Anybody wanna be my friend?

Bonnie, My DH is from Louisiana, too. He says the funniest lines, expressions I never heard before meeting him. I bought a book called "Aw, Shucks" that has Southern expressions in it. If I find it in one of these boxes around here, I'll post some for you.

CoolBreeze, I can relate so much about how bonded you are to your sons. I have an 8 year old with high functioning autism, and he is the light of my life. I could just imagine how hard it will be when he flies the coop. He is really great at computers and art, and works in 3D computer programs designing castles and amusement parks. It really is mind boggling. Those are his gifts, but he struggles with every day type of challenges. Your son's future sounds so promising. He can absolutely accomplish his dream. You can PM me if you have any questions about colleges and finding ways to finance it. I navigated through the college system with no support from my parents, so it can definitely be done.

Strange about the shoulder thing. During chemo, my left shoulder got injured, and I could not lift it bent at the elbow (like an I Dream of Genie wish). Then after surgery (right side) I lost range of motion, and had to train myself to carry any weight on the left. Luckily, the left shoulder improved by that time.

Don, I can't help but think of the estrogen effects that plastics leaking into our water and food have, as well as estogen effects from pesticides when I hear of men like yourself affected by this disease. It blows me away that a man's BC could test ER+. And this is the world that our children are inheriting. I hope you are doing okay.

Well, I have to get the kiddo in the bath, so good night, everyone!

Hi Coolbreeze,

Just having a quick look at this thread while at work so really just scanning down quickly so I don't get "busted" being on the internet.

Can I be your friend too?  I noticed that you would like to go to Australia....so you need an Australian friend and that can be me!.

When I get home I will read about all your other friends and let you know more about myself.

Big hugs to all

Viv

 I wish I could go with you guys to Vegas!

I am one of the posters who has cats. Thanks for still being my friend!

I am a reformed cat hater. Always had dogs until shortly after I was married and a little stray we named Mr. T came into our lives. 28 years and 3 cats later I still love them. Cats rule!

I too am a cat lover, have two, plus two dogs.

When I was growing up my dad just couldn't deal with pets so when I moved out of the house and got my own place,  I  had a zoo: two dogs, four cats, 1 bird and three aquariums.  I have tamed down some what since we had kids but then again we once had 14 rats (don't ever get a male and female rat...they multiply fast - It was a great learning experience for the kids though), two lizards and had to raise our own crickets (i think cricket raising was the last straw for me so the Lizards had to go). 

Rats?!?!?! I used to grade restaurants and the last thing I wanted to see was a rat!

Of course, the ones I saw weren't caged.

It's interesting to see how many others have shoulder issues.  Has anyone else had an arthritis diagnosis? If so what are you doing for the tightness in the shoulder, neck, and down through the shoulder blade?

Ok, is everyone all matched up with friends?    I could use some!  I get sooooo lonely during the week....my girls are staying with my ex during the school week while I finish active treatment, I live up in the country/boonies where I recently moved, and I work at home doing consulting work.  I spend most my time with three big dogs and not that they aren't great company, but not much on conversation! 

Hi Vicky Sam and Pam, I was busy composing my ode to pets, and didn't see you. I'm glad to see you both here!

Wow, that's a lot o' dog! That must give you a great feeling of protection. My pug would probably lick an intruder, and my lil guy would just bark his little heart out. They are 30 lbs. between them, wringing wet.

Yep, a lot of dog, and although they are pretty much just large goofy mutts (except for Sagan who is a really, really smart couch potato).  The littlest one is a fair watch dog though, and he makes the big dogs bark if he hears something barkworthy.

I did have 8 cats, Gilly.  I "lost" 7 of them in the divorce and got the two dogs, and my bf has a wonderful old black lab who's the sweetest girl on the planet.  

(I am not a hoarder, LOL.  We "fostered" a litter of 7 kittens for a shelter - which lost all it's funding and closed.  Since they were feral and sick when we got them, they were pretty much unadoptable in this part of the country by the time they were ready.  You gotta be a cute little kitten to be adopted around these parts.) 

I grew up with cats, lots of cats.  Sometimes we'd have one, other times we'd have 4 or 5 depending on the stray situation in the neighborhood at the time. My Mom has a soft heart.  I now have 4 dogs, all rescues - DH has said no more.  They are a lot of work, weekly baths, cleaning of bedding, tumble weeds (dog hair), medications, etc......but I wouldn't trade them for the world.  Like our children, they each have their own personalities and keep us laughing almost daily.

I used to hate cats.  But not anymore!  Here's my cat conversion story:

I was out walking my yellow lab six years ago. About a mile from my house at the bottom of the hill someone had just dumped a litter of kittens.  They were fat, fluffy, wondering around looking lost.  They were beautiful, but I hated cats!  I walked a little faster down the hill with the kittens following me trying to catch up.  I pulled my dog closer, turned around, and said, "Let's outwalk these stupid cats."  And we walked up the hill quickly, but one little kitten ran with us crying the whole time.  We finally outwalked her but I felt terrible, really, really terrible.  So bad, in fact, that I didn't walk that way for two days (which was a big deal because that was my normal 3 mile walking path).  Finally, on the third day, I thought it was safe to walk that way again ... the cats would be surely be gone ... either dead or picked up by now ... and so off we went.  Reached the bottom of the hill and there was one cat left ... the little cat who tried to follow us up the hill three days before, crying all the way.  She looked at me from the grassy field with those green eyes and I said, "I'm not going to carry you, but if you can follow us home, I'll take care of you."  (What a cold-heart I was!)

And so, the tiny little squirt walked between my dogs legs all the way home (a mile).  It almost killed her she was so tiny.  She was weak, dehydrated, and starving.  I thought for sure she was going to die, but we pulled her though with some tuna. 

Ran over her a couple of weeks of later in the driveway.  She followed me everywhere and I had sat in my car, in the driveway, to make a phone call.    Twenty minutes later, I started the car and started backing up and I heard a horrible scream and the cat leaped and ran.  I had run over her hind leg.  It was a Sunday, in a rural area, no 24-hour vet clinics, and I stayed up all night just to watch her and take care of her.  She was able to eat, drink, go to the bathroom ... so it didn't appear she had internal injuries. 

That was the final straw:  No more "She'll just be an outdoor cat."  No, she ended up in the house, with the dog, with a leg that healed miraculously (the vet was going to put a pin in it... but when he took the x-ray the day of the surgery, it was mending on its own) with a melted heart of an owner who now adores cats.  I had to put the dog down a couple of years ago, she was an old girl, 13, but now I have another cat that I picked up at a shelter.  I adore them!  I live alone and they've been a constant source of joy in a very dark time of my life. 

- A converted cat person.

Rats are very fun, we would let them run around and play in the living room and they are so friendly!  Funny but my dogs and cats never tried to go after them but any other critter that comes in our yard is fair game.  I have photos of our rat's and their babies from birth, through adoption. My DD was 5, DS was 9 at the time and the photos are precious with them holding the little baby rats as they grew up.  The are pretty clean but 14 at a time can be overwhelming

edited to add: male rat's are very expensive to neuter so if you do choose to have rats as a pet, make sure they are the same sex