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Post by nov21987 on Feb 16, 2020 12:31:37 GMT
We're also going to dinner with a lot of people. Also invited to some cocktail parties. The ship does parties for whoever wants them for free, food and alcohol all included!
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Feb 17, 2020 6:05:44 GMT
Sue, so good to hear all is going well—have been thinking about you and this crazy virus—it is really frightening thinking of those poor people in China—Sue, we leave on April 21–so hoping things are in control by then but it’s possible things will be worse. Spending so many hours in an enclosed space on a plane is scary not knowing who around you could be infected.
Holly, DD was so looking forward to Valentine’s Day because for the first time she feels she is in a loving relationship—then she got sick and they had to cancel all plans that her BF had made for them. I’m really happy for you, Holly—maybe plan some short trips for starters. Last time our favorite part of Italy was the little towns—so we are really looking forward to exploring them.
I took a six hr teapot workshop on the wheel today—OMG, I worked so hard but it was definitely fun—I’ll go in tomorrow and finish mine as I didn’t get the spouts and handles on—just pots and lids so far. But I am getting better so that’s exciting
We walked this morning and yesterday and day before—doing stairs at the park in order to start getting in shape for Positano and Amalfi and Sorrento.
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Post by holly2007 on Feb 20, 2020 1:51:55 GMT
Joan, I’m so glad she has found someone that treats her well. What a bummer. My BF was sick too with a cold. It wasn’t so bad that night, but it hit him over the weekend.
Going to a conference this weekend in Savannah. It is such a neat town. Looking forward to getting away for a couple of days.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Feb 21, 2020 17:49:34 GMT
Oh, I’m jealous, Holly—I loved Savannah when we were there! I bought two neat little pottery pieces at a neat shop right along the river. But I just love Oglethorpe’s layout of the town with the squares!
So far I’ve missed the cold—yay! I have been around so many with the tail end of it so that’s sort of amazing.
Heading to the gym in a few—then hope to go to the studio for a short session—will take a class tomorrow afternoon.
DGD19 is doing so well in her college classes—and in her art class the teacher put one of her drawings in a glass display case in the hallway so she was super proud. She is the perfect example of letting a kid decide when it’s time for college—she just loves it, has been less depressed. She says she’s a late bloomer—late at 19! LOL
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jojowo
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SHORT AND SWEET GODDESSES
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Post by jojowo on Feb 24, 2020 4:28:44 GMT
Hi everyone! Joan - how exciting that you have an Italy trip planned! The Carona virus is scary though and I would not think of going outside the US at this time. I too was worried about Sue. Glad to hear she is ok.
Holly - how exciting that you have been dating someone. What type of work does he do? Glad to hear your Valentine dinner was nice
Joan - do let us know what the hematologist says!
I have not any more issues with the anemia since the surgery- but it seems I am plagued with bouts of colitis- really a bummer. Had a couple of days of it this weekend. I am surprised that I haven’t lost wt. with it . Seem to not have though.
The DGK’s were out for Winter break last week. I had them for 4 days. They were so good! It had been quite a while since we had seen them ; so we all had fun.
DDIL cancelled her work trip in Feb. so I didn’t go to California.
Supposed to be nice in the 60’s this week.
Holly- finished the first sweater I have knitted. I was ok but not great- I have stared another in a thicker yarn so maybe it won’t take as long to do.
Sue- yes , DS was in Angola three different times. Chevron has a compound there. They never went outside of the compound without armed guards though. It is a very dangerous place for Americans. Occasionally they did go out to dinner. I’m surprised they took you there on the cruise
I finally bit the bullet and gave up cable tv. NowI just use my Roku( bought 2 for the other 2 tv’s. Already had one for den tv) ,amazon Prime, and Sling tv- We are saving a ton of money by doing this. I resisted it for so long. Great picture and good programming with most of what I had with cable and some that I didn’t have. I’m happy with it.
Joan - what is “throwing “ a piece of pottery?
Oh yes! We had a day of snow about a week ago! It was beautiful. Was about 3 “ and was gone in a day WITH NO ICE- this is the way I like it!!!!
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Post by holly2007 on Feb 26, 2020 1:49:12 GMT
Hi all,
Jo Anne, he is a librarian and works at the same college as me. We were friends for years. Have you tried any poncho patterns on Ravelry? Those are pretty fast knits.
Joan, I love the way the squares are set up. We went to City Market, ate at a restaurant by the river, and went to the yarn store. My coworker is a big fan of the Gryphon Tea Room.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Feb 29, 2020 19:38:44 GMT
Sue, so good to hear an update from you. I hope you continue to be unaffected by the virus—this is a nasty problem! No, I do not think we will get to go—even tho we have spent hours planning out such a fabulous trip, none of us wants to risk it. Also, as of today the govt here is recommending no travel to Italy unless absolutely unavoidable. We spent a lot of money on travel insurance so I’m sure we will cancel—DH and BF’s DH will go to AAA on Monday and find out best way to proceed. We may have to get dr notice or not—depending on Allianze.
JoAnne, throwing a pot means using the wheel to form a pot—it starts with throwing a chunk of clay on a wheel and spinning it to center it. Remember the movie Ghost? She was throwing a pot in the middle of the night at the beginning before she was killed? Everything else is called handbuilding which means you just use your hands and hand tools.
I have been glazing at home like crazy—taking two more things in today. Not taking classes so that I can get caught up and get some finished pieces. Today I will go in tho and start making another tall pitcher like my Year of the Rat pitcher as I want one for myself here at the house. My two teapots still are not completely dry—I’m so torn—I’ve really gotten hooked on throwing and made two beautifully shaped mugs last weekend—now I want to do more—but I have a whole list of things I want to handbuild before Christmas! Too many options, not enough time.
Hoping that DGD”s dance thing gets canceled on her—would be so much easier for her to just not have the option to go—but I think with the new restrictions her parents will simply say it can’t happen. She is enjoying school so much—doing well also—and if quarantined on coming back even if not sick, she would miss school and probably waste the whole semester.
I have not been walking this week—back started acting up—I think I have to either quit Pilates or start being more selective in what I do in there—I think I actually hurt my back doing it this week—yesterday my upper back was so bad I used my tens unit and took Advil and had DH rub Biofreeze on it and later Arnica. It does feel better today. ANother reason I’m not throwing pots this week!
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Mar 1, 2020 15:24:10 GMT
Good morning!
Had a great day at the studio yesterday even tho I only had about 4 hours—instead of making my pitcher, for which I will need a new bag of clay, I decided to use up so clay I had leftover and had moistened over the last month—OMG, it moistened up so well and I made three pretty cool Christmas trees which I will go in and finish texturizing and punching holes, etc.—each will be its own tea light—a grouping of several would make an awesome centerpiece for Christmas time dinners. I’ll glaze each slightly different shades of blues and greens—sort of pale aquas and whites. These are my prototypes—want to make everyone in my dance class a little one to keep—but need to see how much time I can shave off doing them as it’s a lot—will probably need about 30 or so. I have a couple other bags of leftover clay with which I will attempt the same thing—after all the leftovers are gone, I will let myself get a new bag and start making the pitcher and throwing some mugs. Decided to be a responsible clay artist! LOL
Kind of concerned about the politics that is playing out with the virus here and abroad. I heard that Italy was not going to report like originally as they are afraid of the economy tanking cause people are canceling right and left—so they are altering how they report. Then the stupid play here taking effect—however, people here in Vegas seem to be taking it very seriously—I even have neighbors who are stocking up on food items, the gym has provided really strong wipes for all equipment and are pushing people to wash a lot and use the Purel which has always been there but getting people to use it is hard. A lot of people in my age group work out at the gym so there is a big concern there. Even at the restaurants people are washing longer at the sinks and talking about it—using paper towels to open doors, etc. I feel guilty if I have to sneeze—which with allergies I often do—because I know everyone is feeling worried about what they are exposed to.
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Post by holly2007 on Mar 5, 2020 0:30:39 GMT
Hi all,
Joan, sorry about your trip. Can you postpone it? It sounds like DGD is in a good place with school, etc now.
Next week is Spring Break. I am going to take Monday and Friday off to get stuff done around the house and school work. There is a lot of drama going on—typical academia stuff. It gets tiring after awhile.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Mar 5, 2020 6:00:08 GMT
Holly, we are waiting two weeks—but none of us have delusions about getting to go. Italy has now canceled everything going on in Italy for the next two weeks—but honestly, I think it’s as dangerous to fly for that many hours closed up with unknown exposures as it is to visit Italy itself.
Got my first porcelain finished piece back—my cute little lidded “box”—I love it—will just keep it as a place for my hearing aids at night I think.
We are hoping that British Airways cancels the flight into Rome sometime within the next two weeks for DGD so that we could get a credit or a refund—I didn’t buy insurance on that flight so don’t know if we can recoup anything from it at all if we cancel.
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Post by nov21987 on Mar 6, 2020 9:00:08 GMT
Hi! It's been crazy here with itinerary and port changes. First change was not going to Kenya because of unrest, then no southeast Asia,no India, no Singapore where we were to depart on March 22 to fly home. Then after we left the Seychelles,Maldives wouldn't let the ship dock, then Sri Lanka wouldn't let anybody get off the ship. So we're in Sri Lanka now just to get supplies and will head off to Australia in 2 days. So many people who are not doing the 5 month world cruise, including us, have had to change travel plans multiple times. So now we are flying back from Perth. We are still having a great time though. We enjoy days at sea where we have fallen into typical daily pattern. And almost every other day having dinners with people we have become friendly with onboard. I'm totally keeping up with all the news back home since we have some news channels available to us and for the US there's MSNBC and Fox. Glad to hear everyone is doing well. Joan, good thing you're not going to Italy. Don't know what's going to happen by the time we're supposed to get off this ship, so far no virus cases in phila
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Post by nov21987 on Mar 6, 2020 9:06:01 GMT
When we were in Angola on a tour we had police escorts and an ambulance following our bus, yikes! That was a surprise! We did manage to get to Madagascar to see the lemurs! Apparently the weather conditions oftentimes make it difficult for ships to stop there. We met some people who have tried multiple times before to get there, so they were thrilled to finally succeed
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Mar 6, 2020 17:29:19 GMT
Wow, what a disaster this thing has triggered. We have had our first case in Vegas now—and he was at the VA hospital so no clue how many were infected. We don’t know if we will get our money back if we cancel—just read an article that risk as a reason isn’t enough—AAA lady thinks if we get a doctor’s note on risk because of health complications we may still be able to. So for now we are just waiting. My dr said that if the weather warms up the spread may stop until next fall—she said viruses don’t live as long in warm weather. So it’s a wait and see. I do think DGD19 in NYC will have to cancel as she is scheduled for the 3rd. I keep hoping her dance company hosting it will cancel or that British Airways will quit flying into Rome.
Sue, it’s like you are a floating nomad for sure now! So glad tho that no one on your ship is sick—that’s fortunate. Probably helps that there are not thousands on it as well. This time you are really having time to get to know people well!
The medicine is definitely helping to stop the spread of the fungus on my three nails—ugh, they look ugly as each of them is now growing a new nail but the old part cannot be cut off completely yet for a another few weeks. My new nails are a bit ripplely—that happened to my nails years ago in HS when I had eczema on my hands so bad I lost a couple nails and they were ripplely for years!
The fish oil that the eye dr put me on is awesome—wow, my cuticles are changing for the better so fast—and my skin is not so dry as before. A friend told me that I’d love the results—should have been taking this forever—am taking 3 capsules a day.
Meanwhile, I have been glazing items at home—stayed out of studio past two days and will also do so tomorrow. We are doing the Make A Wish walk tomorrow morning at 7 am. I’ll go in and work this afternoon and Sunday. My back flared up last week (my fault) but is doing better—was worried I was getting bursitis back but it seems to be calming down—all I did was wear a pair of brown shoes I’ve had forever—they felt good on but I haven’t worn them in a couple years as I remember my back didn’t like them last time. This time they felt so comfy I thought I was fine so wore them most of one day—yikes, I really think they threw me into this tizzy. Then in Pilates I lifted my head in one exercise (you’re supposed to but I rarely do) and pulled a muscle in the upper middle of my back—OMG, it was not a happy week. So I haven’t thrown a pot for 10 days—will throw one today before going back to handbuilding my Christmas trees just so I don’t forget my skills.
Sue, I hope getting back to the states is not a complete mess—heard from others that it’s a bit trying!
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Post by holly2007 on Mar 12, 2020 0:10:04 GMT
Hi all,
This whole coronavirus thing is surreal. They are moving classes online for a few weeks at the university I work at, and across NC. Sue, I hope everything is still going well on your trip.
It is Spring Break, so I took off Monday and am taking off Friday. Need to do taxes, etc. I am about to finish The Alice Network. It is good, but is taking awhile to finish.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Mar 12, 2020 18:08:47 GMT
Holly, I saw that when you posted on FB—it’s unbelievable what is happening. DGD’s classes will all be up on line after March 18–she is so sad as she loves being in her classes. DD is worried about her crashing emotionally since being in school has seemed to really help her.
Now Jordan is suffering from depression—seriously. I got him to the school counseling wellness center yesterday as he talked to me about it—they are going to take his case to committee and recommend a health withdrawal—that means no penalties for these partially finished classes and required counseling services in order to work toward getting the green light to get back in school. Apparently he has been struggling with his classes so badly that he’s feeling like a failure and being a straight A kid for so long, it has dredged up all kinds of emotional stuff from his terribly screwed up childhood and he is really having a hard time. He told the counselor to call me and talk with me so we talked for about 40 min last night—she is wonderful. She said so many kids have a crisis like this and don’t talk to anyone about it.
The mood in the world and the news is not going to help these people who are already so stressed. The stock market mess is unbelievable. I wonder if Sue and her SO will have to experience quarantine time—geez, a tiny little virus is bringing the world to its knees.
Also wonder if JoAnne is doing okay—
I skipped gym today and figured out groceries more seriously as DH doesn’t want us to eat out—he can be a bit on the OCD side so he’s sort of freaking out. He went out and bought some cans of Dinty More Stew today—OMG, that is the worst of worst stuff—I told him it was time to stop! It’s funny and not funny all at the same time!
Vegas economy is going to tank most likely—with convention cancellations, no gaming business on sports, etc., people are going to be without work.
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