[gma22]

Good morning to you all. It is another cooker here. I don't mind the high heat, but the humidity sure gets to me.

Maggie: I can't even imagine sitting in 90 degree heat coloring my hair. Didn't it run? I know when I color my hair that I have to leave the brand I use on for 45 minutes and it would drive me bonkers if I was sitting in heat. Hope after washing your hair is cute, cute! Mine is such a wash and go style that all I do is put product in it, shape it with my fingers and spray Sprunch spray.

Jean: Wanna come over to my house for a game of bowling? I am so sore from playing. Jack bought a Wii yesterday as we enjoyed Thomas's so much when we were in Indiana. Everyone will be here for Thanksgiving this year and we are having Christmas at the same time so we thought we would get one while we found a good price. We bowled two games last night and I went up to bed and was groaning about being sore. Jack told me it was from the bowling! It has some cool stuff you can buy for it for exercise too that I want to look into. Sounds like you had a nice phone visit with your friend.

Gail: Heaven's I hate Walmart so much I would hate to spend 3 hours there. We didn't even do our regular shopping of stuff there yesterday we went to Super Target. It is much much cleaner for one thing and the prices aren't really higher. Of course, that is where Jack found the Wii. While I shop, my little boy goes and looks at the adult toys then I go and get him. Sure hope he doesn't get into trouble not having an adult with him....

Well I have to get up and get going. We did the commissary run yesterday so I am going to tackle the downstairs today.

Have a good one.
Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It has clouded over again for the umpteenth time today. I wish it would rain and get it over with. We were going to get up and head to the lake to do some trim painting. Since it was already raining up there we decided to stay home. Bob is out mowing and I've been digging through the spare bedroom. Jason, Amanda, Ian, and Zowie will be here Friday night enroute to a wedding on Saturday which is another 2 1/2 hours from us. We are still debating about pitching the carpet since it got wet. The floor is cement so would have to put carpet back in eventually.

"Gma" -- I've heard the Wii exercise program is a good one! The nursing home, where Bob is on the board, bought several along with the different games for the residents to play. Unfortunately, some of the recently hired, undesirable employees walked off with them plus the TVs! There are security cameras at every entrance/exit so they were caught and fired. I had to laugh at your comment about Jack looking at toys w/o an adult with him!

Gail -- You must like WM to spend 3 hours there! I'm with Faye, I HATE WM! They will probably go out of business here if the packing plants ever shut down. Don't I wish!? I'll take the little town variety stores any day of the week. According to past employees they don't treat employees very well and there is such a turn over on the checkers. I kid Bob that he can be a WM greeter when he retires. That doesn't go over very well at all.

Maggie -- I hope your electricity is still on and you are keeping cool! I'm all for putting prisoners to work! I even think the dangerous ones could go back on the chain gang guarded by the guards with rifles and the orders of "shoot to kill" if they try to escape. Maybe I've watched too many movies.

I need to corral some dust/fur bunnies so better keep moving. Have a great rest of the day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

We went out to eat after services this day and had Panda stuff. I like that place and we always split a meal. We had Ragg Mopp with us and didn't want to go inside somewhere and leave him in the vehicle to become a hot dog, well cooked. The smoke from the fire was thick this morning but has lifted some now and there is a breeze. Good for us but bad for the fire. It worsens the conditions out there.

LOL DONNA I wouldn't do my hair either if it were 90 degrees out ~ would hate the junk to run down. That is why I got up early and did it when it was still in the low 70's. I too just spritz my hair and go but needed a trim and she trimmed me too much and cut and blew dry my curls out. It will be better once I wash it. She even sprayed it to where it looks like it is in all one unit if you get my drift.

JEAN You evidently don't have a good manager for Wallmart there at all. Ours is clean. It always depends on the manager ~ the condition of the store. Your people there are trashy and he just must have caved in to it. I won't shop in a filthy store and don't blame you for not wanting to go there. I imagine how you wish that it would rain to cut that humidity.

Type at ya'll later

[gma22]

Good morning to you all. Same ole song and dance hot and humid again today. We have to go tonight and take back a recharge station for the Wii. I guess this thing heats up so much that it "fries" the Wii remote controllers when they are put in to charge. You can use regular batteries as well as rechargeables so we will just use the regular batteries for the time being. Jack has a recharger he got as a gift somewhere in that mess he calls an office so I may try and hunt it up and buy rechargeable batteries.

Maggie: Oooh how I love Chinese food. Jack barely tolerates it and will only eat fried rice and egg roll. Have you ever gone to a PF Changs? It is upscale, but the food is really good. Kelly took me once and then we went once when Jay and Alicia were here with Kelly, Tom and Thomas. I haven't been in anything but a filthy Walmarts aand I have been in 4 here in town, two in Las Vegas, one in South Bend, one in Houston, one in Michigan, a couple in Arkansas and one in Mississippi. On top of that, the regular grocery stores like Krogers are nasty too pretty much. We have a grocery store chain family owned in South Bend called Martins. I adore that store. It is sparkling clean, wide aisles, has anything your heart desires, plus a bakery, florist, seafood and meat market, etc. When we lived there, I couldn't afford to shop there as it was a bit expensive for our income at the time. I sure miss having something nice like that here. We have Krogers, which are always dirty and crowded, a chain called Schnucks, which is ok, but way too expensive for grocery stuff and nothing to show for it, and then several different ones that carry low cost low value groceries like Sav a Lot and such and they are pretty icky too. I did like the Super Target we were in. I was able to find everything on my list and it is a nice clean store.

Jean: I swear it is true! When we go into Walmarts, Target, or such, he says, "Ok, if I look around while you shop?" He heads straight for the electronics section. His grown up version of toyland! Man has a real thing about electronic stuff. I tell Jack the same thing about the Walmart greeter, but he always tells me, "Nah, I would say get in here and shop if you are coming in or lady will you control that brat of yours." He said he would get fired in the first hour he worked there!

I now have a nice clean house and can goof off today if I wish. I have one heck of a knot in my left shoulder from the bowling I did with Jack the first night we had the Wii. I am going to sit with a heating pad and probably get some of those heat therapy pads you can put on your shoulder and see if I can get it to loosen up. Stinks to get old! I should have known better than to think I wouldn't pay for doing it let alone doing more than one game.

I guess I should get my daily chores done so I am going to get out of here. Hope you find Monday to be a great day for you!

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon, ladies!

I had a great trip with my friends. We made it to 5 quilt shops on Saturday and didn't get lost once (they are in 4 different towns) so once again Yahoo gave me good driving directions. The quilt show was fantastic. The company that runs this show is very discriminating in chosing the quilts for it. We were surprised to find that one of our fellow guild members won first place for her quilt. These quilts were all museum quality. The hand quilted ones were fantastic for the small stitches. I bought a little more than I intended to but got even more than I had on my list and I had extra in reserve that I took with me that came out of my quilting fund. I take half the money I save with coupons and store loyalty cards and put it in my quilting jar so I can fund my hobby. If I have extra money I put a little in there, too. I have been really inspired and am itching to start about 3 more projects because I HAVE to make them. I'm really moving off into my own art quilts and away from using patterns, even for inspiration.

I had my GI appointment with the 10-year old doctor (at least he looked that young to me) this morning. I'll have my endoscope on Friday to see what's going on. In the meantime no caffeine (coffee, tea, chocolate), no tomatoes or tomato products, no citrus, and no peppermint. I'm okay with everything but coffee and tomatoes. That I'll have to work on harder. He also put me on prescription Nexium at double the normal dosage twice a day.

Well, back to work!

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It is 'only' 86 degrees here, but the humidity is close to 90%! There is a breeze so that does help. I walked this morning and took my second shower of the day when I got home. The GOOD news is that MIL gets to go back to her apt. tomorrow. She was bugging the nurse last night and the nurse said MIL was doing just fine. The doctor hadn't been in for 3 days so MIL hadn't a clue as to his feelings about her leaving. I know she will be so happy to get out of "lock up!"

Maggie -- Our WM isn't dirty, it's just that when it came to town it managed to drive out 2 other "discount" stores plus a really nice family owned department store that had several stores around the area. That's not mentioning the smaller downtown stores, plus Penneys, that have closed their doors since WM came to town. Walgreen's was supposed to be big competition, but their prices are higher -- at least for the things I buy. I do go there just so I don't have to go to WM, and I do use their coupons.

"Gma" -- You always have a squeaky clean house! I know you too well! I always like to wander through the dishes and appliances to see what is new. I'd love to redo my small appliances in red.

Susan -- I'm glad you had such a good time during your quilt weekend! I think all of the doctors are beginning to look too young! We are getting a new one in our clinic after the first of the year to replace our doctor who is retiring. He is finishing his residency so I'm sure he is young. I suppose we will give him a try and see how we like him. Our police officers all look like they are about 12!

I have a meeting at church later this afternoon. I agreed to help with the membership photo book phone calling. Then we have a picnic for Bob's office put on by the county board. I hope the mosquitoes are not too bad.

Have a nice rest of the day and a terrific Tuesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Actually it has cooled down some here ~ only 95 out there as I type. Got some last minute stuff we needed at Wallmart and I did think of ya'all. The fire is still burning but and still a few miles from here and going the other direction. California burns so brightly

DONNA those dirty stores are only that way becsuse of lousy managers. (I think I am repeating myself.) A report to Headquarters and hopefully they would put a stop to it. We have a Mexican market here that is clean They even have prices lower than Wallmart. And why are they so clean? It has an excellent manager.

JEAN Wallmart came in lots of areas and others had to close but they call that "marketing." If you can't stand the heat get out of the oven type thing. It is sad to see some of those old shops close down. But what can we as citizens do about it? Not shopping at Wallmart isn't going to bring them back. California for years has kept out the super Wallmarts. There are only one or two of them in the whole state and there are the same number of super Targets. Your state had the power to keep them out but didn't. Too much money changes hands "up there" in state government. It's all about the "tax thing." Yep the tax thing and that is how one or two of them got in this state.

SUSAN Glad you had such a marvy time ~ happy quilting. What fun to have a hobby that one likes so much. Do you ever sell any of the quilts you make?

Type at ya'all later.

[gma22]

Good morning to you all! Hope your day is starting out well. I woke up with a pain running down my right leg this morning so got up out of bed and took an Advil and slept the rest in the recliner. Good as new this morning. The knot in my shoulder has gone away too. I bought the shoulder style of the heat therapy, but the dang things wouldn't stay on so I opted for the plain ole heating pad, which I sat with for the Cubs game. When I went up to bed, I had Jack put on some Icy Hot and I wore an old painting tshirt instead of sleepwear so it wouldn't mess it up. I got up this morning and felt pretty good. It has a bit of tenderness but nothing like it was at all.

Jean: Hope you had fun at the picnic! I have not been to a good ole fashioned picnic in ages. When I was little before my parents divorced, we used to take a picnic up to the Potowatami park for the day after church. On Sunday, they had a band in the band shell in the evening and the park has a swimming pool. I met several kids every week whose parents brought them every week and we had a blast playing together. Everyone is too busy to do those sort of things anymore or the kids have to be entertained instead of finding their own entertainment. I bet half the outdoor games we played as kids the kids of today have no clue about, red rover, dodgeball, freeze tag, etc. No little girls jump rope anymore or little boys play marbles. You can hardly find a bag of jacks and ball to buy for a kid or pick up sticks. All those things were such fun!

Maggie: You have to get managers and management to care about their stores and that just doesn't happen down here. Sad but true. They don't even take your complaints seriously. We went to Target yesterday and I had two packages of those therapy things and that was all. The store had 25 check out lanes and they had two express and two regular. I walked the length of the store because one express had at least 4 people in line and the other was letting some stupid woman check out with a full basket of groceries even though the sign says ten items or less. I know one of the issues is getting employees to work at these stores. I would love to do it if I didn't have to stand all day. That I cannot do.

Susan: I would love to see a quilt show sometime. I think they are some of this countrie's most beautiful art. Glad you had a good time! We are like you. We have a container that we put any change we have in. When it is full we change it out to paper money and start over and this money goes towards our Vegas trip. We usually have a couple hundred dollars saved in a years time. I think it is so sad that people have to have instant gratification instead of being willing to save for what they want. I have family members that are putting themselves in the poor house because if they or their kids want something they buy it even though they have no clue how they will pay for it. They just bought their 16 year old a brand new 2008 Honda CRV! Who pays the note, the insurance, etc.? Ole mom and dad are picking up the tab.

Well, time is a wastin' and since I slept in a bit, I need to get going and get stuff done. Have a wonderful day and keep cool. It is going to be over a 100 today here again.

Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies! It is so humid here that even with just 83 degrees it is unbarable outside.

Jean, a lot of the locally owned stores had closed before Walmart came on the scene. We still have many so people are loyal to them. Our Walmart is currently being remodeled and they have taken out the fabric and crafts department...must not have been enough sales anymore. It's always clean and so are most of the grocery stores. I find the ones with a high % of low income shoppers are dirtier. Sad but true.

Maggie, I don't sell my quilts. I use so many fabrics I could never duplicate one and I love them all.

Faye, there a some big quilt shows in your area if I remember correctly. I let you know next time I see one. You know, it's just too easy to get a credit card and people get into debt over their heads in no time. We always saved for what we wanted so we could pay cash. I have a credit card for emergencies and I got another recently just to be sure my credit was okay after Stan died. I don't intend to use it at all. It was through Amazon and you got $30 towards your Amazon purchase. The credit line they gave me is huge. I didn't get a car until I was 25 years old because I had to buy it myself and I saved and paid cash for it.

Nothing special going on this week so I am being lazy in the evening. I have
some really good books and my quilting to do.

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

We took Ragg Mopp to the goomers earlier and will pick him up at 2. Came back and am doing last minute things to get ready to pull out tomorrow. Our first stop will be to get new mufflers installed. Then on down the road we will go. Will is out now cutting down the awning. It is rotten and we will get a new one when and if we decide to keep this rig. We are thinking about getting a newer version motor home one day so we shall see. Anyway getting rid of the awning sheds quite a few pounds. I put those silver thingies like for windshields in the side windows so this afternoon sun won't beat down in here. Cowboy Bob down the road will pick up the awning rigging along with any other metal we want to get rid of. He has a truck and takes stuff like that and sells it. The scrap business has sure taken an upturn these days since the cost of gas went so high. More folks are saving bottles and cans also. We had a couple big bags which we didn't get to the recycle center (it was closed due to the fire so close) so we gave them to an indigent type fellow. He will get $20+ when he turns them in.

DONNA My natural curls are back. Looks so much better than that gal did at the shop. I hope I can find a place I like in KS to do my trims. I will by asking around like I will find a good dentist and doctor. I remember those kids games and some kids around here still play them. Would you believe that lots of folks don't have TV on 24 hours a day or even own one. Their kids are happier better rounded fun kids for sure. TV has been the worst thing to come along because of it's abuse. It was not ment to be America's babysitter but it has become just that. We have raised a crop of couch potatoes watching no brainer programs. We have a movie actor friend and they don't have a TV in their home and his kids are growing up just fine without one. We havn't had a TV for a few years now and don't even have the desire to get one. And we also know folks who have TV's in every room in their homes, bathrooms included. Can't miss what is on those soaps even while in the shower. When we did have a TV all we watched was the News and Baseball. Now we get that elsewhere. Anyway I don't care if folks want a TV because there is some good to be found on them.

SUSAN How many quilts do you have now that you have made? I have a friend that makes georgeous ones and gives them as gifts. Anyone that gets one of hers feels really blessed. Different stroks for different folks to be sure. And another gal I know gets big bucks when she sells one. We too don't use credit cards. We do have one debit card but that is using our own money.

Have a great afternoon Magnolias.

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! It's been another humid day/evening here. After being in air conditioning it doesn't even feel that "cool" inside. I had my yearly mammogram this morning, ran a couple errands and a grocery run, then came home and worked on my piles. I signed up for high speed internet, phone, and cable all with one company. It won't happen until the 11th so if I disappear you'll know why. We get 6 months for $99 and then it will be $119 after that. They added more movie channels to the TV lineup so Bob will have more choices to sort through. MIL is home once again and got a perm this afternoon so she is a happy camper tonight. She has an oxygen machine to use at night now because she is so squished that her lungs can't fill up like they should. Between that and less drugs, I hope they have her all set.

Maggie -- Wishing you safe travels to Kansas!

"Gma" -- I remember playing outside until it was dark when I was a kid. Of course that is before everyone had TVs to watch.

Susan -- Enjoy your lazy evenings this week! It is too hot to do anything too strenuous!

I am heading off to bed as soon as I finish here. Have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow! Remember to smile and be nice to someone else.

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning to everyone. It is sunny, humid, and hot, but a beautiful day none the less. I have started chores and will finish when I am done here. Fortune wants me to let him out again, but I just did so he can wait a bit. I have found the culprit to the food business. It is a disgusting squirrel we have here. Fortune got a piece of corn the other day. The reason I know it is the squirrel is he is tearing into our trash bags now and I saw the neighbors with holes in theirs. I rebag mine but the stupid neighbors just put theirs out there with food and stuff spilling out. I end up having to clean it up off the walkway of course after the garbage men come through. They definitely don't pick up anything that is not in bags that is for sure.

Maggie: The main problem with kids not getting outside is the obesity situation in this country. They sit inside and eat and watch tv or play video games and get fat. Maybe in certain areas kids are more prone to play outdoors but certainly not in large cities. It saddens me that parents aren't more involved in helping kids stay at a normal weight range. I sure did when my kids were little and we struggled just to buy groceries. I didn't buy a lot of junk food for them pop and such because we couldn't afford it and I made them play outside.

Jean: Hope mil gets to feeling tip top. At that age though do you ever feel tip top? I don't want to out live most of my family and such. We have our internet and phone with one company than have direct tv, which I love. Since it is a "bundle" with our phone company we get a rebate to the satellite every month. Part of the fun in the summer was getting to stay out past dark and play games underneath the street lights. For one thing, no ac and it was too hot to be indoors. I think overall we are just really pampered now.

Susan: I have a couple store credit cards I use just to keep good reports going to the credit agencies. We use one credit card for everything else. I use my bank card more than anything to pay stuff. I only have one bill I have to pay by check anymore and that is my life insurance. They are still in the dark ages! lol Thanks for lettingme know about the quilt shows. I would love to go to one of them sometime.

Everyone have a great Wednesday. I need to get back to work.

Faye

[Jean]

Good Afternoon! It's not so hot here, but oh so very humid! The sun has been in and out all day; I hope there isn't going to be a storm later. I've been making phone calls for the church trying to get people to have their picture taken for the directory. I forgot how much time that can take! Several must be on vacation, no answer; some must have caller ID, no answer, some flat out say "NO!", and I've had about 6 out of 30+ agree to a time slot. I am not getting anything done in my house today!

"Gma" -- Most everyone around here uses garbage cans, even on recycle day. We use plastic bags, and knock on wood, haven't had a problem with anyone tearing into them. Our garbage pickup is usally around 10 so it doesn't sit out very long. Bob took his mom to get her glasses adjusted this morning and he said she was pretty chipper for first thing in the morning. She'd slept all night which was very rare before her hospital stay.

I need to get back to my phone calling for the 2nd time around. Have a great rest of the day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[QuilterInVA]

Good evening, ladies! It's getting ready to storm - lots of thunder. It's been unbareably humid and still is 91 degrees.

Stupid cold has moved to my chest (so what is new). I have some good prescription cough medicine and more Prednisone.

Faye, I use trash bags and put them in my garbage can. We not only have squirrels but racoons and muskrats. They can sure tear up a bag. I have a county-issued tub for recycling.

Maggie - hope you are safely on your way to your new home. I don't sell quilts, but I do give some as gifts and I make charity quilts. Our guild project this year is Quilts of Valor. We make quilts for wounded soldiers. I've made 3 this year. Our guild will have sent 500 sometime next month and we are continuing. We now have a unit of recovering wounded at Fort Eustis. They are getting ready to go back to active duty. The chaplain asked us for 100 quilts for the ones who didn't come through Germany for medical attention. Supposedly there is supposed to be an article in the newspaper and a picture. I'll post it if there is.

Jean, I sure don't envy you making those calls.

Well, better shut the computer down before the storm starts in earnest.

[gma22]

Good morning to you all. We got the garbage picked up yesterday without any more squirrel interference. I have one big can that has a lid, but when I have overflow I have another can without a lid and that is the one he got into the garbage bags. I outsmarted him. I got a couple of old bath towels we use for painting and such and draped them over the can!

I got an email from my sister saying her dd had surgery on her foot/ankle and came through ok, but her (my sister's) granddaughter is sick and they think it is mono. She will be a senior this year and is a soccer phenom so is looking forward to a soccer scholarship. If she has mono she won't be able to play her senior year and it may put the bung on the scholarship, which would be really sad for her.

Maggie: Take care and enjoy your trip! We are waiting to here from you in your new home!

Susan: Hope you get to feeling better. I know with your asthma a plain ole cold is more serious for you than for others. What a wonderful thing to do. I know the soldiers really appreciate all of you for doing such a wonderful thing.

Jean: Sounds like your church calling was less than productive. I guess you can't hogtie them to get their pics taken for stuff but it sounds like a simple enough request. After the garbage was picked up yesterday morning, the neighbor has liquor bottles all over the place they didn't pick up so I was out there gathering that junk up. We have a lady on the board here who seems to always be out picking stuff up trying to keep the area clean. I told her a couple weeks ago we have so many renters that no one cares about the property so they just chuck stuff.

I did a dumb thing. Definitely not the first and won't be the last. I ordered a couple of Wii games from Target and they shipped them to my son instead of us. I didn't check close enough to see where they were shipping and I think they used the default, which was Jackson, as I sent that little plane for his birthday from Target. Sheesh! It isn't the first time I have done that.

Well gals, I hear the washer is done so need to put the clothes in the dryer and put on some footies as my feet are cold. Have a great day!
Faye