ryssee's world

How funny is this...I got this email the other day. Freaked me out a little at first but then again I read strangers' blogs all the time. "I was looking at your blog and laughing at your "most embarassing moment" part of the questionaire that you filled out in January. Oh, you probably want to know why I was looking at it. Unfortunately, I am not a stalker. I just happen to be a mad googler. When I am sitting at my desk at work I google anything that comes to mind. The other day I was thinking about my grandmother's old rollerskating rink, "Broyles Arena." So, I googled it and the only link that I came up with was from your blog. So, that is how I saw your website...If you did grow up there you probably went to my grandfather's old restaurant, "The Rainbow" I know it has since changed names and become "Over the Rainbow" but I have some fond memories of that place. And, of course...who can forget Teo's! I still stop

Rat poison. In our sweet kitties' treats. I feed them dry food but gave them Iams wet food (turkey slices in gravy) as a treat every week or two. They love it enough to share a bowl! I'm so upset. We are so lucky nothing bad happened; they're just babies at 1 year and at 10 months. I would have been heartbroken to have something happen to them and then read this article . And it wasn't just a couple of brands, it was like 75 different brands, almost impossible to avoid. Even worse is that the manufacturer kept shipping it out for OVER THREE MONTHS without a peep that people's animals were sick and dying of kidney failure even though they were getting the calls. No testing?! Those poor people losing their little buddies or having them get sick and then finding out they unwittingly fed them this stuff. Just awful.

...lose 11 pounds and bring the "skinny" box up from the basement! I forgot it was there when I did the big purge a couple weeks ago. Brought it up and guess what? 6 pairs of really nice pants, a pair of jeans (LOVE jeans!) and a bunch of other stuff that featured buttons up the front that couldn't be buttoned last year. Off to DC this weekend, for Randy's friend's wedding celebration. Should be a good time. Leave Saturday, come home late Sunday.

I had every intention of shoveling your car out, honest I did! Karen was here Friday afternoon and helped me keep the sidewalks and driveway clean-we shoveled twice on Friday night but then Saturday came and it was all wet and heavy, and the plows came around the wrong way and buried her car in with 18" of wet heavy snow. And I couldn't get the snowblower out of the basement so we had to use shovels and IT WAS HARD! So, after we were done with the driveway and the sidewalks and my car and her car, we decided to take a little break and then were getting sore and then had our showers and then we went to Hampton Beach to Browns, and then that La Bec Rouge bar, and forgot all about digging out your ride until we drove by this afternoon with our hangovers. Then, I thought, well, he's coming back with a tan after 4 days of sun and gambling in Las Vegas. Hm.

Wow, it's almost 70 degrees and absolutely gorgeous outside! It's been this way all week, and I'm actually leaving work in daylight again! (Thank you, Marty Meehan, for making it happen...sorry we might lose you to UMass!) Not much to say about it, other than that the house smells great from the fresh air drifting in through the windows, my normal March Mood has lifted, and I wish the new grill would be delivered already so we could break it in. I'm really not looking forward to winter's return this weekend. But I AM thinking the groundhog was right, and soon I'll be back in open-toed shoes and reading on the deck.

I just got the sad news that someone I've worked with for several years has passed away. Tom was our sales rep in Texas. A great guy to know, always worked hard for my company's brands. He died of cancer, and while he was living with it he had a great attitude towards talking about it, living with it, and trying to keep his life together while undergoing his treatments. The last time I saw him was last summer in Maine at our sales meeting. He was with his wife who was helping maintain his accounts while he was trying to recover. He was tired and sick and thin and had been fighting for over a year already, but still had the spark in his eyes while he reviewed the new products and figured out how best to present them, and I could see he really loved being a part of the group and wanted to keep doing what he was doing. Hearing about the death of someone you know is always strange. For me, it brings back thoughts of how frightened I was to find out my mom had breast cancer,

Out with the Old: gosh it feels good when you throw out everything you own that you've had for seven years and you've kept for the simple reason that you knew eventually something would match or that it would miraculously fit or you just didn't have the heart to get rid of it. It's so totally cheap and superficial but what a psychological freeing-of-the-being when you get rid of all that stuff you can't stand coming across any more and then do some good by giving all those nice things to the Salvation Army or the Catholic Charities for someone else to make good use of. In with the New: and I finally found "The One," the perfect leather jacket after 15 years of searching and yearning. (Who says I can't commit?!) Also some good springy thingies...who knew one could find good sweaters in Hawaii? And that Macy's house brand would have cool stuff for spring at 40% off already? I wonder what Stacy and Clinton would say??

Didn't even miss us much while we were gone...but happy to have us home! I love them :-) Look how sweet when they're not beating the crap out of each other.

Finally, almost two weeks since we got back I finally have time to write about this! Sheesh, it's been nuts at work, got a new sales manager and had to work like a beast of burden to get him set up and up to speed, but am very excited! Anyway, Hawaii! If you want to see all the pics, click on the title of this post. The crew is above: Karen, me, Renee, Bill, Randy, Kim and Jim. Finally got there Sunday after 2 weeks of temps in the teens and low 20s, NICE to feel the warm sun on our shoulders in our rented convertible. What did we do? Hung around most mornings in the sun at the house on the marina overlooking Koko Crater, got up every morning at sunrise ('cause jeez it was already 11am at home, and the time change was wacky, bobbed around in the 85 degree pool, went for great coastal drives, Also wound up on the gayest part of Waikiki Beach (are these guys GAY or GERMAN? Well, you tell me, upon further research I discovered it was called QUEEN'S BEACH) Also drove to th