#40: He simply makes me smile when I see him.

[Scarlett]

Good news on the storm front - Hanna now expected to make landfall right in our area but may not make hurricane status but rather hit at tropical storm force of 70 MPH. It could briefly reform as a hurricane but some dry air (off Florida?) has stolen some of its power. Just after midnight tomorrow night is expected landfall.

Schools already announcing early release tomorrow as afternoon rain/winds expected. Still possibility for some tornadic activity.

Glad to hear this but please take extra precautions anyway. The "tornadic activity" part could be unpredictable. Stay safe! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

ETA:

Y'all would not believe the stars tonight. Absolutely clear night. Can't believe how bright the stars are. Can see the Big dipper very clearly and the North Star (*follow the dri-i--in - - king Gourd*) and one other very bright star - or planet. I wasn't seeing Orion so I'm not sure what constellation that star is in.

9pm would have been too late for Orion. I'm guessing that the bright star you saw was Regulus, Leo's heart.

[Gibby]

Time for a purdy pic:

[FromClaygary]

Sorry to post on the main page with Spamalot stuff...but there doesn't seem to be a lot of action in the Spam threads right now....

There seem to be several of us in NYC for the ending shows, Jan 1 - 4th. Anyone up for dinner at Carmine's before the show some night? We wanted to get there last trip but could not get reservations three weeks in advance. We should book now if we want to do it.

[goldarngirl]

Well this isn't Clay related. Well I guess it kind of is. Isn't everything? I found a program this morning that will let you add information or change information in file names as a batch changeover. (now everyone but me might know about this BUT)

ie 09 04 05_Clay_ to 050904_Clay_ or whatever else you want.

It will also add 050904_ .................to Clay_

And somehow (I haven't figure this out yet) it will remove blank spaces in file names.

Now this might not be a huge thing, however, for ages I have tried to name the concert pictures I right click and save as with the date and the venue. Up until now, unless i didn't mind changing the whole file name, I didn't have a program that would batch change or add this information.

Just FYI for those who were as uninformed as I was and who might be able to use this program.

PFrank

[Thankful4Clay]

I bet you got those at RHT. I got some more through an email. I kinda like this one:

edited: sorry folks..see post below...eek this might be a first. /couchie

[Gibby]

And another hawt pic:

[Couch Tomato]

Top of my head first thought..but don't want illegal spam pictures posted here or a discussion about said pictures. This is the one request Clay made and I think Clay Nation has been really good at dealing with it.

Can everyone please edit..and PM me if you want to discuss or have a good argument for hee.

[luckiest1]

goldarngirl, that sure would be a useful program. Have you installed it yet? I am always wary of .exe files.

[goldarngirl]

goldarngirl, that sure would be a useful program. Have you installed it yet? I am always wary of .exe files.

Yep installed it and used the replace and add features. Haven't figured out the remove spaces feature yet. Had Nerd over to remove Vista from new desktop and now I have some Merillville montages well ONE Merrillville montage to finish up :lmaosmiley-1:

Let me know if someone tries this and can figure out the remove spaces thing.

[merrieeee]

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. It made me feel good.

I had a tough day today. I kept thinking about my Mum and how much I miss her and then when I got home I read about people's problems with ageing parents and as bad as this may sound I will be eternally grateful that my Mum went fairly quickly and didn't suffer unduly. When I think of having to deal with things from 3,000 miles away...well I don't know what I would have done.

It's tough to be without her but I believe much better than the altermative especially for her.

My DH & DD sent me roses at work and they are both feeling guilty that I am alone tonight! I just told my DH that if he feels that bad he can fix and upgrade my home office computer. He said no but he will buy me a new one! Yeesss!!! Guilt is great!

[Couch Tomato]

Whoo hooo...happy birthday Merrieee and congrats on your birthday gift!!

[ausdon]

to ausdon! backatcha!

You'll appreciate this. We finally got a GPS a few months ago, and tested it out to find our daughter's place downtown. It's a really good way to keep mrchach from turning the wrong way down one-way streets!!

TG for kim's countdowns! I was lying in bed this morning trying to figure out how many days it would be til SPAM!!!

merrieeee!!!

Hey Chach! I had forgotten about that. Thanks for reminding me of a fun day! Actually I intend buying DH a gps for his birthday in Nov- In his new job he has to drive all over and he keeps getting lost!

Happy Birthday Merieeee

Warning! This post has no Clay content!

Just got off the phone with my mother. She sounds despondent. She doesn't remember that the family went by before leaving for vacation to tell her about our plans, so she thought I was just not going to see her for that long. She said things that let me know that her mind is slipping away--just things that she says as reality but that I know aren't true, yet she can still joke and ask some of the right questions about the kids when I tell a story about one or the other.

She said "I think sometimes I'll just move away from this place. I'm getting a little tired of it. I'll just go to California and see if I can live with somebody in their house." Of course, she's in California now.

As we were saying goodbye, she said, "Will I ever see you again?" I'd told her just a minute or so earlier that I was going to stop by on my way home from work today. Part of me wanted to just scream, "I already TOLD you I was coming, Mom!"...but I just repeated that I'd see her sometime tonight.

There's a poignant essay in here somewhere---the emotional seesaw that is the life of a middle aged parent of teenagers and an elderly mother. From the joys of watching a 13-year-ld tomboy daughter wearing her first dress and getting her ears pierced to the sorrow of realizing that her mother is living her last years confused and cruelly disconnected from what she knew when she controlled her days.

We truly earn our grey hairs, don't we, friends?

Brought tears to my eyes. {{{Muski and family}}}

Well I'm off now to pick up my costume for a fancy dress party this weekend- I'm going as "Dorothy" from the "Wizard of OZ"- not too sure about it though. The dress shows my knees and I'd rather keep them covered! If I can't find something better I'll just have to "sell it like crazy" - you know......"Oh of course I love costume parties!" " I am such a Zany extrovert that I adore costumes with Shortish skirts and an eyeful of cleavage!!"..... Umm... think I can convince myself?

[ausdon]

ETA: I know it's a scintillating post ,but you all probably don't need it twice.....

[FromClaygary]

I know you're all dying to spend some money on Clay, so here's a little something to tide you over until Spamalot starts again.....

Broadway Cares on ebay

[annabear]

I know you're all dying to spend some money on Clay, so here's a little something to tide you over until Spamalot starts again.....

Broadway Cares on ebay

Aren't they going to have to have another one printed up in just about 2 weeks?

Have fun, ausdon!

[FromClaygary]

I know you're all dying to spend some money on Clay, so here's a little something to tide you over until Spamalot starts again.....

Broadway Cares on ebay

Aren't they going to have to have another one printed up in just about 2 weeks?

Have fun, ausdon!

I thought exactly the same thing! ....which makes me think it must have been donated before they knew he was coming back.

[ldyjocelyn]

I know you're all dying to spend some money on Clay, so here's a little something to tide you over until Spamalot starts again.....

Broadway Cares on ebay

Aren't they going to have to have another one printed up in just about 2 weeks?

I thought exactly the same thing! ....which makes me think it must have been donated before they knew he was coming back.

Or....they'll just have another one to sell for charity in February....

{{{{muski}}}}

[annabear]

Or....they'll just have another one to sell for charity in February....

Along with another tabard, pair of gloves and several rubber chickens!

[HippoGA]

Cotton,

60,

Shallotte, North Carolina

Cotton, my little brother lives on Oak Island! And one of my bridesmaids is a special ed teacher there! What a small world! Hope the lighthouse and the whole region has no serious storm damage!

Another hair-dyer checking in! "Better living through chemistry" is my motto! I thought that I would stop dying it when I turned 50 (that was my mental age when gray hair was acceptable! LOL!) but I look totally washed out with the gray so back to the bottle for me! Best $6.99 a month I can spend!

Clay content-he is the king of hair dye!

And I submit the best Spamalot gif of them all...I swear he winked at me first!

[Scarlett]

Non-Clay but Help! I'm still at the office trying to coordinate a puppet show/craft project/story-telling project for our United Way DOC next week. I left for HK 2 weeks ago with a small project & budget for 12 volunteers -- and came back to find that I have 50 kids (age 0-5) and (luckily) 30 volunteers. Eeek!

If anyone has done a puppet show before (or if you teach pre-school kids), I'd love some advice! I cleared my PM box somewhat. Please PM me. (I have ordered 15 hand puppets and I plan to make more sock puppets as part of the craft project)

This is for Sept. 11 (Thursday next week) so I'm desperate!

ETA:

Clay content -- wish we could entertain like he does!!!

[Iseeme]

Hey Scarlett (my s.b. :F_05BL17blowkiss: ) Check your pms.

And to keep the Clay pretty pictures going:

[Cotton]

Cotton,

60,

Shallotte, North Carolina

Cotton, my little brother lives on Oak Island! And one of my bridesmaids is a special ed teacher there! What a small world! Hope the lighthouse and the whole region has no serious storm damage!

And I submit the best Spamalot gif of them all...I swear he winked at me first!

Ooh! Oak Island (beautiful area!) will be more open to storm damage than we are. We are on the river rather than the ocean.

Hope your brother and bridesmaid are safe from Hanna and Ike. (Ike is scarier!)

You'll have to let me know when you come visit!!!

And - what was the conversation in that Verra Verra Cute gif!!!???

ETA:

[cha cha trusty]

I hope everyone in the hurricanes' path will stay safe!

mrchach seems to think we are going to get a lot of rain here on Saturday.

I hope he's WRONG!

Last time we got a lot of rain, the power went out and the basement flooded. :o

Seen This????

I hope our friends in Australia will comment on this one!! The Front Fell Off

:F_05BL17blowkiss:

[jmh123]

Don't want the day to end without saying :bday2: to merrieeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Cotton]

Meeerrrrrrreeeee!!! Clay has a message for you . . .