My Vice-Queen, Vickie McFadden sent this to me today and I just had to share it! I'm afraid all my answers would be yes!

Enjoy!!

Will I live to be 80?

Recently I turned 61 and had to choose a new primary care physician for my age. After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing 'fairly well' For my age.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do you think I will live to be 80?"

He asked: "Do you smoke tobacco or drink alcoholic beverages?" "Oh no," I replied. "I don't do drugs, either."

"Do you have many friends and entertain frequently?" I said, "No, I usually stay home and keep to myself"

"Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?" I said, "No, my other doctor s aid that all red meat is unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, tennis, sailing,hiking or bicycling?" "No, I don't," I said.

"Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?"

"No," I said. "I don't do any of those things."

He looked at me and said,

"Then, why do you give a sh--t?"

Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy s--t, what a ride!"

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

I received this today from one of my Red-Hat Sisters and thought you all would appreciate it!

THOSE BORN 1920-1979 READ TO THE BOTTOM FOR QUOTE OF THE MONTH BY JAY LENO. IF YOU DON'T READ ANYTHING ELSE---VERY WELL STATED

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were OK.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes After running into
the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Well, hello to all on the Sunday afternoon. This is my third day on the site, and I must say I am so excited! In 3 days I have 10 new friends and 6 groups! WOW by the end of the week I will be on a roll. Thanks again, to everyone who has visited my site and posted comments and messages! It is really GREAT!

Our Chapter is holding a meeting next week and we have asked each member to bring a guest. We have lost a few members along the way (in 4 years) and we need to add some new blood. Also on the agenda is changing the name of our Chapter. When we started the Chapter we simply named it "The Red Hatters of Forest Ridge" (Forest Ridge is the name of the sub-division we live in)however, we have grown outside of the sub-division and feel we need a new more "open" name. Have any of you gone through this process? Any suggestions? We have a list of new names and a ballot form for everyone to use to vote. Is there a ceremony that should be done for retiring the old Chapter name? We would welcome any and all suggestions!
I hope everyone is well and having a great Hatting day!

First of all, I would just like to welcome you to my site and say hello -- As you will be able to tell, I am very new at this web site thing! Our group, The Red Hatters of Forest Ridge, however is now 4 years old. We have not done to many things with other chapters, however we would like to get more involved with others.
Three of us recently made the trip to Vegas for the 10th Birthday Bash and CanCan Line! What a GREAT time that was! We have never had so much fun. In fact, we had to come home just to let our cheeks rest!
We would love to hear all suggestions and ideas any of you might want to share with us!
Thanks to all who have invited us in to join your groups and friends list. We look forward to the many more to come!

Please let us hear from you all real soon.
Happy Hatting!
Queen Raye

Well, this is day 2 of the QMB2 and me trying to get alone! At least I have made 5 new friends and have 3 groups that have invited me to join -- which I did as quickly as I could. I can tell already, that this is going to be a very valuable tool in our quest to meet new Sisters in Red and to get new ideas on things to do and places to go!
I do find however, that the system is very slow -- I blame this on the fact that there are just so many users online at all times. Which is wonderful! I just need to stop being so impatient! LOL
I was wondering how many of you out there in cyberspace made it to Vegas this year? Three of us from our chapter made the trip and I am so glad we did. We had so much fun and laughed so much our cheeks were sore! We had to come home so our faces could rest! Believe me, when you have that much fun - you know you are living a good life!
To those of you who have invited me in or have replied to my first blog --- Thank you ever so much and keep em coming!
I do have a question ---- how do you get your picture up where the heart is on my site? Maybe the impatience is showing again! It took what seemed like FOREVER to get the pictures downloaded on there! Any and all help will be GREATLY apperciated!
Queen Raye - in NC

This is my frist day at trying to set this site up --- gee it's a little harder getting around it than I thought it would be -- bear with me as I try to get around and learn how to do all the great new things we can do here! I have pictures I will add a little later on.
In the meantime -- Happy Hatting to all