1. I am thankful for a long weekend off!
2. I am thankful I live in a free, if not perfect, country. =)
3. I am thankful the folks are coming down for a visit.
4. I am thankful for my kids - even when I can't handle them. =) I love them so much which means they can push my buttons easier than anyone.
5. I am thankful for MFH who may care too much for his own good.
6. I am thankful for friends who look out for me AND MFH.
7. I am thankful the hostages in Columbia were rescued w/ no bloodshed. Amazing really.
8. I am thankful I was able to attend my 20th High School Reunion last weekend. Caught up with old friends and had a really good time.

It will only take a second.  Please clicky!

 
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=2

I would like to say WTFBBQ but I know what the problem is.  It's summer in southern MD and the weather forcast is the same everyday:  "Highs in the low 80s, chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon".  This is perfect weather for my garden.  It's growing like gangbusters.  I should be happy.  So what's my problem?

Sinus headaches.  Ug.  Those of you who suffer them know what I mean.  For me, every time a front rolls through, my head starts to throb.  Right now, if I could, I'd like to drill a hole in my skull to let off some pressure.  And, of course, I'm out Excedrin here at the office.  It IS the headache medicine and I'm plum out.  

Pain - we haz it.
Relief - we don't haz it. 

ARRRGGG!

Now where did I put that cheese to go with my whine?

Yeah, I know, depressing title.  But in a few minutes I'm leaving for a funeral.  A co-worker of mine, Carol Karol (yes really) died on Saturday.  She was 50 years old.  She went to the gym almost daily.  She was thin and in shape.  And then she threw a clot to the heart and died of a massive heart attack.  You just never  know.  Carol was a cool chick, heavily involved in Beagle rescue, smart, and funny.  I'll miss her and her smile.  

So hug your loved ones.  Tell them you love them.  Don't put off whatever the cool thing is you want to do.  Live now.

And for all my friends out there:  I love you and appreciate you and hope to spend many more years laughing with you.  Especially MFH.

Laurie out.

Google your first name and "needs" and post the first 5 or 6 interesting results:

 "Books Laurie Needs to Read for CBE Certification"  
oh no, I'm not doing anything birth related again!

Laurie Needs A Crash Helmet!
Somedays, yes, I feel like I do!

laurie needs to lose
Yup, about 30 pounds.  Hmm....

Laurie needs Flight School.
Na.  I don't think the world is ready for me with a pilot's licence

LAURIE NEEDS HELP!! 
Oh yea.  Every day.

Laurie needs to turn 3 more or gain 62 more Slayer points to reach the next level

Really?  Cool.

By now, Laurie needs no introduction.
And that, is the perfect ending to this!

Almost forgot!

1.  I am thankful for my children who make me laugh!  
Karl:  I want a lolly!
Me:  Well I want a million dollars.
Karl:  I have a million dollars!
Me:  You do?  Where?
Karl:  **feeling his butt**  In my tushie!
Me:  ***dies of the cute and the funny****

2.  I am thankful for MFH who makes me laugh!
Me:  Did you fix the VCR?
MFH:  This VCR intteruption brought to you by the letter "R"   ***holds up magnetic letter R from the leapfrog toy*** 
Me: ROTFLMAO

3.  I am thankful for my friends who make me laugh!
molly_world knows why!  

4.  I am thankful that most (if not all) the folks I know suffered no damage in that nasty storm last night.  Yikes!
5.  I am thankful that I did not want the job I interviewed for today.  Worst.  Interview.  Ever.  Wow do I need practice!

 Again, cut for your enjoyment.  =)

And why is it that after 7 years of living in the same house, with the same yard, that this year it is covered in secret patches of Poison Ivy??????  We've never had so much as a leaf and this year I have found it the hard way hiding under other vines twice!  ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!  Don't they know I am HIGHLY allergic and have a systemic reaction to this stuff!!!!  Thank God for steriods.  ***she says as she endures the latest hot flash**** 

Another post from myralea

"well i think that anyone with time and money to spend should go to florence in november!
i would go if i could, but i'm afraid for me, travelling is not an option this autumn."


OH!  Can I go??????

Snagged from several people on my flist.

“Find a piece of artwork that represents where you'd most like to be, right now. Post in your LJ with the header, 'I wish I were here'. Invite others to do the same, should they choose."

( And now the pictures... )

Yup.  It's Thursday again.  And here I am remembering to post my list two weeks in a row!  =)

1.  I continue to be thankful for my children.  They are so damn cute it burns.
2.  I am thankful for MFH.  Whether he alwyas realizes it or not, he is a good man, a good father, a good husband and a good lover. 
3.  I am thankful for holiday weekends.  We had a wonderful time at my folks this past weekend.  I wish they lived closer.
4.  I am thankful for this BEAUTIFUL weather.  The sun makes me happy and my garden is flourishing.
5.  I am thankful we are pretty much done moving M&M.  Wow that was a lot of work!  =)
6.  I am thankful for the new folks I've found on LJ this week.  Some very interesting costumers that I'm now following.
7.  I am thankful for my job that allows me to goof off just a little and post here on the LJ.  =)
8.  I am thankful for my friends.  They continue to bear me up and rein me in. 

Reposted from myralea's Journal:

Forthcoming Archetype Title: EMBLEMS FOR A QUEEN by Michael Bath

Available June 2008

The many pieces of embroidery by Mary Queen of Scots or by Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury (‘Bess of Hardwick’) are among the best-known and most fascinating examples of historical embroidery. However, many questions surrounding their meaning and purpose – and, above all, the sources and patterns used for their imagery (including birds, fish, flowers, monograms, emblems and other devices) – remain unanswered.

In 1548, the five-year-old Queen of Scots left her native Scotland to begin her French upbringing as the future Queen of France and it was here that she learned the art of decorative needlework, continuing with the craft during the last twenty years of her exile and confinement in England.

Many of her embroideries have survived and can be seen at Oxburgh Hall (Norfolk), the Victoria and Albert Museum and elsewhere, but many more have since disappeared. In this new study Michael Bath not only describes and illustrates the surviving embroideries, but also documents from early records a large number of those that have disappeared.

Many of these embroidered panels use emblems, combining a symbolic image with a learned adage, and Professor Bath shows how, in their own day, these were believed to hold moral, political and religious messages which expressed the Catholic queen’s values, purposes and intentions. For this reason we find records of them in the forgotten files of the Elizabethan secret services. Mary’s emblematic embroideries shed new light on issues surrounding one of the most controversial figures in English and Scottish history. At the same time, this new study shows exactly what sources – prints, engravings, book illustrations – the embroiderers drew on for their patterns, and it includes the first full catalogue raisonné of all the known embroideries created by these two remarkable women.

The full contents list for Emblems for a Queen as well as information about our other publications can be found on our website www.archetype.co.uk.

ISBN: 9781904982364 Price: 29.50 GBP

Introductory discount price 25.00 GBP plus postage if ordered from our London office with a credit card before May 30th 2008

To order contact info@archetype.co.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7380 0800

Everyone is posting about it. Robert Asprin died yesterday. Something I didn't realize was:

"He was active in the early years of the Society for Creative Anachronism under the name "Yang the Nauseating" and co-founded the Great Dark Horde in 1971."

Another case of small world I guess. I liked his books and will pass them to my kids when they're old enough.

God's speed Robert.