[gma22]

Good morning gals, saw we were at 18 posts so thought I would start a new one. We had a gorgeous day yesterday and are supposed to have another today. I just wish it would warm up overnight so it isn't so cool to walk in the morning. A nice 60 degrees would be nice.

Susan: I hope they can get Stan right as rain with the dialysis. I know it is not fun, but it is better than all the poison in his system. I keep saying I am going to try socks, but I have to get the hang of double points first and I am not there yet. I have a friend who says she uses two pairs of circs to do her socks and does them both at the same time, but I would need someone to teach me to do that. Good luck with them. Hope Stan's pillow/blanket comes out nice for him. Thanks for the advice, Susan. I am trying to keep my fat down and avoid so much sugar. I just have to get in the swing of things I guess.

Jean: When is your spring break? The county kids are out of school here next week. I don't know when city schools are out. You'd think they would do it around Easter, but who am I to know.

We now have 25 weeks until we will be winging our way to vacation. It can't come soon enough for me. We also are under 3 months for the baby so that is exciting too!

Everyone have a good day today. I hope you guys see some warmups soon.

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another gloomy day in my corner of the world. I want to see some sunshine!!!!!! Another day done and two more until the weekend is here. Next week will be nutso with conferences and early dismissals.

"Gma" -- Our so called spring break is the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before Easter plus the Monday after. The school board president wanted a full week with two weekends (he's a doctor and takes his family to CO skiing), but the sports schedule was set so that there are meets/matches the Monday and Tuesday before plus during the week after. We got a copy of next year's calendar and we do get a full week. Guess we know who has the pull there. Have you decided for sure where you are going on vacation? It's always fun to plan.

Bob just got home so guess I'd better check and see what's for supper tonight. I have bell choir at 6 so it will be quick and easy. I think it is Bob's night to cook. I need to go get groceries! Have a terrific Thursday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning everyone! Fortune was jumping around on the bed which means, I have to pee and bad, so I brought him downstairs and just decided to stay up. My back is bothering me a bit, probably twisted it a bit in my sleep so I need to get up and around anyway.

Jean: I saw that it is still cold in Indiana so I am sure you are having similar weather if not worse. I sure hope it starts a warming trend before we go up there. I don't even have a winter coat anymore. We rarely have really cold weather that my lightweight jacket won't take care of. I do have a hat and gloves though if it doesn't warm up some. I almost wish we had made a hotel reservation now. They have decided to have that shower in their house and there is going to be wall to wall women and a big mess to clean up afterwards. On top of that, her mom and sisters and step dad will probably be there all evening, which is fine, I really like them, but when there are people in the house you always feel rude when you leave and go to bed. We have to get up early and start for home on Sunday so we can't stay up late on Saturday night. It has been so gorgeous here the last few days, into the 70's by afternoon and very sunny. I had to go out yesterday and spray off the deck, bbq grill and patio set at the birds dive bombed everything with berry bird poo. It was everywhere. I cleaned everything off so it is right as rain again until next time. This usually last until April then they go north and leave us alone! It sure is a mess until then and they stripped my holly bush of every berry on it.

I knew I would and I did run out of ribbon yarn only about 16 rows from finishing so I had to order one more skein of it. I think I have spent about $50 on this stupid thing so far and it isn't even fancy. I am hoping it will just be a fun top to wear this summer. I may have to get a tank to put under it though. I am not going to be showing a lot of skin!

I better get to the chores! Have a happy Thursday everybody!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It feels like spring is on the way this afternoon! The sun is out, it's 45 degrees, and the snow is melting! I am so ready for the weekend; each English class has a huge assignment with several due dates, over the entire project, for bits and pieces as they go along. Of course everyone I have to work with is behind, doesn't want to do it, won't use my suggestions, etc., etc. That makes me growly and then they wonder why?! One of the teachers is gone for two days so there is a sub in the mix who has no clue what is going on.

"Gma" -- It is supposed to be in the 50s for the weekend! I hope so except that I don't want the snow melting too fast or we will have water in the basement. The local newspaper said we had 16" of new snow last weekend while the TV station said 11". I'm wondering who measures and where?! I much prefer to stay in a motel whenever we go visit relatives which isn't very often. I think once Jason and Amanda get moved that will be our plan of action for awhile until they get settled and have their basement bedrooms ready. It will be a long day, but we can do it in a day also. Your ribbon top will be pretty snazzy for sure! Can you think of something that you can use the extra yarn for or won't you have much left over? Hope your back is feeling better!

I need to make a grocery list and get moving. Have a fantastic Friday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning ladies! It is going to be a nice day again today, but tomorrow it is supposed to rain. Seems like everytime it is commissary day it rains like the dickens.

Jean: Have you watched that new show on Fox called "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" It is pretty cute and I have to tell you some of the questions are hard. The only one I had no clue about was what geologic period we are in. I did get the, "which planet is brightest in the sky?" wrong though. I thought it was Mars and it is Venus. Other than that I kept up pretty well for an old lady. CSI is back into reruns so I had nothing to watch last night. I am only ordering one ball of the ribbon yarn so I shouldn't have much left. With regards to the peach yarn, I can always figure something out, a baby set put away for someone who gets pregnant maybe.

Today is weigh in and I sure hope the scale starts to move. I am trying so hard and it is discouraging. I am staying under 25% fat and cut out most of the sugar from my diet except occasionally so who knows? We shall see.

I have to go to the darn post office because they didn't deliver the handbag I bought for my sil's birthday. They usually just toss whatever it is over the fence if the fence is locked, but this time they left me a slip saying when I could come get it or they would redeliver. Uh-uh. That was Monday and they haven't even tried to redeliver so I will go this morning and try and pick it up. With my luck, the dope will put it out on his truck this morning. I am going to get her a Coldwater Creek gift card to force her to buy something nice to wear. She dresses like an old lady and all of Coldwater Creek's things are very nice and age appropriate too.

I ordered some Vitalicious muffins online and they are supposed to be delivered today. I hope they taste good because they were kind of expensive. The WW crowd raves about them and they are low points, 2-3 for either a smaller or larger muffin. Lots of fiber, which is always good. I bought the deep chocolate. I need something for breakfast every morning to mix things up a bit. It has been months since I have had any breakfast meats. I think I forgot how bacon tastes! lol

Hope everyone has a great Friday and a nice warm weekend!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! I've had my nap in front of the TV and now should be headed to bed. I wanted to do a couple loads of laundry tonight, but guess they will still be waiting in the morning. It was a beautiful day here and the kids have spring fever so bad . . . teachers too! I had a doctor's appt. after school and had to wait an hour! I think they only schedule 'emergency' appointments on Friday afternoon because there was only two other people in the waiting room with me. One was snottin' and coughin' up a storm so I hope his germs stayed on his side of the room! Anyhow, now I have a steroid cream to use on my knee and I go back in a month.

"Gma" -- I hope you had a good weigh-in! I am having a hard time getting myself motivated at all. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend so I'm hoping to get outside for a walk. I know I have to exercise in order to get this process going and can think of a million other things I would rather do instead. I don't know why this has to be so darned hard! I've seen the '5th grader' show advertised but haven't watched it. I'll have to see if I can find it. Our newspaper TV guide doesn't list some of the higher channels so if we happen to find a good program, it is purely by accident. I don't even know if the TV Guide magazine is published anymore. I used to think it was a waste of money but now maybe it would be worth the price. Let me know how you like the muffins; I've not heard of them around here, but that doesn't mean they're not available. Since this is "rural America" they probably aren't! Hope you make it to the commissary before it rains on you!

Have a nice weekend!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning to all you lovely ladies this morning. It was a scrumptious day yesterday. It got up to near 80 and was sunny and beautiful. It is supposed to be a bit cooler today as the rain moved through, but I don't think we are supposed to get much more rain. I hope it holds off until I can get a walk in. Jack and I went out to Walmart at 9 PM last night as I wanted to watch the season finale of Las Vegas. We were both hungry so ran through Taco Bell and got some tacos and came home and had a snack. I am fine though as I didn't pig out and used some of my extra points for the week. Oh and btw, I am down 5 lbs! I really like the new center I went to for a couple reasons, one of which is the ladies that check you in are much nicer and you don't have to wait in line. They open up much earlier so you can go to the meeting on time. The other one opened about 15 minutes before and those who got in past noon had to stand in line forever and missed part of the meeting because the leader did it on her lunch hour and started before everyone was in. I didn't stay for the meeting because I was a bit light headed from not having had lunch and having a light breakfast so I just picked up my Wendy's chili and came home and ate lunch.

Boy Las Vegas was a nail biter at the end. I didn't think I wanted to watch again next year as they got rid of one of my favorites because of budget cuts and Jimmy Caan decided to leave to pursue movies again and he was my favorite on the show. I have to at least watch the season opener to find out what all happens though! lol

Jean: Those muffins are nice and moist as they are baked and shipped the same day and then you are supposed to freeze them right away. They are big ones, like the WW muffins, but are only 2 points. You do notice the heavier fiber in them and they are a strong dark chocolate, but they have a pretty good taste. You can get bran, an apple berry bran type, bran, cranberry bran and blueberry bran in either 2 oz or 4 oz. They sell Vita tops, which look sort of like big cookies and are the tops of the muffins and they sell some kind of chocolate cake and brownies and they sell their mixes too. They are sold in limited areas (we can't get them here) so I had to order them online at vitalicious.com I think they are worth the money because they fill you up, not many points and can be eaten as a snack or breakfast item.

Boy oh boy, when they moved our condo's mail to another post office they really moved it. The post office it was at is a 1.5 mile from here. Now it is several miles away and in a bad part of town, almost to the airport. The people working in this post office were much nicer though. Of course the guy had to tease me about my name. He brought the box back and said raising his eyebrows, "There you go Madonna." I am so used to it, I just said I know, I know and laughed. My sil's handbag is lovely and a nice supple leather. I got a real steal on it at Overstock.com. It was a $75 bag and I got it for less than $25. It is a nice size, lots of pockets etc to carry all her junk in. I also bought her a Coldwater Creek gift card so she can buy a nice blouse or something. They are expensive, but they have lovely clothes and there is no way she can get tacky from this place.

I got my dil's invite to the baby shower with a lovely personal not they couldn't wait to see us and missed us a lot. She is such a sweety and I am lucky to have nice in-law kids. Now that Tom is used to us, he is pretty friendly with us, even me.

I see they shipped my peach yarn, but my one ball of ribbon yarn is stalled. I would really like to get it finished, but ahh well. I can't buy it anywhere here in town and have to order it. Oh, after 7 weeks of waiting, I finally got my darn credit back on my Joann.com return. I am done with that company and will never ever order anything from them again. You know, I ordered two shirts from Silhouettes, three weeks after the yarn store received my return. Silhouettes, filled my order, shipped it, it came, I tried it on, they were huge so I sent them back and they credited my credit card a week before Joann.com ever credited back my card for the yarn I returned. That is ridiculous. I sent a nasty letter to the CEO and I try and discourage anyone from using them if there is a chance they would return stuff because it takes forever to get your money back from them and they ignore you when you email them about a problem. I bet I have sent 20 emails to them and only got one response about a 2 weeks ago saying they didn't have it in the warehouse yet. Wonder where the heck it goes then. They must have one convoluted system for returns. I only know I will never buy anything else from them.

I ordered Thomas's Easter basket. I got him this cute popcorn bucket (see pic) filled with a Can of Doritos
2- Microwave Popcorns
Movie Size Bazooka Bubble Gum
Movie Size Hershey's Chocolate Bar
Movie Size KitKat Bar
Movie Size Runts and am going to buy him a book of movie coupons and put two kids dvds (Barnyard and Flushed Away) in his basket. He is much older for his years and he doesn't enjoy the silly little kids baskets so I might as well get things he will enjoy.

Well, it is past 6 and I need to do morning chores and then get out and do a good long walk. I didn't walk yesterday and I need to walk off the tacos from last night! lol

Have a great Saturday everyone! Today is commissary day and you know how much I look forward to that!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining brightly and it's supposed to hit 50 degrees today . . . I'll take it! I have laundry going that I should have started last night and didn't. I didn't sleep very well and guess I will blame it on my long nap in front of the TV. You would think I would learn my lesson!

"Gma" -- You are having summer weather, lucky you! I would like it to hang around 70 until school is out. CONGRATULATIONS on losing the 5#s -- keep on doing what you've been doing and the pounds will melt away before you know it. I don't know why this has to be such hard work! The Easter basket is a cute idea. I try to come up with things besides the usual candy and plastic junk. Last year I think I got the kids pails and shovels with beach towels to use at the lake. They always need clothes and if I get a chance would like to do some shopping in Sioux City. I play bells tomorrow at the late service and we have some more boxes to take over to Jason and Amanda, so I doubt if I'll get any shopping time in. I am definitely going for a walk today!

I'm off to fold towels and start the next load of laundry. Have a great day and smile . . . it will make you feel better and people wonder what you've been up to! :-)

Jean -- from Iowa where the snow is melting!!!!!

[gma22]

Good morning everyone! It is going to be another lovely day in my neighborhood. It is nice that spring has sprung around here. Can't wait for that pool to open though! lol

Jean: How are the kids and grandkids coming along with getting ready to move? It is nice they are moving before the kids get school age so they can settle into a school. My poor children went to 6 different schools in three states and it is one of the things they hated. Jay went to three high schools but Kelly got to go to just one. Jay was much more gregarious and did ok changing, Kelly had trouble even in one school as she was almost 2 years younger than most of her classmates and it made a big difference. Our kids started spring break on Friday only going half day. I get to put up with the brats next door all week how wonderful. Friday evening they were throwing stuff against the fence making the dog bark because it was scaring him. Not much I could do about it. I continually have to pick up gum papers, candy wrappers, food stuff, drink bottles and such they either throw across the fence or into the walkway. Last Thursday, they threw a drink bottle on my side of the walkway and their trash was sitting on their side of the walkway for Friday pickup! They couldn't even put it in their own can!!! I knew it was not from the creeps that cut across from the convenience store because of where it lay. When they throw stuff, other than food, on my side, I pick it up and throw it back over!

Today is NASCAR and also clean the downstairs this morning. I am going to put a roast in the oven (I took a beef roast and cut it in half and made bbq with one half and am making pot roast with the other.) with carrrots and making some mashed potatoes.

Give a round of applause to Jack. He lost another lb this week. He has just 20 lbs to go to reach his goal, lucky dog. He think he can do it by Memorial Day. I don't know. We have to take my niece and family and Tom, Kelly and Thomas out to Corky's BBQ in a couple weeks then we go to the shower and will eat out a couple meals at least. I do better about making good choices at restaurants than he does. He hates most veggies.

Well, I am going to get on the stick and start the house then go for a walk when it gets light, probably not for an hour with the time change.

Have a good Sunday!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! It was a beautiful day in my corner of the world -- sunny and 55 degrees this afternoon! I played bells at second service and now am done for the year. They will play in April but that is the weekend we will help Jason move into his new office and/or help clean their house after they have moved out. We took some more boxes over this afternoon and spent an hour or so visiting and playing. I feel like I missed an hour of sleep last night even though I went to bed earlier than I normally do. I'll really feel it tomorrow I think.

"Gma" -- When we were at Jason and Amanda's today, there are still pictures hanging on the wall, stuff on the bookshelves, and I didn't even venture into the basement. That is the stuff I would be packing as I talked on the phone or had a couple of extra minutes here 'n there. They do have several boxes packed and ready to go. I've been getting the boxes from school and they are the smaller copy/computer paper sized boxes with lids so will be easier to handle. Amanda's parents went over yesterday and Amanda said that she gave her mom a garbage bag full of clothes for a garage sale this summer. They have a neighbor whose daughter just had a baby so all of the baby stuff has gone across the street. To have neighbors that throw their garbage over the fence would make me so very angry! I hope they don't do something worse in retaliation of you throwing it back to their side. I know it takes all kinds to make the world go round, but sheesh! Congratulations to Jack on losing another pound! We did go for a walk before we left for Jason and Amanda's -- I haven't done as well with the eating as I should, so I hope the exercise will offset that a bit. I wish I weighed in on Friday so if the weekend is a bust I'd have the rest of the week to work on the program!

I need to pick up the Sunday papers and figure out what I am wearing tomorrow. Hope you all have a marvelous Monday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning all! It is going to be another beautiful day, even week here. Mostly in the 70's and a couple high 60 days, but I will certainly take that. It is supposed to be 76 today! It is in the 50's right now so even walking will be pleasant this morning.

We had a serious food breakdown last night I had a roast in the oven and when it was time to take it out, it was hard as a rock for some reason. I told Jack it would be at least another hour and we succumbed after about half an hour to Sonic, which is bad bad for me. So, I have to work extra hard this week to keep the fat level low and get out and do good long walks. I ended up chopping the thing up and we are going to have stew for dinner with it tonight.

March is just moving right along. Jack had to go into work on Saturday and gets big overtime so he talked to his foreman about taking it in comp time so we could leave Thur morning to go to the kids. They aren't supposed to get or take comp time, but the guy that does all the time cards is really nice and Jack just has to talk to him about it and keep it on the down low as the kids say. That will be great and he decided to take Monday off and cut off a day at Christmas so we can drive home Monday instead of having to come home Sunday, which will be nice.

I talked to my dd yesterday and they had been on a scout camping trip all weekend. The campground has a specific area they reserve for the scouts, but they hadn't emptied any of the trash barrels and the bathrooms were closed so Kelly said that you had to drive about 2 miles to go to the bathroom. Boy, I would have been in trouble and had to go behind a tree in the middle of the night or I would have peed in the car before I got there. That is why I HATE camping! When Jay was in Cub Scouts, they didn't allow the Cubs to go camping so we never did anything like that.

I hate this new early time change. It doesn't get light until around 7:30 here now and I like to get out and walk by 6:30 so I can come back and relax before I eat breakfast at 8. Jack freaks if I walk even in the well lit areas if it is even a shade dark so I don't dare go out early.

Well, I have my chores done, cleaned the downstairs yesterday and don't start the upstairs until tomorrow so am going to try and get the back of the cardigan finished today so I can start on a front piece. The rest of the yarn for this sweater will be in tomorrow and the one little ball I need for the ribbon one hasn't even been shipped yet, GRRRRR! This company is the worst about shipping thing expediantly, but I am NOT ordering from Joann.com.

Everyone have a good start to the week!

Jean: Hope all the conferences, early dismissals etc don't muck up your week too much!

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! My inner time clock is still not on DST . . . the day at school seemed to drag on forever and the kids were walking zombies. It's 65 degrees here and a nice 'no jacket needed' afternoon. They turned the heat off at school so it was chilly in the building. This is still March for crying out loud, and my furnace at home still comes on periodically! Bob is at church for practice and my frozen dinner is in the oven.

"Gma" -- That is nice that Jack can have the extra days off for your trip. When Jason was in scouts he went to a camp just across the border into NE -- lots of woods and some small hills to roam around in. There is a look out tower that the kids loved to climb and could see all 3 states from there. Jason talked Amanda into going on a hike and they ended up climbing the hill and then the tower where he proposed and gave her the diamond engagement ring. I was surprised because I didn't think he had a romantic bone in his body. Bob went on a couple excursions with the cub scouts but I never did. When Jason was older they hiked across the lake and camped out on the island in the dead of winter . . . not my idea of fun for sure. I hope your yarn arrives on time so you can finish your sweater.

I'm off to fold a load of towels and check the mail. Have a nice evening and a terrific Tuesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning gals! I am so jazzed about all these nice warm days. I chuckled at Jean and her furnace, because we have our AC on! It is supposed to get up to almost 80 today, so I may just take my knitting out on the deck and enjoy the sun.

My niece and her husband and dd will be in town on the 23rd so we are hoping we can take them to dinner. Kelly and Tom and Thomas are going to join us I think, though Kelly is not fond of pork products and we are going to Corky's BBQ because that is where my niece's family wants to go.

My peach yarn is supposed to be in today and my one ball of ribbon was mailed yesterday so should be here by the end of the week and I can finish that top. I just hope after all the work it doesn't look stupid. I took some real liberties with the actual pattern! I then have to face the blue ribbon yarn to make the sparkly dress top. I have already worked with it three times and torn it out each time so maybe I can make it work ok this time if I go really slowly.

I saved the tough roast from Sunday. Chopping it up and making stew out of it was the right thing to do. Jack said it tasted great and had it with a couple 2.5 bisquick biscuits. I took most of the meat out of mine and loaded up on the veggies in the soup. I had tasted the meat a couple times to see if it ever softened while cooking so I trimmed down the meat in my part of the stew so I didn't go over points.

Maggie: Hope you can be back with us soon!

Gloria: Hope you weather is improving and you can enjoy the sea.

Jean: I hope your day at school goes well!

Susan: Hope Stan's treatments are making things better for him.

Gotta run! I hear Jack up and about and Fortune will be wanting outside.

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning ladies. Had to call 911 and have them take Stan to the hospital yesterday morning. He's got some sort of infection going, very weak and sleeping all the time. His kidney function has gotten worse. They put him in the ICU. The doctor had me change to a much smaller hospital but it is the one where they will do his out patient dialysis. It was a much better experience in ER and ICU...he actually has a nurse that is only assigned to him and one other patient! They had him into the ER and tests started within 10 minutes. His nephrologist has an office at this hospital and the other one he's been in. By the time 911 transported him to the ER, Dr. B had alerted the ER he was on the way, told them what tests to start with and had asked Dr. C, to come in and take a look. Dr. C is the head of the dialysis center and put a temporary cathater in this morning and they started dialysis today and gave him a pint of blood. Once they have the infection cleared up, Dr C will put the permanent cathater in and he can go home. I can only see him from 11 to noon, 5 to 6 and 9 to 10 pm. They are very strict on the hours. He's in dialysis this morning so they told me not to come before 5 so I came to work to keep busy.

Faye, I made it to my knitting class on Saturday. I'll probably knit everything on circulars from now on. It's amazing how easy it is when you know the tricks. I'm signing up for a jacket class after the sock classes are over.

I guess we've been to the hospital so many times now it's getting ingrained. When I called Dr. B yesterday and he told me to get him to the hospital, I got my bag, put in 2 string cheese, a pear, 1 oz. of almonds, crossword puzzles, a book and my knitting. I had a list of his medications all type up for them as well.

Faye and Jack - doing the happy dance for you! You keep it up and those pounds will be gone.

Jean, are you ready to count down to the last day of school? You've got to be looking forward to that!

Maggie and Gloria - hope things are going well for you and look forward to your posts.

[gma22]

Susan: You and Stan are in my prayers. I know the ICU route and if you live very far away from the hospital it gets to be a pain running back and forth. Luckily, we only lived 5 miles from the hospital Jack was in so it wasn't as bad. It wears you out though so make sure you get plenty of rest especially if you are working too! I love knitting on circs and I agree they are easy. For one thing, you don't have to worry about the stitches falling off all the time, especially if you have a lot of stitches on the needle. My only problem is learning double points so that when you bind something off or decrease to the point you can no longer use the circs, you have to use double points and I haven't gotten the hang of them yet! Just know that I am praying for you and Stan!

Faye