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Hi Everyone, It’s been a long time since I hosted one of these wagons, so bear with me, I have forgotten how to do most things related to this, but luckily it’s coming back.
Any way, here’s the deal, you are all hereby invited to “tell us about you”, update us as to where you are in your life today, or anything interesting you have to pass on.
In case you do not know me, here is a little of my story. I am semi-retired and living in socal near my family in which we have welcomed 2 babies in the last 2 years, another one due any day, another due in Feb. Yeah it’s a baby bonanza here for sure.
Up until December of this year I spent great gobs of my time playing the online game of World of Warcraft….any if there are any afficandos of the game on board here, my main character is a 70 mage, highest you can go at this particular time. I have found that in some ways gaming is like blogging, you make friends from all over although the interaction is not as intense as blogging. So if anyone is in need of a skillful mage with tons of powers, (I can render my opponents helpless with a blast of arcane powers), please call….lol.
Then in December I discovered knitting, and spent the next month doing just that to complete 8 neck scarfs, following is a pic including jewelry I made.
Well I tried 6 times to upload a smaller pic (and now I am as frustrated as hell) and it never worked so I am hoping that the pic is not too big.(I found another site to upload pics, so here is thumnail)
So now the ball is tossed to you, and that means you and you and you and yes you over there hiding behind that moniter, come on now and
tell us about you.”
Hi everyone, boy I forgot how complicated this is to post a diary,and I got a little discombobulated, so now I will settle down, grab a cup of coffee and wait to hear from you.
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Hi (((diane101))) !
Good to have you here on the Welcome Wagon diary. Yeah, life has its ups and downs and I’m so happy to hear all is well in Socal. Politics in Washington is all about gaming too, isn’t it?
Yesterday I left a comment in the FBC diary on daily business at home. I appreciate all the comforting words, that’s what makes the frog pond so very special.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hi Oui, I hope this next year brings your family peace and comfort.
Thanks for the welcome and I am reminded you are one of the first friends I made on this site, off site that is, and funny that it came out of adversity between us.
Yes I do believe Washington is about gaming, but it seems the Prez, is the only one with the extraordinary powers, so I guess we could say that the people need to learn some new power skills, may I suggest the “ice lance”, it is excellent. Excuse me for a sec while I get a shot of mana. lol.
Hugs and love to you Oui!!!!!!!
My name is AP, and I’ve been an awful friend. š
I haven’t been able to post here as much as I’d like to, for various reasons. Lucky for me and Mr. AP, we were able to cross the pond recently to visit and to get a chance to visit Oui again. UNluckily for us, we didn’t get a chance to spend much time with him, especially given the challenges his family is facing. What made it worse is that we immediately jumped back into the craziness that our life is right now when we returned.
But nothing is more heartbreaking than that awful #$%^*! who has caused so much pain for Oui’s family.
So my personal plea is that everyone continues to pray/send positive vibes/think good thoughts/etc. if you are so inclined.
That’s the great thing about the frog pond…our friendships aren’t just “virtual” but can be very real. Even with lurkers like Mr. AP (Oui, he wanted me to add that…and we’ll be e-mailing soon).
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Mrs. Oui and I, we didn’t get a chance to spend much time with you. Luckily we know there will be another chance, either in the States or here in the Low Country.
You must divulge whether you enjoyed the fine chocolate letters from Jarreau?
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Morning Diane.
It’s so nice to see you, and to see you running a Welcome Wagon again. I’ve never forgotten yet how nice you and Sheryl were to me when I first jumped into the world of blogging. Probably wouldn’t have made the step if ya’ll hadn’t been there.
The scarfs and jewelry look great!
Hi, FM, thanks for the welcome, in the welcome wagon diary, lol, always good to see you, or er…read you here, gosh it feels good to delurk.
Thanks about the scarfs, now I have to think of something new to knit, maybe a pilow cover, cause the scarf thing is pretty done for now…
Hey go for something big. An afghan or maybe a house cover. š
Lol, thanks for the suggestions, me thinks house cover is a little too big for me, in fact I tend toward the quick and easy things, so afgan would be out too. I like the gratification of completion.:)
My DH keeps telling people that I’m stashing enough yarn to knit a “house cozy”, but I really don’t think that the contents of nine 18 gallon totes would really do it.. {g} I’ve been knitting since I was 8, crocheting since 19, also quilt & do counted cross stitch. Since retiring a few years back when my job was sent to China, I’ve been involved in a charity knitting group at the local Senior Center. This year I’ve made 166 hats & 134 scarves plus a few afghans, shawls & washcloths for charity. Also finished my first pair of socks and have the second pair on the needles. I love to talk knitting!!
wow, good for you with the projects, you sound like my sister, she has knitted 123 baby blankets for a charity. I can’t believe you have all that yarn, that’s a fortune in those totes, from what I’ve seen.
I knitted as a child, mother was a life long knitter, and she made my sis and I many beautiful sweaters,…I didn’t knit as an adult till recently, don’t know why as I did sewing and many other crafts but maybe it was a rebellion thing,lol….guess I got old enough to get over than and get on with knitting.
However there has been down side to knitting with me and that is my right shoulder, it’s really sore.
I want to try something a bit more complicated than a scarf but not to taxing on my brain to learn, any suggestions.
Several totes of the yarn are garage sale finds so they weren’t that expensive. I use acrylic 90% of the time because it washes & wears so well and it’s far cheaper than wool. I have been starting working with wool, but for much of that I bought wool sweaters at garage sales and took them apart. When I buy new wool, I get it from KnitPicks which is very reasonable for good products. My hands get a little sore as I have a bit of arthritis in the left thumb, but my shoulders haven’t bothered me so far. Have you tried using a rice bag on your shoulder to see if that will ease it a bit?
The next step up from a scarf is usually a hat – I use a 16″ size 10½ circular needle & cast on 66 stitches. Work about 3″ of ribbing, then stockinette (knit every row when you’re working in the round) for 7 to 8″, work one round of K2tog decreases, one round of knit, and on the next round, K2tog working the stitches onto double point needles. Cut the yarn and run the end through the stitches, pull tight and fasten; run in the beginning end on the wrong side of the ribbing. One hat with no seams!
I second what FM said. You helped me get started in blogging too. Glad to see you here.
In the past year, we’ve sold our house, moved to a rental and brought Gooserock’s mother in to live with us. It was time. You can catch up on our Christmas at my blog.
I’ve been gone from BT for a while and out of circulation just due to time constraints. I looked for you on Village Blue but to no avail. ??
Anyway, great to hear from you again!
Hi Puget 4, how are you, I was surprised to see your comment here today.
I closed down Village Blue, but may reopen it later this year, will let you know.
Hugs and best to you!!!!
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The difference a single person can make in lives of many …
Rachel Rosenfeld, 17, made her first visit to the Southeast Asian country for the opening of the R.S. Rosenfeld School, which brings five computers and Internet access to 300 primary school students in a small village of Siem Reap province, a poverty stricken area that is home to the country’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Hi Diane! Good to see you here doing what you did so well in the past.
You work looks great. Can I suggest that you knit a BMT flag? š
Hi Boran, thanks,it feels good to be back….
I would love to knit a BMT Flag, lol, but what does it look like.
So what are you up to in your life, I would like to know the latest, and would love to hear from more old friends from this site about what they are doing now.
Hugs…
Nothing too exciting. I’m still painting. My son is 9 now, and keeps us very busy. Madame boran tried knitting but hasn’t kept up with it.
A word to newbies and lurkers, don’t be shy, give it a try, we won’t be mean, just open up a comment page and tell us who you are and something about you. A newbie to me would be anyone with a id number over 3500, so you can see there are a lot of you folks out there.
Oh and if you do any arts or crafts we would love to hear about that and see any pics you might want to post.
Hi everyone!
I’m over here in snow country. There is about 10 inches on the ground and it has been snowing all day again so it might be a real winter for us this year.
I’m still in I-Dee-Ho and wondering why I’m not sitting on a beach in Belize. . .only Diane knows for sure.
Have just finished writing a book. Trying to get it in e-book form is causing me to tear my hair out, it shouldn’t be that hard, should it?
Let’s see, I’m still retired, enjoying myself immensely and doing very darn little that is productive. Digging my big Great Pyranees out of the snow is about what keeps me busy. She loves to lay out in it and refuses to come in as it piles up all over her. Pretty funny. I have to search for her black nose to find her. . .well almost.
Miss hearing from all of you froggies, although I do check up on you from time to time and drop by the cafe on occasion, dropping 4’s as I go.
Can’t wait til the primaries are over so we will know who it is we can actually support and elect. Haven’t watched TV in a month or two so I have no idea what’s going on. . .I think it’s better that way.
Hugs and loves to all
Happy New Year (and buckle your seat belts, it’s gonna be an interesting ride)
Shirl
Shirl, what can I say, you of the stars, I see you have been very busy with your book, good luck with the ebook.
Diane and Shirl?!?!?! Yay!!!
How are you? Glad you’re driving the Welcome Wagon!
Speaking to knitting, I just learned that my oldest niece knits…I had no idea. Maybe she can teach me one day!
Hey Shirl. As I was saying in a Christmas thread, KamaKid is in Idaho, albeit Sun Valley. When I looked up the weather for today, it said it was all of 12 degrees and snowing. I’m sure she at least is enjoying the snow.
Diane: I know better than to even start playing World of Warcraft (or as my friends call it, World of Warcrack). I’m sure I would get addicted in no time. ;>)
Hi Kama, how are you….oh please play wow, you would love it, I can be your friend and help you out…lol.
one has to be addicted to something and it might as well be a video game..we do solve problems in the game, better than we can in real life, that’s for sure.
Btw, not only do we have universal health care, we can heal ourselves, with a spell or a drink, boom and we are ready to go again. I wish you could see my character, she is gorgeous, thin and blond with a great outfit, she looks quite hot and she never ages or gains one pound,if only I could look a tiny bit like her, lol. Of course my character is human, others choose gnomes, dwarfs, elves, or gasp….the undead, they are not so attractive.
Hope all is well with you and try not to miss the kamakid tooooo much, Shirl will put the protective ring around her I am sure.
Hi Diane, good to see you back here posting!
I’m don’t have much in the way of artistic flair, but I do take pictures. It has been some time since I’ve posted a sunset in one of these diaries, so here is one for old time’s sake.
The island of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, seen from the island of Tenerife with two seas in between; the one of clouds, which you can see, and the ocean, which you cannot.
Hi Emjw, thanks and thanks for posting that great pic.
What’s going on in your life these days.
Well, right now I’m just at work…but I’m about to hit some major traveling. This weekend I’m going to Minnesota for my cousin’s wedding, then next weekend I’m going to Florida to visit my aunt, and then about a week after that I’ll be heading to Mexico. It’ll be exciting and fun, but it’s also kind of stressful, especially coming right after the holiday rush.
I’ve missed the soft edge of the front page here. Glad you’ve re-instituted the Welcome Wagon, and glad you started with a little bio. Can’t tell you much…
Only I’d love to be semi-retired, so I’d have more time for learning violin (at a very senior age.) Tired of having 12 year olds show me up!
I began at the fringes of a couple sites, advocating for a better health care system and stem cell advances for our paraplegic son. Little by little, I’ve return to my 60s “peacenik” roots, and I presume that Homeland Security has dug out those old photos of me with flowers in my hair at peace rallies.
Keep up the good work.
Hi Michaelmt, thanks for writing. Semi retired is great, in fact I am more retired than semi, so that’s even better. Lately I have been trying to help my 32 year old daughter, so I go with her to her work at her Dad’s office and watch and play with the baby, to give her a break so she get more work done. I tell you it’s not easy to run after an 16 month old but we have some great times together and he is such a joy to me.
Yeah, I saw some of those pics HS has been showing them around, of you with flowers.
Best wishes in 2008 and onward.
Hi Diane. It’s good to see you manning the Welcome Wagon again.
Hi Maryb, how are you and what is going on in your life.
Hi, Diane!
Hi, Shirl, Oui, FamilyMan!
Greetings from the other side of the Atlantic rift…
I hope all of you are doing well… and I hope 2008 will bring us some change!
Cheers!
Greetings back, across the continent and the rift, thanks for dropping in. I have my fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed for change in the coming year, just trying to steer it to change for the good, that would be a plus, eh.
Cheers to you as well!!!!!
Hi Melanchthon!
We’re doing well and hoping you are too. Starting to get set up for New Years Eve, which around here won’t be much. I’ll probably be watching the festivities over in your part of the world on the TV.
I agree too. Here’s to change in 2008!
“I can render my opponents helpless with a blast of arcane powers”
Could we get you to point that toward DC and the next big group of bushdogs you see?
Good to see you hanging out at the pond!
Thanks, Indiana, The ice lance, or the arcane blast, I think the arcane blast might be best, it will take out everything within 50 yards of where I stand. Someone needs to add washington to the locations in WOW, I will send in suggestion.:)
Hugs and best wishes.
Hi diane, really really wonderful to see this diary up and what you’ve been doing. We had a baby born last year also(my youngest nephew) and some drama with him being two months premature which involved over a month long hospital stay and the mom/my nephew split up and a few court dates but all seems to have finally worked out and my nephew gets his son every other weekend. So hopefully everything will go ok from now on.
A big loud Hi! to everyone else also and come on you newbies let us know who you are and what you’ve been doing. The Welcome Wagon is one of the most fun and soothing places on the Internet, honest.
Given my health problem I am about the same well maybe a little bit worse but …….I’d love to say I did all kinds of cool things since we last talked but I don’t really do anything due to the health thing except hang around at Bootrib and a few other sites so I know what’s going on in the world(like at Eurotrib).
Well I did get one thing done. My sister bought a new house last year and this was their first christmas in their new home so I managed to get dozens of pine cones sprayed silver and put lots of glitter on them for her to to set in baskets around her house.
Hi Chocolate!!!!!!! Hi friend, good to see you here as well.Good for you with the pine cones, I love those homey touches, My mother used to spray masses of mountain laurel with silver and gold, tied with pretty ribbons and decorated her little dress store with them at Christmas, I thought they were so wonderful as a child, in fact Christmas was really special back then in a little town in Pa, when everything was still magical.
As to your health, I wish for improvement, and I do hope you are eating more and drinking less coffee, lol.
I quit smoking in Feb, last year and feel tons better now, although having a bit of trouble with asthma lately despite quitting.
Congratualtion on the baby and I am sorry for the problems. My niece 17 is having a baby, she is not married, neither work, not sure they have any plans to, we shall see how that one goes. Thank heavens 2 of my children are waiting till they are older and more settled to have kids.
Best wishes to you in health and in life in the coming year and forever, hugs.
Hugs to you too diane..sorry to say still on my coffee and cigarette diet…with some good chocolate. It’s not as bad as it sounds really. I do happen eat a whole lot of vegetables and fruit. Truthfully barring the cig’s I probably eat much better or healthier than most people..
The best I can hope for as far as my health goes is that this particular neuro-muscular disease stays the same and I don’t get any worse. It does effect everyone differently to varying degrees of mild to very very bad so I’ll just keep hoping I stay the same.
How did you manage to quit smoking? Or did you just decide it was time? How difficult was it?
Hey, and for some reason I don’t seem to be using my ‘colorful’ language half as much as I used to here online. Holy shit, imagine that.
My stop smoking secrets, I was very sick and couldn’t smoke, although I still tried and then I got this idea that it would be a good time to quit, after 2 weeks of non smoking especially. After that I used the method of the desire to smoke only last a few seconds, to several minutes, I would just say get though these minutes and you’ll be fine.
The first weeks and months the desire came up quite often, now it’s rare and usually triggered by stress or familiar times I would smoke, like during phone calls or playing video games, and yes blogging. Downside I gained weight, which I am trying to lose and it’s not so easy. One thing I had in my mind was that I did not want others to say, yeah she was in the hospital at 60 whatever, and still wanted her cigs…
I still wish for the miracle of your illness, that wellness takes it over, and at the very least it gets no worse.
Colorful language, not you, lol, oh yeah I do remember, you gave me a nice chuckle over that one.
I am glad you managed to quit diane. I have never even wanted to quit so I don’t know if I ever will. But you never know.
One of the presents my sister got me for Christmas was Sicko so I think I’ll go watch it. She also got me a boxed set of ‘That’s Entertainment’…with 4 dvd’s in it. I love all those old musicals and remember my mom taking me to them. Anyway I don’t see how anyone could watch That’s Entertainment and not have a smile on their face because of the dancing and all those great songs unless of course they hate musicals/dancing.
Welcome Back Diane….good to see the wagon roll’n again. ; )
peace
Thanks Infi, good to see you here as well. what’s happening with you lately, how about an update.:)
Good morning from an old lurker-type who lives in San Antonio and is basically a kept woman. Oh, I cook a little, and swish out the toilets, but basically I sit in the sun reading mysteries and drinking, or I lurk lefty blogs. I ran a losing campaign for my spouse Bulldog for state house about 2 years ago, and I am still recovering.
Hi Ds, glad you delurked to write the comment, so don’t stop now, you are on a roll….Nothing I love more than a basically “kept woman.” I fear I might fall into that catagory as well…lol.
Cheers to you down there in San Antonio.
G`morning Diane,
Have a Happy New Year, & don`t drop a stitch. Purl one.
Howdy All, I suspect this is a great group to ask this question to. I got a wild idea today to start a blog for my family to keep in touch through. If I’m running it, it has to be easy and dead simple. Any suggestions? I know many of you have a lot of expertise in this area.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Puget4, long time no see on BT. Glad you’re here checking in! I wish I knew more about the subject too. My computer expertise runs more toward the number crunching area and even that very specialized. Why don’t you try posting this in the cafe/lounge at its new location up top. There’s a new one going today and you’ll probably get more to see it there than here, since the Welcome Wagon is several days old.
Good luck!
… the moment, with my body living in North East Ohio and my heart in Kinshasa. But sometime this year I’m going to get my life put back together again.
I also ride 14 miles each way to work when I get called in … and for some reason the warehouse was just a tad bit busy this last December … so when I’m working four or five days a week, I have much less time for blogging than I did in the first half of the year. Mind you, if my life restarts, that could soak up the time I was putting into blogging in the first half of the year.
Ummm … trains, bikes, energy independence dozes off, falling slumped over desk
It’s been great reading and catching up on the oldies around here but where are the newbies…? We’d really like to hear from you.