For Older People with Sense

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  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    My Mom died on May 23rd, 2001. My birthday is May 16 and my DH's is May 24. Put a damper on it all for a couple of years...

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    Barbe, your birthday is two days after my eldest DD and your DH's is one day before my DSIL.  I can imagine the memories that your birthdays invoked for awhile.

    On a lighter note, are you truly considering come to Shell Knob?    That would be fabulous!  I hope you can!!!

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    I am coming to Shell Knob!!! Barring any medical intervention...of course!!

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    Yay!!!!!  Hope the health stays strong until after then.......I hope the same thing for me too.....lol

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548

    Barbe, Airtran flies to Branson. That is how I am getting there. Branson is closer than Joplin.

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Hmmm, Branson is about $1,000 round trip, but places like Fayetteville are $600....that's a huge difference. What are all the airports around Shell Knob? Just Branson and Joplin?

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Hey, I just checked out Greyhound and it's about $200!!! I could just put myself into a narcotic coma and ride it out. 1 day 14 hours and 20 minutes. I just did 11 hours to my MIL's funeral a couple weeks ago....

  • pj12
    pj12 Member Posts: 18,108

    About 8 or 10 years ago, due to a family emergency, DH was in Atlanta and I needed-wanted to join him on short notice. Getting to the Orlando airport was too far, too complicated and the ticket was too expensive since it was a last minute thing. I got one our kids to take me to the Daytona Beach Greyhound station and took an overnight bus to Atlanta. Our kids were appalled! The only weird thing was the cross-dressing prostitute at the bus station in Daytona... but he/she did not get on the bus so no problem there. The trip that would take 7 hours in your own car took about 10 or 11 hours but since it was overnight I just slept the whole trip. It was cheap and reasonably clean. Much cleaner than when we took Amtrack from Orlando to Boston.. that was a nightmare! And it was much easier for DH to find me and the Greyhound station in downtown Atlanta than to connect at Hartsfield International! 

    I wasn't even sure Greyhound was still running but just saw a Greyhound bus on I-4 yesterday. It was modern and looked quite nice.

    It used to be so much nicer to fly but honestly, I am getting to hate flying... feel like a cow being herded along.  But it is faster. 

    38 hours on a Greyhound bus might be a little hard to manage though. It would take a lot of drugs to keep me sedated for that long! 

  • dragonflymary
    dragonflymary Member Posts: 325

    Chrissy, I like the "dish fairy" reference!  My DH is pretty good at that role also!  The thing I hate the most is putting them away.  They just seem endless. 

    Going down to the bakery to pick up a cake for my SIL's birthday.  I don't think anyone has ever gotten her a bakery cake before and this will be a real treat.  Plus I'm so ready for some sugar!  Hope everyone is enjoying this holiday weekend.  Lynda

  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 1,929

    Happy Birthday to Lynda's SIL.

    OK, bragging on my son now. He became the Dish Fairy Extrodinaire last year when he bought me a dishwasher as a gift.

    Barbe, are you serious about taking a 38 hour bus ride? Many years ago my grandmother went from NY to LA by Greyhound. She did it for a few years in a row until my aunts and my uncle talked her into flying. I think it was 2 or 3 days. At the time it didn't seem strange to me but I was a little kid so I just thought, OK, you get on the bus and you go. Maybe if you break the trip up in the middle it could be easier. The longest travelling I did was when I flew from Israel to LA - from the time I left my house to the time I got to my sister's house it was 25 hours.

    Leah

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    Leah, there is 2 transfers, so I'd have to wake up from my self-induced coma. I think it would be part of the adventure. I just get nervous because it was on a Greyhound bus that someone decapitated a passenger on a couple years ago in Canada!!!! Stupid to even think of the connection, but hey...

    I HATE flying as you stand in line to check-in. You stand in line for security. You stand in line to board the plane. You stand in line to get off the plane. You stand waiting for your luggage. You stand and wait for your pick-up! I normally board last but also get off last. I can't stand being a sheeple.

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548

    I hear you Barbe on being a sheeple. Shell Knob is kinda off the beaten track and not close to a major airport. Springfield MO is about 60 miles away and it is not a real big airport either. Aitran flies out of Buffalo to Branson for 240.00. Maybe you could hop a bus to Buffalo then fly.

  • Elisimo
    Elisimo Member Posts: 1,262

    Thanks for the information on Airtran.  They have some really good deal on fares.  I think I will be using them to fly to CA in July as well as to Branson in Sept.  Did you talk to Marybe about the exact dates?  I can hardly wait until we can all get together.

  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 1,929

    Flying isn't my favorite thing, either, but almost all my family & my dh's family are in the U.S and Canada so I just do it.

    Unfortunately I won't be there when all of you are getting together. Just let me know day-by-day what's going on and take lots of pictures!

    Leah

  • Isabella4
    Isabella4 Member Posts: 1,352

    Cold, cold, cold cold cold. I am sick of being cold. It has rained from about 4am. I was just so fed up I stuck my head under the covers and didn't surface until 10.45. I was slopping about in my dressing gown until just after 12. Not a good idea when puppies are to be fed. Eight of the little devils swinging on the bottom of my dressing gown, making a smelly mess !! So. gown into washer, me into shower, and my day began at 1pm. NEVER been so idle for ages.

    I have been in a sweater and jeans all afternoon...still frozen. Took myself off out to the DIY superstore, one of my favorite places, just to pass the time. All family were doing something or other, no-one had invited me over, so came back and lit the log burning stove, and got on the computer....now I am peeling clothes off I am so warm ! More heavy rain forecast for most of tomorrow. uuurrrggghhh.

    I have invited myself to DDs for tea tomorrow...well...tea at her local pub....like me she won't cook unless it's really necessary, so all her family congregate at the pub. Not too keen on pub gatherings, but seems it will be the only way I will see my G/children this holiday. DD has already spent Friday and Saturday night at the pub,and has had another weird hairdo !! There is a name for it, but I can't remember! The 'under' hair is black, and the 'top' hair is bright red ( and I mean BRIGHT red, not auburn!!) Then the whole head has been cut asymmetrically, the right side pretty short, almost shaved, and then the left hangs down as far as her shoulder ! I think she ought to have been something theatrical....I used to have many firework style rows with her when she was a teenager. Her outrageous dress used to drive me crazy. There's outrageous, then there's damned outrageous, and she was always right over the top ! Her favorite way to annoy me was to wear a bowler hat. Wherever we went, and whatever the occasion she would don the bowler. She said years later it was just to annoy me, as she knew I hated it.The worst thing I ever did was wear fluorescent sox under my jeans.

    Right, off to go get to bed, I am hoping for a less boring day tomorrow !

    Isabella.

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548

    Wow, Isabella. Your daughter is really passive agressive. I can be like that some times so I get it. Call her out.  Have a great weekend!

  • junie
    junie Member Posts: 784

    Just popping in, ladies, to throw out a few cents of my knowledge.....lucky, lucky ME--although I live in Arkansas, I am only about a 1/2 hr drive to Shell Knob, so am planning to meet you all at some point during your visit.   I am not familiar with the airport at Branson, although it is the closest to Shell Knob.    My rough guesstimate is from Branson to Shell Knob, maybe an hour drive.   From Springfield (SGF), 1-2 hour drive; from Fayettevile, Ark (XNA) maybe 2 hour drive.....all depends on weather conditions and traffic.   If anyone does fly into Fayetteville--BE SURE that you get the airport code right--XNA---there is a major airport at Fayetteville, NC, and there are lots of mix ups of people booking to the wrong city.

    Also, try to arrive so that you can get to Shell Knob before dark.  There are very few sections of 4-lane, divided roads; the roads are basically well-maintained, but two lanes; no way to pass for miles and miles because coming into Shell Knob the roads will be sometimes steep; very curvy; and keep an eye out for deer.   Also, we currently have a few sections of roads that recent storms have washed out--they will prob be fixed by Sept but if not, might cause some detouring from XNA; don't know about the other two.   I've flown out of XNA a number of times and SGF several times..   Both airports are easy to navigate (small) but nice.      We've had strange weather this year, but Sept should be a perfect time to visit the area.  Y'all are coming to a most lovely, serene, spot--much to see and do if so inclined, and also just perfect to kick back and relax!  (I'm not a travel agent, LOL--I'm not native here but we retired here about 8 years ago and love it).

      

    This is a hazy view from my deck--just to give you a little preview............can't wait to meet you all!!!

  • Springfield is 1 hr to Shell Knob.  I will write more about that later.  So far as dates, check to see when Chrissy will be there, but I am thinking that the last week of Sept is starting Sunday Sept 25, but we can be a bit flexible and start the previous weekend  or whatever works best.   I plan on either a few days before everyone else gets there or staying a few days later since I would like to have a few days to visit with my Uncle and cousins.

    WHAT I WANTED TO REMIND YOU ALL OF IS THAT TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT MY BIG FAT GYPSY WEDDING IN ON TONIGHT ON TLC (the Learning Channel) .  I saw the preview and it talks about how it's showing things that go on in Europe that the public doesn't always see.  So be sure to watch so we can see what Isabella went to. 

  • QCA
    QCA Member Posts: 1,150

    Thanks for the reminder, Marybe!  And  yes, I'll be watching.  Wouldn't miss it, just to have an idea of what Isabella saw!

    Kathy

  • 3jaysmom
    3jaysmom Member Posts: 2,604

    you barbara...really HAHAHA3jays...

        good that you took it easy, Isabella. you deserve it, you work SOOO much!!! i saw lady Gaga's wig the other day...black on bottom, with a white over the top. id love to find one like it, but don't know if i could wear it.. she's like 26, and thin.. im 61, and fat !! not such a good look for me eh?      3jays

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    Hi all,

    Marybe, I have maked September 25th as the start date for Uncle Bills so that is fine with me.  From all the chatter re airports I'm guessing that Springfield is the nearest for me to reach and as for getting from there to Shell Knob, suggestions anyone?  Is there a bus I can catch?  All info gratefully recieved.

    Junie, yay!!!  I'm looking forward to meeting up with you as well.....I think it's great that you live so close.  That pic is beautiful and if that's what I've got to look forward to....well all I can say is Wowser!!!  I can't wait!!!

    Isabelle, I can totally relate to the late ....ahem...late starts as somedays I have a tendency to do the same and today was one of them....lol  The air is so cold and I was so cosy in bed I just decided to stay there for a while longer.  I would love to see your puppies and the word picture you painted of them hanging off your dressing gown had me chuckling like crazy.

    I am really over the moon at the moment as the new stove that has been sitting in my shed for the last two years is finally going to be installed this week.  The gas bottles were delivered this afternoon and the gas fitter will be here first thing in the morning to get that sorted and then on Wednesday the fellow who will be modifying my kitchen cupboards to accommodate the new stove will be here.  Hopefully, come Friday morning, I will have the it all up and running...........I am so looking forward to it I am beside myself.......lol.....just like a kid with a new toy I will be cooking up a storm....now who can I invite to come and eat what I cook?

    Love n hugs to all.  Chrissy

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548

    Oh, Chrissy! I love new appliances!! You are planning to get to Shell Knob the 25th? I thought when you come to FL to see 3jays, I could come pick you guys up, bring you back to my place then we could leave out of Tampa to Branson. I would rent a car. We need to nail down the dates. Can't wait to meet you, Junie.

  • Right, I thought that was the plan also, Barb....that you were going to drive 3jays and Chrissy to the ariport and then would all come airtram.   Oh re that date, it is doesn't work, we can start on that weekend, meaning the Friday,Sat, Sun before, and also I don't think there is really a time date that we have to be out....I could tell my cousin weekend to weekend and I supposed not everyone will be coming and going the same exact days.  All I am saying is that I am either going or leaving a few days later so I can spend a little time with family.  Not only Junie, but a few others have been in contact with me who are from that neck of the woods.  Sorry for the confusion on the state, Barbe....guess MO did seem like Montanna which I do not even know the abbrevaition for....now MN is Minnesota, what is it anyway  MT?  That very last week of Sept runs into Oct 1st on the weekend....so we just need to decide which weekend you prefer being at the cabin ( it is actually a house, but has become a cabin in our plans somehow).  All I have to do is get a headcount and let cousin David know.

    I am happy to report I am back among the living today and am up making Geman potato salad for my Dad's birthday lunch.  I am sure it is just a cold, but boy it hit me hard and I was in bed 1 1/2 days and slept all the way here yesterday cuz we came in Tim's truck.  I guess I should not have been so proud of myself and bragging about not getting a cold all year, but I think this has a lot to do with my resistance, counts and the chemo. 

    Chrissy, Is your stove like Alyson's?  I think you guys have the stoves like I wanted....the 36 in gas ones like AGA, Le Cornue (sp?) ?

    Happy Memorial Day, Everyone.  Tim insisted it was Declaration Day, but finally after looking it up found out it was Decoration Day, when you decorate the graves.  I knew that since I grew up living next to the cemetary. 

    Did you watch the Gypsy show last night....they actually ran it twice on our TLC.....two hours each.

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    This is my new stove!   What do you think girls?

    The feet reflected in the ove door are mine.  I took these pics the day I bought it.

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    Barb, I can do the trip that way.  First Dotty from another thread, then SV, then 3jays, then Shell Knob.  From there I'm not perfectly sure yet but I have many places to go....lol.  I'll be working, my way down the east coast then inland and then on to the west coast and home.

    I wasn't sure that we had decided that but I'm good with it.....so.....I'll see you at 3jays!

  • barbaraa
    barbaraa Member Posts: 3,548

    Love your stove!! Chrissy, if we can plan to have AJ arrive near when we do, we can just rent one car. I can probably get one for free with my points. (it pays to travel a lot)

  • barbe1958
    barbe1958 Member Posts: 7,605

    What I will do is fly out of Buffalo (thanks for the reminder!!) my DH says that's fine, he'll pop me down to Buffalo and pick me up, too. So I can co-ordinate airport and date of arrival to be able to catch a ride into Shell Knob!!! I am a very serious photographer, so you might not see me during the day.... but this way I can meet Chrissy without her coming up to Canada!!

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    This is all coming together nicely!  Barbe, I too like photography so I'm planning on taking plenty!

    BarbA, if we coordinate for both Barbe and AJ, that would be a great idea....the more the merrier!  and easier on the pocket.

  • I think my German potato salad turned out well....Daddy has to do the taste test....my sense of taste is starting to go....so far it's only my sense of salt, but that's always the lst sign.  German potato salad, Barb!  I know that is on your list of favorites.   So my father says to me this morning, Yeh, I can see some pink scalp back there.  That's the way a man loses his hair.  

    Like I needed to be told that!!  Oh well, he's 89, I will forgive him. 

    I am soooo jealous of your stove, Chrissy!!!!

  • chrissyb
    chrissyb Member Posts: 11,438

    I have been waiting ......not so patiently.....to have this intalled for two years and I just can't belive that by the end of the week I will be using it........yahoooo!!!!!