I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

3monstmama

Cherry--Congratulations!!!

Jancie---many hugs.

AnneW--alpaca is tasty?  well good to know!  Actually I already knew that. Farmer friend told me that a few years back there was trouble where he lived involving people who got alpacas to raise for wool, then discovered no market, couldn't afford to feed them and used to take them and dump them at farms.  Sort of a different variation on city people who think a farm can always use another cat or dog so lets dump our unwanted pet here.  Anyrate, the farms getting the alpacas dumped couldn't support them either so they ended up being slaughtered and bbq.  They also donated some meat to the food bank.  He told me that the darned things were awfully tasty!

susieq58--so glad the holiday is going well. Hate it when they don't stop as long as you want to stop but are happy to stop FOREVER at the souvenir stand . . .  

leaving on holiday in 5 days---so very much to do, so very very little time.....

pip57

How is it possible for alpacas to taste good when they smell so horrible??

Bren-2007

Susie .. sounds like you're having a wonderful vacation.  How is the weather? Hope you'll be able to post some pics soon.

hugs,

Bren

Bren-2007

It's in the low  90's today and there's a good breeze.  I got the upper and lower field mowed .. finally.  It's just been too hot lately.  It felt so good to be outside again.

Wish I was going back to NOTL tomorrow to meet up with all the gals again.  It was so much fun.  Anxious to get my pics back.

hugs,

Bren

crazy4carrots

pip -- You give them a nice relaxing bubblebath beforehand....

suzieq60

I just discovered THE most incredible piano man - www.seandeburca.com - absolutely OMG the most fantastic piano player singer in a pub in Limerick.

Wee laptop doesn't do Youtube but I wanted to share him with you. This bloke should be world famous - I did have a few wines, but I know talent when I hear it!!!!!

Ate at 9:00 pm again - f-ing Ireland - what's going on here?

Sue

bluedahlia

Yup, Europeans don't have dinner before 9:00 p.m.

3monstmama

hey Sue,

Be happy you aren't in Spain where dinner time starts around 10:30-11pm!

For Ireland and GB, I have always understood thats what "tea" as in the meal not the drink, is for.  Its the thing you eat in the late afternoon at the time that you would be expecting dinner.

glad you are having so much fun!

AnneW

Alpacas are so cute. Much nicer than llamas. Both will spit at you if annoyed. Alpacas "hum" when they're nervous. The alpaca meat is very lean and very low in cholesterol. I had the tenderloin, with some good Peruvian spices rubbed on, then seared. Texture similar to lamb.

Can't handle a dinner time that's past my bedtime!!

Cherry, congrats on 11 years!! I'm about 6 months away from my 10 year point. For the first cancer, anyway!

CherrylH

Anne,

Celebrate everything you can. Your vacation sounds wounderful. I'm so jealous.

riley702

I got my kitten Lucy a buddy this week. Her name is Lovey. (Mrs. Thurston Howell III when she's in trouble LOL) Lucy is black with white and Lovey is what is called a tabico (tabby and calico combined. If she didn't have white, she'd be a tabby/tortie, or a torbie. Who knew?)

They're roughly the same age (3.5 to 4 mos old), are spayed and both due for their last shot of vaccinations + rabies shots next week. Then they'll be done except for yearly vaccinations. Hope the pics come through. They've been racing around and wrestling all day, having tons of fun.

bluedahlia

They're adorable! 

bluedahlia

What's everybody up to tonight.  I got bored and started reading some pretty TALL tales.  Good for a laugh!

riley702

Are those where I think they are?

AnnNYC

Cherryl, congratulations!

Riley -- beautiful kitties!

suzieq60

Love the kitties!!

It was our fault we ate so late - sitting in a bar drinking for too long

jancie

Riley - great pictures!!!

Blue - I don't have time to be bored these days.  I am lucky if I get to spend 30 minutes on my computer right now and it is hell playing catch up with everyone.

I am taking Jazzy to the championship show next Saturday so I am swamped between all of my doctor appointments (2 so far next week), 3 houses to clean, laundry, and of course lots of lessons on my horse before the show so that I am confident going in.

Today I finally paid my bills 2 months late - I actually had 2 electric, 2 gas and 2 water bills to pay.  Can I just say I HATE PAYING BILLS!!  It is the process of paying them that I hate so much.  Then I don't remember if I actually put them in the mailbox or not.  So I am digging through my stuff to see if maybe I forgot to post them.  I do remember putting stamps and return addy labels on them but that is it.  Where in the hell is my brain?  Oh yes....I left it in the chemo fusion room.

Ang7

Oh Jancie~

I can so relate.

My brain is in the chemo room with your brain.

October will be 2 years since surgery/chemo for me.  It would be nice to be able to remember stuff by then.

BarbaraA

Love the kitties. Love kitties period!

1Athena1

Love the litties - when they're sweet, I don't say kitty, but litty!

bluedahlia

Tales from the Crypt!   Hahahahaha!

Jancie, I have to do things when I remember them or they don't get done.  Thank goodness for Ray!

Athena, glad to see you.  I knew the kitties would get you out of hiding.

Susie, bad girl!

Bren-2007

Riley .. your kitties are so cute!

Jancie .. you are so busy .. I'm envious!

Going to lunch in Roanoke today with my sis .. will be fun getting out for a bit!

Hope everyone has a great day,

Bren

Anonymous

Reading the Emperor of all Maladies

AMAZING - feels very "close" cuz I'm at Dana Farber, and I've spent a lot of tiime in the "Jimmy Fund" building - the new one opened in January 2011 is HUGE, and still,  crowded - every time I walk into the Breast Cancer floor,  am amazed, stilled to tears, with the NUMBERS of us there are... and what he speaks of in the very beginning of the book always, ALWAYS touches me - how every single person you encounter is KIND, smiling, agreeable, friendly, just don't know how to describe the "atmosphere" of welcome - not like any other hospital I've ever been in.  Nobody is "rushed" with you, or "too busy" or anything but "can I help."  Starting with the attendent in the parking garage who smiles hello, and including just everybody - don't know HOW they do it.  Just always NICE.  That's the word. NICE.  And everyone is surrounded by "cancer" - we know why we're there, they know why we're there - and still, I don't know how to describe how it feels different than any other hospital I've ever been in: safe, welcoming, kind.    And I've been in a LOT of them ;-))))

bluedahlia

That's how I felt when I was going for radiation at the Princess Margaret in Toronto.

Anonymous

Blue, I wish everyone could experience it that way.  I went to a "local" hospital for my BLM, and it was SO horrible.  I could never after my ONE NIGHT in the hospital, get anyone to talk to me on the phone when I had questions.  Would have to leave a message, and wait a few days to get someone to call back with a "message" from my doctor.  Took me three weeks to just get them to send what Genomic needed for Oncotype DX.  Grrrrrrr.  Also, Oncologist there, when I asked about test, said "oh, it's very expensive, "experimental" - EXCUSE ME?  I had already checked with BCBS & my plan covered it.  YUCK.

At Dana Farber, I would send an email with a question - and my phone would ring a few minutes later with the doctor ASKING ME for more information   Just such an amazing difference. I think they saved my life, really.

1Athena1

Sunflowers, that book has been my friend for the past week - absolutely marvelous. I do think it is definitely written from the point of view of a researcher (although the author also treats patients, though) because some of the effects he hails as incredible for drugs like Herceptin don't sound so incredible to me as a patient. So a seminal study shows Herceptin creating meaningful remissions in 50 percent as opposed to 33 percent with other treatment. For each person helped, that is fabulous, but fifty percent will still not survive, and for anyone getting cancer and being HER+, that remains extremely sobering. I also think Sidney Farber's excess of enthusiasm when his drug prolonged life by just a few months helped fuel the movement to bombard people to death with drugs. In certain leukemias, Hodgkins, testicular and others, that proved the right thing to do -some cases are literally cured. But for more complex, large organ cancer, the landscape remains dismal, IMO - especially lung and brain.

I think if the book had been written by a journalist it would have had a different tone. I try to be a glass- half full person, but the unbridled enthusiasm regarding cancer progress stuns and offends me somehow. It remains the second biggest killer in the US. As long as BCO has an Angels thread (obviously because one is needed), I'm not cheering.

Blue, thanks for caring, as usual. Slightly less stressed now.

suzieq60

Ok - DH really sick with a tummy bug caught from the idiots on the bus tour. This is the first and last bus tour I go on. He's usually a bad patient and wants a doctor - I'm sure it will pass. Got him some electrolyte podwer - that should perk him up. Also got immodium and panadol as he did have a bit of a fever.

 We are in Killarney - rained most of the way so we missed some lovely scenery. Went to Dingle and nearly got blown away!!! Goodness knows where everyone has gone. I'm stuck in the hotel with him in the bed snoring, so no drinks tonight. Only internet access is in the hotel library, so I snuck out. We're only here for 2 nights.

Wish me luck

Sue

3monstmama

hey sue,

Food poisoning while traveling?  blech!  had that once in spain.  Not fun.  Hope he is feeling better.  If you run out of electrolyte power, try a few grains of plain old sugar and salt in a glass of water.  Works the same way.

I have seen pictures of Dingle--looks lovely.

Good luck!

Bren-2007

Sue .. so sorry to hear hubby is sick.  He must be miserable.  Nothing worse than a stomach bug!  Glad you could connect with us in the hotel library.  Hope you have wonderful weather today.

Just got back from a wonderful lunch with my sis.  I love being able to see her once a week.  She lives a little more than an hour away from me, and since my schedule is so flexible, I always drive up to Roanoke to visit with her. 

Talked to Tim a bit ago and hopefully he'll be home tomorrow night.  It seems like such a long week, even though he didn't leave until Tuesday a.m.  Guess after all the excitement over the past weekend, the quiet was even "quiter" than usual.

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Hugs,

Bren

PS .. Blue .. how is your shoulder today?  Any relief from the pain?

bluedahlia

Yesterday was better, but I also took 2 Ibuprofen yesterday.