(((Karen))), Well, all I can say about that BF is... Nope, Thumper's mom said if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!! With everything you have been going through plus the holidays on top, I am amazed at all you have been able to do this past holiday season. You are one of the most positive people on this forum and if you occasionaly share some of your problems, we are more than happy to listen and share some of your load if only by encouraging words! I would never view you as a whiner, and I would say that "friend" was just using you. When you needed her support, she wasn't there for you. She only wanted you to support her. I am constantly impressed by how you take the time to visit everyone's post and comment. You even find items for others and share the links to help them if they want the items!! You are one of the most giving, caring people I know although it is only through the internet, LOL. With all we have in common, you could have been my sister. I never had one, although I do have a brother. I'm so upset for you right now, I just cannot believe how selfish that other person could be!! As you can see, all of your friends here are lovin on you right now, and we will support you, even if it is only by sending you positive thoughts and messages. BTW, great finds. I always feel better with a little retail therapy. I think you should get the gold and white nativity also, if you want it. After all, that is the reason for the season. Please continue to be your wonderful, supportive self and if you need some encouragement, don't hesitate to ask!! Even your sign off, HUGS, says what a thoughtful, caring person you are! So, HUGS right back at ya, and know your friends here will continue to be here for you! Big Hug, Candy

Ha Karen!.... All I know is when I'm in my Brain Fog mode..I'll be asked...'Did you forget to take your meds'? I respond, 'Grrrrrrr' >>> nough said. Actually as far as forgetting where I've 'tucked' things away...it's very frustrating...just like your Pheasants, I bought tiny ribbons a few wks ago to put on two small evergreen trees for the cemetary...I spent over an hr looking for them. I couldn't remember where I put them. I went into my closet several times as well as other places (All while DH was waiting for me to leave)...well I was just about to give up, when I went back into my closet, and sure enough after moving things around, I found them on the floor behind a little bench...I then remembered I put them on the bench, so I would 'see' them. Well then I also remembered that when I was rushing to get dressed, I heard them fall, but didn't stop to pick them up... And, now you know the 'rest of the story' !! lol I did mention on a post here not too long ago, that whenever I get something new, I'm going to put a post it on the calendar for the month or holiday..telling me where I put them. How's that for 'trying' ? jane

I carry bottled water in my vehicles year round. During the coldest winter days obviously they freeze. What I've found is that yes, once or twice they've broken but I'm more inclined to believe there's other contributing issues to the bottle damage. Non carbonated beverages don't seem to make the bottles swell from what I've seen and I've never had issues. A friend of mine freezes his bottles of water and puts them in the cooler to keep his lunch cool while he's at work. He freezes full bottles (sometimes refilling an empty). If you're uncomfortable, take a swig and freeze it. How cold do you need it, the outside temperature and how long do you need to keep it cold will determine your procedure. It really doesn't take long to chill down a beverage. 20 min or so in the freezer usually will make it quite cold. Many people subscribe to the theory that if you're very warm you should not drink ice water, that cool or even room temperature is better for rehydration. I've never become a fan of the reusable specialty sports bottles and the like. I think some just use it as a piece of jewelery or a status symbol. I'm waiting to see them have their official "Perrier" bottles. :) Water is a simple thing, why complicate it is my feeling. Having another thing to wash and sanitize, then be filling it, cooling it, remembering to take it, bring it back in, don't lose it... no, I'll pass. And yes, I know how few people actually clean or sanitize those things. (And those using a reusable straw? GROSS!) To me it's the same as the water through the door refrigerators with the nice stale water on demand. (choking back vomit...) I don't like the taste of mold, in fact I'm rather sensitive to it so I stay away from that stuff. I tried using those "sports" bottles but the plain bottle the water comes in works fine for me. Then toss it into the recycling and move on.

What it's like for me here..it's hard to write about it, I mean in this format of short(or even long, in my case) posts. I grew up with this radar though..I sense things..I've a pretty good compass of good and evil. It's hard to understand a country-any country-until you lived there. Books help of course. good books I mean. Yet still. Sometimes even physical presense is not enough-you need to really spend years somewhere. I'm afraid to count how many years I am here-and it's only now I feel that I'm closer to understanding all the complexity. So no wonder people here can't wrap their mind about things that happenned ocean plus away. I'll try to be brief..not about US for now, but about Chernobyl times.. They told only because they couldn't afford not to tell, at some point. They always seem to feel they have a lot, a lot of disposable resources. Like people, for example. I don't mean the country, there are good folks everywhere-I mean the state. the empire. There were many things they never told about. Including catastrophes and accidents. Some things that they deemed not comme-il-faut, that hurt their image and their proclamations, simply didn't exist. They existed-but they were swept under the carpet with such efficiency one hardly had time to blink. All the numbers of people they deliberately killed, repressed, deported, misplaced, etcetera-it all can be easily googled. And it's tens of millions. all of it sounds surreal. yet it was incredibly real. Here they were just, well..they weren't even in an active mode of evil. They just kept silent because they could, and until they could not. As for the writing..no..I didn't think about it, at least not in terms of describing big societal things like Chernobyl There are many very fine writers. And I just recently read some memoirs of different people who knew Leo Tolstoy-and it seems I share his opinion about writing. Which was approximately "don't write unless you feel you completely and utterly can't resist anymore" (he also thought, like me, it should be "useful'. The whatever you write. For the mankind. But we strongly disagree on poetry..me and Leo Tolstoy. lol) also I do write, in a way..it's too much of me here even in this thread)) Re Tired, I've been to Lvov-yes, it's a very beautiful city. I was with my schoolmates, we had a class trip there. I remember it very fondly.