What are you doing for fun??

Fun this weekend includes a trip to "Vegas in Mississippi", a bit of casino fun, a few drinks, good food, and lots of laughs.

Speaking of weather, the weather people finally got it right this time! We have our first snowfall of the year, which is really nice for us, we havnt had any measurable snow in like 4 years. It will melt off tomorrow, which is fine, but unlike you all in the north and midwest, it is kind of fun, and we dont get it very often anymore. Going to take my dogs out in it, my pit has never seen it on the ground before, and loves it.

Can't wait to see them, Soleil. Seeing pictures of your funny animals makes me happy.

Big news on the fun front: we're going to Rome in May!!! We have rented an apartment! I am hoping to get good scans tomorrow so I can stay on my Faslodex regime and not have to be dealing with a new treatment. And I am seeing a rheumatologist next week to determine if there's anything more I can do to lessen my back and hip pain so I can walk without so many problems .

Onward!

Tina

Rome, exciting! I loved it there. So much that I am going back thus year with my family.

This history, architecture and art is amazing. Mass at St Peters us very special too. Enjoy : )

Tina,

Rome is one of my favorite cities. The food is fabulous! I know you'll have a wonderful time.

Jill,

I know what you mean. I hadn't seen my granddaughter in almost 2 weeks. I spent yesterday with her and at almost 11 months, she is so much fun. She likes to crawl over to a mirror on the back of a bedroom door and kiss the "other" baby. Then she claps for herself!

Caryn

Tina,

Rome is one of my wish list cities... I always rent an apartment when I travel. So much more comfortable, and makes eating more affordable as well. So pleased for you.

*susan*

just started archery classes and this coming Friday i am taking a curling class.  having lots of laughs !!!!!

Sunshine... it is Tina who is headed to Rome. I am just living through her vicariously. Me? I am going to Portland, OR for a techie un-conference. For me, this is the definition of fun. And, for some reason, for the same number of frequent flier miles, I am getting a first class ticket one way! Me! Frumpy me in first class.

*susan*

Wow, Susan, I have never flown first class. Whoop dee doo! Enjoy! We spent a long fourth of July weekend in Portland several years ago and had a wonderful time. Check out Powell's if you love books.

Tina

Caryn - I am so intrigued by your life as a former Pan Am flight attendant.  Was it glamorous?  I'm envisioning you in this photo, you must tell us stories.

I would be interested in hearing about the flight attendant experience too, Caryn. My 22 yr old daughter expressed and interest in being one. She has moved from that recently to decide she wants to live in Florida and eventually supervise people at resorts. Thinking about hospitality management. She wants to check out areas in Florida with me so I can somehow share that part of her future even though I technically won't be here for it. Trying hard to plan a Florida trip soon but it's so hard to plan when or if I'll feel well enough. Planning to discuss skipping the 3/25 treatment with my onc and just do it. I think she'll support it.

Auckland, yay you'll be in my 'neck if the woods'.

Let's meet for tea and giggles.

I'd be privileged to show you some beautiful and historic sites if you have the time.

Pae xo

Hope you have wonderful time, Shel and Tina!

Keepingfaith,

I would love to meet up. I will be arriving in Auckland at least a day and a half before the cruise. Will be with younger dd and her soon to be husband. The rest of our party is arriving a day after us. We leave the US on a Friday morning, if we'd gone on Saturday, the airfare was about $900.00 more! Will give you more details as we get closer.

And now a brief Pan Am tale...

We still flew 707's when I started, just like the ones shown on the TV show. Well, the exterior was the same but the show depicts a much wider and luxurious interior. It was a narrow body plane and not open and roomy, even in first class. We flew some 727's, mostly Caribbean charters out of JFK, but my loves were the 747 and 747SP ( longer range). We also had DC10's , inherited from the ill fated National merger and brand new L1011's. Passengers were almost always nice and I never worried about being assaulted by them. Most still dressed up a bit except for those crazy Club Med charters, which I avoided like the plague. I worked the first class galley often and learned to cook a roast at 36,000 feet, serve caviar properly, bring my cheese tray to room temp, and mix cocktails to order. Even in economy, we offered a choice of three entrees at meal times and there were always multiple meals since we flew long international flights. In those days, Pan Am still had their own catering. No Sky Chefs! We had uniform, hair and make up check before departing our base station. Weight checks were random and girdles were gone by the mid-70's. We had to wear heels (navy blue pumps) when we were off the plane but could put on flats(still navy blue) during the flight. We did not wear name tags! They were considered tacky. I also know how to tie a scarf about 20 different ways. If you google 1970's Pan Am uniform, Edith Head design, you can see what my first uniform looked like. Here are some of the places I've been; London, Limerick,Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Rome, Venice, Istanbul, Ankara, New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Mexico City, Caracas, San Jose (Costa Rica), Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, most of the Caribbean including Puerto Rico, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Tokyo, Osaka (my practice flight!), Abidjan, Monrovia, Accra, Lagos, Nairobi and Dhaharan. Some places I went to many times and remember well, some are just a blur. Our layovers could be as long as 3 days, Tokyo for instance, or as short as an hour or two! Meals, while on layovers were covered by our per diem and dry cleaning was always covered by Pan Am. The hotels were almost always first class. My fellow crew members were fun and interesting people. Most were well educated and everyone had to speak another language in addition to English (yes, they tested us). The pilots, though nice, seemed very old to me! They were not young like on the TV show. They used to love walking through the cabin to chat with the passengers or bring children into the cockpit. Security concerns now preclude that:(

Was it glamorous? Yes, but very exhausting physical work. Anything would have been glamorous to me you see, because I had just returned from serving as a Peace Corps volunteer...in Afghanistan!

Caryn