Scarlett

Some info on the LOTL for Clay's next run in Spamalot, for those interested:

Merle Dandridge

Awww, thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! Claymatron I believe we'll be sleeping together sometime soon so revenge IS possible!

It's gonna be a girlfriend weekend....what better way to spend a birthday??

That's a nice bio, thanks for sharing FromClaygary. Never knew there was a musical called "Atlanta" -- other than a spoof in the movie "Irreconcilable Differences"

It's your birthday? HBD, FromClaygary!!!

:7252:

Haven't you seen any JNaT 06 video, claytonic? The Word of The Day was a running bit throughout the concert series. Clay teasing about not being musically literate - not knowing all the 'big' words the musicians used. It evolved to Jamie bringing the word-of-the-day out on a sign during the bit. This concert, Jaymes got the job.

ETA: You really need to get downloading some of the Word banter if you haven't seen it - some of the funniest Clay moments evah!

Yes, just use a Download Manager. That way, even if your connection gets broken / is slow it will retry and eventually bring the files in. Try the small wmv's and mp4's first. You can just bundle up a handful of files (not too many the first time) and let it run overnight.

ETAA: Gibby, thanks for the beautiful hummingbird pictures. Been missing you lately!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Totally OT, but I wanted to show off our recent visitors!

Hummingbird Visitors

Topic? Sadly, this is still the ONLY thing I can read in Mandarin and we leave in 1 week. Think it'll be useful?

{{{Wandacleo}}}

I will not deny that I have struggled with my feelings about Clay more than once. ..... having Parker with Jaymes has been the biggie. I have choices.... I don’t have to remain a fan, but my choice is and has been to stick around and enjoy this man. He is so addictive, so talented, so much fun to watch....... not to mention the voice and I don’t want to miss out on the next chapter of his life.

Clay will lose and has lost fans over this and other things that he has done. I understand.... we are all different...... and that is good too. He will also gain new fans as he goes along. He has so much talent, how can he not!!!

I am still here and I still adore this man and have no idea why.

Thanks for your wonderful post, ToldForThis!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

What? Canadians ain't Americans?

It probably doesn't help that I am aware I would make most people a perfectly horrid spouse - not big on the compromise thing, real big on the running everything thing, and then can't stand men that I can totally run!

KAndre, You needs someone who cheerfully agrees with everything, does absolutely nothing, then asks for something different, though never anything completely unreasonable (like driving for more than 2 hours to find a parking space just to ride a historic rollercoaster) -- perhaps a cute concubine who constantly tries to top from the bottom?

See, we're MFEO! Is that why we're travelling together in a week's time? Yikes, it really is next week!

Well, MFEO except for one teensy detail... I just realized that we have a pattern here. Everytime I travel with you I end up landing in the wrong airport!!! Next year, next year we're going by sea! (And next week, if they announce that we're landing at Changi Airport as I'm sleepily waking up, I.will.throw.a.tantrum!)

ETA: 'member that annual review at work that you had last week? The difference between the US and Canada, is that over there you would have access to everything that anyone's every written about you that was used in that report. No wonder people want me to be the one to write "knowledgeable others' references" for them.

Wow, the one night I'm sound asleep everyone's online. Can you guys call me next time? LOL!

"I feel happy" - tm: NDF

Don't know why, probably shouldn't be but with the world and the economy the way it is why shouldn't anyone stay be glad for a bit of time when they're not tired or anxious or sad; every bit of good news helps and the combined good cheer of a healthy baby and upcoming Gala and Spam appearances should be savored. Nice to find out (thx kf) that the google alerts are positive and the blurbs are nicely worded. Just that is a cause for celebration for me.

annabear, I pm'ed my e-mail addy.

KAndre, I text'ed my addy.

Now if only I didn't have an early morning meeting... nothing's perfect.

Have a great day everyone!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA: Oh, it was the Olympics. Haven't watched anything yet. Hope the US & Canada are doing fine!

Thanks for the countdown, aikim!

ETAA: Not ranking babies in the same category of joy as show tickets, they just occurred all at once.

KAndre, See?!!! Seeeee?!! What did I tell you? We CAN fit an infant seat into the Miata!!! Pbbbbtttt!!!

I'd love to do that again. I emailed our other roomie earlier tonight. That was such a wonderful time in NYC last Spring. I hope it can be recreated this Fall. Let's do it.

Char, only got it done because I had to -- after all we need to follow that guy in the banner to all his shows.

I AM looking forward to hearing about your report!!! Hang in there!!!

*waves back gleefully at annabear*

Just wanted to say good morning to everyone!!!

:nature-smiley-014:

Can't believe I'm only just going home... (boy am I tired - did 3 system designs over 36 hours)... and that there are still 40 users online right now!

*repeat request - please don't fill up my inbox, could those who know my e-mail (looks pointedly at the eHP) use e-mail?*

(sigh! what's the use? telling the eHP that something is about to overflow just encourages us! -- and yes, I resemble that remark so I guess I shouldn't complain... )

Does this work, Scarlett?

Eeeeee, yes! Soooo cute!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA: Looks below and waves at shamrock! Any chance of a repeat of the Van Daan's family suite?

Beach = small trailer (3 or 4 tightly packed people and crazed sweet dog) over 2 hours south of here in isolated area of the beach. Green head flies gone by the middle of Sept with the lifeguards, water is clean and warm and the wildlife preserve is open for quiet walks and fishing. Most restaurants open on the weekends, only a few open through the winter.

I couldn't resist!

Hee! I just saw this! Too freaking CUTE!

Well, I guess I should clean up my house a bit should anyone want to save a bit of money. I do spend some of September and October at the beach, it is nice and quiet then and the remodeling should be done, I hope.

Also, when is the best time for fall foliage viewing in Upstate New York?

Anyone looking at the last week of October?

Ok let me rephrase that! Real life took over for a while and Clay got put on the back burner. Well 00lsee sent me a text and I called keepingfaith and guess what any plans I had for tonight went right out of the window....I just had to get home to read it for myself.

(As for my plans....I didn't need that new vacuum anyway...what's a bit of dirt!!!!) :lmaosmiley-1:

So how long did it take the entire eHP to confirm?!! LOL! *watching the PM's fly by while envious of those of you at home -- oh and please don't fill up my inbox. Can we go to e-mail, pretty please* Happy Day!

I wonder if Clay, Jaymes and Parker are just slept together in a big exhausted pile once they got home? I think that's the one thing I did where I totally ignored my doctors and just did what my grandmother told me...I don't think Paul actually slept in his crib until after I went back to school...

I think I gained 18 pounds total with my 7 lb 9 oz baby!

I weighed 127 lbs when they checked me into the hospital.

And maternity clothes? Fahgetaboutit. They didn't make them to fit me.

I tried on the smallest size they had in my neighboring "larger town" and that was a 10. Bwah! A TENT!!!

So - my sewing machine and I got a workout. I sewed maternity panels into my jeans and bought lots of smock tops that were, thankfully, in vogue at the time! People didn't even see I was pregnant until I was about 7 1/2 months!

But maybe I'll be able to mount carousel horses in Hong Kong!

Speaking of HK, can we move to a hotel on the Hong Kong side? Tsimshatsui is something to visit once but not live in -- it's like staying at the Galleria here in Houston. I can make a reservation (for once ).

Hbd cha cha!

:7254:

Total speculation that she had a C-section at all - but if she did, I'd guess that was the reason for the pillow - a hugger. I've never had a c-section, but have had abdominal surgery - and that hugger-pillow was an absolute neccessity for coughing, etc.

Or laughing -- I remember saying to visitors, whatever you do don't make me laugh!

Here's another ignorant set of questions. For a Caesarean you have an incision, don't you? Doesn't that take awhile to heal? Like more than a couple of days? Do you go back for checkups or do they just throw you out the door and say "call us"? What was it like taking care of a baby and trying to get the care and rest you need to heal from the Caesarean?

I think that is whats tough about C section...its healing after. I think it really took me a whole month to be totally healed. My hubby was great about all the support. Its tough when you have kids, specially toddlers. Now they try to make you walk pretty early...like 24 hours later but its really tough to move. So I just really took care of the baby and hubby took care fo the house and the other kids. For the stitches...it really depends...one time for me the stitches just melted away I think other time they were staples and the nurse took it out before I left the hospital. That was a bit freaky for me I remember, I got all scared the first time that it would just burst open, hee...Then they just taught us how to take care of the incision.

Real stitches for the first one then on the 2nd and 3rd they just melted away. Wearing a girdle helped a lot.

So cute!!!!

Thanks, annabear and Thankful! In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't create the baby emotie - found it ages ago (during my fanfic days, lol). I just added the hat and the Dad Rocks! bubble. :-)

The hat made it all work, cindilu!

On the hospital stay topic, did you all really leave that quickly? I remember that my first was born on the 23rd and went home on the 27th, and just about the same number of days (3-4) for the other two. (I can just hear Solo saying, why am I not surprised?)

Hee!

Awwwww!

So cuuuuute!!!

Anybody want to snag these????

Snagged & posted at the Emoticon Heaven thread...

Thanks for finding these, Cotton! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Cotton found these:

Awwww, I missed first page?

It's just wonderful to see the pictures! Downloading video right now -- thanks to whoever got it!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Scruples? When I was in college I swore I would never work for transnational company... but having a family changed all that.

I'll still join an organized boycott for a good reason but for day-to-day stuff? I figure I'm just handing the green stuff from one nameless conglomerate to another.

ETA:

Stripeys? Hee, ldyj! Although I think it would be funnier to imagine little Parker trying to teach his Dad how to match up socks!

Couchie, *keeping toes and fingers crossed!*

KAndre, do they run those things off of a template?!!

I appreciate the answers, everyone. I know that in this situation, as in everything, our own backgrounds and experiences color the way that we look at the whole picture. Coming from a very traditional background, it's sometimes a chore for me to look beyond what I know, to understand other points of view. I am trying!

laljeterfan, I know you already got some answers but just wanted to add mine because I'm probably at the opposite end of the spectrum. I always had some close female friends but in general I talk to guys better than to girls and find it easier to hang with them. Clay Nation was the first time I was in a mostly female group for more than a few months. Although it's been years now I'm still surprised when I look around once in a while or when I go join knitters or quilters groups.

Nice work on the banner, cindilu!

Aw, you're welcome, Scarlett! *HUGS*

:thbighug-1: Gibby!!! Been missing your pictures lately. I know we're waiting to see certain ones but it's still good to look over what we have!

For Scarlett and anyone else who is into quilting and doesn't already know about this site....

Quilter's Cache

Scarlett, a while back you were talking about quilt patterns; the above site has been in existence for years...and years....and is a HUGE resource for free patterns for quilt blocks of many different types. Simple, complex and everything in between, there are zillions there, and more added every month.

Click on the picture to get a pattern and usually some examples done in different fabrics, and a picture of what a whole quilt done in the block might look like.

Here's another decent one.....Jinny Beyer's site. These tend to be more complex, but again there are tons of them, and they're free.

My favorite online fabric site....EQuilter.com...if there is a fabric they don't have for quilting, you don't need it. They're very good to deal with.

....and my favorite quilting software....EQ. I've used this for about 10 yrs and never had a problem, and of course they upgrade it regularly. The current version is EQ6, and they have great support and lots of fun stuff, as you can see by this website.

Clay content? Hope Sweet P is home, laying about on the quilt on his bed, with his Daddy! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

Oh those are wonderful links, FromClaygary!!! Thanks very much for gathering and posting these.

I hope I don't do too badly with my first one.

Wishing a nice Sunday to everyone -- it's baby's First Sunday!!!

ETA:

Maybe it seems like I'm ignoring a lot but as I've seen with families... news always brings reactions and then there's a lot of energy expended and then things settle down. I'll wait it out on this one.