bethany725

Hi there We are good.. We haven't moved just yet, just took a weekend trip to mainland China this past weekend. We will be going back to the States on Sept 18th.. We have 2 weddings the following weekend, and that next week will be when we are moving. It's looking like Manhattan is going to be the final destination, although Baltimore is a distant possibility as well. Hopefully we will find out soon!

How was your weekend?

Hi there! (Happy late birthday is in order, I see, by the way )

Just dropping in to let you know I got my hands on my first Erica Spindler book (Copycat.. the only one the Center for Fiction here had), and LOVED it. Both you and Charm had rec'd me to her, so thanks to you guys! I'll definitely be trying some of her others.. was a great read.

Hi there!

I had some time before work so went ahead and started the thread for ATSS .. You can reply whenever you want so you can get your hands on it first, and hopefully the ring will follow from there I did specify that it was for the US book ring in the thread title, to avoid confusion.

If you want to post your Year of Wonders book in a thread as well, I thought it'd be less confusing than coming from me.. That way it's clear that it's your book and it will eventually make its way back to its rightful owner.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you need me to fix anything in my first thread.. Going to be a bit trial and error for me, I'm sure. But exciting!!

(sorry if this a double msg for you -- The PM function wouldn't work for me for some reason!)

Hi, Karen!

So I know you and Rosie are here.. anyone else from CLO/TBS?

I bet you are resting now, finally.. You must have been exhausted! Cleaning will make you so tired, but the end result is worth it. I'm a big fan of organizing and tidying -- it makes things feel so much more "together," at the risk of sounding like a major dork.

We haven't decided just yet about the Singapore thing.. Well.. WE sort of have decided that he'll go to his boss and see if there's a way to work on some of the Singapore projects FROM Hong Kong via internet conferencing and possibly flying back once in a while, but not sure how that will work.. We're going to look at some apartments here today in the area just in case we end up having to stay. I'll keep you posted.

I can agree w/you that each chapter is a little story unto itself.. and the movie is laid out in much the same way, if you haven't seen the movie yet. I do sort of wish there'd been a way to weave his life episodes more cleverly into the gameshow questions.. a little less "Question Number 9" and a little more "flash back flash forwards" maybe? I dunno.. I'm babbling.

Glad you're at least enjoying some of the aspects of the book though!

I can hardly believe it myself, but I'm still online because Raja's still reading here in bed.. He's reading "Pillars of the Earth" and I've never seen him read so much EVER! I'm so proud.. So w/the light blazing on, I figured it was a good chance to get caught up w/BCF

Good luck w/your business proposal by the way.. that is VERY exciting!

I found Tess Gerritsen's "The Surgeon" today and bought it! I'm so excited!

And I also got "Life Support" by her.. Have you read this one also?

I have no idea, but I haven't tried to find out. I actually picked UP a piece of litter the other day.. It was the only piece of trash I've seen so far, and it skittered by my foot. I picked it up as I was scared that someone would see me and think I threw it down. I didn't want to be flogged.

I think the punishment is "lashes by a rattan cane," and the number of lashes is determined by the severity of the crime. If it's a big crime, it's punished by death. For example, if you're caught being drugs into Singapore, you die. Scary, or what?!

I need a drink, is what I need. Raja called me today and said his boss here in Singapore brought him into his office today and asked him if he'd considering staying on his team here rather than continuing on to Hong Kong. Both of us want to go to Hong Kong as planned, because HK is supposed to be so much fun, but now we don't know what to do.... My life is like a snow globe.. Someone just likes to pick it up and shake it every once in a while.

What's the project, just in case I decide not to go the alcoholic route.

I think we've picked Kerala over Rajasthan for our next vacation!.. Houseboats, here we come!

Any tips you can pass along to me?

Hope you're having a great day!

I think you're right.. my mom would have HATED India for the most part. Now that I'm out of there, I look back and wonder how I lived there for 6 months, and even more, liked the place! It's crazy what it does to you!

And if you convince your BF to come to China, you may as well make HK a stop.. it's supposed to be wonderful for shopping, plus Iiiiiii'm there!

Hahhahah.. you MUST show me photos if his friends have taken ridiculous things. That's going to be hilarious. That's something fun to look forward to, yes??

I'm so glad to hear you liked The Crimson Petal and the White.. I've heard really good things about this after finding the title yesterday! I'm excited to read it now.. so many books and just not enough time!

I think your job sounds like a very rewarding job.. tough at times, and probably a major challenge, but what a rewarding position! The "good days" at this job must make you feel so needed and like all the tough work is worth it.

A police officer up next, eh?? I could never .. I'm way too much of a scaredy-cat! Doesn't it make you terrified? What drove you to want to do the police thing next?

Alabama is actually nice and fairly atypical of what you think of when you think "Alabama." I only have TWO distant relatives with farms .. although I do think the way of life and work they do is cool, secretly! I was from Birmingham, which is the largest city in Alabama, so I had a fairly "normal" upbringing, as boring as that is

I'm sure I'll love it...

I'll let you know how it goes!

I've been pretty much MIA on the forum until today, too.. just been too busy.

So far, I've gotten aloe and white vinegar.. I may move on to yogurt next!

Glad you got the reply.. with words.. no way I was typing that b!tch over.

It IS quite the hunt.. I've never bought a handbag that I wanted to serve me years and years, so this has been interesting. I'm almost regretting my decision to forge into this search -- it's tiresome and we spend HOURS looking at handbags. What a waste.. Raja says it will all be worth it, so I'm holding out hope... but goodness gracious! I just want a bag I like!

How's your reading going? What did you move on to after the Montanari?

I love your member's thread by the way.. I'm so excited to keep up with it!

It never hurts to try! I'll send good wishes your way and hope the proposal gets somewhere!

And Raja means "king" in India.. waaaaaay cooler than "border" so I'm going with that one. Unless he makes me mad, then I'll be like "Oh, really?! It's like that? Well your name means 'border' in Finnish, so there!"

It was a whirlwind, but a fun one.. except for the finally getting the "India sick" for my first time. Luckily only lasted a day and a half!

How's it been where you are?

It's hot here too, and really humid. I promise I dry my hair and don't even leave my apartment, and my hair starts fluffing up from the humidity before I even step outdoors. Pretty.....

Oooh what are you guys doing for your 4 year ann?! Congratulations.. that's really exciting!

Just an abstract painting

I am settling in nicely.. There's always so much activity here so it's never boring! Thanks for the nice message

Just okay? Anything on your mind?

Mom's had a great time in HK.. there's so much to see and do here, so she's had a great time exploring and learning about the city. Three weeks wasn't even enough time to do everything, but she got to do a lot!

I love HK.. the weather gets really hot and humid, but other than that, it's pretty much a perfect city for me.

Leaving for vacation tomorrow! We're going to Kerala, India for 5 days.. yeeeeey!! Our flights at 4:30pm, so I'll just go to the gym in the morning, then come home and finish packing, then get ready for the flight.

Anything fun on your schedule? School?

LOL.. Of course you're already bored at work! That's hilarious.

The trip was very nice.. golfing, spa-ing, eating/going out (Cebu's actually a really fun city!), and laying out.. such a relaxing wkend. Raja accidentally forgot and drank the water though, so he's felt pretty rough for the last 24 hours -- he's much better by now, though!

How was your first weekend after working regular hours for a while?

lol.. yep.. definitely a reason for concern here! It's actually funny.. I was like "Ooooh a girl on my book club forum online has this picture on her profile, and I'd never seen it before that. Now here it is!!" and he rolled his eyes playfully and said "You spend waaaaaaay too much time on your book club." Then he promptly handed me his blackberry to see if I could access BCF from it.. (boo.. I couldn't).

Trip was great.. Dubai's fantastic. I miss it already!

Not too much, Chuck! (hah.. only SORTA rhymed. )

How are ya? Thanks for checking in on me! I've been all over the place -- I went to St. Louis, MO to pick up my kitty cat from a friend that kept him while we were overseas.. and I got the ojb I was interviewing for, and started work this past Monday! So far so good.. It's still in recruiting/staffing that I've been in for so long, so it's a good fit hopefully. All is well over here!

How are things on your side, buddy?