie! Guess we have a lot of 1970 babies here on the forum. I don't mind being 35 until I remember how close to 40 it is.

Excellent quiz, Sirius Lee! Even though I didn't directly do some of those things, my siblings did so I can still remember them. For example, Strawberry Shortcake scented dolls. I was already too old for them but my little sister had all of them. She would line them on her headboard. Since we had bunkbeds her headboard was under mine. I would spend the night smelling those dolls and getting sick to my stomach.

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Pinky - Feb 27, 2005 11:22 pm (#2506 of 2956)

Some of you may remember Dumbedore II (Sigrid). She has not been able to visit the forums for some time, but she has some great news that you all should hear. Sigrid had her first child on Jan 4. His name is Ciaran. Ciaran is a Celtic name, and it means "the little dark one." He was 9lb 12 oz. Sigrid says they are fine (despite the sleepless nights) and that they "love him to bits."

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Essidji - Feb 28, 2005 1:33 am (#2507 of 2956)

What a beautiful baby! Congratulations to Sigrid.

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The giant squid - Feb 28, 2005 2:13 am (#2508 of 2956)

If your children are being very wild and noisy and you need to get their attention you shout “Quiet down or I'll rip off your arm and beat you with the bloody end of it" My sweet little old grandmother used to holler that at us when we were misbehaving; believe me, it got our attention!--From Venus

My mom, aunt & grandmother used that one, too, but they embellished on it. The Faust family version is: "I'll rip your arm out by the roots and beat you over the head with the bloody stump--and then I'll get vicious."

It's amazing what parents could get away with saying then that they can't now. If someone were to say that in public they'd get run in to Social Services in a heartbeat! We just understood it to mean, "Knock it off or you'll get in trouble."

--Mike

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Chemyst - Feb 28, 2005 3:51 am (#2509 of 2956)

Belated Birthday Wishes, Barbie.

If someone were to say that in public they'd get run in to Social Services in a heartbeat! - Mike, TGS
'Ever notice how many social service types are embittered feminists that are clueless about real children? They act as if they believe a bloody stump could actually make a good weapon! Humph! It would be way too slippery!

Pinky, I have a 93 year-old aunt who looks an awfully lot like Ciran – give him silver hair and change the bunny print to posies, and the resemblance would be downright spooky. Very cute, but still spooky.

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Marè - Feb 28, 2005 4:28 am (#2510 of 2956)

Sigrid says they are fine (despite the sleepless nights) and that they "love him to bits."

But she insists on calling him "little Monster" half of the time...
Snigger.

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boop - Feb 28, 2005 4:44 am (#2511 of 2956)

Congratulation Sigrid on your beautiful baby!

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Julie Aronson - Feb 28, 2005 5:58 am (#2512 of 2956)

Congratulations and good luck with the publishing, Audrey!

Happy b-day (belated) Barbie--I was born in 1968, so I share your ambiguity about the aging thing!

Erin (Ozy) I'd LOVE that sweater pattern! Could you e-mail it to me please?

Also, congrats on the cool baby, Sigrid!

Julie

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Catherine - Feb 28, 2005 6:24 am (#2513 of 2956)

Lovely baby, Sigrid. Congratulations on the big boy.

Chemyst and Mike and Venus, LOL about the bloody arm stump. An ineffectual weapon, indeed.

My dad's favorite "bodily harm" threat was "I'm going to break your knees" if he was in a bad mood; if he was feeling cheerful, he would just advise us to "Go play in the traffic." I'm almost sure that he didn't mean those things!

We spent the weekend on Claire's science project. Her group is doing "wind," and Claire's specific line of inquiry was "tornadoes." I can now say that in the year 2004 in North Carolina, there were 70 tornadoes reported.

Kaity looks great in her picture, Denise. Very grown-up, and Happy Birthday to her.

Have a great Monday.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 28, 2005 7:46 am (#2514 of 2956)

We spent the weekend on Claire's science project. Her group is doing "wind," and Claire's specific line of inquiry was "tornadoes."---Catherine

You know, when you said "wind" the last thing I thought of was tornadoes.

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Denise P. - Feb 28, 2005 8:03 am (#2515 of 2956)

Aw, what a sweet baby Sigrid! I love the name Ciaran...so much we feminized it to Kierynn.

Meg should be having her baby next....we have our own little Lexicon Baby Boom going on here....

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Round Pink Spider - Feb 28, 2005 8:06 am (#2516 of 2956)

*Yea! Someone else remembers the Jackson 5!* Yes, I remember Bozo the clown, too. We had one of those Bozo the clown punch balloons that you could hit and it would spring back up because it had a weighted bottom. I have a picture of Christmas at my grandma's house the year she gave it to me as a present. I must have been all of 3 or 4. Golly, how I loved that thing!

What an adorable baby! But I'm glad I didn't have to deliver it him -- 9lb. 12oz! He was a whale! My biggest was only 8lb. 2oz.

Don't worry about being 40, Marie E. As Barb observed the other day, it's actually kind of freeing. I've enjoyed my years as a 40-year old so far. ('Course, they would have been easier if I didn't have a 2-year-old... )

I have a good bat story! One day I came into my boys' room and noticed something black on the moulding above the closet. I got close and stared up at it...and it stared right back! Boy, that was startling! It took me a second to realize that what was staring at me was a bat, hanging on the moulding.

It didn't seem to be particularly shy. I must have had my face only 2ft. from the bat's. I had all my kids come and look at the bat. Then we tried to get it down with my husband's fishing net. The bat had had enough at that point; it started whipping around the room, then headed down the hall and started to whip around my daughters' room. I remember thinking at the time that, for a creature with a body not much bigger than a mouse's, it was amazing what a big wingspan it had (at least, it seemed big in an 8x8 room!).

We had no luck netting it (big surprise!), so we finally decided we had to chase it downstairs and back outside. Fortunately, we were able to do that.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 28, 2005 8:14 am (#2517 of 2956)

we have our own little Lexicon Baby Boom going on here....---Denise P.

Boy, do we.

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Catherine - Feb 28, 2005 8:24 am (#2518 of 2956)

Boy, do we. --Lupin is Lupin

Gee, Kim, do you have some news for us? **hears crickets chirping**

I wondered about changing my phrasing of the topic "Wind," but I figured that no one would think I wasn't talking about weather. At least I didn't announce that Claire was studying the "Noble Gases."

Good thing her project wasn't about the planets....you all could have quoted Ron Weasely about that one!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Feb 28, 2005 8:28 am (#2519 of 2956)

Gee, Kim, do you have some news for us?---Catherine

I know I don't, Catherine. Do you?

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Catherine - Feb 28, 2005 8:32 am (#2520 of 2956)

I know I don't, Catherine. Do you? --Lupin is Lupin

Nope!

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Gina R Snape - Feb 28, 2005 8:39 am (#2521 of 2956)

As a social worker who once worked in child welfare, I can assure you that such a threat as beating a child with his own arm would not lead to a child being remanded to foster care. However, I have seen cases where a parent tugged a child so hard that I thought for sure the kid's arm *would* come out of its socket. And much, much worse.

And on that note...give my congratulations to Dumbledore II on the birth of her child. He is a beautiful baby.

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Madam Pince - Feb 28, 2005 8:49 am (#2522 of 2956)

Apparently it is not too difficult to dislocate a little child's arm because their tiny joints are not completely "set" yet, so even playing by swinging them by their arms is not a great idea. And once the arm is dislocated one time, it can keep happening over and over again because of the stretching of the ligaments -- I had a cousin who had that problem when he was little.

Congratulations, Dumbledore II, your baby is just beautiful!

Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn! Hope you don't have any birthday returns! (need to return gifts, that is!)

RPS, I remember the Bozo the Clown punch-bag thing too! Well, I don't actually remember it, but my Mom has told me about it so often that it seems like I remember it. Apparently they gave me one when I was about 3 or 4, and I happily punched it, and then cried and cried when it bounced back up at me. I must've felt that when I hit something, by golly it ought to stay down for the count! They ended up having to get rid of it. That same Mom (Grandma now) decided to try again by giving one to Baby Pince for Christmas this year, but I'm not going to give it to him. I'm having enough trouble trying to teach him not to hit -- I don't need more encouragement. Maybe when he's older and ready to take up boxing as a hobby...

Another memory -- the appliqued jackets (or embroidered?) I had a pair of jeans that I embroidered lots of little designs all over -- I am so sorry that I don't still have those. It would be a neat piece of memorabilia.

I loved your "bat-chasing" story, by the way; I can just see you running around your house with that net....

Snowing here again today! Lovely big fat white flakes. It seems we have the potential to get up to 8-10 inches of snow! I'll believe that when I see it -- it doesn't seem to be sticking to the ground much yet. Elanor, it is funny how often lately it has seemed to be snowing in France and in eastern US at the same time! Congratulations on your pending publications, too!

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pottermom34 - Feb 28, 2005 9:52 am (#2523 of 2956)

cute baby, congrats!! Hey I'm younger than RPS and I remember Bozo, in fact when I was about 5 I was on the local Bozo show I think with a group from church or something. I use to love watching it on tv. Our local guy that dresses up as Bozo is kind of an arrogant jerk though.

Madame Pince where are you from, I'm from Michigan and it's snowing here also, in fact we're under a winter storm warning all day. Michigan weather is funny. A couple weeks ago we had a snow storm and during the storm it was also thundering. There is a saying here "if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes and it will change."

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Elanor - Feb 28, 2005 9:54 am (#2524 of 2956)

Thanks for the congratulations, I was so happy!

Madam Pince, yes it is funny that we share the same bad weather. I heard the weather forecast and they said it hasn't been that cold and for so long a time since 1971 here (at this period of the year)! It was -10°C (14°F) here this morning, with ice on the roads, and an icy wind coming from the Norht that made us feel it was far less than that. And the temperatures should be even colder by tomorrow morning. Brrr...

Congratulations to Dumbledore II, this is a beautiful baby!

As we talked about appliqued jacquets, it reminded me of that picture taken about Easter, in 1975 (I am 2 and a half on that picture) so I put it as my avatar for some times. It was not easy to be a kid in the 70s... (BTW, I did nothing wrong to that kid...)

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Sirius Lee - Feb 28, 2005 10:04 am (#2525 of 2956)

Glad everyone got a kick out of the list (I was worried you'd all be annoyed since it was very long). Just for the record though, it's not MY list. Someone forwarded it to me ages ago and I found it funny enough to save. I found it tucked away in an email folder and thought I'd post it. So to whomever it was that wanted to pass it on to friends - please do! It's bound to bring back a lot of memories!

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Ladybug220 - Feb 28, 2005 10:23 am (#2526 of 2956)
Edited by Feb 28, 2005 9:26 am

Sirius Lee, I read through the post right after you put it there but I finally calculated my score: 55/75=73% I am definitely a child of the 80's as I went from age 5 to 15 (I just turned 30 a week ago). I gave myself half point for some stuff like the pound puppies; I didn't watch the show but I had one to play with. I didn't want to change my name to Jem but rather Kira (I am assuming this is a refernce to The Dark Crystal if not then my score gets lowered ever so slightly Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (61).

I hope that everyone is having a good day so far. I really want this cold rain to go away so that it will warm up here, and I can put my plants onto the balcony as my cats think they are yummy to eat.

edit: My score is 55/76 = 72% I must have skipped a question somewhere....not that it really makes a difference.

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Madame Librarian - Feb 28, 2005 11:25 am (#2527 of 2956)

Sigrid, that is one c-u-u-u-t-e baby. They're so wonderful when they're asleep. Here's a few gentle sleeping charms to use on him when you're so sleep deprived you think you might put the diaper on his head instead of right way 'round. (I was once so exhausted for a middle-of-the-night feed and change session when Jordan was a newbie that I forgot the diaper altogether, just snapped up the little one-sie and traipsed off to bed. Luckily I remembered about 20 seconds after I lay down. I leapt up to remedy the situation so fast my husband couldn't imagine what was wrong. I surely gave him a scare. Baby Jordan was none too pleased either.)

Said baby was a toddler in the mid-'80s. I was an expert on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and accompanying paraphenalia, HeMan, Sesame Street and those awful, saccharin "Wee Sing" book/tapes, Pokemon, Star Wars--which I liked, too--to name a few things. I am no longer holding any of those in my memory bank, thank goodness (I need the room for other important things like HP stuff and where my car keys are).

Ciao. Barb

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Accio Sirius - Feb 28, 2005 11:37 am (#2528 of 2956)

Sigrid,

9 lbs 12oz!!!! What an adorable boy. I had what I thought were two big babies (9 lbs, 2 oz and 8 lbs., 12oz). My pediatrician seemed to believe that bigger babies sleep thought the night sooner. I hope you find that to be true. Congratulations. Kim, are you including JKR in the Lexicon baby boom? I figure we haven't seen any updates on her site because, according to a friend of mine, three kids is a big change from just two. Basically you are switching from a man to man defense to a zone defense. As for Denise, I can't even imagine your game plan! Whatever it is, it's admirable.

Both kids are home today as an unimpressive snow storm has cancelled school. Happy Monday to all.

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Gina R Snape - Feb 28, 2005 1:21 pm (#2529 of 2956)

Woohoo. It's snowing out in NYC and my class tonight is cancelled! Ok, I know...I'm the teacher and I shouldn't be getting all excited. But I am.

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Mrs. Sirius - Feb 28, 2005 1:24 pm (#2530 of 2956)

Dumbledore II what a beautiful baby! Trust me, I know beautiful babies:-)) As for his weight (ouchhh) yes, the bigger they are born the better. They eat more and can sleep through the night sooner. My son was 9lb. 10oz and he was great. Slept through the night starting at one month, and before that he'd wake only once in the night. Congratulations.

Edit: Talk about perspective Gina, all day I have been looking out the window and watching the news because the snow is coming. I feared school would let out early as I ran around doing errands and wondered what after school activities would happen.

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Julia. - Feb 28, 2005 2:02 pm (#2531 of 2956)

Mazel tov Dumbledore II!! He's adoreable, and I hope he brings you much naches

I don't remember if this was in the 80s or the early 90s (the exact dates in my early childhood aren't great) but did anyone else wake up really early to watch the Mickey Mouse club?

Gina, you're so lucky to have snow already. Poor Mar and I are still looking out our windows waiting for it to start. *waves to Mar* (I got your IM last night, sorry I didn't respond, but I was treatimg myself to PoA) When it does, I really hope it's enough to cancel my classes tomorrow. I have the yucky classes on Tuesday and Thrusday. Earlier in the semester there was a lot of snow and the university didn't cancell classes, and a girl got into a car accident and died on her way to class, so now they're being extra cautious.

I just have to share this with you all. Some teachers/professors are just amazing. They're the ones whose classes you really enjoy, and when you leave their presence you're always in a good mood. Liz my Shakespeare professor is one of those teachers. I learn so much from her, and she's one of the coolest people I've ever met. I threw a pencil at her today and she just didn't care. She's awesome.

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Phoenix song - Feb 28, 2005 3:31 pm (#2532 of 2956)

Sigrid, what a beautiful baby! Congratulations! I'm sure that your family will have many blissfully happy days together.

Babies are getting larger lately. My oldest child was 9 lbs 15 oz. (Thankfully the next two were smaller.) When I had #3 (and the last) there was a woman in the room next to mine that had a baby that weighed over 14 pounds! The whole hospital was gasping over that one. Unfortunately, I wasn't very mobile at the time from my C-section and wasn't able to meet the miracle baby and her exhausted mother.

Barbie

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Catherine - Feb 28, 2005 4:40 pm (#2533 of 2956)

I threw a pencil at her today and she just didn't care. She's awesome. –Julia

I must, on behalf of mums and teachers everywhere, discourage pencil-throwing. "It's only funny 'til someone loses an eye!"

I can't top the big baby stories so far. My second (and absolute last, despite rumors!) only weighed 7.5 pounds at birth. But she was anywhere from almost four to almost 6 weeks early. The doctor said it was a blessing she was early, otherwise she would have been enormous. As it was, within 10 days of her birth, she topped the charts in terms of height and weight, and the poor child's nickname for the next two years was "the Chunk." We have women on both sides of our family who reached/topped six feet, so Hayley just might be one of those!

Bless her heart! **waves to Barbie**

I'm off to bed early tonight. I spent a large portion of today at the neurologist office --ICK, poor Claire--and tomorrow Hayley gets her kindergarten check-up and shots. Hayley has let me know that she requires a really nice treat after her shot, and I have agreed. Shots are no fun. I remember that I ran half-dressed out of the doctor's office when I was due to get this shot at age 5, and nearly ran out into the highway before I was recaptured by my irate mother.

So, I hope we get a good update at Jo's site tomorrow, and I wish you all a great evening.

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Ladybug220 - Feb 28, 2005 5:28 pm (#2534 of 2956)

I remember that I ran half-dressed out of the doctor's office when I was due to get this shot at age 5, and nearly ran out into the highway before I was recaptured by my irate mother.

Catherine, as always, your posts never fail to amuse me!

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Helen Potterfan - Feb 28, 2005 6:36 pm (#2535 of 2956)

Ok, I know...I'm the teacher and I shouldn't be getting all excited. But I am.—Gina

Are you kidding! Not to disillusion the college students on the forum, but I probably get more excited than them if a class is cancelled, especially if I have grading to do! I love teaching, but we all love an unexpected break now and then! My poor husband has a 6:20-8:50 class tonight at NYU that wasn't cancelled, so he's still out in the storm.

Sigrid, what a beautiful baby! I like the name! I'm jealous. I want a baby badly, but since I'll be in grad school another couple of years (until I'm on the other side of 30), it'll have to wait a bit longer, especially at the rate my dissertation is progressing this month!

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Julia. - Feb 28, 2005 7:01 pm (#2536 of 2956)

LOL Accio. I know quite a few teachers who were doing more snow dances than their students. Everyone loves a day off.

Catherine, I'm not trying to encourage pencil throwing. I got a bit carried away, and my professor is so amazing that she thought it was hillarious.

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Viola Intonada - Feb 28, 2005 7:37 pm (#2537 of 2956)

Howdy! I know I haven't been around for quite awhile, I have decided to pop back on to the face of the earth again. Life has been too hectic this school year. Adding 9 hours of work (which in reality is closer to 12) a week has really taken a huge chunk out of my free time. I don't know how moms work full time and survive!!! I'm enjoying being a preschool teacher's aid, though.

Yes, I, too, have been guilty of praying for a snow day. Believe it or not, our school system has not had a single snow day this year (Cleveland Suburb). Our Superintendant is too afraid of all the phone calls he gets from working parents when he cancels school. I haven't given up hope yet.

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Eponine - Feb 28, 2005 7:39 pm (#2538 of 2956)

Hello all. I hope everyone is having a good day.

Tomorrow I have a doctor's appt and I have to miss one class. When I told them that I wouldn't be there, they found it quite hilarious that they have to get a substitute for the substitute.

I talked to my best friend the other day, and there's a very good possibility she's going to come stay with me for the summer. She says she doesn't want to stay in Alaska this summer, and she'd like to do something else. So I think she's going to spend the whole summer here. She's going to find a job for a couple of months, but I'm so excited because I never get to spend time with her anymore. It's also hard to coordinate our schedules so we can even talk on the phone because of the time difference. She's a HP fanatic too, so she'll be with me on July 16 for the midnight release.

Anyway, I'm off to type up a test for tomorrow. Have a great day!

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Round Pink Spider - Feb 28, 2005 8:23 pm (#2539 of 2956)

Boy, I guess this storm must have missed us in Southern Minnesota. All we've gotten was a little dusting of light snow. Speaking selfishly as a mother...well, um, it's the moms that dread the snow days...Especially if the weather is bad, and all the little darlings have to stay inside (which, here in Minnesota with the wind chills we get, is always a possibility)!

Yes, in my experience, it is the bigger babies that sleep through the night the soonest. I was fortunate enough that my second (the biggest) started sleeping through the night a week after he came home from the hospital. But my first didn't start sleeping through the night until she was 5 years old (*yawn*).

Catherine, I give treats after shots also for older kids. Shots mean a mandatory trip to the ice cream parlor.

Yea, tomorrow is March! (Crosses off another month before the next book comes out. )

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Amilia Smith - Feb 28, 2005 8:30 pm (#2540 of 2956)

I got to go see ET as a treat after getting a shot once. That's the only thing I remember about seeing that movie the first time, that I had had a shot that day. The subject came up yesterday. My brother and dad were talking about Speilberg taking the guns out of the movie for the DVD because they might scare kids. My brother asked me if the guns had scared me when I saw it as a 5? year old. "I don't know. I had a shot that day." (BTW, I have seen the movie since. There is no need to be shocked at my not remembering anything from ET.)

Mills.

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boop - Feb 28, 2005 8:40 pm (#2541 of 2956)

It is snowing here too! We have about 6 inches so far. Jim(mischafan) says he gave up snow dances for Lent. I don't know if I believe him. Wish I could stay home tomorrow, but we have to report to work no matter what. The only time we don't have to is, when the students are not at the University.

I grew up in the 60's. I could relate to the test.

Michelle!!runs over and gives Michelle a bear hug. Good to see you on line.

Have a good night everyone. Anyone who must go out on the roads with the snow, be careful. We want everyone to be safe.

Hugs Always

Betty(boop)

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Julia. - Feb 28, 2005 9:24 pm (#2542 of 2956)

Woo. Snow's finally started and it's comming down pretty hard. I'm almost positive classes will be off tomorrow, which is good because I can use the time to write my 4-6 page midterm for 18th Century and Restoration Literature.

On a different note, just incase you didn't believe that I am Hermione, here's the proof! Notice how close my head is to the paper, and don't you love my scarf?

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Madam Pince - Feb 28, 2005 10:18 pm (#2543 of 2956)

Julia, if you throw pencils at your favorite teachers whose classes you enjoy, whatever do you throw at the teachers who stink???

Viola!!! Welcome back!!! Glad to hear you're enjoying work. I must say that from what I observe at my son's daycare / preschool, you must indeed be a saint -- it looks like a harrowing job to me!

This snowstorm was certainly a disappointment -- hardly any accumulation at all, even though it snowed literally all day. It was just warm enough that it all melted as soon as it hit. Now that it's gotten dark and the temperature has dropped, it is accumulating a bit, but it still won't be much. I forget who asked earlier, but I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland....

Talking about baby sizes -- in our baby classes, there was a couple who were expecting at about the same time we were. The wife was a normal-sized lady, and the husband was what I would describe as a "corn-fed mid-west football player" type -- absolutely huge but not at all fat. They were asking questions about c-sections because they said the husband had been 14 pounds at his birth, and his wife said "...and I'm NOT going through THAT, I can tell you!" It was pretty funny. I don't know how it turned out. I could hardly believe that there could be a 14-lb. newborn, but apparently their doctor was expecting theirs to be close...

Happy Birthday, Ron Weasley!

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (62)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (66) March Posts

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (67)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:23 pm

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The giant squid - Mar 1, 2005 1:17 am (#2544 of 2956)

They act as if they believe a bloody stump could actually make a good weapon! Humph! It would be way too slippery!—Chemyst

LOL! Thanks for the chuckle.

Well, I have no "big baby" tales, and, barring an act of God, never will. I can tell you that my maternal grandfather was 13 pounds at birth (back in 1920-something) and was delivered at home (on the farm), without medication, and great-grandma was back at work feeding the chickens & slopping the hogs the next day. And folks these days think they're tough...

It's not snowing here--but then, being in the middle of the desert I'd be surprised if it were. It has been raining on-and-off for the last two weeks, though. We've been getting the dregs of the torrential rains they've been dealing with in Southern California. Personally, I love the coudy, gloomy feel and the smell of an impending rainstorm, so I'm happy...at least until I have to get on the road. You'd think these people have never seen water before.

--Mike

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Essidji - Mar 1, 2005 2:07 am (#2545 of 2956)

BRRR! As Elanor mentioned, we got some "fresh" air descending straight from siberia. We still had -19°c at 8 o'clock this morning (the conversion chart I have foud says it's -2.2°F). The forecasts say today will be this winter's coldest day.

Here in the northeast of France, it's not unusual to get -10°c/14°F in winter, but that cold is exceptionnal. Though I remember that, one night five years ago, the temperature got that low.

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septentrion - Mar 1, 2005 3:03 am (#2546 of 2956)

Hi everyone !

I haven't been on that thread for a few days and had to skim through the posts. Just say : happy birthday barbie ! Congrats to Sigrid for that beautiful little one ! And yes Julia, you'd be a perfect Hermione ! How is it that hardly anyone noticed your wearing a Gryffindor scarf ?

It's cold here too though not as cold as by Essidji's or Elanor's : around -9°C this morning, hardly more than 0°C expected at the best of the day. I feel a huge tendecy for cocooning these days.

Something weird happened last night : my husband has been dreaming of plane crashes, and I've been dreaming of maledictions. I hope this isn't a bad omen (I've dreamt I was a werewolf last week).

I just finished Pride and Prejudice, I really loved that book. It was as if I was reading a 19th century Jo Rowling : they share the same irony.

Everyone have a great day/evening !

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 1, 2005 7:13 am (#2547 of 2956)

Hello everybody, from sunny Minnesota! It's a bee-utiful day here, but a bit too cold -- it's only 8°F/-13°C here. That's what we get for having clear skies during the night. (I can't believe it's colder in parts of France than in Minnesota...) But from inside the nice, warm house it's a very cheerful sight. We got just a dusting of snow last night, just enough to make the old snow brilliantly white. Between the cloudless sky and the very white snow it's a fine morning.

Have a great day, and those of you who got spared classes today because of the snow -- live it up!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 1, 2005 7:15 am (#2548 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 1, 2005 6:16 am

You are chipper, RPS - does that mean your kids went to school today?

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Phoenix song - Mar 1, 2005 7:26 am (#2549 of 2956)

As it was, within 10 days of her birth, she topped the charts in terms of height and weight, and the poor child's nickname for the next two years was the Chunk." We have women on both sides of our family who reached/topped six feet, so Hayley just might be one of those!" Catherine.

**waves back at Catherine** Funny that you should have called your daughter "the Chunk". For quite a while our youngest was very "chunky" and loved to climb on things (or climb as much as her stubby little legs would allow) and we called her "Chunky Monkey". Fortunately she's slimmed out, now we just need to work on her mother... **cough, me, cough**

RPS, it does sound as if you're in an unusually good mood this chilly morning. Surely that means that all of the school age children are actually at school? **waves at "spider lady" and invites her to a card game...**

I'm jealous of everybody's snow. All we've been getting is rain, and lots of it! The yard is saturated, even by Louisiana standards, and the river...well, "she's a rising". It's a bad sign to have our little local river this swollen so soon in the season, it foretells much flooding when everyone else's snow begins to melt and find it way down south.

Have a good day everybody, enjoy the snowdays when you have them!

Barbie

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 1, 2005 7:44 am (#2550 of 2956)

Yes, indeed, I've only got one left to get out the door. Then it's just me and my little Peter.

Barb (Phoenix Song) knows we've been a little worried about Peter, because he's been so slow to talk. He has a great fascination with music, and he's been singing for a long time, but he has very few words (he's 26 mos. old). We were concerned that he might be hard of hearing (one of my children is deaf), but his hearing is normal. He's just been starting to ask for things with his very few words the last few weeks. Yesterday he reached for the kitchen counter and said, "Ma wanna nanana," which I realized meant "I want a banana." I thought he'd been calling them nananas, but this finally proved it. I am so psyched!!!

All my other kids started talking before they were 17 mos. old, so this has been kind of nervewracking.

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Julia. - Mar 1, 2005 8:02 am (#2551 of 2956)

Awwww, don't worry RPS, Peter will come around. It takes different kids different amounts of time to develop their language skills. I'm glad you're enjoying your morning.

Madam Pince, I don't throw things at the professors whose classes I can't stand. They'd kill me. I only throw things at the ones where I know I can get away with it. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (68)

Wow Essidji, that's cold. I hope it warms up for you soon and that you don't lose any ears in the meantime.

I'm all sad. After all my optimism last night, classes were

not

cancelled today. *sigh* I mean really, what's the point of snow if it doesn't get me out of class?!

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Phoenix song - Mar 1, 2005 8:03 am (#2552 of 2956)

My oldest son said very few words until after his second birthday as well. I was terrified, of course, since he was my first. I discovered through some research that sometimes boys who are reluctant talkers are seriously intelligent and spend so much time "in their heads" that they don't feel the need to communicate as often as other children. These are the boys who go on to become scientists, architects and engineers!

When Joey began to talk, it was in a virtual torrent of words and sentences. He is 8 now, and the theory about science and mechanics has proven to be accurate. He could spend hours taking apart things to learn the intricacies of how they work, and can simply amaze me with his understanding of how things operate.

I'm sharing this for anyone, like RPS, who might have a child that doesn't speak often or well. If the pediatrician has ruled out any medical or neurological problems, then take their general advice and patiently wait for them to be ready. Continue to try to engage your child but try not to be frustrated if they're not verbally ready. They're still getting some positive benefits from the time that you're spending with them. You're not doing anything wrong. I hope that this is an encouragement.

Barbie

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 1, 2005 8:45 am (#2553 of 2956)

Thanks, Barb. Yes, I've heard that boys that are slow talkers often end up being very analytical. Excellence in math runs in my husband's family, so I've been telling myself that, over and over... My other one who started with sentences is very smart, too.

My little guy is up there right now in his crib, singing some of the music from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". It's his favorite, because my daughter was the Narrator in her school's production while I was pregnant with him, and we were always singing the music. I noticed that he came out recognizing the tunes (really!). Anyway, I've got to go get him up. Time to start the day's work!

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Dumbledore - Mar 1, 2005 9:24 am (#2554 of 2956)

Hello all! Once again, I'm coming back from a long period of forum hiatus (I think like 4 months). So just popping in to say hello!! Hope everyone's doing well and I hope to catch up on everyone's news as I start to sort through these threads!! And of course, a hearty happy birthday to Ronald Weasley!!!

-Lauren

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MoonRider - Mar 1, 2005 9:38 am (#2555 of 2956)

Ummmm----excuse me-----Hi!

I don't mean to interrupt your conversation.....

I was just wondering if anybody caught what they said on the Oscars, the other night, about Hillary Swank? They said something about her being the only person in the history of the Academy Awards to have "done something". My television went bonkers (bad reception) just as they said it, and I missed it.

Thanks,

MoonRider

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Phoenix song - Mar 1, 2005 10:27 am (#2556 of 2956)

Moon Rider, I'm sorry but I didn't watch the Oscars. Maybe you could check out some Entertainment News to find out. Perhaps they'll have some information on the "Entertainment Tonight" website. That's the only thing that I can think of right now. I hope that helps!

Barbie

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 1, 2005 11:16 am (#2557 of 2956)

I was just wondering if anybody caught what they said on the Oscars, the other night, about Hillary Swank? They said something about her being the only person in the history of the Academy Awards to have "done something"—Moonrider

It was that she was the first female to be nominated for playing the role of a boxer. I suppose this was somehow distinct from Jamie Foxx being the first male actor nominated for playing the role of Ray Charles.

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Sirius Lee - Mar 1, 2005 12:09 pm (#2558 of 2956)

I cracked up laughing when I heard "first women to ever win for playing a boxer"! Really now, have there been THAT many?!?

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John Bumbledore - Mar 1, 2005 12:57 pm (#2559 of 2956)

Children and Speaking

Barbie, RPS, I am one (a late talker); at least it sounded like you were describing the better part of my childhood and school experience. I did a double take when I read Barbie's recounting of "boys who are reluctant talkers are seriously intelligent and spend so much time 'in their heads' that they don't feel the need to communicate as often as other children." It was a spooky feeling reading a description that has so many commonalities with my experience. I love math and science but spell atrociously. I earned honors at my high school graduation for Mathematics and Computer Science (still have the award pins.) I received a certificate from the PHEAA (Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency) for scoring in the 5th percentile in the state on the SAT that year (between 1981 and '83, I took it twice, a year apart.) And I did go on to become a computer scientist; also did a stint as a systems analyst, then programmer, network administrator, and network engineer. Each got progressively more time constraining and demanding (and stressful).

I remember quite clearly, as a pre-kindergarten child, having virtually everyone in my family talk for me. If someone asked me a question, I would just look at my mom or one of my siblings and they just seemed to understand and respond for me with exactly what I would have said.

Now this line of thought has brought to mind a book called "A Wrinkle in Time." There is a young boy in that book that seldom talks, but is very smart. He, Charles Wallace, is considered dumb because he is quiet, but he and his family are really quite gifted. Seems they can travel through tesseracts, wrinkles in time. He also had the ability to communicate with his family without speaking, telepathy.

I don't claim that ability, but I have more than once answered a telephone before it rang. It was always when my mom was calling. That really freaked out Mrs. Bumbledore! But it is something I am not sure about simply because I thought I did hear the phone ring... As I remember these events, I hear the phone ring and walk over to it and answer it, others in the room ask me what I am doing. I then respond with the obvious, "I am answering the phone, didn't you hear it ring?" Everyone answers "No!" The caller (usually my mom) then tells me she had just finished dialing and hadn't hear a ring on her end. **Looks around at all the wide eyes staring back from the forum** Really, It has been quite a few years now but, I can think of three different times it has happened to me. I just think everyone else is missing the one and only ring that sounds before I pick up the phone. I know I have many of the indicators for ADD, so maybe that may make it easier for me to pay attention to so many different things happening all at the same time, but always they all claim the phone had never rang. So keep an eye on your boys for some surprises.

Well, I was going to post a list of 70s TV shows, but I have exceeded my quota (so to speak) for one who was a "late to speak" child.

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

P. S. I do hope I haven't rattled on to much. And please forgive me if this sounds boastful, because I don't want to be that. Edited a bit for phrasing and grammar.

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Accio Sirius - Mar 1, 2005 12:58 pm (#2560 of 2956)

MoonRider, I believe it's that Hilary Swank was one of three other women to win an Oscar both times they were nominated in succession. I'll try to check. I was disappointed that POA didn't win, especially for music. It would be nice to see the movies get recognized beyond just us!

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Acceber - Mar 1, 2005 2:26 pm (#2561 of 2956)

RPS-I didn't talk until I was three. I could spell before I could talk. I tried hard to say 'red', but it always came out as R-E-D. We got a wonderful speech therapist to help me become literal. I still do have a slight speech impediment; I stutter and talk at fast rates when I get nervous, but I'm not complaining.

I typed up a loooooong post this morning celebrating the fact we have a snow day, and when I tried to download Smiley Central for the umpteenth time (I wanted a picture of snow), I lost it. Mainly I said that I was born little (6'15"), I recognized some of the 80s list even though I wasn't born yet, Happy Birthdays to Barbie and Ron, and Congratulations to Sigrid.

My cat's sitting on the computer desk looking outside at the snow and listening to a plane fly by. He's very sweet and very fat. (No, I didn't have to tell you that, but I love him soooo much.)

Off to read the threads and enjoy my snow day. Tata!

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Catherine - Mar 1, 2005 2:26 pm (#2562 of 2956)

I think that Hillary Swank and Katharine Hepburn and Sally Fields are the only ones to win two times out of two nominations. Of course, I believe Ms. Hepburn went on to be nominated (and win again) several more times. But I'm not the movie buff that some people on the Chat thread are **waves to Mike, TGS, and others**

WARNING: LONG STORY AND RANT ABOUT LATE TALKERS AND DOCTORS. SKIP IF THIS WILL BORE/OFFEND.

I, too, have experience with the "late talkers." The first one I encountered was my brother, who suffered from the comparison with me, who talked early and constantly. Nonetheless, even for a boy, he was a late talker. He had a real problem expressing himself, he grunted, and eventually tantrumed when we couldn't understand him. The pediatrician determined that his receptive language was age-appropriate, and told my parents to make me shut up, because even during the exam, I did all of his talking for him. My brother always excelled at mathematical and analytical pursuits, and in fact, he recently received a nearly perfect score on the standardized exam for business graduate school. He's as normal as anyone else in our family. EDIT: I did need to shut up; the doctor was right about that!

My daughter was another late talker, but the pattern was different. She didn't babble and experiment with sounds, but she seemed to understand what we were saying. She cruised holding onto walls at six and a half months, and walked by nine months. The pediatrician said she was "focusing on her motor skills," and not to worry.

One of her first words was "octagon" when we were walking in a city street; I nearly fell over from shock at hearing her talk, and that she was pointing at the stop sign, and identifying it as an octagon. But then.. nothing. The pediatrician told me I was being a fretful mom, and to relax. When she finally began putting words together, she spoke in whole sentences that were perfect. Almost too perfect. She didn't make the usual mistakes with endings and plurals, for example. I still felt like something wasn't "right" but the doctor kept telling me that I was a nervous first-time mom, and that she was fine.

I remember when she was 15 months old, and we were at the doctor to check her ears before flying east (she'd had a bad cold, and I wanted to make sure they were clear). The nurse told us to go into room four. Claire looked at all the doors, then chose door number four. The nurse was amazed to learn that not only could Claire could count to 20, she could recognize the numeral visually. I said, "Don't you think this shows that she's wired a little differently? She doesn't really talk, but can recognize her numbers?" Again, I was told that I should be proud to have such a smart child, and that she would talk when she was ready. I was also cautioned against being a flashcard mom, and drilling her. This was very insulting, as Claire learned to count from watching Sesame Street while I did paperwork!

See the pattern here? Deny the problem, reassure the mom, blame the mom.

It wasn't until Claire was 3, able to read the newspaper, able to recite any TV show or movie she watched verbatim, and choosing to watch TV with the closed caption on so she could read it, but STILL unable to really converse normally that we were finally able to convince anyone in the medical community that our daughter's language development was quirky. Turns out she is diagnosed with very mild autism.

I don't share this to make other parents feel scared that their child has a diagnosis, or some kind of pathology, but to encourage you that you know your child, and to pursue it if you think there is a problem. I have a good friend here who has a son who, due to a rare genetic mutation, became nearly deaf. She was worried because he didn't babble, or seem engaged with her, and she kept telling her husband (who is a physician!) that their son couldn't hear, only to have him deny the problem. Finally, she took her son to a specialist, who confirmed that her son couldn't hear. Her second son was also born with the same mutation, but due to earlier intervention, has much better hearing.

Moral of the story: Gather all the information you can, and listen to your instincts.

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Elanor - Mar 1, 2005 2:49 pm (#2563 of 2956)

Hello everyboby! I don't have any children but there is one thing I am sure about: there is nothing like a Mom's instinct and love to help her child growing up. You Moms are the best!

As Essidji and Septentrion said, it is really freezing here! This morning, it was a -16°C (3.2°F) in my town, without the effect of the wind, that is what I call cold. It wasn't fun to go outside at 7.30 a.m. and try and defreeze the car... When I had finally managed to open the frozen door and started the car (fortunately I had put something on the windscreen), I had the bad idea to take off my gloves because they're not handy for driving. Stupid idea indeed: the steering wheel was so cold it burnt my fingers and I had to put them on again, I just couldn't touch the wheel! We're used to cold temperatures sometimes in winter, though usually in January, but it was the first time that a thing like that happened to me!

Round Pink Spider, I really admire you to live in Minnesota in winter, two weeks of such a cold weather and we're fed up with it here. You must be so happy when spring comes!

Have a great tuesday everybody!

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Madame Librarian - Mar 1, 2005 2:55 pm (#2564 of 2956)

Late talker story:

When Jordan was 10 months old, he started speaking one word exclamations. By 15 months, full sentences. My next door neighbor whose daughter, Kirstin, was just a month younger than Jordan couldn't get over it. Kirstin was silent as a clam. No babbling, hardly any whining even. She was the sweetest thing who just went along with the flow and somehow did exactly as she wanted and managed to make her needs known. Jordan was adept at knowing what Kirstin wanted when they played together while the moms kaffeeklatched. "Kristin needs some juice!" or "Kristin told me to get her stuffies from the den." or "Kristin's tummy hurts and ice cream will make it better." You know, he was usually right. And, if Kristin got juice or ice cream, Jordan did, too. This made us a bit suspicious, but you can't put a 2 year old under the 3rd degree. We really wondered what was going on...telepathy? Jerry (Kristin's mom) was getting downright jealous of Jordan because Kristin would "talk" to him, but not to her. So...

...at age 3, Jerry was really worried although anyone could tell that Kristin was a bright, happy little girl. She'd understand anything we said, she'd hum along to music (so hearing wasn't suspected), and Jordan still claimed to discuss many deep and important topics with her. The docs were still telling her to wait a bit.

At a big family dinner one night, Jerry was serving the kids first. When she placed a plate in front of Kristin, this booming voice proclaimed, "What is this? Spaghetti, again!? Why do you always give the kids spaghetti?" Kristin had spoken. She then proceeded to give a little sigh and calmly ate her dinner. The whole table was dumbfounded. Not only had she finally uttered something, she did so in full, clear sentences as if she'd been talking for ages. The conclusion was that she finally had something to say that her mom needed to hear.

Jerry called me immediately and was laughing/crying hysterically. From then on Jordan didn't need to talk for her so much, though he often claimed that now that she could speak to anyone, Kristin told him "secrets." We never could figure that one out. What kind of secrets would a 3 year old have? Never mind, I don't want to know.

Ciao. Barb

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Madam Pince - Mar 1, 2005 2:58 pm (#2565 of 2956)

Barb, that is hysterical. I can just hear that little girl berating her Mom! What a riot.

Oh, and I loved "A Wrinkle in Time" when I was younger -- our fifth-grade teacher (who was uber-cool) read it to us by reading a few pages every day during the five minutes we had between the last morning class and going to lunch. However, I recently re-read it, and it felt to me like it had lost a lot with the passage of years -- it just went too fast, or something. I think JKR has spoiled me....

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Eponine - Mar 1, 2005 3:00 pm (#2566 of 2956)

I'm here to throw in my two cents on late talkers. My nephew (my sister-in-law's little boy) just had his second birthday on Saturday and has just recently uttered his first word. He understands everything you say perfectly, but he hasn't started talking yet. He doesn't really experiment with sounds, but he has learned some basic sign language. He just grunts a lot right now, but they've got him working with a speech therapist which has brought about the first word "bubble".

Bumbledore, A Wrinkle in Time was one of my favorite books when I was growing up. I recently procured a signed copy off eBay that I'm thrilled about. ABC's Wonderful World of Disney version was fairly good, and I think it's worth checking out if you get the chance.

Well, I hope everyone is having a great day!

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Denise P. - Mar 1, 2005 3:05 pm (#2567 of 2956)

I have two late talkers. One of them has been in speech since she was 2 because we could see the difference in her speech long before that. She was clearly able to understand us but nothing that came out of her mouth (other than the word Daria, our dog) was English. Numerous testing proved she had nothing specifically wrong and they were at a loss to say exactly what the problem was. She is 8 now and even today, when she gets upset or frustrated, we have to tell her to slow down and speak in English so we can understand her. My second late talker had a totally different issue and he went into a special pre-school for speech. He is almost 100% caught up with his peers now. In both cases, it was wrongly assumed that because they came from a large family that everyone spoke for them. If you think your child is delayed, by all means get them looked at. Heh, my first had speech problems that I insisted were real even though an observation in the class showed otherwise. I demanded he be tested and viola! They found a significant problem that escaped notice in the 30 min classroom observation. Sometimes mom does know best and one should never feel like a nag for doing what is best for your child.

This is a picture of my almost 11 year old Ryan. He was awarded his Arrow of Light last night and crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts.

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John Bumbledore - Mar 1, 2005 3:20 pm (#2568 of 2956)

Kudos for Ryan, (son of Denise P. ) on earning the Arrow of Light and crossing over to Boy Scouts!

My youngest two (twins, now five and a half years old girl and boy) had speech trouble and both have been in speech therapy for a couple years or so. They both started babbling but then James stopped and Rachael was talking for him. Mamma persisted with the Doctors and we found James had a loss of hearing caused by fluid behind the eardrum. He is on his third set of tubes and is talking but has an auditory processing delay. He takes a few seconds after hearing before he has completely processed and understood what was said.

So I agree that Mamma knows best. I thought he was just being like me, but I supported Mrs. Bumbledore in her quest for answers and ultimately appropriate treatment and speech services.

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

P. S. I forgot to mention that as a child I also had speech therapy.

P. P. S. On autism, I am uneducated but Mrs. Bumbledore is a special education Teacher and has described it as akin to suffering from sensory overload. It seems that all the child's senses are at top volume (I think of it like a migraine combined with ADD). I also think that the attention-deficit label is an inverse description. What I mean is that the person doesn't filter out the back ground "sounds" so is paying attention to multiple things. I say this because I was able to follow three conversations taking place in the same room, it just took me a few seconds to process and responds and that often means the conversation has move on past the point of the comment flowing smoothly with the other speakers.

Well, I am no expert. I did say that. This has probably been nothing more than bumbling babble, but that is my analysis. To this day, I cannot pass by an operating television without stopping to look and listen to it. Often loosing myself in time until someone cause a bigger attention getting motion or sound. Not that I've missed what they were saying but that my focus was magnetically drawn to the TV. So after a moment, the little tape recorder in my head has played back what the person has said and I can then reply (often needing to apologize, as well). Oh, my. time to end this introspection. Sorry.

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Julia. - Mar 1, 2005 3:39 pm (#2569 of 2956)

AHHHHHH!! Did someone hit the 'boat load of work' button, and no one told me?!?! All of a sudden, I have a 4-6 page midterm, 13 statistics problems and 20 pages of reading due tomorrow, and an out line for a paper that I don't even have a topic for due on Thursday!! Why didn't anyone tell me about this?!?!?!?!

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Prefect Marcus - Mar 1, 2005 4:10 pm (#2570 of 2956)

The Incredibles DVD is coming out in two weeks, March 15.

Just thought you guys might want to know. :-)

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Phoenix song - Mar 1, 2005 4:14 pm (#2571 of 2956)

Madame Librarian, your story about the neighbor's daughter who never spoke at all, and then first spoke to complain about the spaghetti she was served, had me laughing and crying at the same time. As I previously shared, I lost my dad a few weeks ago. When I was worried about my son's lack of speech, my dad used to reassure me by saying, "Don't worry about him! He just hasn't needed to talk yet 'cause you've never burnt his toast." It was his way of letting me know that Joey would talk whenever he was ready to talk. Your story helped me to remember my dad's funny reassurances.

Catherine, thank you for sharing your daughter's story. It was very moving for me and I'm sure that it will help other parents. I also feel strongly that parents should remember that they know their children best, and they have the most invested in taking care of them. Parents should arm themselves with all of the information that they can find and demand to be heard. It's horrible to have a physician, teacher, or healthcare provider refuse to listen to you with regards to your child. As your children's advocate you always have the right and the responsibility to speak up and be heard!

Bumbledore, I'm relieved to hear your story since it seems that my son had a similar start in his life. It gives me hope that he will go on to accomplish great things.

Isn't it great how everyone has been sharing, sympathetic, and so encouraging? This is a great group of people.

Barbie

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Accio Sirius - Mar 1, 2005 5:05 pm (#2572 of 2956)

Catherine, Thank you for sharing that story. I know you all have been through a lot. Claire sounds utterly charming! When I look back on events in my life, my biggest blunders seem to be the ones in which I ignored my instincts. One bonus that comes with age is that I don't do that as much anymore. As far as doctors and teachers, though, it has been the reverse for us. I won't even go into all of the horrible things they have told us about our son over the last four years--almost all of which were really just assumptions or bad guesses. And for each time they told me this devastating stuff, I know I've lost years off of my life. And yet our little guy continues to defy everyone. But it's like I tell my daughter:, it may not be a fairy tale, but it sure is an adventure.

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Chemyst - Mar 1, 2005 5:44 pm (#2573 of 2956)

I cannot underscore boldly enough, um... make that I cannot underscore boldly enough the importance of going with one's instincts, especially one's parenting instincts. Twice have I walked out of an office after being told "not to be so concerned; I should leave that up to the professionals." Those two decisions both rank among the top ten best decisions I've ever made.

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MoonRider - Mar 1, 2005 5:46 pm (#2574 of 2956)

Thanks, SO MUCH, to everybody for responding------I REALLY appreciate it!

Accio Sirius: Did you ever find-out if that was it? .....or the thing about being the only woman nominated for playing a boxer.

I don't know if that's it, because the sentence was: "....the first person in the history of the Academy Awards....."

I want to find that sentence.....

I had just started looking, when I remembered I had to get something else done------my brain is SO not working this week-----SHEESH!

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haymoni - Mar 1, 2005 6:15 pm (#2575 of 2956)

Hey guys - Ungrateful Son didn't say ANYTHING (he didn't even really babble.) until one week before his 18 month checkup and then it was full sentences. I think Daughter was talking upon fertilization.

My mom passed away in 1998. My brother had a boy in 1999 and we all knew from the get-go that there was an issue. But with Mom gone, nobody wanted to say anything. Mistake #1 - we should have risked it.

Their son was kicked out of 2 daycares before they finally accepted that there was a problem. Their pediatricians never caught it because they went to a group practice and rarely saw the same doctor twice.

At 4, he was finally diagnosed with autism. He's in a special school and seems to be improving. I've dropped hints about a gluten-free, dairy-free diet, but they read somewhere that it doesn't work all the time so they haven't even tried it.

Does an overbearing, older sister persist or does she let it drop?

I'm sure my mother would have found some tactful way to tell them sooner, but I'm like a bull in a china shop.

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 1, 2005 6:45 pm (#2576 of 2956)

I was a late talker and a sloppy talker, but it was more due to the fact I was slowly losing my hearing from birth. The hearing loss leveled off at around my 7th birthday and I have only now started to lose some more hearing.

I thank my mother every day that I had a sister who was 18 months younger, that we lived in an isolated area and that she was a teacher. This meant that for the four years it took Mum to convince everyone (doctors) I couldn't hear, she was going over and over the same drills every single day. Intensive speech therapy by default. Mum tried her hardest to make sure I had the same language skills as my sister - she succeeded.

I only had 3 months of formal speech therapy, to teach me how to say my "s's" when I was ten. Mind you everyone in my family corrected my speech all the time. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but I do now.

After my second niece was born, my nephew (who had just turned two) started stammering etc. I managed to convince my sister to get speech therapy and correct it now. Only when he is mega excited or stressed, does the stammer come back. Everyone thought it was a reaction to being kicked out of mum’s lap when the sister was born, but you don't condemn a child to poor speech habits just because he objected to his sister being born.

Have a wonderful day and I hope our European members are coping OK with your cold snap. It made our local news this morning.

Lizzy

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Accio Sirius - Mar 1, 2005 7:23 pm (#2577 of 2956)

MoonRider,

This is what I got from JS Online: A Date With History:

A second acting Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby” star Hilary Swank (the 1999 winner for "Boys Don't Cry") would put her in the company of Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field and Luise Rainer as the only actresses with a perfect track record: two nominations and two wins."

I'm guessing the "first-ever" thing would be a female boxer.

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Helen Potterfan - Mar 1, 2005 10:18 pm (#2578 of 2956)

Julia, just breathe; it will be OK. This is just the beginning of the mid-term crush; it will be over soon. Just tackle one task at a time. I know exactly how you feel. I have a conference presentation on Friday and I haven't finished the paper for my talk; I have to submit a draft of my first dissertation chapter to my workshop on Monday and I only have 15 disorganized pages; I have a fellowship application due on March 7 that I've barely started to complete; and I have meetings tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, all day Saturday, and Sunday. I'm trying to take my own advice, but I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed as well. (Did I mention that I have out-of-town guests coming on Monday and my house is a disaster because I've been so busy?!!) **sends Julia care package of butterbeer, chocolate frogs, and kosher (almost) every-flavored beans**

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Julia. - Mar 1, 2005 10:32 pm (#2579 of 2956)

Oh my mother!! Wow Accio, you totally beat me in terms of stuff to do. At least I get a break next week! Good luck getting all your stuff done. I've deffinatly learned that the only way to handle this much work is to handle it one thing at a time. Concentrate on the task at hand, and don't worry about all you have left to do. When you finish one thing, just move on to the next.

Thanks so much for the care package, I'm sending you brownies as a thank you! By the way, I'm pretty sure Bertie Botts are kosher. Actually, I'm positive.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 1, 2005 11:25 pm (#2580 of 2956)

It's been so long since I've been able to get to the forum there are hundreds and hundreds of posts. I actually tried to post last night but for some reason my computer wouldn't let me or something...I have so many posts to catch up with I may never get caught up.

As far as having your kids tested for learning or speech difficulties, I'm all for doing it early if you feel it is needed. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia in kindergarten or 1st grade because my mother insisted I be tested. If they hadn't caught it early I would have really, really struggled in school. She also fought to have my brother tested early and it helped him a lot as he was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia, as well as ADD (but not hyperactive). My mom actually ended up homeschooling him because the schools were just not willing to work with him. But he just graduated from University in May! Follow your instincts! Moms are always right!

Off to try and jump into the mountains of new posts. Happy March Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (75)

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The giant squid - Mar 2, 2005 12:21 am (#2581 of 2956)

Sorry I couldn't help with the Oscar question; ironically, I was working at the theater last Sunday night.

I don't have much to offer to the "early talker" discussion either, other than to point out that it's obviously not that rare of a case if nearly every mom on the boards has a story about it. I'll echo everyone who's said to trust your instincts, too--who would know your child better, you or some guy who sees him (at most) every six months?

Denise, Congrats to Ryan for earning his Arrow of Light. I can vaguely remember my Arrow of Light ceremony. Sadly, I didn't make it past Tenderfoot. Our scoutleader had (in hindsight) the attitude of someone forced into the position, and I decided I'd rather be a BSA dropout than deal with his bad vibes.

--Mike

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Catherine - Mar 2, 2005 6:04 am (#2582 of 2956)

Does an overbearing, older sister persist or does she let it drop? I'm sure my mother would have found some tactful way to tell them sooner, but I'm like a bull in a china shop. –Haymoni

That's the really tough question. I don't have a good answer. For many families, it would cause a lot of anger and resentment for a family member to tell another member that his/her child seems atypical. For me, I would let my conscience be my guide. If I suspected that a child had an impairment that needed early intervention for optimal outcome, such as hearing loss, I'd speak up and risk making the parent angry. If the child already has a diagnosis, I'd probably stay out of it except to be supportive and keep up with what's going on.

Keep in mind that I "knew" something was a little different about my daughter, but even so, I was very defensive about her quirks. I'll never forget a mom who sat beside me at a gymnastics lesson when our daughters were three years old. She turned to me and said, "What are you going to do about her hyperactivity?" I couldn't believe her nerve! How dare she "diagnose" my daughter after watching her for 3 minutes! My child was definitely the most active girl on the floor, but she wasn't doing anything that the boys weren't doing. I remember being so miffed and refusing to talk to her after that. Turns out in a classroom setting, Claire does have trouble filtering out stimuli and focusing on her work, so that mom might have had a point. But that didn't make me any less angry at the time.

So I guess what I am saying is that parents are not always "ready" to hear things, and if one chooses to express a concern, prepare for an angry reaction. Maybe Miss Manners or Dear Abby would say MYOB (mind your own business) no matter what, but I think that one should speak up if you see a real problem....along the lines of doing what is right, not what is easy.

Hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 2, 2005 6:32 am (#2583 of 2956)

Maybe Miss Manners or Dear Abby would say MYOB (mind your own business) no matter what, but I think that one should speak up if you see a real problem....along the lines of doing what is right, not what is easy. – Catherine

Tsk, tsk. As in all matters of etiquette, context and timing are everything. "Speaking up," even in the face of a real problem, presumes that the parent is oblivious to the fact that little Johnny's swinging from the chandelier is not normal behavior. This is especially presumptuous when talking to a complete stranger. However, if a friend or even a mere acquaintance says something along the lines of "Little Susie's driving me crazy; I just don't know what to do," then by all means take the opportunity to share your experience and advice. It will be appreciated and make gymnastic practices everywhere much more enjoyable affairs. ***waves to Catherine***

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Catherine - Mar 2, 2005 6:54 am (#2584 of 2956)

Well said, Miss Manners Loopy Lupin. **waves back**

Timing, degree of aquaintance, and situation do influence one's decision. Strangers should not make critical comments about another person's child.

I have met a remarkable number of parents who are, in fact, oblivious to Little Suzy swinging from the chandelier, and in that case, I mentally diagnose the parent with "Permissive-itis" versus diagnosing the child.

There is such a wide spectrum for what is "normal" development, and I have seen so many parents who worry themselves sick over the fact that Little Suzy isn't "walking yet" when she's still inside the "typical" range for that milestone. Well-meaning grandparents may tell Mom that "Little Johnny was completely potty-trained at 21 months; why is your little one still in diapers?"

So that's the kind of comments that make parents crazy, and not the kind of thing I'm talking about at all. Parents need to learn selective deafness to those kind of "well-meaning" comments.

My "speaking up" was more for the close relative watching something from the sidelines, and wondering whether to "say anything." I still think that if you suspect a major developmental issue, it may be acceptable to share your observation (not a conclusion or "diagnosis) if you think there is a chance that it may change a long-term outcome.

For the record, I keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself about other people's children!

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 2, 2005 7:53 am (#2585 of 2956)

Thanks so much to all of you for your stories and information about late talkers. My children definitely do not talk for Peter, but we also haven't pushed at all to make him ask for things. I believe that Peter has been mostly focused on other things than talking (music, motor skills). This morning, after my middle son said good-bye to Peter, he started yelling loudly and repeatedly to his oldest brother, "Day [Dave]? You bye-bye?" I think we're in the clear now. Obviously he is talking; his babble is just so badly pronounced that we're only starting to understand it.

I also agree that moms should trust their instincts. I have my own story to tell on that account. My fourth child, Emily, a beautiful little child with thick black hair, seemed to be an unusually deep sleeper. One time, my husband took the baby to a 4th of July parade, and even the fire trucks going past with sirens blaring didn't wake her up. And she was very quiet when she woke up in her crib, so that sometimes I didn't even know she was awake.

When she was 6 mos. old and never responded when I called her name, I started getting worried. Finally, one morning, when I opened her door and saw she was playing in her crib with her back turned, I stayed back out of her peripheral vision and started calling her, louder and louder, until I was screaming at the top of my lungs.

She never looked up. She didn't even notice I was there, sobbing, until I walked into the corner of her vision. Then she gave me this great big smile.

At her well-baby check that day, I nervously told the doctor that I wasn't sure she could hear. The doctor gave her the (notoriously unreliable!) cowbell test. She responded once of the three times (because the doctor shook it in her peripheral vision). The doctor told me she didn't think there was a problem, but they could have her hearing tested if I wanted. Fortunately, I insisted.

It turned out that Emily had a greater than 90 decibel hearing loss. They told us she would feel the vibrations from a jackhammer before she heard it.

Emily is now a vivacious 8-year-old with obvious talent as an artist. She has a cochlear implant, and she talks and understands without sign language (although lip reading helps a bit). Although finding out she was deaf was devastating at the time, now it's just another way she's special to us.

Even my husband told me after the appointment that established she was deaf that, if I'd told him my concerns, he would have just blown it off. Moms, trust your instincts!!!

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Accio Sirius - Mar 2, 2005 7:53 am (#2586 of 2956)

I think not saying something is probably the best policy. I'm sure most people don't intend to be unkind or thoughtless, but they can say the dumbest things. Once at my daughter's soccer game, a woman came up to me while I was standing there with my son, who is wheelchair bound. She asked me how old he was and then remarked how lucky I was because I didn't have to chase after him. I'm usually pretty good with comebacks, but I just didn't have words for that one.

It's all about perspective. You should just relish what your kids can do and who they are and not worry if Johnny next door is reading Proust at five.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 2, 2005 8:10 am (#2587 of 2956)

Well-meaning grandparents may tell Mom that "Little Johnny was completely potty-trained at 21 months; why is your little one still in diapers?" – Catherine

You know, Miss Manners herself actually addressed these types of comments. Unfortunately, the proper response to such a comment from, say, a maternal grandfather is not "Little Johnny's paternal grandfather has only just started losing his hair; why are you so bald?" Of course, if one were to slip, the etiquette council might let you off with probation. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (76)

My two cents on late talking is that each child's development is so peculiar to that child, one shouldn't get too hung up on not meeting the "norm." Whether the "norm" is an average or a median, it still means a wide range of possibilities above or below the norm. My oldest nephew, who does have Asperger's syndrome, didn't talk until way past two. (Of course, they said he would never talk, so go figure.) My oldest niece was talking and working the VCR at that age. (Endless, endless rewindings of "Little Mermaid.") My two year old nephew says "car" "dada" and "mama." He also, for some reason, calls me "dee-dee" in spite of the fact that I never thought of myself as a "Deidre." Physically, however, he's over the top to the point that he physically removes the baby gate by brute force. By contrast, a friend's two year-old is a little tiny guy, but says things like "I'm finished with my sandwich now."

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Catherine - Mar 2, 2005 8:15 am (#2588 of 2956)

She asked me how old he was and then remarked how lucky I was because I didn't have to chase after him.--Accio Sirius

People can be very insensitive. That comment makes me want to turn that person into a cabbage. An old, smelly, rotten cabbage. You definitely took the high ground if you didn't Crucio her on the spot.

Random remarks are not helpful. I've had a person suggest that my child's epilepsy is her way of "getting attention"--this was from her school librarian who said that Claire could "control her seizures if she really wanted to." I've had a family member tell me that her neurological differences are my fault because "you push her too hard." I've had another family member say, "She should have eaten more fish. Brain food, you know. Does she take Omega-3 supplements?" **deep sigh**

Accio Sirius is right that children need to be appreciated as individuals. It's important to measure them against themselves, and take joy in small things.

RPS, I'm happy to know that your daughter has had such a good outcome. I'm so glad for your family that you followed your instincts in that situation.

EDIT: "Little Johnny's paternal grandfather has only just started losing his hair; why are you so bald?" Of course, if one were to slip, the etiquette council might let you off with probation. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (77) --Loopy Lupin

SPEW! Thanks for the giggle.

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MoonRider - Mar 2, 2005 8:40 am (#2589 of 2956)

Accio Sirius: Thanks, bushels, for your help!

The giant squid: Thanks for responding!

All: Have a GREAT day!

Take care,

MoonRider

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Phoenix song - Mar 2, 2005 9:32 am (#2590 of 2956)

I'm amazed at all of the wonderful stories that we're sharing. I think that it's marvelous the amount of wondrous parental wisdom that I'm seeing.

Since we seem to have such a wide avenue of experience, I'm wondering if you guys might offer me a little bit of advice about my friend's 9 year old son? He's very bright, and was tested at near genius levels. But the last few years he has been having difficulty in class due to his "inability" to tune out the more disruptive students. He complains about bright lights, loud noises, etc. even when there is only a normal amount of these items.

My friend has talked to me about it, and thinks that he may have some sort of sensory problem. Her pediatrician thinks that she's "Over-reacting" and seems to think that she's trying to find excuses for his "lack" of classroom progress. I agree with her that his being so "sensitive" to noise, lights, activity, and even temperature (he is often too hot or too cold) may indicate a problem with his ability to tolerate outside stimulus. He also seems to have a low threshold for "normal" bodily signals. For example, he is quite intolerant to being hungry in the least, when most children know that their meal is on it's way and can hold off the whining for a few minutes at least. Has anyone here ever heard of something similar to this? Unfortunately, her insurance will require that she makes her pediatrician "see the problem" before she can progress to the next doctor. Because she's unaware of what the problem might be, she's unable to make him aware of her concerns in a manner that he will listen to. Any ideas?

Thanks a bunch!
Barbie

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Denise P. - Mar 2, 2005 9:59 am (#2591 of 2956)

People often do make really insensitive remarks. When Devin was released from the hospital following his first round of chemo, we were eating in a restaurant. Now, he did have a NG tube up his nose, he was bald and did look sick but...an insurance salesman came up to our table. In front of everyone in the restaurant, informed my husband that his company specialized in insuring "children like that" (and indicated Devin) in "case something happens." I was so furious I was speechless. I called the company and wrote a blistering letter too. Devin already felt like people were staring at him and this insensitive jerk just reinforced it. Grrr...it was 4 years ago and it still makes me angry.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 2, 2005 11:03 am (#2592 of 2956)

I think Shakespeare said to kill all the lawyers only because he didn't have insurance salesmen in his day. Not that that would have or should have spared lawyers, mind you, but at least attorneys would have had company.

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Ponine - Mar 2, 2005 11:42 am (#2593 of 2956)

Oh, accio sirius and denise - your stories make me cringe. I cannot believe in this day and age that people do this sort of thing. I can only say sorry and blush on behalf of mankind... Now, Barb - as far as your friend's little boy.. You said he was tested at near genius level, but that he had had problems in the class room for a few years. That leads me to believe that the testing was for quite young children. I am most definitely no expert, but whenever I hear about someone responding so strongly to sensory stimuli, I immediately think autism spectrum, although he seems to be quite-well functioning and verbal. If I was your friend, I know I would surely make every effort to find out, if his problems with his environment is so great that it affects his everyday life in a negative way.

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Madam Pince - Mar 2, 2005 12:38 pm (#2594 of 2956)

It really is good to hear all these stories! I was an only child, and Baby Pince is also an only child, so sometimes when his behavior reaches, um.... shall we say.... intolerable? levels, I am not sure whether it's normal 2 - 3 year-old behavior, or if I'm raising a little monster, or if it could be something else. He's wonderful 90% of the time, but the other 10% can be pretty bad sometimes! I've read all the books, watch "Supernanny" () etc., and I think I'm doing all the things they recommend, but I'm never sure. Denise, I went out and bought "Newsweek" last week to get that article you referenced about "slacker & non-slacker Moms" and it was really insightful, I thought. I've also logged onto some parenting forums which have posts describing behaviors similar to Baby Pince's, so I am somewhat reassured that he's just being a typical Terrible Two Toddler Boy. But it is still helpful to hear all these stories from other Moms! (and I can't believe some of those "helpful" comments you guys have experienced! You have remarkable restraint to have refrained from physical violence!)

Anyway, one other point which is sort-of related, given that we were recently discussing some Forum members who are caregivers of their elderly relatives..... don't hesitate to use your same instincts when you are dealing with elder-care doctors, as well! I have found that most elders will respond "I'm fine" when their doctor asks them how they're doing, and it's sad to see how many physicians seem to think that simply asking the question "So how are you doing?" constitutes a check-up. Case in point: a few years ago, my Mom mentioned that she felt a little tightness in her chest, and she said it felt similar to how it felt a few years prior, when she had ended up having to have angioplasty to clear a blocked artery. When she went to her doctor, he dismissed it and wanted to prescribe Prilosec for indigestion (which she's never suffered from in her whole life.) I gently and politely inquired if he didn't think it might be worthwhile to do an angiogram just in case, because she was scheduled for major hip replacement surgery in a few weeks and it would be a real downer for her to go into cardiac arrest in the middle of hip replacement. He repeated that he didn't think it was necessary, but I persisted that my Mom felt fairly certain about how her body felt and that it felt like it had before. He finally grudgingly agreed to do an angiogram the next day. He came out to see me in the waiting room and said "Well....." and I said "Let me guess -- you found a blockage?" and he said "No, not exactly.... actually we found two." It was all I could do not to jump up and down and say "HA! Told you so, told you so, told you so!" (Everything turned out OK, by the way, she had two stents put in.) But it scares me to think that my Mom might have suffered a major heart attack while taking Prilosec for some non-existant indigestion.

At any rate, trust your instincts when caring for elders as well as kids, too.

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John Bumbledore - Mar 2, 2005 2:18 pm (#2595 of 2956)

About sensitivity to stimuli.

(bright lights, loud noise, or feeling that they are bright or loud when others think they are normal).

I recently read an article in Science News about a study of patients with "an abnormal opening between the heart's upper chambers.... called a patent foramen ovale (PFO)" who claimed complete or great reduction in migraines after "having surgery to close [the] PFO." I will try to find the link to the story ("Science News", Week of Feb. 19, 2005; Vol. 167, No. 8 , p. 119).

The significant points of the article (to my thinking and recent posts) were that "about a quarter of the U.S. population" have PFOs and that "Italian researchers had recently reported an unusually high prevalence of PFOs in people who suffer" migraine. My youngest daughter has a PFO, and we are alert to issues that may be related to it or caused by it. I pointed out the article to Mrs. Bumbledore so we will have it in mind if Rachael complains of bad headaches.

I bring it up hear because of the similarity of migraine symptoms to those mentioned by Phoenix song, "my friend's 9 year old son.... complains about bright lights, loud noises, etc. even when there is only a normal amount of these items." Since I lack an MD degree and patient history, I only suggest "looking for horses when you hear hoof beats." I would suggest asking about AD/HD (the ADD type, inattentiveness), Autism "Assault on Autism." Science News. Week of Nov. 13, 2004; Vol. 166, No. 20 , p. 311, and Migraine / PFOs.

Well, maybe some of those are zebras and not horses, but it is what I thought of when I read your post. I must head home now, bye everyone! **Waves to ya'll**

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

P. S. I bet you have notice one of my favorite periodicals is Science News.

P. S. A year or two ago, my eldest child contracted lymes disease, (at the time, we just knew he had a rash, joint pain and swelling) It was mostly because of my instinct and Mrs. Bumbledore's persistence that we got his Pediatrician to start treatment for lymes disease before the test were back (based only on symptoms). The doctor was reluctant because treatment called for high doses of antibiotics for (I think) 28 days. I had been researching it on the web (web md and such) because I previously read a Science News article about Lymes. The Doctor called the CDC and was told to begin the antibiotic treatment for Lymes even though it was previously an extremely rare occurance in North Carolina (and off season for tick bites). The later test did confirm Lymes, but were only completed after the crucial first three weeks. Complete recovery nearly always requires initial treatment for Lymes to begin within the first three weeks after the bite causing infection. I am glad to say he appears complete recovered and there have been no relapses since his treatment.

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Eponine - Mar 2, 2005 2:52 pm (#2596 of 2956)

I have absolutely nothing to add on the sensitivity to bright lights/loud noises subject, but I just wanted to share about the coolest thing that happened at school.

I'm doing To Kill a Mockingbird with the freshmen, and they'd been complaining quite a bit about it. Yesterday, I was reading out loud to them, and we were at the trial scene. I got to the point where we were supposed to finish for the day and was about to stop, but they all begged me to keep reading because they were so into the story. It just made me so happy. I love it when someone can really connect with a book.

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Dumbledore - Mar 2, 2005 2:53 pm (#2597 of 2956)

Madam Pince, in regards to your 2 year old son -- trust me I know what you mean. Not that I've ever had kids or anything, but because I know the terror I was to my parents. Screaming, kickin, spinning in circles if I didn't get what I want. I was even so bad that on the show A Current Affair, my "model" behavior was on a segment called Terrible Twos. Now, however, I am a perfectly normal teenager, so hopefully things will turn out the same way for your son because I am sure that you are a great mother!!!!

Have a nice day, everybody!!

-Lauren

I'm so glad I'm finally back on the forum..just reading these last 30 posts or so reminds me how nice it is to have such a support group and such great advice givers.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 2, 2005 3:35 pm (#2598 of 2956)

Madame Pince, I've had a whole bunch of 2-year-olds (including the one I have now), ranging from moderately easy to the stubborn screamer type. If he's great 90% of the time, then you're doing just fine! But don't worry about being a perfect mom...just be yourself. I'm sure you're a perfect mom as far as he's concerned! Just give him lots of hugs and kisses, and don't worry if he has tantrums. They all do, even the easy ones. Generally, three-year-olds are delightful, so you'll probably get time off for good behavior in a few months!

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Julia. - Mar 2, 2005 3:41 pm (#2599 of 2956)

Good afternoon all. I've turned in all the stuff that was due today, now I have an outline due tomorrow for a paper, and I don't really have a developed topic yet.

I know that I'm not a mom, or science major or anything like that, but I want to comment on Barbie's friend's son. You say he tested at near genious levals and he's not doing too well in school? Easily distracted by lights and sounds and temperature? Did it occur to you that it may not be medical? It could be that he's just bored with his classes. I know that when I was bored I would often be distracted by the smallest little things that would keep my from doing my work. Once I got into the right major and into classes that I loved being in and were much more of a challange, I stopped being so easily distracted. Any chance that could be it?

*waves to Lauren* Lovely to see you again dearie!

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Catherine - Mar 2, 2005 4:30 pm (#2600 of 2956)

Woo hoo to Eponine! Great news from the teaching front. You hooked them today. I love that!

Well, today concluded the doctor-heavy week. Turns out that Claire has inherited Mr. Catherine's notoriously poor eyesight, and needs glasses. I couldn't believe how quickly her vision has degenerated in a single year. She tested at 20/150. YIKES!

The good news is that she won't look like Sibyll Trelawney. We found some very cute glasses that looked great, although Claire is still complaining about having to wear them.

I had no idea that Claire's vision was anything less than OK until a new teacher mistakenly put her at the back of the class. (It's in Claire's file that she is always to sit at the front of the class). She couldn't see a thing back there. No one told me anything about this, or moved Claire to the front, until I was walking the halls during conferences 10 days ago, and a teacher pulled me aside and said, "I heard your daughter can't see the board." Thank goodness she did, or I would never have known that Claire was sitting in the wrong seat AND unable to see the board.

I kind of want to iron my hands that I didn't know that Claire couldn't see as well as before, but I'm choosing to be thankful that I found out in short order and got it taken care of quickly.

Anyway....Constant Vigilance! Is Mom's work ever done?

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Acceber - Mar 2, 2005 8:02 pm (#2601 of 2956)

I'm not really supposed to be posting tonight, and I wanted to go to bed early (for once), but after I checked my email, I wanted to go on my Hebrew High School's website. So, the only other open window that was mine (not counting Yahoo!, my mom freaks if there's not a Yahoo! window open) was the Forum's window. I looked at the site, and since I didn't need it anymore, pressed the back button to get back to the Forum. Of course it automatically refreshed itself, and of course I couldn't control myself, so here I am typing a post when I should be in bed reading myself to sleep with OoP. Oh well.

Just to share another story to go with Catherine's about kids and glasses. This one's about me as well as my last one, I hope you guys think I'm not too egotistical, because I'm really not. When I was in second grade, the overhead my teacher wrote everything on was blurry to me. I told my mom I thought I needed glasses. She wasn't surprised, everyone in our family wears glasses, and she scheduled me for a eye doctor appointment about six months after I told her. So, we went to the ophthalmologist after school was over, I got checked, and lo and behold, I needed glasses. Badly needed glasses. So badly that I still haven't forgiven my mom for not scheduling an apppointment sooner. One of her few mistakes as a mother.

Currently, my play director wants me to take my eyes off during the actual productions. I don't see how this is humanely possible, as I refuse to wear contacts and I only see in blurs without my glasses. Ahh!

Now I'm getting tired and I still have to wake up at 6:30 tomorrow. Good night.

EDIT: No one had posted for about 3.5 hours prior to my post. That's unusual.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 2, 2005 8:18 pm (#2602 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 2, 2005 7:19 pm

My glasses story... I got glasses when I was twelve only after I spent the whole of sixth grade squinting and moving closer to the blackboard. It was great to actually see stuff, but this was the eighties and I had a really ugly pair of glasses that I didn't want to wear once I got into junior high. I even made sure that there were no pictures taken of me with those glasses. My mom made a deal with me in 8th grade: if all of my year end grades were B's or above, then I could get contacts. One week after school got out we were at the optometrist's office getting fitted for contacts. Too bad after wearing them for 10 years, I cannot tolerate them anymore.

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Phoenix song - Mar 2, 2005 9:00 pm (#2603 of 2956)

Hello everybody! Thank you all for your responses regarding my friend's son. Catherine contacted me via e-mail with some information that I've passed along to my friend. Now she'll have a place to look for reliable information to help her son receive a proper diagnosis and receive help. Thanks Catherine! Knowing what might be wrong is half of the battle!

Julia, you had a good idea about him just being bored and unchallenged. We don't suspect that's his problem, but that was actually my problem in school. If the work was too simplistic, or was simply "busy work" then I'd feel insulted by it and "glaze over". My parents and my teachers would be so confounded by me when I told them that I just didn't want to write spelling words that I already knew 20 times a night, and would rather just take a big goose egg ("0") on the homework assignment than to suffer through the indignity of feeling like an ewok! "But you're failing to live up to your potential!"..."Why complain about it if it's so easy for you to complete?"..."Just do the work because I said so!" Here's a clue for anyone that is involved in education (either as an educator or a parent), "busy work" does not work for every child and can be detrimental to the learning process! That's just my opinion, of course!

My friend's son is different than that, though. He simply cannot tolerate noise, light, or movement of people or things around him. He doesn't seem to be able to "tune out" those background things that most of us don't even notice. Hopefully my friend will be able to find some help now that she knows where to look, though.

Thanks again everybody!
Barbie

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Pinky - Mar 2, 2005 9:03 pm (#2604 of 2956)

Acceber, I feel for you about not being able to wear glasses during your plays. Make sure that you try not wearing them during a rehearsal first - you don't want your first time with blurry vision to be during an actual production! I had to wear glasses when I was younger. (Since then, I've had the LASIK surgery, and no longer need corrective lenses. WooHoo!) I was in 2 plays where I couldn't wear my glasses. I played Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker which was kind of funny, since Annie was supposed to be partially blind anyway. Then, I was in Fiddler on the Roof where I played a variety of extras (townsperson, ghostie, etc). This was actually while I was making the transition to contacts, but during the first rehearsals, I was rather blind without my glasses, so I was quickly dubbed "Rachel". She's the one in the opening song who is promised in marriage to a man who is not particularly good looking. "The way she sees, and the way he looks, it's a perfect match!"

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Penny Lane. - Mar 2, 2005 9:52 pm (#2605 of 2956)

A little bit ago we were talking about rude things people say, and I just HAVE to share. During my school breaks, I work at an arena in my hometown. It's really simple work, and it doesn't pay the greatest, but it's one of the few jobs in Michigan that is willing to let me only work when I want. Anyway, so there was a Josh Groban concert, and people kept saying things to me like "oh, I bet this really isn't your type of music" and "Do you like this? I bet this isn't something you normally listen to. Heh Heh." It makes me angry that people would think that just because I happen to work a job that doesn't pay well, that it automatically means that I live for MTV and "American Idol". It's just the contrary. I may not have the $80 for tickets, but that doesn't mean that I don't enjoy it.

Personally, I found the performer a bit cocky, and full of himself, but that's true of most musicians.

As for eyesight - I really need to get some glasses... I've been having trouble wearing contacts 24-7. I'd get the surgery, but I hear they can botch it, then I wouldn't be able to see anything. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (84)

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Ydnam96 - Mar 2, 2005 11:35 pm (#2606 of 2956)

I burned my thumb on a pizza pan. It makes it really hard to type well! Anyone know if there is something other than soaking it in cold water that will help?

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 3, 2005 12:12 am (#2607 of 2956)

Ydnam: Ice wrapped in a tea towel or a packet of frozen veges (vegetables) wrapped in a tea towel, apply until pain is manageable. Only if the skin is intact though. If it's not, always get burns checked out due to the increased risk of infection.

Catherine: Your rhetorical question "Is Mom's work ever done?" got me thinking to an incident that happened about 2.5 years ago. My niece and her pre-school class was attending their annual concert at a Sunday morning Church service (the pre-school was sponsored by a church) and the minister said somewhere is his chat: "I have been a parent". Now my stepmother picked this statement up and later said:

How do parents stop being parents? Once you are a parent, you will always be a parent, no matter how old the children.

She thought the minister should have said, he is a parent. It may have been a quirk of grammar or he may not have meant to say it. Regardless of his intent, it was a remarkably insightful comment and now I listen to her a little more carefully and it was the turning point in our friendship with each other and in my relationship with my dad.

I have enjoyed your comments today its a wonderful thread and you are a wonderful group of people.

Lizzy

EDITED: 5 times for grammar and punctuation. It's not my day today...Alas!

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The giant squid - Mar 3, 2005 12:54 am (#2608 of 2956)

Mandy, try aloe vera juice. Nearly every burn ointment on the market has aloe as a component, and there's a reason for that. My mom had two or three aloe plants in the house at any given time, and I never had a burn that hurt for more than an hour or so.

Denise, I've decided that I'm going to follow through on my junior-high goal of perfecting time travel...for the sole purpose of going back and smacking that insurance salesman between the eyes with a 2X4. To some people "tact" is a 4-letter word...

Finally, I found something in a magazine for Loopy Lupin. The Hamilton Collection has a new statuette called "Rebel Without A Donut" featuring Homer on a motorbike with Duff & donuts falling off the back. I saw it and immediately thought of you.

--Mike

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 3, 2005 4:53 am (#2609 of 2956)

Cooool. It's nice to be thought of.

Well, I'm in the office especially early because a couple of trials got dumped on me last night. Grrrrrr. Wish me luck and have a good Thursday.

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Catherine - Mar 3, 2005 5:20 am (#2610 of 2956)

Good Morning Loopy! (and to the Forum, also!)

Good luck today with your trials and tribulations today. I guess this means you will be busy, and we will have to muddle along without you for a bit.

I have to do my "homework" this afternoon before the next Board meeting of the Humane Society, which will involve an extended visit to our public city animal shelter, which is inhabited by Dementors, I am told. It's all part of our full-scale "assault" on our City Commissioners. So...wands at the ready.

Hope everyone (even Loopy Lupin) has a good Thursday. Loopy, send up red sparks if you need us, if the paperwork starts to smother you...

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VeronikaG - Mar 3, 2005 7:27 am (#2611 of 2956)

Glasses... What a nightmare. I haven't used mine on a regular basis for nearly 5 years, and quite honestly I need a new pair as wearing contacts all the time can get you in trouble. Only problem is I really hate wearing glasses. Reason: I'm -7 on both eyes. Glasses strong enough to correct that shrinks my world into a 1/4 of natural size. And to get good peripheral vision I need to wear HUGE glasses (think Trelawney). Small, modern, trendy glasses that I wish to wear will give me "tunnel sight", and I'll see things that are on the edges of my field of vision twice. So I way prefer contacts. Once the staff at the "glasses shop" let me try to put them in myself I had no problems with them.

About parents and children... My cousin had quite a hard time with her youngest daughter. She wanted to be the little one, and in jealousy of younger children she returned to the baby stage and stopped walking, talking and eating. My cousin asked for advice and was told not to give in to her and treat her like a normal 4 years old. And after a while the girl found baby life so boring she startede acting her age again. The worst part was getting her potty trained. She stubbornly refused to used the toilet. But now that she has started school she's so busy being "big" that these things are not a problem any more.

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Marè - Mar 3, 2005 7:57 am (#2612 of 2956)

I had to put my glasses on lately because my eyes were getting too irritated from my contacts (falling asleep regularly with them still in didn't do my eyes much good).

I keep getting a headache from wearing my glasses for a long time ever since one of the glasses fell out. Maybe I didn't put it back proparly?

I am very impressed with all the kiddie stories, if I ever choose to adopt some I'll be sure to come here for advice.

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librarian314 - Mar 3, 2005 8:03 am (#2613 of 2956)

Hey all!

Vision problems are hard to detect in kids. My husband, whose vision is awful, (With his glasses off, things get blurry at about 1 foot in front of him. Things across the room may as well not be there.) wasn't diagnosed until he was 7 or 8. His mom was asking if he could see some big sign out the window of some restaurant where they were eating and he couldn't.

My vision problems were caught pretty quickly. My mom was near sighted and dad was farsighted. They asked me regularly about my eyesight. The summer I was 12, I started getting headaches whilst I read, so it was off to the eye doctor's office. Turned out I was astigmatic, and slightly farsighted. I only needed the glasses for reading. I was able to get by without them for the most part until I was in my mid-20s when constant computer use made me near-sighted. Now my vision is decent enough that I can wander around the house without my glasses but if I don't remember where I put my glasses I don't see well enough without them to find them. :-P Needless to say, I don't take them off often.

With both her parents having vision problems, we're pretty watchful with our daughter. In fact, it was one of three predictions we made concerning her, soon after she was born. We figured she'd be a computer geek (that's happened), literate (she loves to read), and need to wear glasses (luckily, she doesn't yet.) I really hope we're wrong on that one.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Julia. - Mar 3, 2005 8:15 am (#2614 of 2956)

Good morning everyone. I had a very dorky moment last night, and I feel like I should share, because I know you lot will appreciate it. So here I am, watching West Wing. Toby and Josh went to see the Chief Justice of the Suprieme court. (I've been reading Henry IV Part II, and I'm really fighting the urge to call him The Lord Chief Justice) So Toby and Josh walk in and the Chief isn't thrilled to see them, so he says "Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings." Now, this may not seem like an importan't line, but it is, it is!! It's from Shakespeare, Richard II. One of his lesser known, but very good plays. We read it this semester in the Shakespeare class I fought so hard to get into. Thank G-d that worked out!!

As for glasses, my vision is pretty much fine, except for whem I'm on the computer. When I was 15 I took a class in school about keyboarding, and I had to stare at the computer for long periods of time. After about a month of this, my eyes started hurting and I had head aches after every class. So I told my parents and we went to the eye-doctor. Since my vision exam was normal, he was reluctant to do anything, but I whined and moaned and eventually he caved and gave me glasses, with the instructions only to wear them while I'm on the computer.

Good luck with all your trials today Loopy. I've still got to figure out exactly what I want to write my history paper on, and I'd better do it quickly, since the outline is due this afternoon.

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Madam Pince - Mar 3, 2005 8:22 am (#2615 of 2956)

Mandy, I agree with Giant Squid Mike -- aloe rocks! If it's at all possible to get a real aloe plant leaf and use the pure juice, rather than just a lotion or gel that contains aloe, I think you'll find it works better. Lacking that, usually the sunburn gel that contains aloe is pretty highly concentrated aloe.

Veronika, I had to laugh at your description of "...once the staff let me put the contacts in myself I had no problems..." I'm exactly the same way! Back in the day when I was too intimidated by doctors to ever think of questioning them, I used to cringe back into the exam chair to the point where I almost melted into the leather every time that doctor's finger started looming towards my eye. Finally I asked myself "Why in the world am I incapable of removing and inserting my own contacts when I'm at an appointment?" and so now nobody touches my eyes but me. I have seriously considered LASIK surgery, but I just don't know if I could deal with someone getting that close to my eyes...

Thanks to everyone for the "baby behavior" encouragement! Baby Pince had a great day at pre-school yesterday! Whoo-hoo! Apparently he never used the word "NO" even once! And no hitting, and slept at naptime, and even ate seconds at lunch! And as a bonus, when I went to pick him up, one of the other little boys was sitting in tears in "Cozy Corner" being talked to very seriously by the teacher, and while I felt sorry for him and his Mom, it did make me feel a little bit better, because sometimes the staff makes me feel like Baby Pince is the only one who ever has to go to "Cozy Corner"....

Happy Thursday everybody, and good luck to Julia and Loopy with getting everything done...

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mollis - Mar 3, 2005 8:31 am (#2616 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 3, 2005 7:32 am

On the burn front - this may sound awful, but smear a big glob of butter or margarine on it. I accidentally touched the heating element of my mother-in-law's stove at Thanksgiving this past year and was without my trusted aloe plant. She had me put butter on it and not only did it take the sting out, but I didn't even get a blister! And if any of you have ever touched an oven's heating element - you know how remarkable it was.

Okay, back to work before the dementors get me!

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Madame Librarian - Mar 3, 2005 8:41 am (#2617 of 2956)

Mandy, in addition to the ice water (actually just cold water is better, you don't need to overdo it with ice water and run the risk of more discomfort from the ice) or aloe, I find that when it really throbs and throbs, take a Tylonol or Advil to relieve the pain from inflammation and swelling. Of course, when the pain recedes because of the meds, you still have to treat your poor finger (or whatever) gingerly since it's vulnerable to more injury. No madcap typing or piano practicing, please.

Hope your boo-boo (as my son used to call things like that) heals fast.

Ciao. Barb

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Ydnam96 - Mar 3, 2005 8:56 am (#2618 of 2956)

Thanks everyone. I everyone took some motrin and keep it cool for a long time and it seems to be okay. Now a bandaid is keeping the blister protected. Although it is hard to type without a thumb, a least it isn't another finger.

It's raining again here in Los Angeles. I think that this city is going to fall into the ocean or wash away if the rain doesn't stop soon. I'm getting rather sick of it.

At least it's Thursday. One day to go till the weekend. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (85)

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kabloink! - Mar 3, 2005 10:03 am (#2619 of 2956)

HI everyone, It has been sooo long since I posted, there is so much to catch up on. Julia, we got a ton of snow here in Michigan, too. My classes weren't cancelled either - - --when it comes to large universities, don't hold your breath for them to cancel classes. I guess too many people try to sue them for cancelling classes that they are paying for??? Also for a lot of bigger schools, at least 80% of the undergrad population lives on campus, so commuters are never taken into consideration.....grrrr..... I also understand your midterm pain, but I am almost through it. I just have to write a 5-10 page paper by 3pm today....I should probably start writing.

As far as eyesight goes, I was wearing plaino (glasses without prescription) for fun from before I started school, so when I finally needed them in 6th grade, they didn't bother me too much. I promise I wasn't too crazy for doing this, though. My parents have owned an optical store pretty much all my life, so I was constantly surrounded by glasses and contacts. Also, give contacts a shot, they are always coming out with newer and more comfortable lenses. I didn't take proper care of my first contacts and thus developed GPC's on my eyelids, making it extremely painful to wear contacts. Later in high school, however, my parents got a new type of contact that had a more tapered edge, so it doesn't agitate my GPC as much. I still don't wear them much, but that is simply because I am too lazy. It’s much easier to just put on my glasses in the morning (my eyes aren't too bad, anyway). My husband, on the other hand, has horrible eyesight, and by the time he was 2, he had had two eye surgeries, and had worn patches on each eye. I think when he was a baby, both of his eyes 'wandered' quite badly. They were able to correct his left eye, but without glasses, his right eye used to look off to one direction quite badly. Since we started dating, however (and my parents constantly scolded him to wear his glasses...) it doesn't wander nearly as badly. The vision in that eye is still very bad, but for the most part it will follow his left eye.

As for babies not speaking...I have 2 almost-two-year-old nephews. One of them is an only child, and while his favorite word is "mama", he actually has a pretty vast vocabulary. My other nephew, who is a middle child with two VERY ummm “spunky” sisters (one 4 and one almost 1), and he only grunts. He will sort of say his younger sister's name (uhmber=Amber), for the most part he uses different inflection of 'unh' to get what he wants. I really do think that for the most part the girls get him what he wants, because he seems to be bright, just not yet articulate.

Okay, I really have to get typing at this point. Sorry that I haven't been around in so long!

PS-I LOVED the 80's list! Between my husband (born in 78) and myself (born in 82), we knew/remembered all of them. Given that my name actually is Kimberly (Jem's actual name), I so wanted to be Jem!

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Elanor - Mar 3, 2005 10:17 am (#2620 of 2956)

Guess what? It's snowing again here and more snow is likely to fall at least till the weekend. So Ydnam, I do understand how you feel about the rain, we're feeling the same about the snowy and cold weather!

About glasses, I started to need some when I was about 7 but at 9, I didn't need them anymore till I was 12 and then, my eyesight tumbled down. It was very slow at the beginning and I only realized how much eyesight I had lost when I had some glasses again. I knew I needed them but not so badly. Since then, my eyesight continued to fail and now I am nearly as nearsighted as you are Veronika: -6.75 and -6, in brief: "as blind as a bat" (here we say "as blind as a mole").

I wore contact lenses for some years and I loved them because the glasses I used to wear were huge but unfortunately I can't wear them anymore, except on very rare occasions, as when I played an extra in this medieval show last summer, and I am so relieved to take them off after an hour or two. I have finally found some cute and very light glasses with lenses a lot thinner so they are much more comfortable than the ones I had before. Well, they cost me a fortune (we have another saying for that, we say "to cost the skin of the buttocks"...) but they worth it!

Have a great Thursday everybody and good luck to Loopy and to everyone who needs it!

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Madam Pince - Mar 3, 2005 10:22 am (#2621 of 2956)

kabloink, what are GPCs?

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kabloink! - Mar 3, 2005 10:50 am (#2622 of 2956)

OH! Sorry for not elaborating on that. They are little bumps on the inside of your eyelid. I don't think they are always present, or maybe they're just not always irriatated and swollen enough to bother you...Either or, they are typically irritated by either allergies or contacts. That's all I really know about them, aside from the fact that when they are irritated by something they itch and mildly hurt all at the same time.

I got mine from wearing my contact for too long without cleaning them, which is why I CANNOT sleep in my contacts anymore, but so long as I take them out everynight ( my old lenses were actually designed to be worn for a week, then taken out cleaned and deproteined...so wearing them for a week was okay, but I had the tendency to wear them for more like a month..ew), I don't have any problems with them.

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Ozymandias - Mar 3, 2005 11:43 am (#2623 of 2956)

Hello everyone!

I can't believe you all are getting snow! Actually, I can, but it seems strange, because the weather is freakishly warm here. It was something like 70 degrees yesterday. I was wearing a t-shirt. And this is in San Francisco. I looked up in the sky and saw a big orange bright thing, and was very confused. The sky is supposed to be grey! Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (86)

All of your parenting stories have made me appreciate even more what parents do for their kids. Your posts made me want to call up my mum and dad and thank them for everything!

Good luck to everyone who is in midterm crunch right now. *sends butterbeers and Smartening-Up charms*

I'm off to do piles of homework. Have a good Thursday, everyone!

Erin

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Delightful Task! - Mar 3, 2005 11:48 am (#2624 of 2956)

Hi everyone! I feel a bit shy now! I've never posted on that thread and you seem to know one another so well!

But as Elanor said, it's snowing in France, Paris is wonderful in white, (mmm... that's because I'm on holidays and I don't drive!) but I'm stuck at home with two little boys who are creating havoc in the house! (we live in a flat, of course, so no snow man in the garden!) and I was desperately looking at the 60 tests I have to mark before Monday morning (I'm a teacher!) , so thought it would be nice to do something different, and chat with "grown-ups" a bit!

Thanks to you all for your advice on contacts... I wear contacts myself and perhaps a bit too long everyday! I had never heard about GPCs, but now I'll be careful, I don't want to wear glasses again!!!

And Elanor, I loved your "cost the skin of the buttocks!" LOL! you're right, "the glasses, it's not given" as my students would put it!

Well, I'll let you know when I've finished with those awful test!

Have a great Thursday!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 3, 2005 12:08 pm (#2625 of 2956)

Don't be shy! Everyone is welcome here.

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Madam Pince - Mar 3, 2005 12:21 pm (#2626 of 2956)

Welcome, Delightful Task! This is a great place for some "grown-up" conversation -- whether with our older Forum members or with our younger ones. Everyone always has fun things to contribute to our shared obsession!

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 3, 2005 12:52 pm (#2627 of 2956)

Hmmm....have you ever noticed how many of our French members have such wonderful English??? I think maybe our schools in the USA ought to look into the way French schools teach language. Welcome, Delightful Task! Elanor, what a giggle you gave me! "The skin of the buttocks"! Just keep your wand out of your back pocket, eh?

I wore contacts for a few years, but my eyes also became unable to tolerate them. (I didn't realize that was so common!) I haven't worn them since I got married (um...almost 19 years). Recently I've started losing my close-up vision -- not badly enough to need bifocals, according to the doctor, but badly enough that I can't move things closer than 8" to my face anymore. So if it's too small to see at that distance, I can't see it anymore without magnifying glasses. (Removing splinters from little fingers and toes is now a problem.)

EDIT: On the burn front, I agree you can't beat aloe vera for healing power. But some years ago, I had an excruciating 2nd degree burn, the type you have to keep ice on for at least an hour just to help the pain. My mother-in-law put some calendula ointment on it -- and the pain went away! I'm not generally an "herbal" person, so it really opened my eyes. It didn't have any pain killers in it; for some reason, calendula seems to ease the pain of bad burns. I used up what I had a while ago; I really ought to try to find more! I don't know if it's easier to find in other places, but it isn't easy to find around here. If you see it, though, try it!

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Dumbledore - Mar 3, 2005 2:38 pm (#2628 of 2956)

Happy Thursday everybody!!

I have had glasses only for distance since I was eight years old, but I have to take them off whenever I don't need to see the board in school or anything else that doesn't involve distance-seeing. So, I'd thought that getting contacts (being the semi-typical self conscious thirteen year old that I am) would be the best route to go, but hearing all of your stories about how irritating contacts can be has got me to reconsidering, especially when I really don't need to be wearing them full time. Can anyone give me advice as to whether it is OK to have my contacts in all day even if I only need glasses for distance?

Round Pink Spider, I agree with you about how well our French members speak English. I was fortunate enough to go to France over the summer and was amazed by how well kids my age spoke English as opposed to the amount of French I've learned!

Well, that's all for now. Welcome Delightful Task, and good luck to anyone who's in a midterm/schoolwork crunch (Julia), and to Loopy Lupin with all his paperwork and to anyone else who may need any sort of luck at all!

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Penny Lane. - Mar 3, 2005 2:42 pm (#2629 of 2956)

I have a quick question for the French members about the french Lexicon forum - is it the same one as here, but just translated? or is it completely separated? Basically, I want to know if I should "re-register".

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Ladybug220 - Mar 3, 2005 2:44 pm (#2630 of 2956)

Dumbledore, I loved my contacts and wore them for 10 years, but a side-effect of a medication that I was taking, was not being able to tolerate contacts - it made my eyes too dry. I have been off of that med for a few years but I just haven't tried to get new contacts yet. Usually, most people can wear them but you do have to care for them properly. The contacts get better and better all the time.

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Eponine - Mar 3, 2005 2:45 pm (#2631 of 2956)

I started wearing glasses when I was 10 years old. We realized I was squinting at the board all the time in school, so I got glasses. I got contacts when I was in high school, and I haven't gone back to regularly wearing glasses since. I have a pair that I'll wear occasionally or at night after I've taken my contacts out. Without my contacts I cannot see a thing. I have to get within about 3 inches of the computer screen in order to make it out. My husband, my sister-in-law and my father-in-law have all had LASIK, but they're crazy if they think I'm letting anyone hold me down and shoot a laser in my eyes. I'll deal with the contacts, thank you very much.

I hope you are all having a great day!

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Phoenix song - Mar 3, 2005 2:49 pm (#2632 of 2956)

RPS, is Calendula an over the counter ointment? I don't think that I've ever heard of it before, so I'm wondering where to find it. We keep a bottle of aloe vera gel in the fridge, since being chilled in the fridge helps the aloe to be even more effective. But your stuff sounds better for more serious burns. I can be a klutz at times in the kitchen, and can wind up with "Dobby-like" injuries, so it doesn't hurt to be prepared for them! {As an aside, most of my injuries happen because I'm doing my "house-elf work" while my mind is focused on more important tasks, like running themes in Harry Potter!}

Delightful Task!, welcome to the forum! Please don't feel shy, we're the best type of grown-ups to become friends with! Our common love of the Harry Potter books shows that we are not "old" within our hearts, but we are all mature enough to discuss topics that are deep and meaningful.

Please don't feel intimidated that we seem to know one another so well. We've only developed this degree of knowledge about one another from posting on this very thread! Please join us and let us have the pleasure of getting to know you!

There are also many educators and French members on the forum. You'll have plenty in common besides Harry Potter. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or concerns!

Forgive me for this long post, but I noticed something last night while watching my DVD copy of the TV show "Friends". The actor that played Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), guest-starred on the episode where Monica and Chandler get married! I didn't know about it ahead of time, I kept watching this guy thinking, "Where do I know him from?" It drives me bananas when I can't place an actor to his previous work! All of the sudden it occurred to me that it was "Sirius" but it was hard to tell without all of the make-up. I must say that he looked very different on "Friends". Has anyone else noticed that before?

Have a great day everybody!
Barbie

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Eponine - Mar 3, 2005 3:00 pm (#2633 of 2956)

Barbie, if you ever want to find out where you know an actor from, the best website for that is the IMDB. They have listings for (almost) every movie or tv show ever made and almost every actor (and everything they've ever been in, including TV guest spots). You can find it here. And Gary Oldman as the spitting/drunk actor was great!

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Julia. - Mar 3, 2005 3:05 pm (#2634 of 2956)

Welcome to the chat thread Delightful Task!! I'm sure you already know that this forum is the absolute best place to discuss Harry Potter. But we also talk about everything else, and I really do mean everything else. *recalls fond memories of conversation about how to address letters to different members of the royal family*

Barbie, I don't remember Gary Oldman being in that episode!

Ok, I've finally finished all my work. Now I can sit back, watch Gilmore Girls, hear a speaker, sit through three classes tomorrow, and then spring break begins!

Oh, I've got a quandrum and maybe you guys can help me. Myself, my friend Mackenzie, and my Shakespeare professor Liz, want to make a movie of Henry IV Part 1. We're having a bit of trouble with the casting. So far we have Alan Rickman as Henry IV. I suggested Timothy Spall for Falstaff. We still need a Hal, Kate, Hotsupr, Northumberland, Hostess, and a few others I can't think of. Any suggestions?

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 3, 2005 3:18 pm (#2635 of 2956)

Barb, the calendula was an over-the-counter homeopathic ointment. If you do a search on "calendula ointment" (as I just did), you'll get lots of hits. The stuff my mother-in-law used was Boiron calendula ointment (I recognize the packaging). Good stuff -- it's truly amazing the way it eliminated the pain from my burn almost immediately. I highly recommend it. (And now that I've found it online, I'm going to order some more!)

By the way, Julia, that is a stunning portrait. I assume that's you? The photo of you in the Gryffindor scarf didn't show the face.

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Delightful Task! - Mar 3, 2005 3:21 pm (#2636 of 2956)

Thanks everyone for your kind welcome! I was alone at home with my kids who are 5 and 2 years old, and my husband has been working all week until 9 pm... I was feeling a bit lonely actually! ( I was referring to "grown-ups" as opposed to my sons who are wonderful of course, but wonderful babies!!!)

Thanks Dumbledore in particular! I'm an English teacher and I sometimes feel like McGonagal in front of Neville! So you do think our French kids can speak English?! Nah! you must have met the good ones!!! But I won't give up, after all, "Delightful task! to rear the tender thought, To teach the young idea how to shoot, To pour the fresh instruction o’er the mind," (Thomson!)

Penny Lane, I'm afraid I can't tell you know because I never tried the French forum, and the site is not working at the moment (I've just checked!) I suppose it's different though, it would be a bit weird to translate a forum, I think (sorry if it's the case!) Now, I can understand why you would like to try the French forum, one of the reasons I love reading you all is because it allows me to keep in touch with English!! I've learnt a lot of new words thanks to you already!

Therefore! Thank you very much again!!

PS:Barbie, I'm sorry, I haven't watched Friends for a very long time!!!

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The giant squid - Mar 3, 2005 3:56 pm (#2637 of 2956)

Ah, vision problems... I got my first pair of glasses when I was 13 or 14 (it's hard to remember that far back ). I've been wearing contacts for the last 12 years, with no problems, althuogh I did get chastised by my optician when I moved to Vegas. I'd had the same pair of glasses for 15 years and only wore them to cover the distance from the bathroom sink to bed at night & back in the morning. Turns out your eyes need time to breathe & I wasn't letting mine do that. Since I got new glasses & wear them more often my eyes are much healthier.

I definitely need one or the other, though--without corrective lenses I can't see my computer screen clearly. Everything's a big blur until I get about 6 inches (15cm for you metric types) away. I've thought about Lasik, but can't quite free up the money at the moment--higher priorities on the medical budget.

Barbie, I thought Gary Oldman was hilarious on that Friends episode too. If you want another very un-Sirius-like role, check out The Fifth element.

--Mike

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Julie Aronson - Mar 3, 2005 4:01 pm (#2638 of 2956)

If you want to see Gary Oldman in a role that has some odd similarities with Sirius (self-destructive, rebelliousness, searching for love and friendship, etc) try "Sid and Nancy."

Julie

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Phoenix song - Mar 3, 2005 4:08 pm (#2639 of 2956)

Thanks RPS, I'm going to order some of that ointment for emergencies!

Julia, Gary Oldman played the drunk actor that played opposite Joey in the war movie being filmed on the Bings' wedding day. He was the one who kept spitting in Joey's face and said that when an actor enunciated properly he would "spit" in his co-stars faces. Therefore, the "better" that an actor is the more that he spits on others. It sounds disgusting, but it was actually quite funny. He looks very un-Sirius like, and I'm not even sure how I was able to put the two parts together. Maybe it was something in the accent?

Mike, I'm going to rent that movie to check out Gary Oldman in another role. I love to watch movies that show the HP actors doing other things. I love "Snape" and "Trelawney" in "Love Actually". I also love seeing Madame Pomfrey and Moaning Myrtle in "Bridget Jones' Diary." I found it quite funny that the actress that plays Myrtle also has a scene in which she is crying in a bathroom to Bridge Jones.

Eponine, thank you so much for the website information. I have some OCD tendencies, and it drives me crazy to see an actor (or to hear a voice) that I know from somewhere else but am unable to place. I'm usually able to place them, but I have spent days afterwards in a "glazed over" state running over everything that I've ever viewed in my mind's eye! I'll be sure to use the site.

Julie, I haven't heard of "Sid and Nancy" before. Is it a film that Blockbuster would possibly have to rent?

Barbie

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Chemyst - Mar 3, 2005 5:47 pm (#2640 of 2956)

Barbie, you may never have heard of it because Sid and Nancy is the "tragic love" story of The Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious and groupie Nancy Spungen. Maybe I'm jumping to a false conclusion here, but it doesn't sound like the kind of movie I'd think you'd normally choose. I wouldn't.

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Phoenix song - Mar 3, 2005 6:07 pm (#2641 of 2956)

You're right Chemyst. That's probably why I hadn't heard of it before!

Barbie

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Ponine - Mar 3, 2005 6:45 pm (#2642 of 2956)

Oh, Phoenix - Your OCD is my OCD!! I must admit that I am completely enthused by this thread in particular, and feel very comfortable here, although I am fairly new to it (I think... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (87) I have been writing so much these last few days, the forum cut me off, and made me keep quiet for the rest of the day! I was so miffed, you would not believe.) Back to what I was trying to get across - I have an absolute fetish about actors, where, what and whom. I personally would recommend Leon for a good Oldman movie, although I don't think it would be appropriate for the wee ones, as it is pretty rugged. Another favorite of mine is in that as well - Jean Reno (Vive La France!) - Could we squeeze him in the movies at all, you think?

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 3, 2005 8:15 pm (#2643 of 2956)

It's amazing how attached one becomes to the Internet and to the forums one visits!

I had a spell this morning, where I couldn't log on to either this forum or the lexicon itself. The server must have decided it needed some cool down time...this thread has moved at an amazingly fast clip over the past week. And of course I panicked and got all flustered, when I should have gone outside to hang the washing on the line and calm down.

Next Sunday (13th March) I fly down to Sydney for 9 days training in relation to my new job. I get to stay in Sydney for the weekend in the middle and I will go and visit the Royal Easter Show for the first time in 16 years (uhmm has it really been that long???). I can't wait for the time off from the hot stinky weather we've being having and the pleasure of sleeping in every morning. I get up at 5am every morning to let the dogs out of the laundry (where they spend the night)so sleeping in until 6.30 or 7am is bliss.

Since it is Friday here, I will wish everyone a good Friday and hope the mid term crush and dumped paperwork (Loopy Lupin) eases for you all.

Lizzy

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Amilia Smith - Mar 3, 2005 8:52 pm (#2644 of 2956)

Sounds like great fun, Lizzy. Would you mind telling an ignorant American (me) about the Royal Easter Show? I have never heard of it before. But I do know what you mean about sleeping in. After working the 5-1 shift for years, being switched to the 6-2 is incredible. That extra hour of sleep does wonders.

About glasses: Had them for years and hated them. Tried contacts. But as I have astigmatism, I had to wear hard contacts. (They did have soft ones available, but they were much more expensive than regular soft contacts, and I kept tearing them.) My eyes could handle the hard ones as long as I didn't leave them in too long, remembered not to rub my eyes, the wind wasn't blowing, and I wasn't tired (yeah, right). So I finally gave up. I decided I would do whatever it took to get rid of the stupid glasses and painful contacts.

So I got a second job so I could pay for Lasik. As I needed something that wouldn't interfere with any the other things I had going at the time, I worked as the graveyard waitress at Denny's for six months. That was fun. (Incidentally, if any of you work, or have worked, graveyards, you have my heartfelt admiration.) I had to schedule my sleep time in slots a few hours here and a few hours there. And it never was quality sleep. Quite often I would jerk awake every half hour in a panic that I had overslept and was late for work. Then dance classes were real fun after being on my feet for 17 hours straight. Most miserable time of my life.

But it was all worth it. I am a Lasik convert. I love being able to wake up, look at my alarm clock, and know what time it is. To walk inside from the cold without my glasses fogging up. To get my picture taken with out the double chin. To never have to try to find my glasses without my glasses. To be able to doze off without the fear of waking up with my contacts being dried to my eyeballs or my glasses broken.

And I will stop now as I am starting to sound like a commercial.

On to burns: At the deli where I work, we use lavender oil every time someone is splashed by the fryer. It is very soothing, plus it smells wonderful.

Mills.

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 3, 2005 10:40 pm (#2645 of 2956)

The Royal Easter Show is located in Sydney (actually quite near or on the same mega site where the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held).

A "show" would be a fairly close approximation of a fair (which is what I think they are called in the US) and is held in many towns and cities across NSW and run by the local show societies. There is generally animal judging (dogs, cats, birds, chickens, cows, sheep and so on), home ware competition/displays (cake cooking, sewing, painting, photography, quilting, jam-making etc), show jumping, sideshow alley, and rides, showbags, Miss showgirl etc.

The Royal Easter Show is the biggie though, it is run by the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (and held from just before Easter to just after each year)and is generally considered the pinnacle of the shows. There are oodles of competitions similar or the same as the local shows, but I understand it is of higher standard. I don't know if this is the same for the other states of Australia. I assume so, they might use different names.

When I was younger it was a delight to travel all the way in from Cobar and have a special day out at the show. We generally tied this in with my visits to my paedetricians and audiologists. My parents called this bribery of the highest degree.

Now I am older, I want to go back and just have a day out wandering around and just being nosy and checking things out and see how they have changed. I can't wait.

Lizzy

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Elanor - Mar 3, 2005 11:23 pm (#2646 of 2956)

Good morning everyone (or night...)! **waves to Delightful Task, it is great to sea another French member here!** It is amazing what we learn on that thread, thanks for explaining "the Royal Easter Show" Lizzie.

And thanks for the compliments about the way we write English! To be honest, most of the time, when I reread myself, I can't help but think "Are you sure this is English?". Actually, here people say that we're hopeless at foreign languages and that we should learn from our european neighbours who are far better than we are at that. German kids for example are really great.

That's why we started recently to teach foreign languages from elementary school which is not easy every day! I, for instance, have already a class with first and second years in it and have to teach English twice a week to the fourth years as well when their teacher take care of my kids... It is difficult because, as a teacher, I never had training lessons about teaching English. I have to manage to do it with an English method we bought and what I can think about it. Not good!

About Gary Oldman, yes he was good in "The Fifth Element"! The film would have been better if it had had a scenario actually, but it is nice. I love Jean Reno too! What a voice...

Have a great day everybody!

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Delightful Task! - Mar 4, 2005 2:19 am (#2647 of 2956)

Hi everyone! *Hi Elanor! It's fun to speak English with French people!!!*

Reading your experiences with glasses and contacts, I remember how wonderful it was when my optician found me contacts I could wear day and night... My first child was just born and I had to wake up two or three times every night, and try to prepare a bottle when you can't see the graduations on it!!! (I often lose my glasses actually!) When I had those contacts, I could wake up, check the time on the alarm clock, go and take care of my baby, see his face and his smiles... (or tears!) and then go back to sleep! That was wonderful! I had to stop wearing them though because I changed optician and the next one told me wearing contacts all the time definitely wasn't a good idea...

About the Royal Easter show, Thanks, Lizzy! I've just realized we had one here in France too!! Only, it's called 'salon de l'agriculture', which, you will admit, sounds much more serious!!! It's the one moment in Paris when you can see cows! and we Parisians love it! It started this week and I'm going this afternoon with my kids... So I think it's high time I stopped chatting with you!!! I need to prepare the kids to face the blizzard outside! (Wow! Life in Paris hadn't been so exciting for a long time!!!)

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Dumbledore II - Mar 4, 2005 2:49 am (#2648 of 2956)

Thanks everybody for the good wishes. As many of you can imagine my time is limited at the minute, but I will try and come back soon.

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The giant squid - Mar 4, 2005 4:55 am (#2649 of 2956)

it drives me crazy to see an actor (or to hear a voice) that I know from somewhere else but am unable to place--Phoenix Song

You are not alone, Barbie! Now imagine that multiplied by every movie trailer ever and you've got me. They have to cram everything they can into that 2 1/2 minutes, so I often get a flash of someone I kinda-recognize and spend the rest of the day trying to figure out who the heck it was! Thank heaven for IMDb (and thank our IT department for allowing it past our firewall)!

Mills, there are affordable soft contacts for astigmatism--I should know, I just took mine out a half hour ago. Roughly $30 for a 6-month supply of disposables. I suppose I should mention, though, that I first started wearing contacts while working as a cook at an open-pit barbecue restaurant. If I could get used to contacts with all kinds of soot & grease in the air (and eyes), I can handle anything. It takes a pretty big piece of dirt to cause me any problems.

--Mike

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Julie Aronson - Mar 4, 2005 5:34 am (#2650 of 2956)

Barbie,

FWIW, you should be able to rent Sid and Nancy at most video stores. It's a fairly odd movie, but once you get past the superficial "yech factor" it's actually pretty good.

Chemyst,

Sometimes it's good to vary from tradition...

Julie

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 5:48 am (#2651 of 2956)

I first started wearing contacts while working as a cook at an open-pit barbecue restaurant.--Mike, TGS

Mmmm...barbecue. Mike, you have a fascinating career history!

Whew. Today is the first day that I have no doctor appointments for the kids, and no one is home sick. YAY! I was actually glad last night to attend a very long humane society fundraiser meeting, just to think about something different.

We held it in a deli I'd never been to before, so that we could eat during the meeting. The cashier kept staring at me. I kept wondering if I was chewing with my mouth open, or if my nose had dirt on it, or if my eyebrows were suddenly growing together. So here I am, in this very serious meeting, and suddnenly the cashier comes up to our table and says, "I know you. YOU are that lady who is a big Harry Potter fan!"

All these eyes darted to me, and I said, "Yes, I am." The cashier had previously worked at the seasonal Halloween store, where I tried once again to find adult sized Quidditch robes for Mr. Catherine (actually, this would be a joke gift for Mr. Catherine, but I digress).

My fellow diners raised their eyebrows while the cashier kept on saying, "She even helped a mom find a Lord of the Rings costume when I didn't know what that lady was saying."

**sound of crickets chirping**

So I was "outed" from the Harry Potter closet publicly last night!

Have a good Friday!

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 4, 2005 6:35 am (#2652 of 2956)

Oh dear, Catherine, and a public outing at that. I have embraced my Harry Potter "gooberness," ***waves to Catherine*** at least among my friends. Last time I visited my nieces and nephews, I said "I bet I can prove that I'm the biggest geek of all time." After they are finished looking puzzled (as if to say "You think you need proof?"), I whip out my Barnes and Noble Half-Blood Prince reservation, dated January 9th which, I know, was late to be getting around to making a reservation, but the muggles don't know the difference. For some reason, they think it strange to have reserved a book months in advance.

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Marie E. - Mar 4, 2005 6:52 am (#2653 of 2956)

Catherine, you have no idea how interesting Mike's career history is. Ask him about his time on the road with a rock band.

Mike/giantsquid: You got your glasses when you were a freshman so I think you were 14. I got mine in 3rd grade, just after I turned nine. Veronika, you mentioned your prescription being -7. Mine is -8.5. I figure at my next appointment they will hand me a white cane and a dog and bid me a fond farewell. My oldest, who turned 8 yesterday, developed lazy eye in both eyes at age 15 months. She was my darling cross eyed baby, bless her heart. We tried eye patches and glasses to strengthen her eye muscles, but just after her second birthday she had surgery. She absolutely fine now, eye-wise anyway.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 4, 2005 7:06 am (#2654 of 2956)

She was my darling cross eyed baby, bless her heart.—Marie

Awwwww. To go back a topic or two (and sorry if you did discuss this in a post), but I can only imagine the stupid comments that you received from complete strangers.

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Denise P. - Mar 4, 2005 7:20 am (#2655 of 2956)

The Royal Easter Show sounds like our County/State fairs. We have similar events here in the US, normally held in the summer time and often they have a portion with amusement park rides. As a kid, we loved when it was fair time. Back then, my parents could give my brother and I each $5 and let us loose for the day to do what we wanted. Of course, now, $5 would get the kids a small lemonaide and there is no way I would allow them to run loose without supervision at a fair.

:::doing a happy dance::::: I am getting a brand, spanking new dishwasher installed this morning! Our current dishwasher is almost 10 years old and just not doing its job. We picked out a new one, a super duper heavy duty one to deal with the demands we place on our dishwashers. The cool thing I like is that it has a delayed start option. No more having to remember to go turn the thing on after all showers have been taken and then cursing in the morning when you open it for something to discover you didn't run it.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 4, 2005 7:25 am (#2656 of 2956)

Out here in Southern Minnesota, almost every little town has its own "fair" celebrating itself as a town, with parades and sidewalk sales and craft shows. In Rochester, we also have our county fair (like your "show", Delightful Task, but smaller I'm sure!), with rides and sideshows and unhealthy food (a great preoccupation of Americans on holiday! Fried cheese curds, ice cream, miniature doughnuts, and about anything you can imagine eating off a stick! ). It's been a nice way to introduce our little ones to farm animals, because we can walk about the buildings and see all the animals being judged: pigs, sheep, ducks, llamas (raised for wool), cows, fancy roosters, horses (almost all enormous farm horses, Percherons and Belgians mostly, but once we saw miniature horses!), and so on. The children usually get the chance to pet the sheep, cows, and horses.

I've had my glasses since I was 11. I'd been claiming for a while that I needed glasses, but no one believed me. I was so excited when I put them on for the first time, and realized that one could see separate leaves on the trees across the street! (My mother was humiliated!)

EDIT: Beat me to the post, Denise! And congrats on the dishwasher! My husband (who had to wash dishes all the time he was growing up) says that a house is something you build around a dishwasher.

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 7:30 am (#2657 of 2956)

Happy Birthday to the adorable Spaghetti Face, and your dishwasher sounds awesome, Denise. I'll bet the baseball team family does stress a dishwasher just a bit. You deserve to happy dance!

I've been trying to get my mom to replace the dishwasher in their house ever since they bought it. Seven years ago, they moved to place Dad closer to his new office, and the house they bought was three years old. I sincerely hope that your old dishwasher was not as loud as theirs is. It sounds like a jet is taking off when it runs. Not only that, but the shortest cycle runs no less than an hour. Their excuse is, "We don't know if we're staying here." That was seven years ago! Mr. Catherine and I offered to replace it for them for several Christmases, and they refused because, "It's not worth it because we may not stay here."

As it is now, Dad complains constantly if Mom runs it, and it doesn't have a delay cycle to run it when they aren't there. So the way I see it, a good dishwasher promotes family harmony!

EDIT: Mr. RPS is on to something about the house being "built" around the dishwasher!

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Marè - Mar 4, 2005 7:51 am (#2658 of 2956)

I've had my glasses since I was 11. I'd been claiming for a while that I needed glasses, but no one believed me. I was so excited when I put them on for the first time, and realized that one could see separate leaves on the trees across the street!

Seeing leaves on trees was exactly the first thing I noticed when they put glasses on my nose. I was highly surprised that seeing a greenish blurb wasn't what the average tree was supposed to look like.
I didn't like getting glasses though, I was really very sad about it. My mother made it better by finally allowing me to get my ears pierced.

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septentrion - Mar 4, 2005 8:42 am (#2659 of 2956)

Still again I didn't go here for a few days and had to catch up with tons of posts.

Welcome Delightful Task ! I didn't know there was another Frenchie round here ! We have something in common besides HP : my husband is from Maghreb too (Mauritania actually), but isn't fond at all of Harry Potter. Yet he bears my obsession.

RPS, I'd say like Elanor about french children speaking English, you must have met the exceptions. We have a joke here which says that a man who speaks only one language is called a French man.

Penny Lane, the french lexicon is the translation of the lexicon. But the forum is quite an original one. If you want to post there, you'll have to register. It isn't as lively as here but one more member will help it to grow.

About glasses, I wear mine since the age of 10. I never tried contacts and now I'm so accustomed to them I can't imagine myself without them. Luckily I'm not near of blindness, having "only" around -4 at each eyes.

Everyone have a great week-end !

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Penny Lane. - Mar 4, 2005 9:07 am (#2660 of 2956)

Thank you Septentrion. I'll look into it - I'm just learning french, but I think actually reading, and forcing myself to look at it more often might help.

I also have astigmatism (sp?) and wear soft contacts. They used to be really expensive - $150 for 6 months, but now they are cheaper.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 4, 2005 9:24 am (#2661 of 2956)

Hey all!

On the subject of glasses: I got mine when I was in 6th grade (11 I think). It was the day before I was to leave for camp. When I got to camp I got sooooo sick. I was not used to the glasses and they gave me such a headache I thought I was gonna die. They also made me very nautious (spelling?). But I got used to them in a few days. I went to contacts in college, but I have since stopped wearing them. I went on some medication that make it very hard to wear them for longer than a few hours, I guess since they got dried out. Plus it gives me an extra five minutes every morning.

On the subject of dishwashers: we lived in military housing all through my childhood. We never had a dishwasher till after I graduated High School and my dad retired from the Navy. They bought a house with a dish washer but decided it took too much electricity and water. My dad said he had three dishwashers, why did he need another (me, my sister, and my brother)! They still don't use it. I'm not sure if I had one that I would use it either, unless I had a family the size of Denise's Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (94)

I LOVE the fair! Out here in California we have the LA fair and I went this year. It's so funny because you can tell all these city kids have never seen a cow or a pig. I used to go to the fair in Virginia because my dad showed his ducks, pheasants, and chickens in the poultry area. The fair there was slightly different than in California because most of the people there are used to farm life. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (95) but you can't beat fair food. Deep fried everything. I swear this year they had deep fried twinkies and oreos. NO LIE. I like the funnel cakes.

It's still raining here. At least it's not snow.

Happy Friday.

Mandy:)

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Ponine - Mar 4, 2005 9:24 am (#2662 of 2956)

Marè - That is so funny - that was the very first thing I noticed too!! I thought it was just amazing that you could actually see the individual leaves of the birch, and it was awesome... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (96) Of course, as I too was a child of the eighties, my glasses were big and hideous and completely matched my braces... sigh.. it was all good, right...

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Essidji - Mar 4, 2005 9:26 am (#2663 of 2956)

Hey all! Would you fancy a good laugh? Try this. I found it so hilarious that I really wanted to share.

http://community-2.webtv.net/Babajani1/MurphysLaw/

Oh, and welcome Delightful Task. Wow, two of we four are teachers, I'm gonna have a big complex with my level in English...

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Ponine - Mar 4, 2005 9:31 am (#2664 of 2956)

Hi Essidji - That is hilarious!! I know I have been really impressed by the language here as well, and I am always quite self-counscious when typing, torn between being spontaneous and semi-proper.

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Phoenix song - Mar 4, 2005 9:32 am (#2665 of 2956)

Good morning everyone! I am so relieved to find out that my OCD of needing to "place" every actor/actress that I see/hear with where I originally "knew" them from is not a disorder that I alone share. I've always thought that if you were the only one with a peculiar "peeve" that you were abnormal, but if you meet at least one other person with your particular obsession then you're "exceptional".

Mike, I can feel your pain regarding the snippets that you see on those fast paced trailers! Those things get to me, too! Often you'll see an actor's side profile for the briefest of seconds and then it progresses to the next car crash. Meanwhile, I'm stuck speaking my usual line to my husband sitting next to me, "Where do I know him from?" His ultra understanding and sympathetic remark is something to the effect of, "I don't know, it's not important, get over it and watch the movie!" Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (97)
At least I now know that there are others to whom this is important as well.

Denise, be sure to give your little cutie, "Spaghetti face", lots of Happy Birthday Hugs from us! Happy Birthday Little One! And congratulations on the new dishwasher. I feel your excitement. When we first bought our home, the dishwasher in it was terrible. Our only chance at having the dishes come out clean was to totally and completely wash them prior to placing them in the washer. I rinse off things before I put them in the dishwasher, but if you have to completely clean them before hand what is the point of wasting the water to run the dishwasher? It certainly didn't get hot enough to "sanitize" them and didn't even dry the dishes for us. I was so thrilled when I got a new dishwasher. As a side benefit, I've found that we've experienced fewer colds since getting the new dishwasher. My kids were always sick, but my new washer has a sanitization cycle that seems to have worked to help prevent at least the spreading of germs to the other family members.

Have a good day everybody! If we can get some sun around here I'd be plenty pleased!
Barbie

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Sirius Lee - Mar 4, 2005 9:41 am (#2666 of 2956)

Deep fried everything. I swear this year they had deep fried twinkies and oreos. NO LIE

Here in New York, we have a fantastic British restaurant that is known for both the yummy food AND the deep-fried desserts! They claim to have invented the deep friend twinkie, but also cook up Hostess Cherry Pies, Bananas, and tons of candy bars (Twix, Mars, Snickers, etc). The fried Reese's Peanut Buttter Cups are possibly the best thing to ever happen to chocolate! ::drools just thinking about it::

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Julia. - Mar 4, 2005 11:09 am (#2667 of 2956)

Denise, wish Kierynn a happy birthday for me, and pass along some child-size butterbeer.

Just a quick hello to you all before my last class (Shakespeare, yay!) and then I'm home for spring break! *dances*

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 4, 2005 11:37 am (#2668 of 2956)

Essidji, YOU JUST MADE MY DAY!!! That was one of the funniest things I've ever seen! ROFL!

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kabloink! - Mar 4, 2005 11:59 am (#2669 of 2956)

I saw the first part of that in my husband's Maxim this month. It said to be continued...So the second crane fell in as well? That's just hilarious.

My mom has pretty bad eyes, too. Whenever my dad is trying to convince someone to get high index lenses (nice and thin) he show's them my mom's lenses, her prescription is +8.25, +7 (not including her bifocals), and her whole family (she is one of eight, and her dad) all have eyes like that. I'm so glad that I take after my dad and only have a -3 in one eye and a -2.75 with a bit of astigmatism in the other. As far as wearing contacts when you only need them for distance, that is exactly what I do. Up until recently my distance vision wasn't even bad enough to worry about reading glasses, but now if I'm wearing my contacts I have these awesome reading glasses that I just toss on over them. Works like a charm, and since its only for reading, its easy to get over wearing the glasses.

By the way, I was in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Giant Squid Mike, my husband and I would have totally met you somewhere if it had been an option. Unfortunately we were with my parents (who paid for everything, so we can't complain), and they had certain things that they wanted us to see, on top of my dad and his slot obsession...we didn't even get to do anything except for dinner alone on our anniversary.

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John Bumbledore - Mar 4, 2005 12:44 pm (#2670 of 2956)

Oh, so that is what those are for!

Denise P, "The cool thing I like is that it has a delayed start option. No more having to remember to go turn the thing on after all showers have been taken and then cursing in the morning when you open it for something to discover you didn't run it."

We got a new (well, new to us) dishwasher about a year ago when the old one that came with the house started auditioning for a role as a prop in "The Exorcist!" Mrs. Bumbledore had just turned the old dishwasher on when it started shaking, then rumbling like a volcanic eruption. First we cut the power at the circuit breaker, then since it didn't stop, we shut off the main breaker for the entire house! It just kept on rumbling and shaking! We were ready to call 911 because we thought we could smell burning plastic or rubber, but then it just stopped. I shut off the water and verified the power was off with a voltage meter.

Mandy and Catherine, The new ones are quiet and more energy efficient than hand washing. If you wash dishes after each meal, hand washing takes about 30 gallons a day of heated water. New dishwashers use about 10 to 15 gallons of hot water and can usually wash an entire days’ worth of dishes (for an average family) in one load. Denise P, no need to tell you that you have an above average family. Mrs. Bumbledore and I also have an above average family, but just a little bit as we only have four children. **Did I just say only four?**

Welcome to all our new members, and welcome back to those who are returning from a long. . . separation from our forum family.

Hi Essidji - That was hilarious, But, alas, that last shot with the green crane is a forgery. Here is the link again, http://community-2.webtv.net/Babajani1/MurphysLaw/ notice the fifth picture in the series (red car on pier, white skiff beside red ship, position of spectators, etc.) then the last picture is copy of picture 5 with the green crane edited in on it's side.

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

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Madam Pince - Mar 4, 2005 12:55 pm (#2671 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Kierynn!

Congrats on the dishwasher, too! We got a new dishwasher last year. I had hesitated for so long because there wasn't anything "technically" wrong with our old one, just that it was so loud and it sometimes didn't clean tough stuff all that well. But I was won over by the thing about the new efficient machines using less water than hand-washing, and it's definitely true. Plus it's practically silent! If I can only convince my Mom (who stays with us part of the year) to ever give up on the pre-rinsing. She is convinced it is necessary -- I keep telling her it's a waste of water and that the new machine will get it done. Sigh....

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Eponine - Mar 4, 2005 1:29 pm (#2672 of 2956)

All this talk about fairs is making me remember the deep fried Snickers bar I had at the North Carolina State Fair this year. (**waves to Catherine **) It was so good. My sister and I promptly dubbed it, 'deep friend heaven on a stick covered with powdered sugar'. Mmmmmmm.....

Barbie, you are definitely NOT alone in the actor recognition OCD. My husband and I will be watching TV or a movie, and if we're trying to place someone...IMDB during the commercials or the minute we get home. It drives us nuts trying to figure out where we know that actor from.

I'm so glad it's Friday. No more kids until Monday, then only 3 weeks of this left. I'm glad I did this, but it's made me realize that I do not like being in charge of a classroom full of kids. I prefer to work with smaller groups or one on one.

Have a happy Friday!

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 1:46 pm (#2673 of 2956)

Oh, Bumbledore, I don't need any convincing that modern dishwashers are wonderful!

When we renovated our home, we removed the hideous autumn red old appliance and, after much consultation, selected our current model. It is so quiet that you can't tell it's on unless you watch the display pad, or open it and see the water streaming through it. Why the parents stick with the current model for seven years is beyond me, especially as it causes discord

I've done my share of hand-washing during college and grad school years. Nothing can provoke an argument like someone who lets old food fossilize in pots or lets dishes stack up past the level of the sink! Grrr!

EDIT: **waves back at Eponine** I still can't believe that you two ate that! I'll have to try one at the County Fair this year! Remember the alligator kabobs?

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 4, 2005 2:09 pm (#2674 of 2956)

Alligator. Now I've never seen that on a stick in Minnesota. I did have ostrich, once...

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 2:21 pm (#2675 of 2956)

Eponine, her sister (Dobby's Tea Cozy), and I found out that you can, with enough cash and a willing appetite, eat just about anything on a stick at the State Fair!

In fact, I even took a picture of one menu that caught our notice. Here is the original post from the shelved Chat thread Food on a Stick

I would like to add, for the record, that no one in our party ate anything off of that menu.

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Eponine - Mar 4, 2005 2:24 pm (#2676 of 2956)

Yep, you can buy "fried dough" too. I guess it's no longer politically correct to call it a funnel cake.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 4, 2005 3:06 pm (#2677 of 2956)

Phew, I had 99 posts to catch up on!

Sirius Lee, where is this place you refer to with all the fried things? A Salt and Battery on 2nd Avenue has deep friend Mars Bars (the british Mars bars). But I've not seen other things deep fried. (Not that I need it on my diet, but that's ok...).

There is a cajun restaurant on 6th St. here in Manhattan that serves alligator. I've not yet built up the daring to try it though...

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Ladybug220 - Mar 4, 2005 3:10 pm (#2678 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 4, 2005 2:10 pm

Gina, it tastes like a combo of pork and chicken. It's pretty good (although it has been years since I have eaten it).

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Acceber - Mar 4, 2005 3:30 pm (#2679 of 2956)

Thanks for the advice about glasses and plays Pinky. I will most definitely try that. The play is in two weeks and we're getting our costumes in a week . I remember when the productions felt like they'd never come, and now they're almost here.

Happy Spring Break to the College Students.

And Happy Birthday Kierynn! When I first saw Denise's new avatar, I said, "Ohhhhh, baby." But then I realized she's not a baby anymore. I remember her first birthday, and Denise's avatar with her as a little baby and then again at the present time. If I recall, she was in the same adorable outfit. I'm feeling nostalgic thinking about this time a year ago. And I feel old, which isn't too normal around here.

It's Friday, I'm listening to the Beatles, I'm reading the Forum, so I'm in a good mood. Yay!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 4, 2005 3:41 pm (#2680 of 2956)

Has anybody heard if the American audio version of HBP will be released at the same time as the hardcover? It was for OOP so I am hoping it will be for HBP as well.

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Detail Seeker - Mar 4, 2005 3:47 pm (#2681 of 2956)

As to murphy´s Law: What can go wrong, will go wrong

Did you know the two theories about the origins of this ?

The first says, that this was not found out by Murphy, but by a person of the same name.

The second one says, it is an acronym: Most UnReliable Prediction Hinted Yesterday

Whatever: nice pictures, though I wonder about a few details like no persons standing in the gliding path going down, too in the first "bath"...

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 3:57 pm (#2682 of 2956)

Has anybody heard if the American audio version of HBP will be released at the same time as the hardcover? It was for OOP so I am hoping it will be for HBP as well. –Ladybug

I remembered that, which is why I tried to reserve my audio copy at the same time I reserved my books, and it wasn't available yet, at least at Barnes and Noble. I tried again last week to reserve the audio, and they still didn't have it available.

Now you all know what a goober fan I really am!

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Madame Librarian - Mar 4, 2005 5:31 pm (#2683 of 2956)

I think Murphy's Laws are the universal religion. Thanks for the chuckle. I forwarded it to my son (in Italy), but I didn't point out the bit about the final shot. Let's see if he catches on. I used to have a series of posters with Murphy's Laws and all the corollaries broken down by topic--work, marriage, love, shopping, kids, etc. I can only find the one on work now (my son confiscated it and hung it in his room).

Glasses--I got mine when I was 19, in college and realizing that my profs all didn't have bad handwriting. I'd sit in the back of these huge lecture halls and have to copy notes off of the person next to me since the board was a blur. One day I sat up front for a change (a boy I was "interested" in was in the third row so I joined him), and--lo and behold!--the notes on the board were crystal clear. My correction was just for distance and I only needed to wear the specs for driving and movies--oh, yeah, for class, too. I'm also a bit astigmatic, but both corrections are mild. However, when that certain age is reached, one encounters the difficulties in reading things close-up. Crossword puzzle clues are the worst.

So your eye doc prescribes bifocals, but suggests that you try no-lines or progressives so the glasses don't make you look like a little old lady (the line across the lens being the giveaway). Gaaaa! It took me an incredible amount of time to accommodate the new prescription. I tripped down stairs, got nauseous just moving my head from side to side, could not read street signs unless I slid the glasses way down my nose. They re-made the lenses 3 times till it finally worked. Apparently I am not an adaptable person. Every time the prescription has changed even slightly, I go through a version of this. I just got new glasses a month ago and I'm still not happy with them. Honestly, next time the doc says there's a minor change in the correction, I'm going to pass. Thanks, but no thanks.

Thanks for letting me vent. Seeing as how I am going through an adjustment period now, I needed to. But I want to apologize for being a kvetch about something so relatively minor. I am truly thankful that my eye problems are trivial and I feel sorry for the many who have more serious issues. My sister, for example. She wore glasses--real "coke bottles" she called them--since she was two! Ironically, when she had cataract surgery two years ago, the lenses they implanted eliminated the need for glasses altogether! She had perfect vision now. I'm still not used to seeing her without glasses.

Well, time to throw some dinner on the stove. Later, guys...

Ciao. Barb

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Chemyst - Mar 4, 2005 6:07 pm (#2684 of 2956)

Chemyst, Sometimes it's good to vary from tradition... Julie
That is true. And I thank you for being my fuddy-duddy-prevention police. It is still too early for me to cash in on my birthright of becoming a crotchety little old lady. Nevertheless, in cases of movies about characters such as Sid Vicious, I've had my fill of dwelling on angry lifestyles, thank-you very much.

Did Kierynn march forth to her birthday cake? ... sorry... I don't know what came over me just now...

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Gina R Snape - Mar 4, 2005 6:24 pm (#2685 of 2956)

Oh, yes. Happy birthday Kierynn! Geez, I remember Denise being pregnant and disappearing when she went into labour!

Anyway, I've got progressive lenses. As a matter of fact, I wore my first pair of progressives when I was a kid and they first came out with them. I had a back-up pair that were straight bifocals and they made me dizzy! I couldn't walk down stairs, and I repeatedly tripped over my own two feet in regular bifocals. That was the end of the back-up pair.

Even still, I think everyone takes a bit of time to adjust to new glasses. It's like going from a comfy but very worn pair of shoes to a new shiny pair that need a wee bit of breaking in.

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 4, 2005 7:46 pm (#2686 of 2956)

Hello everyone.

Not so long ago we had a discussion on knitting. In my book catalogue (from a company called doubleday) was a book called First Knits: Step-by step projects for knitting novices. So I ordered it to finally get a book that might help me learn. There are some two different beanies and a simple cardigan/jacket pattern amongst others.

It is published in the UK and is currently available in Australia and Amazon.com says it will be available from 1st April.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Lizzy

I laughed at the crane photos till I cried. Once I worked out what was wrong with them (courtesy of bumbledore), I still find it funny.

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Catherine - Mar 4, 2005 7:52 pm (#2687 of 2956)

Darn those Engineers and Scientists. They are always being so darn logical and poking holes great theories and conspiracies.

**waves to all the engineers, scientists, and other nit-pickers**

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Phoenix song - Mar 4, 2005 9:05 pm (#2688 of 2956)

I tried again last week to reserve the audio, and they still didn't have it available. Now you all know what a goober fan I really am!

Catherine, don't worry, I'm more of a goober than you! I've been impatiently waiting to see if I could reserve the audio of HBP from the UK Amazon.com. {I prefer the UK versions of the audio with Stephen Frye narrating.} It's frustrating since I'm not sure if I'll be able to get them at the same time of the book's release, and I know that there'll be the additional time for the CDs to travel "over the pond". Of course, I'll be reading the hardback version first, and twice, and maybe even three times before getting to the audio...but I still hate to wait. Also, my husband listens to the audio book CDs while he's driving. If they don't get here in time I'm afraid that he'll ask me for my book version...and that dog won't hunt...bless his heart!

Barbie

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John Bumbledore - Mar 4, 2005 9:08 pm (#2689 of 2956)

True confessions:

I have to admit, I was laughing when I saw the second crane take the "swim," so I sent the link to all 6 co-workers in my work group. We were all laughing and talking about it. One sent it on to one of their friends who did graphic work with photo editing software. He was the one who immediately told us it was a fake. So I was fooled until it was pointed out to me. ** Waves back at Catherine, for all the other "engineers, scientists, and other nit-pickers" **

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore

P. S. Hello, my name is John and I am an insufferable-know-it-all and nit-picker.

P. P. S. x-post with Phoenix Song. ** Waves at Barbie, passes her a butterbeer. ** Hmm, audio-book on CD (my car only has cassette tape player.) Well, I going to check on some other threads. Ta ta.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 4, 2005 9:41 pm (#2690 of 2956)

John, they do have the audiotapes (my car only has a cassette player as well).

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timrew - Mar 4, 2005 11:10 pm (#2691 of 2956)

I wondered what you were all on about, so scrolled back and had a look at the 'cranes' pics. Very funny!

But from the way the people were all jumping about from pic to pic, obviously a fake.

Just as well. I thought cranes were an endangered species........

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Elanor - Mar 5, 2005 1:03 am (#2692 of 2956)

I loved those pictures too! Too bad it is a fake...

It is Saturday morning here and I'm glad not to go to work this morning because - sad but true - it snowed AGAIN during the night, more than 10 centimeters (4 inches?) that stick to the road and it is still snowing... **sigh** The cold snap started on February 12th and from that day, it snowed every day (except for 2 days of sun but Siberian temperatures).

Actually, it has funny side effects too. I've heard that the price of the "pot-au-feu" (a famous French recipe eaten during winter, it is boiled beef with vegetables) has doubled those last days... Something to do with vegetables freezing or stuck in trucks, trucks that are stuck somewhere on snowy highways. Too bad! To think people want to comfort themselves with food and can't do that because of frozen leeks... I think I'll make "crêpes"/pancakes today instead!

Talking about fairs and strange works we used to do, I don't think I ever told you about the year I was holding a stand at the famous "Salon de l'Agriculture" Delightful Task was talking about. That was an experience, indeed! It is a huge fair, with more than 600 000 people visiting each year, this is the link to the English site of the fair:salon de l'agriculture.

I was working for the Tourist Office of my town then and the region had a stand about regional products at the fair and I was one of the victims volunteers chosen for going there and give some tourist information on that stand. It was amazing! As an exhibitor, I could come before visitors in the morning and see those beautiful animals when their owners were preparing them for the day. It was also very funny because a lot of exhibitors had brought some local products to make parties in the evening (I have fond memories of the punch from Martinique...). It was also exhausting, thousands of people moving, asking questions, kids screaming, musicians playing... and that 10 hours a day. We were about 10 people on that stand and we didn't have a minute to lose! Fortunately, we had wine and honey producers with us who cheered us up with their products too (never tried red wine with slice of bread and honey? Weird but good when you're exhausted...) Anyway, I don't regret it, this was a unique experience!

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Catherine - Mar 5, 2005 7:00 am (#2693 of 2956)

Hello, my name is John and I am an insufferable-know-it-all and nit-picker. –Bumbledore

Excellent! You've come to the right place, then!

I always appreciate those members who can pick the more technical, mathematical, and scientific nits, because those nits always escape my grasp.

In fact, Chemyst was able to use astronomy recently in the Snape thread to support a position that I held, but was unable to find absolute canon evidence to support. I also seem to remember that Marcus did a good job of explaining wand use and spoken magic. The explanation made sense and seemed logical to me, anyway.

Busy Saturday planned today. I need to tackle some big house-keeping chores, both inside and outside today. Time to cull the kids' clothes in preparation for spring, and set aside the Hayley's decent outgrown stuff for the Humane Society Yard Sale (part of our Anti-"Litter" campaign--I can hear the groans already) and do the same thing for the toy closet. Then I need to pull up some weeds and yank out the plants that were the victims of winter.

Off to do House-elf duty...have a good Saturday.

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kabloink! - Mar 5, 2005 8:40 am (#2694 of 2956)

All this talk about fairs and stuff makes me think of the Michigan Renaissance Festival and wish the time for it were nearer. I love dressing up in my garb and going and looking around at all the stuffs. They have smoked Turkey Legs and Soup on a Bread Bowl. A lot of the stuff isn't actually period, but it is still a blast. One of my husband's cousins (I guess she's my cousin now, too!) works there every year. She almost got me a job last year, but it was so late in the season and I was too busy with school. Who know, though. If I can find a Monday-Friday job this year, I might get to work there.

I'm a rennie who doesn't have the time or money to be a rennie.

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The giant squid - Mar 5, 2005 9:05 am (#2695 of 2956)

My oldest, who turned 8 yesterday[...]--Marie E.

Make sure you give her a belated birthday hug from her Uncle Mike. Did she like her present?

Happy Birthday wishes to Denise's little one as well.

Marie, I hadn't realized your eyes were that much worse than mine (-6.75 in one eye, -5.5 in the other). I think they'll skip the cane and just give you a piano! My wife claims that her bad eyes are my fault--they were fine for most of her life, then shortly after we got married she started having trouble seeing. Her vision is still much better than mine, though. She only needs the glasses for distances. I tried to get her to wear contacts, but she refuses to stick her finger in her eye...

Mike, you have a fascinating career history!—Catherine

You have no idea...though not much of it can really be classed as "career"; more like "something to pay the bills".

kabloink, it's too bad I missed you, but I can relate to the tight schedule. I hope your anniversary dinner was good at least! There's always next time--c'mon, like you need an excuse to come to Vegas!

--Mike

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Lina - Mar 5, 2005 9:36 am (#2696 of 2956)

It is a real frustration! Two days off the forum, and I need five days to catch you up. I keep admiring you folks that are able to be here every day and even check every post (because you really do a great job)! I had a light operation two days ago, on my middle daughter's birthday, I had to remove a birth mark, and it isn't the operation that is complicated (easier than to visit a dentist) but the results of the analysis that I expect in two weeks. Then I had to spare my leg to avoid complications, but today I feel just excellent, unlike my celebrating daughter (Veronika) who got the flu with high temperature. So I had to cancel the birthday party and had the time to catch this thread which has been too interesting these days to skip any post.

Just guess what we gave Veronika for her 11th birthday? The PS/SS audio CDs! Since she is a bit dyslexic, we figured out she would appreciate it. And we were right. It is the first book published on audio CDs in Croatia. We have libraries for the blind that make their own copies of audio books, but this is the first one published.

Since I have all the books published so far in English and Croatian, I plan to acquire them in Italian too, now I'm considering acquiring them in audio versions too. It might benefit the pronunciation...

Good day to everybody!

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Catherine - Mar 5, 2005 9:43 am (#2697 of 2956)

Happy Birthday to Lina's daughter Veronika, and I hope you feel better. Good to see that your operation didn't slow you down, Lina.

I'm eating a quick lunch in front of the computer to reward myself for scrubbing the kitchen floor and doing all the vacuuming. Since we discussed appliances yesterday, let me just say that my vacuum is only seven years old, but it's acting like it is seventy. I'm about ready to pitch it on the trash heap! Good tools make a job much easier, I believe.

Back to the regularly scheduled duties....

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Ydnam96 - Mar 5, 2005 9:49 am (#2698 of 2956)

Lina, I hope that the results from the surgery turn out well. If you don't mind me asking, what prompted the doctors to remove it? I have a birth mark that my doctors like to look at but they don't tell me what they are looking for.

And, don't worry about not getting on the forum every day. I come when I can, but still can't catch up on all the new posts. There are just too many of us Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (98)

Off to catch up on some posts then maybe go to REI to buy a backpacking pack.

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Lina - Mar 5, 2005 11:00 am (#2699 of 2956)

Thank you for your nice wishes!

The reason for removing it was that it started to change - in shape and color. The worst thing is that my mum is a doctor so I've heard a lot of stories on that meter much before I dreamed it could happen to me. The other bad thing is that the dermatologists have done their best and maybe succeeded to scare me.

The good thing might be that I decided to do it at the moment that I accepted the possible outcomes. I have a really hard time to believe it could be so seriously bad. I'm sure I went in time. If the analysis shows that it is necessary, I might get some therapy but I believe it would finish there. It seems it could turn out that it is good that I'm so fat.

The worst thing that this could mean is called melanoma, so if I knew that this operation is so simple, I might have done it much earlier. But you know how it is, you always have some better things to do and never enough time for yourself. But it seems that nowdays doctors know much better how to handle this stuff, so melanoma is not as lethal as it used to be.

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kabloink! - Mar 5, 2005 11:26 am (#2700 of 2956)

I remember my grandmother had a spot on her leg for as long as I could remember. I always asked her what it was, and she didn't know. It wasn't dark like most birth marks, it almost looked like a scar, but it wasn't. Apparently for a long time, her doctors didn't know what it was, either. Turns out when they finally looked at it seriously, it was melanoma. Mind you, my grandmother was born in 1913, and worked on a farm most of her life, before people really knew what skin cancer was. Anyway, they removed it and did a simple skin graft. After that it was simply scar tissue. She had a couple more spots on her face, but they were small and easily dealt with. Thank goodness none of it was bad. I suppose I sometimes have a hard time understanding how bad skin cancer could be, simply because it was so easily dealt with in my grandmother.

Oh well, sorry about being kind of depressing with that. My grandmother has since passed away, simply from old age. She had been through several health problems, including tuberculosis, breast cancer, skin cancer, two wars, a depression, heart problems...and was 89 years old when she passed on. She was a very large part of my life growing up, and I learned a great deal from the things that happened to her.

Mike, who knows, maybe we'll use visiting you as an excuse for coming out to Vegas again. My inlaws have been talking about heading out there again sometime soon. They're much more laid back than my parents, so perhaps we'll tag along and visit then!

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (99)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (100)

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VeronikaG - Mar 5, 2005 11:57 am (#2701 of 2956)

Happy belated birthday to Shayla, Kierynn and Veronika (How cool that she spells it with a K).

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septentrion - Mar 5, 2005 12:04 pm (#2702 of 2956)

I join with Veronika for the birthday wishes, and wish Lina a prompt healing.

It snowed like mad yesterday evening and this morning (buses were cancelled after 7pm yesterday) and this afternoon, you'd have told it had just rained much. The weather's going mad and is driving me mad in the same time. We're nearly at spring !

Everyone have a good week-end !

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Sirius Lee - Mar 5, 2005 1:03 pm (#2703 of 2956)

Gina, "The ChipShop" in Park Slope, Brooklyn is the joint with all the fried yumminess! It also happens to be one of my favorite places to eat. Sunday brunch there has become a staple with me and my friends. Check it out! (corner of 6th Street and 5th Aveune off the F/R)

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kabloink! - Mar 5, 2005 2:07 pm (#2704 of 2956)

Septentrion, does it actually feel like spring on the first day of spring there? It never does here in Michigan. We typically have at LEAST three more weeks of winter after March 21st. I remember when I was little, before we learned about planets and equinoxes and stuff I never understood why people had decided to make the first day of spring so early...

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 5, 2005 3:15 pm (#2705 of 2956)

Happy belated birthday to Shayla, Kierynn and Veronika! My problem was I wanted to wish these children Happy Birthday, but did you think I could find and spell their names?? Septentrion finally provided me with the info.

Lina: I had a rather large birthmark on my waist on my right side. It was removed when I was 10 for exactly the same reason you had yours removed. The risk of melanoma. Actually my doctor and parents told me cancer, but it was enough to scare me in to co-operating. In a quirk of fate the operation was done on April Fool's Day and that particular day was big in a child's life back then.

I'm off to check the threads and then to do a good clean up of the house.

Have a good Sunday.

Lizzy

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Gina R Snape - Mar 5, 2005 7:02 pm (#2706 of 2956)

Oh, Sirius Lee. I've passed that place once before but never went in as I'm not often in Brooklyn. You should let me know when you go and I could meet up with you some time. Maybe we could have a Hogwarts Local meet there too!

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Julia. - Mar 5, 2005 8:47 pm (#2707 of 2956)

Good evening all. I'm home in New Haven for spring break. Ahhhh, the joys of dial up internet. Shabbos this week was very restful. I got a 4 and a half hour nap this afternoon. Yay.

Happy birthday to Shayla and Veronika! Hope you're feeling better soon Lina!

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 5, 2005 9:29 pm (#2708 of 2956)

Hi all, I've just learn't something new. I managed to talk to Marie in the Chat area and have learn't of the existence of mountain time. And worked out how the chat thread works.

Oh I knew it was there, I just couldn't find a city or town I knew of to locate it.

Off to spend the rest of Sunday afternoon snoozing....

Lizzy

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 5, 2005 9:44 pm (#2709 of 2956)

Oh my goodness so many posts!

P.S.- Calendula can be purchased at any health for store. I used it on the girls for diaper irritation. If it is just a minor irritation it works great.

Aloe vera is terrific on burns, it helps cool the burning feel and helps to reduce scaring. However, when you get a burn, put cold/cool water first. Then apply the aloe, I used to always keep one in my kitchen handy for all the cooking mishaps. Butter and oil based products should not be put on burns. The oil holds the heat in. So until all the hot sensations leave the burn it is best to avoid oil based products.

Kids do have their own time schedule and shouldn't be rushed and certainly not compared. My son and his 2-year-younger triplet sisters were very close on the milestones. The oldest girl we jokingly call "his identical twin". Anastasia, before she was two years old, when the other girls were basically saying "mommy" “cookie" and "give me", said to me:

“No mommy, I told you don't do that!”

when I tried to get her into her high chair. I was so surprises to hear that sentence, at the point (they were basically saying "cookie" “mommy" “give me" "doggie") Her sisters who are identical had a two month lapse from Anastasia and from each other on hitting the milestone.

Happy birthday Shayla and Kierynn and all the others.

PS On the glasses, I had wonderful vision, 20/10 all my life. I have now gone past the magic age mark, my vision is now 20/40 and it is so hard to deal with the idea that I can't see like I used to, my arms keep streching further out. My eye doctor who always made faces at me at the end of my eye examines (he wears glasses) has no sympathy.

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Amilia Smith - Mar 5, 2005 11:44 pm (#2710 of 2956)

Holy smoke, Mrs. Sirius! You had a two year old and triplets at the same time? You have my complete and utter admiration!

Going back a couple days. . . thank-you Lizzie for telling about the Royal Easter Show when I asked. It sounds like great fun.

And Mike: very cool that they now have affordable contacts for astigmatism. Either they didn't have them back when I needed them, or my optometrist didn't tell me about them. (This was probably about eight, nine years ago.) I just remember that it was ninety bucks every time I tore one of my contacts. And you also have my admiration for learning to put up with irritants and contacts. As you see, I don't have that patience. Fortunantly, I don't have to worry about contacts any more. Bwahahahaha.

I went tubing tonight up at Soldier Hollow (where the cross-country skiing was held for the 2002 Olympics) with the singles group from my church. Lots of fun. They even have a cable line that hauls you up the hill so that you don't have to climb. :-) I kept running into the fence at the bottom. You are supposed to drag your heels at the end so that you don't do that, but it didn't work very well for me. Not to worry, though, I didn't get hurt.

Mills.

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 6, 2005 1:18 am (#2711 of 2956)

While I'm waiting for tea to cook, I thought I'd update my Avatar.

Hi my name is Macca, I'm 9 years old and I'm the top dog in this family. I suffer from separation anxiety and have just been weaned off anti-depressants (I miss the daily cheese snack though). I'm a cross between a Australian Cattle dog (red) and a Kelpie. My "mum" thinks there's a good dose of Dingo in me though. I love barking at other dogs and 4 wheel drives (SUV's) and driving mum up the wall. Bye for now."

Cheers

Lizzy

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Lina - Mar 6, 2005 2:15 am (#2712 of 2956)

Well, thank you everybody for your "get well" wishes, except I'm not sure I'm sick yet. But I am sure it is going to be fine.

At the moment, everybody is sick around me (one of my daughters, my sister and my mum who live next door) with the flu or something like that. I couldn't be sure, because my mum took the vaccination and she got the temperature all the same. (???) And talking about sneezing, I have the real recipe this time, I use it always with my children: the english translation on my tea box says "Marshmallow root". One teaspoon of it (chopped in small pieces) cover with half glass of the boiled water and let it stay for an hour. Then filtrate it and use as drops for the nose. It doesn't heal but it makes feel much better.

Mrs. Sirius: Kids do have their own time schedule and shouldn't be rushed and certainly not compared.

I thought the same. My eldest daughter started to talk clearly and fine when she was 3, she constantly made questions, she started to multiply when she was 4 and half, she read Harry Potter passionally and by herself when she was 8. So I figured she was progressive and I didn't have to expect the same from Veronika. Well, I'm sorry now that I didn't suspect something was wrong with her earlier, because there were signs of it, and going to the school was a total disaster for her. Now we are repairing the damage all the time and I'm wondering if it will ever be repaired.

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septentrion - Mar 6, 2005 2:31 am (#2713 of 2956)

Hello all !

Kabloink, it never feels like spring here on 21st March, but you usually have milder weather on this period of year. We should have around 5/10°C, an alternance of rain and sun, and the best we have is actually -1/+2°C and snow. (0°C=32°F)Me think I'll still have a very cocooning Sunday.

Have a great Sunday everyone !

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Elanor - Mar 6, 2005 8:27 am (#2714 of 2956)

It is the same here Septentrion, it is snowing since this morning, sometimes it stops and you think the sun may appear eventually when suddenly another snow shower starts... But it is a nice afternoon for reading and being on the net!

Actually, I've just done a HP quizz someone pointed out to me that is very funny, about what HP character has the same personality type as you (it is there: http://piratemonkeysinc.com/quiz.htm ) and it told me I was Snape-like! From tomorrow, I dress in black, work on my piercing eyes and start torturing kids in class, so cool...

But I keep my hair like it is because I just made it cut yesterday. I was bold for once and tried a very short hairstyle, very Madam Hooch-like, the more because I have pepper-and-salt hair! I like it, but now I need a broom... Can I be a Snape-Hooch crossing?

Lizzy, Macca is so cute! It is nice to know the family.

Have a great Sunday everybody!

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Madam Pince - Mar 6, 2005 8:31 am (#2715 of 2956)

Oh dear, now there's one for the 'Ship thread....Snape and Madam Hooch....

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Good Evans - Mar 6, 2005 9:07 am (#2716 of 2956)

hey Elanor thanks for that - I came out as Dumbledore, I would never have guessed, but the analysis made sense.

Its Mothering sunday today and my baby girl (little doggie)saved all her doggie money and bought her mum a gryffindor scarf. What a sweetie. I hope all other "mothers" are having a lovely day

Julie x

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septentrion - Mar 6, 2005 9:07 am (#2717 of 2956)

Well, no snow since yesterday but it really freezes. Well, I worked hard on my translation of the lexicon, so I'm quite satisfied with myself.

Snape/Hooch ? LOL, why not ?

Actually, I went to the hairdresser too on Friday and I was told I have white hair too. I never noticed since I use a little color. It was the perfect excuse to try something new

I've tried some other quizzes and they told me I was Hermione-like. I try this one and tell you the result...I'm more like Dumbledore. As he deals well with Snape, it doesn't bother me.

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librarian314 - Mar 6, 2005 9:07 am (#2718 of 2956)

Hey all!

It's been a crazy busy week here at the librarian household. Darling daughter has been less than darling this week. She's going through one of those stages when she pushes her limits and tries to get away with things and being sassy and marginally disrespectful. It's made me and my husband be stern disciplinarians all week and we're exhausted. She turns six in two weeks, so hopefully this is just a phase and she'll get over this soon.

One of the events we endured was the "self given haircut". Luckily, it was only a little on the sides and I was able to fix it. Her little voice tentatively asking, "You've done this before, right?" was highly amusing. I almost said "Nope, never before in my life. Hopefully, I won't botch it worse than you did." (We use sarcasm and hyperbole a lot in our house.) But I couldn't quite do that to her, so I reassured her that I had indeed trimmed hair before. (Several friends in college, including her dad and her best friends' mom.) She was reassured and no one can tell that there had been an "issue" last week.

It seems as though I was one of the few women in the family that did not have a childhood "self haircut issue". My mother-in-law, sister, and cousin all had stories about trying to cut their own hair and it turning out disastrously. My mother-in-law cut off her bangs when she was 4, the morning before having a portrait made. If you look closely at the photo you can seen that she has no bangs. :-)

Well, y'all take care! Happy birthday to various kiddos! Hope everyone who's feeling poorly gets better quickly!

**michelle the librarian**

P.S. I know I've lived in the metro Washington, D.C. area too long, as I drove through downtown DC (by the Mall, between the museums and the Washington Monument, in front of the White House, and by the Kennedy Center) last night, on the way home from my in-laws and didn't even think twice about it. When I first moved here, didn't even drive the interstates and would have swooned had I even set one tire in the District. What 10 years of living here will do! :-)

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Ydnam96 - Mar 6, 2005 9:13 am (#2719 of 2956)

So are there any backpackers out there on the forum? I bought a pack yesterday, it's a Kelty and I love the pack. I think it will be great, I go with work on a ten day backpacking trip up in the High Sierras. We don't take much, so a 5-7 day pack is okay for me (as a guide I don't carry and food or stuff). But my sleeping bag is way big for it. I bought a compression bag, hopefully it will take care of that problem. Just wondering if anyone had ran into problems an internal frame and your sleeping bag.

On another note. The sun is finally out in Southern Cali. not sure how long it's supposed to be dry. Guess we'll find out. Off to the posts. Happy Sunday

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Julia. - Mar 6, 2005 9:23 am (#2720 of 2956)

Good morning everyone.

Elanor, it's still snowing there?! Merlin's beard, how much snow have you got now? I never thought I'd say this, but if you want a vacation from the snow you can always come visit me in Connecticut!

I did the latest quis and it turns out I'm Hermione. Who knew?!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 6, 2005 10:17 am (#2721 of 2956)

Hey, Elanor. Want to hang out some time?

Well, it's cool and cloudy here in NYC today. I am grateful we didn't get snow again. Can't wait for this winter.

Oh, and mine quiz came out Snape too. btw, PirateMonkey has some fantastic fanart, for those who take an interest in poking around her site.

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kabloink! - Mar 6, 2005 11:16 am (#2722 of 2956)

I came out to be Fred and George....I think it was mistaken...

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Lina - Mar 6, 2005 2:55 pm (#2723 of 2956)

Elanor, your quiz was really cute! I hoped to become Dumbeldore, but I turned out to be Harry. I'm not surprised since I'm Leo in horoscope too.

Well, talking about hair cutting, I never did it to myself. My first haircut were my neighbor's dolls. Since I had the same pair of dolls, we had to exchange them. The next hair I cut, was my neighbor's real hair. Obviously the first lesson was not hard enough, and I find it hard to believe, but I don't remember to be punished for that. My practice continued on my sister's hair, but that was much later and for real. And my daughters haven't seen the hairdresser yet. Although, the younger two didn't seem to be quite satisfied with their mum and decided at some point to take their hairs faith in their own hands. For a while, I used to find pieces of Veronika's hair here and there, but it wasn't so visible on her. The youngest one, Mihaela, came to me one day saying that her forelock need to be cut. I told her I would do it after the bath. Since she didn't like the bath at that time, she decided to do it by herself. Well this did not look too good but it was a good excuse for me to cut her hair because I thought it didn't look good being long.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 6, 2005 3:27 pm (#2724 of 2956)

Ydnam96 - I bought an internal frame backpack a few years ago, and I love it - it's so much more comfortable. I had trouble adapting to the smaller size, but now after a few times, I managed to adapt. I live in Michigan, so I can only backpack 2-3 times a year tops, and since I graduated high school I've only been twice, but I love it. Feel free to email me, btw.

My spring break is over, and I'm now back at school. I'm SO tired, all I want to do is fall asleep, but I have a weeks worth of homework to do. I do this every year, I swear. I take home a bunch of books and vow to catch up, then I don't touch them until I have to go back. Grrrr. I hate being a procrastinator.

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Doris Crockford - Mar 6, 2005 3:39 pm (#2725 of 2956)

I was Snape, too. I didn't really agree until I read the little box, and I totally see how I'm like that.

Exciting news! My parents finally got our new car! We ordered it in November, and it finally came! It's our first new car in 10 years, since my dad takes really good care of his cars. It's a Ford Focus, and it's the nicest shade of green. I drove it today. I was terrified because it was so new, and I'm not a very good driver yet. But it's an awesome car.

I've never cut my own hair, either. I generally just have straight hair, varying the length between my chin and just past my shoulder. But I have one school picture of me where I have really short hair, and this one piece of hair sticking sideways out of my head.

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Amilia Smith - Mar 6, 2005 3:44 pm (#2726 of 2956)

I was Hagrid. Who is apparently an introvert. Go figure.

I don't remember ever cutting my own hair (selective memory?), but my little sister was infamous for it. She cut her own hair several times. Also the cat's hair. Also her best friend's hair.

Congrats on the new car, Doris.

Mills.

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Elanor - Mar 6, 2005 3:45 pm (#2727 of 2956)

Julia: "Elanor, it's still snowing there? Merlin's beard, how much snow have you got now? I never thought I'd say this, but if you want a vacation from the snow you can always come visit me in Connecticut!"

LOL! It would be nice! Actually, we had snow almost each day since february 12th in my region. As I live in the plains, it melts a little during the day and then some fresh snow falls again and there are always about 10 centimetres of snow... But in the Auvergne region, hilly, not far from here, there are some villages that have impressive amounts of snow!

Gina, I thought you would like this site! The fanart is really great. I was surprised first but then very happy that my quizz came out as Snape! I like your dear husband very much, one of the greatest non-understood-but-brilliant characters ever! Now I understand why I sometimes feel close to him...

Good luck with your homework Penny!

Edit: about self haircut, I don't remember doing it to myself but it happens sometimes in class. Suddenly, you see some hair on the floor or a desk and it is too late. I hate to give the kid back to his/her mother and say "well, there was a little "accident" about your kid's hair"... Though it is worse when the kid cut another kid's hair... I have a nice collection of confiscated scissors on my desk. Fortunately, most of them were seized before some "accidents" like that happen but it is often close!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 6, 2005 4:32 pm (#2728 of 2956)

Heh, heh. Yes, there is more to the 'ol potions master than just snarkiness.

As a matter of fact, though, I sort of know GRLMonkey. She did a banner ad for my Snape yahoo group about a year ago before we changed our name. If you look at the banners/art you will see one that says "Veresnas Veneries" "It's weird. We know. Get Used to It." with a cartoon Snape embracing a female by the lake (it's supposed to be funny). That was for us (the group) upon our request.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 6, 2005 5:12 pm (#2729 of 2956)

Oh my gosh. I tested out as Severus Snape and dear hubby tested out as Hermione Granger. Ain't that a kick in the head?!

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I Am Used Vlad - Mar 6, 2005 5:20 pm (#2730 of 2956)

My test result was Snape. I don't know what I think about that yet.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 6, 2005 5:26 pm (#2731 of 2956)

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha. Oh, Kim. How absolutely perfect!

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Madam Pince - Mar 6, 2005 5:44 pm (#2732 of 2956)

Well, I tested out here as Hermione, but in all the other Myers-Briggs tests I've done (and I did several back in the day when I was a corporate cut-throat -- ha-ha) I tested out as an ESTJ.... which unfortunately is Percy Weasley.

Hermione is an ISTJ, and Percy is an ESTJ, apparently. And all my testings showed that I was just barely over the line from introvert into extravert. In the reading of Myers-Briggs that I've done, I'd say that's about right -- I have a lot of ISTJ tendencies, but I'm just a teensy bit more ESTJ.

****waves to all other ESTJs!****

Incidentally, I just read on the COS Movie thread about Chris Rankin's recent interview, and it's interesting that he says something to the effect that, when asked about predictions for "Half-Blood Prince," he says "All I know at the moment is that at some stage Percy will probably redeem himself, that's what I've been told will possibly happen."

So, whew! ***wondering if it was JKR who told him that***

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Eponine - Mar 6, 2005 6:18 pm (#2733 of 2956)

I took the test and came out as Olympe Maxime. That's a little odd. It said I was an ENFJ, but when I took the Meyers-Briggs test before I was an ENFP. Another "Which HP-character are you?" test scored me as Harry, and another one as Ginny. It's intesting to see how varied the results are from different tests.

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Steve Newton - Mar 6, 2005 6:49 pm (#2734 of 2956)

Oh, my God! My wife tested out as Albus Dumbledore. I got the big Madam Hooch. Madam Hooch?!? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (105)

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boop - Mar 6, 2005 7:28 pm (#2735 of 2956)

Hello Jo S., runs over and gives her great big hug. I have missed talking to you. I have been thinking about, and wondered when you had the baby. Good to hear that the baby is doing fine as well as you. I have not been in the chat room much anymore. I should go in more, miss talking to everyone who used to come in. The chat room was down for a while and people just didn't come back. I think more are starting to use the chat room more. Welcome back, hope to talk with you in the chat room soon. Give your daughter a hug from me. take care

Betty(boop)

Hugs Always

PS Welcome all new forum members, This forum is a family forum. If you need suppose this is the place to come. We talk about different topics all the time. Please feel free to post.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 6, 2005 7:46 pm (#2736 of 2956)

Say, I just realised that March 6th is Mother's Day in the UK and there were no posts for it. So, to all the mothers in the UK, Happy Mother's Day! And happy Mother's Day to JK Rowling!

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Denise P. - Mar 6, 2005 7:51 pm (#2737 of 2956)

I tested out as Hermione.

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Catherine - Mar 6, 2005 7:54 pm (#2738 of 2956)

Ugh. I am depressed. I tested out as Madame Hooch.

NOT the result I wanted, I assure you.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 6, 2005 7:59 pm (#2739 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 6, 2005 7:06 pm

I tested as Dumbledore and then I changed one answer and got Madame Maxime.

(Begin whining....you may skip if you like) Well, here in the US it is tax time again. I did my federal return tonight and i am happy to report that I only owe about half of what I was expecting. That makes it easier to write that check come April 15 and it means that I won't have to starve myself to get my taxes paid. But, I have to say that doing 2 state tax returns is a pain the rear but at least I will only have to pay a small amount of tax to one state. (whining over)

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

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Julia. - Mar 6, 2005 9:07 pm (#2740 of 2956)

Random question for all the Monty Python geeks around here. In some sketch there was a discussion about Bolton being a palindrome. Michael Palin and John Cleese were involved, and at some point John Cleese said 'Bolton spelled backwards is Notlob!' Do you guys happen to know which sketch that was from?

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 6, 2005 9:32 pm (#2741 of 2956)

Elenor, I tested as Fred and George. Not what I expected,, but yes chaos and pandemonium does tend to surround me. (e.g. spontaneous triplets)

Today we escaped the snow we just had a few flurries, I am just so ready for spring! So far there are no signs of it.

Happy Mother's Day to all our UK mother friends.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 6, 2005 10:30 pm (#2742 of 2956)

Penny: thanks. I'm not much of a backpacker, but for work I have to go on a 10 day backpacking trip (I know it sounds wierd, but it's for a purpose) no tents- just us and God's country. It's worth the investment just for that one trip a year. I hope the compression bag helps a big with the sleeping bag.

Ladybug: Taxes suck. I hate filling them out. Even though I'm in my mid to late 20s my mom still does mine. I think it makes her feel like she is still needed. I totally appreciate it! But if I had to do it on my own, which I'm sure will be the case next year, I may want to move to a more socialist society.

I've taken up crocheting (spelling) and I decided to make an afgan. HAHA, I've got this strange looking round/ovalish thing. The whole making a square escapes me. Oh well...it will keep me warm I guess. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (106)

Sunday is almost over. Another week to go...Happy Mother's day to all of you who live in the UK.

Back to Alias season 3 for me Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (107)

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 6, 2005 11:20 pm (#2743 of 2956)

Mandy: I used to have problems making a square out of my crocheting as well. It took me a lot of experimentation to get it working the way I wanted it too. My explanation would no doubt confuse you, so perhaps there is another chrocheter on this site who can help you.

I've acquired another one of my roaring headaches, so I'll finish off here and come back later after a quick nap.

Lizzie

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Lina - Mar 7, 2005 12:01 am (#2744 of 2956)

It is really nice to get up in the morning and see the sun is already up. That's what I like about spring, no dark mornings!

And now, one daughter off to school, husband on his business affairs and two daughters sleeping like angels... This is my part of the day! And I wouldn't be able to enjoy it if I weren't on my sick days... Oh, I wish so much to be a housewife!

Nice week to everybody, dizzy lizzy, I hope you are well after the nap, I'm going to use this beautiful morning to catch on some other threads...

Edit: BTW, I saw some of you writing in your biography that you are home schooling your children. What does it exactly mean? Does it mean that they do not go to school? Just curious. Hope someone will answer.

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Ozymandias - Mar 7, 2005 12:05 am (#2745 of 2956)

All you people who are upset at being sorted as Madam Hooch, it could be worse. Much worse. I am Lord Voldemort. Who knew I was a Dark Wizard? I tested as an INTP, which is usual for me, but Lord Voldything?!?! INTERROBANG?!

Julia, the Python sketch with the Bolton/Notlob palindrome is the Dead Parrot sketch, but it comes after the main bit with the actual dead parrot.

Ugh, I'm tired and sore. My little brother tried to teach me to skateboard this weekend. Now I can hardly walk. I feel very stupid.

Farewell, everyone. Time for me to sleep.

Erin

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The giant squid - Mar 7, 2005 1:24 am (#2746 of 2956)

Well, there were a few questions that I was either-or on, so I answered it twice. The first time I came out INTJ--Snape; the second time I was ISTP--Hooch. So I think it's safe to say I'm an introverted thinker, but beyond that it's iffy.

--Mike

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 7, 2005 1:35 am (#2747 of 2956)

Well, I feel heaps better after the nap, some tea/dinner and a nice cup of tea.

I just did the quiz - I ended up as Hermione (ISTJ). People tell me I'm a shy person, but I think its more to do with being a tad introverted. I don't really know about the rest. It is the first time I've come across one of these Briggs-Myer (or is it the other way around?) tests.

Lizzy

EDIT: I went back and did the quiz again thinking, I'd get Hermione again and write the letters down...I got Snape! So I went looking for the whole list to get the letters.

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septentrion - Mar 7, 2005 3:52 am (#2748 of 2956)

Hello everyone !

It's nearly midday here. The snow have at least decided to let us in peace. I hope you'll get the same soon, Elanor.

Lina, I'm jealous of your spring morning. Could you send some blue sky round here ?

About home schooling, I understand it as teaching your kids at home and not send them to a school. At least, it's possible in France (education is obligatory, not school) provided you can prove your children know as much as those who go to school. But this isn't a majority of people who make this choice.

Have a good Monday !

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boop - Mar 7, 2005 4:41 am (#2749 of 2956)

Erin, don't worry I came out to be the Dark Lord as well. I was in shock, but Jim told me, “I have always known you had LV in you.”

Happy Mothers Day for our mum's in the UK. Have a wonderful day.

Have a great Monday! I go to work, but we have a fun day. I get paid to go on tour of campus. Then we have an hour lunch which is provided. The best part is I get to wear street clothes. The students are on spring break this week.

hugs always

boop

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Phoenix song - Mar 7, 2005 5:00 am (#2750 of 2956)

Lina, I homeschool my three children. They do attend school, and work on lessons, take tests, and all of the academic stuff that goes along with school. The difference is that I'm their teacher and we do their lessons at home. The same companies that produce "school" text books also produce versions for "homeschoolers" that include teachers additions with special tips for teaching your child the necessary concepts. I pick out the books that I'm going to be using each year, and purchase the necessary supplementals, workbooks, and manipulatives to complement the curriculum that I've chosen. It can become an expensive investment, to be sure.

Just like the Harry Potter series, homeschooling is all about choice. I get to choose the books that we use, I choose how to present the material, and--most importantly--I choose how quickly or how slowly to progress across the subjects to accommodate their needs. This is beneficial because in an over-crowded school system there is just little to no one-on-one time with the teacher. The teacher cannot vary her lesson plans to benefit children who are bored because they are not being challenged enough or, conversely, to give extra time to a child that has not yet gained a firm grasp on the subject matter. I also find that it helps because I can tell when my children are not "getting" something when it is being explained in one manner, and I can approach the problem from another angle. Often just explaining things from another perspective help the child to understand things much better.

To balance out their need to learn to be social with other children, we plan time for them to interact with others. Sunday schools at church are a good example of outside interaction, organizations like boy scouts/girl scouts, sports teams like softball/football, etc. Many homeschool mothers also join groups that meet weekly to discuss the benefits and pitfalls of homeschooling, and to allow their children to play together. I don't personally belong to a group, because I feel that my time is better spent doing the lessons than it is in planning the lessons. But again, it's all about the choices that we make to benefit the kids.

The greatest benefit to homeschooling, in my opinion, is that there is nobody that knows your child as well as you do. This gives the parent an advantage in properly motivating your child in a way that most benefits their learning. There are disadvantages, of course, like it provides little free time to the parent (as I can attest to). But overall it is a system that works for me and for an increasingly growing number of parents. Homeschooling was formerly only done by very radical people, but now that it is becoming more understandable, it is more accessible and attractive of an option for many others. I hope that I've answered your question without boring you with too much information!

Barbie

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (108)
Lady Arabella
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (109)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (112)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (113)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:34 pm

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 7, 2005 6:55 am (#2751 of 2956)

Hey People!

Yes indeedy those nasty dementors have been keeping me very busy this past week, so I snuck on here first thing & have been playing catch up ever since. Just finished this thread... now for the rest of the forum. Happy belated birthdays & congratulations to you all.

It was Mothers Day yesterday here too, so a Happy Belated Mummys Day to all the forum Mums Talking of which, has anyone heard from Meg? I think she is due to be a Mummy any day now. If you're lurking out there Meg... good luck, but I reckon you're very busy at the moment! To go back a few hundred posts... I want to say 'Yeay' to the Mums trusting their instincts.... it's very true... you guys do know best! (so my Mum always told me )

I'm also making an appointment for an eye test... you guys made me realise I'm way overdue a test. I'm one of two in a family of glasses wearers, that doesn't wear glasses, so I guess there's a certain amount of inevitability that I'll need to wear glasses someday. I got put off by a nasty Optometrist a few years back (5 or 6 ... whoops that was my last eye exam). He was very dismissive & rude. I was still at Uni, & was suffering from eye strain in the class room when reading from the over head projectors & also whilst I was driving when attempting to read the road signs. He told me I needed to 'relax my eyes'. When I told him I didn't know how to, & that was the problem he again gave me a half hearted answer about staring at a blank sheet of paper for a few minutes (hmmm, very useful whilst driving ) & shooed me out of the office. I thought for ages it was because my eye sight was ok, & that he probably thought I was wasting his time. Now in hindsight, I realise that's his job.... I'm still having the same bother with overheads during meetings at work & whilst driving, so I should stop procrastinating to you guys & get on with it, right.. hee hee!

Finally got my copy of PoA back from the person I loaned it to, so I watched some last night. I actually ended up watching the 'Creating the Vision' piece on the second disk! Yes I was home alone, (my sis is in Berlin this week), so I was able to watch all the nerdy bits, without anyone complaining! I paused it on the picture that JK drew of Hogwarts & the surrounding grounds & was delighted to see it fitted a little of what I imagined... What I loved about the picture the most was the the little picture she drew of the Giant Squid in the lake... I laughed at that.... made me think of you Mike! LOL

Sitting here jealous of all you guys with dish washers especially brand spanking new ones *cough*Denise*cough* I would love to have one, but cannot justify the purchase. For starters only two people live in my house, my sister & me, and secondly, good luck finding anywhere to place another large appliance in our little kitchen! Oh well, I can dream!

Better go before I bore you all
TTFN

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Ydnam96 - Mar 7, 2005 9:18 am (#2752 of 2956)

My mother Homeschooled my brother. He had some learning disabilities that made public school rather hard for him, in that the teachers and administration thought he needed to be on medication and my parents disagreed. He has ADD (not hyperactive though) dyslexia and dysgraphia. The teachers just didn't want to spend the time necessary to work with him. My mom pulled him out of school after he did his second third grade (the school wouldn't pass him to the 4th grade). With one-on- one teaching he graduated on time, made it into University, and just graduated in May with a BS in Business. Some people homeschool just because they disagree with the things that are taught, or for religious reasons, or just because of the poor educational system here in the US (no offense to teachers, my sister is a public school teacher, it's just that in some areas of the US schools are just not up to par). My mother worked with a school which sent textbooks and lessons, she taught them and graded them, and then sent them in to the school and they overviewed the materials and issued grades. They also gave him a HS diploma and he graduated.

I don't think I have the patience it would take to do it. I have the utmost respect for those parents that can do it. Especially those who are teaching multiple students.

Well it's Monday. Off to work. Mandy

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Julia. - Mar 7, 2005 9:23 am (#2753 of 2956)

Good morning everyone.

I paused it on the picture that JK drew of Hogwarts & the surrounding grounds & was delighted to see it fitted a little of what I imagined... What I loved about the picture the most was the the little picture she drew of the Giant Squid in the lake... I laughed at that.... made me think of you Mike! LOL *waves to Fawkes* Lovely to see you again dear! I do the exact same thing everytime I see that lovely feature of the DVD. There is usually an "I'm a dork" dance involved. The first time I saw that picture I paused it and pointed at it saying out loud (to myself mind you, because no one in my family is stupid enough to watch HP with me) "We have a canon map of Hogwarts!!" When I saw that she thought to draw the Giant Squid I said "See, proof that Dumboedore is the Giant Squid! JO even drew him in the lake!!"

Ozy, thanks for answering my Monty Python question. I could have sworn it wasn't in the Parot Sketch. I guess that's because in "And Now For Something Completly Different" that scene ends by going right into the Lumberjack song, with no mention of "Bolton spelled backwards is Notlob."

Oy, I can barely hear myself type. There are several strange men in my house giving me a new kitchen floor. These evil people woke me up at 7:30 this morning. Don't they know I'm on vacation?! I went to get in there to make myself some breakfast, but that didn't really happen. I ended up eating cereal right out of the box in the other room. Dude, is that a jackhammer? I'd beter go check this out...

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 7, 2005 9:47 am (#2754 of 2956)

Hee Hee Julia, nice to know you're on vacation & attempting to relax after the madness of all those assignments.

Sending a silencing charm over to you to block out the sound of the workmen in the kitchen! I'm being quite naughty today & almost refusing to do any work. I think its a result of being so busy for so long, I've reached frazzled point! It's nice to know I'm not the only mad Potter Freak that was delighted over the map. Must have a look at it tonight on my new computer at home... did I mention I got a new computer... (just in case you missed that first titanic sized hint), & yes I will soon be getting broadband installed so I can post from home.... WOOOHOOO! No more dial up for me, plus the pc work gave me at home is blocked for any outside work internet connections!

So soon I'll be able to post at weekends... *excited snoopy dance*

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Prisoner of Rowling - Mar 7, 2005 9:55 am (#2755 of 2956)

Good quiz. I tested out as Snape. Not sure what to think about that, but that reminds me, i must get rid of all my mirrors, i don't see anything in them anyway. Sorry Gina, only joking.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 7, 2005 10:09 am (#2756 of 2956)

Well, Prisoner of Rowling, I guess you--unlike Snape--must be a vampire then.

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Prisoner of Rowling - Mar 7, 2005 10:14 am (#2757 of 2956)

Gina, are you speculating that I might believe Snape is a vampire. The thought didn't even "cross" my mind.

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mike miller - Mar 7, 2005 10:36 am (#2758 of 2956)

I tested out as the male version of Prof. McGonagall! At least I'm still in the same House.

Julia - Ozy is right regarding the Parrot Sketch. Michal Palin is trying to confuse Cleese's character. If you've watch a lot of Python perhaps you've seen one of my favorites, the "Penguin on the Tele" sketch.

I spent the weekend painting the stairwell and second floor hallway. I still have the door frames and baseboard molding left to finish. Since I had to borrow a ladder for the tall sections, I wanted to get that finished and returned to it's rightful owner.

Have a great week everyone!

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 7, 2005 10:54 am (#2759 of 2956)

Hee hee Mike, I'm Prof Mc Gonagall as well. Then when I retook the test & changed the 'iffy answers (is 'iffy a word???), I came out as Sirius....

Never seen myself as either.... oh well!

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Madam Pince - Mar 7, 2005 11:05 am (#2760 of 2956)

Gina, that avatar made me laugh. Too funny!

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Phoenix song - Mar 7, 2005 11:41 am (#2761 of 2956)

Speaking of John Cleese and how hilarious he is, has anybody else seen the old Fawlty Towers TV show? He stars as "Basil Fawlty", a neurotic, clumsy and utterly hilarious hotel owner. My husband and I love the series, and bought it on VHS back when VHS was the only option. (I wonder if it's available on DVD now?) We still laugh at some of the skits at odd moments. It's worth a gander if anybody is interested in seeing "Nearly Headless Nick" in something other than Monty Python...(which my husband loves as well.)

Have a good day everybody!
Barbie

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Ladybug220 - Mar 7, 2005 11:59 am (#2762 of 2956)

Yes, Gina, great avatar as usual!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 7, 2005 12:02 pm (#2763 of 2956)

Thanks!

I just wish I didn't have to compromise the photo clarity to get it to 10k. It's from The Barchester Chronicles and Alan was only 36 years old when he filmed that for the BBC. His character, Obadiah Slope, is in some ways very much a young Severus.

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VeronikaG - Mar 7, 2005 12:54 pm (#2764 of 2956)

Gaah! I've been sitting exams! Only one more written exam in this study. Now I may even find the time to read threads again. Have a lovely Monday afternoon/night.

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 7, 2005 1:07 pm (#2765 of 2956)

Awww poor Veronika... hope the exams went well.

Barbie... I love the Fawlty Towers shows & they're definately on DVD as thats what I bought a friend for christmas. They sell them on Amazon.co.uk for about £20 stg for both series. Or Amazon.com for $45 (US)

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Catherine - Mar 7, 2005 1:27 pm (#2766 of 2956)

Hello to everyone. Hope everyone is having a better Monday than I am!

WARNING: ANIMAL WELFARE RANT. SKIP IF IT WILL BORE OR OFFEND.

I visited our public Animal Shelter (which is not the Humane Society that I am affiliated with) again today, and I am just sickened. Since the last time I was there, three mother dogs with puppies were owner-surrendered. People just need to realize that part and parcel of pet ownership is spaying/neutering and vaccinations. If you can't afford or are unwilling to do this, do not get a pet. If you do have a pet that needs spaying or neutering, many locales have low-cost clinics. If you must surrender a pet, do look for a no-kill shelter or breed rescue first. Realize that in some places, at a shelter that must euthanize animals to "make space" for even more stray or unwanted animals, owner-surrendered animals may be the first ones to go.

RANT OVER

See you all around the Forum.

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septentrion - Mar 7, 2005 1:42 pm (#2767 of 2956)

I'm not an animal-lover (except for cats), so I don't have any pet, yet I heartedly agree with you Catherine.

Gee ! I didnt' notice the giant squid on the map. The proof I didn't look well enough, or maybe I need new glasses ? *mental note to watch it again*

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Detail Seeker - Mar 7, 2005 2:10 pm (#2768 of 2956)

Though this question about backpacks was quite some posts ago: when i go out, I use my Berghaus Vulcan II. Quite a large one (110 litres) and able to carry a lot, but very good to carry and robust. the Two side pockets can be detached to make a daypack. But be warned: A large Rucksack will invite you to take more than you can carry for longer. And it costs a little bit (about 250€, I do not know about the american prices). The Berghaus Atlas is a good alternative at the same price level with a slightly different cut (you can put a larger sleeping bag into the bottom compartment and it is higher but less wide) and better side pockets (arched opening). They should do nicely for this and can be resold at reasonably good prices afterwards, if the bakcpacking fever does not get you....

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Elanor - Mar 7, 2005 2:21 pm (#2769 of 2956)

I do agree with you too Catherine! I have no pets though I love animals (I am a cat lover) precisely because I know they would have to live in a flat. They would be happier if I had a garden or a yard. When I was a kid, I used to spend wonderful holidays at my Uncle's farm (the owner of the kid in my avatar BTW...) and I saw there what a well-treated animal was and learnt the key word about how to treat an animal: respect. I wish some people would learn that word too!

I hope everyone has a great Monday! You will not believe it but it snowed again here all day long **sigh**. I believe the guys in charge of roads were short of salt or prefered to stay in bed for once today because this morning they didn't make the effort to clear the roads! Or maybe they thought that now we were used to it and not afraid anymore to see roads white with snow. There were only 2 or 3 centimeters on the roads but in the town I work in, there is about 20 centimeters of snow everywhere and impressive amounts of snow where some of it was pushed. I tell you, if it snows again tomorrow, this time I cry! You're lucky to have a better weather Sept!

BTW, I saw that Vlad posted again here: have you come back from the Alps Vlad? How was your stay there?

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Lina - Mar 7, 2005 2:31 pm (#2770 of 2956)

Barbie, Mandy and all of you who answered me, thank you! Not that it really matters, because I know it is not possible here, but it sounds quite interesting to me. I mean, I like it and sometimes I have the feeling that I am homeschooling my daughter even though she goes to school and I go to work 8 hours a day...

Now, I beg everybody who is not interested to excuse me, but I would have few more questions. Barbie, you told that the children do go to school sometimes, is it only for the tests or for some other things too? Do you need some sort of license to homeschool your children? Who decides if it is appropriate for them or not? Well, if you think it is not appropriate for this thread, feel free to email me to lina@pravri.hr. Thanx

And Julia, enjoy your student days! These inpredictibles are just part of it. Wouldn't life be too boring if everything would go by plans? Waves to everybody!

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Denise P. - Mar 7, 2005 2:48 pm (#2771 of 2956)

Lina, I am not Barbie but I can make a stab at an answer even though I don't currently homeschool any of my kids. I did homeschool one for a year due to medical reasons and I do have a college degree in Education.

Each state varies on what is allowed for homeschooling. Some states require that the parent/teacher have a certain level of education themselves, some do not. Some states require you work through a specific school system (unless you declare you are religiously affiliated) and some do not. Some require mandated state testing at certain points, some do not. Some require specific records be kept, some do not. As you can see, it varies so wildly that what Barbie does with her children may not be what I did with my son the year he was homeschooled. I worked hand in hand with the school system, with a specific teacher and he took tests after school hours at the school. He was homeschooled for medical reasons only and as soon as he was cleared, he was returned to the school system and was current with his class.

Just like the requirements for homeschooling vary, so do the reasons that people choose to homeschool. Parents do it for more individualized attention, more in depth study, because of behavioral issues and or/medical issues, religious/moral issues, safety concerns, dissatisfaction over all with the current system, social issues and the list can go on and on. Normally, at least in my area, you do have to register that you are planning to homeschool and what curriculum you are planning to follow. You can opt to follow what the school system does or you can create your own or follow one of the myriad of homeschooling programs that are available for purchase. You can go through a religious organization as well.

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Delightful Task! - Mar 7, 2005 2:59 pm (#2772 of 2956)

No more snow in Paris Elanor! But the weather is still quite cold... I hope winter is over now and we'll see the trees blossom soon!

I have finished correcting my student's tests, but now the holidays are over... **sigh** . Anyway, I felt a bit like Snape this morning when my 8 o'clock class asked me to postpone their test and I said "no!", hehe!!! They worked, and I watched... and I have to admit that was good! I tested out as Snape after all, Elanor!!! (Don't worry though, they are 18 years old, they knew they had a test this morning so I think they'll survive!)

Lina, I understand what you mean when you say you wish you were a housewife... It was so hard this morning to wake up the kids and have them prepared... My younger son's nanny sees him more than I do on some days... And I'm lucky, I teach in a lycée (high school), so I spend a lot of time at home compared to many other mums! I have to prepare my lessons though and correct tests at home, and my children hate that! That's the reason why I do it at night most of the time, which explains why I hate Monday mornings in particular! (I rarely go to bed before one am on Sunday nights/Monday mornings!)

Tomorrow, our students are on strike (this is France after all!) so I suppose it's going to be a nice day!!!

Monday is almost finished here so... see you tomorrow!

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Chemyst - Mar 7, 2005 3:19 pm (#2773 of 2956)

BTW, I saw some of you writing in your biography that you are home schooling your children. What does it exactly mean? Does it mean that they do not go to school? Just curious. Hope someone will answer. – Lina

Briefly, yes, it means I do not send my children off to a school building where someone is paid to teach them. Over the years, I have come to prefer the term "home educating." (I guess I should update my profile!) "Educating" is more accurate than "schooling" because the learning environment is more intimate and akin to tutoring.

I have no idea what would be legal in Croatia, but there is currently a grass roots move to try to make it legal in Germany. Here is an international information link http://www.hslda.org/hs/international/default.asp

We do it because it is the right choice for us. Other people with other abilities and other priorities will make other choices which will be better for them. If the parent is so motivated, I do think that home education is a particularly good choice for students on both ends of the educational spectrum, (those who are very bright and those who have learning difficulties,) because public schools will always have the disadvantage of having to accommodate the masses.

One of the greatest misconceptions about home education is in the area of socialization. It is not the problem that some opponents would make it out to be. Since I began sixteen years ago, there have been several studies done that show home educated children are less peer dependent and better at interacting with a wide range of ages than traditionally schooled children. I will take you up on your invitation to email you. I could chat on this topic for pages, but I doubt the other forum members would appreciate that.

Old News -
My suspicions of a beaver dam were correct. In fact, we found three of them. So this weekend we pulled apart the smaller two. The largest was 5 feet high at the deepest point and had/has a sizable lake forming behind it. We put a breech 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep in it. I'm fairly sure the beavers will rebuild that one, but it stopped the flooding into our woods for now.

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Catherine - Mar 7, 2005 3:48 pm (#2774 of 2956)

It's interesting that you mention the push to legalize home education in Germany, Chemyst.

A while back, I joined Mr. Catherine at a recruitment dinner for the Chemistry Department. The candidate, a German gentleman who currently resides in Sweden, was amazed to learn that two members of the Chemistry department have children educated at home. He was very intrigued, and had lots of questions that I knew I did not feel qualified to answer well, so I steered him to some websites for more information.

His shock that home schooling is "allowed" gave way to appreciation that we can exercise a freedom of choice. I'm not sure that he himself will choose it, but he seemed to appreciate the option.

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Julie Aronson - Mar 7, 2005 4:20 pm (#2775 of 2956)

I tested out as Snape. I'm not actually that surprised, since I've often felt that some of his characteristics are lurking just under my surface....BWAAHAHAHAHA!!!

Good news-- my HP-reluctant boyfriend saw parts of SS on ABC Family last night and is now finally willing to schedule a few moments to try the books out! Yippie!

Julie

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mike miller - Mar 7, 2005 4:43 pm (#2776 of 2956)

Fawkes - I knew we had more in common than just HP. I like Faulty Towers, just not as much as Python. It took years for me to stop seeing the Minister of Silly Walks every time I saw John Cleese in anything.

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Diagon Nilly - Mar 7, 2005 5:16 pm (#2777 of 2956)

I'm a Dumbledore! I guess I should stop self-depreciating, hunh?

My husband and his sister were both home schooled and neither of them would've traded it for a more traditional education. When I was a miserable, nerdy and very harassed middle-schooler, I would have given anything to have been home schooled instead!

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Phoenix song - Mar 7, 2005 5:18 pm (#2778 of 2956)

Lina, I am glad to talk to you about homeschooling, or "home educating" as Chemyst has termed it (and I agree, by the way!) Denise did an excellent job explaining the intricacies of teaching your children at home. Thank you! She is quite right, the regulations for education in the U.S. are governed by the individual states. Therefore, the requirements vary according to the state in which you reside. Some are quite strict, and others are more understanding of a parent's choice for their child's education. I am fortunate that my state, Louisiana, is quite open legally to home education. I am required to enroll my home as a legal place of education and submit my "roll" yearly. I am required to hold school lessons a minimum amount of days per year, and the "formal" educational days must be no less than 180 per year. The 180 days is the same requirement that the state sets for more formal school sites. We have school lessons a minimum of those days, but I often contend that each day is a learning experience for the children.

My children do not have to be tested by the local school systems. (In other states, this may be required.) And, I have had a college education in educating, although this also is not always required. When they are older and have entered the "high-school" years, they will need to follow more strict guidelines regarding outside testing and examinations. This is normally accomplished through the internet. I haven't progressed that far in the kids' education, though. My oldest child is in 2nd grade, the middle in kindergarten, and the youngest is in pre-school.

I have found some curriculum programs that work for us, and have chosen to follow their lesson plans and guidelines. It works out quite well.

As you pointed out, the average parent often spends so much time teaching their children at home (whether they realize it or not ) through homework that they are actually already home educating. I've found that after you subtract the class changing time, attendance recordings, behavioral problems, etc. of a normal school day that I can accomplish so much more than the average school in a much shorter period of time per day. There is no substituting individual attention when it comes to education. The home atmosphere is more conducive to active learning. The children know what they can expect from me, I know how to effectively motivate them, and the end result is wonderful.

As Denise pointed out, parents choose to homeschool for a wide variety of reasons. My reason is that I didn't want my children to suffer the same way that I did in school. When it came to mathematics, the lessons seem to fly over my head without me grasping the basics. The teacher couldn't help me individually, and before I could begin to understand he/she would be on to the next lesson. It doesn't take long to get behind like this! It was often my mother helping me at home that kept me afloat, she was actually the one that was teaching me all along! On the other hand, in the subjects that I excelled (history and reading) I felt bored, restless, and unchallenged. I was "marking time" in class and hated that just as much as being left behind. In a school system that is overwhelmed, the teachers cannot possibly accommodate their lesson plans to each student's individual needs. They are already overworked as it is! Unfortunately, though, there is a slice of children at the top and at the bottom of each class that are suffering for this problem.

There are also new studies being made that indicate that homeschooled children are testing higher than the average traditionally schooled child when they take their college entrance exams. That's exciting information for me, and it makes the sacrifices that I am currently making more worthwhile. Also, with regards to socialization issues, the studies indicate that homeschooled children are often more confident, secure, and generally have a more advanced vocabulary than their counterparts.

I hope that I've answered your questions. Please e-mail me if I can help you further!

Barbie

P.S. Diagon Nilly: Thanks for backing up my beliefs about the end result of homeschool children!

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I Am Used Vlad - Mar 7, 2005 5:19 pm (#2779 of 2956)

Yes, Elanor, I am back now, so I'm no longer praying for snow in your area. The mountains there are quite beautiful and the ski area is huge (as opposed to the room we stayed in, which makes Harry's cupboard under the stairs seem spacious).

My effort to speak French, however, was more or less a complete failure. Bonjour, Bonsoir and Merci was about all I successfully said. I did learn a few new words, though. You only have to bang your head on a door six or seven times before you figure out the words for push and pull.

I did miss the forum, and still have a lot of catching up to do.

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Helen Potterfan - Mar 7, 2005 5:45 pm (#2780 of 2956)

wow, I had almost 200 posts to read. I'm sure I missed a few things, but here are the things I remember:

Sirius Lee and Gina, I've wanted to go to the Chip Shop, but never have. We should meet up there!

Mike and Fawkes, I tested as McGonagall as well!

Happy Birthday to everyone I've missed, and happy belated Mother's Day to all of the British moms!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 7, 2005 6:28 pm (#2781 of 2956)

Great, Accio HBP. Let's set it up! See me on the 'Local'

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mollis - Mar 7, 2005 7:44 pm (#2782 of 2956)

I also tested as Prof. McGonnagal, Mike, Fawkes and Accio HBP. That is where I usually score on these things.

I'm traveling for work this week. Three states in one week. Lots of fun for me. Glad to see you out from under your rock, Fawkes. I'll hopefully be able to climb out from under mine in about 6 months. I probably won't have time to post, or keep up with any threads but this one, but I'll still try my best to keep up with you all here. I just can't keep away!!

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Catherine - Mar 7, 2005 7:49 pm (#2783 of 2956)

Mollis, no fair! You simply can't go MIA when your extensive plant knowledge might be needed this spring! Or even this week as I'm having to make some big plant decisions....

But, anyhoo, have a good trip, a safe one, check in, and tell me if my Confederate Jasmine vine which turned brown from 18 degree weather will, phoenix-like, rise from the ashes....

**waves to Mollis**

I'm off to bed. 'Nighty-night...

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mike miller - Mar 7, 2005 7:55 pm (#2784 of 2956)

Mollis - I'm not surprised we tested the same given the number of times that we've agreed on other threads. I usually test as either ISTJ or ESTJ depending on my state of mind at the time of the test. I find it interesting that many people have one element that will change while the remaining three stay the same (*waves to Madame Pince*).

I too have been buried by work. I hope yours will get better over time. (You too Fawkes! @#*$ Dementors) I keep saying to myself, "this too shall pass". I remember thinking if I can just make it to the Holidays things will ease up. End of work rant!

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boop - Mar 7, 2005 9:06 pm (#2785 of 2956)

For Feb. 8th: HAPPY BIRTHDAY Loopy Lupin. Have a great day!!! Big birthday hug just for you.

HI everyone have a great day.

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Phoenix song - Mar 7, 2005 9:17 pm (#2786 of 2956)

Oops Boop! I'm sure that you meant March 8th, right? (Happens to me all the time, I'm still dating my checks with 2004 on them! **blush**) Happy Birthday Loopy Lupin! I hope that you have a most excellent day!

Barbie

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 7, 2005 11:31 pm (#2787 of 2956)

I thought for a while, I'd forgotten Mother's Day, but a bit of searching found that Australia and the US share the same date for Mother's day - 8th May. Phew!! I got out of that one easy. Now to remember the right date and to remember to ring Mum this time!

I have friends who home school, for various reasons (religious mostly, coupled with dissatisfaction at the school policies.) Each state of Australia has its own education department, and it is these departments that design the syllabus and standardised policies for the whole state. And each state has very similar syllabuses etc.

Thus variations in schools (from a subject content and policy point of view) is minimised. There are differences between schools - more cultural based.

I have always approved of home schooling - provided it is done well, the children are learning and meeting standardised criteria, and the parent can cope with the added responsibility. I have a lot of respect for those who are home schooling, so for those parents on this forum who do home school/educate, good on you .

Lizzy

EDIT: Happy birthday Loopy Lupin!!

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septentrion - Mar 8, 2005 1:10 am (#2788 of 2956)

Happy birthday Loopy Lupin ! happy women's day to every woman in the world, and God knows some need it !

Elanor, I pity you really. I hope you'll have no more snow from today. It was good this morning to have just rain.

I discover home schooling was legal in France when I was more than 18. It never occured to me before this could be possible. Anyway, I don't regret to have attended school, even if it wasn't funny every day, and my parents don't have enough education to home school. And if I'd have children, I wouldn't home school them either because I don't want to stop working. I can't picture myself as a housewife. Yet as some of you have pointed out, parents often home school without realising it when they help their children with their homework.

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The giant squid - Mar 8, 2005 1:45 am (#2789 of 2956)

Fawkes Forever, I'm glad your Patronus was successful enough for you to get away from the dementors for a while, and tickled that one of JKR's items reminds you of me (rather than the other way around). As a card-carrying procrastinator (well, I was carrying the card...I set it down somewhere...) I highly recommend finding the room to squeeze a dishwasher into your flat. I find that there's a lot less crockery, silverware and, um, biological agents in the sink now that I have something to wash the dishes for me. And no, I'm not referring to my wife...

Mike, I agree with you on the Fawlty/Python thing. John Cleese was, is and always will be associated with Monty Python to me. Heck, even when I see him as Nearly Headless Nick I half expect Idle, Palin & Jones to pop up somewhere (Gilliam, of course, is behind the scenes making up some truly odd animation). Of course, Graham Chapman would have been perfect casting to play a ghost, but the bugger wouldn't answer WB's phone calls...

--Mike

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Catherine - Mar 8, 2005 5:04 am (#2790 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Loopy Lupin. Hope your day is filled with everything fabulous. **passes Loopy a bottle of Ogden's**

EDIT: Loopy has all the luck! I read at TLC that Katie Couric (a UVA grad just like Loopy! ) is supposed to reveal the cover of HBP on the Today show this morning! What a great present.

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Eponine - Mar 8, 2005 5:32 am (#2791 of 2956)

Is anyone else just a little disappointed that the HBP cover art didn't reveal the entire plot of the book? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (114)

It's a neat cover though. I like it.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 8, 2005 5:38 am (#2792 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 8, 2005 4:41 am

For those of us that can't watch TV - is the HBP cover posted anywhere yet?

Edit: Just checked the Leaky Cauldron webpage and there should be screen caps up later and it will be shown on the show again at 9 am EST. Woohoo!

Edit2 - posted at the same time as Catherine.

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Catherine - Mar 8, 2005 5:40 am (#2793 of 2956)

TLC expects screencaps shortly. Also, TLC said that the cover will be reshown at 9 a.m.

The Bloomsbury site has the British covers shown.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 8, 2005 6:55 am (#2794 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 8, 2005 5:57 am

Scholastic has it posted on their Harry potter website:

http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/

and the UK covers are here

http://www.bloomsbury.com/harrypotter/muggles/whassup/news.asp

The Leaky Cauldron has a high resolution version of the American cover here:

http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/images/2005/03/scholhbpcover.html

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septentrion - Mar 8, 2005 6:59 am (#2795 of 2956)

I'm quite excited to discover those cover arts. And did you notice the big spoiler on the adult cover of the UK version ?

edited to remove spoilers

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Denise P. - Mar 8, 2005 7:02 am (#2796 of 2956)

Please take any discussion of the cover art to the Half Blood Prince thread and remember, some folks try to avoid spoilers about anything regarding the books. Confining the discussion to the appropriate thread helps them remain spoiler free.

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Madam Pince - Mar 8, 2005 7:55 am (#2797 of 2956)

Oh fiddlesticks! Here I was answering e-mails at 9:00 and missed seeing the "Today" show! Phooey! But thanks for the heads-up and the links, everybody!

Mike, it is funny how often just one element of those tests changes depending on your state of mind when you take the test. For example, the question "Would you rather live by yourself or with a lot of people?" might depend entirely on how quiet and cooperative the "other people" in your life were being right at that particular moment! It reminds me of that TV commercial that's out now in the US for International Coffee Creamer -- it shows people being totally grumpy in the morning before they've had their java boost. One lady is watering her lawn and decides to randomly squirt a kid who's riding by on his bike; a woman punches the "Close Door" button on the elevator just as somebody's running up yelling "Hold the door!"; another guy aimlessly reaches his hand out as he walks by a credenza in his office and sweeps all the books onto the floor and keeps walking. It's a scream! Funny how one little thing can change your personality temporarily sometimes!

My ESTJ concern with "following the rules" has always caused me to be slightly bothered by Dumbledore's little maneuver at the end of "Sorcerer's Stone" by adding the House points in just the right number so as to topple Slytherin's win. Not that I wanted Slytherin to win, mind you, I just couldn't help feeling that Dumbledore cheated a little... And I was truly outraged when, a couple of seasons ago on "Survivor," they changed the rules to bring back two players who had already been voted off. Grrrrrrrr....

The psychology-major in me is coming out -- I love those little tests!

Last night I was watching re-runs of the US-version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway," (one of my all-time favorites, by the way) and I was marveling at the fact that while those comedians are so talented, they are not really mainstream "big names" here in the US. I was wondering about the British version of that show. Who were the comedians? Are they names we would've heard of perhaps?

Good Rainy-Tuesday-Morning to everybody! We had a gorgeous 70-degree spring day yesterday, and the rest of the week is supposed to be cold, rainy/snowy, and generally yuck. Elanor, I know how you feel.

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mike miller - Mar 8, 2005 8:34 am (#2798 of 2956)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOOPY LUPIN!!!!

Labybug - Thanks for posting the links for the new cover art. I knew someone would come to our rescue.

Squid Mike - I never know when it's going to hit me, I'll see one of the Python troop in something else and just flashback to a Python sketch. When I was in college, a couple of my roommates and I dressed as the old ladies in so many Python sketches for Halloween and went bar-hooping going off into various sketches. It was a real hoot since Python was so big on the college campus back in the late 70's.

Off to check the HBP thread....

EDIT: It was 70 degree yesterday and it's snow like crazy right now!

Madame Pince - your post #2800 - W00T

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Ladybug220 - Mar 8, 2005 8:37 am (#2799 of 2956)

Happy birthday Loopy!!!!

You are welcome Mike. Since I don't read the HBP thread I figured there were others like me that would need the links.

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Madam Pince - Mar 8, 2005 8:39 am (#2800 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Loopy Lupin!

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (115)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (116)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (119)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (120)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:43 pm

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Chemyst - Mar 8, 2005 9:02 am (#2801 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Loopy!

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Prefect Marcus - Mar 8, 2005 9:14 am (#2802 of 2956)

Have a very happy birthday, Loopy. Life is good.

Diagon Nilly - Mar 8, 2005 9:43 am (#2803 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 8, 2005 8:43 am

:hpb:

...happy birthday uhh uhh happy birthday...

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 8, 2005 9:44 am (#2804 of 2956)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOOPY LUPIN!!!! –Everyone

AWWWWW, Shucks! Thanks guys. It's been a busy morning so far. I won a trial and am scurrying around the office to put out fires while the boss is away. Stupid fires. And, as I was typing this, the office presented me with a fruit basket. Yay, pineapple!!! This is the best 29th birthday I've ever had. Much better than my last two or three 29th birthdays. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (121)

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Catherine - Mar 8, 2005 9:50 am (#2805 of 2956)

Much better than my last two or three 29th birthdays. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (122) --Loopy Lupin

Ahem!

Congrats on your win today.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 8, 2005 10:05 am (#2806 of 2956)

What can I say? I stopped aging seven years ago. Ooops!

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Prefect Marcus - Mar 8, 2005 10:09 am (#2807 of 2956)

Well, that is better than stopping aging 21 years ago as in my case. :-)

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Elanor - Mar 8, 2005 10:25 am (#2808 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Loopy Lupin! Joyeux anniversaire! And congratulations on your win! I hope you liked your HP/covert arts birthday present!

I often have still 29 too though right now, I feel as if was 10. You should have seen me jumping on my chair when I saw the covert arts!

I needed to cheer up because it was another winter weather today here with a snowy fog, when it wasn't a foggy snow, most of the day. But when I came back home I saw the weather vane on the top of the dungeon tower. It showed a wind coming from the north for ages but this evening it seems it has finally changed his mind and is now showing a wind coming from the west at last! So if you add that to the cover arts good omen, that can mean only one thing: spring will be here tomorrow!

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Julia. - Mar 8, 2005 10:43 am (#2809 of 2956)

Good afternoon everyone!

First off, Happy Birthday Loopy!!! I hope you loved your birthday present from the publishers!!

Grrr! Darn me and my college student on vacation sleeping habits! I woke up at noon today and completly missed the Today show! However, a massive thank you to whoever posted the links for the cover art. That totally made my vacation! I had to bust out the dork dance for this.

Elanor, I feel your pain. It's snowing here too. Can it please be spring yet?!

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Madam Pince - Mar 8, 2005 11:02 am (#2810 of 2956)

Baby Pince is now watching "Blue's Clues," and it reminded me of all of us Forumers today -- looking at the new cover art and running around yelling "A clue! A clue!"

I had to laugh....

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Catherine - Mar 8, 2005 11:19 am (#2811 of 2956)

Ah, the days of Blue's Clues..

**singing to the "Letter Song" We just got an update, we just got an update, we just got update, when is the next one?**

Come to think on in, when Blue "skidoos" into the storybooks, that is a lot like the pensieve and Tom Riddle's Diary...

Spooky what you can relate to the HP world!

I'm off in a bit to take poor Hayley to the doctor. She may have strep throat. Hope you all have a good afternoon.

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kabloink! - Mar 8, 2005 11:41 am (#2812 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Loopy ...and anyone else I've missed over the last few weeks.

I retook the quiz, changing the answers from what I would rather be to what I actually am, and went from the Weasley twins to Harry Potter. Cool! Okay, I think I'm going to celebrate my last day of complete and total freedom (I start working at my second job on top of full time school tomorrow) by going to see a chic flick. See you guys later!

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Viola Intonada - Mar 8, 2005 1:08 pm (#2813 of 2956)

Happy Birthday Loopy!

I'm home today, my youngest was diagnosed with Strep yesterday. Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that no one else gets it.

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I Am Used Vlad - Mar 8, 2005 1:34 pm (#2814 of 2956)

Happy birthday, Loopy.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 8, 2005 2:06 pm (#2815 of 2956)

Happy birthday Loopy Lupin.

Now, if you'll all excuse me... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE NEW COVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:hem, hem: Off to the HbP thread to discuss.

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The giant squid - Mar 8, 2005 2:38 pm (#2816 of 2956)

Happy Birthday, Loopy--or, as Homer would say, "MMmmmm...birthdays..."

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Lina - Mar 8, 2005 2:56 pm (#2817 of 2956)

Let me tell you something: I LOVE this forum! And I am so thankful that Jo picked HPLexicon for the Fan Site Award the first time I found it.

Happy birthday Loopy Lupin!

Thank you all who answered me about home educating. I do think it is a great thing although I see no way that it could happen here before my children finish their schooling. But it could help them educating their children since it seems that some sorts of learning disabilities run in our family. To be honest, I see no need for two of my three daughters to get home education, but Veronika would most certainly benefit from it. Unlike you Barbie, I have very pleasant memories from my kindergarten and school and I feel quite upset and guilty seeing Veronika not having them. I'd scream. I see your point too, Septentrion but I can't say what would I decide if I had the opportunity. Right now, I would really like to be able to give up my income and take care of my children. Once, that they grow up and don't need me that much any more, I could take some part time job. That's something I would like and still hope could happen (a part time job).

Elanor, I started to blow to the sun so it might come to you soon! Only two sunny days and it feels like spring already.

I had quite a busy day. All adults around me with high temperature and children full of energy. My eldest asked me if she could go to her friend's to do the homework and I was happy not to have to take care about her too. Then I came to the forum and found a whole bunch of posts and news. It is just not simple.

Good day to everybody!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 8, 2005 9:05 pm (#2818 of 2956)

And, as I was typing this, the office presented me with a fruit basket.---Loopy Lupin

:::loves a fruit basket, so many fruits to choose from...reaches in for the apple of HBP knowledge:::

Happy Birthday Loopy!

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Eponine - Mar 8, 2005 9:18 pm (#2819 of 2956)

Here's a late Happy Birthday, Loopy Lupin! I hope you had a great day.

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Dumbledore - Mar 9, 2005 5:23 am (#2820 of 2956)

A Happy birthday from me too, Loopy Lupin!

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septentrion - Mar 9, 2005 6:13 am (#2821 of 2956)

Hello everyone !

Elanor and Julia, I may try a weather spell like the ones they have at the ministry of magic. At least, even if the real weather doesn't improve, you'd have the impression of a sunny sky when watching out of your windows. Just please step aside while I'm casting my spell, you never know how imprecise my aim is

Lina I meet a lot of women who do that kind of choice (to stay at home while their children are young and then looking for a job) but here in France, it's very difficult for them to find something. The companies are suspicious that they may not be interesting because they were away from working for years, as if a housewife did nothing. There's only one moment when I don't want to work, it is when I have to leave my bed in the morning.

Have a good morning/day/evening/night !

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 9, 2005 6:39 am (#2822 of 2956)

:::loves a fruit basket, so many fruits to choose from...reaches in for the apple of HBP knowledge::: -- Kim

Yes, choosing fruits is ever so much fun, and quite fruity. Thanks again for the birthday wishes from everyone. They were much appreciated. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (123)

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Catherine - Mar 9, 2005 7:10 am (#2823 of 2956)

Mmmm....fruity fruits.....mmmm...

I think my lack of sleep last night is showing; Hayley was up sick most of the night. It's a yawn-y kind of morning. I think this calls for a second pot of tea.

Today is kindergarten registration; my baby goes off to school full time come August. I can't believe the number of documents required to register her for school. I received my driver's license and was allowed to register to vote with 1/5 the amount of papers shown! I don't think my college education required this amount of information! They want two forms of my identification, of which must have a picture; two proofs of my address on top of that (no using my driver's license as proof of address, for example); her social security card; her birth certificate; a "kindergarten assessment form" signed by a doctor; and her vaccination record. Maybe I'll bring my grocery list, too!

Off to infuse my body with caffeine and collect all our documents. See you all around!

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Denise P. - Mar 9, 2005 7:59 am (#2824 of 2956)

Catherine, we have similar requirements to register for school here. We have to bring in shot records on an official state form, physical or an appointment slip showing we have one, birth certificate with a raised seal (no hospital copies), Social Security card, electric bill and water bill (to show proof of address) and if your child was born outside the US (which in a military town, many are), they also have to have a doctor's test showing they are clear of TB. Oh, and the parent has to have ID. Never mind if you have 3 other children already registered in the school, you still have to bring your proof of address. If you are the sole parent of a child, you also have to bring in court papers showing who has custody of the child.

I am off to get craft foam to make Brownie SWAPS. They are little doo hickeys made on pins to trade with other girls. We have a musical theme so we are doing little xylophones in addition to mini sundaes and some silly google eye ones.

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kabloink! - Mar 9, 2005 8:58 am (#2825 of 2956)

Wow, there would have been a problem getting me into kindergarten if we had needed all that stuff when I was that age. I was born in Florida, but moved to Michigan long before I was school age, and I didn't get my REAL birth certificate from Volusia County until I was in 10th grade!

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Penny Lane. - Mar 9, 2005 9:09 am (#2826 of 2956)

Considering that I switched Kindergarten three times due to moving, I don't think we had that kind of requirement either - I've seen how organized my parents are with paperwork. They would probably STILL be looking for some of that stuff. But, I do think that it's a good idea, what with all the parents kidnapping their own children and draggign them across state lines.

Granted, if I ever have children, I might seriously consider the home schooling route. When I was in 5th grade a friend and I wanted to be homeschooled, because the Catholic School we attended was slightly irritating, to say the least.. Her mother was willing to educate both of us, even though she had 7 other children (not at home), but the school didn't want to release our records. So, I've never been home schooled, but I know we had lots of programs for homeschooled kids to recieve instruction in art, science, humanities, farming, foreign languages through a local school district. The homeschooled kids just come to a special building and they go on all these fun trips and they seem to learn more. Also, I figure if I home school my yet unborn children, I can teach them Italian, while I myself learn it.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 9, 2005 11:16 am (#2827 of 2956)

Denise, Kip. Shall I take the rule about limiting HbP discussion to the HbP thread to mean I cannot change my avatar to include something from one of the covers? I thought I'd check before I went ahead and made a new graphic. I remember last time a few people made OOtP avatars before the book came out.

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Chemyst - Mar 9, 2005 11:28 am (#2828 of 2956)

Re: record-keeping to go to school.
For home schooling where I live, we need show only proof of residency, and only if asked, because they may need to verify that the attendance forms are going to the correct district. Every few years someone down at the statehouse will try to add on a requirement to show proof of vaccination. So far, this has failed to pass based on the arguments of privacy of medical records and the what-should-be-obvious fact that a school one is not attending does not need to see your medical records to protect others.

As for schools not releasing records (as Penny Lane mentioned), that is fairly common. Much of the record would be of little value to a home educating parent anyway. For students who begin home education midway through their school years, it is often better to begin with assessment tests, many of which are available free or at a small cost from curriculum publishers.

Also, I figure if I home school my yet unborn children, I can teach them Italian, while I myself learn it. There is a lot of truth to that. It is amazing how much more you can pick up your fourth time through high school!

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Phoenix song - Mar 9, 2005 12:12 pm (#2829 of 2956)

Chemyst: It really is amazing how much you can pick up through teaching your children, isn't it? I can only imagine how much more I'm going to learn as I guide the kids through the higher grades in school. I plan on researching methods of teaching Spanish for next year. I think that it could really be beneficial to teach them a second language. Since I don't know how to speak it either, we'll be learning it together. What could be more of a family project than that?

Does anybody know of an effective, relatively inexpensive language education program?

Barbie

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Lina - Mar 9, 2005 2:09 pm (#2830 of 2956)

When I was 6, I went to my kindergarten alone and came home alone. Nobody had to pick me. Now I am not allowed to send my elder daughter to pick her younger sister from the kindergarten! And we live so close to it, she even doesn't have to cross the street, I could watch her through the window, but I have to show up at the kindergarten. (fortunately, I don't have to sign anything when I'm picking her)

I do understand those teachers, I just find it so sad that it seems as if the world has become such a dangerous place. I don't like to see things that way.

And, Barbie, I was wandering, how is your home educating going to be with three children in different grades? I think the person really has to be well organized to make it work... I'm not well organized, but it is a fact that I do have to learn some subjects to be able to help my daughter.

Waves to everybody

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John Bumbledore - Mar 9, 2005 2:11 pm (#2831 of 2956)

And, as I was typing this, the office presented me with a fruit basket.---Loopy Lupin

Loopy, does that mean they renewed your premium membership here for another year? How thoughtful! **Ducking and running from dung bombs thrown by the sour fruit in this basket!** **Missed**

<)B^D= (John) Bumbledore.

P. S. **SPEW!** I crack myself up. Love ya all, lots! Really!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 9, 2005 2:22 pm (#2832 of 2956)

I'd like to draw everyone's attention to a new thread and plead for your help. I've volunteered (my first mistake) to teach an afterschool class on Harry Potter. This is explained more fully in the thread Ideas for Harry Potter Class. This is a class for 3rd-5th graders who have read the books. I'm looking for any ideas you have, even if all you can contribute is a trivia question, I'll take it.

You can't see me but I'm on my knees begging for help. The thought of facing 10-20 kids and wowing them with my HP knowledge and keeping them engaged frankly terrifies me.

No one knows Harry Potter like the members of this forum and I know your ideas will be brilliant. Please share them with me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Click here for thread.

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Dumbledore - Mar 9, 2005 2:35 pm (#2833 of 2956)

Hiii everybody!!

Phoenix Song, I agree that parents can learn a lot from kids these days. I have taken French at school for three years. My mother had learned it high school, but more or less lost the language as the years passed on. However, I have made it a habit of speaking French at home whenever I can, and by doing so have helped my mom re-learn the language simply be speaking it to her wherever appropriate. We can now converse easily, and none of my other family members have a clue what we're saying!! :-D

Lupin is Lupin, I think that that is a SUPERB idea to teach a Harry Potter class!! Kudos to a true Harry Potter educator!!!!!!!!

That's all for now..have a great day, everybody!

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Catherine - Mar 9, 2005 7:18 pm (#2834 of 2956)

Good evening to all.

I could use a pick-me-up from Loopy's fruit basket, but I have it on good authority that he already ate the pineapple on a stick, so I'm out of luck.

What a day. I won't go into it, except to hit the "happy notes" and say that despite the troll-sized mountain of paperwork required, I did manage to get my Hayley into Kindergarten come August.

Kim, I hope you get lots of good ideas for your class, and as soon as I post this, I'm off to check it out.

Then--I'll go to sleep, and hopefully have no sick kiddies in the middle of the night tonight!

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 9, 2005 11:06 pm (#2835 of 2956)

Well today I finished up at my job. This is the one that was making me unhappy and stressed out. The bit I found sad is that my boss, didn't bother coming in today after a meeting. He has not talked to me since mid-December, unless I asked him a question first, but it would have been nice if he had actually acknowledged I was leaving. I'm well out of it, I reckon.

I start the training for the new one on the 14th March and I fly down to Sydney on the 13th March.

So now I have to redo my budget to live on a quarter of my old wage (not easy), so I will have to apply for unemployment benefits to supplement my income from my part-time job. The upside is I will have plenty of time available to catch up on my sleep, sew, garden, spend time with the puppies and surf the net.

I wonder how smooth/rocky this road/path will be??

Lizzy

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Lina - Mar 10, 2005 12:27 am (#2836 of 2956)

Well, dizzy lizzy, I guess this was one of the reasons to leave the old job: having a boss like this. And the boss must have been even worse than you are aware if you decided to take the quarter if income. I wish you luck and good advancing at the new job!

Waves

Edit: don't you find it interesting, Loopy Lupin, that your birthday is only two days apart from Remus' birthday?

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Elanor - Mar 10, 2005 1:08 am (#2837 of 2956)

Good luck about the new job Lizzy! I know what you feel about your boss. When I left my previous job in the tourist office for becoming a teacher, he told me nothing on my last day either and he happened to be nice before, when he needed me... Well, look at the good side of it, you hadn't to thank him for his words, I'm sure it would have been painful too, isn't it?

Thanks for your weather charms all! You are great wizards, which I never doubted, because there was indeed a kind of improvement yesterday since it didn't snow! It was just a grey and cold day and today is cold and foggy but forecast says it should be a sunny day tomorrow. Well, I will believe it when I will see it... I hope that it is improving for you too Julia!

Have a great day/night everybody!

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 10, 2005 2:22 am (#2838 of 2956)

Lina and Elanor:

I am looking forward to the challenge. I have finally read the manual for the new job - all 468 pages of it, it made my head spin much worse than the alchemy, prophecy and time turner threads combined.

I guess over the next 9 days I will be able to put it all into practise and make sense. I am looking forward to it and the challenge it is going to be for me.

The one thing I like about getting this new job is that it will make the time to HBP go that much faster. I will be occupied with all this other new stuff to learn.

Have a wonderful evening and a great Friday everyone.

Lizzy

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Lina - Mar 10, 2005 5:07 am (#2839 of 2956)

Fortunately you had the practice with those threads on the forum. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (124)

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Pinky - Mar 10, 2005 6:20 am (#2840 of 2956)

Gina, I think at the moment, an avator with a picture of one of the covers would be considered a spoiler. Perhaps when it comes closer to the time of the book release it would be ok, but for now, we're trying to confine all the spoilers to the Half-Blood Prince thread. So if you think that is the only thread you'll be posting on, go ahead... but if you think you might possibly post on any other thread... better not. *grin*

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septentrion - Mar 10, 2005 7:10 am (#2841 of 2956)

Lizzy, good luck with your new job !

Elanor, tell us if you have some sun ! If so, I'd have done better for you than for me.

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Denise P. - Mar 10, 2005 7:15 am (#2842 of 2956)

Heigh ho! It is off to the dentist we go this morning. With my gang, it is almost a given that any month, there is one that has a cleaning and exam due. This month's lucky guest is Miss Kaitlyn. We have a fantastic pediatric dentist though and the kids don't mind going.

My 10 year old is currently reading OoP and let me tell you, he is one sharp kid. He just started and he is already asking me all the right questions. I just smile and tell him to keep reading.

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mollis - Mar 10, 2005 7:56 am (#2843 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 10, 2005 6:56 am

Never fear Catherine. I wouldn't dream of deserting you in the springtime! I promise to keep checking in to offer all botanical knowledge free of charge (butterbeer donations gladly accepted! ) You have to promise not to tell anyone else this, but I too planted a Jasmine last year and it seems to have the same crunchy brown look you described in yours!

Sorry I missed it, but Happy Birthday Loopy Lupin! I hope it was as wonderful as you are!

And as a final note, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm here and posting. My trip for today was cancelled. Yippee!!! So I am just sitting at my desk under mountains of work (that are cleverly blocking my screen from view of the outside world/dementors!). I feel like procrastinating some today (perhaps because I missed the release of the new covers?). I think I've earned it. I'm pretty sure this week or next week is procrastinators day. I meant to check on that. Actually, I think someone mentioned it here, maybe, a few days ago? Maybe I should check that. Maybe Later.

Well, I think I'm going to stick around some today. Got to hit the HBP thread! Everybody have a great day!

PS to Mike Miller - Yeah, I wasn't surprised at all to learn we agreed with each other yet again. It's getting to be a pattern with us!

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Elanor - Mar 10, 2005 7:57 am (#2844 of 2956)

Well, early in the afternoon, we had about 10 minutes of sun, just enough for wondering if it would be a good idea to start searching where on earth I have put sunglasses I haven't used for months and it was gone behind ugly grey clouds...

Tell me Sept, did you skip the weather-lesson two? You did a great job with the first one "how to stop the snow falling" but I ask you, what were you doing when they talked about "how to make sun appear again"? I bet you were thinking to a certain professor all dressed in black

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septentrion - Mar 10, 2005 8:30 am (#2845 of 2956)

Well, it seems in North France, we're not very skilled in making the sun appear, and it's still more difficult when your mind is so willingly wandering towards what you wrote so small

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Phoenix song - Mar 10, 2005 8:30 am (#2846 of 2956)

And, Barbie, I was wandering, how is your home educating going to be with three children in different grades? I think the person really has to be well organized to make it work... Lina

Well, I have to admit to you that at one time I was the most obsessively organized person that you'd ever know. Fortunately, my compulsive OCD behavior has faded as I've reached more "adult" years and I've learned to channel the need to be organized to the areas that matter most, like our school lessons.

It is a matter of being organized, but it isn't as insanely difficult as it sounds. The history, social studies, Bible studies and science can all be held as a group. Any group projects or experiments can be done together. The only times that need to be held separately to accommodate grade level are reading and math times. I just shift those times so that the child that needs the most intensive help is receiving more supervision, and the other two are working on things that don't require as much help. At our kitchen table there are often three different projects going on simultaneously, but it's not as much of a three-ring circus as it seems to be.

Dumbledore, I'm glad that your education has re-sparked your mother's knowledge. Great for you two! The relationship between a mother and a daughter is often so special, and I'm glad that you both have a common "secret" language.

Kim, I'll be checking out your thread later on today and seeing what I can contribute. It sounds like an awesome idea! Good luck!

Have a great day everybody!
Barbie

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librarian314 - Mar 10, 2005 9:50 am (#2847 of 2956)

Hey all!

If I've missed your birthday recently, sorry! Happy Birthday! The beginning of March is birthday central here at the librarian house. (We've got three during the first three weeks of the month. My husband's brother, my dad (whose is on Sat.) and my daughter.)

My dad gave me some good news last night. He told me that he's never going to be old enough (even when we're both in the old folks home, I asked ;-) ) to have a middle aged kid. So, I'll never be middle aged! Woohoo!

Got the stuff for darling daughter's b-day party in a week. For the kids craft party I'm making golden snitch cupcakes and I was able to get the Harry Potter Quidditch plates and stuff, so that'll actually coordinate well! (She asked for an HP themed party, so this is not Mom making a "suggestion" (aka executive decision) :-) I'm so happy she likes HP, too! )

Anyways, y'all have a good weekend. Take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Madam Pince - Mar 10, 2005 10:07 am (#2848 of 2956)

Dizzy Lizzy, congratulations on your last-day-at-work / beginning-of-a-new-one! It will be fine. I took a step down in pay many years ago when I left a high-stress but lucrative job for a fun and energizing but pitifully poor-paying one. Some of my co-workers at the time thought I was nuts, but it was sooooooo the right decision. It is possible to rearrange your life to accommodate a lower salary. Not fun, mind you, but possible. Good luck!

Your "last day" story reminds me of a similar one, but from the opposite viewpoint. I once had a girl who was an administrative assistant on my team -- I liked her and thought she did a great job, and we got along great together. At one point she came to me to ask me to resolve a dispute on the team, and I ended up making a decision that was sort-of a compromise, but that probably did favor the other person a bit more than her (actually, I felt her request was a little out of line -- she wanted permission to turn the music up really loud in the workroom and have more of a "party" atmosphere so that the assistants could enjoy their work more, but a couple of the other older assistants found the loud music to be distracting and causing them to make mistakes in their work. I decided that some music is fine, but that it couldn't go above a certain level on the volume scale, and asked them to please be considerate when the others who didn't like it were in the workroom, and to occasionally turn it off altogether during those brief times. It was an office, after all, not a party.) I had what I thought was a good talk with both sides, and both seemed to be OK with it. A couple months later, this girl handed in her resignation, apparently because she was planning to move. I told her how much we'd miss her, and how I appreciated her work, and I went out and bought a going-away gift for her and planned to give it to her after lunch on her last day, which she had told me she was going to work the full day. I came back to work after lunch and went by her desk, and she had cleaned it out and was gone. I said something like "Oh! I'm so sorry I missed saying good-bye to her! I had a gift for her and everything!" At which point, one of the other team members snorted and said "I don't think she missed saying good-bye to you!" I found out later that right before she left, she went to one of the other department heads and let loose with a spew of vituperative opinions about me -- apparently she hated my guts and cussed me out and made a huge scene! I was totally shocked. The other department head said she was making such a scene, he expected her head to start spinning around at any moment. Now granted, it turns out that this person had some emotional / psychological issues going on, but I was still very hurt. And mad at myself a little for being so oblivious to her opinions of me. Sigh..... oh well! I tried my best!

Mollis, glad your trips got cancelled! Woo-hoo!

Catherine, congrats on getting Hayley all set for school! I was just reading our little local paper today, and it had an article about all the things you need to do to register your child for pre-K or Kindergarten -- the list sounded almost exactly like what Denise mentioned earlier. Ugh - a lot of work! It's good to know though -- I'll have it to do soon. (Well, maybe I will, if Baby Pince doesn't get thrown out of daycare first. In the last week his teachers have "chastised" me because he made a pretend gun out of his thumb and index finger and ran around going "Pow! Pow!" and then yesterday he apparently covered another child with a blanket and then laid on top of him -- which is what we often do at home when cuddling and getting ready for bed, but the other child didn't appreciate it, and Baby Pince ended up getting written up with a "Behavior Note" that he was being mean to his friends, which I had to sign and it got put "into his record." Sigh... I'm raising a delinquent....)

Happy Thursday, everyone!

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mollis - Mar 10, 2005 10:19 am (#2849 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 10, 2005 9:25 am

Mollis, glad your trips got cancelled! Woo-hoo!

Unfortunately, not trips. Just one got cancelled for today. I am still leaving tomorrow. But, I was able to sucker the dementors into purchasing me a laptop - so I'm only a Wi-Fi hotspot away!

EDIT: Grrr - stupid smilie isn't working. Gonna have to go searching for a replacement.

EDIT #2: That's better. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (125)

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kabloink! - Mar 10, 2005 11:07 am (#2850 of 2956)

Madame Pince, I doubt you are raising a delinquent. It sounds like he is just a little boy. By the way, when did making a gun out of your thumb and forefinger become a crime? I think people panic a bit too much sometimes. My nephew has a miniature hockey stick (he's almost 2), and goes around whacking people with it. Not to mention the fact that this kid is going to be an MLB pitcher and his parents have given him real hard baseballs...I am terrified everytime he throws it (after my softball incident little kids and hard balls=Terrified Kimmi).

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (126)
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Madam Pince - Mar 10, 2005 11:33 am (#2851 of 2956)

I sort of agree, kabloink. I mean, I know everyone is on hyper-alert since Columbine, etc., and I don't mean to belittle the concern, because guns are a serious thing and I take the education of kids about that subject very seriously. But they were almost acting like he was the first little boy ever in the history of Time to make a pretend one out of his thumb and forefinger. We don't have any toy guns in the house, and we try to not let him see any shooting stuff on TV although I'm sure it sneaks by now and again. And we hardly ever let him wear his long black trenchcoat and sunglasses to school....

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Catherine - Mar 10, 2005 1:00 pm (#2852 of 2956)

Oh, no, Madame Pince, Baby Pince already has a permanent record?

Just kidding. It's hard when you always feel like there is an "issue" at your child's school/daycare. I'm not suggesting this about Baby Pince, but I can remember taking Claire to the doctor with her school's "complaints" about her, asking, "What is so wrong with my child?" Finally, her neurologist told me, "I honestly think it is a problem with them. Claire's specialist finally concluded that Claire was attending the wrong school. Once we switched, our lives became much easier. Her current school told me within 10 days of attendance that they did not even "recognize" the child her previous school described. It's like they were talking about two different people.

About the finger/gun thing, I think people can get way too worked up about that. I've seen little boys who have never even had a water gun and don't watch TV use their index finger and thumb to "shoot" people. Maybe it's hardwired on the Y chromosome? Anyway, at our house we call that a "deader" because when Hayley was two, she came home from preschool very upset. We asked her why, and she said, "A boy made his hand into a deader and tried to get me." It was only when she showed us (by making a gun with her hand) what a "deader" was that we understood what she meant.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 10, 2005 1:12 pm (#2853 of 2956)

I really wish people would just get over it. Kids have been playing Cops and Robbers and Cowboys and Indians and probably Cavemen and ... other cavemen? Wooly Mammoths? Anyway, kids have been playing games like that for eons. I will personally attest that at my Catholic School we played Cops and Robbers and used our "gun hands" to 'kill' each other on a fairly regular basis. As far as I know, none of us have robbed a bank, shot anyone, or ever shot up our school. Also, one of our teachers was a HUGE civil war reenactmant person, so we got to play with real (fake) toy guns and swords and bayonetts a lot. All we did was learn that Wars= lots of time laying in dirt.

Ah well, what can you do? Times, they are a changing.

I have to take my postponed French test in 1.5 hours. I sure hope I'm ready. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (132)

Happy Birthday to anyone who's celebrating, including my man Remus Lupin!

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Lina - Mar 10, 2005 2:43 pm (#2854 of 2956)

Phoenix song: The only times that need to be held separately to accommodate grade level are reading and math times.

Well, Barbie, I must say, you are right. This home educating could even be helpful in organizing the life. And may I say, from the time you started to write about it, I imagined you at the kitchen table with your kids. The table is round in my imagination and you look like a Carebear...

Madam Pince, the age of two is the age for the child to learn about how strong he/she is and how strong he/she may be. It is like the puppies. If they don't grow up at the beginning with other puppies, they never learn how strong they may bite without attacking. My daughter who happens to be one of the quietest children in her class, when she was about that age, used to hit the children quite unexpectedly. When they would start to cry, she would run after them to kiss them so that they would stop to cry. But they would run away, who knows why? She stopped doing that without any special intervention. I think I told her that she would become ugly if she continues hitting other children. I do think that teaching children what is right and what is wrong is the parent's job, but at the time they are in school or daycare, the parents are just not able to be there. Those teachers have to interact with those children! They can't just give reports to the parents and not talking to the children! My dad used to say to his mum: "Punish me now, don't let me wait for dad to come home!" I bet it would not be possible to find a child without a file in that daycare.

*michelle the librarian*, happy great birthday to your daughter! My 5 year old also likes HP very much - just watching the films and playing the PC games. Her favorite is PS/SS.

I'm going to throw finally Veronika's birthday party. I hope that the flu won't get me as strong as it got my mum and hubbie. Tomorrow my elder daughters go to the snow to the mountain near the town with their school and I will be able to do the cake in peace. They are so happy about going to the snow.

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Denise P. - Mar 10, 2005 2:48 pm (#2855 of 2956)

Maybe it's hardwired on the Y chromosome?

It is! It is right next to the boy “Vroom” gene. Little boys will pick up anything and make it go vroom, like a car. My girls don't have this same gene. When Kaity was just almost 2, my father was visiting. We were in the toy store, in the cheapo aisle for them to pick out a toy. The boys immediately grabbed a truck and for the sake of ease, I was prompting her to get a truck too. No way, she wailed and wanted the package of bracelets.

My almost 4 year has had notes from school too. He got one for inappropriate kissing a few weeks ago LOL He kissed a little girl on the mouth. What horror! Apparently, had he kissed her cheek, he would have been okay. In any event, we discussed not kissing others at school.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 10, 2005 2:53 pm (#2856 of 2956)

Keep your lips to yourself young man!

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Catherine - Mar 10, 2005 3:50 pm (#2857 of 2956)

In any event, we discussed not kissing others at school. –Denise

LOL! Our preschool had to have a big powwow with the kiddies about that, too. It started with one kindergarten girl kissing everyone, and now it has spread. I was initially told that Hayley was not participating in the kiss-fest, but then I found out that, while she was not kissing anyone, she was allowing all the kindergarten boys to kiss her.

My friend Tamara (a UVA grad; ::waving to Loopy:Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (133) has a young daughter who was delighted to be kissing everyone. After the talk, she came home and told her mommy, "No kissy-kissy at school!"

So, it looks like everyone needs the "no kissy-kissy" meeting at some point.

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Madam Pince - Mar 10, 2005 4:14 pm (#2858 of 2956)

Thanks for the encouragement, guys, it makes me feel much better! I am convinced about the Y-chromosome thing -- he learned all about "vroom" with (I think) absolutely no teaching from us. And I'm pretty sure he's not being "mean" with these things at school because he's just as cheerful as he can be when coming home -- he waves and yells "Bye-bye (name)" to all the kids, so I don't think he has a clue. He goes up and hugs them and says "I'm sorry" if I suggest that to him, and sometimes even on his own. We had the talk about how, even if you're just playing, if the other person gets upset, then that means they're not having fun, so you have to stop what you're doing and tell them you're sorry. ****crosses fingers and hopes that it works!***** If it doesn't work, I love Lina's idea of telling him that he'll turn ugly if he keeps on doing it!

The "kissy-kissy" is so cute! It's actually pretty funny -- little kids that age are so full of love and innocence that they have no idea that it might be a concern for somebody.

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librarian314 - Mar 10, 2005 4:32 pm (#2859 of 2956)

Hey all!

I'm not certain that the finger gun is necessarily attached to the Y chromosome. My daughter has done that quite regularly since about the time she was 3ish. (My parents are avid sports people, being competition civil war shooters (grannie is on a smooth bore cannon team that regularly wins meddles).)

Don't worry about that permanent record. I've actually heard that overcoming childhood troubles is helping to get some kids into college. (Besides, there's always community college who generally take anyone with money :-) )

Good thing kissy faces didn't get you in trouble when I was young. I would've been down at the principal's office all the time, as I chased after boys to kiss them all the time. (I also used to threaten to kiss boys if they didn't stop bothering me; at six that actually works. :-))

Kayla (my daughter) says, "Hi!!" :-) We're going upstairs to put the frosting on the cake we baked for Lupin's birthday.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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timrew - Mar 10, 2005 4:51 pm (#2860 of 2956)

Belated Happy Birthday greetings, Loopy! Congratulations on your 99th, and may you live another!

99, that is, not another year!

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Madame Librarian - Mar 10, 2005 5:47 pm (#2861 of 2956)

When he was two years old and lived the most sheltered-from-violence and pop-culture-free life one can imagine (only TV shows allowed were "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers"), my Jordan calmly sat at the breakfast table, took two bites out of his toast, held up the remaining L-shaped piece and announced, "Look, mommy, it's a gun!"

Hard-wired it is for sure.

Ciao. Barb

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Jo S - Mar 10, 2005 9:24 pm (#2862 of 2956)

My three-month-old daughter has already got an independent streak. She whinges unless she is sitting completely upright or is standing. The only problem is that she can’t physically hold herself up. Im dreading her growing up and getting into all that other stuff. I dont know where she got it from, but I am certain that her independent streak is somehow "programmed" into her. Mind you I still think she is gorgeous!

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 10, 2005 11:03 pm (#2863 of 2956)

Guns are a big no-no in my household and my husband and I are even anti-hunting with guns, we don't watch gun violent TV shows (we rarely watch TV). But yes, our precious bundle also made his toast, hot dog, book...., into a gun shape. My question is, what did little boys do before guns were invented?

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Marè - Mar 11, 2005 12:52 am (#2864 of 2956)

Use sticks as swords?

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Cornelia - Mar 11, 2005 1:01 am (#2865 of 2956)

Did play with bows and arrows? My four year old son loves his, and of course his (wooden-)sword to play knight...

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Dragonesss - Mar 11, 2005 1:33 am (#2866 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 11, 2005 12:40 am

“Severus Snape: INTJ
INTJ’s are resourceful, perfectionistic, and reserved. They excel at planning and strategy and, though they prefer to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves, they can be effective leaders when the need arises. INTJ’s do not often express strong emotions but can become animated when provoked.”

How embarrassing... Pirate Monkey's Harry Potter Personality Quiz
Harry Potter Personality Quiz by Pirate Monkeys Inc.

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Lina - Mar 11, 2005 3:10 am (#2867 of 2956)

I agree with **michelle the librarian** . When I was a little girl, I played Cowboys and Indians with my cousins all the time. And when I got to play with my neighborhood kids and in the kindergarten, I tried to make them all play the same (sort of leadership gene). I had many dolls and they all stayed in great shape (except those two that used to be my neighbor's and I cut their hair) until my sister came to the world because I never played with them.

And I always thought my daughters, if someone hurts them (emotionally or physically) to punish them with a kiss. They rarely do that, but those rare times they really listened to me, it worked! They've got what they wanted!

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Cornelia - Mar 11, 2005 4:19 am (#2868 of 2956)

By the way, how old were your kids when you introduced them to Harry Potter?

I´m thinking about reading the first book to my four year old but I´m not sure if he is old enough.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 11, 2005 6:17 am (#2869 of 2956)

Belated Happy Birthday greetings, Loopy! Congratulations on your 99th, and may you live another! – tim

What's that? I can't hear you; you've got to speak directly into this trumpet thing I'm holding to my ear. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (134)

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Lina - Mar 11, 2005 7:20 am (#2870 of 2956)

Cornelia, there is no rule. My eldest was 8 when she introduced me to Harry Potter. She has got PS/SS around her 8th birthday. We both liked it, so we gave her the CoS for her sisters next birthday (3 months later) and PoA for her sisters next birthday (another 3 months later). She (with me together) enjoyed it. I wanted to wait for the OotP to be published to buy GoF on a discount but the waiting was too long so we gave her GoF for her ninth birthday. I must say that I was worried on how would she react on it because it is much darker. And I was thankful that we had to wait for OotP for such a long time because she had time to grow up a little bit in the meantime. I just think that the last two books are a little to heavy for little children, and once you get hooked, you can not stop reading. My cousin's son, who is elder than my daughter, is a little dyslexic and he started to read books with Harry Potter. I tried to increase my middle daughter's interest for books with HP, but it didn't work with her. She is 11 now and I have the feeling that her interest grows. The youngest one is 5 and she likes to watch the films but we haven't even tried to read the books. The best way to see if he is old enough is to try and check if it works or not. I'm just glad that my children were not to young when OotP went out. In our schools PS/SS is part of optional reading in the 4th grade (10 years).

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Phoenix song - Mar 11, 2005 8:00 am (#2871 of 2956)

Cornelia: I agree with Lina that there is no hard set rule about when is the right time to introduce the HP series to your kids. I began to read SS to my kids a year ago, when the littlest one was around 3 1/2. I haven't read past PoA yet, though. I'm not sure that the younger ones are quite ready for the rebirthing scene in GoF yet, so I'm holding off until they are.

Reading Harry Potter to the kids has gotten them excited about books! It also helped me in encouraging my son to learn to read when he wasn't so sure that it was worth the effort. (He thought that he'd rather spend his valuable time working on math problems...go figure!) I encourage all of the parents out there to take out just 15 minutes or so an evening to read to their kids. These are the kind of things that they will always remember.

To any of the parents of younger ones, in the scenes that are "scary" you can always act a bit "dramatic" when reading these parts (like the troll scene in SS and the spider scene in CoS). My kids really react well to seeing that I'm having fun with the scary stuff, and it increases their appreciation of Harry's "adventure". It also helps to talk to them before and remind them that this is just a story and everything is going to be alright.

Have a great day everybody! Hope that your day is as pretty as our day is looking!
Barbie

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librarian314 - Mar 11, 2005 8:13 am (#2872 of 2956)

Hey Cornelia, et al.

Our soon-to-be six year old loves the movies but has shown little interest in the books yet. Even when her dad tried to read the first one to her earlier this year. (I was bummed when that didn't work out.) Give reading the first one a try but don't be disappointed if the chapters are too long for your child's attention span. If he settles in that's great; if not try again in a couple of years.

I'm not certain what we'll do when our little one does finally start the series. If she waits until she's 12 or so then I don't really have a problem. If she's younger, say 8ish, it'll be really difficult for me to let her read GoF and OotP. There are some really very adult issues involved in those books that I'm not sure I'd want her reading quite that young. (I'd probably compromise by suggesting a family read a loud.)

Anyway, good luck with stories!

**michelle the librarian**

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Steve Newton - Mar 11, 2005 8:35 am (#2873 of 2956)

His grandparents gave my son the books, first 3, I think, when he was 8 or nine. He read them and recommended that I read them. Having already read all 54 Animorph books on his recommendation (actually pretty good) I gave them a go. I liked the first 2. POA was the clincher.

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kabloink! - Mar 11, 2005 9:09 am (#2874 of 2956)

I have every intention of introducing the books to my children before they are even born. That, however, is a little ways off. My husband has just done the whole step-down from a well-paying-but extremely-stressful-not-even-worth-it job to one that pays about half od what he was making before and is reminding him what he loved so much about McDonald's in the first place. Its great to see him so happy, but this means that I have to go back to McDonald's myself in order to help pay the bills. Between two jobs and school, who has time for kids? (That doesn't stop me from wanting them desperately, mind you).

As for violence, I was pretty much exposed to everything at a young age, as I had brothers who were 11 and 13 years older than me. Also, whenever I have time I do medieval and renaissance reenactment, and have swords hanging on my walls, so my kids will probably learn swordplay and period dances fairly young.

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Chemyst - Mar 11, 2005 9:13 am (#2875 of 2956)

I´m thinking about reading the first book to my four year old but I´m not sure if he is old enough.

Cornelia, I think you will find that children, (those who are truly still children and not edging into adolescence, and have at least one adult who meets their basic physical and emotional needs,) are created with an intuition about what is too intense for them. (Many teens suppress this ability when faced with peer pressure, which makes parenting a challenge!) What is scary for one four year-old may be an amusement for another. You are the parent; you are in the best position to judge this. If your instincts are telling you he may not be old enough, he probably isn't. You can try if you want, but if he's not interested, then keep it on the shelf a bit longer.
If he does like it now, you will probably want to "frame" some of the ideas for him– point out how Ron's insult hurt Hermione, how breaking the rules put many people in danger, and that he needs to think about his choices.

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Denise P. - Mar 11, 2005 9:18 am (#2876 of 2956)

I can only echo what others have said. You know your child best and if you think they are ready, they probably are. My kids enjoy the movies. When CoS came out, my then 6 year old had no problems watching it although I did get an arm clutched during the spider scene. Other families, they would not let their 10 year old watch it because it was too frightening for them. It just depends on the child.

My 10 year old is currently reading OoP but his almost 12 year old brother is not really interested in reading the books even though he will listen to the audio versions.

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Cornelia - Mar 11, 2005 10:34 am (#2877 of 2956)

Thank you all for your responses! I´ll just give it a go.

And Chemyst, I can´t leave the books on the shelf, because I have to read them:-)

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Madam Pince - Mar 11, 2005 11:47 am (#2878 of 2956)

I agree -- it's a two-fold "attention span" thing and a "level of scariness" thing. Baby Pince will be three next week, and he's seen all the movies, but I have not attempted any reading. It's all we can do to get through "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" some days.

I had some reservations about the dementor scenes in PoA, but he didn't seem to mind them. Occasionally he will retreat behind the kitchen table when the troll scene comes on in SS (which I think is probably pretty astute of him!), but he doesn't seem to mind the spiders, the basilisk, Voldy and the unicorn blood, or even the werewolf. (Golly, now that I list them, there really are a lot of scary scenes, aren't there?) He didn't like it too much when Aunt Marge "ballooned," which I thought was interesting. He play-acts a lot of things from the movies, too, especially "Wingardium Leviosa." I imagine Seamus' explosion appeals to the Y-chromosome in him or something.

Next time they'll probably have a note for me to sign from school saying "We're sorry to have to expel your son -- he tried to "Avada Kedavra" one of his little friends."

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 11, 2005 2:05 pm (#2879 of 2956)

I'm very conservative. My kids are almost 8 and almost 6 and I have neither read the books to them nor let them watch the movies. **sees the looks of horror appear on everyone's faces** The books are so wonderful that I'm trying to preserve the experience of reading them on their own. They're the type of books which can turn a reluctant reader into a voracious one so I'm keeping that trick pony in the stable for now.

It's snowing. Again. For the love of God will this ever end? Easter's in two weeks. At this rate I'll be hiding eggs in an igloo.

The ideas for my class keep coming and I'd like to thank everyone who's contributed. I don't start teaching it until the end of April, so please feel free to keep passing along your suggestions. The thread has been moved to The World and the Harry Potter Phenomenon for those looking for it.

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Denise P. - Mar 11, 2005 3:01 pm (#2880 of 2956)

Ugh, we are about to drive down to Nashville so one of the boys can be interviewed live on the radio for a radioathon. (Anyone in the Nashville area, 107.5 FM...all weekend, they replay the "live" bits but around 6 CST is when he is scheduled) I would rather not bring everyone but Mr. P seems to think it will be fun. I agree, it will be fun like getting my teeth cleaned. Yuck, this means we won't get back until after the wee ones bedtime, which means we will have cranky kidlets and one tired mom.

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Acceber - Mar 11, 2005 4:29 pm (#2881 of 2956)

I got Hermione on Elanor's quiz from a while ago. Typical. It's either Hermione or Dumbledore.

Happy Belated Birthdays Loopy Lupin and Remus Lupin! So hopefully this means Remus will survive the series. Yay!

Opening night for my school play (Into the Woods) is in 6 days. We're a lot better than we were before we added tech (props, lights, sound, and curtains), but the curtain people can't process when they're supposed to open and close the curtains. We have a rehearsal tomorrow (Saturday) from 9 AM-1 PM. Four hours with those blasted knee pads on, and on a Saturday! Gah!

Going to plow through the truckload of posts that awaits me before I start dinner.

PS Speaking of plowing, did any fellow New Englanders (Julia, Kim, Pinky, Leila, Maritza, Meg if she's reading this) experience a very annoying flurry of snow this afternoon? It wasn't enough to hold up traffic, but it did bug me to no end.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 11, 2005 4:58 pm (#2882 of 2956)

Speaking of plowing, did any fellow New Englanders (Julia, Kim, Pinky, Leila, Maritza, Meg if she's reading this) experience a very annoying flurry of snow this afternoon?---Acceber

See my post, #2879.

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Madam Pince - Mar 11, 2005 5:17 pm (#2883 of 2956)

Speaking of Meg, has anyone heard from her lately? Is there possibly a new baby Potter-holic in the world?

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Denise P. - Mar 11, 2005 7:55 pm (#2884 of 2956)

Hey Kim, did Son Lupin ever get any mail?

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dizzy lizzy - Mar 11, 2005 8:14 pm (#2885 of 2956)

Hi all.

I've just been spending the last two days reining in my spending. I've some ideas floating around in my head to do with soap making and Internet based work for some time now. Now is the time to put them in action as I've a good motive, to bring a little extra money into my wallet.

I will be away for 12 days as of tomorrow (13th March). I will be in Sydney for the training for this new job. And I am really starting to look forward to it.

You wouldn't believe it , but yesterday, when I rang the motel I was going to stay at, they had decided I wasn't coming and had re-booked my room to someone else!

It turned out, that although I booked by email and received an email confirming my booking, no-one had bothered to tell me that I needed to ring them and pay one nights accommodation by credit card (which I don't have) to confirm the booking. Grrrrr.

The motel then had the hide to try and up-sell me to a room costing $30.00 per night extra and I said no thanks. I fail to see why I need to reward them for their incompetence in not letting me know of their booking arrangements. And a gentle slap on my wrist for not assuming the correct procedure!

So I rang my Cousin who lives about 15 minutes away from the city centre, and she rang back this morning to not only say that it was OK for me to stay there, they would also pick me up from the airport!

I didn't want to stay there originally as they are very busy people and I really didn't want to spend 1/2 hour travelling by train/bus every morning and evening. But now I have no choice. Actually the more I think about it, the more I think it was meant to be.

So the doggies are now on holidays at the vets, I have finally finished cleaning the kitchen (a work in progress for the past two weeks) and now its just email and Internet time.

I will do a last check of the threads tomorrow morning before I fly out and then I shall sit back and relax and enjoy my time away. And look forward to the 300 odd posts there are likely to be on this thread (and the next chat thread) alone when I get back.

I will be back on-line sometime around Good Friday.

So have a wonderful fortnight everyone and a Good Easter with your family and friends.

Lizzy

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Phoenix song - Mar 11, 2005 9:33 pm (#2886 of 2956)

Lizzy, have a great trip. You'll be missed, so try to check in on us if it's possible. (You'll probably have to use the dreaded "mark as read" button upon your return trip, I can't imagine two weeks' worth of posts to try to catch up on!)

Sorry for the yucky people that messed up your reservations. I agree that you shouldn't have to pay extra just because they sold your room to another client. You probably wouldn't have liked that hotel anyway! (I bet that they would expect you to eat something horrendous for breakfast like stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast!)

Have a good trip!
Barbie

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Ydnam96 - Mar 11, 2005 9:56 pm (#2887 of 2956)

Lizzy just think of the money you will save Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (135)

It's been warm (actually quite warm) here in California the last few days-during the day- but very cold at night. Because of this I have developed quite a icky cold or something. I'm not complaining about the weather, just the icky cold.

I've let the threads pile up on me over the last week...and now I have just a ton to wallow through. I'm not sure I'll get through them all! It's a shame really that my job (as much as I love it) gets in the way of my HP obsession.

Anyway. Happy weekend everyone!

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 11, 2005 10:06 pm (#2888 of 2956)

PS Speaking of plowing, did any fellow New Englanders (Julia, Kim, Pinky, Leila, Maritza, Meg if she's reading this) experience a very annoying flurry of snow this afternoon? It wasn't enough to hold up traffic, but it did bug me to no end.

Rebecca, you are lucky to have only been annoyed a little bit by this! It started snowing this morning before the kids got on the bus for school and continued until after dismissal. I cleared the deck and the driveway of snow before going to the kid's school, making me late, then again when I got back home from school, and yet again after lunch. Driving was hazardous and the school bus had to drop the kids of at the top of our street because trucks were stuck on our road. It was just cold enough so that none of the snow melted although it was very wet snow at times. And now we are awaiting round 2 to start around midnight and continue through the morning gymnastic class ughhhhh! Will this winter never end?

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 11, 2005 10:08 pm (#2889 of 2956)

Hey Denise, you're not the only one who wants to know. Son Lupin's response, when questioned, was inconclusive. I meant to ask the teacher this week past, but never actually saw her. Will be able to get you and answer early this week. Thanks again.

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Madame Librarian - Mar 11, 2005 10:18 pm (#2890 of 2956)

Weather here (Chicago area) is just dreadful. Upper 20s to low 30s. Gloomy skies. Wet, soppy snow. Horrid street sludge splashed all over car. Salt stains on leather boots. Chronic hat hair. Nasty patches of black ice on sidewalk (whoops!). You know, perfect March weather. Blaaaah. Winter. Blaaah.

Have a lovely weekend, all!

Ciao. Barb

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Elanor - Mar 12, 2005 1:27 am (#2891 of 2956)

I'm so sorry to hear about that bad weather some of you still have. You wil not believe it but yesterday we had SUN for 2 or 3 hours. It's been so long since it happened for the last time! It was a cold sun and the snow hardly melt, if not at all if it was in the shade, but still...

Sept, your weather charms remedials were a great benefit to you! You still have to work on the length of them because it is grey and cold again today but I'm sure that if you find the right teacher that will not be a problem anymore (any ideas?)... In education, everything depends on the student's motivation...

Have a great Saturday everybody! **waves to Fawkes! I'm sure you will watch the Ireland/France rugby match this afternoon. it should be a great match! **

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septentrion - Mar 12, 2005 3:18 am (#2892 of 2956)

Well, I intend to work my weather charms for you, Elanor, and for those in New England who still are under snow, cold or else, but my range of efficiency is...small to the last. Perhaps it's like occlumency, eye contact is important. Or maybe I'm really distracted by my teacher (there eye contact is important).

Have a great saturday everybody !

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Accio Sirius - Mar 12, 2005 2:19 pm (#2893 of 2956)

Hey Julia, sorry about UConn. I always cheer for the Huskies. My son's winter coat is from UConn. Gotta figure they know how to keep warm!

I'm excited that WVU is in the championship, although the teams I cheer for have a habit of making it to the big games and choking. For what its worth, Go Mountaineers!

Weather is finally nice again, or at least tolerable. We had our Brownie Sock Hop last night and I overheard several girls discussing HBP, who it could be and how they can't wait for the book to come out. It is so thrilling to hear kids debate it with as much passion as, well...us! Happy weekend everyone.

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Denise P. - Mar 12, 2005 3:56 pm (#2894 of 2956)

Ohhhh, I am so excited!

Several years ago, a friend and I co-authored some fanfiction. We have gotten a lot of praise about this one particular story and are often asked if various places can feature it on their site. There a fanfic/zine publisher that has asked if they can use it!

The plan is for some original art to be produced for the story and for both the art/story to be printed, bound and published. Once it is for done, it would be up for sale on the web site. As the authors, we get a free copy of our work.

How cool is that? We never dreamed when we wrote this all those years ago that it would come to this. This story came to be one night on a cruise ship about 3 am when we were talking about some characters and then brought up the original question in a chat. We had an outline and just ran with it. We wrote it in a fairly short period of time and the most amazing thing, I find, is that I wrote large sections, she wrote large sections but our betas thought it was written by one person before we revealed it was a joint effort.

Can you picture me squealing like a girl here??

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Prefect Marcus - Mar 12, 2005 4:02 pm (#2895 of 2956)

Denise,

Congrats on the Fanfic. Does this mean it is going to be published in genuine print? I am jealous.

Marcus

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Denise P. - Mar 12, 2005 4:07 pm (#2896 of 2956)

Yep, in actual print, that you can hold in your hands to read. Of course, since it is fanfiction, *I* can't and won't make any profit off it but it is still thrilling that someone wants to actually print what we wrote. For anyone interested, I will put a link to the story behind my picture.

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Lina - Mar 12, 2005 4:11 pm (#2897 of 2956)

Birthday party is over. Everybody home, kids in bed. Here is the birthday cake without the candles: birthday cake In case you can't recognize, it should be Flounder.

dizzy lizzy, I'm glad you found the way to earn some extra money. It is great. Are you sure you won't be able to check the Internet while in Sydney? I hope you're wrong.

My husband took our daughters to school yesterday. They went to the snowy mountain. While they were waiting for the buses and for the children to get into them, he was talking to another father. He saw his son beating another boy, and ran to separate them. He thought that the other father didn't see what is his son doing, but the other father said "Let the kids beat each other. They have to solve things by themselves!" My husband tried to explain him that it is not the right way and that it doesn't lead anybody to the peaceful life, but the man didn't want to listen. Unfortunately, this son came home from the trip with a broken arm. And as a meter of fact, at least another two children came home from the same trip with some broken bones. I must say I'm horrified. What were those teachers doing? I'm happy to know that my children know how to choose their company, but sending children to the trip with the school sounds like a real hazard! And I just wish to say that all advices to parents to listen to their instincts that came on this thread lately, they assume that parents who are on this forum should. Not all the parents, obviously. The rules on this forum seem to attract just specific kind of people (I like to feel special ) but this is obviously not the way that all people are.

Waves to everybody!

EDIT: Denise, you posted while I was writing my post. CONGRATULATIONS! It is really great!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 12, 2005 4:12 pm (#2898 of 2956)

Denise - congrats! That is great news!

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Marie E. - Mar 12, 2005 5:04 pm (#2899 of 2956)

Congratulations, Denise! I think I remember you mentioning this fanfic before. How exciting!

I have, sadly, had to give the "no kissy-kissy" speech to both of my girls. It seems to be quite a kindergarten thing to do. In my current class it is the boys who are doing all the kissing.

Our weather is bouncing back and forth between "60 and sunny" and "30 and snowing". I detest Spring in the Rockies. Just warm up and get it over with! Grrrr.

This is how crazy my life has been: I tried to take Lexie to a birthday party that isn't being held until next Saturday. Good thing it wasn't at the person's house.

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The giant squid - Mar 12, 2005 5:28 pm (#2900 of 2956)

This is how crazy my life has been: I tried to take Lexie to a birthday party that isn't being held until next Saturday.

I know...your life is so crazy you never answer your brother's questions! I mean, it's not like I care about the girls' birthdays, or the cat, or...

My condolences to those of you still dealing with winter. For the last few days it's been over 80 degrees (26 C) here in Vegas! Apparently the two weeks of rain qualified as "spring" out here. I know it did a number on our back yard...we're still trying to hack our way through five-foot-high weeds! For the three years we've lived here the back yard has been nothing but dirt (and a swingset left by the previous owners). We left it bare until we could figure out what to do with it. Well, we've finally come up with a plan and--lo and behold--the weeds have come out in force. Apparently they've been lying in wait just under the surface, biding their time until we wanted to do something with the land. I've done more yardwork in the last two weeks than I've done in the previous two years. And Marie can verify that yardwork & I don't get along very well...

Denise, congratulations on being published. You may not get any monetary gains from this, but it's a start in the biz. And once your brood is grown up & out of the house you'll need something to do to fill your time...

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (136)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (137)

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boop - Mar 12, 2005 7:42 pm (#2901 of 2956)

Denise, congratulations to you and your co-author of the fanfic. That is great to get it published.

We have had snow showers off and on all week. I wish the sun would come out. I am ready for spring!!!

My granddaughter Taysha has a virus that she is allergenic to. Taysha looks like she was burned all over her body. What the Dr. said is her body is fighting against its self. Dustin is allergenic to eggs, peanuts, dairy products, soy products. Poor Shelia with both having problems. Shelia said to me, I have one child allergenic to herself and a child that can't eat most things.

Have a great weekend everyone.

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Dumbledore - Mar 12, 2005 8:11 pm (#2902 of 2956)

Congratulations, Denise!

Boop, I too have had snow showers here in New York off and on all week. But I do have to say that I love the snow. That's not to say that I don't wish the spring to come...but I find few things more beautiful than the snow.

Yikes..I'm thinking of all the schoolwork I put off today that I will have to do tomorrow. There is nothing worse than a dreary Sunday (well I suppose there is...but in my current state of mind there isn't)

Well, have a great weekend everybody, and I hope the weather holds up for all you guys who don't enjoy the snow as much as I do.

-Lauren

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Madame Librarian - Mar 12, 2005 8:15 pm (#2903 of 2956)

Denise P., nice work! Give yourself an "atta girl." Sorry for being dense here, but was it HP fanfic?

Ciao. Barb

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Denise P. - Mar 12, 2005 8:21 pm (#2904 of 2956)

Naw, I can't write HP fanfic since the world is not finished yet...if that makes sense. The one in question is set in Highlander: The Series. If you are not familiar with the series, parts of the story won't make sense since it refers to events that took place on the show, as well as the lore behind the series and the rules of that world.

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Julia. - Mar 12, 2005 10:10 pm (#2905 of 2956)

Good evening all! I've not fallen off the face of the earth, I just don't have anything at all to add to parenting discussions.

Denise, mazel tov on your fanfic!!! *hands Denise butterbeer*

Becca, I got much more than a dusting of snow. I woke up this morning to many inches of snow. I had to walk to synagogue this morning, and nobody shoveled the main street. There was too much traffic to walk in the road, so I had to treck through the many inches. By the time I got there my legs were numb and my skirt was wet. When will this winter be over?! I can't take any more of this snow!!

I saw a wonderful production of Comedy of Errors by Shakespeare tonight. For a play I really didn't like reading, I loved the production.

Well, off to make pizza bagles and clear the threads.

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Madam Pince - Mar 12, 2005 10:33 pm (#2906 of 2956)

This little news snippet was in a newspaper I read today. For some reason it reminded me of the scene in the DOM, and it also struck me as hilarious:

A research lab in Portland, Maine, is ending a brain-collection program for a laboratory in Bethesda, Maryland. A lawyer for the Stanley Research Institute said that the lab has enough brains already and there is no more storage space.

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The giant squid - Mar 13, 2005 1:57 am (#2907 of 2956)

The one in question is set in Highlander: The Series.

Excellent...now I have something to get my wife for Christmas. If only it would be in print by next Thursday--it's our first anniversary (the traditional gift is paper)...

--Mike

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septentrion - Mar 13, 2005 2:25 am (#2908 of 2956)

LOL madam Pince ! Maybe Bethesda is the American department of mysteries !

Congrats Denise for being published !

I'm really sorry for those who still have snow. Here it's over till next year (I hope). We're going to have a sunny Sunday and a spring week. It'd be one of the rare years when the weather matches the calendar (official spring next week !).

Good Sunday to everyone !

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Acceber - Mar 13, 2005 5:00 am (#2909 of 2956)

Since everyone's pestering me, I'll come out of my state of lurking and post. It's more than a flurry of snow here, too. It's at least a foot, but I'm not sure exactly on the details, as play was canceled yesterday (because of a then-light snowfall ) and I didn't leave the house and its warmness all of yesterday. I did do a page and a half of notes on my independent study, which isn't due until the beginning of April. I never said I procrastinated.

I'm up at this unruly hour because my cat woke me up rubbing his head against my door, pleading to be fed. I didn't really feel like reading, I'd done that a lot yesterday, so I hopped on the Forum. Today, my dad, sister, and I are driving to Connecticut *waves to Julia and Maritza* to see my mom's family and celebrate her upcoming birthday. It's on St Patrick's Day. I doubt I should tell you how old she's turning (not that she reads this), but it is a golden birthday in a sense. For her present, she and her three siblings went to Florida to see two New York Y***** spring training games. My sister wanted autographs; I wanted to stow away in her suitcase, then hop on a bus to Ft. Myers and see the Sox play. Didn't happen. But we all get to have a scrumptious meal for lunch today.

Paraphrasing my Social Studies teacher from last year: "The best part about today being Sunday is...tomorrow's Monday!" It's really, "The best part about today being Thursday is...tomorrow's Friday!" but I couldn't resist.

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Marie E. - Mar 13, 2005 8:42 am (#2910 of 2956)

I woke up this morning to about three inches of snow and it's still falling. They have issued a Winter Weather Advisory for 5pm tonight until 5am Monday morning. If they close school tomorrow I'll scream. This is so unfair. It was 68 degrees yesterday.

Answers to the whining squid's questions: Shayla loved her presents from you, though Lexie was a little disappointed at first that you gave her a shirt and not toys. I told her that her birthday is coming up and to get over it. Kittycat is doing fine and she has an appointment next week. We may be switching her food to help her digest it better.

We had company over to dinner last night. The husband used to be in the military with Bill and also helped us buy our house. After dinner their oldest was looking at our Gamecube games and said, "Oh, Quidditch!" He then started talking about how he had finally read all the books. Well, that's all it took for a long discussion about what's coming in HBP. Poor Bill. Our dinner guest has even been to the jkr website.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 13, 2005 8:44 am (#2911 of 2956)

Congrats Denise! A published author; something many people aspire to!

It's started raining again. I know whaaaaaaaa. (sarcastic there, since at least I'm in warm weather while it rains) Oh well.

I finished crocheting an afghan yesterday. My first big accomplishment as a crocheter (spelling?). It's an oval still but at least it's done.

Happy Sunday all.

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 13, 2005 9:15 am (#2912 of 2956)

Hey Denise, a published author, congratulations!!!, Hi >>zoom>> Rebecca!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 13, 2005 9:24 am (#2913 of 2956)

Congratulations, Denise! I was wondering which fandom until I saw the link. But Highlander would have been one of my guesses! Really!

Mrs. Sirius, oh oh oh how I too ask 'When will winter end?' I fear we are in for cold beyond the official Spring date threshhold.

Well I've got a day of preparing for an exam. Anyone else want to study up on Experimental Design? C'mon, aren't you just fascinated by the possibility of explaining all the X's and O's and what validity and reliability and nesting in factorial designs mean? No idea what I'm talking about? Oh, I could make you fall asleep even FASTER by quoting the text directly, but I'll spare you all...

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Madam Pince - Mar 13, 2005 12:42 pm (#2914 of 2956)

Mandy, congrats on your afghan! It sounds perfectly lovely. Think of the oval shape as being unique! You'll figure out the corners eventually. I haven't crocheted in years, but would love to take it up again. My Grandma taught me when I was little, and I remember the part I had the hardest time with was the basic little circle that started the whole square.

Gina, *****eyuckkk!!!!**** on your exam! Validity, reliability, factorial design..... Bleah! Sounds horrible. Good luck, though!

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Chemyst - Mar 13, 2005 1:43 pm (#2915 of 2956)

Golly Gina, I didn't know they gave classes on how to make statistical relevance more complicated on purpose!
Congratulations Denise!
Sorry your play was cancelled Accerber; will they reschedule a make-good? (Cute Omeletteheads thing BTW)

We are having an extraordinarily nice window wide open day here, so I'm not going to stick around indoors. 'just didn't want the chat posts to get ahead of me though.

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Detail Seeker - Mar 13, 2005 2:04 pm (#2916 of 2956)

Gina, Experimental Design is a fascinating tool to reduce experimental programmes and to conceal, what you want to find. I always get the feeling, you have to know the borders of your model beforehand to be really able to come to the conclusions. (evil grin) But honestly, I was able to use it to my advantage, after learning more - but not from textbooks, they are usually meant to be unintellegible.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 13, 2005 2:11 pm (#2917 of 2956)

Thanks, guys. I agree Detail Seeker. Running experiments can be very interesting. I will get the chance to design an experimental model at the end of the semester. Pity it's not in potions.

But for now, I need to demonstrate I know some of the raw terms and such for a mid-term exam... B-O-R-I-N-G!!!!!!

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Detail Seeker - Mar 13, 2005 2:19 pm (#2918 of 2956)

I feel with you, Gina ! And don´t start dreaming of Taguchi designs. I will let my Occlumency fences down while you are writing the exam, perhaps you find some clues...

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Gina R Snape - Mar 13, 2005 3:28 pm (#2919 of 2956)

Heeee. You are too good to me.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 13, 2005 4:16 pm (#2920 of 2956)
Edited by Mar 13, 2005 3:19 pm

But Gina, don't forget specificity, power, point estimates, confidence intervals, standard deviation, variance, logistic regression, poission distributions ...and so many others. You have my sympathies - I do not miss quantitative methods class.

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Julia. - Mar 13, 2005 7:02 pm (#2921 of 2956)

You guys are giving me a headache. Good luck on your midterm Gina.

Mandy, congrats on finishing your afghan. Being able to make things is something I've always wanted to learn. My Grandma tried to teach me to knit when I was little, but that didn't go over very well. Good on you for being able to crochet.

Are they rescheduling your play, Ms. Omlettehead?

Back at school now, and already bogged down with work. This isn't fair, I've only been back for three hours, how do I have so much work already?!

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Ponine - Mar 13, 2005 7:44 pm (#2922 of 2956)

Gina, my deepest sympathy.... I am forever finished with social work research methods, and I can proudly say that I have never since had to contemplate hermeneutics, t-tail test (?) or the seemingly endless varieties of external and internal validity... ***cringing at the mere thought, looking for a pensieve to throw all traces of relevant memories in it*** Good Luck!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 13, 2005 7:57 pm (#2923 of 2956)

Thanks, Ponine. Are you a social worker?

Thanks, Julia. I have spent the entire day revising the entire semester so far. My exam isn't until Wednesday morning. . . so I can revise again before then! Woohoo.

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Ponine - Mar 13, 2005 7:59 pm (#2924 of 2956)

Gina - I got my MSW a few years ago, but am in the process of re-futuring, and am considering going back to graduate school for English...

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Gina R Snape - Mar 13, 2005 8:16 pm (#2925 of 2956)

Re-futuring? Is that a fancy term for reconsidering one's profession?

I received my MSW in 1998, am now in a PhD program.

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 13, 2005 9:07 pm (#2926 of 2956)

Oooh Gina, I won't even ask as my eyelids are already drooping, but good luck.

Rebecca I do hope your play is rescheduled, the play must should go on!

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Ydnam96 - Mar 13, 2005 10:43 pm (#2927 of 2956)

Julia, crocheting is easy! There is this great website for teaching it www.stichguide.com. I hadn't crocheted in a long time and this website helped me pick it back up. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (142) Gina, WOW. PhD! I just finished my masters and I never ever want to pick up another book, well not really it's the papers I HATE. Good luck on that!!!!

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The giant squid - Mar 14, 2005 2:20 am (#2928 of 2956)

Good luck on your exam, Gina. Most of that looked like gobbledy-gook to me too, and I'm used to spouting unintelligible nonsense to "civilians" (i.e. anyone who isn't in your field & doesn't understand the shorthand). I recognized the term "factorial", but I'm not sure it's the same as what I learned in calculus...

Marie, thanks for the update. I suppose I could have just called you, but that would be too easy... If Bill thinks things are bad now, wait 'til the family reunion this summer, when we'll have you, me, Mary (my wife), Pat & Khim (our cousin & his wife) and no doubt at least 2 or 3 more cousins that are Potterheads that we don't know about. At least he'll be able to hang out with She Who Has Not Read The Books...

--Mike

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Ponine - Mar 14, 2005 4:44 am (#2929 of 2956)

Gina - Re-futuring - I suppose I did just make that word up, but I like it?!?! Re-arranging my future, or simply re-planning my future - re-futuring... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (143)

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librarian314 - Mar 14, 2005 6:44 am (#2930 of 2956)

Hey all!

Gina - Good luck on your test! It really looks terribly complicated; I hope you can keep it all sorted out.

Mandy - Don't worry that you have an oval. When I first learned to crochet I was attempting to make granny squares but they ended up as granny blobs; not even properly oval.

For those interested in various needleworks, I can't recommend highly enough the Readers' Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. It presents the crafts in a very straight forward manner with clear photos and written examples. The projects displayed are fairly classic and varied. There are tips for designing your own projects. As someone who's been a fiber artist for the last 30 years, I still refer to it regularly during projects.

If you have trouble finishing projects, do smaller projects. I crochet large projects (sweaters and afghans) but knit socks and mittens. Socks can easily be finished in a weekend (if you're doing anklets)

I've just about finished my Mrs. Weasley sweater; I'm crocheting the scalloped trim and have to put on the clasp. I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 14, 2005 7:59 am (#2931 of 2956)

Hey all... I was out on training all last week, so no access to the net I wasn't in the office, but stuck in Dublin city center, which meant I was also without my car, and thus my commute time doubled. I offically HATE Dublin bus, as was the mode of transport last week ... & if I ever see another double decker bus it'll be too soon. But enough grumbling.

Anyways, Elanor, I did watch the match... what can I say... the luck of the Irish ran out .... oh well... the better team on the day won!

Denise... I'm impressed... It's fantastic that you & your friends work was appreciated! Well done!

I recently had been toying with some HP fanfic... nothing too major... but a sub plot of sorts. I've just been working on it in my spare time... I find it cheers me up after a nasty day at work to scribble away on a notepad. It's grown into a 'fair few' chapters now, but I've only typed up the first two & was just going to keep it in my drawer & write whenever I felt the need. However, now you've inspired me to finish it & type it up & perhaps post it over on the FFF. Not that it's worthy of any great acalade... but sure... it keeps me out of mischief.

Dizzy Lizzy... great big hug for you. Your old boss sounds like a right nasty 'so and so'. My boss in my first job out of college was so nasty & horrible, he makes the dementors in my current job look like Care Bears. The good news is that you're free now... & you never have to deal with him/her again.

I will have my ultimate revenge however... if I ever get round to writing the novel(s), that are so fond of running around inside my head, lets just say my old boss will be remembered... oh yes he will *insert evil cackle*

Quick question for the UK forumers, did any of you see Rupert Grint on Comic Relief on friday night... he was very funny! Some other HP related persons on the show were Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Lenny Henry, Johnny Vaughan to name but a few.

Good luck with the test Gina... I had enough of exams when I finished my masters I couldn't do another one... so good on you

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Catherine - Mar 14, 2005 9:59 am (#2932 of 2956)

This is belated, but congratulations, Denise! We're proud of you. Now, if Jo would finish Book 7, then you could get started on writing HP fanfic! **makes mental note to learn about Highlander** Gina, I hope your class goes well; that topic makes my head hurt to think about it!

I haven't been around for a bit due to a nasty bit of food poisoning **don't worry, I won't provide details * and I haven't been up to much besides moaning and feeling sorry for myself in this hotel room.

The good news is that I am in San Diego right now. Mr. Catherine is attending the American Chemical Society conference here, and I joined him. So far, I haven't had any sun in "sunny California" (and it's raining now) but the change of scenery is delightful. Now that I've recovered from the food poisoning, I look forward to doing some shopping and sightseeing. My hotel room overlooks the harbor, and it's very interesting to watch the enormous ships sail by.

While it rains, I may catch up on some threads. See you all around!

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Elanor - Mar 14, 2005 10:45 am (#2933 of 2956)

I'm so sorry Catherine! I hope you feel better now and that you will be able to enjoy your stay in California.

Fawkes, I thought to you during the match! It was a great match because both teams were good. The atmosphere in the stadium was wonderful, I love the way the Irish supporters sing. Your players can have regrets because after O'Dricoll's try (beautiful BTW) it was close! I hope you will be luckier against Wales. Good luck against the Dementors at work! (**sharing a virtual - Irish- butterbeer**)

Denise, congratulations, these are some great news!

Here, it seems that spring is coming at last. It was still rather cloudy today but far milder and we should reach pleasant temperatures before the end of the week. Snow is melting, I hope we will see flowers soon.

There is another clear sign that spring is coming: Saturday was the first day of the trout fishing season here. Do you have a season for that too? One of my uncles loves fishing and he already caught 7 trouts. We ate some of them yesterday and they were delicious, this is a true spring gift!

Have a great Monday!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 14, 2005 12:33 pm (#2934 of 2956)

Oh, Catherine! Sick on your getaway?! That's just not fair. And food poisoning at that. Didn't your mother ever tell you never to eat fish on an airplane?

I sympathize. My brother caught a bad clam at my rehearsal dinner and was violently sick all the next day. But he still made it to the wedding and looked great in the tux. Lucky for him he was so tan no one could tell how green he was underneath.

Enjoy the rest of your stay Catherine! I think you should buy yourself something especially nice seeing as how you got sick and all.

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Lina - Mar 14, 2005 1:41 pm (#2935 of 2956)

Spring talk: I saw the first fruit tree full of flowers today.

Gina, I hope your exam will go well.

Catherine, I'm glad you are at least better now.

I'm going to the hospital tomorrow. Another operation. It is the melanoma. Now I have to run more tests to see which therapy is going to be needed. I must say I already feel panic on how many unread posts are going to be here on the forum when I come back. And I'm not even sure I'll be able to sit by the computer right away. Just now that I managed to be along with most interesting threads.

So happy birthday to everybody and all children for the next weak!

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Julia. - Mar 14, 2005 1:42 pm (#2936 of 2956)

Awwwwww, I'm so sorry you're not feeling well Catherine. I hope you get better soon and enjoy the rest of your trip, and that the weather improves for you!

Oh my gosh Lina! I hope everything goes well for you tomorrow! I'll say some Tehillim for you, and hope it helps.

Yay, finally, it's not snowing, at least for now. It's still cold, but at least it's above freezing so the snow we have is melting.

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septentrion - Mar 14, 2005 2:07 pm (#2937 of 2956)

Catherine, glad you feel better. It isn't fair to suffer from sickness while you're travelling.

Lina, I'll think of you tomorrow. Don't worry about the number of posts. If there are too many, just hit the magical button (mark as red).

Would some spring have reached the North east US ?

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scully jones - Mar 14, 2005 2:46 pm (#2938 of 2956)

Good luck Lina!

And congratulations Denise!

Spring's been here in California for a few weeks even though it still gets pretty chilly at night. It's sunny right now, but very windy. Which is perfect because we just bought a dragon kite!

Brandon and I got our papers that we had to write for Sociology back today. Out of all the students, there were three perfect papers. Ours were two of them! Eeeee! Yep.

All we have left is an observation (we have to watch a couple kids and write down what they do). We don't have to take one of our finals because she only counts four out of the five and we got A's on the first four. Our other final is a take-home open book thing. We got very lucky this quarter.

Unfortunately all of the classes that I want to take next quarter are full, so I had to Wait-list all of them. I'm just hoping that when I go in the first day the professors let me in.

On a side note, Brandon's mom and I have been busy buying ribbon. We saw something cool on TV where you get wired ribbon, tie one end, and pull the wire from one side so the ribbon scrunches at the end. You just wrap it around itself and Voila! Flower! I'm making a gift for our hairdresser whose birthday is today. I'll take a picture of it when it's finally done and show you guys.

We also got some oil paints and a few canvases. I'll see if I'm any good at painting, I haven't done it in a while. Brandon's really excited about it.

Have I talked enough yet? Okay? Yeah.

Later then, Sarah.

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Helen Potterfan - Mar 14, 2005 3:13 pm (#2939 of 2956)

Gina - I got my MSW a few years ago, but am in the process of re-futuring, and am considering going back to graduate school for English... –Ponine

Ponine, feel free to email me off list if you have questions about graduate school in English. I'm in the dissertation stage of getting my PhD in English (and in my 6th year of graduate school). Most of the time I think that I made the right decision (I love what I do), but I'm terrified that I've spent all of this time and effort and won't get a position as a professor. The job market is EXTEMELY bad. There are only enough tenure track jobs for something like 20-30% of graduates at 4 year colleges. (I'm not trying to be discouraging, but it's important to know what you're getting into!) Best wishes with your re-futuring!

Gina, good luck on your exam!

Helen

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megfox - Mar 14, 2005 4:14 pm (#2940 of 2956)

Someone (Madame Pince?) asked if I was still here. Yep, still here, and baby still resolutely in belly. And it is still snowing here in Maine (well, not currently, but you know what I mean). We got a beautiful 14 inches of wet, sloppy, heavy, tree-bending, power-outaging snow on Friday and Saturday. It really was pretty, but for cripe's sake...I remember thinking in July (when I found out I was pregnant) "gee, it'll be nice and springy when I have the baby!" At least the baby keeps me warm and I don't have to bundle up too much! I can't fit most of my clothes on now. And to top it all off, I have the worst chest and head cold I have gotten in YEARS. Of course, I can't take anything but Tylenol - even Sudafed knocks me out cold, so I just have to keep going to work and doing stuff with my ears blocked, my nose blocked, my throat on fire, and a really evil sounding cough...don't even get me started about trying to sleep. On my back makes me hack, and on either side makes things fall asleep (butt, rib cage, arms, etc).

Phew, rant over. That made me feel better.

On a happier note, the baby's room is pretty much organized, the baby seat is snugly in my car (and I mean snugly - anyone here have a Jetta?), my hospital bag is packed, and I have almost all of my maternity leave classwork planned. You know, I haven't really minded this pregnancy thing, but now I am ready to meet my baby!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 14, 2005 4:21 pm (#2941 of 2956)

It sounds like the baby knows that it is too cold to come out just yet and therefore wants the comforts of being in a warm place.

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Marie E. - Mar 14, 2005 5:23 pm (#2942 of 2956)

Meg, my youngest was due on May 30th so I ran out and bought all sorts of maternity shorts. In 1999 we had one of the most rainy, cold Springs I have experienced in my ten years here in Colorado. The day after Lexie was born we had a thunderstorm so bad the electricity went out in the hospital. All my maternity shorts went to a friend with the tags still on.

We now have three inches of snow on the ground and should get another inch or two tonight. Not too bad considering most March snows here come in feet not inches. (Now I've jinxed it and we'll get a blizzard tonight.)

Mike/Squiddy: Does our sister realize she now has a forum nickname?

Edit: The picture is my aforementioned youngest daughter, Alexis. This is her school picture from last fall.

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boop - Mar 14, 2005 5:51 pm (#2943 of 2956)

Fawkes- Please do finish your fanfic, and post for all to read. Then start to write another fanfic!!!

Catherine- Sorry to hear you were sick. Glad you are feeling better. Enjoy the rest of your trip.

Lina- Good Luck,and I will be thinking about you tomorrow.

Sarah- *Waves and runs to hug Sarah*...That is great Brandon and you got perfect papers. Sounds like you are having a great time. I am proud of Brandon and you Sarah. Can't wait to see you two this summer. Please pass on a big hello to Kathleen for me.

Meg- Wow no baby yet? Sorry you are down with a cold. Hope you feel better real soon.

Hugs Always

boop

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mike miller - Mar 14, 2005 6:18 pm (#2944 of 2956)

Denise - Congrats of getting published!

Meg - One last thing, take everything home from the hospital once the baby does arrive. There should be "stuff" (wipes, diapers, baby powder, Vasaline, etc.) on a little basinette. Take it all!!! You or your insurance company is being charged for it.

Fawkes - Glad to have you back from Dublin.

Sarah & Brandon - Congrats on the papers and enjoy painting. My wife has the artist’s eye and talent, just not the motivation. We have 2 of her works hanging in our house along with a half dozen from her Grandmother’S.

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Dumbledore - Mar 14, 2005 6:31 pm (#2945 of 2956)

Hii everybody!! Wow..so much news on the forum to catch up on so here it goes...

Lina - I hope your hospital stay goes well and you get better really soon.

Catherine - Sorry to hear you're sick. Feel better, and enjoy San Diego (hopefully they'll have better weather than Long Island, although today it was really gorgeous...it actually got up into the 40's!!)

Meg - congrats on forthcoming baby, and Sarah congrats on perfect paper!!

Fawkes - good luck with the fanfic! I'm sure it'll be great and I know I would love to read it.

Gina - good luck with the schoolwork that you were talking about (it's over my head so I can't say much more than that)

I am doing a math presentation at a competition on Friday on how the Nash Equilibrium Concept can be applied to daily life so that's sucking up most of my time. Combined with regular homework, science olympiads, piano and the upcoming track season, I'm really, really busy!

Hope everyone has a great week now that I've stopped ranting... -Lauren

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Gina R Snape - Mar 14, 2005 6:52 pm (#2946 of 2956)

Hey, thanks again everyone with the luck offers!!!!

Lina, oh bless you for having such a major health issue and worrying about the forum! I hope everything turns out ok. I will be thinking of you.

Dumbledore, good luck on your presentation!

And, I back up Accio HBP regarding the English PhD. I've got another friend in his final dissertation phase who is freaking out about the lack of employment opportunities in that field. He is seriously considering going for a MLS degree when he's finished with his dissertation.

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Ponine - Mar 14, 2005 7:22 pm (#2947 of 2956)

Accio - THANK YOU - I hope you do not mind I took you up on your offer... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (144)

***Desperately trying to figure out what MLS may stand for...***

I feel like a dolt saying it in here, with all you accomplished people, but my goal is to one day be a writer and translator. I would also love to work in an academic setting in the US, but I think I am too - self-conscious, I suppose? to teach. I figure a masters in English combined with a social work background would give me a fairly solid background for a lot of things in a university seTting. And I know the university I am applying to has two openings in English, if anyone is interested... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (145)

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Pinky - Mar 14, 2005 7:30 pm (#2948 of 2956)

Ponine, an MLS is a Master in Library Science degree. I only know that because I would love to investigate that degree as a possible "refuturization" for myself. This is a good reminder for us -- please be careful with your abbreviations! Not everyone knows what you're talking about!

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Ponine - Mar 14, 2005 7:36 pm (#2949 of 2956)

Aaaah! Thank you, Pinky! I tried to look it up on Yahoo really quicky, but it seemed I ended up with a bunch of real estate hits, go figure.... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (146) Ok, so, have any of you native English speaking folks noticed that painful error on the Lexicon's front page? Although it is quite discreet, it still irks me beyond belief... Edit: And who could fix it? This web site is so beautiful, it deserves perfection... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (147)

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Denise P. - Mar 14, 2005 7:38 pm (#2950 of 2956)

Nope but Cho and Harry are gone! Yay! I liked it but it sure made looking at the menu difficult.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 14, 2005 7:59 pm (#2951 of 2956)

LOL Ponine, my husband Is a real estate attorney and when I saw MLS I immediately thought of Multiple Listing Service, which is the real estate hits you ended up Yahoo-ing.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 14, 2005 8:05 pm (#2952 of 2956)

Oh, sorry!!!! Yes, MLS=Masters in Library Science.

I haven't seen the Lex main page. Off to check...

EDIT: Gee. I don't see any problems with the main Lexicon page. But I did notice they put up the U.S. HbP book cover with the rest of the books!

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Ladybug220 - Mar 14, 2005 8:11 pm (#2953 of 2956)

Glad to know that I wasn't the only one that couldn't see a difference (besides the fact that Harry and Cho were no longer there). What are we missing Denise?

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Madame Librarian - Mar 14, 2005 10:18 pm (#2954 of 2956)

Greetings, all.

Good luck to all those writing papers and taking tests. We are indeed an intellectual and studious group.

Lina, you will be in my thoughts. Hope the outcome is good and you don't have too much discomfort from the procedure.

Future parents--good luck, too! What an exciting time. I certainly remember how ready you are by the 7th, 8th and 9th month. It's not just being fed up with being pregnant. It's this huge curiousity to meet this baby--someone who could not be closer to you, but who is still a mystery.

OK, it's time to sleep now. Bon nuit.

Ciao. Barb

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Ydnam96 - Mar 14, 2005 10:43 pm (#2955 of 2956)

Ponine, I've looked and the only thing that I can see is that it says it is the "most compleat and amazing" and I'm pretty sure complete is spelled the way I just spelled it. But other than that I've not noticed anything on the Lexicon page that isn't correct (and I guess I've thought that it may be an alternate, yet acceptable, way to spell the word complete).

It's been a long day for me. Good luck to all of you with exams, papers, horrible work situations, and maladies. I'm going to bed.

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Phoenix song - Mar 14, 2005 11:30 pm (#2956 of 2956)

I do believe that I read once that the "compleat" being spelled the irregular way instead of the "normal way" is an inside joke that harkens back to a Star Wars project for Steve? I'm sure that there are others that know much more than I do about that, but be rest assured that it was purposefully misspelled. I think that it is designed to put one in mind of an Old English type of reference manual. Please forgive me if I'm incorrect!

Catherine, I'm so sorry that you've been ill! I hope that you're enjoying yourself much more and that the sun will shine for you tomorrow.

Denise, I know that I'm a bit late....but CONGRATULATIONS! How exciting for you!

Meg, it sounds like you're all ready. Here's hoping that he/she will be prompt! (My first was 16 excruciating days late!) I'm glad that the pregnancy has been okay for the most part, but I understand that you're ready to be finished with that part of it! It's especially terrible to be sick when you're expecting. You're not allowed to take anything to help! Perhaps you could take some "Pepper-Up" Potion if I send it straight away with my owl?

Lina, my best wishes for a compleat and speedy recovery.

Night all!
Barbie

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (148)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (149)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (152)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (153)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:55 pm

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Kip Carter - Mar 15, 2005 1:11 am Reply
Edited Jan 12, 2006 2:54 am

I established this thread for each of you so inclined to chat on the main discussion threads. With this thread, I hope that all chat-type posts will no longer disrupt the other threads.

This is the sixth thread provided for chat-type posts since September 25, 2003. The first Chat and Greeting Thread (25 Sep 03 to 26 Feb 04) had 2752 messages before it was closed out February 26, 2004. The second Chat and Greeting Thread (25 Feb 04 to 15 Jun 04) had 2912 messages before it was closed out June 15, 2004. The third Chat and Greeting Thread (15 Jun 04 to 2 Sep 04) had 2954 when closed out September 2, 2004. The fourth Chat and Greeting Thread (2 Sep 04 to 30 Nov 04) had 2977 when closed out November 30, 2004. The fifth Chat and Greeting Thread (1 Dec 04 to 14 Mar 05) had 2956 when closed down March 14, 2005. Eventually the fifth thread will join the first four threads in the folder =+=+= Archived Threads: Since Reorganization =+=+= OR possibly not!

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The giant squid - Mar 15, 2005 1:22 am (#1 of 2981)

Woo--first post on the new thread. I feel special. For those that bother with such things, we broke the streak--it seemed that every new Chat thread filled up one month sooner than the previous, but the fifth one went three months (give or take a few days) just like the fourth. We'll most likely be working on #7 by the time HBP comes out.

Does our sister realize she now has a forum nickname?--Marie E.

You tell me...you've probably spoken to her more than twice in the last 6 months (once at Christmas, once for my birthday). If she does, she'd probably just roll her eyes at us anyway.

Okay, folks...you can stop with the frigidus hexes. Our sunny 80 degree days have turned into windy & 60's. Oh well, at least I might get the opportunity to wear my new bomber jacket.

A big hug to boop (just because) and, as always, a huge thanks to Kip for keeping this forum humming along.

--Mike

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Kip Carter - Mar 15, 2005 1:53 am (#2 of 2981)

Mike (The giant squid), Sorry about the delay in getting the thread up sooner. I lost power twice during the time I was trying to get both this thread and the new HP6: the Half Blood Prince thread up and working. I had to wait each time for the computer to come back on line.

From your post on the You Know You're A Harry Potter/Lexicon Fan When... thread, I noticed that you were very patient, "...When you wait for ten minutes, refreshing every 30 seconds or so, for Kip to put up the new Chat thread just so you can post something inane. It may be useless babble, but it was the first post of useless babble! " Sorry about that!

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 15, 2005 2:06 am (#3 of 2981)

Woohoo, I'm 2nd... again. I was 2nd on the last chat thread... must be fate!

EDIT : Make that Number Three
*Waves to Kip*

Meg... good to 'see' you ... Think baby might be a bit cold, & likes it just where it is thank you very much We're having a very cold March over this side of the atlantic as well... what is with the weather?

Boop... *big huggles* Always love to see you on the threads.

Eleanor, LOL, Brian O'Driscoll is a bit of a national heart throb in Ireland... lol. Personally I don't see it, but he's meant to be a nice guy! So thats okay then

Mike M, thankfully I'm back from Dublin city center... that commute is a nightmare, I feel sorry for anyone who has to do that every day! Three days nearly finished me. I wouldn't mind but I only live about 15 miles from city center (The same town where Devon 'Seamus Finnegan' Murrays' parents are from), and it takes an hour and a half on a bus.... My regular place of work is 12 miles from my home, (near Dublin Port) & on the same side of the city as I live... so I don't have to cross the city, so my commute isn't as long (still about 45mins to an hour), but at least I'm in my car... with music to soothe me I really wish I knew how to Apparate.. alas... I keep failing my test

Thanks for the encouragement over my FF, I'm definitely inspired to finish & type it up now. It's not great... but sure, it's my first Anyways, it's all good writing practice.

Right got to go to my first meeting of the day... otherwise known as 'justify your existence' meeting TTFN

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The giant squid - Mar 15, 2005 4:14 am (#4 of 2981)

Sorry about that! --Kip Carter

Think nothing of it, Kip. It's not like I have a large number of demands on my time at 12:30 in the morning...

Speaking of which, a hearty "Good Morning" to Fawkes Forever & the rest of our British, French and generally European forumers. If I'm heading off to bed, you must be getting ready for school/work.

--Mike

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Ponine - Mar 15, 2005 4:19 am (#5 of 2981)

Wow - new thread, new beginnings... So compleat is there on purpose???? I guess I'd better get that masters in English, because I would never ever have known.... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (154) Lina - I wish you all the best, take care of yourself!

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Julie Aronson - Mar 15, 2005 5:06 am (#6 of 2981)

Wow...lots going on here!

Best wishes and good luck to all who need/deserve them!

Fawkes:

Why does it take you so long to go such short distances? Is it a problem with traffic or infrastructure? Just curious...

Julie

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septentrion - Mar 15, 2005 5:41 am (#7 of 2981)

Giant Squid : Speaking of which, a hearty "Good Morning" to Fawkes Forever & the rest of our British, French and generally European forumers. If I'm heading off to bed, you must be getting ready for school/work.

Quite right ! But it should be near a good morning for America now !

Spring has visited us, I wonder what I'm doing at work instead of having a nice walk under a nice sun with mild temperatures.

Good Tuesday everyone !

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Snuffles - Mar 15, 2005 5:50 am (#8 of 2981)

Hello to everyone here. I’ve never posted on here so its nice to 'speak' to people.

I wish Spring would visit the UK it's still very cold here and wet! Still we did have some sun last year so I suppose we shouldn't be too greedy!!

Hope everyones day goes well

Julie

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Ladybug220 - Mar 15, 2005 6:23 am (#9 of 2981)

Welcome Julie! Jump in and come along for the ride...

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Pinky - Mar 15, 2005 7:07 am (#10 of 2981)

From “Corrections or Questions to the Lexicon”

Steve Vander Ark - Oct 18, 2003 6:29 pm (#35 of 185)

Why does it say "compleat" on the banner? Here's why:

About 15 years ago I wrote a book called Star Trek The Next Generation: The Complete Encyclopedia Season One. It was published by a fan publisher who commissioned an artist to do the cover. That artist, for some reason I never could figure out, used that fake old-fashioned spelling for complete ("compleat") on the cover. It became something of an inside joke between myself and my fan friends, since the book was about Star Trek which takes place in the 23rd century. So when I was creating the banner for the Lexicon, I put "compleat" on it, in homage to that old joke.

I realized when I did it that it would make no sense to anyone but me, but I did it anyway.

Steve

For those interested, the above is Steve's answer to the "compleat" question.

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Chemyst - Mar 15, 2005 7:38 am (#11 of 2981)

Thanks, Pinky. I'd wondered about that too– it's not like the rest of the page adhered to Olde English.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Lina.

It is a tad chilly here, but that is in keeping with my mood today. I learned that the girlfriend who had been maid of honor at my wedding passed on. We lived hundreds of miles away and had not seen each other in years, but we still wrote letters every couple months. The cool grey of the day is fitting, because this is a grief of emptiness but not of sadness.

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 15, 2005 8:27 am (#12 of 2981)

Aww Chemyst I'm very sorry to hear that. Big hugs for you!

Lina, best wishes today & hoping you have a speedy recovery.

Julie A... "Why does it take you so long to go such short distances? Is it a problem with traffic or infrastructure? Just curious... "

Emmmm, both!

I'm about to go into an explanation... so if anyone is not interested.... feel free to skip this post

Ahem... where do I start? Sorry if I moaned on a little bit... but yes public transport in this city is a complete joke. That aside, the infrastructure is very poor.. and cannot handle the volume of traffic using it. Seemingly someone in the planning department didn't heed the warnings of a population explosion in the capital so ironically didn't plan for it. I think Dublin is one of the worst European cities for the longest commute time for the shortest distance. I think I read it somewhere but don't quote me on that

For example, my average journey to work (12 miles), the first 10-11 miles are pretty okay, about 10-20 mins (depending on volume of traffic), but it's the last mile (I kid you not) that takes me the longest... it takes (on average) about a half hour to travel the last mile... it has taken me over an hour in really bad traffic. What's worse is that I can actually see my office across the water (I work on an island in Dublin Bay), as I sit in the traffic.

Admittedly, the government are trying to address the issues. The good news is that we have a new Tram System, the LUAS, which is very efficient (now the road works related to building the tram have gone ). However, there are no tram lines servicing the area I live... *pout*, so it's no use to me! We may have a metro by 2016 however... I'll not hold my breath.

They're also in the middle of building a tunnel under the city from the main motorway to the Port. This tunnel should remove 80% of all trucks from the streets of Dublin. However, in order to do this.... yup you've guessed it... they've had to tear the road up in many places. They have been building the tunnel since I moved here 4 and a half years ago & they're still not finished, so until that happy day (seeing as I work beside the port), I'll be sitting in traffic singing along to the radio! Thankfully I don't need to cross the city to go to work... we do have a ring road (m50), but it's been dubbed as the M50 Car Park at certain times of the day! I can only imagine that nightmare!

Sorry for the rant... it's a bit of a sore point with me... but I've grown used to the long commute! It's pretty much comes with the territory living in Dublin. It could be worse... I might not have a car!

ok, enough complaining... you don't want to hear me whining on... I feel like Ron.. hee hee!

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Phoenix song - Mar 15, 2005 8:29 am (#13 of 2981)

Oops! When I ventured to guess about the spelling of "compleat" on the last post of the last Chat thread, I thought that it was a "Star Wars" project that contained the unusual spelling and not a "Star Trek" project. I suppose that it's because I'm one of the very few people in the US that have never seen a single episode of Star Trek, and I absolutely love Star Wars.

We're back to gloomy, humid weather again after a few wonderful days. **sigh** Oh well, at least it gives me an excuse not to cut the grass!

Lina, we're thinking about you today and are sending our strongest Patronuses to keep you protected and encouraged. You'll recognize my patronus because it's a big Care Bear!

Fawkes, you have my deepest sympathies regarding your commuting problem. I think that I'd go mad! I get aggravated when our highways become sluggish during the Christmas shopping season! Here's hoping they'll get busy on that tunnel! (And not accidentally run into any magical underground wizarding tunnels with dragons guarding the entrances! )

Have a good day everybody!
Barbie

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Julia. - Mar 15, 2005 9:07 am (#14 of 2981)

Oh, Barbie I'm with you! I love Star Wars, but I've never seen an episode of Star Trek.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend Chemyst. Anything I can do, let me know.

Fawkes, you poor baby! How on earth do you stand it stting in traffic staring at your office?! I hope that they that tram system up soon so that you won't have to deal with that. But of course the traffic while they're working on it...

I have a meeting with my advisor in about half an hour. I'd better start thinking about what classes I want to take next semester, or he'll yell at me, and I don't want that.

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pottermom34 - Mar 15, 2005 9:11 am (#15 of 2981)

Hey, all you lucky folks that already have spring like weather, send some of it to Michigan, we're getting drowned in snow again. The first day of spring is next week, but I'm afraid we won't see much springiness it's colder now than in January.

I have an Easter egg hunt next week and I'm afraid it's be a snowy one which will suck. It won't be any fun hiding the eggs in the snow the bright colors kind of stick out. We might even have to do it inside, which would make hiding easier but it'll be harder to keep track of kids. I've got the easy part though I'll be in the bunny suit. Phoenix song, I'll be glad to send you some snow to rid you of your humidity problem.

I'll be darned, as I'm sitting here writing about snow, the sun is peeking out. Maybe there's hope yet.

Happy spring to those having it already. Michelle

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kabloink! - Mar 15, 2005 9:25 am (#16 of 2981)

POttermom-where do you live in MIchigan? I'm simply grateful that we're no longer suffering sub zero weather here in Lansing. Have no fear, though, I hear we've finally started our warming trend towards spring...if we follow the trend we're at now, it'll be 50 degrees by August! Actually, it is supposed to be warming up slowly and very gradually, but I remember many a snow storm in April, so my hopes are not high.

Lina, I hope everything works out okay for you. As I said before, my grandmother had melanoma, and everything was fine once they removed it. I hope treatment is as simple for you.

Denise-congrats! I have seen one or two episodes of Highlander and truly enjoyed them, but have never had the time to see too many more. I have seen the first movie, however...ouch...

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Pinky - Mar 15, 2005 9:25 am (#17 of 2981)

Anyone here on a gluten-free diet? I have to make a desert (and salad) for a meal on Saturday where one of the people is on a sugar free, gluten free diet (for health/allergy reasons). I could use a little help on recipes. My e-mail is pinkylexiconfan@yahoo.com.

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Phoenix song - Mar 15, 2005 11:10 am (#18 of 2981)

Chemyst, I am so sorry for the loss of your friend. Even friends that aren't able to see one another on a regular basis can leave a void in our lives when they are gone. My deepest condolences.

Barbie

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librarian314 - Mar 15, 2005 12:37 pm (#19 of 2981)

Hey all!

Fawkes - My sister and I used to live in Alexandria, Va. (a near suburb of Washington, D.C.) I lived inside the Beltway (a ring road that goes around Washington through Virginia and Maryland); she lived just outside. The two miles between our houses could take an hour if attempted during evening rush hour. It would have been easier (and faster) to jump on the Metro (subway).

Chemyst - My condolences on the loss of your friend. Those who were a part of your wedding are always special, even if you aren't as close as you once were.

Pinky - Is your friend allergic to refined sugar? Gluten is related to assorted bread products (I have a friend who can only eat breads made from spelt flour). Fresh fruit deserts, sugar-free jello or an American style (sugar-free) pudding may be the way to go. Cooking around allergies can be challenging. I cook for a group of people for a week every summer and I have to work around a diabetic vegetarian, a couple of people with lactose intolerance, and someone allergic to mayonnaise. Surprisingly, I've found foods I can cook that everyone likes and can eat.

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Penny Lane. - Mar 15, 2005 12:52 pm (#20 of 2981)

How about a yummy gelatin casserole? I'm not exactly sure what gluten is - but I think it's wheat... The only sugar free, carb free dish I can think of for desert would be Jello, horrible as it is. Gosh, I hope I never grow a wheat allergy. I couldn't live without my carbs.

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Madam Pince - Mar 15, 2005 1:01 pm (#21 of 2981)

Chemyst, condolences on the passing of your friend. I know you will cherish the fond memories you have of your time together with her.

Lina, hope all is going well with your medical procedure. I'm with Gina -- I think you're a brave girl to be more worried about falling behind on Forum posts than you are about going into the hospital! Best wishes with everything.

****Crash!!!! Madam Pince falls over in disbelief that there is anyone who hasn't seen at least one episode of some version of "Star Trek"!****

For my money, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is far and away the best of all the versions, including the original. If you ever get the chance to catch some re-runs on SpikeTV or whatever that silly channel is calling itself these days, I can almost guarantee that you will get hooked.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 15, 2005 1:10 pm (#22 of 2981)

Oh ew.. Star Trek looks SO boring. I watched 5 minutes of an episode once, and It just could not hold my attention. Now, when ever I see it while flipping through the channels (they took away our interactive tv guide thing on the tv so I have to flip *insert sad face*) I just think of "Galaxy Quest" and crack up. Of course, me laughing to myself out loud over Star Trek never goes well with my roommate, who probably thinks I'm slightly psychotic by now.

Oh, speaking of Sci-Fi shows.. has anyone here seen "Firefly"? It was a short lived series on FOX back in 2000..ish. It was produced by Mutant Enemy, the same people who are behind "Buffy". My point was that my roommate got me hooked on it, and I recommend it to everyone, even though the first few episodes were slow and boring, give it a fair chance if you ever see it.

*crawls back to lurkerdom*

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Madam Pince - Mar 15, 2005 1:23 pm (#23 of 2981)

Which "Star Trek" were you watching, Penny? It's very true that the original "Star Trek" episodes (with William Shatner, etc.) are "campy" in the extreme when viewed today, some 30+ years later. The special effects are horrendous, especially in today's lens. Even back then they weren't so great.

You're right about "Galaxy Quest" -- it is hysterical! Such a great spoof of the whole fan-dom thing....

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Ponine - Mar 15, 2005 2:34 pm (#24 of 2981)

I have never been a Star Trek girl myself, and I have laughed condescendingly of people who would actually watch Buffy. Five years later I find myself hopelessly addicted to Angel (Mmm Angel... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (155) and completely hooked on buffy reruns... Instant Karma is a bitch, I guess... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (156)

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Penny Lane. - Mar 15, 2005 3:09 pm (#25 of 2981)

* inserting shameless plug here*

Ponine - If you are a Buffy/Angel fan, I suggest that you check out the thread http://wc6.worldcrossing.com/webx?128@702.HcVxaVQ4T3p@.1ddee919 - We have discussed the Buffy/Angel similaritys to Harry Potter.

EDIT: howcome I can't get the link to say the name of it, like you guys do? Is it a host privledge?

As for Star Trek, I have no idea which one I was watching.. Deep Space Nine, maybe? Is your William Shatner the same one on "Boston Legal"? I really adore that show - I think it has something to do with the combination of cast, good writing, and occasional relevence to our current climate. Also, it's upbeat, and doesn't take itself to seriously.

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John Bumbledore - Mar 15, 2005 3:33 pm (#26 of 2981)

Penny,

The links where the name is underlined and the actual URL is hidden uses the HTML address tag like this Comparing HP to Other Works or simplified as Call" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">www.address.com">Call it what you want here

That code would then look and act like this: Comparing HP to Other Works

As for Bill Shatner from "Boston 'Whatever!'" Yes he is the same but was 30+ years younger as Capt. James T. Kirk (T for Tiberius) **waves to Madam Pince !! *** Though I like Star Trek and not the lawyer thing with the weasel from "the Practice." I can not say that Madam Pince and I are correct while others are wrong. And I will not hold it against you that you do not like Star Trek. It is after all, a serial (like Buffy or Angel) which one must follow across many episodes to fully enjoy and understand the details.

Well Congrat to Denise and sympathies to Chemyst. **Butterbeer to both**

I must run home now. I have a sinus thingy that is clogging my ears and causing pain and misery. But guaifenesin syrup and pseud0-something-rine (red pill decongestant) is helping. Bye for now.

John Bumbledore <)B^D=

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Dumbledore - Mar 15, 2005 3:36 pm (#27 of 2981)

Hiii everybody!!

Lina - my thoughts, and the thoughts of everyone else on the forum, are with you today. May you have a safe hospital stay and a speedy recovery!

Chemyst - I'm terribly sorry about your friend. My condolences go out to you.

As to the whole Star Trek/Star Wars thing, I've never actually been interested in either one. I'm more of a reality TV junkie actually (very sad, but true).

I actually am sick right now. I had to leave school early today and if this keeps up I'll be out tomorrow too. It's surprising because I very rarely ever get sick (I believe the last time I ever truly got sick was 2 years ago) so I should be thankful.

Have a nice evening.

-Lauren

P.S. For all of you who watch American Idol, does anybody know why Mario Vasquez quit? (Yes, American Idol is one of my favorite shows!!)

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Ponine - Mar 15, 2005 3:42 pm (#28 of 2981)

Penny - I would LOVE to combine all my favorites and pick them apart - but as I am watching Buffy reruns - someone just got shot Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (157) Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (158) Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (159) and someone is in Africa, and goodness knows what else - I am not even sure if I am watching the last season or not.. (hope I am not) And Angel - there are new shows every week, and you have no IDEA of how hard it is not to look at the sites and see what happens next, as I know the show is history in the states... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (160) sigh. Thus, LOL - in short - I have to wait, at least until Angel (Mmmm, Angel) is done with Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (161) But thanks for letting me know!

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Snuffles - Mar 15, 2005 3:47 pm (#29 of 2981)

Bumbledore. I took the animal personality test on your introduction page and guess what.... I got the bear too!!! Hmmmpphh im sure im more the otter but hey never mind, it was fun.

Julie

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John Bumbledore - Mar 15, 2005 3:57 pm (#30 of 2981)

Snuffles

I was a bit put off when I got the bear. And until now I haven't confessed to that myers-briggs HP character test put me as Snape! Agast! **no offense Gina** I just saw myself as someone else... obviously.

John Bumbledore <)B^D=

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Snuffles - Mar 15, 2005 4:02 pm (#31 of 2981)

Bumbledore, it could have been worse, you could have been Filch!! Out of curiosity, how do you find the HP character test?

Julie

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Madame Librarian - Mar 15, 2005 4:11 pm (#32 of 2981)

Madam Pince, I'm with you on "Star Trek: TNG." (Note: TNG=The Next Generation.) It's the best! The early years with Shatner were ground-breaking in their way, but today seem soooo hokey. Capt. Kirk was kind of a clueless hothead ruled by his testosterone, but the interplay between Mr. Spock and Bones was great.

I liked it enough however to stay with all incarnations of the series. TNG is by far the best. Deep Space was the most flawed (till this most recent one, Enterprise, that is), but it did have some intriguing plot elements and good characters (aaah, we loved Quark in my family). And I did really like what's her name's single cool earring thingie (the Bajoran).

For script writing, plots, characters and issue-related stories that dealt with ethics, politics and everyone gettin' along in the universe or else, TNG was tops. But the best, very best thing was Jean Luc. [**pauses to let heart rate return to normal**]

We used to play a game. I'd had this teeny 5" TV in the kitchen on while I prepped dinner. TNG was on here at 6pm and they ran all through a season with one episode on every night. My son, also hooked on the show (hey, we had to instill the right values in the kid). He'd wander down the stairs to set the table or whatever and he'd pause for a sec, try to guess which episode it was ("Oh, I know, it's the one where Data is on trial!"). He was so-so at it. Now, my husband, who would be home from work shortly after 6 could ID it correctly by just hearing one or two lines of dialogue. He'd even get the episode title sometimes!! Very impressive. I was OK, but I could always cheat and watch the beginning bit with the title on screen.

Too long a post. Sorry. But I guess you know now how my family creates traditions, such as they are.

Ciao. Barb

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pottermom34 - Mar 15, 2005 4:18 pm (#33 of 2981)

Kabloink!, I live in Hudsonville, just south of Grand Rapids. It's nice to see a fellow michigander here. It's supposed to warm up a little this weekend if you can call 39 a warm-up. That's ok that means I'll be busy at work, I work at John ball Zoo in the gift shop, and it'll be worth the drive into town (15 miles). We're having a book fair sponsored by scholastic, maybe they'll have Fantastic Beasts there. Should be fun!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 15, 2005 4:23 pm (#34 of 2981)

Capt. Kirk was kind of a clueless hothead ruled by his testosterone...---Madame Librarian

The way you talk about my first tv crush! For shame.

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Phoenix song - Mar 15, 2005 5:06 pm (#35 of 2981)

****Crash!!!! Madam Pince falls over in disbelief that there is anyone who hasn't seen at least one episode of some version of "Star Trek"!****

Julia, I'm glad that I've got company in you on this one! Star Trek just never interested me in the least. I do, however, love William Shatner on "Boston Legal". I love that show and I just adore Alan Shore (James Spader's character). The writers have produced characters that aren't the same-old boring stereotypes that you've seen a million times before.

We've had so much rain this year that I'm sure that we've already passed up the yearly average national rainfall for several small countries! What is going on with the weather lately? Hope that it's better where ever you may be...

Barbie

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Catherine - Mar 15, 2005 5:08 pm (#36 of 2981)

I never had a crush on Captain Kirk, but I always have had a thing for Patrick Stewart. I used to love watching Star Trek "The Next Generation."

Today we did indeed have a sunny California day, complete with a trip to the San Diego Zoo once Mr. Catherine finished hanging out with the chemistry goobers. I liked Kim's suggestion that I should make myself feel better by buying something, and I saw several shops yesterday afternoon that I may have to visit while Mr. Catherine attends the poster sessions tomorrow.

I'm getting too old to hang out with Mr. Catherine's graduate students. They want us to hang out with them until the wee hours of the morning (and we're used to EST, so last night, staying out til midnight was like staying out until 3 a.m.!). I just can't do it anymore. It will be an early night tonight, I think.

Chemyst, I'm sorry for your loss. There's a special connection with those who "knew us when." Maybe I'm alone in this, but my friends from college who were my wedding attendants will always be "young" to me, no matter how they mature. It's almost like these friends are special Pensieves for memories, and the world is smaller when they are gone.

Take care, everyone.

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Madam Pince - Mar 15, 2005 5:15 pm (#37 of 2981)

****Mmmmmmm.....Jean-Luc Picard.....mmmmmmm******

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 15, 2005 5:46 pm (#38 of 2981)

****Mmmmmmm.....Jean-Luc Picard.....mmmmmmm******---Madam Pince

Anyone familiar with the song "Bald Headed Men"? This is the first verse:

I don't like men who exaggerate

about the places they've been

about the money they make

I like a man who's honest and true

who can look you in the eye

when they talk to you

I like men who accept who they are

not everybody can look like a movie star

if you can follow this thought

to its logical end

you can see why I like bald headed men

(she said it before

she'll say it again)

I like bald headed men

Anyway, it ends with the singer saying the names of various, famous bald headed men and among others she mentions:

“that guy on Star Trek: The Next Generation”

love him

My personal bald headed man of choice is Ed Harris. Mmmmm, Ed Harris.

EDIT: Chemyst, my sympathies on the loss of your friend. Catherine expressed, much more eloquently than I can, the special relationship we have with our girlhood friends.

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scully jones - Mar 15, 2005 5:49 pm (#39 of 2981)

We always watched Star Trek when I was a kid. I forced Brandon to go out and rent ALL of the movies. A few of them were pretty boring (like I remembered) but some of them, even the original cast were ok. My favorite is the whale one!

Sarah

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boop - Mar 15, 2005 5:57 pm (#40 of 2981)

Chemyst- Sorry about the loss of your friend.

Dumbledore- Hope you feel better real soon. American Idol..... He didn't want to be held to a contract with Idol recording company. Not sure this is totally true, family reasons too.

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Ladybug220 - Mar 15, 2005 6:20 pm (#41 of 2981)

Catherine, if you have time you also need to go to the Wild Animal Park - it is really cool. Take the train through it as you will get to see stuff that you can't see when just walking around.

Chemyst - my deepest condolences on your loss.

John(bumbledore) - I think you mean pseudoephedrine.

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 15, 2005 9:38 pm (#42 of 2981)

Lina I hope you're getting well.

Chemyst, my condolences, losing loved ones is always hard.

On the Star Trek thing, I guess time always dulls the sharpness on what is cutting edge. I watched the original Trek as a child. I didn't speak English very well, but I did love that show, those futurist clothes, the idea of exploring the “way out there,” meeting the "other". As a teenager in New York, Trek ran Saturday evenings for many years in re-run. I always made sure to be home in time to see it. At one point I could name any episode by watching just a few seconds of it. I saw all the movies at the movies first run (except the last 2). I loved the ST-TNG. Alas, age and many children, I haven't seen more than a few minutes of Enterprise.

Other than now with HP, I had never been obsessed by any other series.

On the sweet desserts, I tend to serve fruit and fruit salad to my kids. For variety I add yogurt, or slices almonds, or raisins. The kindergarten teacher gave me a dessert called "Ants on a Log" which my kids love. It's celery stalks filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins. The kids think this great.

Admittedly fresh fruit does have quite a bit of sugar, but unless you have diabetes or hypoglycemia I think these are sweet but healthy desserts.

Lupin, your song reminds me of the song "If You Want to Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life (Never Make a Pretty woman Your Wife).

Edit: azi Is there really a show on British TV called "Two Packs of Lager and a Packet of Crisps? There was a song by that title in London my one summer there. I have searched long and hard for it since, I think it was by a group called Maddness or Maddness Abound.

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Elanor - Mar 15, 2005 11:58 pm (#43 of 2981)

Bonjour! Hello everybody! It is officially SPRING! It is nearly 8 a.m. here, the sun is brightly shining and, though it must be cold outside for now, it seems that it will be 24°C (75°F) here this afternoon. Well, it is likely that it won't last long, so we'd better enjoy it now. I send better-weather charms to anyone who needs some, after all the bad weather we had, I truly sympathize!

Phoenix Song and Julia, count me in the "I never saw Star trek but LOVE Star Wars" camp. Or at least, I loved the original trilogy, the new one is rather good but more special effects and money only ruined the poetic side the old trilogy had, IMO (if my brother would read this he would perform an Inforgivable Curse on me at once). Ah, Harrison when he was young, handsome and stealing kisses on asteroids... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (162)

Snuffles, it is very likely that the HP personality test is this one: http://piratemonkeysinc.com/quiz.htm (though there might be other ones). I was Snape there! I was first surprised but after reading the kind of personality given for Snape there, I have to say that that fits very well with me! Go Severus!

Fawkes, are you preparing St Patrick's day? it must be great to live it in Dublin!

Marè, if you are in the neighborhood, I've heard that Bruno Peyron arrived this morning in Brest with his fantastic sailing boat: he broke all the old records because it took him only 51 days to make his round the world tour! Will you have the luck to go and see his fantastic ship?

Have a great day everybody! **sending cheering charms to everyone needing some**

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The giant squid - Mar 16, 2005 12:34 am (#44 of 2981)

Oh, speaking of Sci-Fi shows.. has anyone here seen "Firefly"?--Penny Lane

Penny, keep your eyes peeled for a movie called "Serenity". It's the feature film version/sequel to the Firefly series. Same cast, same Joss Whedon. According to Alan Tudyk ("Wash", also known as "Wot" to fans of A Knight's Tale) it's the first of a three-movie contract with Universal.

And I did really like what's her name's single cool earring thingie (the Bajoran).--Madame Librarian

Barb--her name was Major Kira Nerys, played by Nana Visitor. I always thought it was funny that her real name sounded more made-up than her character name.

Okay, time to take off the sci-fi geek hat & put on the HP geek one...

--Mike

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Cornelia - Mar 16, 2005 1:53 am (#45 of 2981)

Hallo all! Just read Elanors post and got a little jealous.

In Estonia it´s still Winter we have at least half a meter snow, the Bay is frozen over, to get Helsinki you can only use the ice-protected and slow ships.

But what was the worst, I was out for a run this morning, looking at the Bay and I suddenly remembered that in France the people are doing trout fishing, as I understand it, they sit by the water. Here the people still sit on the Ice and wait to catch I dont know what kind of fish, herring I expect.

Tomorrow we´ll get wood for the fireplace, the second time this winter I expect we´ll have to wait two more month for spring...brrr

Have a nice (spring-)day everybody!

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Julie Aronson - Mar 16, 2005 4:02 am (#46 of 2981)

Bumbledore,

I was a Puma on your animal test site, but, like you, I tested out as Snape on the HP character one.

HMmmmmmmm

I love Star Trek-TNG, and I'm sad they haven't made a new movie in the last few years.

Here in NE Ohio, the snow is melting and the sun is (will be) out, but it's still just barely cresting 40 deg. F.

Julie

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librarian314 - Mar 16, 2005 6:29 am (#47 of 2981)

Hey all!

Mike - Thanks for the news about two more Firefly movies!!! I loved that show when it was out. I highly recommend the boxed set of the complete series. Not only do you get all the shows that were aired but three that weren't (and those are some of the best of the lot). There's also commentaries on some of the episodes and lots of other extras.

One of the things I liked about that show besides the characters was the fact that when they visited other planets you could tell they were outside and in real dirt. All of the "Treks" were conspicuously clean (insert Tonks' quote about Auntie Pet's unnaturally clean house here ;-) ).

I'm actually a long time Sci-fi geek/"Trek" fan. The only series I was never terribly fond of was "Voyager". When my husband and I were first married we had what we would call our "Trek snuggle"; Next Gen repeats were shown at 7 pm and we'd settle on the couch holding hands and just relax for an hour. It was nice. 14 years later I still find myself wishing for the time to have a "Trek snuggle".

Y'all take care!

**michelle the librarian**

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Denise P. - Mar 16, 2005 6:36 am (#48 of 2981)

Oh, I loved Firefly! I have been watching the news of the movie since it first became rumor and yes, geek that I am, I have an mp3 file of "The Ballad of Serenity"

Ugh! Where did we go wrong? My 23 year old had a 7 am flight out of Denver this morning and is all kinds of upset that when she arrived at the counter at 6:40 am, that they did not let her on the flight. Well duh! What in the world was she thinking, waltzing in then rather than give herself oodles of time?? She is now on standby on the 11 am flight, with no way of knowing if there will be a standby slot on her connection. She had already driven 800 miles to Denver, we told her she may as well just drive the remainder here rather than mess around with stand by flights.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 16, 2005 7:58 am (#49 of 2981)

LOL Denise. Once I was taking a train and allowed myself a whole hour, but, long story short, I was stepping onto the train as it was moving.

Many thanks to a certain Forum member (**waves**) who sent me Maple Sugar Candy. Mmmmmmmmmm.

You guys might remember that a week ago was my birthday. This weekend the "gang" got together and surprised me with a DVD player. Yay! It's nice to have friends with jobs.

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septentrion - Mar 16, 2005 8:14 am (#50 of 2981)

Hello all !

I'm at the end of a busy day work and thought I'd give me a treat coming roud here.

I'm sorry for your loss, Chemyst. I fully understand what you feel.

Lina, I hope your surgery went well.

I'm also in the "not having seen Star Trek - loving Star Wars" camp. I also prefer the old one. How is it I'm fond of Harrison Ford in Star Wars too ? ***daydream moment***

Happy Saint Patrick's day to Irish people ! I know it's only tomorrow bue I don't know if I'll come here tomorrow.

You'd never believed that a fortnight ago we still had temperatures we hardly ever get in the heart of winter, and now I'd feel like musing in the country rather than being locked in an office. But what's strange is some regions in France didn't get enough water and are threatened with water restrictions. Maybe Barbie could send some clouds to west France ?

Have a great day/night everyone !

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (163)
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Ydnam96 - Mar 16, 2005 8:16 am (#51 of 2981)

Denise, you have a 23 year old!?! I don't believe it! You never cease to amaze me Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (169)

Chemyst, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. Good wishes sent your way...

It's sunny right now it LA, but it's supposed to start the monsoon rains again on Friday or Saturday. Whopppeeeee. But, I will take the rain. I feel for all of you who are still dealing with the snow and frigid-ness. I will try and send some of our sunshine your way.

I need to take this animal quiz...(edit: I got Bear...hmmmmm)

Happy Wednesday.

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Julia. - Mar 16, 2005 8:28 am (#52 of 2981)

Good morning everyone.

Wow Denise. Not good thinking on 23 year olds's part. She should know better than to just run in 20 minutes before. Silly girl.

Elanor, welcome to the 'I heart Star Wars but have never seen Star Trek' club. I agree with you on the Trilogies. The original one is the best by far. I have them on DVD, and also the 1997 verson on video. The DVD's aren't great, I much prefer the 1997 videos.

Your friends rock Loopy!

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Dumbledore - Mar 16, 2005 9:10 am (#53 of 2981)

Good morning!

On a high note the weather here in New York has steadily gotten better. We're actually up in the 40's today (Fahrenheit, I don't know the Celsius conversion) which actually feels delightful compared to what we've been having. Has it been that way in the rest of the Northeast as well? I hope everybody who has been suffering from not-so-springlike weather will be pleasantly surprised come March 21!

Catherine - I hope you're feeling loads better and having a great time in San Diego.

Well, I really don't have any other news. Have a happy Harry day! [Ducks head to escape dungbombs as a result of lame pun]

-Lauren

P.S. Sorry to sound incredibly naive, but can someone tell me the religious importance of St. Patrick's Day in Catholicism? The celebration has always fascinated me.

P.S.S. If anyone's wondering why I'm typing this on a school day, it's because I have a very bad cold which has kept me feeling quite under the weather.

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pottermom34 - Mar 16, 2005 9:24 am (#54 of 2981)

I like both Star Wars and Star Trek. I've only seen the first of the new Star Wars though, to be honest I really haven't had an interest in seeing them for some reason. As for Star Trek, I think TNG is good it seems more serious, but I like the original ones better . . . the campy-ness makes them kind of funny. I grew up w with my dad watching the original series, now my husband watches TNG. I haven't really had an interest in any of the spin-offs, they're just not the same.

Thanks for the good weather charms sent to all of us still in the freezers. I think they might be working I actually see the sun and it felt a little warm today.

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 16, 2005 9:24 am (#55 of 2981)

Oh how the world has changed! I remember the day an agent offered to hold the plane for me to call my mother. I had problems with my travellers checks and had to go to another terminal by the time I got back to my gate the plane was about to leave but I had promised my mother I'd call before leaving. He said make my call quick and I'd still get on the plane.

It's such a sad sign of the world today. Youth and spontaneity give out to security and scheduling.

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pottermom34 - Mar 16, 2005 9:27 am (#56 of 2981)

Kinda makes you wish you had a broomstick to ride doesn't it?

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Penny Lane. - Mar 16, 2005 9:30 am (#57 of 2981)

The Story of St. Patrick

I hope I don't go too deep into the religious stuff here, but you asked, and I will try to not be biased. St. Patrick is a saint (bet you didn't see that coming Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (170)) who is credited with several legends. He is credited with bringing Catholicism to Ireland. The shamrock was supposedly used to explain the Trinity to the people as well. The Trinity is a belief that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one and three at the same time. Why everyone feels the need to die their beer/bagels/Chicago River green on Saint Patrick's Day is a mystery to me, but I guess it's just our way of celebrating our Irish heritage. Oh, and Saint Patrick was actually Scottish, by the way. He was kiddnapped and sold to slaves.

Another legend of Saint Patrick is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Now, since Ireland separated from the main land during the Ice Age, I'm pretty sure that there have never been snakes in Ireland. Either way, Saint Patrick is one of the world’s most popular saints.

As long as we are discussing Irish legends - the Blarney stone (is that spelled right?) I heard that if you kiss it, you will have elequent speech for the rest of your life. Has anyone tried it? Why is it so difficult?

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pottermom34 - Mar 16, 2005 9:35 am (#58 of 2981)

Penny Lane, I have seen pictures of friends that have visited the Blarney stone and kissed or tried to kiss it. From what I could see in the pictures the reason it's so difficult to kiss it is because of where it is located on the cliff it's attached to.

Maybe Fawkes can give more insight to your question

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Chemyst - Mar 16, 2005 9:41 am (#59 of 2981)

Probably more than you need to know about the Blarney Stone:

http://www.blarneycastle.ie/pages/kiss-the-blarney-stone

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 16, 2005 9:44 am (#60 of 2981)

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig
Happy St Patricks Day for tomorrow everyone!! We've got a public holiday here, so, I won't be about tomorrow... WOOHOO! (for the day off that is... sad about missing the forum though)

If you want to impress anyone tomorrow, the Irish Pronounciation is :
Bann-ockt-tee Na Fail-a Pawd-rig ... well something like that

Dumbledore, St Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to the Island of Ireland and thus is our national saint. He's also credited with driving all the snakes out of Ireland, as we don't have any snakes over here. However, I think thats more of a case of geography... seeing as Ireland broke away from the European continent before the UK, & thus we have less mammals than the UK & Mainland Europe. Interestingly ... we don't even have moles!

Here's a little bit of info on St Patrick for you

In true Irish fashion, we just turned the day into one big festival. However, personally speaking I tend to avoid the big parade in town & just have a nice relaxing day at home.

Have fun everyone...

EDIT : Ohhh so many posts whilst I was typing... LOL Penny, you got it better than I did

As for the Blarney Stone... I'm ashamed to say I don't know much about it... sorry *goes off to iron hands* In true Hermione style I'll have to go read up on it now! The Stone is in a castle in Kerry (I think). I do know to kiss it, you have to lay on your back & stick your head through a hole in the wall/floor & lean back to kiss the stone, it's quite a drop to the ground... so I've never done it! Actually I've never been to the castle for that matter... hmm, thats quite bad really! I've been round most of Europe, but I'm still exploring my own back garden

Happy Paddy's Day

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Prefect Marcus - Mar 16, 2005 10:25 am (#61 of 2981)

Hey guys,

Things at work look to be extremely hectic for days, even weeks to come, so I am going to have to pull back from the forum. I am sorry, but it can't be helped.

It will likely last a couple of weeks at least.

Marcus

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 16, 2005 10:32 am (#62 of 2981)

Regarding St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland: This is often considered an allegory for Christianity coming in and driving out the native pagan religion.

As for the Blarney Stone, I've kissed it and yes indeed you have to lie on your back to do so. It's not difficult (they've got bars to hold) but then again, I was fifteen years younger when I did it. The more fascinating thing about it is that the parapet you walk around to get to it has almost nothing for guard rails. Coming from lawsuit happy America I found it quite fascinating. Talk about an "attractive nuisance".

Happy Birthday to Mr. Lupin is Lupin. You'd think being 100% Irish would be enough for him, but no, he has to show off and go get born on St. Patrick's Day.

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Dumbledore - Mar 16, 2005 10:50 am (#63 of 2981)

Thanks for the all the St. Patty's help! and a happy St. Patrick's day to all it applies to!

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Ponine - Mar 16, 2005 10:59 am (#64 of 2981)

Well, Marcus - do what you have to do, and welcome back as soon as possible! Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (171) Ponine

And a Happy St Patrick's Day to everyone who wants one!!

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Catherine - Mar 16, 2005 11:02 am (#65 of 2981)

Happy Birthday to Mr. Lupin is Lupin. Something tells me that Mr. Lupin is Lupin probably has the gift of blarney, given his special birthday and that he was able to successfully woo our Lupin is Lupin.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all who celebrate. In honor of my HP uber-goobertude and St. Patrick's Day, I will wear my shamrock socks. It's not the same as having Snitch socks, but it will have to do.

Hey, Loopy, that maple candy sounds good. Bung some over here, willya?

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Steve Newton - Mar 16, 2005 11:03 am (#66 of 2981)

Please, don't everyone post in green tomorrow. I'm not sure that I could take it.

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Catherine - Mar 16, 2005 11:23 am (#67 of 2981)

Please, don't everyone post in green tomorrow. I'm not sure that I could take it. --Steve Newton

Okey-dokey, Steve!

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mollis - Mar 16, 2005 11:37 am (#68 of 2981)

But I always post in green!

Good luck Marcus! Hope to see you back soon. I've pretty much given up on the actual HP threads and am doing well just to keep up here on the good 'ole chat thread. So pop in and say "hi" if you get the chance!

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Steve Newton - Mar 16, 2005 12:34 pm (#69 of 2981)

Egads!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 16, 2005 1:05 pm (#70 of 2981)

Many thanks to a certain Forum member (**waves**) who sent me Maple Sugar Candy. Mmmmmmmmmm.---Loopy Lupin

My God, Loopy! You don't actually eat that stuff do you?

Something tells me that Mr. Lupin is Lupin probably has the gift of blarney, given his special birthday and that he was able to successfully woo our Lupin is Lupin.---Catherine

Very cute Catherine. But then again, he is an attorney.

Have you bought yourself something pretty yet?

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I Am Used Vlad

- Mar 16, 2005 1:18 pm (#71 of 2981)

On the subject of holding planes for people, I can say that it's still done. I was recently sitting in a practically full plane waiting to depart when the flight attendant asked if Mr. Butters was on the plane. No one answer. We waited. When he finally arrived, someone near me said, "I can't believe it's not Butters." It was worth the wait.

I've always been more of a Star Wars geek than a Star Trek one, but agree that TNG was the best of the bunch.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 16, 2005 2:38 pm (#72 of 2981)

Used Vlad, your avatar has been driving me insane for .. probably years now. I was just wondering if you had a history on it, because I can't place the picture, even though I swear i've seen it before.

Mmmmm Maple Sugar candy...

septentrion - Did I hear you mention something about water restrictions? We occasionally have them here in the US as well. Not so much in Michigan, but out west. There is actually a HUGE issue going on about if the Great Lakes belong to the United States as a whole or just the bordering states. Personally, as a native from Michigan, I dont' want to share.

Oh, that also reminds me - did someone else claim to be from West Michigan? That makes 4 people from West Michigan, Grand Rapids Area. Sort of strange once you think of it. Anyway, I'm from GR, but living in the Ann Arbor/Ypsi area until summer. Maybe we could meet up at a party (Schuler's Books?) for the OoP release. Email me if you want.

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megfox - Mar 16, 2005 3:45 pm (#73 of 2981)

I remember reading in a book about the Wicca religion that the allegory of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland was about driving out the pagan religions. Druid priests would sometimes have tattoos of snakes on their wrists and forearms, and the tattoos became the symbol of the pagan religions practiced on the British Isles. And although I haven't read the book in years, I feel like there may be something about that idea in the Mists of Avalon, if anyone is familiar with that book (which I know some of you have to be, and if not, you should all read it!) Of course, Andy being Irish and all, we use the day as an excuse to make boiled dinner, which we both love, although I hope I do not plunge my hands into the boiling water like I did last year. OUCH!!

I am very jealous of all of you that have warmer weather than me right now. But at least its not supposed to snow again for at least until next week!

Good luck, Marcus, with your work stuff. I hope everything gets cleared up for you.

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Denise P. - Mar 16, 2005 3:49 pm (#74 of 2981)

Silly daughter made the next flight and made her connection in NC. She should be landing here in about an hour and Mr. P. is on his way to go get her.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 16, 2005 4:21 pm (#75 of 2981)

All this talk of snakes seems like the right time to point out I've added a new 'feature' to my info (behind the picture).

THIS:

Pretty cool, eh?

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I Am Used Vlad - Mar 16, 2005 4:50 pm (#76 of 2981)

Penny, my avatar is a picture of Buster Keaton, by far the funniest and most talented of the silent era comedians. **sorry Loopy** I would guess the picture is from the 1924 movie called The Navigator, since he wears a sailor's suit during much of the film, but I don't know for sure.

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Accio Sirius - Mar 16, 2005 7:03 pm (#77 of 2981)

Hey Mike, aka Giant Squid, since you are in Vegas and in the movie biz, do you get to go to ShoWest? Just wondering if they will have something on GOF there!

ShoWest is a big party for theater owners to get a glimpse of the big new movies of the year. There is usually a lot of star power there to promote as well.

Happy early St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

Mr. Accio Sirius has been called away out of town yet again! He'll be gone over the weekend, missing our 8 year-old's birthday pool party! The only reason I agreed to inviting a dozen eight year olds to a pool was because he promised he would be the entertainment!! My mom has agreed to watch the little one who doesn't go in the water and hopefully I can corral a mother's helper to help this mother!!

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pottermom34 - Mar 16, 2005 8:43 pm (#78 of 2981)

Yes Penny Lane, I'm from west Michigan, Hudsonville to be exact. Who else is from W.Michigan? I know Kabloink! is from Lansing. I'm glad to see fellow michiganders on here.

A party at Schuler's would be fun, although I already preordered my book, it would be nice to meet a fellow forumer. I just looked at the calendar though and if it's a midnight party I may not be able to my husband works the late shift at Burger King on Saturdays, but I could talk him into taking the night off.

For all of the Michiganders,If you happen to get the chance while you're in GR during the summer stop by the zoo, I work in the gift shop, If I'm on register, I could manage a discount for Hp forumers.

Email me anytime if you want.

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kabloink! - Mar 16, 2005 10:11 pm (#79 of 2981)

I used to live in Grand Rapids. I lived there for 2 years, while I was going to GVSU. THe only reason we moved was because my husband had to transfer to the Lansing McDOnalds, otherwise I would still be living in Grand Rapids (which I did not like), and attending Grand Valley State University (which I LOVED). Anyway, Penny might have been counting me as one of the forumers from West Michigan, but isn't Lexicon Steve from that area, as well? I think that would make four. (By the way, I am actually an east Michigander, as I grew up in Port Huron before going to Ann Arbor for school for two years before heading west.)

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Dragonesss - Mar 17, 2005 12:33 am (#80 of 2981)

http://www.worth1000.com/emailthis.asp?entry=78384

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Madam Pince - Mar 17, 2005 12:42 am (#81 of 2981)

Maple sugar candy???!!! My hometown has (is having this weekend, actually) a huge Maple Festival every year. Pancakes with syrup, tours of the sugar camps extracting the maple "sap" and boiling it down, maple candy, and -- best of all -- maple doughnuts.

****MMMMmmmmmmm, doughnuts*****

*****Mmmmmmmmm, Harrison Ford, too, by the way********

Denise, your airport story made me laugh. Hope the kid got home all right. My, how times have changed! I once got to the National Airport (in DC) ticket counter (not gate, mind you, ticket counter) a whole ten minutes before the flight time, and I made it on. Don't recall if my luggage made it. But that was eons ago before all the big security and such.

I had a nice chat with Baby Pince's teachers today, and found that apparently he is not the only, um...challenging toddler in his class -- which is good to know! We jointly came up with some strategies so hope they go well!

I also had a somewhat disturbing experience in K-Mart, of all places. Some lady apparently was shoplifting and got caught, one aisle away from where I was shopping. She threw quite a violent fit, complete with very colorful obscenities and kicking and screaming and throwing things, and the whole store was treated to a ringside seat for her being dragged out by the police. Yuck. And the worst part was that her probably 12-year-old daughter was there, following her out and pleading for her mom to just stop it and be quiet. My heart just broke for that poor child. I hope she does OK.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone!

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The giant squid - Mar 17, 2005 1:01 am (#82 of 2981)

Hey Mike, aka Giant Squid, since you are in Vegas and in the movie biz, do you get to go to ShoWest? Just wondering if they will have something on GOF there!--Accio Sirius

I do get to go, but only because my theater chain (Regal Entertainment Group) is one of the two providing staff. Century is the other. I haven't seen anything about GOF yet (and believe me, I've been looking!). Tomorrow, though, I get to work at a digital cinema screening featuring 10-15 minutes of some movie called Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Mr. Lucas himself is expected to be there. The agony of it is, we're not allowed to approach the stars, point at them, squeal like a little girl or any of the other usual fanboy moments... It will be a true test of my willpower--is my job really worth that much to me? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (172)

Julia, pottermom...I agree that the first two prequels weren't that good, but I have a hunch that Ep. III will make up for it. Everything I've seen points to major geeky goodness this May.

I'll not only be celebrating St. Patty's Day tomorrow, I'll be experiencing my first wedding anniversary, so I probably won't be logging onto the forum.

Beannachtai na Feile Padraig, everybody! (Thanks, Fawkes!)

--Mike

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Madam Pince - Mar 17, 2005 1:05 am (#83 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Giant Squid! Have a romantic celebration!

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septentrion - Mar 17, 2005 4:02 am (#84 of 2981)

Penny Lane, there are usually water restrictions in West and South West France every summer (no filling the swimming-pools, no washing cars etc) but this year, those restrictions could come earlier.

Happy anniversary Mike ! And I agree Star Wars ep III looks at least interesting.

Happy Saint Patrick's day !

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Ladybug220 - Mar 17, 2005 6:22 am (#85 of 2981) Reply
Edited by Mar 17, 2005 5:25 am

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone!

Sorry Steve - I just had to post in green!

And in honor of that day, it is snowing here in NC (Bumbledore and Eponine, I am assuming that y'all have it too). I woke up at 5 am to hear the sleet hitting the window and after a little bit it stopped. When I looked out my window later, it had turned to snow. All of you in the North east - you were not supposed to send your snow to the South! Oh well, at least I get to go into work late today. Well,I don't have to go in late, I just want to.

Happy Anniversary to Mr and Mrs Squid!

Marcus, you will be missed!

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Marie E. - Mar 17, 2005 6:32 am (#86 of 2981)

I can't imagine the agony of my brother being in the same room as George Lucas and not being able to acknowledge him. Poor Mike! And I want to mention that I bought his anniversary card over a week ago, but it's been sitting on the dashboard of my car ever since. It's going out today, honest! Happy anniversary, Mike and Mrs. Squid!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 17, 2005 7:10 am (#87 of 2981)

Happy anniversay, Mike and Mrs. Squid!---Marie E.

What a funny coincidence. Not only is it my husband's birthday, but he asked me to marry him on St. Patrick's Day as well. Happy Anniversary to you and your missus, Mike.

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Accio Sirius - Mar 17, 2005 7:37 am (#88 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary Mr. & Mrs. Squid!

And happy proposal anniversary Kim!

Mike, really, could anyone blame you if you did indeed squeal like a little girl?! I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, but I am interested in the latest movie. I had Tivo-ed the trailer that was on the O.C. but it got cut off prematurely. I was not happy.

Just by the way, Hayden Christensen who plays Anakin Skywalker was in a really interesting movie called Shattered Glass. It's like a horror movie for journalists. It was great. It also featured Peter Sarsgaard, whom I also really like as an actor.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 17, 2005 8:14 am (#89 of 2981)

Happy anniversary to the Squids Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (173)

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

I LOVE the original Star Wars, but I have been sadly disappointed with the new ones. I do hope this third one redeems itself.

Snow in the Carolina's huh? I wonder if my sister has snow then, she lives in Franklin VA, but it's like 11 miles from NC, right near the Great Dismal Swamp (great place to live mind you! hahaha).

I'm off to Malibu for the day, for work we are going to check out Pepperdine University. I hope the weather holds.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 17, 2005 8:34 am (#90 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary, Mike and Mrs. Squid! May your married life be at least as happy as mine has been -- I'm coming up on year 19 in a few weeks.

Ydnam96, I'm with you. I loved the original Star Wars movies. The prequels are visually impressive, but I've felt the acting and especially the story have been weak.

My husband and I have been complaining about the enormous, unexplained age-gap between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke. Luke was supposed to be 18 in "A New Hope," but Obi-Wan looked about 80. In the last movie, Anakin was supposed to be what? 16? And Obi-Wan looked maybe 30 or 35 at the most. How are they going to resolve that? Are they going to just ignore it?

We in Minnesota have been getting 30s and 40s with occasional light snow, but it's been pretty sunny. The snow's melting, and even here we should be getting our first flowers in a few weeks. I'm PSYCHED!

EDIT: Happy St. Patrick's Day to everybody!

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Julia. - Mar 17, 2005 8:58 am (#91 of 2981)

Good morning and Happy St. Patrick's day everyone!

Happy anniversary Mike and Mrs. Squid. And happy birthday Mr. Lupin is Lupin.

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Phoenix song - Mar 17, 2005 9:16 am (#92 of 2981)

Happy anniversary Mike and Mrs. "Squid". Wow, I remember being a newlywed. I hope that you have a wonderful anniversary and enjoy finally getting to eat the top of your wedding cake! I remember being truly disappointed when, after a year of toting that cake from freezer to freezer (we moved twice that first year), we finally thawed out the cake and discovered that it had been freezer burned and wasn't any good.

Please send our "Happy birthday" wishes to Mr. "Lupin is Lupin."

To everybody that's anticipating water shortages, you're more than welcome to my share of water. We've had so much rain lately that it's unbelievable, even for Louisiana.

I'm getting really excited about the upcoming book. I know the release date is still a long way off, but it seems as if I can almost feel the reassuring weight of holding HBP in my own hands. (Okay, I'm an uber-goober, but I bet I'm not the only one!)

On the Leaky Cauldron they are taking votes on the color of T-shirts that HP fans would like to purchase. Apparently, there were suggestions to WB that we'd like shirts that said "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I just hope that the back of the shirt is going to read, "Mischief Managed!" I'd love those!

Well, have a good day everybody!
Barbie

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kabloink! - Mar 17, 2005 9:26 am (#93 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary to Mr and Mrs Squid! Heh, our first anniversary was last month, on Valentines Day-as we were in Vegas that weekend, we still haven't had out cake yet.

I love the Star Wars movies. All of them. I'll admit that the actin gin the new ones leaves a bit to be desired, but come on, the old ones weren't any better. My husband and I were watching them a couple of weeks ago, and I just kept laughing at the bad acting. (I was doing that while watching Indiana Jones, too.

Barbie-I would wear that shirt!

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Madam Pince - Mar 17, 2005 9:52 am (#94 of 2981)

Barbie, that shirt sounds like the one Brandon designed for the Forum Gathering last June! He designed a map of the Bellefort, PA area (where the picnic was held) and drew in a wand and "Mischief Managed." It was quite cool! ****waves to Brandon****

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librarian314 - Mar 17, 2005 10:34 am (#95 of 2981)

Hey all!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Mr. and Mrs. Giant Squid!!!! Yay!! May there be many, many more!

My hubby and I celebrate our 15 year dating anniversary today. (I asked him to supper (I cooked, firmly believing in my mother's thought that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach.) and then we went to a friend's St. Patrick's Day party.) When I told our daughter that we had our first date 15 years ago, she replied, "Sounds like it's about time for another one."

I finished the sweater I was crocheting inspired by the one Julie Walters wore as Mrs. Weasley in the beginning of CoS the movie. I'll post a link to the pictures soon. I'm really happy with how it turned out as it's the first crocheted garment I've designed from start to finish.

Y'all take care and "Slainte!"

**michelle the librarian**

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mollis - Mar 17, 2005 10:35 am (#96 of 2981)

Popping on to wish everyone Happy St. Patty's Day!

And one of these for good measure (if you're of age, that is )

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 17, 2005 10:38 am (#97 of 2981)

Penny, my avatar is a picture of Buster Keaton, by far the funniest and most talented of the silent era comedians. **sorry Loopy** I would guess the picture is from the 1924 movie called The Navigator, since he wears a sailor's suit during much of the film, but I don't know for sure.--- I Am Used Vlad

Penny, lest you get confused.

My

avatar, Mr. Chaplin, is by far the funniest and most talented of the silent era comedians. The picture here is from City Lights .

Happy Birthday to Mr. Lupin is Lupin!

Sorry Catherine, I'm not sharing the Maple Sugar Candy. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (174)

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Steve Newton - Mar 17, 2005 11:36 am (#98 of 2981)

I never thought that Charlie was particularly funny. I'll take Buster any day. 'The General' is one of the great movies.

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Eponine - Mar 17, 2005 1:13 pm (#99 of 2981)

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I got pinched by some students today because there is not a stitch of green clothing in my wardrobe. Ive been wearing a green sticker, but apparently that doesn't count.

Happy Anniversary, Mr and Mrs Squid!

Star Wars - I love the original trilogy. I didn't actually see it until right before Episode I came out. The guy I was dating at the time insisted I watch them before it came out. I don't mind the prequels quite as much as some people, but I have high hopes for Revenge of the Sith. The trailer is very exciting.

It did snow here today, but alas, school was not cancelled. All day the students kept asking me when we were getting out, and they were completely antsy about it. It started melting around noon, but it was pretty while it lasted.

Well, I hope you all have a great day.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 17, 2005 1:25 pm (#100 of 2981)

Im not a huge Star Wars fan. I watched them all once, maybe twice on the older ones, but I have the problem that afflicts most of my generation - I can't concentrate on long films, even the HP films. Every time I go to watch CoS I get to them at school, in their lessons, listen to Hermione say "It's written in blood", I scowl, and turn it off. *shrugs*

As for the silent movie star debate, I'm awfully sorry I started a controversy. Have you guys seen 'Sunset Blvd?" I think that's the closest to silent film I've gotten, unless you could that episode of Buffy, entitled "Hush".

As for St Patrick's day, I am not wearing green. I was, however, shocked when I ran into my 2 pm class 5 minutes late, and was asked "oh, did you miss last call?". I looked around, and only 1/4 of the 20 person class was present. I bet half those people aren't even Irish. I, on the other hand, am. I should be out celebrating my Irish heritage and thanking someone that my ancestors had the good sense to come to the US during the potato famine instead of starving.

I'm probably the only person here who's actually sad that spring is just about here. *tear*. I like winter. I just finished a nice new pair of knit mittens last night too. *makes sad face*

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (175)
Lady Arabella
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (176)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (179)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (180)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 4:59 pm

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 17, 2005 1:37 pm (#101 of 2981)

I'm also not wearing green today, and I don't even have the good excuse of not having any green in my wardrobe. I just forgot that today was St. Patrick's day until after I got dressed, and as I'm going to be at home all day today, I didn't see any point in changing. I'm at least half Irish, so I suppose my ancestors are covering their faces in shame...

Penny Lane, I recommend you moving to North Dakota... :-) One of my friends, who lives in South Dakota, said that they only have two seasons: winter, and construction.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 17, 2005 2:15 pm (#102 of 2981)

As for the silent movie star debate, I'm awfully sorry I started a controversy. Have you guys seen 'Sunset Blvd?" I think that's the closest to silent film I've gotten, unless you could that episode of Buffy, entitled "Hush".—Penny

Don't worry. You've started no controversy here. Vlad has been wrong about this for months and Steve Newton, recently so.

I must say "Hush" is a great episode.

EDIT-- Coincidentally, Keaton is in Sunset Boulevard .

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Elanor - Mar 17, 2005 2:17 pm (#103 of 2981)

Hello everyone and happy Saint Patrick's day to all who celebrate! **waving**

I went to a St Patrick's party last year here, it was organised by an association, there was some Irish musicians (and beer of course) and it was very funny, though certainly nothing compared to what it must be to live it in Ireland. I even won a darts game there (and the bottle of Whiskey in play), not because I was good (I am hopeless at darts) but because I had not done justice to the Irish beverages as much as most of the other players had done...

Happy anniversary Mr and Mrs Giant Squid! Mike I am so jealous about Star Wars! Please, please, you will tell us about what you saw, won't you?

PS: about silent movies, I have very good memories of some Harold Lloyd's movies that I was seeing when I was a kid...

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VeronikaG - Mar 17, 2005 2:56 pm (#104 of 2981)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Green font in honour of all Irish members. (Fawkes and...?)

Seems spring has finally come to Norway too. We've had an unusually warm fall and winter, and now an unusually cold spring with lots of snow. It was almost bikini weather today. I'm not crying. Sorry for Penny though, who likes winter. I know how you feel. I feel the same way about autumn.

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dobbyiscool - Mar 17, 2005 3:34 pm (#105 of 2981)

Happy St. Patrick's day!

I managed to remember to wear green today. We had school, but the state boy's basket ball tournament is in town, and my school is playing, so we only had a half day of school.

Round Pink Spider: being from South Dakota, I have to correct you. We have three seasons: winter, road construction, and hunting. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (181)

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Gina R Snape - Mar 17, 2005 4:27 pm (#106 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary Giant Squid! One question...where do you put the ring and is it made of seashell?

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I Am Used Vlad - Mar 17, 2005 5:15 pm (#107 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Squid.

Loopy, I'm sorry that I once again broke our truce and rekindled the feud, but in my defense, Penny did ask me a question. Also in my defense, I happen to be right.

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Madam Pince - Mar 17, 2005 6:03 pm (#108 of 2981)

Librarian Michelle, your daughter is so witty! I guess she comes by it honestly!

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 17, 2005 6:20 pm (#109 of 2981)

LOL, dobbyiscool!

We have winter, muddy season, and mosquito season. Road construction is year-round. :-)

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Pinky - Mar 17, 2005 6:23 pm (#110 of 2981)

Just jumping in here to say that I think Laurel and Hardy are the best comedians ever (by far) in either silent movies or talkies.

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Ponine - Mar 17, 2005 7:07 pm (#111 of 2981)

LOL Round Pink Spider - Having lived in Grand Forks for five years, I must say your friend is absolutely right. I am contemplating moving back, but I can't figure out why, as it is gasoline-freezing cold for about nine months, and the other three are filled with Boeing-sized skeeters, construction and sticky heat... But hey - it still feels like home Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (182) Were in Minnesota are you from? Around Rochester?

I was just watching a riveting episode of Buffy (AND Angel - Gosh, I love Thursdays....), but there is no one to share it with!!! Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (183) Does anyone know of a place to do that??

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B]Accio Sirius[/B] - Mar 17, 2005 7:34 pm (#112 of 2981)

Ponine, I am sure there are sites to discuss Buffy and Angel. Try a Google search. I'm a fan, but don't do sites for the show. The Lexicon is my one and only. Speaking of Joss Wheadon (creator of those shows and Firefly which was mentioned earlier), did you all read he is writing the movie version of Wonder Woman? Can the world stand another comic book-based movie? Anyway, here's a link to the story: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=598&e=4&u=/nm/20050317/film_nm/film_wonderwoman_dc

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Ponine - Mar 17, 2005 7:42 pm (#113 of 2981)

Thanks Accio, I should. I just think that I am about three years too late... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (184) I have never seen or heard of Firefly, and am not really enthused by Wonder Woman, but I have learned the hard way not to knock anything (Harry - must shamefully admit it, but I did knock it) (Buffy - BIG time) (Angel - I laughed) I must be careful, or I am afraid cosmic justice will have me hooked on Saved by the Bell in no time...

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Madame Librarian - Mar 17, 2005 8:09 pm (#114 of 2981)

Silent comedians? Take a gander at Harold Lloyd someday if you get a chance. Brilliant! Amazing stunts, too. He did all of his own, no trick photography either. If it looks like he's hanging off a building ledge, he usually really is.

Ciao. Barb

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Penny Lane. - Mar 17, 2005 8:12 pm (#115 of 2981)

If you want to discuss Buffy/Angel, you can email me at cpennylane@excite.com. I can also direct you to some very good boards that I don't want to put up here.

Accio Sirius, I did read that today! I was less than thrilled, as I would much rather see another series that Joss was rumored to be working on (a "Ripper" spin-off), or the Firefly movie - I just don't do comic book movies.

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 17, 2005 9:43 pm (#116 of 2981)

Happy anniversary to The Squids!

Happy Birthday.

Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton they were both great, so was Harold Lloyd, plenty of room. Each had his own genius.

Every year my mother-in-law calls me on St. Patrick's to say

“Top of the morning!”

to which I respond

“and the rest of the day to you.”

There was something wrong with our phone and she wasn't able to reach me at home. I was out shopping and my cell phone rang, out came that little voice...

Happy St. Paddy's to you.

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 18, 2005 5:23 am (#117 of 2981)

Hey Folks,
Hope you all had a nice Paddy's Day I swear I never knew that about the Druids & their snake tattoos ... seems you do learn something new everyday, thats why I love this place so much.

Happy Anniverary Mr & Mrs Squid Paddy's day is a nice day to have an anniversary! Happy Birthday Mr Lupin is Lupin also!

Meg... I'm curious as to what you mean by a 'boiled' dinner? Anyways hope you're keeping well.

I had a very quiet Paddy's day... spend most of it clearing the junk out of the cupboard under the stairs... that & sorting out all my recycling in my garden shed! LOL, I lead an exciting life let me tell you I tend to avoid the madness of the parade in town... The parades are great for the kiddies however, bit too squishy for me, & after the parade way too many 'fire-whiskey' soaked revelers running about I do think St Patricks day is a bigger deal outside of Ireland... which is a bit strange and sad ... but there you go!

It's friday & I'm in holiday mode, as I had yesterday off, & I've got monday off. My god daughters christening is this weekend, so the remainder of my family, not currently living in the Dublin area, are descending on us this weekend. I'm so nervous about the christening... that I'll do something wrong or drop the poor baba or something....

A friend is also leaving work today, which is a bit sad, we'll miss him.... Most of the team are heading to the local Indian Restaurant for a goodbye lunch today so I'm looking forward to that! So I'll be snoring at the dementors this afternoon... hee hee! I'm also sad for myself as I'm taking over his work as well... it's not like I've have enough to do already (procrastinators anonymous creeping in again ) so I'll be a bit like Marcus in the next few weeks.. I'll not be able to call in as much.

Anyway... off to lunch I go... talk later

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Pinky - Mar 18, 2005 6:01 am (#118 of 2981)

Fawkes, a "boiled dinner" is a corned beef and cabbage (and carrots, onions, potatoes). It is often put in one great big pot and boiled - hence, "boiled dinner." While you were cleaning out your cupboard under the stairs... you didn't find any little boys with glasses and strange scars on their foreheads, did you? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (185)

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Chemyst - Mar 18, 2005 6:17 am (#119 of 2981)

Happy Anniversary Giant & Mrs Squid. ~ Marie E, I believe you about the greeting card on the dashboard thing! I've left cards in the pocket behind the seat. We try and do the right thing by putting them where they won't get dog-eared, and our good intentions backfire...

Fawkes, you're not going to drop your god daughter! I'll send one of the trickier relax-your-mind-not-your-muscles charms, but you will probably take one look at her and not even need it.

As to the boiled dinner... Now I'm wondering if I misunderstood it. I'd assumed she was talking about what I know as a "fish boil". For that, you put potatoes, onions and all the spices & herbs into a cheesecloth bag in a large pot of water and let it boil into an herbal broth, then you remove the bag, potatoes & onions, and throw in whitefish to cook for a couple minutes.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 18, 2005 6:21 am (#120 of 2981)

Silent comedians? Take a gander at Harold Lloyd someday if you get a chance. Brilliant! Amazing stunts, too. He did all of his own, no trick photography either. If it looks like he's hanging off a building ledge, he usually really is.-- Madame Librarian

Vlad and I have often wondered when the Harold Lloyd crowd would speak up!

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boop - Mar 18, 2005 6:23 am (#121 of 2981)

Marcus you will be missed. WE will be thinking of you and your return.

Belated Happy Anniversary Mr and Mrs. Squid.

Belated Happy Birthday Mr Lupin is Lupin.

Fawkes sounds like you were busy yesterday, but didn't have to deal with dementors. Don't worry Fawkes you will be fine with the baby. Sounds like a busy, but fun weekend. Sorry to hear more work was given to you. Fawkes you will be missed. Just know we are thinking about you and your return. *Hugs Fawkes*

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 18, 2005 6:53 am (#122 of 2981)

Chemyst, I've never heard of a fish boil (and am not sure if I want to ) but around here a boiled dinner, often referred to as a New England Boiled dinner, is as Pinky described. When I fix it for my mother-in-law I include turnips but she's the only one who eats them. Also, I only recommend the gray corned beef, flat cut, for this meal. The red version doesn't appeal to me at all.

*:looks around and wonders when Catherine is coming back*:

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Madame Librarian - Mar 18, 2005 7:05 am (#123 of 2981)

Never deny that America's innovative immigrant groups didn't share a common interest in economical, delicious foods...

Earlier this week I cooked a classic Irish corned beef "boiled" dinner (except I made a roasted corned beef--hey, the butcher said either would be just fine). I parboiled potatoes and cabbage and then tossed them in for the last 15 min. of roasting. OMG, soooo good.

For the next few days Mr. Madame Librarian and I enjoyed typical NY deli style (i.e., Jewish deli) corned beef on rye sandwiches from the leftover meat. Mustard, dill pickles are the go-withs.

Yum!

Fish boils in Door County, Wisconsin (along Lake Michigan) are rather elaborate group affairs. The resorts and restaraunts have them outdoors on a patio, and the boiler starts a wood fire (that's half the fun, at least for the little kids). Into a HUGE iron pot, he or she adds tons of seasonings, veggies and finally a variety of white fish native to the lake. This is a classic vacation spot for us Chicagoans (folks from other cities nearby, too) and the fish boil is usually one of the dinner highlights of your stay. You've got to reserve a spot ahead of time. The food is simple but delicious, and though a lot of little ones loves the spectacle, they still won't eat the fish. Goodie--more for the grown-ups! The restaraunts always have the reliable hotdog alternate on hand.

Ciao. Barb

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 18, 2005 7:08 am (#124 of 2981)

Ponine, yes, I live in Rochester, home of the Mayo Clinic, which is just down the street! We were very grateful to be so close when our daughter got her cochlear implant. Other people have to travel for hours; we just drive down the road.

We're in the middle of a major snowstorm here right now. I think we've already gotten 4 inches, and it's falling heavily. Needless to say, school has been cancelled, and all our kids are home from school today. That, and the baby got sick this morning. Well, I really can't complain; I have 4 kids that can help watch the baby, and mostly the kids get along pretty well.

The winter storm warning isn't supposed to end until tomorrow morning, so we may get 8-10 inches before this is over, depending on how steadily this stuff falls. My older boys are out shoveling for the first time right now.

EDIT: Ponine, why don't you move down here? We only get 5 months of winter, and the mosquitos don't try to kidnap you when you go out of doors. And then I'll have another grown-up in town to talk HP with!

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Denise P. - Mar 18, 2005 7:15 am (#125 of 2981)

In the US, a boiled dinner is the traditional meal on St Patrick's Day, even for those not of Irish heritage. My redheaded husband, of Irish heritage, hates it! I never fix it because he won't eat it. Also, numerous people all agree that the gray corned beef is better than the red (and really, both sound gross, don't they?) My mother’s family, of English heritage, always did a boiled dinner on St Patricks Day so I grew up eating it while his family never did them.

It is 8:15 am and I still have two sleeping kids...why won't they do this on the weekend when I don't have to be up???

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Madam Pince - Mar 18, 2005 7:33 am (#126 of 2981)

I know what you mean, Denise -- Baby Pince always seems to sleep in on the days he's supposed to go to school, and he's up and rarin' to go on the other mornings. One day this week it was 5:15am when he got up. Sigh....

I made a "boiled dinner" last night in honor of the day. It's the first time I've attempted it, and it turned out very nicely. The red-skinned potatoes were particularly good. Kind of hard to mess up, actually, because you literally do just dump it all in a pot and boil it. I thought I didn't like corned beef until last year when I tried some and found it delicious, so this year we went for it! The meat I used was most definitely red in color (I didn't see anything gray at the store, and if I had I'm sure I wouldn't have bought it, because usually gray meat is something that's been out a bit too long!) There were two types at the store, though, one was basically a big fairly flat piece called "corned beef brisket" and the one I bought was more round roast-shaped and called "corned beef round." I got the round because it just looked more like the roasts I'm used to buying, I guess, and it looked leaner -- the brisket had a lot of fat in it. Is the brisket what you're referring to as gray? I didn't really know the difference.

While I was looking up "corned beef and cabbage" in my big fat "Better Homes and Gardens" red plaid cookbook, I found that they refer to it as a "New England Boiled Dinner" just as our clever Forumers have said! I always just assumed that this term referred to the fish-boil that Barb described, I supposed because I usually associate "New England" food with things like Cape Cod, lobsters, fish....etc. Stream of consciousness doesn't always work, does it?

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 7:38 am (#127 of 2981)

*:looks around and wonders when Catherine is coming back*:

Here I am! ***waving frantically*** Hope you all had a good St. Patrick's day. Mine was spent in airports.

Whew. There's no place like home. We rolled into town about 1 a.m. this morning. Our plane was delayed several hours in Chicago due to weather. As if food poisoning going out to San Diego was not enough, I managed to catch some horrid virus that has really taken me down. For some reason, I always get sick when we fly.

Fortunately, I managed to avoid getting sick until after we visited Coronado island and spent an afternoon at the Hotel del Coronado. For movie buffs, Marilyn Monroe stayed there when they filmed Some Like it Hot, so it was fun to eat lunch there and enjoy her reflected glamour. **otherwise, I am totally glamour-free, alas earwax.** On the literature side, the author of The Wizard of Oz books, L. Frank Baum, wrote stories there and supposedly even designed the chandeliers in the Crown Room (as you might expect, they are shaped like crowns). I was disappointed that we could not visit there on a Sunday and have afternoon tea in the Crown Room.

Off to catch up on laundry and mail. Have a great Friday.

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Eponine - Mar 18, 2005 7:51 am (#128 of 2981)

I will never understand the logic of some school systems. Yesterday, there was snow on the ground and roads; it was icy and dangerous (well, dangerous for the south). No delay, no cancellations. Today, there's a tiny bit of frost on the grass, no ice on the roads, and there's a two hour delay. I didn't find out until I was halfway to school, and it was announced on the radio. Maybe they were making up for yesterday. It did give me a chance to run back home and pick up some papers I had forgotten though.

Can someone explain to me what corned beef is? I've never known, but I've always been curious.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day!

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Denise P. - Mar 18, 2005 8:27 am (#129 of 2981)

Corned beef is basically a cheap cut of meat that has been preserved. The cuts of meat are probably better now but it started as a cheap cut.

Corning is a form of curing; it has nothing to do with corn. The name comes from Anglo-Saxon times before refrigeration. In those days, the meat was dry-cured in coarse "corns" of salt. Pellets of salt, some the size of kernels of corn, were rubbed into the beef to keep it from spoiling and to preserve it.

Today brining -- the use of salt water -- has replaced the dry salt cure, but the name "corned beef" is still used, rather than "brined" or "pickled" beef. Commonly used spices that give corned beef its distinctive flavor are peppercorns and bay leaf. Of course, these spices may vary regionally.

(And while I admit to geekiness, I had to look this up LOL)

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 18, 2005 8:48 am (#130 of 2981)

Denise, as long as you're looking stuff up, I have often wondered how it ever occurred to mankind to use salt as a preservative. Any insight on this?

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Denise P. - Mar 18, 2005 8:52 am (#131 of 2981)

Google is such a wonderful thing to have

History of Salt There is no definite time that I can find that pinpoints exactly when men started to salt meat but it looks as if by 2000 BC, it was known that salting would prevent meat from spoiling.

Here is another page that details some further history of salt and the first writings known to contain mention of salt types. More History of Salt

I really think salting as a form of preservation was probably a happy accident, found out of necessity (sorta like haggis)

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kabloink! - Mar 18, 2005 9:36 am (#132 of 2981)

Hiya! I hope everyone had a good St Paddy's Day! Me, I had to go to school and work, though I had really wanted to make Corned Beef and Cabbage for dinner. Oh well, I didn't even manage my green beer after work as I had planned. It makes me sad. I have a very, very mixed heritage, but I cling stubbornly to the thought that there is some Irish in there somewhere. I'm pretty sure there is, as my grandmother's maiden name is Griggs and a great grandmother's maiden name was Orman (supposedly an Ellis Island bastardization of O'Reardon). I only recently discovered corned beef and cabbage, however, at a wonderful restaurant here in Lansing called Claddagh's Irish Pub. They are yummy, and they prove the theory that I've always had-my mom's beef stew fits perfectly into the "Irish Stew" category. Okay, enough rambling.

Penny, is that a series based on Giles?

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Steve Newton - Mar 18, 2005 9:43 am (#133 of 2981)

I went out to a local restaurant for corned beef and cabbage. They were out of vinegar. Am I the only one who loves vinegar on cabbage? Of course, I put mustard on the CB.

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Fawkes Forever - Mar 18, 2005 10:04 am (#134 of 2981)

LOL, thanks for letting me know what a 'boiled' dinner was guys.

I don't think I've ever had corned beef & cabbage on the same plate in my life... actually, I don't think I've ever knowingly ate corn beef... hee hee. Cabbage, bacon & potato maybe... but I'm not a fan of cabbage or potato, or bacon really for that matter. *checks 'made by label' to make sure I'm actually Irish * I do like Irish Stew however... it's a real winter warmer ... I literally just throw everything in a pot & let it simmer for hours!

I'm not sure now what would be traditional Irish food, we've so many influences from all over it's hard to tell what’s genuine any more. One I can think of is mashed/creamed potato with chopped onion through it... it's quite nice actually, but not being a fan of potatoes I don't eat it very often.

Spring has sprung here finally... apparently the good weather front in France is pushing up this way... so fingers crossed we'll have a nice weekend.

Thanks for the well wishes for the Christening... I'm sure it'll be fine...

As for the extra work here... hopefully I'll sneak on once or twice a week.... don't want to fall behind now do I Thanks for the hug Betty... *hugs back*

anyways, have a nice weekend everyone
xx Fawkes

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pottermom34 - Mar 18, 2005 10:20 am (#135 of 2981)

I love boiled dinner, but I've never had it with corned beef, I've always had it with ham. We use a hambone and potatos carrots cabbage and onions. I always call it stone soup because of the ham bone. Mmm makes me hungry I'll be back later. **toddles off to make lunch**

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Gina R Snape - Mar 18, 2005 10:50 am (#136 of 2981)

I did not partake in a boiled dinner as I do not eat beef and my current diet restricts eating potatoes. And I wasn't about to just eat cabbage on its own!

But it is fascinating how people figured things out way back when. Salt curing is one of those things. But I would love to learn how the first people looked at wheat, and learned to separate yeast, and figured out how to make bread. Or rice and beans. They complement to make a perfect protein molecule and people were found in Pompeii eating rice and beans. How did they know nutritionally to put those together? Things like that just amaze me.

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B]Madame Librarian[/B] - Mar 18, 2005 11:10 am (#137 of 2981)

Salt...hmmm...author Mark Kurlansky wrote a whole book about it, titled, well...Salt: a World History (c2002). Sounds interesting, but it's 484 pages long! Can't imagine what all he can say about NaCl that would take over 400 pages.

Another name for the cut of meat you use for corned beef is brisket. In it's un-corned version, it too makes a wonderful roast. You just have to cook it moistly (is that a word?) and for a long time. Thin sliced is the best.

Ciao. Barb

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Penny Lane. - Mar 18, 2005 12:18 pm (#138 of 2981)

My parents make a boiled dinner every year. So did my grandparents, and all of my aunts and uncles on my father's side. We don't use pototoes though, as my family apparently feels that we need to be potato free on st Patrick's day. Also, they don't serve bread or anything else that was missing when my ancesters emigrated to the US. Personally, I won't touch boiled cabbage, and I don't really eat meat, so I tend to not go along with that tradition. And I really like bagels, and I think the green ones on St Paddy's day are the best.

Oh, speaking of amazing discovery's our ancestors made -- my roommate and I were discussing the first person who figured out knitting. It just amazes me that someone was sitting around one day, trying to figure out something, and knitted the first sock. Wonders.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 18, 2005 12:40 pm (#139 of 2981)

My husband got us the corned beef and cabbage a couple of years, but the kids wouldn't eat it (dumb kids). He didn't even try this year.

We're still getting buried in snow, BTW. I think we've gotten six inches so far, and it's still coming down like crazy.

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Elanor - Mar 18, 2005 12:58 pm (#140 of 2981)

I had never heard about a boiled dinner, I am always amazed to see what we can learn here! But Lupin is Lupin, you said: "I've never heard of a fish boil (and am not sure if I want to)" but actually you did! Do you remember the "bouillabaisse" of GoF?

Bouillabaisse is boiled fish (a lot of different fishes and seafood is needed) with spices and tomatoes. In fact "bouillabaisse" even means "boiled fish" in Provençal (language spoken before, and still a little now, in Provence). It is delicious! But you better not have to kiss someone after eating it because you eat it with bread on which you put some "aïoli", a kind of garlic mayonnaise, good but very strong! I bet Fleur never puts some on her bread, even a Veela charm can't hide that!

RPS, I hope the snow storm will end soon, you certainly deserve some spring! **waving ** The weather is still wonderful here, sunny, about 23°C (73°F) and it should last till Sunday evening. After that... Well, do we really need to know? What is sure is that the kids at school acted like some tricky little pixies all day long, it was hard to make them work! Give me a wand on a day like that and I bet you that in no time I master the "immobilus" and "silencio" charms...

As it is already friday evening here, I wish you a great weekend! I hope you will feel better soon Catherine. And Fawkes, I do understand how you feel about your god daughter because in May it will be my turn and I already fear to let my poor god son, Quentin, falling, but I'm sure you will be a perfect godmother!

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The giant squid - Mar 18, 2005 1:03 pm (#141 of 2981)

Thanks, all of you, for the well wishes. Our anniversary went surprisingly well. I only got one phone call from work as we were heading out to dinner, and that was to invite me to the ShoWest Awards Banquet--despite my mentioning it every 30 seconds, my boss forgot that yesterday was my anniversary. I thanked him for the invite but told him to give the seat to someone else.

We thawed out our cake top and tried some last night. It had been very well wrapped, but still got a little freezer burn and was kinda dry. I don't know how much we'll end up eating, but we had the symbolic piece yesterday, and that's what's important.

As for Star Wars... First of all, there had been a miscommunication as to who was presenting when. I was supposed to show up for my shift at 1PM. I got there at 12:15 (I don't trust traffic around the Strip AT ALL) and George's presentation was already happening. I poked my head in and caught a good 7-8 minutes of Episode III, though, supposedly from the beginning of the film. I can't vouch for the whole movie but the first 10 minutes strikes gluteus maximus with a pedal appendage!

The presentation I actually worked (3 hours later...) was about 3-D digital cinema presentation. James Cameron got up & talked (and talked...and talked...) as did Robert Zemeckis and Robert Rodriguez. They then showed some clips of regular 2-D movies that had been "dimensionalized" into 3-D, including Top Gun, Titanic, Polar Express and...Star Wars (Episode IV for the geeks). They had taken the entire opening sequence from the Twentieth Century Fox logo all the way to Leia putting the plans in Artoo and made it 3-D. If you thought the shot of the Star Destroyer flying overhead was impressive before, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Sadly, George was not in attendance so my fanboy moment was avoided.

For the record, the four seasons in North Dakota are winter, winter, winter & road construction. The weather's actually quite nice in June & July (mid-80s, mild humidity), you just can't go anywhere without the threat of breaking an axle.

Then again, here in Vegas the seasons are summer, really hot summer, still summer & wet summer...

It's odd--I'm of Irish descent, I got married on St. Patrick's Day, and I can't stand corned beef. Go figure. I think it goes back to when I worked at a restaurant and had to slice corned beef all the time. That stink gets to you after 2 or three roasts in one day...

Loopy & Vlad--here we go again!

--Mike

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septentrion - Mar 18, 2005 1:49 pm (#142 of 2981)

So we have potential godmothers here ! Don't worry, girls, I'm sure you'll do just fine.

Now I just want to see Star Wars in 3-D. It sounds "impressive, much impressive" (or "very impressive" ?)

You wouldn't believe it, I've never eaten bouillabaisse in my life. I should try to repair that mistake next month for we might have a two days trip in Marseille.

A great week-end to everyone !

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Acceber - Mar 18, 2005 1:50 pm (#143 of 2981)

I suppose that it's because I'm one of the very few people in the US that have never seen a single episode of Star Trek, and I absolutely love Star Wars. -Barbie, a while ago.

I haven't seen a single episode of either *runs and dodges tomatoes*.

A new chat thread! I'm really late on this, but I only read the Forum once a week, and it was instituted on Monday, so...

Happy Birthday to Greg (Mr. Lupin is Lupin) and my mom! I've never wanted to have been born on a holiday, because then everyone forgets it's your birthday and focuses on the holiday. I'm actually the only one in my family to not have been born on a holiday, come to think of it. My dad is Taxes Due Day and my sister is Bastille Day.

If I wasn't clear enough in my last post, or if you sped-read, sorry. Our Tech Saturday was canceled because of snow, not the real performance. The first one was last night, and it was AWESOME! We really pulled it off after a million delays: snow, illnesses, and the switching of what play we were going to do. I'll ask my mum to take pictures of me at our second production tonight, and then send them to anyone who wants.

I doubt if anyone remembers, but a few weeks ago, I complained about having to memorize the countries in Central and South America for school. Pinky and Lizzy responded immediately; Pinky with a fabulous website that I'll come back to in a minute and Lizzy with some memorizing tips. We just had a quiz on the countries in Africa today, and I would have been dead without the link Pinky provided. So thanks bunches Pinky. That just goes to show what either Google can do or how thoughtful all of our members are.

I've ranted enough. I have to dig my way through the rest of the threads. I suppose the HBP thread is going to be a nightmare with all the talk about the new covers.

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Ponine - Mar 18, 2005 2:18 pm (#144 of 2981)

Round Pink Spider - I have applied for graduate school in ND again, but if you are heading Northwest at some point... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (186) And did you know about St. Cloud State? They have an exchange program of sorts in England, where the school is - Alnwick Castle!!! My stomach felt as if I was touching a port key, just reading it... And I do not care what Mr. Squid says, the summers in ND is FAR from nice and warm and in mid-eigthies - They are hot, sticky and muggy! (And at least mid- to upper eighties...) (Ponine takes a moment to ponder what a squid can possible know about the Great Plains... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (187)

Oh, and Denise - My inner nerd wanted to reach out and hug yours Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (188)

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 2:27 pm (#145 of 2981)

Mmmmm....salt......mmmmm.....corned beef sandwiches.....mmmmm....

Just popping in to say that I am having major trouble with my MSN Messenger today. I've tried to sign in on it for the last half hour to no avail. **pouts**

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 18, 2005 2:28 pm (#146 of 2981)

But Lupin is Lupin, you said: "I've never heard of a fish boil (and am not sure if I want to)" but actually you did! Do you remember the "bouillabaisse" of GoF?---Elanor

For the record, I skimmed GoF. I know, I know. Shoot me. It was my least favorite of the series. Anyway, thank you for the epicurean lesson Elanor. I'm still not going near the stuff.

Happy Birthday to Greg (Mr. Lupin is Lupin)---Acceber

Actually, Mr. Denise P. is Greg, Mr. Lupin is Lupin is Richard. Happy Birthday to your mom by the way.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 18, 2005 3:06 pm (#147 of 2981)

I really think salting as a form of preservation was probably a happy accident, found out of necessity (sorta like haggis) -- Denise P.

Happy?

Oh, Mike (Giant Squid), Happy Anniversary! And Happy Birthday to Richard Lupin is Lupin.

Skimmed GoF, eh? Tsk, tsk. I suppose we could let you continue posting here, but we might have to submit it as as topic on the Vote Thread. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (189)

Funny how tastes vary. GoF is the one that really hooked me and probably my favorite.

Edit-- ***Waves to Catherine!***

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Acceber - Mar 18, 2005 3:32 pm (#148 of 2981)

Sorry to post again, but now I feel incredibly stupid for attempting to remember a name and failing dismallly. Names and faces have never been my strong point.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 18, 2005 3:36 pm (#149 of 2981)

Not a problem Becca.

I have it on good authority that Loopy had to edit his post because he skims others. *:flashes evil grin **

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 18, 2005 3:39 pm (#150 of 2981)

Tattle tale.

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (190)
Lady Arabella
Prefect
Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (191)

Posts : 2568
Join date : 2011-02-22
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (194)

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (195)Lady Arabella Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:02 pm

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 3:52 pm (#151 of 2981)

HEY!

Loopy better not be skimming MY post. **pouts more**

Hmmph. First he wouldn't share his maple candy, and now skimming. He's got some 'splainin' to do...

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 18, 2005 4:04 pm (#152 of 2981)

Catherine--why do you think he had to edit?

Do you want some maple candy, too?

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Denise P. - Mar 18, 2005 4:13 pm (#153 of 2981)

For those of you who have Cracker Barrel resturants near you, they sell maple candy in the store portion. Mr P. loves maple candy so I know where to get some quickly. I think he actually has a box sitting in the fridge right now.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 18, 2005 4:20 pm (#154 of 2981)

Elanor, the snow has slowed down a little here, but only temporarily. According to the National Weather Service, we could get as much as two feet of snow (that's not drifts -- that's the real thing) Our front yard looks like it has about 12-18 inches in it now, but I don't know how much of that is from drifting. My son has shoveled 3 times, moving about 10 inches of snow I would guess. The plows have kept up with it pretty well, but now we have an 18-inch-deep pile of packed snow from the plow at the bottom of our driveway. We may get as much as another 10 to 12 inches of snow during the night.

The worst problem all this snow causes for us is getting to our house. We live on a rather steep hill, and our minivan really struggles to get up the hill. Sometimes we end up having to walk.

EDIT: Ponine, I do know about St. Cloud, but not the exchange program. I'm not a native Minnesotan; I was born in New York State.

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pottermom34 - Mar 18, 2005 4:25 pm (#155 of 2981)

I have a Cracker Barrel but don't need it, we have a nature center in the area that makes maple candy, and syrup fresh from the tree. But I'm not sure if it is still the tapping season, or how good of a harvest this year was. They still do it the old fashioned way there. It's rather interesting to see if anyone has a nature center near by to visit, and they tap the trees.

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 4:29 pm (#156 of 2981)

Do you want some maple candy, too? --Lupin is Lupin

For those of you who have Cracker Barrel resturants near you, they sell maple candy in the store portion. Mr P. loves maple candy so I know where to get some quickly.—Denise

No thank you, she answered primly. I prefer to be a martyr to punish Loopy, she answered wickedly.

**waves back at Loopy, Kim, and Denise, and, indeed, anyone else whose post Loopy skimmed.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 18, 2005 4:35 pm (#157 of 2981)

He's done for, now.

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 5:02 pm (#158 of 2981)

It's OK.

As a homecoming treat, I bought The Incredibles for the **cough, cough** kids.

So we're watching it tonight, which will hopefully erase all memories of Loopy skimming my post.

I guess I should wave to Marcus, except that he's busy for a bit, as we both love this movie. **knows that Marcus is watching The Incredibles in between projects!**

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mike miller - Mar 18, 2005 5:54 pm (#159 of 2981)

You guys are a real w00t! I can think of no other place where you can find more diverse, informative, educational and witty banter on this planet!

Happy belated birthdays and anniversaries to all I've missed. The dementors have formed a "tag team" to make sure which ever one that is assailing me at the moment is fully rested. Enough rant..

RPS - I hope the snow eases a bit. The one good thing about a late season snow storm is that it usually melts quickly. I'm not sure that applies to those of you who live in the frozen tundra. It's definitely making an attempt at Spring here in Maryland. I can hardly wait for the shad run and a little early season fishing.

I'm hoping to finish the upstairs hallway painting project this weekend, only the molding and trim to go. My parents are coming for a visit at the end of the month and there's a family reunion on 4/2-3. I will be able to see my maternal grandfather, aunt and uncle as well. My immediate family will coming to our house for Sunday dinner. Well it's finally the weekend so I think I'll try to catch up with a few of my favorite threads. Have a great weekend everyone!

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Ponine - Mar 18, 2005 6:14 pm (#160 of 2981)

Round Pink Spider - Send your kids to St Cloud so they can attend Hogwarts!! Or, at least it was for the first two movies... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (196) And I want to point out that it is cruel and unusual punishment for you people to bask in American foods and sweets like that, when I am -not only a diet, but CRAVING American food. Steak biscuits at Cracker Barrel, Bread Bowl at Perkins, Ice Cream at Friendly's, Biscuits at Red Lobster...Any sub from Subway... ***salivating*** Alas, earwax, indeed.

EDIT: Oh - Have a great weekend, everyone - and go out to eat, and enjoy it!

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Gina R Snape - Mar 18, 2005 6:57 pm (#161 of 2981)

I went to Red Lobster last weekend! those cheesy biscuits are sooooooo good--a true diet buster. (Sorry Ponine!)

What kind of diet are you following?

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 18, 2005 7:20 pm (#162 of 2981)

Hey everyone! Been super busy lately. Unlike some people, hem-hem, I don't "skim" posts. I just surf them and catch the high points! ;-)

kabloink! ... "as my grandmother's maiden name is Griggs". That's interesting, my husband’s last name is Griggs...

I had tried to send ACCIO SPRING spells to those of you who need it, but I got stuck in the mud! If anyone needs rain, I know where there is more than enough! (Waves at Barbie!) Am off to catch up on a few threads and off to bed. Got a horse show tomorrow and dumb me stuck my foot in my mouth and have 2 horses to show as well as mine. It's going to be a LONG day! Have a great day everyone!

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Ponine - Mar 18, 2005 7:37 pm (#163 of 2981)

AAH!! Gina... You are killing me!! I can practically smell them... It is not any specific diet, but I suppose merely VERY sensible, very - standardized, in my book... I am not very good at eating at the same times every day, and often I only end up eating twice a day. Now I am trying to eat four times a day, and drink wayyy more water than I am used to. As I am refusing to give up on my diet coke addiction, it gets to be a whole lot of fluids these days... ***dreaming of cheese biscuits....*** Edit: Twinklingblueeyes - Horses!! I love horses! Western? English? Jump?

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Chemyst - Mar 18, 2005 7:42 pm (#164 of 2981)

TBE, Eewww! I just discovered the dangers of skimming posts! "Stuck in the mud," "stuck my foot in my mouth" and thoughts of horses walking through the stuff they walk through just got melded into one rather disgusting mental image.

Change of subject here & on to a more pleasant image. Spring is making her appearance in these parts. The Bradford pear trees are looking like giant lacy Easter eggs.

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Denise P. - Mar 18, 2005 7:46 pm (#165 of 2981)

We have a Bradford Pear in the front yard, it is thinking about starting to bloom. The branches have all kinds of little buds on them but nothing out yet. I think one warm day is all it will take to have it bloom.

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Catherine - Mar 18, 2005 8:17 pm (#166 of 2981)

Tomorrow should be a pleasant Easter-y spring day.

We have very gracious older neighbors with a backyard that is a Camellia maze of red and pink. Every year they organize an Easter egg hunt for their grandchildren, and very graciously extend engraved (WOW!) invitations to all children in our neighborhood and beyond. Tomorrow we can expect bunnies, baby chicks, goats and pony rides.

I suddenly remembered that we had accepted this invitation, so I must find the Easter baskets in the storage area, and remind the kids that it is not good manners to tackle other children in pursuit of eggs.

**waves to Loopy again**

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 18, 2005 8:28 pm (#167 of 2981)

TBE, Eewww! I just discovered the dangers of skimming posts! Stuck in the mud," "stuck my foot in my mouth" and thoughts of horses walking through the stuff they walk through just got melded into one rather disgusting mental image."

Welcome to my world! LOL!

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Ydnam96 - Mar 18, 2005 8:39 pm (#168 of 2981)

My internet has been down for almost two days. I've gotten so behind in posts that I had to push the "recent" button. I hope you all had a good st. patty's day. Mine was pretty uneventful.

It's raining again in LA. It may never stop. Makes my mood pretty gray as well. Plus, I just got done watching Return of the King. So needless to say I'm sitting here crying like a baby. (I just moved out to LA about 7 months ago and my job keeps me pretty busy, so I don't really have any friends outside of work cause I just don't have time to meet anyone, so my Friday evenings are pretty much me and my kitty and my couch...) I'm not complaining. It's just rainy and gray sometimes.

Maybe I should put in a happier movie? I'll go catch up on the threads.

Happy weekend everyone. Mandy

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 18, 2005 8:50 pm (#169 of 2981)

*sniffle* Green grass and flowers.... *sniffle*

As of 4:00 this afternoon, we were up to 15" officially. It slowed down for a while, but now at 9PM it's snowing heavily again. Our car got stuck on the way up the hill, and we ended up having to walk.

I will try to take consolation in the thought that it will melt quickly...(but I hope it doesn't flood the basement. )

Ponine, maybe you don't want to visit us after all; you definitely don't want to see what my daughter and I eat when we go out "Pottering"...

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kabloink! - Mar 18, 2005 10:41 pm (#170 of 2981)

Well, I'll be gone for awhile. My grandfather passed away unexpectedly this afternoon. As a matter of fact, it was the husband of the grandmother whose maiden name I mentioned earlier. I am with my parents this afternoon, and we will all be going to Long Island for the funeral next week. Now i just want to shoot myself for missing so much class earlier in the semester. Death in the family or not, I can't afford to miss too much more class. Take care anyone.

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Madam Pince - Mar 18, 2005 11:24 pm (#171 of 2981)

Condolences on your loss, kabloink. We will be thinking of you.

Salt: a World History Doesn't that sound like something Hermione would pick up for a bit of light reading?

Speaking of things that you wonder how someone first thought of them...I've often felt that the first person to ever eat an oyster was either incredibly brave, or incredibly hungry. Now, really, does a fresh oyster look like something that one could / would actually EAT????

Gina, I ate at Red Lobster last weekend too! ****mmmmm...cheese biscuits...**** They are heavenly! Horribly bad for you, of course, but heavenly!

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Amilia Smith - Mar 19, 2005 12:04 am (#172 of 2981)

Chemyst: That photo was absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful place to live.

Kabloink!: You have my sympathies on the loss of your grandfather. It being unexpected makes it harder. You haven't had time to get used to the idea.

I have been frantically applying to grad schools for the past few weeks. Yes, I know I should have done this months ago, but somehow I work better with a deadline staring me in the face (save a spot for me at Procrastinators Anonymous). As a result, I have not had time to post much, but I have still been sneaking in to lurk, and thoroughly enjoying this thread.

Mills.

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 19, 2005 12:08 am (#173 of 2981)

kabloink! I am sorry for your loss and I can understand what an uproar it can cause.

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Delightful Task! - Mar 19, 2005 2:16 am (#174 of 2981)

Well! It's impossible to work, take care of the kids, live, and read all your posts every day!! Anyway, it's always good on a fine Saturday morning to read about you all, discover the weather all around the world, learn about the fantastic stuff you can eat everywhere and have a look at those wonderful pear trees... Actually, perhaps our world is as magic as Harry's... Only you cannot apparate in the States and eat maple candy whenever you'd like to! hum... the feelings in my heart when I think about that gives me the impression there's a dementor just waiting behind me!... Well, expecto patronum! Spring is here, the weather is wonderful, the tiny pear tree on the balcony is just waiting for a little more warmth to blossom...

Kabloink, I'm sorry for you loss, and I understand what you feel. I lost my grandfather a few years ago, it was in spring too and the weather was wonderful... But I was taking that competitive examination to become a teacher, and I couldn't possibly not sit it because it would have meant working one more year like a dog without even being sure of the result... In such moments, I suppose you have to think things over and do what you feel you will not regret afterwards... We'll be thinking of you!

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septentrion - Mar 19, 2005 2:30 am (#175 of 2981)

Condolences for your loss, Kabloink ! I second Delightful task : just do what you feel right to do. Besides, I'm sure you'll think of your grandfather. Mine died some years ago, and I still cry when I think of him.

It's pretty unbelievable but I've done more than one hour of housework in a row this morning. Wonder if I'm not ready for St Mungo.

I guess trees won't be late to blossom, it'll be a nice view.

Great week-end everyone !

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Delightful Task! - Mar 19, 2005 2:44 am (#176 of 2981)

Septentrion, I can't believe you've done so much already!!! Aren't Saturday mornings the moment when you can keep your pyjamas on until half past ten, at least?!! You know what makes me sick? I'm so much like Hermione I wouldn't be able to have a house Elf help me! When I was in South Africa, We could have hired a maid, and many people told us it "helped Black people" there... But I just couldn't! And I promise you I hate housework! I don't care about machines helping me, but people... I don't know. I suppose my mother managed so I should be able to do it too! Now, If I had a wand... Hmmm that would be great!!!

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septentrion - Mar 19, 2005 2:59 am (#177 of 2981)

well, I just couldn't sleep and I can't stay in bed for a long time once I'm awake and the day is risen. My husband did sleep until 10 am but now he is to help me I like things to be done on Saturday so that I have nothing to do on Sunday.

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Delightful Task! - Mar 19, 2005 3:58 am (#178 of 2981)

I wish I were like you! I like things to be done, but how come they need me "to be done"?!! I was very lucky though, my husband decided yesterday it would be nice if he did the housework while I was working (I came back at 8 pm!), so the house was spick-and-span this morning... But since HE is working this morning, I had better make sure everything is as tidy as he left it when he comes back this afternoon!!

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mike miller - Mar 19, 2005 5:13 am (#179 of 2981)

Kabloink - My deepest sympathies to you and your family. It is always hard to deal with the loss a loved one. Hold tight to your memories and know that the pains and trials of this life can no longer test your grandfather. You are in our hearts and prayers.

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librarian314 - Mar 19, 2005 7:07 am (#180 of 2981)

Kabloink - I'm so sorry to hear about the death of your grandfather. Mine died 25 years ago and I still miss him, especially at this time of year, as he was an avid gardener. To remember him I plant some veggies and imagine he's here helping me. (I used to garden with him as a child.)

In just a few minutes, I get to go upstairs and bake the snitches for tomorrow's party. My daughter wanted golden snitch cupcakes for the kids' party. Her family birthday party cake is Ravenclaw's device supported by werewolves....My work here is done >-} I've created another Potterphile, bwahaha!!!

Y'all take care!

* *michelle the librarian**

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Dumbledore - Mar 19, 2005 8:32 am (#181 of 2981)

Kabloink - I, too, send my deepest condolences on the loss of your grandfather. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

RPS - nice to have another native New Yorker on the thread! Which part are you from?

LOL Delightful Task, it is 10:30 and I am still in my pajamas reading the posts from you guys! It's hard to keep from laughing out loud.

Yesterday was the day of my math competition, and I did not do as well as I would have liked to, or expected. I guess you can't win at everything (sigh). Have a nice weekend!!

-Lauren

P.S. My family, having no Irish heritage in the least, had corn beef on St. Patty's Day! :-D (and I think I found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow too ;-)

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Chemyst - Mar 19, 2005 8:52 am (#182 of 2981)

Kabloink, you have my sympathies. Delightful Task gave some excellent advice: as you walk through the choices of this coming week, make the ones that leave you with no regrets.

michelle the librarian, if you ever want to come join my family, you're certainly welcome. Between your birthday cakes and your medieval costumes, I'm sure we could find a spot where your talents would be appreciated

Mills, in the interest of full disclosure, that wasn't a photo of where I live, although it is fairly representative of a couple places within 10 miles of my house. But that specific photo was just one I found on the 'Net for people who did not know what a Bradford pear tree looks like.

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boop - Mar 19, 2005 8:57 am (#183 of 2981)

Kablonik, so sorry for the loss of your grandfather. Please take comfort in knowing we are thinking of you and your family.

Delightful Task, I have a wand, and have not been able to get it to work. So I have to do my house work myself. As for staying in pajamas until at least 10am, how does the whole day sound. That is what I did last Saturday. I didn't have to leave the house so why get dressed.

Today is my grandson Dustin's first birthday. I find it hard to believe it has been a year already. I will have to update my picture. Then you can see how big they have grown.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Hugs Always

boop

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Dumbledore - Mar 19, 2005 8:59 am (#184 of 2981)

Ohh that's a marvelous occasion, Boop! Happy birthday to your grandson! Is he your first?

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boop - Mar 19, 2005 9:05 am (#185 of 2981)

Dumbledore, nope the other two in my picture are also my grandchildren. Taysha is on the left and Dustin in the middle and Alyssa on the right. The ages are 6,1 and 4. I will have a new grandchild sometime at the end of this month, or April. The new baby is supposed to be a girl. I probably will not have anymore. grandchildren so Dustin will my only boy. I will post when the new little arrives.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 19, 2005 9:37 am (#186 of 2981)

Oh, kabloink, my condolences. (((HUGS)))

For those who are lamenting their indulgence in the Red Lobster cheddar biscuits...I can tell you just how much to lament. Each biscuit is 140 calories, 8g fat (3g saturated), 15g carbohydrates and 3g protein.

One is probably ok. But how hard is it to have just ONE?!?!

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 19, 2005 9:40 am (#187 of 2981)

My condolences, Kabloink.

Dumbledore, I was born and grew up in Rochester, NY, a couple of miles from Lake Ontario.

Our storm total ended up being 20". Only Winona had more (at 22"). The roads are already getting better, but they're still very rough.

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Catherine - Mar 19, 2005 12:16 pm (#188 of 2981)

Condolences, Kabloink. I'm sorry for your loss.

We've had a wonderful time at the Easter Egg hunt. The sun peeked out and we had nice weather for the duration, and as soon as the party ended, the clouds came back. Go figure, but how lucky for us.

I updated my Forum profile to change the pictures, as I took some cute ones at the party today. I included a picture of Hayley (my five year old) feeding a donkey, who happened to be wearing an Easter bonnet. I thought this was interesting enough to post for your amusement. My dogs Daisy and Phoebe have a new photo now; they are shown staring at some Harry Potter legos.

The petting zoo and pony rides were a big hit; they even had a llama, ducks, bunnies, chickens, and baby goats. I never could get a good picture of the kids with the goats, otherwise I would have posted that in my profile in honor of Aberforth.

Have a great Saturday. I'm sure Mr. Catherine and I will be watching basketball all weekend.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 19, 2005 6:10 pm (#189 of 2981)

Your daughters are absolutely beautiful, Catherine! What sweet pictures!

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Julia. - Mar 19, 2005 6:18 pm (#190 of 2981)

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandfather. Anything I can do let me know. In the mean time, have a butterbeer and lots of hugs *huggy huggy huggy*

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 19, 2005 7:42 pm (#191 of 2981)

WOOT! Am home from horse show. Whew! My horse's first. Entered two classes and brought home a first and a fifth place ribbon! I'm a happy camper! Also took two horses I have in training for other people and entered them in two classes. Got a fourth place and 2 fifth places so was a great day all around. Was first show for those two too! The weather was beautiful for a change and everyone had fun. I hope all in my forum family had as good a day as I did!

Pam

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pottermom34 - Mar 19, 2005 9:04 pm (#192 of 2981)

Condolences to Kabloink

Congrats on your ribbons, to Twinking Blue Eyes! Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (197)

Catherine, glad you had decent weather for your Easter Egg Hunt, wish me luck for mine this coming Saturday.
My church is having one and I get to be the bunny. I need lots of good weather charms as we still have snow on the ground and they're predicting colder than average al week. It was supposed to be in the 40's today but it snowed all day and and was only in the 20's. I even got sent home early from work because no one wants to go to the zoo when it's cold out. Can't imagine why. Going to the circus tomorrow that should be fun. Since Saturday is almost over, Everyone have a good Sunday.

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Marie E. - Mar 19, 2005 9:59 pm (#193 of 2981)

I'm so sorry, Kabloink.

I think the giant squid has been out of ND too long. When we were kids the summers were in the 80's with little humidity. Now when we go home in July it's 95 degrees and yucky blucky humidity. And, yes, "yucky blucky" is an official weather term. So why don't I go home in the winter? Um, because of the "gasoline-freezing" temperatures. My parents will just have to learn to come to me! Just kidding.

My oldest, Shayla, has been making some very astute observations about the HP books and movies lately. First there was the one about Mad Eye Moody using his magical eye to detect the Dark Mark tattoos on the Death Eaters' arms. Today we were watching CoS and she asked why Moaning Myrtle is able to make the water splash if she's a ghost. I told a whole forum of grownups is trying to figure out that same question.

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The giant squid - Mar 20, 2005 12:03 am (#194 of 2981)

My deepest sympathies, kabloink. My thoughts are with you and your family.

Ponine takes a moment to ponder what a squid can possible know about the Great Plains... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (198)

Well, this particular squid spent his formative years in Minot, North Dakota--the biggest Small Town in ND. As Marie said just above, when I lived there we were still in the middle of "the drought" so it never seemed that muggy. Especially in hindsight, as after ND I moved to south Georgia--when you've lived 50 miles from the Atlantic coast, the only thing that'd seem muggier would be if you were sitting in the ocean itself! (Or south Florida...but that's pretty much the same thing.)

My oldest, Shayla, has been making some very astute observations about the HP books and movies lately--Marie E.

You see what happens when you put her on meds to help her pay attention to things...?

--Mike

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Elanor - Mar 20, 2005 12:30 am (#195 of 2981)

The Giant Squid: "Well, this particular squid spent his formative years in Minot, North Dakota". LOL Mike! Do you know what "minot" means in French slang? It means "kid", appropriate, isn't it?

I wonder if there were some flour-mills in that area when that town was founded because "minotier" means "miller" and "minoterie" "flour-mill" in French too. Sorry, I couldn't resist, I just love words! Each one has its own history, travels and then changes, lives in a word, fascinating.

kabloink, I am so sorry for your grand-father.

Congratulations TBE!

This Sunday is going to be sunny and warm: we have the first barbecue planned for lunch today, it should be nice. Forecast says rain is coming, so we'd better enjoy spring while it's here! Have a great Sunday!

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septentrion - Mar 20, 2005 3:00 am (#196 of 2981)

Hello !

Catherine, your daughter is very nice.

Congrats TBE !

I wish I could have some BBQ as well but living in an apartment, I'd better forget about it. But everything's not lost : a friend gave us some good-looking couscous. I can't wait til lunch !

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Essidji - Mar 20, 2005 3:16 am (#197 of 2981)

have a nice sunday everyone!

Elanor, let's shake hands : we too have planned a BBQ for lunch today. And we had our first picnic of the year yesterday.

It's incredible, especially when you think that last week we were skiing with the school in La Bresse, about 80 km from here in the mountains of the Vosges, there is an impressive layer of snow up there.

From that week I brought back a good deal of pictures, wonderful memories of happy moments with the children, and... a dislocated elbow! Didn't I tell you that I am a poor skier? Now I just have to stand my arm in plaster for three weeks. Well, anyway, better me than a child. It would have been much more annoying to bring back an injured child to his parents.

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Pinky - Mar 20, 2005 4:17 am (#198 of 2981)

We had our first picnic yesterday also, to celebrate the last day of winter. We sat and looked at a beautiful stretch of water with rapids and a little waterfall. The bench was clear, but we had to tramp through a little snow to get to it.

Essidji, sorry to hear about your elbow. I've never tried skiing... not too sure I ever will.

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septentrion - Mar 20, 2005 4:28 am (#199 of 2981)

That's why we didn't hear of you lately Essidji ! At last, your elbow doesn't prevent you from writing here I hope it's not too painful.

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Delightful Task! - Mar 20, 2005 6:07 am (#200 of 2981)

Hmmm, WE had a BBQ, although we live in a flat! But Mr Delightful Task wouldn't live in an apartment without a balcony, and that's the moment of the year when I know he was right! That's a lot of fun to eat your BBQ with the kids laughing and talking loud and all the neighbours watching! (I'm sure they were jealous! But we dare and they don't!) Well Essidji, in a way you are lucky: a friend of mine broke her wrist here in Paris because of the snow ... At least you were having fun when it happened! Well, anyway I hope it's not too serious and you'll recover easily!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (199)
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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (200)

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Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (203)

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 20, 2005 6:30 am (#201 of 2981)

Kim, my condolences.

boop, congratulations on your grandson's birthday. It seems like yesterday you were writing about his impending birth and your picture of your grand children were just two little girls. How our family grows!

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 20, 2005 7:14 am (#202 of 2981)

So we're watching it tonight, which will hopefully erase all memories of Loopy skimming my post.—Catherine

These are scurrilous accusations! I am shocked and chagrinned! Of course, I don't skim your posts Catherine. Say, I have an idea that might help you forget this nasty rumor. Why don't you post some new pictures of your lovely daughters doing something Eastery? Or a new picture of the puppies? Or both? I'd like to see that. Just stick 'em in your profile and let the Forum know when you've done that. Alternatively, why don't you run out and buy The Incredibles ? It's out on DVD now. Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (205)

On a more serious note, best wishes to Kabloink.

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Madam Pince - Mar 20, 2005 7:58 am (#203 of 2981)

We had lovely weather outside yesterday, for a change. Today is back to yucky dreary. It was nice for yesterday, however, because it was Baby Pince's third birthday and we were able to cook the hamburgers and hotdogs outside on the grill. We had a little Thomas the Tank Engine party for him -- Thomas cake, little paper engineers' caps, etc. It was very nice. He has been feeling a little "under the weather" but managed very well with a bit of Motrin in him. He seems better this morning. Must've been all that blue cake icing....

He didn't receive any gifts that had to do with Harry Potter, but when we were reading one of the books he got, he pointed out one of the illustrations showing a boy wearing glasses, and he said "Look, it's Harry!" I was so proud. Then he continued by showing me "Hermione" and "Ron" -- Ron was the red-haired one.

TBE, congratulations on your horse show ribbons! Sounds like you did very well! Catherine, what a great picture of Hayley! And Septentrion, congrats on the housekeeping efforts! I tend to let things slide a little until some "visitor emergency" galvanizes me into action. So yesterday morning before the party I was a veritable whirlwind of energy, scooping up all the stuff from various places in the public areas of my house and dumping it all into the guest bedroom. Now the main house looks great. I will think about the guest bedroom.....tomorrow. (said Scarlett)

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Catherine - Mar 20, 2005 8:10 am (#204 of 2981)

Now the main house looks great. I will think about the guest bedroom.....tomorrow. (said Scarlett) --Madame Pince

Erm...I have been known to employ my guest bedroom as a repository for unfolded clothing, extra papers, etc. Isn't that what the room is for? Happy Birthday Baby Pince!

These are scurrilous accusations! I am shocked and chagrined--Loopy Lupin

Oh, dear. Loopy is in a state, all right. Tell you what, I think I'm off to buy The Incredibles, update my profile, stuff like that. How's that sound? **Waves to "Sunday Loopy Lupin**

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Dumbledore - Mar 20, 2005 8:11 am (#205 of 2981)

It's an absolutely spectacular day on Long Island for the first day of spring. It definitely has that spring feeling in the air - the birds chirping, the crisp weather. That's why spring and fall are my favorite seasons. They sort of have that magical feeling to them.

Madam Pince - I'm glad Baby Pince had a nice birthday. A three-year-old who likes Harry Potter. You must be doing something right! ;-D

Congrats on the horse show TBE. I absolutely love horses. They are so much fun to be around. I haven't ridden since the summer, though.

--LF

P.S. What's happened to Sherbie Lemon??? *hugs to Sherbie wherever she is*

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Gina R Snape - Mar 20, 2005 8:20 am (#206 of 2981)

Dumbledore, you are very lucky. I am a mere few miles away in Manhattan and the weather here is cool and overcast.

It's just as well. I've got a load of reading to do today for school.

Giant Squid, did you move to Georgia so you could be closer to the ocean, for a good swim? Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (206)

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Julia. - Mar 20, 2005 10:02 am (#207 of 2981)

Good morning everyone. Grrrr, my mommy woke me up. Seems she forgot the first rule of Julia: Never call before noon! :mad:

Spring was sort of here the past few days. It's been quite chilly, but not snowing, and the snow we have has mostly melted. Granted, it's been too cold to do anything outside, but it's been a lovely break from the terrible winter we've been having. Unfortunately it's supposed to rain/snow tomorrow.

TBE, congrats on your horse show ribbons!

Madam P, I'm so glad to hear that Baby P's party went well. What were this friends thinking? No one gave him any HP presents? How silly. Good show on him that he managed to find Harry and Ron.

Catherine, I love your pictured. Haley is beautiful, and I love the dogs!

A pleasant Palm Sunday to everyone who observes.

Ahhh, time for breakfast now. Have a good day everyone.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 20, 2005 10:13 am (#208 of 2981)

Gina, I love your new picture. Faberge looks soo cute.

My condolences to Kabloink.

The sun is actually shining this morning. I haven't ventured out just yet. But I'm afriad that if I try I will scare the sun away. But I am thinking of going down to Barnes and Nobles and getting a copy of the Lost Tales, JRRT. Something has to keep me busy for a while till July.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 20, 2005 11:08 am (#209 of 2981)

Thanks, Ydnam96! Faberge became rather curious over the camera on my mobile phone, started sniffing it. So...I took her picture mid-sniff!

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Catherine - Mar 20, 2005 12:20 pm (#210 of 2981)

That is a cute picture of Faberge, Gina. I was wondering how you got such an extreme close-up!

Well, I see that Connecticut has fallen to N.C. State. Just gotta love the ACC teams...

And back to the NCAA Tournament!

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Dumbledore - Mar 20, 2005 12:26 pm (#211 of 2981)

I love the picture of your cat, Gina. What kind is she?

Catherine, my dad being a native Connecticut boy, made a moan that you could hear around the whole house when Connecticut lost!! I can imagine you are feeling the same way, Julia.

And there you have it for us Forumers...life & Harry Potter, in a nutshell!

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Helen Potterfan - Mar 20, 2005 12:58 pm (#212 of 2981)

Kabloink, I'm so sorry for your loss. I, too, send you hugs and warm wishes.

Twinkling Blue Eyes, congrats on the ribbon!

Catherine, your kids are adorable (all of them Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (207)!

Julia and Dumbledore, I am sorry for your basketball loss, but like Catherine, I must pull for the ACC teams. Too bad Wake Forest lost, I was hoping for 3 ACC teams in the final 4! My husband is a huge college basketball fan, so it has been nonstop basketball all day for three days at my house. I am also a bb fan, but I've about had enough! I never get any work done in March; it really does make me feel mad! For all of you fans out there, if Duke wins today, Coach K will pass Dean Smith's record for the most wins in the NCAA tournament! GO DUKE!!

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Madam Pince - Mar 20, 2005 1:43 pm (#213 of 2981)

Wake lost???? I haven't been watching this weekend, but I thought Wake had a golden-paved path to the Final Four......

Go Coach K! (I never could stand Dean Smith! Big shock, for a Wahoo, eh?)

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Chemyst - Mar 20, 2005 4:01 pm (#214 of 2981)

Gina, I'm glad your second line of information explained things. For a moment there, I thought Snape had been hitting the polyjuice.

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Catherine - Mar 20, 2005 4:05 pm (#215 of 2981)

For a moment there, I thought Snape had been hitting the polyjuice. –Chemyst

SPEW! I think Snape has been hitting the Polyjuice. He often goes around disguised as Alan Rickman.

March is the cruelest month. I never know who to really root for--my grad school, or Mr. Catherine's? My Dad and brother are die-hard Duke fans; Mr. Catherine is a die-hard Carolina fan.

Ah...choices.

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Gina R Snape - Mar 20, 2005 5:45 pm (#216 of 2981)

Bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha. You guys crack me up!!!!!

Fabergé is a domestic shorthair tuxedo cat. In other words...a mutt. However, I have seen sculptures of egyptian siamese cats at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum in London which would make you take a second or third look at Fabergé. She has a very distinctive look like in those sculptures--with a prominant nose, bulbous 'cheeks' at the whiskers and pointy ears. Others have even mentioned this to me. So it's not 'mother's pride' or solely my imagination!

She is also very bright, so I wonder if she's part kneazle. Her mother (Wicca) was even smarter and more expressive than Fab, so she certainly must've been.

Nymphadora, on the other hand...tiny delicate face with a strong dominant personality. But...not so bright as Fabergé (or Wicca was). She demonstrates a little of the clumsiness reminiscent of her namesake too. But she's my baby and I love her still.

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Julia. - Mar 20, 2005 6:46 pm (#217 of 2981)

We still have the women!! GO HUSKIES!!!

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Helen Potterfan - Mar 20, 2005 7:14 pm (#218 of 2981)

Julia, I hope the UConn women make it all the way to the final game, where I hope Duke's women beat them Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (208).

Coach K got his victory, so I'm happy.

Catherine, I'd be happy to help you with that choice Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (209).

Gina, I'm sure Faberge is a big help in your potion making!

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haymoni - Mar 20, 2005 7:38 pm (#219 of 2981)

Hey all - every year Hubby picks Kentucky to go all the way. He spent a year in Lexington after high school, so he has embraced them as his own. Too bad for him!

I have participated in the March Madness pools for a long time. I actually won $40 last year - I came in 6th. One of my Final 4 teams is already out, but I'm really enjoying the games this year. Nothing is for certain.

Has anyone been watching "The Contender"? That's the boxing "Survivor" show with Stallone & Sugar Ray. I don't know why I am drawn to boxing. Perhaps it is all those Wide World of Sports shows with Howard Cosell that I watched growing up.

It couldn't possibly be the good-looking young men that they've chosen for the show, could it??? Very improper of me, I know!

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The giant squid - Mar 21, 2005 2:18 am (#220 of 2981)

Elanor, I never knew that "minot" meant "kid" in French. You learn something new every day... The town was actually named for the founder, Henry Minot, who may or may not have been of French descent.

Giant Squid, did you move to Georgia so you could be closer to the ocean, for a good swim?—Gina

LOL! Well, Minot is only a couple hours' drive from the geographical center of North America, so I was about as far from ocean as you could get! Sadly, I only made it to the ocean once in the three years I lived in Georgia--and we got hit by a massive rainstorm after only a couple minutes! I think Marie still has the picture of me on the beach with these huge black (not grey,

black

) clouds rolling in behind me. Very Voldemort-ish.

--Mike

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septentrion - Mar 21, 2005 3:10 am (#221 of 2981)

I've googled Henry Minot but couldn't get far in his ancestry. If he's of French descent, it might have been a long time ago. However I learnt the river in Minot is called Souris, which means "mouse" in French. Maybe there's another meaning to this word ? BTW I once googled my family name and found a canyon and dunes in the USA called exactly like me. Isn't it fun ?

Here are the dunes and here the canyon.

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Ponine - Mar 21, 2005 5:31 am (#222 of 2981)

Hey everyone!

Just hanging about killing time. My puppy is at the vet's right now, I am afraid there is something going on with his hips/legs/lower back, and x-rays, tests and what not are begin taken as we speak... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (210) The worst part about having animals is when they get sick... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (211)

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Snuffles - Mar 21, 2005 5:38 am (#223 of 2981)

A happy Monday everyone.

Ponine sorry to hear about your puppy, hope everything turns out ok. My dog suffers with arthritis and sleeps on a hot water bottle! She is 14.

Weather finally looks nice today. Weekend was supposed to be good but it was foggy and cold!

Hope everyone at the forum is ok.

Julie

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 5:42 am (#224 of 2981)

Good luck with that, Ponine. It's very distressing when a pet has health problems, I know. My older dog, Phoebe, who is going on 12, has a growth near her eye that has grown very rapidly, and the doctor thinks it is melanoma. She's scheduled to get the growth taken off at the end of this month, so we'll know more then. Her other tumors have been benign, so I feel pretty optimistic that this one will turn out that way, too.

I hope the vet can make your puppy feel better.

On a happier news front, looks like "Coach K" got his win yesterday! Most excellent. Mr. Catherine is looking forward to the "Sweet Sixteen" games he will attend in Albequerque, although I don't think that any ACC teams are in that bracket, which is too bad.

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Julie Aronson - Mar 21, 2005 7:06 am (#225 of 2981)

Congrats, good luck, and best wishes to all...Happy spring! Here in Akron we are welcoming the new season with snow flurries. Enough already!

Kabloink!

I am so sorry for your loss. My grandmother died on 9/9/2001. We were already sitting shiva (the Jewish period of mourning for close family immediately following a death) when the 9/11 nightmare hit. In a bout of frustration, I asked one of my aunts (Grandma's sister) to teach me how to knit. For some reason, it gave me a feeling of comfort to create something during a time of loss. Plus, now whenever I knit I can think of my grandmother and my aunt, who has since passed away as well.

To any lawyers out there:

As the start of my law school experience looms large, I would gladly accept any advice you can offer about things I should do to prepare...

Julie

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Gina R Snape - Mar 21, 2005 7:07 am (#226 of 2981)

Oh, Ponine. Good luck with the vet. It is hard when your animals get sick. In her old age, Fabergé has been to the vet several times a year--more in two years than in her entire lifetime. This is expected when pets grow old. But yours is a puppy, so I keep my fingers especially crossed.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 21, 2005 7:25 am (#227 of 2981)

As the start of my law school experience looms large, I would gladly accept any advice you can offer about things I should do to prepare...---Julie Aronson

Get some sleep.

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Julia. - Mar 21, 2005 8:06 am (#228 of 2981)

Good luck with your puppy Ponine. I hope everything works out.

UUgh, it's snowing again. When will it end?!

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Marè - Mar 21, 2005 8:22 am (#229 of 2981)

Okay, I'm just so very dissapointed, and since you all will probably understand, I'm coming here to rant.

Last week I send in my design for the Accio convention t-shirt contest. I've worked on it for a long time. I think I started a week or so after they announced the contest.

So I heard nothing from accio after sending it in for the entire week. Thats very well possible, but my e-mail has been having troubles, So this Friday I send a pm on the Accio forums to the person in charge of the contests to check if they had received the drawing.

This was the reply:

”Yes. I got it and I personally love it. However, it would cause problems with the WB and we couldn't print it even if it won. So if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you do a few more... less HP imagery. Try to think of the conference as a whole.

I am sorry I have to ask this because your design is great for a t-shirt, but it may make the WB shut us down. Sorry. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks, MG, Art Director for Accio 2005”

*Ranting part starts here*

Let's break this down:

“Yes. I got it”
Well... Thank you for notifying me... Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (212)

“However, it would cause problems with the WB and we couldn't print it even if it won.”
So funny, because, really, it has nothing to do with the movies. (It's a picture of the Trio and Neville and Ginny (+ pets) in the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron are summoning a broom and chess pieces and the others are reading (Hermione) and trying to read (Ginny and Neville). It's completely book-based... You know, the books, the ones that were there before the movies jumped in on the hype.
I know they have copyrights and all, but they really have them all? I mean, from this (and several other things) it sounds like they "outrank" Jo and the publishers by now... Big Bullies!

“So if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you do a few more...”
I only worked on this piece for well over a month. But hey, why don't I shake a few more drawings out of my sleeve. (deadline is the end of this month) Pffft, it's magic. Remember this person is the art director, she is a professional (or at least calls herself that). She doesn't know that it takes a little time to make an entire design from scratch?

“Less HP imagery. Try to think of the conference as a whole.”
And this, I think, is the most funny part. I can't make a Harry Potter themed drawing for a Harry Potter convention...????? Fine, wouldn't it have been a GOOD IDEA to put that in the guidelines????

So obviously I'm not going to respond to this message for at least another week, because I don't think I will be able to type up a very nice or mature response right now.
(If any-one has any suggestions, please let me know)

So for now, I have just wasted a whole lot of time on nothing. Not funny.

Add to that my horrible sunburn. Yes sunburn, the first day of summer (somebody skipped spring last saturday) caught me off guard again. Now it's raining, but my face, neck, shoulders and upper chest (?) are bright red, still working like my personal radiator and hurt everytime I put a coat on or move in my sleep.
For all the people with snow: It has it's advantages!

This is just not my week, I guess.

Rant over, somebody else can post some happy thoughts now...

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pottermom34 - Mar 21, 2005 8:56 am (#230 of 2981)

So sorry about your bad luck Marè., Those muggles must've been smoking some bad hobbit leaf. I thought your idea (from what you described above) was pretty good. If you decide to try again I hope you have better luck, too bad you can't somehow submit your idea to JKR for approval to override the WB.

On the lighter side of things, the sun has finally found Michigan, I don't know how long it will last, but I'll take every little bit I can get. It sure made for a more pleasant wait at the bus stop this morning. Hopefully it comes out for my E. egg hunt

I have a question for any veteran moms or grandmas, how do I get my kids to stop drinking so much juice, they refuse to drink water .They will drink milk occasionally but I don't want to give them too much of that either. My 5 yr old yells for me at 4 or 5 in the morning everyday to get her some juice. I tell her no, that she can have water and she cries as loud as possible waking the whole house up. So then I give in so we can all go back to sleep. If anyone has any good ideas short of a tranquilizer I’d appreciate it.

Thanks Michelle

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Pinky - Mar 21, 2005 8:56 am (#231 of 2981)

Oh Mare! *big hug* Can you post a link to your picture? I'd love to see it. You are a very talented and creative artist, and I think Accio should realize that people attending it are probably more interested in Harry Potter, than in Accio itself. "Think of the conference as a whole"? Hmmmm.... It's about Harry Potter, the workshops are about Harry Potter, the fans are there because of Harry Potter.... why don't you draw something about Harry Potter? Grrrrr.........

So sorry to hear about your sunburn too. Do they have Noxzema in your stores? It's actually a skin cleansing cream for your face, but it does wonders on a sunburn. Otherwise, use lots of aloe.

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Denise P. - Mar 21, 2005 9:03 am (#232 of 2981)

Yuke Mare! Sounds like the guidelines were not very clear. Who would have ever thought to NOT use HP images for a shirt designed for a HP convention? I would love to see your design too, more so since I currently wear a shirt with one of your designs.

Aloe is really good for sunburn, as is Noxema.

This week is spring break for my kids and although we have no rain at the moment, we are supposed to be rainy all week long. I had wanted to take them down to the riverside park so they could fly kites (no wires around) but won't be able to if it is raining. They are currently playing basketball in the driveway and drawing all over the concrete with colored chalk, which Mr. P detests.

What is it about men and chalk on the concrete? It washes off easily but he acts like they are using oil based paint that won't come off with anything short of a sandblaster anytime they decorate the driveway.

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pottermom34 - Mar 21, 2005 9:12 am (#233 of 2981)

that sounds very familiar Denise P. My husband gets upset about trivial things too. the better question is what is it about men period?

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Snuffles - Mar 21, 2005 9:14 am (#234 of 2981)

It must be a man thing full stop which ever side of the atlantic they belong! my husband has a thing about my daughter eating in the car, I keep saying it hoovers up but NO! I wouldn't mind but its usually the woman that cleans up after the children anyway!Hmmphh

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 21, 2005 9:49 am (#235 of 2981)

I have a question for any veteran moms or grandmas, how do I get my kids to stop drinking so much juice, they refuse to drink water .They will drink milk occasionally but I don't want to give them too much of that either. My 5 yr old yells for me a 4 or 5 in the morning everyday to get her some juice. I tell her no, that she can have water and she cries as loud as possible waking the whole house up. So then I give in so we can all go back to sleep. If anyone has any good ideas short of a tranquelizer i'd appreciate it. Pottermom34

My suggestion: Pour each child a sipper bottle with a measured amount of juice each morning. You set the amount. Tell them that's all they get for the day. (With little kids, you could divide it into 2 smaller cups, one for morning, one for afternoon.) Then let them decide when they're going to drink it. Don't negotiate with terrorists, and don't let them bully you. You are trying to do what's best for them, so don't give in. Reward (with stickers, a small treat, whatever) those kids who don't moan and complain about wanting more juice.

When you make your child responsible for rationing out his/her own juice, you're teaching the child to be responsible. If your child runs out of juice and complains, simply tell him/her that now they know the next day not to drink it so quickly. And be prepared to go through a really bad time for the first week! You'll get temper tantrums, but if you make a sticker chart and promise, say, a trip to McDonalds if they get 7 or 10 (or whatever) stickers in a row for not complaining, they'll clean up their act pretty quickly.

This technique can be adapted for almost anything for any child over the age of 3, but you must not give in, or your children will know you don't mean it. For ages 3-6, make sure you praise them and hug them whenever they accept your decision without whining. For older ages, praise them and tell them how much you appreciate their good behavior.

If your 5-year-old has learned to scream to get what she wants, I'm afraid the only way to get her to stop is to grit your teeth and let her scream... She'll stop eventually, especially if you praise her when she doesn't scream. Ignore the bad, praise the good, and take lots of aspirin... *wince*

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 9:51 am (#236 of 2981)

Oh, Mare, it sounds like the woman who finally wrote you back is a complete....Muggle. She sounds about as aware as Vernon Dursley. I have other descriptions in mind, but the family-friendly nature of our Forum forbids my using them.

However, as this description is book-based, let's just say, ala Ron, I'm picturing a baboon's backside!

***walks off muttering under breath like Kreacher***

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Denise P. - Mar 21, 2005 10:00 am (#237 of 2981)

I agree with RPS. You have to be tough and stick to your guns....er...position.

There is another method of cutting back on juice...water it down. My kids always got 25% juice, 75% water. If your kids are used to 100% juice, cut it with 25% water each week until it is mainly water. This method usually involves less wailing, moaning and tearing hair on the part of all involved. Another method is to stop getting any juice. If it is not in the house, they can't drink it very easily. This way is probably the least popular, cold turkey plan.

My kids don't really care for juice at all. They drink mainly water (and as Kierynn will shriek "Ice Mom! I want ICE!") or Crystal Lite. Occasionally we do Kool-Aide but even then, we probably only put in 1/3 the sugar the packet calls for.

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Elanor - Mar 21, 2005 10:20 am (#238 of 2981)

Marè, I'm so sorry about your drawing, it is so unfair! I really don't understand because it has nothing to do with the movies. It is really great with a lot of tiny details that only HP freaks like us, that is to say most of the people that will take part in Accio, would notice. Grrrrr...

If I were you, I would write them right now, even if you fear you won't be as nice as you should probably be, and ask them what on earth in the drawing is movie related and where, in the guidelines, it is said that you're not allowed to draw HP characters. They have to be consistent: either their rules are more precise, either any drawing that is HP related and follow those rules should have a chance to win.

You could also ask them what part of the drawing could fit with their "rules", maybe you should be able to copy and paste them together so that this part of your beautiful work could have a chance if they don't change their mind. At least, all your work would not be lost like that. ((((((big hug))))))

Actually, I was planning to write them too. It's been a long time since they told us that we should receive details about the presentations (deadline for sending them the paper, what equipment we can use there...) and I'm still waiting. Not that I have not enough to do for now since I have so much fun with the "alchemical re-read" of the books but still, I would appreciate to have a better idea of the deadline.

About the sunburn, you can find some "Parfenac" in any pharmacy, it's really great for that! Actually, I have caught one too yesterday! We made our first barbecue, it was soooo nice! The weather was perfect: sunny, 25°C (77°F), it was like May, not March. After the BBQ, I treated me with a lovely nap in the half shade on a deckchair in my Mom's yard and in no time I felt asleep. But when I woke up, the sun had moved... Fortunately, I had put a hat on but I caught a sunburn behind an ear and neck. It is a light one, nothing really, but at that time, I found it funny because it made me think to Ron when he is angry. Hopeless, I know... Actually, I needed to caught the sun, since the flu I've been white as a sheet!

Unfortunately, the clouds have come back this afternoon so I think we can say good bye to our early May (not summer as in Brittany, summer is - normally- much hot, it is often about 30°C, 86°F then, not a weather to put a Breton -Brittany inhabitant- outside, he would burn... ). It is normal since the week before Easter has very, very often a bad weather, some say it has something to do with the moon.

Have a good Monday everybody! For once, I'm dreading Tuesday more than Monday: Tomorrow I will be at school before 8 a.m., will work till 4.30 p.m. as usual (with a 15 minutes break for lunch) and afterwards I have to meet parents till 6 p.m. and then to go to the school council till 8.30 p.m. (at least)! Not fun...

Edit: sorry for the long post, I didn't realized I had written so much!

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Lina - Mar 21, 2005 10:48 am (#239 of 2981)

Hi!

Jumping in just to say I'm home (came today) and I can obviously sit by the computer.

The results of the analysis done during the operation are negative which means good and much less fear for me. Everything else that is going to be done is going to be just precaution and therefore less difficult. Now I can celebrate Easter in peace with my family.

And fortunately, the new thread has been started, so I will be able to track all the posts in the meantime.

Nice week to everyone!

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Pinky - Mar 21, 2005 10:57 am (#240 of 2981)

Hooray, Lina! I know that has brought all kinds of peace and we are so glad to have you back with no worries.

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Julia. - Mar 21, 2005 10:58 am (#241 of 2981)

W00t! Welcome back Lina!! *hands Lina butterbeer* I'm so glad you're ok and that everything turned out well!

Mare, would you like us to Imperio the people incharge of this? Stupid Muggles. *joins Catherine in muttering under her breath Kreacher style* In the meantime, can you either email me (my address is in my profile) or post the pic you submitted for the contest? Just because the muggles won't let you make one doesn't mean I can't!

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 21, 2005 11:10 am (#242 of 2981)

As the start of my law school experience looms large, I would gladly accept any advice you can offer about things I should do to prepare... --- Julie

Well, insofar as it appears you have gone ahead and applied to law school and been accepted, it is way too late for my best advice which would have been: "Don't!" Otherwise, there's not much you can do to prepare ahead of time. I might buy my books as soon as possible and get a jump on the reading. Once school starts, talk to the 2nd/3rd years about their experiences and review practice exams/old exams if they are available. The sooner you get used to the exam formats, the better.

Otherwise, rent The Paperchase or find Scott Turow's book about the first year of law school (L One or something like that). They are both full of clichés (notwithstanding the fact that Turow's book is supposed to be based on reality), but the clichés are, more or less, true.

All that aside, there's not a lot to be done for the first year law student. The paradox is that you will have to simply go through all that reading during the first year in order to later understand that doing all that reading was entirely unnecessary. You will understand exactly what I mean next year.

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Penny Lane. - Mar 21, 2005 12:10 pm (#243 of 2981)

Julie- my advisor told me to read a book called 'Law School Confidential'. It's written by ..*digs through piles of laundry, papers, textbooks, and about 5 different bookbags*... I don't know I think I left my copy at home.

The book details law school, and exactly what law school it. It also gives advice on what to do pre-law, the summer before law school, etc. My biggest complaint was that it focused mainly on corporate lawyers, which is not something I really want to do. Actually, reading the book and thinking about how sick I am of my undergraduate work, I don't even want to apply after reading that.

What's the Paper Chase about? Is it a book or a DVD?

And in the parenting sector: I never knew juice was bad. I'm going to be such a horrible mother. I know I really shouldn't be in full panic mode on that one, as I am not currently in courtship with anyone, I'm not pregnant, and I don't even really think I could "parent" a fica plant. On the Jucic thing, I thought it was good for people - I pretty much only drink fruit juice, tea, bottled watter, and coffee. Is it the sugar? Or is it the processed juice that isn't really juice?

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kabloink! - Mar 21, 2005 12:14 pm (#244 of 2981)

Thank you to everyone who sent their condolences. They are much appreciated. I will be out on Long Island myself tomorrow night. I ended up planning on flying over on Tuesday night for the funeral on Wednesday, then driving back with my family on Thursday. They decided that plane tickets for all is only slightly more expensive, and that extra expense is worth it to not be stuck in a small car with my older sister for 12 hours. (We all agree on this, I'm not just picking on her).

Its kinda weird to think about. He was anxious to get off chemo (it was a precaution - the cancer they found was not life-threatening, and they had removed most of it already, and it was his heart that gave out in the end) so that he could take my grandma for another vacation. He had just bought her a bouquet of flowers on Tuesday, and now he's gone. I wasn't very close to him, but I always wanted to make him proud of me, as the second oldest grandchild. Arg, I'm getting sappy and weepy, sorry everyone. I will talk to everyone when I get back from good ol' NY. Thanks again for all your thoughts and good wishes!

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 12:27 pm (#245 of 2981)

My 5 yr old yells for me a 4 or 5 in the morning everyday to get her some juice. I tell her no, that she can have water and she cries as loud as possible waking the whole house up. --PotterMom34

Whew! That is unpleasant! I'll chime in with Denise and Round Pink Spider about sticking to your guns word. Their advice sounded really reasonable to me. The only thing I would add is that the juice is not the only problem; waking up at 4/5 a.m. and yelling is disrespectful to everyone in the house. Five years old is plenty old enough to go get oneself a drink of water and refrain from bothering other people. I'd fill up a sports bottle with some icy cold water, put it beside her bed at night, and completely ignore her if she's yelling for a drink.

I think there should be natural consequences imposed if she is throwing a fit about juice at such an early hour, like going to bed extra early at night; after all, she must be terribly tired from getting up so early! I'm also all for imposing a juice rule, explaining the juice rule, and taking away the juice if the rule is broken. Example: You will get juice with breakfast, not before. If you throw a tantrum about the juice, you will get zero juice for the day. But of course, these things only work if you are absolutely consistent with the rule. Let her throw the fit, but ignore her. Don't "feed" the fit with juice, yelling, talking, or pleading. Tell yourself that you DO have the right, and the obligation, to set rules for your house.

**sending Pottermom some earplugs** Good luck to you!

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Dumbledore - Mar 21, 2005 2:13 pm (#246 of 2981)

Ponine, my dog, a wheaton terrier, is 14. He has really bad arthritis in his left hip so whenever he walks he limps. He gets a vitamin called glucosamine chondroitin 3 times a day (it's actually a human vitamin that works the same for dogs by loosening up joints) and he also takes a prescription medicine once a day. It's really sad, because although the medicine helps, it cannot reverse the effects of old age, and it's really sad to see the dog that I grew up with (we are only one year apart) deteriorate so quickly.

Mare, I think you should do the bat-bogey hex on those muggles! And I'm sorry about the sunburn.

Today was pretty good. The weather was overcast, but it was pretty warm so I know spring has arrived. I sort of got into a fight with one of my four best friends, but hopefully it's nothing more than the catty adolescence of teenage girls, and will pass over quickly. Any advice??

Have a great week everybody!

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Detail Seeker - Mar 21, 2005 2:19 pm (#247 of 2981)

Maré, there must be really agressive lawyers about, trying to make money from any incident possible. This winter, I wrote to the publisher, who printed the "Plattdeutsch"-translations of PS and CoS, whether they were considering publishing translations of the other books and when they would do so. The answer was, that for copyright reasons, they could not even answer the question.

so, if curses are to be used, they should be directed to the law departments of WB or Bloomsbury or Scholastic..... I tried a permanent blind spot on anything HP, but I fear I failed utterly.

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The giant squid - Mar 21, 2005 2:24 pm (#248 of 2981)

if curses are to be used, they should be directed to the law departments of WB or Bloomsbury or Scholastic

Well said. I doubt the folks at Accio came up with the bizarre restrictions, but in this lawsuit-happy society we live in (no offense to the lawyers in residence) some people have to go overboard to cover their butts. Then again, it is possible to be too well-protected...artwork for an HP convention that's "less HP related"??

--Mike

EDIT: Eek! I nearly forgot--welcome back, Lina! I'm glad things worked out for you.

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 21, 2005 2:26 pm (#249 of 2981)

What's the Paper Chase about? Is it a book or a DVD? -- Penny Lane

It is a movie about the first year of law school. Come to think of it, I don't know if it is out on DVD. It's been a video for years though.

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Ponine - Mar 21, 2005 2:31 pm (#250 of 2981)

I am with Catherine on this one, Pottermom - You may not get any sleep for a couple of nights, but in the long run, it will be better for the both of you. Juice, like soda, is awful for your teeth (due to its sugar content as well as the acidity of it, Jules Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (213) and so she would honestly be better off not drinking it at night/in the morning like that, when the ph value of her mouth is allowed to simmer and eat away at her enamel. I would tell her at some point during the day, when you guys are chatting and in good spirits, so to speak (not when you are both tired and grumpy), and just let her know that you will not get out of bed in the middle of the night to get her juice anymore. If she gets thirsty, she can have a drink of water which will be by her bed. I like Catherine's idea about a spiffy waterbottle, and maybe you can make a point out of prepping it together at night, with an ice cube or three, making it a team effort. Don't give in to her though. You are right, and she is five. She may be loud and persistent, but it will pass.

I am glad to hear your good news, Lina! And kabloink - I lost both my grandmas this past year, and it has been really tough, but as time passes, I find it easier to be thankful and appreciate that I got to have them in my life, rather than just be devastated that I lost them. I hope that you too will be able to do that.

Oh - And my Mio (who is over one, actually, I just call him my puppy because he is so little and bubbly) is going to be ok!!! Apparently he is born with loose kneecaps in his hindlegs, but he can bounce around as much as he wants to, as it will not get worse, and he is in no pain - yey!! I hope your dog's growth is nothing serious Catherine! And as far as the vet's is concerned, Gina - I mean, this is my first dog, and I am an extremely - eager - dog owner. I think it was quite telling when I stopped by the vet's office with him, and I mentioned how we were there so much. She looked sincerely puzzled, and said that we had not been there for a long time now. I asked her to check her computer, and three weeks had passed.... I never thought I had to go to the vet's THAT much. I keep telling him he is worth his weight in gold at this point.

EDIT: Oh, Marè - I too would love to see your artwork! DO we not have any venue to share pictures of pretty puppies and artwork and such? I am seriously miffed on your behalf, and on Jo's, for stupid WB to take over so completely....

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 2:37 pm (#251 of 2981)

Then again, it is possible to be too well-protected...artwork for an HP convention that's "less HP related"?? --Mike TGS

Hem hem...this whole incident reminds me of Umbridge's speech at the start of term feast, and Umbridge's course aims at the first DADA lesson. Mare is like Hermione, raising her hand, and saying, "I don't see anything in your guidelines about actually using HP images and themes."

Grrr. I mean, hey, it's not like people who go to Accio are Harry Potter fans or anything like that.

***still muttering like Kreacher..."baboon's backside"....***

EDIT: Good news, Ponine! Hooray for the pup.

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Dumbledore - Mar 21, 2005 2:42 pm (#252 of 2981)

Yayy for the puppy, Ponine!

And Lina, I forgot to say in my last long-winded post how glad I am that you are OK!!! Mazel tov!!!!! Our thoughts were definitely with you on the forum!

Catherine, a Harry Potter convention having to do with Harry Potter? Quite a preposterous idea! The nerve of Mare, of course!

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Madame Librarian - Mar 21, 2005 2:48 pm (#253 of 2981)

Lina--terrific news! There's nothing like finding out good news about your health. Hope you heal quickly.

Kabloink, my condolences. It is good that you'll all be together for the funeral, etc. It's a time to reminisce, love each other and re-connect with all family members.

Maré, bummer. Doncha hate it when the "conditions" are explained thoroughly...(ahem) after the fact? Like that was soooo helpful. Grrrrr.

For the present nanosecond, the sun is actually shining here in Chicagoland. The temp, however, is stuck somewhere back in February. Some very hardy daffodils are poking their way out of the ground. Boy, are they gonna be sorry.

RPS--brilliant idea there on the juice! I consider myself a reasonably successful mom--he turns 21 tomorrow...yikes!--but I don't think I'd have come up with that solution in a million years. I do know that whatever system you decide upon, YOU MUST NOT BACK DOWN! Sorry to shout, but I'm convinced that that's the whole trick to discipline that's effective. You can have the most sensible approach, but if your kids sense that you'll back down sometimes, it's worthless. When I started the whole time out system with Jordan (at around 18-24 months, when they understand "no"), the first time I sat him down on the time out sofa, he laughed at me (yeah, stopped his angry little demanding for whatever, and laughed). It took repeating the process about 15 times till he got it. Next occasion, it took around 6 times. After that, I only had to start counting: 1...2...3. I rarely got to 5. Now, Jordan was a sweet kid, really very even-headed, not prone to fits or tantrums (never did have an official lie on the floor and scream scene), so I had it relatively easy. We have a family joke even now that I just start counting when he does something I'm unhappy about. Example: he's got a bit of a lead foot when he drives, and I really don't like bombing around the neighborhood with him in his little beater of a car (an ancient Mercury Tracer that Arthur would love). When he starts going a bit too fast for me, I just start counting. He rolls his eyes ("Aw, Mom."), but he slows down right away. Good kid. My, my 21 years old....

Ciao. Barb

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Chemyst - Mar 21, 2005 2:59 pm (#254 of 2981)

Aww Marè, have a chocolate frog. Yes, the Accio Art Director messed up. It should have been in the guidelines that submissions should avoid using copyrighted imagery. As for the lawyers... I guess I should admire Julie's "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em " approach. But I disagree that you have just wasted a whole lot of time on nothing. I think everyone here wants to ooh and ahh your design, so I hope it gets posted someplace.

Michelle (pottermom), I agree with RPS if it is a screaming/discipline problem. It it is a giving-them-fluids thing, Denise is right about cutting with juices with water. A nutritionist friend told me it is actually healthier that way (evens out the fruit-sugar levels the body has to process). And Catherine & Ponine added so many helpful tips that it's probably better for me to just say ditto than to add another 2¢.

Glad to hear you're OK Lina.

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The giant squid - Mar 21, 2005 3:00 pm (#255 of 2981)

Barb, what you've just describes is the secret to any sort of discipline, and the thing that a lot of parents are lacking: follow through. Don't just count to three, do something. Let the kids know that "or else" is a bad thing.

I see so many teenagers wandering through our theater that clearly have had no lessons in discipline and think they can get away with anything. It makes my hand itch with the desire to spank their parents.

Conversely, this is one reason why I won't have kids--I don't have the patience to do it right. If more prospective parents would be realistic about their ability to actually raise a good kid the whole world would be better off.

...Wow, what an odd rant coming from me. I really need to stop posting in the daytime--the sunlight's doing weird things to my brain.

--Mike

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 4:26 pm (#256 of 2981)

I see so many teenagers wandering through our theater that clearly have had no lessons in discipline and think they can get away with anything. It makes my hand itch with the desire to spank their parents. --Mike TGS

Mike, you should post more during daylight; I know exactly how you feel.

This is one reason that I am an EX high school teacher. Some parents and their teens clearly needed to spend some more quality time with Miss Manners. I remember coming home often my first year teaching in tears that I was not teaching literature, but Manners and Social Skills 101. **waves to Loopy Lupin, who now gets to do the manners thingy for us!** (Examples from teaching: We don't throw pencils at our neighbor when we disagree during discussion. Certain words of the "four letter variety" are not acceptable. Coming to class drunk is against the law, unhealthful, and detrimental to one's grade point average. I'm sure you all get my point...)

That was a good experience, though, because it gave me the confidence and insight to stand my ground and establish respectful boundaries for my children.

The scary thing is that I've already taught high school, so I know where we're going! Eeek! Wands at the ready!

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haymoni - Mar 21, 2005 4:37 pm (#257 of 2981)

You are all much more patient than I would ever be on the juice thing.

My solution: Don't buy any juice.

It is absolutely amazing how great water tastes when there are no other choices.

Being the Slacker Mom that I am, the odds of there actually being juice (and I know we are all talking about 100% fruit juice, not "fruit punch") available in my house every day are slim and none.

Water, however, is always available.

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Amilia Smith - Mar 21, 2005 5:08 pm (#258 of 2981)

That was my Mom's solution too. That and she really talked up water. She always made it clear how much she loved water, and how refreshing it was. She would also use it to comfort me when I was little. "Oh, you fell and hurt your knee? Let's go get a drink of water." As a result I have never had trouble drinking water, unlike many of my friends and coworkers.

Penny, you asked what is so bad about juice. Well, it is better than pop, but you are right, there's alot of sugar. Juice concentrates all the sugar and sweetness of a large amount of fruit into a small amount of liquid. And you don't get the fiber you would have gotten if you just ate the fruit. Then there's the acidity that Ponine mentioned. (Which I hadn't thought of. Thank you.) Long story short: little bit of juice, good; lots of juice, bad.

Welcome back Lina. Good to hear things weren't as serious as you feared.

Mare, I'd like to see your design as well, if you'd like to post it.

Mills.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 21, 2005 5:49 pm (#259 of 2981)

Madame Librarian, I would love to say that I came up with the rationing and sticker idea all by myself, but I was blessed in my early years of parenting to attend some local parenting classes. Although nothing works for everyone, I got a lot of very sensible advice. One of the nicest things about the classes was that mothers got to talk about their own problems and experiences, and share ideas. When I went back years later with child number 4 (who was born deaf and needed extra socialization), I was amazed at how much of their advice I had already internalized and made my own.

Our deaf child has been a constant challenge for "gentle but effective" discipline. Being hard-of-hearing makes it difficult for her to understand, and not understanding encourages her to be short-tempered. We use every trick in the book to help her to learn how young ladies behave. Our current is a system of "5 Xs" -- if she yells at us, is disrespectful or uncooperative with her homework, she can get an X; 5 Xs and she loses her Friday night "Late Night Movie" in the living room. So we're used to the "sticker system."

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Ydnam96 - Mar 21, 2005 6:46 pm (#260 of 2981)

Mare, I would love to see your art work and Booooooo on Accio to be so silly as to not post guidelines and for not at least acknowledging they had recieved your submission. I will not go in protest (in actuallity I can not go, but now my not going is for a good cause). Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (220)

The day here is actually quite beautiful. I walked with some friends/coworkers to the gym on campus and worked out for the first time in like a year. oooooooof. Now I'm ready to go to bed.

I'm not a mom, and never plan to be for the same reasons The Giant Squid is, but I fully agree with the whole stick to your stuff. Being consistent is always the best policy, in just about everything in life. I hate hate hate going in public (like toystores, or walmart, or any other place where lots of children are) and watching children pitch fits. I don't blame the child, it's the parent who is not doing their job. I get so frustrated when they go "if you stop crying I'll get you the candy" or whatever I just want to go over and yell at them. Which, is why I think it would be a bad idea for me to be a mom. I have NO patience for stuff like that.

It's spring break here, so all the collge kiddies are gone. It makes my job so much easier when they aren't here! Chat & Greetings 2005 - Page 2 (221) I can actually get stuff done, which gives me more time to spend on the forum. Which makes me smile.

Night all!

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Catherine - Mar 21, 2005 6:57 pm (#261 of 2981)

RPS,

I'm with you. My friends were marveling at Book Club about the show "Super Nanny," and her use of a timer. Old tricks, new show.

We've used the timer for my brilliant-but-stubborn autistic child since she was 20 months old (she's now nine). When someone was telling the "Super Nanny and the Timer" story at book group, my close friends were all smirking at me. When the lady finished her account, they all laughed out loud and said, "Catherine is "one up" on Super Nanny. She's been using the timer for years." Keep in mind that at first, they all thought the "timer" was over the top. Since then, several moms adopted it just because they saw how well it worked with Claire. The timer is a neutral signal, and we treat it as such. Claire actually likes us to set a timer for tasks that she finds unpleasant, or challenging--it makes her feel more in control--she tells herself "I only have to do it for X minutes." (Cleaning, reading homework, studying--the timer is your friend!)

While I am no super-nanny (nor do I play one on TV), structure, stickers (else aforementioned child would still be un-pottie-trained, I am sure), timers, and incentives work very well. My mom still holds her sides laughing over our "Potty-learning" poster and stickers, as the poster was very crudely drawn and, to her Muggle eyes, very funny. (Hmmph. She's no artist, either!)

Which brings me back to Mare--please do post your idea. I'm so envious of those who are artistic--posting your design would be a true feast for the eyes.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 21, 2005 8:05 pm (#262 of 2981)

Ditto, Mare!

Yup, yup, yup, we use the timer too for Emily, Catherine. (My husband is using one right this minute to force her to memorize her sums, because she keeps adding on her fingers. You should hear her pleading to do it again and again!) Reading is very difficult for her because she didn't start hearing (via her implant) until she was 2. We use the timer to give her 15 minutes of reading per day. To her, it's a "limit" (how soon will I be done); to us it keeps her going longer than she would otherwise. We also use timers to do "hurry-up offense" cleaning, to get as much done as possible quickly. We are most definitely not "Super Nanny" types! The more challenges you face, the more organized you need to be. (You should see me getting 5 kids off to school on 3 different busses every morning! ) The people who scoff at you simply haven't faced the challenges you have.

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haymoni - Mar 21, 2005 8:16 pm (#263 of 2981)

Ydnam96 - I have come to the conclusion that most children pitch fits in public places because they know that their parents won't beat them in public.

As a parent, you can also be accused of abandonment if you turn on your heel and leave the fit-pitching child alone in the aisle.

I have the utmost respect for the parents whose children stand still and keep their hands to themselves and never ask for anything while in the store. I really do. I just wonder what kind of drugs they give their children before they leave the house.

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Ydnam96 - Mar 21, 2005 8:24 pm (#264 of 2981)

Well my mom would tell us no and if we continued to cause a ruckus she took us out of the store. Sometimes she took us to the bathroom and gave us a good spanking. Nowadays you would get arrested for that. But seriously, we deserved it. Heck, one of my friends mom carried a wooden spoon in her purse. I don't think she EVER used it, but her kids never acted up in a store.

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Round Pink Spider - Mar 21, 2005 9:21 pm (#265 of 2981)

Haymoni,

It's not giving them "drugs" that keeps them good, it's knowing what they'll be "drug through" when they get home!

But seriously, Mr. Round Pink and I have no problem picking up a misbehaving child, carrying him/her bodily from a store, and making that one sit in the car. We've done it...

EDIT: By the way, cheering charms would be appreciated for our least little one. He has pneumonia. (What a rotten winter this has been!)

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pottermom34 - Mar 21, 2005 9:25 pm (#266 of 2981)

Thanks for all the great advice and ideas, I really like the sticker thing and my lids love stickers , I have some empty bug juice bottles(mini sport bottles) I'm going to try filling them w/H2O and putting them in the fridge and I'll either just tell them if they are thirsty at nite they have to get their own, OR I'll give them one at bed time and if they can get thru the nite without waking me for more, I'll give them a sticker for the chart (something like that). But if they wake me up they don't get a sticker. I'll let you all know what works. Actually the hard part will be getting my husband to be consistentt, but that's a man thing.
Yeah, the store thing isn't fun either. I start with the toy section so they get it out of their systems. They usually do really good until we get close to check out time. Then they get antsy.
Isn't that something, a parent that is truly disciplining their child with a little spanking gets in big trouble, but the people that are really abusive usually get away with it somehow?

Thanks again everyone Michelle

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Mrs. Sirius - Mar 21, 2005 10:55 pm (#267 of 2981)

Ydnam96 - I have come to the conclusion that most children pitch fits in public places because they know that their parents won't beat them in public.

Evil slacker mom that I am, I have learned the secret to public discipline. When public behavior becomes intolorable (after many very warnings) I gently get hold of the offenders hand and take one little finger between my index finger and thumb and apply a gentle pressure until the behavior stops. Sweetly say that when the unacceptable behavior stops the squeezing stops. So far it has worked without the accompanying loud screams.

Pottermom, the demanding of juice is just one of those thing where you have to stick to your gut values. In my house, we have acid water so I let my kids have a bottle of water by the bed so when they wake in the night the can have access to drinkable water whenever they wake. When they want juice and refuse water, I remind them that they will get very thirsty if they don't drink the water.

Once one of mine woke in the wee hours and demanded breakfast. I looked out the window and said “The sun isn’t out, I don't work before the sun comes out". That satisfied her until morning.

I use a star chart for good behavior with my kids. The winner of the star chart for the week gets to choose special quality time with mom or dad or a surprise out of the gift bag. It's very motivating.

Kim, my condolences again. I notice you'll be on Long Island, we are a week off. I'm going to visit my mother-in-law there the following week end.

Line, glad things went well.

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Kip Carter - Mar 22, 2005 12:01 am (#268 of 2981)

Marè When I read your rant concerning the Accio convention t-shirt contest, I immediately contacted Steve Vander Ark who understands what rights Warner Brothers (WB) has in regards to this matter. Penny Linsenmayer who is extremely well qualified to answer questions regarding this issue answered my email.

I will share part of her response with you and our members who showed interest with some excerpts from her email.

“ ...WB would indeed have a good deal to say about the proposed t-shirt design. It sounds as though Accio's guidelines were not clear, which was a mistake, but the art director's response sounds about right to me. In planning Nimbus - 2003, we ran into a good bit of WB's stipulations, and yes, they do hold sway over a good deal more than just the movies and movie-related infringement.”

She also referred this link to someone else who may post to this thread. I know that is not what you wanted to hear; however WB does have very heavy influence over what a conference can do period.

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 22, 2005 12:46 am (#269 of 2981)

As the start of my law school experience looms large, I would gladly accept any advice you can offer about things I should do to prepare...

Julie, it's just like Occlumency ...just empty your mind and like magic, instant lawyer :-)

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Marè - Mar 22, 2005 1:26 am (#270 of 2981)
Edited Mar 22, 2005 3:49 am

Hi everybody,
Thank you so much for all the kind replies. I'm still not sure what to do, but maybe seeing if I would be allowed to adapt it is an option. I know I won't be able to make a new one (lack of idea of what to make is one problem).
So If I were to adapt it can't post it for you as of yet. (But don't worry, after this whole mess, I will post it somewhere )

Also, the art director herself has entered the contest with some Harry Potter themed pictures... I give up... I don't understand it. copyrights, okay I understand that! Now if some-one would be so kind as to show me what is copyrighted and what is not...

My head spins... (Allthough, that could also be to lack of sleep...)

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TwinklingBlueEyes - Mar 22, 2005 1:34 am (#271 of 2981)

Hmm, I know a potions master that can make a sleeping drought, wanna split one?

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septentrion - Mar 22, 2005 2:15 am (#272 of 2981)

Marè, I'm as confused as you about that copyright thing. There are plenty of artwork on the Lexicon, on the net etc and they don't seem to attract WB's attention. I'd like to see your own artwork, pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaase.

Lina, I'm glad too to see you back with the heart at peace.

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Lupin is Lupin. Natch. - Mar 22, 2005 4:34 am (#273 of 2981)

Lina, I'm very happy to hear of your good news.

kabloink, condolences on the loss of your grandfather.

I came home yesterday with Easter Lily plants. This morning I came down to the kitchen to find it filled with the most gorgeous fragrance. I may have to reconsider giving some of them away as gifts.

Oh, and there were pansies at the greenhouse. Pansies! It's not fair. My backyard still has snow. And I bet the soil in my pots is still frozen.

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Chemyst - Mar 22, 2005 5:42 am (#274 of 2981)

Also, the art director herself has entered the contest with some Harry Potter themed pictures...
How odd. A Slytherin might suspect she was eliminating her competition...

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Catherine - Mar 22, 2005 6:02 am (#275 of 2981)

A Slytherin might suspect she was eliminating her competition..—Chemyst

Forsooth. I think she's onto something....

...and there were pansies at the greenhouse. Pansies! It's not fair. My backyard still has snow. And I bet the soil in my pots is still frozen. --Lupin is Lupin

We always seem to be talking about pansies in the Chat thread when Marcus is busy with his work. Hmmm...wasn't it Chemyst who said recently that Pansy needed to chill? Off to check the threads....

Have a good Tuesday, everyone.

EDIT: Best wishes to the "baby" RPS!

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Julie Aronson - Mar 22, 2005 6:27 am (#276 of 2981)

Well, thanks for the advice...Yes, Loopy, I think it's too late to change my mind now-I've already paid my seat deposit!

RPS, I'll try to send healing thoughts over to your youngest...

Have a great day!

Julie

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Loopy Lupin - Mar 22, 2005 6:43 am (#277 of 2981)

We don't throw pencils at our neighbor when we disagree during discussion. Certain words of the "four letter variety" are not acceptable. Coming to class drunk is against the law, unhealthful, and detrimental to one's grade point average. I'm sure you all get my point...—Catherine

Are you positive you weren't my 12th grade English teacher?

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Catherine - Mar 22, 2005 6:45 am (#278 of 2981)

Are you positive you weren't my 12th grade English teacher? --Loopy Lupin

If I say yes, may I take credit for your lovely manners and tiptop writing skills?

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librarian314 - Mar 22, 2005 7:10 am (#279 of 2981)

Hey all!

I survived the weekend full of birthday parties! They all went well and everyone had a fun time. (To see photos of the cakes and my Mrs. Weasley sweater click here http://photos.yahoo.com/bunwynna and Look at the folder entitled Harry Potter Stuff). My daughter wanted Harry Potter themed parties so the family party had Prisoner of Azkaban themed stuff and the kid party had Quidditch themed stuff. Her favorite present was the stuffed wolf my parents gave her.

Madame Pince - This goes back aways, but thanks! Being amusing is one of the family duties in our house. We even worked making each other laugh into our wedding vows. :-) Darling daughter gets her humour naturally; her dad is a riot! Also, our kids are birthday buddies! Kayla's is Mar. 19th, too! Happy belated b-day to baby Pince!

Chemyst - Thanks! Hope you like the pictures of the cakes. I took up cake decorating when I was 12 and love it. I tend toward whimsy more than beautiful. No Martha Stewart wedding cakes here; Viking Long ships, log cabins, eyeballs, golden snitches, Loch Ness Monsters, and anything else whimsical, I'll give a try.

Disciplining kids in public is hard. You worry that others will think that you are too harsh but, you're doing for your kids own good. With Kayla, her first offensive is regular fussing. Second offense: I talk low with teeth gritted and a firm grip on not so darling daughter's wrist. If she continues, depending on the severity of the action I'll smack her hand (if she touching stuff I've told her not too) or I'll haul her outside (to the ladies' room or someplace not in the middle of stuff) and she gets a couple of swats on the behind. We have even stopped the car and swatted her once when she was about three. She understands what will happen if I say, "Don't make me stop the car!"

Usually she stops with regular fussing, occasionally it'll get as far as the gritted tee