Kareneh

That solo is hilarious! I can just imagine him practicing and preparing for his audition. I'd think it would have been a hell of an intimidating experience and he pulled it off. Makes me all kind of proud. I'm getting a real kick out of reading everyone's dates.....it's so funny to see them all over the calendar like that. But this isn't bad. There's pretty much something for everyone schedule wise. I wish I could spread my shows out but unless I slip back to New York on my way back to home....I'll be doing the three in row and that's it. But I could take my mother and my daughter on their first visit to New York sometime late in April, couldn't I? Hmmmmm....... OMG!!! Someone got me my very own emoticon!

This run starts a few days after I'm supposed to be gone and my heart stopped for a moment when it hit me that there was this incredible distance looming....but I jump started it again with some front row seats for the first few days of April. I'll come back. I was going to come back to Canada in April anyway, so I'll stop in New York when I book my flights over. I can see this is going to work out after all. How exciting for Clay! What a year he has coming and that means lots of good things for us, too. The opportunity to work with Mike Nichols and Eric Idle is amazing and I know he'll learn much from the experience. I can't wait until a house full of NJU's gets to see what he can do. A million dollars. Wish I had it. What a great day!!! Guess I should stop and do some work. Anyone else going April 1,2 & 3?

I'm back alright! Thanks for noticing. Miss me? Did it seem like I was gone? I thought my dry run went rather well. I'll be out of here come mid-January. John is going right after we come back from Vegas and we'll meet up in Halifax for the holidays. The plan is for me to come back to Houston after New Years, spend a couple of weeks getting ready, and then leave from here. John is going to come back the last few days to help get everything into storage and to help with the meat. Yes, the meat. I was told that a 48 quart Igloo cooler when filled with frozen meat and duct taped together will remain frozen well past the 20 hours it takes to get to Baku. Apparently that cooler makes the Lufthansa baggage weight restrictions and Azerbaijan has no qualms about any kind of food coming into the country. I wonder what it's going to cost to ransom my meat at the airport.... BUT! I won't have to import from Dubai....I would expect that the only meat I could afford to import from Dubai would be bologna, but I doubt that a stick of bologna has ever been seen in Dubai. I saw a $9 bag of Tostitos the other day, though.I should have taken a picture of them. I think they were special ones and were able to apply their own salsa and cheese dip......oops! I mean queso! (location location location....arrrrgh!) I spent the afternoon uploading some pix they are here in this Smugmug album if anyone is interested in having a look. Baku I posted some pictures of house number two in a private gallery, if you're interested just send me a PM and I'll send you the link. This is the one we decided we wanted and just sent the requirements list off to the agent, tonight.....because everything is possible and everything is negotiable. This is the house we want, if we can get it in under the budget with all the furniture and stuff. The thing is, the house is huge.....might be bigger than Clays, if you don't count all of his garages or if he keeps his garages and I can count my little 2 storey house for the gardener/security guard/dog sitter/drunken husband. At 7500 square feet sans the little house, it's too big for the two of us but it has the best set up for the dog and it is closer to being finished than the last one. Only some minor things are left to be done, like lighting and balcony railings....stuff like that. Also it's walking distance to the US embassy which is about 2 short blocks away in another house. There is a family of Canadians living next door. I hope it works out but if not we have back up plans, and we have Vugar. Everyone should have a Vugar.....he knows that the other embassy down the street is paying less rent than this guy is asking and it's well under our budget. I have the feeling that Vugar knows lots of things. Enough of that stuff. I'm home and still kind of jet lagged. It didn't help that when we got off the 11 hour flight from Frankfurt we had to wait in a 3 hour line up at US customs. Not fun! John realized as we got to passport control in Azerbaijan that he had no more blank pages in his passport to stick visas. He didn't think it would be a problem it was.....so he had to fly up to Halifax today to go renew in person tomorrow. He can't come back to the States until he gets it back. They say less than 2 weeks, I hope that's right. We have Vegas in a few weeks and he's up there, in the same city as his mother, who is ready to kill him for taking this job. The woman is possessed with anger right now.......she was very unhappy with us when we moved to Houston but this is beyond the pale I'm afraid. You'd think we hadn't lived away for 21 of the 25 years we've been married the way she's carrying on.....and in the 4 years I did live in the same city, she came to our house 6 times, some birthdays and some Christmas. ***Shakes off bad vibes and gets down to the real nitty gritty.*** It's so hard to believe that the skating special is only a few weeks away! My head has been spinning in a hundred directions lately and I am so looking forward to getting out and having some Clay time in the midst of all this. As for the poochy tummy, I will always maintain my position.....and if Clay maintains his on his back, there will still be a nice hollow there from which to sip champagne. I thought that line was funny. I viewed it more globally as stating that he is not gay and by Christmas he will still not be gay, in the same way that he won't turn Martian by Christmas. As for not drinking, smoking, swearing, or womanizing, Clay may still not do these things, depending on how strictly or liberally someone construes those terms. I thought that line was funny, too. Total snark on the church and the idea that it felt the need to circulate such a letter. I think I feel a Seuss coming on..... I would see him in the shower In a lovely Ivory Tower I would see him, raise him ten Oh, sweet Clay remember when... That I time I seen in you in Toledo Leather jacket and a Speedo? What's that you say? T'was no bikini? Someone is a great big meanie! *Slinks away because this really went no where and it's too late to fix it.* EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Perma's in the house!!!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Whoopee! Perma's here!!!! Sounds like you were thinking like me about 6 months ago. This reminded me that I have to get that freaking DVR back to Comcast this week, it isn't recording anymore. I cannot miss this!! If you get really lucky......see above paragraph with reference to licking sipping. Do ya think the bubbles would be ticklish? :smiles_141: Happy Belated Birthday to laughn ..... and {{{{hugs to you}}}}} zena, for you and for your friend. I hate it so much when I post instead of preview! Did it again tonight.

Couchie, I am twelve hours ahead of you in California. It's 11:15 AM here.

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I am really enjoying this batch of pictures and I had no idea how they were going to be since I took them from inside a folded black dinner napkin placed on my lap. But, definitely, yeah.......I think he looked gravelly, in a nice, Jim Beam, Southern Comfort kind of way....heck this one reminds me of Tequila. Well, I think we have found a house and I am copping out big time....going into an ex-pat enclave. But we're taking the dog with us and need a yard. Since Azerbaijan was under Soviet rule for many years, most of it's housing is in the form of Soviet block type apartments. There is a lot of new skyscraper construction but that isn't going to work well with the dog, so I'm opting for the yard and a new house. If we get this one, then it won't be finished until December. I was told not to rent anything that wasn't finished because deadlines aren't all that important around here. So, later we are going to see if there are some previously occupied ones that are empty in the neighborhood. Some say there are and others say there are none. If there is nothing else to look at then I am going with this one. I have to furnish it, too. So before we leave I have to drag John to some furniture stores (of which I have no clue or concept here) and point. He'll be back here as soon as we get back from Vegas so the furnishing will fall to him. It's kind of ironic that I get to start with a blank canvas, on someone else's dime, and I won't be around to enjoy it. Of course, they tell me that furniture buying involves many trips to the stores and lots of.....you guessed it.....negotiation. This is one very interesting place. There is a blend of two cultures here...Russian Soviet and the Azeri, which is very similar to the Turks. Russian is the most common language in Baku but "Salam" is the usual greeting. I stopped into a shop in the old city on Tuesday to buy some silk scarves and as soon as I stepped inside (well....it was more like I was waved and hailed inside), I was told to sit on a three legged stool and given hot tea in a glass....while the owner "enthusiastically" spread a sample of all of her wares on the carpet in front of us. It was a blast. Here are a few more pix. I need to get out and take way more than I have. One more day after this one and then home to get ready! And someone asked about the eBP......I definitely think there are possibilites there.

Ah......those little breaths at the end......I always called them air humps. No, idea where that came from but I remember that from the beginning. As weird as this sounds I should have been in bed a couple of hours ago. Tomorrow we're off to the bazaar.....where my pitiful bartering skills will make me the laughing stock of the marketplace. Anyway, I stayed up late to work on some summer tour photos since summer is long over now. Here's one from Houston I called Black & Light. I sometimes get my "gahs" and my "guhs" mixed up.....perhaps a little dose of linguistics from a well oiled enunciation machine would take care of that.....since sometimes the vowel sounds you make are equal to the love you take.....yeah, I know that's backwards, but it worked better. Editing in another one....

Hi Guys! I thought I'd drop in and tell cindilu2 how much I like the new banner. It's a great one! We got to Baku on time Sunday night and with our bags...insert shameless plug for Lufthansa. I have learned many new things since I've been here.....one being that in some parts of the world there is no such thing as a residential street. This is one of them. We went house/apartment hunting today and saw some really interesting (in a good way) houses......in the most unlikely locations. The first house we looked at was a beautiful 3,000 square foot home, 4 huge balconies (why I don't know) but the house was very very nice.....asking rent......furnished $5200 a month. YIKES! Want to see the next door neighbor? You don't get that everyday in Katy, Texas! The "structure" in the background housed some chickens that spent most of the time we were there chasing each other around the yard.....free-ranging like mad. There is shopping here though! And this was the view this morning from my hotel room window....National Bird...the construction crane. Later, I began what will be the first of many pilgrimages. I've managed to keep up with the board, if you don't count the 20 page hole somewhere in the middle. I couldn't for the life of me find out what Carrie did to get grounded. I found out I'm not going to miss fifth grader after all, and I want to thank ldyjocelyn for the AMA pix a few pages back. One of them is my new wallpaper....not the smiley picture, though. I like that one too much and I'd get no further than my desktop in the morning. Dayum, that was one hellava shot! I know I'm interrupting the flow of the convo about son lyrics and all but I'm too pooped to parlay any thoughts on that subject into words except that I am a huge fan of Cohen and Dylan. I am enjoying the discussion, though. I'll be here reading. It's hard to imagine that it's daytime for you guys since it's after midnight here. Getting used to being on the opposite shift as everyone else is going to take some getting used to. I was online this afternoon for a bit and could not figure out why it was so dead in Clayland.....then it hit me that you were all asleep in your beds while I was stroking silk rugs in the market. Tomorrow, one more house and some picture taking for me....but I am going to get some of those rugs when I get here after Christmas.....well maybe one at a time. They were just amazing! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

CRAP!!! (But YAY! for the rest of you guys.) Fifth Grader is going to show while I'm gone. It's been a long time since I sat in front of my computer refreshing for clack alerts but I guess that's where I'll be next Friday morning....because Baku is 11 hours ahead of us here in Houston. I guess this is a little dose of what I can expect in the new year, eh? Talk about whiplash, he looks like a different guy in those candids and pretty comfy up there in the Big Apple, too. Nice. He doesn't look one bit fat in real life....unlike moi who looks fat in both pictures and in real life. Could that be because I am? Either way it's no fair, you should only have be one or the other. My head hurts from looking at apartment photos online, over and over and over again. Dropping by here is a nice diversion from all the other things I am supposed to be doing. I've just decided to be in the moment and think about all that other stuff tomorrow. Does that make sense? I'll think about Clay having lunch in NYC tonight. Hmmm.....I guess that should be dinner. zena, you are a wise one, you are. Did y'all know she's my friend? And she writes REALLY REALLY funny stories. Really. I am not ready to go anywhere, let alone to the other side of the world on Saturday. You want to see panic in its purest form, stop by my place tomorrow night. It should be classic. That's it. Time to get off my butt. Whoa!! I almost (but not quite) forgot to wish liney23 a :00003653: . Spank me. Clay.

Have a great one, keepingfaith! I think you should send your story in, too. :7252: I think I'll go see Spamalot on one of those free nights in Vegas next month. I missed it when it was here in Houston this summer and was sorry I did. As to the veracity of the rumors? Meh! Who knows? I think it would be fun, probably wouldn't slow down an album because, heaven knows, there are a hundred other things that could slow it down, as well, that aren't nearly as much fun. {{{{merrieeee}}}}

From your lips to God's ears. *Sigh* Well, I did some reading around and I can kind of see how this could backfire on the show but since I have no clue how he plans to incorporate them.....and since I was so down in the JBT before it began and I was so wrong about that one.....I've just given up worrying about how things are going to turn out, They'll be what they'll be. I'm a go with the flow kind of girl now......since I figured out that no matter what his plans were and how I felt about them, I was always looking for my next "Poughkeepsie." This girl can never get enough Poughkeepsie. One Christmas I'll never forget was my first married one. We had moved to Oklahoma, a week after our wedding, for John's new job. It was our first foray out into the world away from family, and we were the first in either of our families to move far from home. I had planned to make our first Christmas totally perfect. It was going to be everything I'd ever seen in a magazine......on steroids. I think I had succeeded too. I had been baking and freezing stuff for weeks, had the most beautiful tree ever....on and on.....the whole 9 yards. Our plans were to celebrate the holidays in Oklahoma and then go back up to Nova Scotia in early January, when John, the low man on the totem pole could get time off. This sort of appeased the parents who weren't all that happy that we were 1) gone in the first place and 2) worse, yet, gone for Christmas and New Years. I thought it was kind of cool to be doing my very own Christmas thing, until John came home for lunch unexpectedly on December 19th and said he'd been transfered to Grande Prairie, Alberta and his start date was January 3rd. That meant the trip to Nova Scotia in January was out. I was bereft. I was already homesick, and the thought that I wasn't going to see my family for many more months was too much to even think about. In about five minutes flat I figured out that if we left on Monday, the 22nd, we could drive to Nova Scotia (we didn't have enough money for last minute plane fares at Christmas) and make it in time for the Christmas Day. So that Friday night, we sat under our tree and unwrapped our presents. The next morning I called a local church and asked them if they needed some food to distribute...because I had a shit load of it. We called the landlord, the power company, the phone company, and our parents. The movers came and did the pack and load on Monday, and we spent that night in Tulsa. We had to stop in Oklahoma City on our way out of state to pick up a replacement paycheck since the one I had left on the kitchen counter with some bills that needed to be paid earlier that day was lost. I had gone to every place I had been to in town that day looking for that dang check. It turned up weeks later when I unpacked some boxes in Alberta. Anyway, we drove for hours on Tuesday and finally pulled into a hotel in Indiana for that night. The next day was Christmas Eve. We were determined to get as close to Nova Scotia as we could so we'd get there in time for Christmas dinner. We were both getting really tired because it had been non stop from the moment we had gotten the news. For some reason we ended up in Manhattan around 8 o'clock that night. We had come through the tunnel and were trying to find a way down to the expressway into Connecticut. The right was to go came up for debate. Lots of debate. Lots of heated debate. 'De-bang' was the sound of the car door when I slammed it. So, here we are in Lower Manhattan...I only know that because I got out by the World Trade Center....and the streets were empty. I think everyone who worked in all of those offices was long gone.....down the expressway to Connecticut. I walked. He followed in the car. He asked me to get in. I ignored him. I walked. He asked. I ignored. We kept this up for several blocks until I saw a cop car up ahead and I KNEW he a cop would be suspicious of some guy trying to get a girl in his car on Christmas Eve in Lower Manhattan. I got in. He was right...he knew the way and we drove off into the fog to Connecticut. We made it as far as Lowell MA that night and we stopped at a Holiday Inn.....starving. There was a Chinese Food restaurant next door so we went over there to grab a bite to eat. It was really late but we were so famished. We ordered eight different dishes and 2 egg rolls each. By the time the food came we were both curled up on our respective sides of the booth sound asleep. The waitress came over when they were closing up to tel us we had to go. She said she tried to wake us when the food came but she didn't have any luck. I do remember, though, sticking my head up over the edge of the table and wishing I had the strength to eat.....especially when the pickins' on the road on Christmas Day were pretty slim. Thank God for that box of Dunkin Donuts that got us the rest of the way. WOW! That was....um....long.....and not very interesting outside of the confines of my head. It's late and I haven't had any coffee for a few hours. Spamalot? I want to see that when I go to Vegas next month. I hear it's hilarious. There is never a dull moment around here is there? Okay, I'll concede my Christmas story up there but otherwise.....

Well, I guess I won’t need that little DVD player for my trip now that my boyfriend has given me an assignment to work on during that 10 hour flight to Frankfurt and the subsequent 5 hours after that to Baku. There’s a 6 hour lay over in between to change planes, so I can talk to John then. This girl isn’t taking English Comp I for nothing! And here, I thought I had the most abysmal timing of anyone. Yes, the Lord moveth in mysterious ways……kind of like "what happens right after Angela runs her fingernails up Clay's arm. Or something." TM 00lsee So, I guess I’m packing a Steno pad and a pencil or two. This should be fun. I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with because I know there are some absolutely amazing writers in this fandom, none of whom take a backseat to anything else that’s out there. I’m not saying that all of the stories will be top notch writing but I have no doubt that most of them will give us some of those unique concert memories that we love…..and hate. Either way….we sure love to talk about them. I love that he is trying to make each go round during the holidays different than the last, and each concert a little bit different than the one I saw the night before. Clay, I can squeeze you in one more night without having to change a flight. Would you give a girl a break and let me know what you’re doing on December 16th? My dance card’s got an opening that I need to fill that night…..and I saved a few bucks on that DVD player thing you can have. As far as the pictures from yesterday go….flat hair…..poofy tummy…..whatever…..not my favorite look but one that can easily be converted into same by laying him on his back, grabbing handfuls of blue shirt and pulling……no better way to get rid of a little pooch that I know of since other forms of exercise do not exist in my world….probably not in his either. I think fug is funny, too. But then again, I referenced God and Waldo in the same sentence…..within one week of air travel. I’m leaving on Saturday for Azerbaijan for ten days. I guess it’s time I called my Mama and told her I was moving…..just in case she finds out I went half way around the world without telling her. She might be a tad pissed. That’ll be a Christmas memory …..Ho Lee Shit. I will be back on the 15th and I am supposed to have internet at the hotel – wireless. Hope it works. I got to messing around in my hard drive last night and did a few more pix. One all sweetness & light… And another a little more dark & dangerous One of these days I am going to make a dent in those summer tour pix. One of these days....wish me luck.

I know that "recommendations" are a sore spot for many this week but I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with those little DVD players that have the 7 -10 inch screens on them. I was thinking of getting one and was curious about battery life and things like that. I promise not to spork anyone's wounds. In fact I can hand out Band Aids to the wounded who reply. Thankeweverymuch... :F_05BL17blowkiss:

MEEMEEMEEMEEMEEMEEEEEEEEEEE!! :PickMe-1: I hereby officially volunteer my services. I swear can do it without passing out or anything like that....okay....maybe something like that.....but I'd recover quick! WOW! What a visual. Thank you for your randomness....(randimosity just doesn't sound right.) mee is here......'cept she's zena, not xena (I think her sons pointed out the lack of Greekness in her spelling but she's here, silver blade and all.) In the "how false things sure get spread around" category, get this. Last night as we're pulling into the garage after our dinner out, I was telling John about the Kim Locke "Reunited" tour thing that isn't happening, the uproar surrounding it, and then Clay's blog to put it to rest. I was in the middle of the story when what do I hear emanating from the radio in John's car......Randy Jackson on his syndicated radio countdown telling his audience the come next summer Kim, Clay and Ruben would he hitting the road on tour "Reunited - 5 Years Later." This came after Daughtry's new song and I think he mentioned that AI2 Rewind was just starting. Not sure. But....gawd! You just have to laugh at all this stuff. Toots, the company uses an agent to all that visa stuff for us, and they'll be paying for the expedited passports, too. I have to learn how to grease the wheels where I'm going. I understand common practice to get through the day there. OMG! It's four o'clock already and I've done squat all day. ETA: Thanks cindilu2 for my new avi!!! MUAH! I did something important today after all....uploading is hard work, much harder than downloading any day.

I'm listening to that voice right now on with my little earbuds and he's so darn good at this. But dammit it's the same as every time I hear him (or see him)....I want more. I want to see next weeks show tomorrow. The fact that we didn't know about it until this week, just makes me grin from ear to ear. So does the fact that the beautiful Valerie got married today. Gibby, wish her all the best from me, please, the next time you see her! I'm so happy she had a beautiful day. Yep, I figured it out. I can do it when I go up there in December and pay extra to get them expedited. Was it you Toots who asked me about the dog a while back? He's coming along....I could never give him up. cindilu2, Glad you liked the pix and I love your morphs and the wallpaper! Could a person grovel and beg you for a new avatar? Perhaps? Maybe? I was digging around in My Pictures last night trying to come up with a new photo to make into an avatar and I couldn't come up with anything I wanted to use. All my 2 dimensional pix just seemed to lie there...going ho hum. Anything at all that moves, morphs or makes a good cup of coffee.....pretty please?? :F_05BL17blowkiss: I got everything turned in that was supposed to be turned in yesterday and I found this yummy Italian restaurant today where John and I had dinner tonight. Life was very good. I think I have to get some shots tomorrow. Life won't be as good then, but tonight I am still in Tortellini heaven. **A note to the eHP we HAVE to have dinner or lunch or something at this place.** I'd bet Clay is remembering some nice tortellini here, too....

Thank the Lord for small mercies and undone English assignments! I'm missing the Texas Sporksaw Massacre......though I do believe I can hear merrieeee's screams from my balcony. I should be extra thankful I'm not there. I sat on my hands when y'all were volunteering to review songs. I'd be just another floater in the pool at merrieeee's tonight. :o Have fun guys...you too merrieeee. Make them clean the blood off the white furniture before they leave tomorrow....m'kay?

BWAH!! I'm printing something. Honest! I finished my BIG essay last night....er....this morning.....er......at 4:00 A.M. Whatever you want to call that. I have two lectures to listen to, one assignment, and a quiz to do before I can leave for lunch. Oh, and John came home from his latest trip yesterday. I wonder if he has work to catch up on. No AIR for me until later, and maybe worse no eHP lunch unless I get almost all of this done first. But my hair is wet, my pants are laying on the bed and things are falling into place. I hope. Thanks for the push.....I really suck at self-discipline.

EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Someone who actually recognizes Mike Weir's name!!! Whoop de dooo!!! I ususally get blank stares when I mention him. I actually cried when he won the Masters. Of course, the fact that my DH is a pro-golfer and knows Mike has something to do with it but I would love him regardless. I saw Mile Weir at the Shell Houston Open two years ago! canuck2010, please excuse me for being dense but you're in Vancouver or am I mistaken? If you are, you might be acquainted with one of my husband's good friends. He isn't a pro-golfer, but was an assistant coach of the hockey team until recently and I think he was involved in a lot of golf "stuff" when he was there....charity events and things like that. No, not just you. Move over and make room from me on that bench. I'll share my bag of popcorn with you. :F_05BL17blowkiss: I have been sitting here waiting for the first picture to show up in someone's blog. ***Ooooh...nice view from the top. I can see Panama from here.***

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! :04: :00000442: :laola0: :ura: Cool cool cool!! I looked at the episode schedule earlier today and somebody (pretty pleeeeeeeeease?) HAS to make me a DVD of the episodes airing after mid December and mail it to me. Pleeeeeeeeeeease! I'm going to be gone by then, dammit! I wanna see, too!

Love the note! Another one falls captive... ....and! Meeeeeee!!! I'm going to Williamsport! Row AAA dead centre, bay-bee! Life is strange in this day and age...while I was posting, I received a note from my youngest son...who at the moment is here. Although he can't figure out how to upload pictures on the Korean-language computer he is on...I can "talk" to him in real time...from Korea...now how cool is that?? I am really looking forward to Williamsport which will probably be my last concert this Christmas. The venue looks absolutely beautiful. I reserved my flights into Newark today for the four shows I'm doing in that area. I gave myself one extra day so I could slip in something on the 16th....and if he doesn't, I'll do something in the city, like load up on camera stuff at B & H. It seems so real when you get that plane ticket. I'm off to book Chicago for the end of November, the fare dipped below $200 today. I think it's time to bite. Speaking of biting....... Shipping a dog to Azerbaijan......Three thousand dollars A bottle of Yellow Tail Merlot........Eight bucks A Sheltie who can pass you the cork screw......Priceless. Claygary, my husband travels to all these far off places, many of which don't accept credit cards (like the Sofitel in Malabo....imagine $450 a night, cash or wire transfer) BUT we always manage to communicate on Yahoo Messenger in real time. It's one of the coolest darn things about the internet and one reason I have to get my mother a computer for Christmas. (The rest of the family, who live in Halifax, are going to hate me for it. HAHA!) Ooooh! Ansa, you pass the test. Someone give that woman an A+ :F_05BL17blowkiss:

HOLY CRAP...that is ONE HOT pic............. I am now rendered speechless! Yes, yes indeed.....I like it very very much. Time to go get dressed and grab a coffee at the drive thru.....I swear the little gal that hands me my coffee every single morning is Kim Caldwell's sister. She looks and sounds just like her! The first day she slid open that window to take my order I did a double take, and then she spoke. So far I haven't had the guts to ask her if she is, but one of these days I'm going to have to. A Little Venting Time.....cue the violins, please. I think I'm getting mentally discombobulated over this move and the school work thing etc....etc....etc. I have so much work to do for my classes this week and what did I do yesterday? I spent all five hours of the afternoon researching ex-pat tax info, dog shipping stuff, and how we're going to manage to get new Canadian passports in a two week window in December (I know stupid thought). Neither one of us is expiring that soon but to get a long term visa we have to have passports valid for 6 months longer than th3e term of the visa. John can't send his off to the place we are supposed to send them now because he leaves the US every couple of weeks for work. If I send mine off I might not get it back in time to go back to Canada for Christmas. So, we are stuck. Our only option is to apply for renewal in person in Halifax and wait up there. I have heard that the turn around times that way are much better than mailing to Gatineau, PQ. Some people are apparently sitting down here in the US waiting 3 months, then finding out that their photos were rejected. Once we get the new passports we have to send them off to the Embassy to get our visas.....Can't book anything until we get that all set up. BUT BUT BUT.....this was my BIG BONEHEAD moment yesterday..... I started to compose an email to an international tax accountant in Baku and about half way through, I thought.....maybe this might be better coming from John. So, I deleted what I wrote and started to write John an email with the guys info and suggesting that HE should be the one doing this.....and a few other things. I told him all the info I had found about shipping the dog. I told him some other stuff. Last night jut before bed I asked John about the email I had sent him, to which he replied he hadn't gotten one.....and then it hit me. I probably hadn't changed the addressee box on the email I wrote. I had probably sent it to the guy in Baku. I thought I was going to die right there on the bed (and not in a good way). And, yes, that's exactly what I did. I am now absolved of all future responsibilities re: international taxation. I tossed that responsibility at John so fast his personal exemptions spun. I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I got Row A for Williamsport this morning. They're on the far right but hey.....I saw a staircase there in the pictures. If anyone is in need of tickets I have a good pair in Row F on the left side that are for sale. Send me a PM if you're interested. I haven't been close enough to my hometown when any reunions took place, so I've missed all of mine. I did get to my elementary school's anniversary, though and that was fun. The best part besides seeing a few people I hadn't seen in years was the slide and video presentation that they had done. I also saw a photo of my grade nine graduating class taken in front of the church. I had never seen it, and that was awesome. It also reminds me I meant to write for help in tracking it down. I have nothing else to do these days. I love the look on Angela's face. And this one......"You Lost 600 Nickels?!!"

Let me see if this works for me, too. I like change, yes....yes....I do. What are all these cute little Quick Access things on the side? Are they like zippers? I think I'll keep my fingers away from those because I wouldn't want to get myself in any trouble in the middle of the afternoon. It's very cute in the back section where all the work gets done. Nice upgrade, you guys!!

I think I'll definitely be taking my quilting stuff with me when I go....well some of it. I don't think if we moved the fabric collection there would be any weight allowance left for anything else. I'll take some stuff and replenish as needed. I'm also thinking of making a couple of afghans while I'm there, too. Kazakhstan was the place we dodged when we came to Houston. This time it's Azerbaijan, another little spot on the Caspian Sea. But, anyway, I was just dropping in and saw that Scarlett mentioned the Houston International Quilt Show. I went last year and saw some absolutely amazing work. Non-flash photography was allowed and I shot pix of some of the pieces. They're all in my smugmug Texas album but here is a sample of a few of them. I was sorely tempted by all of the "stuff" that was for sale, too, but I resisted really hard because I knew I had Clay trips coming up in a few weeks. I chose Clay over a package of batik fat quarters. Only another quilter wold understand the devotion that signifies. And something on topic from Pala: I just want to tuck a pillow under his head in this one and.....um.....maybe toss a quilt over him, too....um.....eventually..... Nighty-night, Clay.....and may the rest of you sleep just like this tonight, too. *Sigh*

She's here...she's here!!! Yipeeee!! :F_05BL17blowkiss: Just for clarity, I'd like to point out that the sword we gave her.....in the back of her dress.....ran parallel to her spine, not perpendicular, as some might expect.......coming from the eHP and all that. Welcome .....and all aboard is right, Princess Zena.

I would do him after chat. What you "Claymates" think of that? I'd do him in Mickey D's. Fries with that, sir, if you please. Mickey D's in Fountain Square, All those "Claymates" wonder...where? 'Tis no matter, where or when, Just bring me his Big Mac, again.

Lufthansa has the best connections from here, so that's going to be my first choice.....only one stop in Frankfurt and that's good.....I put a little note on the top of John's laptop. "Book this one." I agree about Heathrow, no fun there at all. Zena, I see you down there. Come out and play with us. Tell KAndre that you are being a good custodian of her sword. These are important things that the eHP need to know. Would someone do me.....a favor? Keep the Seuss doins' going until morning when my brain wakes up again? I want to play, too, but right now I'd can only do him in my dreams. :F_05BL17blowkiss: