Horatio

Topazia!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Yes, I had to scream!!! What a beautiful baby girl, with a terrifically beautiful name! I am so happy to hear that she arrived fast and no one had time to wait around for her arrival. And the great news, mother and baby are doing phenomenally well!!! This is the greatest news I have heard. My apologies for being late to congratulate you, but I was away from the internet for almost three weeks. I left in the beginning of the month of August and am planning on returning home by the weekend. I have been attempting to take good photographs. LOL!!! I figure if I take enough photographs, one of them should turn out okay. But it is a wonderful excuse for wandering aimlessly around the country. Thank you for letting us know and again, congratulations on the birth of the most beautiful and precious little girl!!!

Photographic adventures continue... I am on my way out to Lone Pine, California to attempt to take photographs of the Milky Way. There are also some Delta Aquariids meteor shower should peak last night, with some good opportunities tonight and tomorrow night for a meteor or two to appear in the shot. I am hoping that I am very lucky and one or two meteors appear in my photographs in the next couple of nights. My paws are crossed.

August 17th... almost here!!! I have been on pins and needles thinking Makenzie was due in July, and we had not heard anything. One more month to go. Ohhhhhhh my! We hope to hear from you the moment she appears into the world.

LOL!!! How are you??? TBFOF... please let us know what is happening with you and what you are up to!!!

Okay... we are waiting to hear the news Topazia. Please let us know when the baby is born.

Ooooohhhhh!!! We want to see the sappy, short video! Thirty-two weeks, wow!!!, the day is almost here. How are you feeling? How is everything? Please let us know how you are doing. We are excited for you! We want to be the godparents!!! LOL!!!

Good morning everybody!!! Happy weekend.

Good morning everybody!!! I am on my way out to see what great things I can take photographs of.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Ohhhhhhh, I came down with the worst cold. Today I spent the day in bed. Why can no one figure out how to stop the common cold????

Today was laundry day, cleaning day and overall spring cleaning day. Right now I am tired and just want to eat strawberry shortcake. LOL!!!

WOW!!!!!! Congratulations! How exciting! Beautiful name. I vote for the ball over her chest being a fist. How exciting it is to see her toes wiggling and all the insides of her brain. Technology is so incredible. As for my trip... outstanding. But... the lack of internet connection meant that I was cut off from the world for quite some time. When I could get on, it took forever and ever and ever, then each page took so long to load that I was realizing how we are so accustomed to lightning fast connectivity speeds. Most of my time was spent in New Zealand, which is such a beautiful country. Mostly because it has not been overrun by condominiums on the shorelines. You are able to see pristine beauty in it's natural form. Then as soon as I returned, I headed for Yosemite. Another location with almost no connectivity whatsoever. It made New Zealand look progressive. My goal was to take photographs, but mostly I hiked and searched for photograph opportunities. There was rain and drizzle all but one morning, so no gorgeous sunrises to photograph. Lots and lots of grey fog though. The hiking was fantastic, save the fact that my camera gear backpack weighed about twenty kilos and my tripod two and one-half kilos. This amount of weight tired me out after about five to ten miles of hiking per day. If it was flat, no problem. But, it was hills, rocks and other obstacles. Overall, at night, after a really, really hot shower, I collapsed into bed only to be up by 04H00. Good thing there were no televisions or internet in the rooms. I do apologize for being away for so long, and I am happy to be back in the land of connectivity, so please let me know how you are feeling and how life is treating you. How is the new job location going? Do you like the place where you are now? Take care.

I am in Sydney, Australia!!! What a wonderful city! Too bad I do not get to stay longer, but I leave here tomorrow morning for New Zealand.

Did you see me waving to you as I drove north through your town? This morning I left Florida and headed back to Memphis. Too long a drive when you do not sleep good the night before, but I am here. You are in my thoughts and prayers for a very positive outcome of your job situation. Let us hope that it works out better than you imagined. You are smart, talented, conscientious and know your job. They would be idiots to place you on a cash register with your abilities. Very good news that the supervisor could see this. I will be so happy to hear that you change stores, get the promotion and make more money!!! You and Sean must be so excited feeling your little 'sea monkey' moving around. What a fantastic moment for you both, to feel the kick, push, movement. Now you know your little one is really developing into a person. This is the best news ever!!! I love the nickname 'seamonkey'. You are so creative! Please keep us posted so that we may share in the excitement!!! My little 'girls' are such a communicative duo. These hamsters bark to each other. It is so much fun to listen to them talk back and forth. I need to take some photographs of them. The are black and white in colour and are sisters. Of course, they live separately, but they are very happy when they get into their balls, see each other and then get back into their own homes.

Good news that you have your transfer and I do believe that you will get back on the raise track soon. As for primaries, I do not care under which party I am registered, I vote for the candidate that I have researched and believe will do the best job. Thank goodness that you can pull the levers for the people you like the best, not the party you are registered under. Today was a mixed bag of problems. I came down to Florida to vote and somehow, although I had my voter's registration card and my driver's license, they could not find me in the computer. Hence, my vote became a 'provisional' vote. That was very frustrating. How could they not find me? The one lady told me to call the voters registration board after seventy-two hours. I do know that I need to get this fixed before the election in November. GRRRRRRR! All day, I walked through this one room and had not noticed a water leak in one wall. There was no water on the floor, just the plaster wall bubbling. When I was getting ready to leave for Tennessee, I thought I needed to check out the bathroom and flush the toilets, when I walked into the bathroom that backed up to the wall that was bubbling, I saw that there was a major water leak and it will not stop. I have a bucket but that is like sticking my pinky finger into a hole in the Hoover Dam. Now I am searching for the tool that turns the water off at the street. Great thing that I came home, because if I had not, this mess would have been so much worse. At least it was confined to the wall and the bathroom.

Ha, ha, ha... they will not give you time off because they like you? I will tell them what a great employee and person you are and that you need to be able to take off and see your brother. Most likely, they will not care what I have to say, but you never know. Of course, they will be thinking that you will take a week off now and then take maternity leave... perhaps not. The middle of August. The time is flying by for almost everyone but you. Five months seems like a short time. For you this will seem like an eternity. Ouch... I am sorry that you have to sacrifice most of your new raise because of a transfer. Did you request the transfer or does your employer transfer you when they want to? Good luck on the new store. It will be very good to work with people who are nicer. That does make life considerably easier. Hopefully you are voting in the primary tomorrow. I am making sure that I vote. This primary will be very important.

You should make a point of visiting your brother. Of course, right at the moment, it is very hard for you, and will only become more difficult when you have the baby to consider. But... perhaps you can start planning for later. I am back in Memphis, and miss the large, open spaces. You have no conception of just how magnificent the country is, until you drive through the west. With towering condominiums, and urban sprawl, a person has no true conception of how much land they are traversing. With open land, framed by mountains, you certainly get an idea of how minute you are as a creature. What day has the doctor said the baby is due? How are you feeling? Did both your raises come through? Hope all is going well for you.

Good morning from Cedar City, Utah! It snowed last night! It was this cold, really wet, snow that accumulated fast. No photographs worth showing.

How terrific that you studied ASL. Most likely Mandarin was offered as Cantonese is not as popular. Plus I believe the Chinese government is pushing Mandarin. We should all be required to study ASL. How terrific if everyone knew ASL and could communicate with people with hearing problems. To update, I spent a few days back out in Death Valley. What a wonderful place. Most people are there, simply for the superbloom of flowers. For me, I love the environment, the scenery and the harshness of it all.

Wonderful news! It is such a good feeling to be able to communicate with someone who you would otherwise not be able to. It would be a terrific option to have sign language as a language option taught in the schools. Perhaps this is something I will try to convince the school board in my town to consider this. Original Ricolas... great information to know. Thank you! That is like original Bounce dryer sheets are great for keeping mosquitos away. My lawn service guy uses these to keep the mosquitos away. He places one or two around his collar and a few in other places. For whatever reason, the mosquitos do not like the smell of the original Bounce dryer sheets. With the Zika problem, this is a good technique. In Japan, tofu is phenomenally delicious. It is sooooooo good, that I could eat it a number of times per day. Tofu in the USA, seems to taste different. In Miso soup, I like the tofu. Have you tried Miso soup? This is a soup that I would try at least once because it has great greens in it. You might like Miso soup. You do not like nuts? WOW! I could not live without nuts. You do not like all nuts or just certain nuts? One of my favourites are almond slivers on salads. Baby update... outstanding! From the sounds of it, you are right on track and your doctor is happy with the growth of the baby. I see your baby has a mind of his/her own. Not telling allowing his/her heartbeat to be read until he/she was ready. LOL!!! This reminds me of my sister, when she was pregnant with my nephew. My sister and brother in law could not decide whether or not they wanted to know. They went back and forth, and when they finally decided that they would find out, my nephew crossed his little hands and kept everyone from knowing. So, they decided not to know until he was born. Cats... ha, ha, ha... there is always one who is clueless. It will be nice if your cat learns that the belly area is not a trampoline. As for school, work, writing and all else. Great to hear that things are getting back on track. It sometimes takes time to get things back in line. I am pleased to hear that your creative juices are flowing and you are doing more writing. When you look back on your writing as a fifteen year old, it is quite a good feeling to seem just how much you have improved. I would not want to have you rewrite your original work until the spirit moves you to do so. When the feeling strikes you, then the time will be right. It would be wonderful to read your work. Having seen how your have improved over the years, I would love to read your current work. Weather, just wait until you are pregnant in the heat of the Florida summer. The hoarding urge, I can understand how you are thinking ahead with the hurricane season. In my mind, you can never have too much water, other supplies, etc.. To me, a hoard of fresh bottled water is mandatory. Mostly I buy the huge bottles of water for hoarding, no small bottles. Of course there are the other needed items, and I have lots of the other items on the hurricane list. So, you are not alone. I do remember being through the year of all those hurricanes, and we were without electricity quite a bit. Another new phone... do you place it in a case? One good method to avoid the glass shattering is to purchase a screen protector. This keeps you safe from the glass shards. You need a case by Ruggard or one of these other case companies that make the phone nearly indestructible. As for things here, I have two hamsters that are the most vocal and greatest little sisters. Of course, they are each in their own home, but they bark at each other quite a bit. Just like prairie dogs, they bark back and forth to each other. Mostly they bark when they seem to be happy. Not a fear or warning bark, but a happy bark. Hafden and Hajar, are simply the most communicative hamsters I have ever had as part of the family. This past week I was out in Death Valley looking at the wildflowers. The flowers are gorgeous. It is the year of a superbloom. There was so much flooding last year that this year the flowers are just incredibly beautiful. What is most disturbing are the people who do not look down and just step all over flowers to get to the one flower they want to photograph. REALLY????? Look down people. Please do not step on the flowers anywhere. How do you think they go to seed? Pictures to follow later. It is my goal to head back out to photograph more of the flowers. Not much else to report, all things are still the same.

We need Topazia to keep us updated!

Annie knows what a great family she was part of.

What a wonderful idea about teaching the little one to sign. My friend, the special education teacher, said doing what you are planning to do, is an excellent idea. She said that young children will learn how to sign and communicate before speaking and this is a wonderful way to develop their communication skills. Great idea you have. *applause* What also impresses me, is that you are making strides with some of your hearing impaired customers, understanding what each person needs, and reacting accordingly. You are quite astute and taking the time to understand the various needs of your customers is absolutely wonderful. I can not say enough about you and your efforts. You have mastered the art of being there, without hovering. As far as overpayment, you will cross that bridge when you come to it, but most likely, it will not be a problem. If is just me thinking of all the what-ifs. Eating the right amount and type of vitamins is so very difficult. But... what a stellar discovery that Ricola gets rid of heartburn!!!! Any flavour in particular? Original version, perhaps? Tums, not the best way to take calcium. There was a calcium chew that was really good. I am trying to remember which one it was, but I always wanted to eat more than the allotted amount. They tasted almost like candy. Tomorrow I will head to Rite Aid and look for the particular one that tasted great and report back to you. The drawback is that the chews cost a little more than the pills. Do you drink milk, eat yogurt or cheese? I have not researched the subject, but as I recall oranges/orange juice were also good sources, as was tofu. The problem is the only place I will eat tofu is Japan. For some reason, Japan has the most delicious tofu. There are some fruits, vegetables, beans, leafy greens, nuts and a couple other foods that have calcium. We have a fig tree and I eat a million figs. It would take too long for this baby, but you can always grow a fig tree in your backyard. Your doctor should be able to guide you as to which other sources that should be available. You do not like fish, but salmon is a wonderful source of many things. Do you eat many almonds? I think that almonds are a terrific food which fills a few different categories. You brought up mercury. Is there a particular type of fish or a certain area where fish contain higher levels of mercury than others? My favourite fish is salmon and I would hope that there are not high levels of mercury in salmon. If you can recommend any particular reading material on the levels of mercury in fish, that would be terrific. Mostly, I have not eaten red meat, save perhaps once a year. There are flashes of weakness in me when I smell red meat, such as a hamburger, being cooked on the grill, but it passes rather quickly. Meat, in general, is something which I have not been eating much of for the last few years. Chicken breasts are my meat of choice. I have discovered a method of cooking the chicken breast, that is absolutely incredible. The chicken breast is so tender and moist, that I actually like them. Enough on food. Well, that about covers everything for today... so I will hope that you stop back in and visit.

Tomorrow is National Bagel Day! I want to head to Einstein's Bagel for a bagel!