Chat: Hope you are enjoying your summer!

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone, I'm back from a delightful five day vacation with my wife, her

parents, and

our daughter. We went to Gatlinburg, TN. and stayed in a resort club my

in-laws have a membership with. It was within walking distance of the

downtown shopping area. Quiet wooded area out back for picnics with a

roaring stream rushing downhill. Our balcony overlooked the stream and the

wooded mountainside.

On the way back home we were rear-ended in a chain-reaction accident. My

wife and daughter and I are suffering from whip-lash injuries this morning.

Like I really needed any help to have more pain than usual. I had lots of

stuff planned to do today, but it looks like I'll be in the recliner with a

hot pad or ice pack.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the end of August. My nine-year old goes

to school on Monday. The rest of my kids and grandkids have all moved out

and left for college or graduate school. Ahh, the peace, the quiet! Now I

just have to return all the furniture to the right rooms. Got a friend

coming over to help this week. See, I've learned from you guys, I don't try

to do it by myself anymore.

I'll be spending the Fall writing as much as possible on a couple of

literary projects: a children's book I am writing with my youngest daughter

and having a friend illustrate, and the beginning of a novel about women

from my family who lived in the wilds of west Tennessee before TVA

(Tennessee Valley Authority, flood control & electricity). In January I'm

thinking about finishing my doctorate in education...thinking, not yet

totally decided.

For those of you who garden, I've got a wildflower & butterfly garden (about

1/3 of our half acre yard) to weed and get ready for Fall. Thinking about

hiring a high school student to do some roto-tilling, mowing, etc. I just

can't do those things any longer. If I try, I end up in tears of pain and

frustration. Even my seventy-two year old father-in-law complained that I

walked too slow. Better slow than in pain! I kept telling him and my wife,

" Stop and smell the roses! "

Have a great day,

Ray in Virginia

[Guest guest]

Apparently my computer " burped " and sent several old messages out.

Sorry about the inconvenience. Ignore posts about whiplash. Ray

----------------------------------------------------

Reach me by ICQ. My ICQ# is 14278868 or,

* Page me online through my Personal Communication Center:

http://wwp.mirabilis.com/14278868 (go there and try it!) or,

* Send me E-mail Express directly to my computer screen

14278868@...

For downloading ICQ at http://www.icq.com/

Ray in Virginia