~TIPTOE: From Rhode Island to:...?????

[Believe51]

Girls help this very busy caregiver out. I know you are all making plans for Tiptoes arrival and have different activities in store for her with different schedules. My question is this (without having to write a calender out and troubleshoot):

Who will Tiptoe be visiting next?? I do not want her to miss the Kentucky Derby or the Breast Cancer Seminars, etc. If someone has no special dates for her I think she should visit there first. I want Tiptoe to grow up very cultured and not to miss a thing. Funny how I already love her so much. So if your schedule ideas have no specific dates please write to let me know you need her to visit first.

Again, our furry little friend has many dates that I cannot keep up with. Oh....and PinkGirl I have to admit I called Andi to check up on Tiptoe. It is not that I do not trust Andi, I just needed to know she is adjusting to her new family members. They have bonded and I feel secure knowing tht she is in good hands.

Only problem I have is that I KNOW ANDI IS A TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW!! Even though I want Tiptoe to be spoiled, I am going to have to be quite creative after BB gets her hands on her!! Tehehe!!>>Believe51

PS: I cannot wait for Tiptoe's arrival!!!!!!!!

[hutchibk]

I don't need her in Texas until around Dec. 10 (for the S.A. BC Symposium)-

Projected calendar supposing she stays about a week vacationing in each locale (she could stay longer):

Oct 1ish - @ home in Canada w/ Pink
Oct 8ish - Boca Raton w/ Andi BB
Oct 16ish - Providence w/ Marie
Oct 23ish - NJ w/ Becky
Oct 30ish - ?
Nov 6ish - Mississippi w/ Leslie
Nov 13ish - Georgia w/ Kate
Nov 20ish (for Thanksgiving)- ?
Nov 27ish - ?
Dec 3ish - Michigan w/ Barb
Dec 10ish - Austin/San Antonio w/ Brenda (also visit Lance Armstrong Foundation)
Dec 17ish (stay through Christmas) - Travel to Illinois w/ Sheila for the holiday
Dec 27ish - Milwaukee w/ Still Here (who will take her to Tucson/Miravel for her R&R spa trip w/ Steph, Crisy, Sherri & Stillhere
Jan 6ish - Home from Miravel w/ Steph
Jan 16ish - Boise w/ Marlys??
Jan 23ish - Oregon w/ Catherine
Jan 30ish - ?

Spring 2008 - Tiptoe heads east to Japan/Australia?? Kathy S in Tokyo?

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Marie and Brenda -- you girls are very efficient! Which is a good thing. We need to be organized. A calendar of itinerary is a super idea.

Wait till you lay eyes on Pinkie's Journal! (BTW, P -- what kind of glue do you suggest??) This book is a work of art!! No kidding. Most impressive. And intimidating to live up to its high standards.

Paul has copied the pic of Tipsy and -- is that the Dalai Lama(?) that Pinkie forgot to include in her package. Forgive my ignorance. I know that face. Just can't remember his name...

Just to let you know... Tiptoe is darling. She likes when you stroke her hunched back with your index finger. She gives you this look, like she's blissed out. Just took a pic (WHICH I HAVE NOT YET FIGURED OUT HOW TO GET FROM THE COMPUTER TO THIS SITE!!! **#!??* -- but The Pink One is helping from Canada -- all for the cause -- sharing). She was on the comfy chair in my bedroom w/Chase and Scamp looking out the double sliding glass doors overlooking the pool and greenery. I actually saw Chase, who was closest, lick her! Several times. He is generally very stingy in that area, whereas the Scamp is a lover, giving kisses to any one. They have both quickly grown quite fond of the tiny one... Chase put a paw on her back, trying to get her to play w/him. She didn't move. Guess she's content just to hang. And I don't mean by her prehensile tail.

Can't wait till my grandkids meet her on Sunday! Did I tell you the pink plastic bc bracelet I had for her is way too big, so I have put it around her neck as a lovely necklace. I have a HOPE charm dangling from it. That, with Pinkie's teeny blue stud earrings that seem to bring out the sparkle in Tippy's eyes make her look especally beautiful. Not to mention the pink hair extensions Pinkie has woven behind Tip's right ear! She enjoys all the pampering. I can tell. She's a real girly girl.

Oh, and I learned that Tip loves all veggies. (Tomato leaves are poisonous though, so be careful...) And as for fruits -- they contain too much sugar and cause hamsters to develop diabetes -- so even though T sniffs them, I take them away. Seeds and grains and nuts are good however (and the insides of Birds Of Paradise are a real treat!).

We are having the best time! Oh, and Karen, I told Tiptoe not to tell Paul about our meditation sessions -- just to test her ability to keep a secret... Turns out, he can't understand her little pipsqeaky voice anyway. Must be a sound only *women* can hear... Sometimes I say to Paul, What's that sound? And he says, What sound. And we're extra quiet. And he says, I don't hear any thing. And I clearly do hear this high-pitched shrillish sound (maybe coming from the radio that has the volume turned wayyy down). Women are especially sensitive, as y'all know, in many ways.

With loving energy and hugs,

Andi

[PinkGirl]

Thanks Brenda for making the first draft of an itinerary for Tip. The BCS in San Antonio and the spa vacation are the two most important events. I think if anyone else wants her on a specific date, they will have to sort of keep track of her whereabouts and make sure the person who has her knows about it. That's just my thoughts.....I am not the hamster's keeper. She is an individual, an adult, a free spirit...........I was just the first one to meet her.

Andi, as for glue, I used an ordinary glue stick and then added a bit of tape on the stubborn ones. The pictures that are sort of "dull" were printed on sticker paper. Then I just cut them out and peeled the backing and put them in the journal. It's the easiest way, except that the pictures are not glossy.
Maybe there is glossy sticker paper in the States - I couldn't find any here, but then again, I live in the Boonies.

[Believe51]

If I can find the tape (should be no problem) I will include it in the return package for the next family member to use. Did I mention I am besides myself with anticipation?????>>Believe51

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Pinkie,

I don't know the population of your Boonies -- but you should start a SCRAPBOOKING store! There is one in Boca. I ventured on a project for Paul's 65th Bday and found myself in over my head. My dghtr found this place, and it's a whole world of artsy/craftsy pp. I did the best I could, and it was the perfect gift for the man who has every thing and doesn't want any thing. I made him tear up! And that's quite a task. Even really sappy movies where I'm SOBBING, he does not shed a single tear.

You are really talented, Pinkie. And pp do enjoy this hobby.

I have a glossy pic (printed on Paul's color printer -- mine is b&w) -- with a peel off sticky thing in the back -- of ???the Dalai or whoever that guy is and Tip. I think it's the kind of paper P uses to print pics. It will appear in the Journal with proper notation, I promise.

Monday will be Journal day. Then I will prepare Tip for her next adventure to Marie's...

LOVE,Andi

[jones7676]

I would love to have her Dec. 3ish so we could celebrate my 50th birthday - as long as she doesn't mind the snow in Upper Michigan!

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

I cannot tell you how many times I have giggled reading each and every post. And every time I pass Tiptoe, she wiggles her whiskers and smiles at me. (Did I mention her left whiskers keep getting stuck to her face? I just give them a tickle and they fluff right up.)

She even made Paul smile. (I saw him.) Don't think he'd admit to it though...

[Believe51]

Could you edit your post to include Jones7676 for December 3ish?? And by the way Jones, that is my younger brothers birthday!! He is my only sibling.>>Believe51

[Sheila]

If Tip is in Michigan for the 50th, I can bring her with me to San Antonio...she can fly from Chicago Ohare....or if not, I can bring her back after San Antonio....I would like her to see Illinois....she can come to chemo with me...that will be fun! Then she can go to Arizona via Wisconsin with Karen.............

[StephN]

Hi -
O Keeper of Tip's Agenda, whoever that is.

Seems maybe a good plan that if Brenda has her then gets her to San Antonio (I can see her hanging out on a special little throne on the exhibit table!) and passes her on to someone "up north" such as Sheila.

Maybe Christine and Joe can keep her during the symposium and introduce her to all the researchers at the Genentech reception.

That way Sheila (or whoever up north) can get her to Karen to bring to the spa gathering first week of January. From the spa, those of us there can draw straws or something to see who will take her to another corner of this great land of HER2 survivors.

P.S. Looks like Sheila and I were posting at the same moment and have the same ideas - wonder what Freud would make of that??

[Karen W]

I live in Northern California. Do you think Tiptoe would like to spend sometime with us? I am sure we can find many activities to keep her busy and happy.

Let me know what works.

Karen

[Sheila]

Steph
Great minds think alike??? is that the saying...she will be treated royally in San Antonio.....might have to see what kind of little chair I can find before I go!

[hutchibk]

Hows that look so far?

Keep in mind that she will become a star in SA - she will meet Kathy LaTour (we all will actually) and maybe be interviewed for CURE magazine (all of us as well... Surprise!).

And I will email my Genetech friend in San Fran and tell him about her so that he might prep their folks who will be at the symposium.

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

We don't need a specific date for Tiptoe's Tokyo tour. We can take her to the local hot spring spa and the Tokyo Regional Fish Market as well as to the National Cancer Center. If she is here on February 2, though, there is a fun bean throwing festival held at Shinto shrines and in homes around the country where people shouting "In with the good, out with the bad" throw dried beans and peanuts at a person wearing an ogre mask. My kids take turns playing ogre and we have a little ogre mask which is just the right size for Tiptoe to join in the fun. It my be more economical for her to travel light when she comes to Japan though.

[Marlys]

Boise can host her any time. We have lots of things here I am sure she will enjoy. My meeting is an open one so anyone can attend. My group is so looking forward to her visit. And I will take her to all the secret places we have around here that we don't want anyone to know about. Boise and Idaho are growing too fast and some of its secrets are becoming too well known. (I am not referring to our infamous senator's restroom dancing techniques.)
Anyway, Marie, fit me into the itinerary as you see fit.
Love & hugs,
Marlys

[PinkGirl]

This is something to consider. Right now she is traveling with a journal, passport and a few personal items. As the journal fills, she will need a
new one. When she goes to Europe, Asia, and Australia, she could leave her
journals behind - but then her guests won't get to read about her travels.
Any ideas? Does anyone know how to do all of this on a disk? (Not you Andi)

[Becky]

If she has a hand written and bound diary and you don't mind razoring the pages apart, the pages could be scanned. The scanned pages could be saved as a word document. Then the whole mess can be saved on a stick. The stick can travel with Tip. We could post how to use the stick to read it AND to add to the adventure.

I have a scanner and a stick is just a few dollars (stick is less than 2 inches long, 1/4 in wide and an 1/8 in deep - isn't technology wonderful!). With enough gigs, the pictures can be stored on the stick too. How many pages is the journal? If you don't want to razor the journal apart (and I wouldn't blame you if you didn't), someone could copy the pages one by one. Someone or I could scan and download onto the memory stick.

Someone else may have a better idea. I am only throwing the stick idea out there because obviously, everyone Tip is visiting has a computer or else they wouldn't be in our online group.

[fauxgypsy]

Tiptoe is always welcome in Mississippi. The weather is great here right now. If we wait until she's been to Europe she may be too uptown for us. Maybe when she's here a few of us Mississippi girls could get together and give her a party and celebrate her geeting her portrait painted. What do you say, let me see, there's Kat in the Delta and I think Soccer mom is from near Jackson, I may have the name wrong. Let me hear from y'all!

Leslie

[PinkGirl]

That's what I was thinking about Becky but I don't know anything about "sticks". I don't have a problem with razoring the pages out
of her journal. I don't know the # of pages in the book, but I think
I filled maybe 10 of them with pictures and entries. It won't take long
before it is full. Maybe we can decide on that once the first journal is
complete. Maybe we could always send one journal with her and the
"stick" for the old ones ?? Hmmmm.... Tip is getting complicated. We'll
work something out.

I meant the subject to be Scanning Tiptoe, not a scanning tip.

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Y'all may not believe this -- but I am stick conscious! When I work on my book in Microsoft Word I back up each day's entries on to a stick -- to safely SAVE IT forever, no matter what. And it is easy to drag PICTURES from your day's entry to the stick! EVEN *I* CAN DO THIS! (I am resisting saying it is for morons.)

I took my book stick to my daghter Ali's storm shuttered house when Hurricane Wilma was headed for Boca (along w/meds, calendar w/my life in it --including names/#s of docs, imaging centers in Fla and NY, Bdays, Anniv, next fasting bld, CT scan and on and on -- EVERYTHING!) The computer could crash, blow away, whatever -- my book is safe, on my SunDisk memory thing.

THAT'S A SUPER IDEA! And really compact...

http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/clip_art/gstres/objcts/light-bulbWish I'd thought of that a week ago...

Andi http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/smi/0201e05fca/06

[PinkGirl]

I apologize Andi. Who knew you'd know about "sticks"?

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Paul will purchase a SanDisk for Tiptoe at Costco tmrrw. I'll put it in her package when I send it to Marie and Ed. I will give notice the moment I mail it. Maybe Tuesday...

We took Tip to Houston's tonight for dinner. I ordered the Vegetarian Plate. It came with couscous. Tippy made this snorting sound as she scarfed it all done. She's a bit plumper than when she arrived I think. Maybe so am I...

You just can't resist spoiling her. She has a very endearing personality!

Andi http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/clip_art/gstres/objcts/music-notes
Tiptoe is a very happy hamster. The wind was blowing a bit today and our windchimes were tinkling away. She, and I must admit I too, danced to the sound. As the sun set, I pointed out to Tip that some of the clouds were this ethereal pink color. She smiled with glee...

[jones7676]

I can picture Tip with books and sticks traveling the world. Perhaps we will have to consider getting a set of luggage to go with her at this rate. I cannot wait to introduce her to my three pink flamingos "Harry, Tuey, and Neuy" that live in my front yard year round. Thanks so much Brenda for updating the schedule. All of you are the greatest. Barb

[Marlys]

October 23ish sounds good to me. I will await her arrival. My Address is 5184 Umatilla Avenue, Boise, Idaho 83709. My last name is Weathersbee.
Love & hugs,
Marlys

[fauxgypsy]

Nov. 6th sounds great. Brenda, it is so great that tiptoe has a travel agent.

Leslie

[tousled1]

You can put me in for November 13th. The weather is still good here in Georgia at that time.

[StephN]

Tips schedule looks a bit "loopy" to me. Perhaps she should go from Rhode Island to Becky for the scanning and then make her way either down south first then out west or vice versa.

Whadya think?

Since some of us are in neighboring states, I would hate to see her get held up in some holiday mail snarl (does happen - it took 3 weeks to get a small package from Seattle to Sacramento last year!).

Would not wish to chance her missing San Antonio or the spa gatherings.

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

Alternatively, we could set up a blog on one of the free blog sites like blogspot and make sure Tiptoe's username and password accompany her so we can each sign in and update her blog with comments and photos as she travels. I use a blog so my friends and family can see what I'm up to over here in Tokyo wherever they may be.

[Catherine]

Tiptoe can come to Oregon whenever she wants. I will pick her up at the airport or at the US post office anytime after Jan 15. I am sure that Lolly and I will be able to get together to celebrate her visit. I will start shopping for downhill skies soon, in case she wants to go to Mt. Hood or Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Oregon. We may decide to just take her to the beach. We have miles and miles of beautiful and rugged beaches here.

I am not a good journal keeper, but I will try my best when she is here.

Catherine (Queen of something)

[hutchibk]

Check Tipsy's new schedule proposal and alert me if I need to change something...

[Sheila]

Brenda
Looks like tip will be trick or treating with Becky in Jersey and having Christmas dinner and enjoying snow with me! I can't wait, I may take her cross country skiing at Starved Rock if we have snow!

[Kathy S in Tokyo]

Just updating

Oct 1ish - @ home in Canada w/ Pink
Oct 8ish - Boca Raton w/ Andi BB
Oct 16ish - Providence w/ Marie
Oct 23ish - NJ w/ Becky
Oct 30ish - ?
Nov 6ish - Mississippi w/ Leslie
Nov 13ish - Georgia w/ Kate
Nov 20ish (for Thanksgiving)- ?
Nov 27ish - ?
Dec 3ish - Michigan w/ Barb
Dec 10ish - Austin/San Antonio w/ Brenda (also visit Lance Armstrong Foundation)
Dec 17ish (stay through Christmas) - Travel to Illinois w/ Sheila for the holiday
Dec 31ish - (head west...>) ?
End of Dec - early Jan (for Spa visit) - Tucson/Miravel w/ ?
Jan 16ish - Boise w/ Marlys??
Jan 23ish - Oregon w/ Catherine
Jan 30ish - Seattle w/ Steph??

Spring 2008 - Tiptoe heads east to Japan/Australia?? Kathy S in Tokyo!<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->

[StephN]

Thanks for the updates - Tip's dance card is filling up.

The end of Dec. should perhaps go to Karen or one of us going to Miraval. Dates at the spa are from Jan 2 through Jan 5th. Then one of us can take her from Tucson. That is if Tip's journals and her luggage is not getting too bulky!

If I take her from Tucson, she can go to Boise (for a sun break) and then on to Oregon, getting a good look at life in the great Pacific Northwest.

I will need to know so I bring a bigger suitcase with room for Tip's stuff.

[AbbyDawg]

Brenda ~

Please pencil Tipperina in for her visit to Lake Wobegon in Minnesota for February - any week will be fine! (see post in main thread).

AbbyDawg

[Andrea Barnett Budin]

ATTENTION; MERRY BAND AND TIPTOE FANS: As per my tracking #, TT arrived at the postal unit in West Warwick and 8:45 AM TODAY! Just waitng for some nice mail person to deliver her to Marie and Ed...! SO BE ON THE LOOK OUT, BELIEVE...

We know you'll shout from the rooftops when you open that package? (There's a card inside, stickered on to the gift-wrapped package, which is in a PRIORITY MAIL box.) Nothing but the best, better than first class treatment for our cutie. She is a gift in and of herself. Please tell her I miss her and sending out thoughts of joy and peace to her. Don't forget, she loves when you stroke her hunched back with your index finger. Very soothing...

Andi http://cdn-cf.aol.com/se/smi/0201e05fca/06

[PinkGirl]

This is so exciting !!!