notinKansasanymore

Wa-HOOO! Texans do know how to put on a shindig. Thanks for firming up the schedule so quickly. Cheers, niKa

Wow! Does this mean that the BBQ is definitely set for Saturday, November 3, and Sunday, November 4? If so, I need to make some airline reservations. Please advise!

Bill Ney, Sheila Toney, Mark Gagnon: where did they all go? I know about Sheila getting deprogrammed; funny how even though she was probably in a better place than we were, I still don't like the way she was forced to go there. I hope they're okay. Happy Graduation! I wore a peasant dress, and sported my first perm. Frizzy city. Looked awful; thought I looked cool. Waltzed across that stage like I knew what I was doing. Corps weddings! That means some of our number are celebrating anniversaries this week! As for me and my house, it will be my anniversary of ironing some of your wedding dresses. Happy 26, everybody, whichever milestone you're toasting!

What a difference a month makes! I can go to the barbecue, even in November. See ya'll there!

Hey, everybody, how's it going? I just wanted to share with you something very cool. On Friday evening, I was driving into Marlow, Oklahoma just at sunset. It was one of those huge, sweeping sunsets, and the horizon and half the sky was vivid reddish-purple. There was also a rainstorm, a big one, just off in the distance. The rain was visible coming down in a mass from the clouds. Because of the sunset, the rain was purple. Purple rain. And it filled about a third of the sky. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'd never known that such a thing was even possible; I'd thought that it was just a silly album title. love, niKa

I have been a-fishing. The air in the Colorado mountains was so clear and easy to breathe, and the views were so spectacular, that my soggy state of Oklahoma seems very different. There are lots and lots of tomatos in the garden, but no sunshine to turn them red. We've had the 17th day in a row of rain; who knew that there could be a monsoon season in central Oklahoma? Even odder, last year at this time, we were actively concerned about the possible advent of another Dust Bowl. I wonder if Al Gore is quoting that Jurassic Park character, Ian Malcomb (just as the T-Rex made her first appearance): "Geez, I hate being right all the time!" The hiking was fantastic, and the fishing was tolerable. Sightings included deer, elk, bear, ferret, marmots, hawks, fox, and lots and lots of little firkins. My family doesn't understand why I don't just call them "ground squirrels." Hey, I like fried green tomatos, anywhoo.

I wouldn't be able to come down past about the middle of September. The earlier the better, for me. But I don't want that to mess up anyone else's schedule. I could make it in November next year, but not this year. love, niKa

Tom, wa-HOO! Your youngest is about the same age as the youngest of our oldest set. Wait, what does that mean? Heck if I know, but congratulations, man! Just watch: Rhino is going to fall head over heals with somebody, and start having babies, just when the rest of us are in the final stages of same. Heck, we're all old enough to be granparents, and not all of us are yet. That's got to be some kind of final karmic understanding, of which I am not yet capable. Ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmm. Rhino, when you need 'em, I'll send you our old rattlesocks, if I haven't already blessed some grad student or postdoc with them. Those people have babies right and left. Just finally gave away the three baby gates this past semester. I'm feeling the blessing of lightening my load. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

I would love to come, and have reserved my "mr-niKa-keeps-the-kids-weekend" for that purpose. As soon as there's a solid date, I'll make some airline reservations. Will it be Houston again? My dearest, long-time-est (not going to say "oldest,' no, not me) friend is waiting for that weekend, too, whenever it is; we're both looking forward to it!

Iozzo cryogenically frozen; Rhino growing up (any of us, for that matter, growing up); Rocky getting his "lefty" vision fixed - this thread is getting weirder and wonderfuller. I wanted more children, truth be told, but Mr.niKa had this odd idea that FOUR was enough. Go figure. The last of the Steps just having graduated from high school, we're down to the Wholes, and one of them only has one more year in elementary school. This means that retirement, travel, and lots of fishing is only about ten or eleven years away. Talk about weirder and wonderfuller. Good luck with your eyes, Rock. Good luck with the baby, Lisa, if you ever read this. Good luck with the growing up, Rhino, although I have a feeling that it's something that'll sneak up on you when you're in the middle of something else entirely. I missed that part of my 20's, also, and it's quite odd to go through such a transformation later in life. Nice, but odd. The responsibility gene had a delayed onset in my case. Have a great Monday, Sports Fans.

Parenting at "advanced maternal age" is not for sissies! It's a good thing that Lisa is so spunky; she'll do just fine. Personally, when my firstborn reaches the age at which I had him, I'll be 80. When my daughter does the same, I'll be 84. It's a good thing that I'm supposed to live to be 98 (knock on wood), if the lifespan calculators are any indication. If you're interested in such malarky, try the calculator at Eons.com; it's a series of very thought-provoking questions. Lisa, if you're reading this someday, good luck! You are going to be SUCH a GREAT mom. love, niKa

83 pounds? That's FABULOUS!!!!!! That's more than my 10-year-old! I am SO VERY GOSH DARN PROUD OF YOU!!!!! Congratulations, Rocky!

During the summer, I put away the Batman outfit and retire to the secret lair, there to engage in that most crime-fighting of activities, bringing up children. I also clean my house, weed the garden, and fish. And dance in the kitchen. Happy Summer, everyone! FreeAtLast, my best wishes go with you; I'm sorry to see you moving on. If you feel like it, come and look in on us from time to time.

It's summer! Dance with me!

"Mire" as a verb? Very original; I like it. Today I am essaying through most of the final student compositions. Sometime tomorrow, I will emerge from the semester like a butterfly from its chrysallis, having morphed into a summertime Mom.

Congrats to both of you for such great grades, and in hard subjects! My classes are the basic First Year Composition ones that everyone has to either take or clep out of. Gave my last final yesterday morning; the grading is in full swing. Cheers, everyone!

Fellowshipper: We'd love to see you! It's finals week, so things will be crazy; we have to make sure that we'll be around when you stop by. E-mail me! Cheers, niKa

The speaker has to be a girl, because they always put us into guy/girl pairs. If there were three, it was two guys and a girl. This sounds like a twosome. Hmm - a 9th Corps girl who hasn't posted much before. Whoever you are, welcome! Maybe this thread should be moved to the 9th Corps thread?

Congratulations, Hameroni! Good luck, Freeatlast! We had our last classes this week, with finals next week. This means that several pounds of essays are coming in to be graded next week. I just gave back several pounds of the things yesterday. The nice thing about a university is that it runs in cycles, and this one's winding down. Wheeeeeew. Happy Summer, everybody!!!

We shipped quite a bit of stuff a few years ago with ABF, and they did a good job. I think that the name stands for "Arkansas Best Freight."

Had an interesting and highly informative telephone conversation with an M.D. at N.I.H (National Institutes of Health) today. There may be a couple of drug options to try before resorting to surgery. This is completely different information than other M.D.'s had given me before. It's just amazing how so few people, even in the medical profession, know much about current state-of-the-art treatment for this. I really don't want to think that it's because this mostly affects only women and children. I really don't. Next week, there may be some third option. I'm turning over every stone that I can find. Thanks for asking, Rocky. love, niKa

SimonNeverSinister, thanks for asking. I've located a team of microsurgeons in Italy who are the only people in the world operating for lymphedema. The "Pro from Dover" himself answered my e-mail, and has agreed to see me. He's a very gracious person. I have two goals: one is to get my leg fixed, and the other is to influence the medical schools in America to recognize this procedure, and send vascular surgery residents to study with this man and his team. One in five women who have mastectomies for breast cancer are affected by lymphedema of the arm, when lymph nodes are removed. There is no cure in America. 85% of the folks this surgeon has operated on have been cured or at least made much better; everyone he's operated on has improved at least some. He does a microsurgical bypass around the site of the obstruction. There are also children born with what's called "Milroy's Disease"; this is from genetic insufficiency of the lymphatic system. Left untreated, all kinds of lymphedema eventually develop into elephantiasis, which is a pretty ugly word. I guess I'm out to save the world again. What else is new? The med school at U. of Arizona has been trying for awhile to get grants funded to send medical residents to Italy to study with this guy, but they haven't as yet gotten funding. There must be a war on, or something. If anybody knows anyone who's wealthy, and wants to pay for some plane tickets and inexpensive hotel rooms for medical students, that might be a nice way to speed things up; I'm going with them or without them, likely this summer. Pray for me!

What's special about Shoenheit? Hmmm. Even when there's something in it for him, he won't compromise what he believes the Bible to say. He has been through some of the same things a lot of us went through with TWI, but he's still swinging away at the goal of the Word over the World. He won't give up, just because Weirwille turned out to be a charlatan. He's a total Boy Scout. Pure hearted. Brain the size of Alaska. All grown up, and still believes that God has a calling for his life, and that his life makes a difference. He hasn't given up, and probably never will. I've just gotta love that about him. He's also a perfect gentleman. He's by no means the only wonderful guy that went through TWI, but in my opinion, he's one of the two or three front-runners.

Rocky: We have vibram souls. They stick to the rocks when we need them to, even with only a toehold. Comes in handy at altitude.

Simon: Besides the obvious connection, themewise, to our former lives, why there? Good Mexican food? Dancing? love, niKa