Thanks, MC. Of course that was a joke above... Mrs. Mark says she still wants to go steady. However, having another kid is not going to happen - that would lead to a sure fire break up and then I won't have a date for prom!

My husband says that this is why we keep adopting pets...no matter how many we get, it's still cheaper than another kid!

It IS a big change when the last one leaves the nest. Speaking as a single mother, and having only them in my home, I am very close to my girls (not that you have to be a single mother to be close to your kids.) When the first daughter left (both mine left when they married because they went to local CalState colleges and lived at home) I was comforted to know my younger daughter was still with me. When she married I KNEW I'd feel alone.

BUT, I didn't want to go around feeling sorry for myself nor did I want to be a mother hen with my adult girls. So, I tried to turn it into a positive that worked for me. I was focused more on my "independence" and looked at the advantages. My philosophy was and still is, "I can do whatever the hell I want to do, without answering to anyone." It is pretty cool but it's not like I lived on the edge, more of a state of mind type thing.

One of my first "brave" (for me) moves was taking a trip way to the other Coast all by myself. Yep, NYC!!! I look at my first trip there as a beginning of sorts.

TIS

I'm fortunate because 4 of my kids live in town (one lives with us), one lives just 30 minutes away, and the last one lives in Oregon. All of the grandkids live in town though. To paraphrase Rocco, sometims it's difficult, but not impossible.

OUCH! A researcher working in a chimp sanctuary went into a restricted area and was mauled by two of the chimps. He lost fingers, toes and a testicle, in addition to having his skull and facial bones laid open.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/andr...ory?id=16689076

That's terrible. But couldn't help but think of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes"

Don't have the story hand but remember the lady who got her face ripped off by her friends pet chimp? She's still going thru surgeries. Man, I never realized that chimps were so violent.




TIS

Well TIS, if you think about it, apprently they're less violent than people.

Mother chimps' primary responsibility after giving birth is to protect the newborns from their fathers, who attempt to eat their young.

Speaking of chimps/monkeys, reminds me of this story.

This was years ago in MI when my brother and I were in a pet store for some reason (don't remember why). My brother had a bankbook in his shirt pocket. We approached the cage and were looking at the monkey when suddenly, as quickly as a pick-pocket, the monkey snatched the bankbook out of my brothers pocket and started eating it.

We had to get the manager to open the cage and get it back. It was kind of hilarious. You can imagine when my brother went to the bank for another bank book when he had to explain how half of it got chewed up.

TIS

So sad

Cafe owner dies hours after President Obama visits


Soon after the President departed to continue on his campaign swing in Ohio, 70-year-old Josephine "Ann" Harris complained of fatigue and a tingling feeling. She was soon dead.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national...8#ixzz1zu9Nz5CY

Yea, I read that story earlier. How sad. I also heard that President Obama called the family to express his condolences.




TIS

That is sad..

Somebody thinks that Kate Upton is fat.
Talk about divorced from reality...

(CNN) -- Russia will not deliver new weapons to Syria so long as the situation in that country is unstable, an official at the body in charge of monitoring Russia's arms trade said Monday, state media reported.

"Russia, as well as other countries, is concerned by the situation in Syria," said Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy head of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, RIA Novosti reported. "We are not talking about new arms supplies to that country."

"Until the situation stabilizes we will not deliver any new weapons (to Syria)," said Dzirkaln.

Tennessee Tea Party criticizes governor for hiring gays and Muslims

.

http://screen.yahoo.com/former-home-of-quot-scarface-quot-priced-at-10-million-30047092.html

If you got $10 million laying around, you can buy Capone's Florida house.

here is a neat video for anybody that is a fan or seen a episode of bob ross.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLO7tCdBVrA&feature=player_embedded

Are there any Board members except Carmela who speak fluent Italian or have ready access to anyone who does?

I'm pretty sure Furio from Naples might know some words

and m2w as well.

Ah, grazie.

Yes

Does Google Translate count? I know some basic Italian which I learned from an ex-girlfriend.

I've used online translation applications because my Italian is so limited. However, they are sometimes not very helpful especially when it comes to colloquialisms.

I know I was mostly joking.

I don't know if any of you have seen the story, but on the day before they were to be married, a couple was informed by the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, Mississippi that he would not perform the service at his church. The reason was that the couple was black, and the church, which has been around since 1883, has never had a black couple get married there. Pastor Weatherwood explained that church members were furious that the couple was planning to wed there to the extent they threatened to remove him as pastor if he married them, breaking tradition (of Jim Crow, I guess).

Of course, it begs the question why would a pastor want to continue in this church?

In fairness to the people of Crystal Springs, the refusal to let them get married in the church has sparked widespread outrage among black and white residents.

I posted that article in one of my online classes.

See what's still going on in our country. Those southern churches just teeming with all those darn liberals who are still practicing their Jim Crow ways.

Has anyone told Pastor Peckerwood that the Civil War is over?

Well, Hamm saw Noah's twig and berries and didn't look away, so blacks are destined to be servants forever. It's right in the bible, SC! What have you been reading?