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  <title>Existing one day at a time</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/</link>
  <description>Existing one day at a time - LiveJournal.com</description>
  <lastBuildDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:57:53 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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  <lj:journal>moosetick71</lj:journal>
  <lj:journalid>15776836</lj:journalid>
  <lj:journaltype>personal</lj:journaltype>
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    <title>Existing one day at a time</title>
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  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6843.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:57:53 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Back from China</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6843.html</link>
  <description>&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt -3pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;We are back from China. The trip went fairly well. I thought I&amp;rsquo;d compare what we did to the todo list for Costa Rica.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt -3pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;1.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Hit the beach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; I don&amp;rsquo;t recall ever seeing sand. We did ride in several boats though. One of which we had to power outself via pedal power.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;2.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Visit a volcano &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; No volcanoes were to be found. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;3.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We saw a wild kitten&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;4.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Check out some sea turtles&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We saw live turtles at a pet store. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;5.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Drink Costa Rican beer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We drank plenty of Chinese beer. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;6.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Smoke a Cuban cigar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; This was a non smoking trip&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;7.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Visit a rain forest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We were rained.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;8.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Attempt to surf&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Again, no beaches were seen&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;9.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix (audio books count)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; I mostly read a book about the Khmer Rouge &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;10.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Hike in a jungle&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Plenty of hiking was done. It was all in big cities though&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;11.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;See and photograph some exotic birds &amp;ndash; counts for #25&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; I got pics of some parakeets in one hotel we stayed at&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;12.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Plenty of this was acquired including a RC helicopter, Tea flavored candy, and many chopsticks&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;13.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;See a waterfall&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Didn&amp;rsquo;t happen. We did swim in a cool pool that caused water to fall out the sides&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;14.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Every meal was local excluding the sidetrip to a McDonalds&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;15.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; One friend on FaceBook has already been made.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;16.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Hot tub with or without #15&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; There was some hot tubbing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;17.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Snuggle &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; A little here, a little there&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;18.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Haggle with a street vendor&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Nearly every purchase requires haggling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;19.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Buy a cool hat &amp;ndash; possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; I used the hat I purchased in Costa Rica&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;20.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Do a zip line and not break anything&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; No ziplines were found&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;21.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; degree sunburn&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; I got tan, but never burnt. This was with several 100+ degree days and many hours walking in the sun.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;22.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Learn 100 new Spanish words&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We picked up a little Chinese. No where near 100 words though.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;23.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Visit a questionable museum&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Shanghai museum was swanky. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;24.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Do a canopy tour&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; We toured the Shanghai canopy atop the 2&lt;sup&gt;nd&lt;/sup&gt; tallest building in the world&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;25.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Take 800+ photos&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; The total was more list 1600+&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;26.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Not purchase anything with googly eyes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; Victory (again)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;text-indent: -0.25in; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 15pt; background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;27.&lt;span style=&quot;font: 7pt &amp;#39;Times New Roman&amp;#39;&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: red; font-size: 10pt&quot;&gt;&amp;ndash; This mostly happened&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://pics.livejournal.com/moosetick71/pic/00003x86/&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://pics.livejournal.com/moosetick71/pic/00003x86/s320x240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6843.html</comments>
  <category>china</category>
  <category>vacation</category>
  <category>list</category>
  <category>trip</category>
  <category>kelly</category>
  <lj:mood>satisfied</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>1</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6433.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 04:06:41 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>do you ever</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6433.html</link>
  <description>wake up and wonder what has happened?</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6433.html</comments>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6334.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:49:20 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>tired</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6334.html</link>
  <description>I&amp;nbsp;am mentally drained and can&apos;t keep going on much longer.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In case I don&apos;t see ya, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/6334.html</comments>
  <category>tired</category>
  <lj:mood>tired</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5950.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:18:15 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Best idea ever!!</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5950.html</link>
  <description>This post is now officially worthless. I&amp;nbsp;had something to write about but got sidetracked by an Amazon ad on the right side of the window. Now I&amp;nbsp;have forgotten whatever I&amp;nbsp;was going to expound on. That memory is lost to the world and we are all lesser from it. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&amp;nbsp;will note that over teh weekend we celebrated my parent&apos;s 50th wedding anniversary at the Butcher Shop. Luckily, Kelly arranged the majority of the event so it went off without a hitch. Many cows were sacrificed for the event. Also, a lot of family came into town to eat on our dime. As far as I&apos;m aware good times were had by all. Below is a pic of me, the wifey, sis, the boy, and my parents. Somehow I&amp;nbsp;feel like I&amp;nbsp;may be adopted since I&apos;m a full head taller than anyone else around. Maybe I&amp;nbsp;just have a semi-hyper pituatary gland. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Other than the dinner, we are also taking my folks on a cruise around the Caribbean in the Spring. That should be entertaining and a relieft from the winter. Now all we need to do is get my dad a&amp;nbsp;passport.&lt;a href=&quot;http://pics.livejournal.com/moosetick71/pic/00002cb3/&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;240&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;319&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://pics.livejournal.com/moosetick71/pic/00002cb3/s320x240&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Other than the above, I&amp;nbsp;have no big updates.</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5950.html</comments>
  <category>tall</category>
  <category>forgot</category>
  <category>50th</category>
  <category>cruise</category>
  <category>kelly</category>
  <category>anniversary</category>
  <lj:mood>okay</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5771.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2008 18:42:08 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>NYC Trip and US History revised</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5771.html</link>
  <description>&lt;br /&gt;A few weeks ago we took a trip to NYC&amp;nbsp;so the boy could appear on Good Morning America. See below or you can see more pictures &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flickr.com/photos/92998476@N00/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;hosts + T&quot; src=&quot;http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3219/2981489653_de2cbe3cdb_m.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;286&quot; alt=&quot;us on GMA&quot; width=&quot;366&quot; src=&quot;http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2981578863_89e347cc7c.jpg?v=0&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;While there we did the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.citysightsny.com/&quot;&gt;hop on / hop off&lt;/a&gt; city tour. This is where you pay $40/person to ride a double decker bus for 2 days around New York City. There are &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.citysightsny.com/new/citysightsNew.pdf&quot;&gt;45 pickup/dropoff points&lt;/a&gt; and you can ride as much as you want. You also get a guide that tells you about local attractions. This was the highpoint of the trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;One guide was quite political and made sure to let us know how our vote for president would decide if we would be staying at war or not. He also let us know he did not like investors coming in to his city and driving property values up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;The next interesting guide called American history as she saw it. She told us how Teddy Roosevelt read &lt;i&gt;Rich Man Poor Man&lt;/i&gt; and decided that he should craft the &amp;ldquo;&lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal&quot;&gt;New Deal&lt;/a&gt;&amp;rdquo; to correct the situation. For those non history buffs, it was actually his 5&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; cousin, Franklin Roosevelt that crafted the New Deal. We also drove by the famous Guggenheim museum in NYC. She proudly let us know Floyd Wright designed that structure.&amp;nbsp;She was sure to&amp;nbsp;point out&amp;nbsp;Oprah&amp;rsquo;s best friend Gayle attended an event in a church we drove by also.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;There were a few other tidbits of homemade history she peppered us with, but these were the highlights that stood out. I feel we definitely got our money&amp;rsquo;s worth!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;margin: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;Other than the GMA piece and sightseeing, not a lot else got done. We stayed at the Milinium Broadway Hotel. It was ok as a hotel, but the location was perfect. We did get 10 &amp;ldquo;I&amp;nbsp;&apos;heart&apos; NY&amp;rdquo; shirts and some other trinkets. Overall, it was a nice unexpected trip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5771.html</comments>
  <category>hop on hop off</category>
  <category>guggenheim</category>
  <category>thomas</category>
  <category>nyc</category>
  <category>gayle</category>
  <category>gma</category>
  <category>trip</category>
  <category>kelly</category>
  <category>wsj</category>
  <category>floyd wright</category>
  <lj:mood>okay</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>1</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5439.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 16:04:18 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>More Vegas pics</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5439.html</link>
  <description>I&amp;nbsp;made a quick picture gallery using my mediocre AJAX skills. It can be found here (&lt;a href=&quot;http://gorillashop.com/vegas/vegas.htm&quot;&gt;http://gorillashop.com/vegas/vegas.htm&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Pics of note include...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;#1 Sweet needlepoint art at Circus Circus&lt;br /&gt;#3 Giant clown&lt;br /&gt;#9 Hurricane prrof flagpole&lt;br /&gt;#17 Nice Lambo&lt;br /&gt;#32 200&apos; x 200 &apos; Donny and Marie&lt;br /&gt;#46 5&apos; tall $750 T-Rex&lt;br /&gt;#48 Phat Harry Potter display at FAO Schwatrz&lt;br /&gt;#52 Line to get into Gucci purse store&lt;br /&gt;#62 Belagio lobby ceiling&lt;br /&gt;#85 Vomit stain on sheets&lt;br /&gt;#98 A Carl&apos;s Jr&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Have fun browsing!</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5439.html</comments>
  <category>ajax</category>
  <category>circus circus</category>
  <category>vegas</category>
  <category>trip</category>
  <category>t-rex</category>
  <category>harry potter</category>
  <category>lambo</category>
  <lj:mood>okay</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5187.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:39:47 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Good JuJu today</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5187.html</link>
  <description>&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;span&gt;I&apos;ve got a good vibe today. You know how sometimes deep down in your soul you know things are OK&amp;nbsp;and you are becoming more at peace with the world? I&apos;ve got that feeling today. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A lot of that feeling is due to my beautiful wife Kelly. She has offered a lot of&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;support over the last few months and been a good listener.&amp;nbsp;Many things have been difficult&amp;nbsp;do deal with,&amp;nbsp;but I&amp;nbsp;believe we have both seen that family is more important than we had been giving it credit for. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;I understand it has been hard and I really appreciate the efforts she has taken to make it happen. It is really impressive and lets me know that she really cares and&amp;nbsp;is trying. That effort&amp;nbsp;means a lot and really helps strengthen my faith in our future. I&amp;nbsp;know in my heart her efforts are true and&amp;nbsp;if I&amp;rsquo;m wrong then I have no understanding of our relationship. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#000000&quot;&gt;I just wanted to let it be known I see&amp;nbsp;her efforts and may not always voice it, but that doesn&amp;rsquo;t mean it isn&amp;rsquo;t noticed and appreciated. I need to and will make an effort to voice it more, but I sometimes feel like bringing attention to it may be a negative.&amp;nbsp;Take this message as a whole. We are both trying hard. She is doing what she is saying and I can&amp;rsquo;t ask for anymore than that. I&amp;rsquo;m trying to do the same for her.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/5187.html</comments>
  <category>appreciate</category>
  <category>peace</category>
  <category>soul searching</category>
  <category>vibe</category>
  <category>support</category>
  <category>kelly</category>
  <category>trying</category>
  <category>thank you</category>
  <lj:mood>hopeful</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4937.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:38:53 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Short and sweet</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4937.html</link>
  <description>Just writing to say not to believe everything you read or feel.&amp;nbsp;I&amp;nbsp;just had a bad vibe like there was something wrong with the force and bad things happened. It is probably nothing, but I&amp;quot;ve been a bad judge of what is happening around me lately so I&apos;m not sure what to do. I haven&apos;t got a lot of sleep lately. Perhaps I&amp;nbsp;will take a nap and see if the Kool-Aid man talks to me and provides instruction.</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4937.html</comments>
  <category>confused</category>
  <category>sleep</category>
  <category>kool-aid</category>
  <category>clueless</category>
  <category>tired</category>
  <lj:mood>confused</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4379.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2008 19:23:21 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Sin City 2008</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4379.html</link>
  <description>&amp;nbsp; &lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;The Vegas trip has been completed. We stayed at the glorious Circus Circus! Below is what it looks like by day...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;450&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://www.moosetick.com/pics/circus%20circus.jpg&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;And by night...&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;450&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://www.moosetick.com/pics/circus%20circus%202.jpg&quot; /&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: small&quot;&gt;There were a total of 9 of us. Me, Jeff, Ben, Trey, Dave, Daniel, Scott, Barry, and Brett. Before we landed in Vegas there was a $100+ bar tab on the plane (and we left at 9AM). We were there from Thursday through Labor Day. The results for the 2008 Las Vegas Olympics are shown below...&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white; margin-left: 0.5in&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;1. Blackjack - Everyone starts with $50 and has one hour to earn as much money as possible. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: Jeff K.) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;This never happened as a group. I believe I was the only one who consistently won at blackjack though.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;2. Darts - Traditional cricket tournament beginning at midnight, the hour of the devil. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Dave N) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;We never saw a dartboard the whole time we were there. Our hotel (Circus Circus) did have a midway where you could throw a dart at a balloon. Dave tried that but failed.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;3. The Buffet - All contestants begin at the same time and winner will be the person who eats the most plates of food. &amp;nbsp;Each plate must have a minimum of 0.5 lbs. of food on it. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Tom F, due to his food eating display in Gulf Shores last year) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;Daniel won this at the Stratosphere buffet. He had about 50 Crab legs, 10 glasses of champagne, 4 mimosas, other assorted buffet items, and desert. I was a close 2nd at the $35 Wynn buffet. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;4. Comps - Each contestant compiles a list of all free things he receives during the trip. &amp;nbsp;Whoever&apos;s list has the highest retail value wins. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Daniel B.) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;There wasn&amp;rsquo;t a lot of this happening. Trey and I got free t-shirts from the Apple store. We went to Hooters and got comped $200 of slot play that everyone lost.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;5. Casino relay - The winner will be the person who visits the most casinos and brings back a chip or souvenir from each one. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Ben) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;Trey won this. While everyone else was gambling he made it a point to hit every casino on the strip.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;6. Boozing - Obviously, the winner drinks more than everyone else and doesn&apos;t pass out. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite due to secret practicing at home: Ben) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;Daniel probably won this also. He drank 30 screwdrivers alone on Saturday at the Circus Circus sports book. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;7. Overall gaming - Whoever plays the biggest variety of games wins. &amp;nbsp;There will be grouping of games, i.e., Penny slots and Quarter slots don&apos;t count as two different games. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Trey) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;Dave probably took this. He was all over the place and throwing money around like a big roller. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;8. Girlies - Whoever gets the most lap dances wins. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;the winner of the Blackjack event) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;Ben likely took this. He hit the strip clubs more than anyone.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;9. Sports gaming - Everyone starts with $100 and bets on the college football games - winner will be the one with the most money. &amp;nbsp;Minimum of three games must be bet on. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Not Dave) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;This didn&amp;rsquo;t happen. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;10. The last event will be decided on during the flight to Las Vegas. &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: red&quot;&gt;We made a bet before we landed on what minute the wheels would touch down. We each bet a buck and Dave won $8. I lost by 15 seconds. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white; margin-left: 0.5in&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: 10pt; color: #333333&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #333333&quot;&gt;As you can see I tied for #4 and claimed victory for #1.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;background: white&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;&lt;font color=&quot;#333333&quot;&gt;The biggest thing about the trip that stood out was the hotel. It was a dump. The rooms were in horrible shape. My bed had vomit on the bedspread when we checked in. I folded it up and put it on the ground and it reappeared the next day and everyday thereafter. There was mold all over the shower. The fan in the bathroom was falling out of the wall. One of our rooms AC died in the middle of the night on a day that reached 108 degrees. Their water was also turned off that same night. Comps were nonexistent. The staff was generally grumpy. The sports book had a leak in the ceiling. There were 5 million kids running around the casino constantly. I could continue but I believe you get the gist of the experience.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img height=&quot;450&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;600&quot; lowsrc=&quot;unsaved:///yellow%20barf!!!&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;http://www.moosetick.com/pics/vomit.jpg&quot; /&gt; &lt;div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: medium&quot;&gt;Overall it was a fun time and we&apos;d definitely like to go back in a couple of years. There is no way we would stay at Circus Circus, but Vegas is definitely a fun town.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4379.html</comments>
  <category>buffet</category>
  <category>vomit</category>
  <category>casino</category>
  <category>beer</category>
  <category>olympics</category>
  <category>jeff</category>
  <category>circus circus</category>
  <category>trip</category>
  <category>ben</category>
  <lj:mood>exhausted</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>2</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4096.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:20:53 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Yet Another Trip</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4096.html</link>
  <description>&amp;nbsp;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I’m about to embark on another trip. This time it is to &lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:placename w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Sin&lt;/st1:placename&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;City&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt; with 3-4 friends and a few other tag-a-longs I don’t really know. We leave Thursday morning and return Monday night.&amp;nbsp;Kelly is staying home and initially incouraged me to go on this trip. I&apos;m not sure if she still wants me to go but the tickets are bought and bags will be packed shortly. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For this trip someone else came up with a collection of must-do events. They even picked favorites for each category. I was selected for #3. Below is the list. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in&quot;&gt;&lt;tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt&quot;&gt;The 2008 Las Vegas Olympics begin August 28th. &amp;nbsp;They will be comprised of 10&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: &amp;quot;Courier New&amp;quot;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;events spread out over four days. &amp;nbsp;Anyone currently living in &lt;st1:state w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Tennessee&lt;/st1:state&gt;,&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;st1:state w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;tt&gt;Mississippi&lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/st1:state&gt;&lt;tt&gt;, or &lt;st1:state w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Arkansas&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:state&gt; is eligible to enter. &amp;nbsp; &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;Here is a list of the events: &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;1. Blackjack - Everyone starts with $50 and has one hour to earn as much money as possible. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: Jeff K.) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;2. Darts - Traditional cricket tournament beginning at midnight, the hour of the devil. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Dave N) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;3. The Buffet - All contestants begin at the same time and winner will be the person who eats the most plates of food. &amp;nbsp;Each plate must have a minimum of 0.5 lbs. of food on it. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Tom F, due to his food eating display in &lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:placetype w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Gulf&lt;/st1:placetype&gt; &lt;st1:placetype w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Shores&lt;/st1:placetype&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt; last year) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;4. Comps - Each contestant compiles a list of all free things he receives during the trip. &amp;nbsp;Whoever&apos;s list has the highest retail value wins. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Daniel B.) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;5. Casino relay - The winner will be the person who visits the most casinos and brings back a chip or souvenir from each one. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Ben) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;6. Boozing - Obviously, the winner drinks more than everyone else and doesn&apos;t pass out. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite due to secret practicing at home: Ben) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;7. Overall gaming - Whoever plays the biggest variety of games wins. &amp;nbsp;There will be grouping of games, i.e., Penny slots and Quarter slots don&apos;t count as two different games. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Trey) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;8. Girlies - Whoever gets the most lap dances wins. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;the winner of the Blackjack event) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;9. Sports gaming - Everyone starts with $100 and bets on the college football games - winner will be the one with the most money. &amp;nbsp;Minimum of three games must be bet on. &amp;nbsp;(Gold medal favorite: &amp;nbsp;Not Dave) &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;tt&gt;10. The last event will be decided on during the flight to &lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:city w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Las Vegas&lt;/st1:city&gt;&lt;/st1:place&gt;. &lt;/tt&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;mso-spacerun: yes&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Personally, I don’t understand what all this means. I’m not even sure on some of the words. Still, I’ll try to report back on what happens and who makes it back alive. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/4096.html</comments>
  <category>las vegas</category>
  <category>buffet</category>
  <category>sin city</category>
  <category>casino</category>
  <category>olympics</category>
  <category>jeff</category>
  <category>trip</category>
  <category>ben</category>
  <category>gambling</category>
  <lj:mood>hopeful</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3938.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:21:38 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Wrocking Out in Chicago</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3938.html</link>
  <description>&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.terminus2008.org/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Terminus&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; was a lot of fun. I went with &lt;a href=&quot;http://sociallyawkrd.livejournal.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;sociallyawkrd&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;span class=&apos;ljuser ljuser-name_quietish&apos; lj:user=&apos;quietish&apos; style=&apos;white-space: nowrap;&apos;&gt;&lt;a href=&apos;http://quietish.livejournal.com/profile&apos;&gt;&lt;img src=&apos;http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif&apos; alt=&apos;[info]&apos; width=&apos;17&apos; height=&apos;17&apos; style=&apos;vertical-align: bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;&apos; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&apos;http://quietish.livejournal.com/&apos;&gt;&lt;b&gt;quietish&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but it was fairly close to what I imagined. The bands rocked, the attendees we all cool, and the weather could not have been better. &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We drank much &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.licensinglinkltd.com/honey_brown.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;beer&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;, partied like it was 1998, and socialized late into the night. I don’t have any awesome standout stories that come to mind but there were a lot of cool small incidents. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul style=&quot;MARGIN-TOP: 0in&quot; type=&quot;disc&quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We saw a great video on how to make a &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO72seZKgu0&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;duck tape purse&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We jumped up and down a lot at &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.terminus2008.org/events/wrock.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Wrock Chicago&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We ate at a lot of expensive places with &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.planet99.com/pix/10775_1.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;$3 Cokes&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; (no refills) and $15 hamburgers. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We learned there are different parts of the &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://homepages.ius.edu/dschwei2/handouts/internet/parts.htm&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;internet&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;There was a memorable &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.mctweb.com/product/images/301978.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;mint&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; exchange that seemed to blow a cabbie’s mind&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I met many new HP/LJ folks.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I paid $6.75 for a beer at &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://farm1.static.flickr.com/24/97389608_a8077504d9.jpg?v=0&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Kitty O’Sheys&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We paid $5.99 a six pack at &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://bp3.blogger.com/_CKAwI5Ul6dw/RmYFrWGa7LI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/FElhef5wUjw/s1600-h/Storefront.jpg&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Warehouse Liquor&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; around the corner &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/CHICHHH-Hilton-Chicago-Illinois/index.do&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hilton&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; screwed up our bill and billed us for 2 in-room fridges we never got and omitted billing us the $41/day parking. Once we got that cleared up we still couldn’t leave the parking lot because the machine said our ticket wasn’t validated. You would think that if you pay $164 for 4 days parking they would get it right!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We skipped the &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.terminus2008.org/events/ball.html&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Bon Voyage Ball&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; so we could get home in time for T’s 1&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; day of school.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sociallyawkrd.livejournal.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;b&gt;sociallyawkrd&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;had a gravy soaked lunch at a &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.flyingj.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Flying J&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; on the way home. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;All in all, it was a good time. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;b&gt;[Unknown LJ tag]&lt;/b&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3938.html</comments>
  <category>flying j</category>
  <category>terminus</category>
  <category>beer</category>
  <category>chicago</category>
  <category>mint</category>
  <category>duck tape</category>
  <category>hilton</category>
  <category>wrock</category>
  <lj:music>wrock</lj:music>
  <media:title type="plain">wrock</media:title>
  <lj:mood>good</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>1</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3661.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:05:32 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Costa Rica Scorecard</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3661.html</link>
  <description>&lt;font size=&quot;4&quot;&gt;OK, so we got&amp;nbsp;back form the land of Pura&amp;nbsp;Vida last night. I went with my son T and&amp;nbsp;&lt;span class=&apos;ljuser ljuser-name_sociallyawkrd&apos; lj:user=&apos;sociallyawkrd&apos; style=&apos;white-space: nowrap;&apos;&gt;&lt;a href=&apos;http://sociallyawkrd.livejournal.com/profile&apos;&gt;&lt;img src=&apos;http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif&apos; alt=&apos;[info]&apos; width=&apos;17&apos; height=&apos;17&apos; style=&apos;vertical-align: bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;&apos; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href=&apos;http://sociallyawkrd.livejournal.com/&apos;&gt;&lt;b&gt;sociallyawkrd&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;. Before we&amp;nbsp;went I&amp;nbsp;made a list of things I&amp;nbsp;wanted to get done while there. Here is&amp;nbsp;the scorecard of what worked out&amp;nbsp;plus a few more tidbits...&lt;/font&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ol style=&quot;MARGIN-TOP: 0in&quot; type=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hit the beach&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We actually went to 2 beaches. The second was more human freindly as the waves in the first were life threatening&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a volcano&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We saw 2 volcanoes. The first was kinda crummy though due to heavy rain, being cold at 9000+ feet in altitude, and cloud cover obscuring tthe crater and other key features. The 2nd was great. We had clear views and even saw it erupt and lava flow. We wanted to cook marshmellows off the lava but were advised that was a bad idea.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. I didn&apos;t get bit so I am assuning I am rabies free. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Check out some sea turtles&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We saw them lay eggs, return to the beach, smoke cigarettes&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Drink Costa Rican beer&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Imperial would be the preferred local brand. Yum yum&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Smoke a Cuban cigar&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Nice and smooth. Also smoked a Costa Rican cigar. It was ok.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a rain forest&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Visited several. Amazingly they were fairly bug free. We get bit a lot more at home. I didn&apos;t get one mosquito bite the whole trip.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Attempt to surf&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- Best I got to was body surf. Waves were small and no boards to be found.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the &lt;st1:city w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Phoenix&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:city&gt; (audio books count)&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it 1/2 way. Read Goblet but left OOTP at home. Also read the Translator and 1/2 of Beautiful Boy.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hike in a jungle&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We hiked all over the place. No signs of jungle rot to be found luckily.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See and photograph some exotic birds – counts for #25&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. No parrots but got a few bird pics.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We probaly got $400+ worth of crap.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See a waterfall&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We actually drove over it in our bus.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Ate more beans and rice than I cared for. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. We exchanged emails with the group and Kelly already got an email from one of them&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hot tub with or without #15&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Shockingly, nearly all the hot tubs were not hot. There were more like room temperature pools of water.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Snuggle &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. It actually got cool/cold several nights. I snuggled just to steal/share body heat so I could warm up.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Haggle with a street vendor&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Bought a Pucca watch for Kelly, cigars, and other items from street vendors.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Buy a cool hat – possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. It was more like the hat Jason Mraz wears in his video. Several people said they liked it.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Do a zip line and not break anything&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. It was awsome!&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; degree sunburn&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. This was the most surprising part of the trip. I usually get burnt bad when I spend any volume of time outdoors. Somehow I eluded being cooked alive. Don&apos;t ask how. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Learn 100 new Spanish words&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- I never took could but I know how to get a beer and&amp;nbsp;ask where the bathrooms are. Those are really the only things you need to know. Everything else is just verbal filler.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a questionable museum&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. The national museum was pretty mediocre.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Do a canopy tour&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Rode in a tram 5-100 feet above several miles of jungle.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Take 800+ photos&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Not sure the exacy total but easily got 800 pics.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Not purchase anything with googly eyes&lt;/font&gt; &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. Kelly tried real hard but I held her back on this.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all &lt;font color=&quot;#ff0000&quot;&gt;- did it. It was a great trip. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;We also did the following...&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Saw...&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; both oceans&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;iguanas&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; geikos&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;multiple &quot;oh my god&quot; bridges&lt;br /&gt;zip lined&lt;br /&gt;dropped Kelly and dislocated her keecap dancing&lt;br /&gt;hit kelly in the head with an oar&lt;br /&gt;knocked Kelly into the ocean from a kayak&lt;br /&gt;hit Kelly in head with cane&lt;br /&gt;burnt feet on sand&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;went without computer/internet/blackber&lt;/span&gt;&lt;wbr&gt;&lt;/wbr&gt;&lt;span class=&quot;word_break&quot;&gt;&lt;/span&gt;ry for 10 days&lt;br /&gt;swung on a &quot;Tarzan swing&quot;&lt;br /&gt;made lots of friends&lt;br /&gt;bought too many souveniers&lt;br /&gt;mailed lots of postcards&lt;br /&gt;got burned out on beans and rice&lt;br /&gt;work up early a LOT&lt;br /&gt;rode on a bus a LOT&lt;br /&gt;got wet and cold hiking in the rain forest&lt;br /&gt;hot tubbed in many tubs that were not hot&lt;br /&gt;hot tubbed in a 113 degree tub for 2 seconds&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Overall, it was&amp;nbsp;a great trip. In care you didn&apos;t know, were went on an organized tour put together by &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caravan.com/tour/costa-rica&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Caravan Tours&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;. I think everyone who went would highly recommed taking their tour and we are thinking about taking another one to &lt;/font&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caravan.com/tour/guatemala&quot;&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Guatemala&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; next year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&amp;nbsp;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3661.html</comments>
  <category>beans and rice</category>
  <category>pura vida</category>
  <category>zip line</category>
  <category>costa rica</category>
  <category>beer</category>
  <category>list</category>
  <category>vacation</category>
  <category>caravan</category>
  <category>snuggle</category>
  <category>kelly</category>
  <lj:mood>satisfied</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>1</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3547.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:27:11 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Costa Rica in 4 Days</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3547.html</link>
  <description>&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.caravan.com/tour/costa-rica&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Costa Rica&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt; is only 4 days away. Everyone appears to be ridiculously excited and can’t wait to go. We have spent a lot of time and effort prepping for the trip and hopefully it will pay off and allow everything to go smoothly. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;While we thought we were all ready, somehow today we had lunch at Target and spent another $146 on clothes and other travel related items. We probably need to go sooner than later so we don’t spend another $500 preparing.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;FIY: I’ve made the following list of things I’d like to do while there…&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ol style=&quot;MARGIN-TOP: 0in&quot; type=&quot;1&quot;&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hit the beach&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a volcano&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See a monkey in the wild and not contract rabies&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Check out some sea turtles&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Drink Costa Rican beer&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Smoke a Cuban cigar&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a rain forest&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Attempt to surf&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Read Goblet of Fire and Order of the &lt;st1:city w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;st1:place w:st=&quot;on&quot;&gt;Phoenix&lt;/st1:place&gt;&lt;/st1:city&gt; (audio books count)&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hike in a jungle&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See and photograph some exotic birds – counts for #25&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Buy touristy crap excluding items relating to #26&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;See a waterfall&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Sample authentic local food in conjunction with #5&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Meet someone that we stay in contact with after the trip&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Hot tub with or without #15&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Snuggle &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Haggle with a street vendor&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Buy a cool hat – possibly a Fedora and possibly from #18&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Do a zip line and not break anything&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Last 10 days near the equator without getting a 4&lt;sup&gt;th&lt;/sup&gt; degree sunburn&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Learn 100 new Spanish words&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Visit a questionable museum&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Do a canopy tour&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Take 800+ photos&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Not purchase anything with googly eyes&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Keep my mouth shut as necessary so as to not botch up the trip for all&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ol&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt 0.25in&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I may not get it all done, but that is my list. As you see, many items are interrelated. Also, several will be taken care of with the tour so that relieves me a lot of the burden. I’ll try to keep track and report back on how successful I am.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3547.html</comments>
  <category>target</category>
  <category>sunburn</category>
  <category>costa rica</category>
  <category>cuban cigar</category>
  <category>turtles</category>
  <category>beer</category>
  <category>volcano</category>
  <category>list</category>
  <category>harry potter</category>
  <category>monkeys</category>
  <lj:mood>nervous</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3222.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:36:39 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Another bad/confusing day</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3222.html</link>
  <description>&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I have nothing interesting to write, yet I am plugging away here. Sometimes I feel if I start typing that something good will eventually pour from my bran. Often that assumption is incorrect. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I will state that today is a bad day. I stayed up past 2 last night and drank entirely too much beer. That was a repeat from Monday night. It is all starting to catch up to me. So now I sit here both emotionally and physically tired. I don’t like my job anymore and am irritated by life in general. I can’t seem to get over this depressive hump I’ve had for the last 2 months. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I do not know what I can do to feel better. I’ve been given a lot of suggestions, but I truly don’t feel like any of them will do the trick. I do know what can make it worse and I am having a hard time resisting doing that. Self destruction feeds itself and I have a hungry soul. It needs to be fed.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;This post is just getting more and more depressing. There is one thing that keeps me distressed and I can’t get it out of my mind. I’ve had lots of dreams and talked in my sleep about it lately. I keep picturing this over and over and hate it but can’t make it go away. I even keep waking myself up and think about it at work. The image will haunt me the rest of my life. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;I can’t go into too much detail but here is a snippet of my dream. I’m sitting in a somewhat dark room. I can’t tell if it is a bedroom or a small hotel room. I look up and there I see him. He is a large figure standing in the shadow. The Kool-Aid man is standing before me. I then see him go to the bathroom and hear him pee. When he returns I can’t stop wondering how he peed. He doesn’t wear pants and I see no orifices for liquid to exit. How does the man pee? I try to ask him and he answers but I can only make out mumbles. I don’t know what all this means but think I should see someone about it. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;font face=&quot;Times New Roman&quot; size=&quot;3&quot;&gt;Can anyone help me with this?&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/3222.html</comments>
  <category>help</category>
  <category>him</category>
  <category>lack of sleep</category>
  <category>dream</category>
  <category>tired</category>
  <category>depressed</category>
  <category>beer</category>
  <category>pants</category>
  <category>hungry</category>
  <lj:mood>confused</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
</item>
<item>
  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/2194.html</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:56:20 GMT</pubDate>
  <title>Hard time behind/ahead</title>
  <link>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/2194.html</link>
  <description>&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;Kelly,&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just wanted to let you know that I cannot express enough how hard this had been for me and how much I am trying to get past things and work to make sure the situation that brought this to a boiling point is corrected. I know it isn&apos;t all up to me, but I&apos;m trying to do whatever I can.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;Again, I want to remind you that I think you are &lt;b style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal&quot;&gt;beautiful, hot, smart, funny, and interesting&lt;/b&gt;. I don’t tell you that enough but that is what I think. I love your body. It has just the right amount of curves. You aren’t too skinny and aren’t too big. We are a perfect fit when we cuddle on the couch. I think you are smarter than me most of the time. You are so much more well read, know a ton more about medicine, are much more versed in history and literature. You are a pop culture guru. You even know a lot of computer stuff I don’t know. You have an excellent observational Seinfeldian wit. You know you are interesting. Everyone wants to talk to you and know more about you. I suspect you don’t even notice how much this happens.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;Yes I do think about and like sex a lot, but I think a big part of it is you. I was obviously interested in sex before I met you, but I don’t think I lasted without it for 24+ years if I didn’t have fairly high standards. As you know, I asked you to marry me. I choose you. I choose you today. You yourself said that I have all the choices. I make more money, I have much better family support, I am hours away from a college degree, I am good looking(in your eyes), I have a great/cool/interesting job, and there are probably more things that give me choices that I’m not even aware of. I know that give me a lot of options and I am making a choice. I am choosing to stay with you. I can’t say in the last few weeks I haven’t thought about other options. I’m sure you have also. I know you have in the last year. Still, I want to be with you and will do whatever is in my power to make that happen. I choose you. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to screw up and do something stupid that may drive you away. I may do something that I think will help &lt;b style=&quot;mso-bidi-font-weight: normal&quot;&gt;us,&lt;/b&gt; but it may drive you away. That will likely happen sooner or later. It’s not in the plan though. I’m trying hard to be sure that doesn’t happen. Just know that I choose you. I choose you. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;I know you usually don’t, but I feel a connection between us almost every time. You may take this as bad kismet for you, but I truly believe that if I were married to someone else I wouldn’t want it as much. There is just something about you that I am usually at a loss to describe. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I guess it is the complete package of you. The cumulative combination of all the reasons I love you. The way I know I can tell you secrets and inner thoughts that I could tell no one else. You know me better than anyone else in the world. Better than my mother, sister, friends, anyone. You are not just my wife and mother to my only child. You are my best friend. Even if we were not together, you would still be the best friend I ever had. Friends often take advantage of each other and take each other for granted. We are&amp;nbsp;definitely guilty of that. I don’t treat you with the respect I should. A lot of people do that to their friends over time. It’s not right but it does happen. I’ve been trying hard the last few weeks to not do those things. It takes a lot of work but it is work I want to do. The good thing is that since I want to do it, it feels less like work and more like an expression of how I love you. I feel stupid saying this because it is as cliché as giving “hugs” on lj, but I believe you are my soul mate. I hope you feel the same.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;I know you’re tired of talking about the situation. I am too. I just can’t get it out of my head and every time we talk about it a little more I feel better and some things I was wondering about disappear from my thoughts. My greatest hope is that as you answer more of my often unreasonable questions and as time goes on the thoughts will disappear altogether. I need patience though. This will not happen in 1 month, 3 months, or even a year. We aren’t even 3 weeks into this and I can tell you are getting frustrated. Please try to have patience and work with me to make things better.&lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;&lt;o:p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial&quot;&gt;I need you. I love you. I choose you. I want to be with you 4ever. You are the tapioca to my pudding. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. &lt;o:p&gt;&lt;/o:p&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Your husband, father to your child, best friend,&amp;nbsp;bff,&lt;br /&gt;Tom</description>
  <comments>http://moosetick71.livejournal.com/2194.html</comments>
  <category>choices</category>
  <category>choose</category>
  <category>hard</category>
  <category>best friend</category>
  <category>bff</category>
  <category>connection</category>
  <category>tired</category>
  <category>soul mate</category>
  <category>options</category>
  <category>reasons</category>
  <category>hugs</category>
  <category>love</category>
  <lj:mood>hopeful</lj:mood>
  <lj:security>public</lj:security>
  <lj:reply-count>0</lj:reply-count>
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