[flaggies]

G’day all,

By now I guess you are all in bed and I thought I would start the new thread.

It is somewhat cooler today and a beautiful seabreeze is coming through the window of my computer room

Peggy Some would call it an interesting life and I guess it is. The alternative is not we want at this stage and employment in my dh’s field is very limited in Adelaide.
Our savings for our trip to America are on track…we have some shares that we will use and for some reason they are rocketing upwards at the moment.

Slavika I think it is fantastic that the 2 of you are going to Hawaii. I think I the road to Hana sounds a challenge, not that I am a backseat driver in any shape or form
I am a shocker when we go 4x4 wheel driving, I promise dh that I will not be a pain and I will RELAX but somehow it never quite works.

Marnie -45 windchill . Very hard for me to imagine what that would be like.
Keep warm!

Karen Still no hot water, is that because the pipes are still frozen or is there something else that is wrong? I often think I would have been the worst pioneer woman. I could have coped with sitting around looking pretty and doing a bit of embroidery, advise the cook what the household would like to eat and organize the occasional ball but that is it.

At the moment the whole country is in disbelief (I don’t think it is an exaggeration) one of the legends of the game of cricket was assaulted by a hotel bouncer last Sunday night and late yesterday his life support was turned off. He was born in Adelaide and we sort of regard him as ‘ours’. He was only 48.
My son and dh are both cricketers, my son playing at a fairly high level (and still does). As a very young lad my son was coached by him.
I am posting a link to the Australian News headlines and on the right hand side of this page, there are a number of links to some of the reactions.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1028399.htm
I don’t know what it is like at your end of the world but the so called security guards here seem to be a bunch of thugs.

On that rather sad note I will end, I will be cheerier tomorrow…..

Cheers
Maria

[painter5]

Maria what a tragedy. Such a loss! Going to look at the video after this.

Slavika I could only go on the Road to Hana if they brake on my side worked.

Karen I wish I could send you some hot water and warmth. I guess you have tried the hair dryer trick and everything else. I saw on the weather this morning that it's still really cold with -0 up in your area. I won't complain about the 20's.

Going to a funeral tomorrow morning. A good friend's nephew committed suicide at age 32. He left a 10 year old dd. His mom found him. Very tragic and there is no apparent reason.

Going to try to warm up with a little exercise.

[Karen L]

The reason we still have no hot water is the plumber has a waiting list. He has told us this morning that maybe today!!!!!!!! I'll let you know

[LilyG]

Maria: Well that will be good that it means less travel. Good idea to take some stuff and sell it off before you come back. Always nice to get new thing when you return
Hope they meet his demands. Glad you are on the mend to! What a sad story. Cant believe someone would do that. Such a loss.

Karen: Lol! Worms have protein. Yummmm I say that all the time to DH.
Your SIL will be sorry if she quit. Cant belive she is being like that.
Does seem kind of Strange the Hot water pipes would freeze. Im with you on Winter. I hate it to. We dont get snow but its still cold and I want spring. Vent anytime! Hope the Plumber gets there today!

Jenye: Sorry to hear you had to go back to the Hospital. I also dont know what A Cardio Version is. What is it?

Peggy: Yes Im very sad. Hardly ever get Crab and ALAS didnt get it again. The Birthday Party sounded fun. Were they all born on the same day? Or just close together? Oh how sad about your friend Nephew.

Slavika: Yes we went on the Road to Hana. I can see why they call it that. Very Narrow and spooky. We took a Bus so it saved our Marriage.
I would not want to drive it. We decided to take the Bus as Hubby wanted to see things to and thats hard to do when you are driving especially on that road. Gomer Pyle Jim Nabors, lives there and Barbarba Striesand has a house there.

Marnie: Brrrrrrrrrr wouldnt want to leave there thats for sure. Im a boob when it gets that cold. Get that electirc Blanket out. Or a ton of Quilts

[Karen L]

so life is good again. He was here while I was gone yesterday so SIL let him in also told that it won't have happened if they had finished the job they did in the spring. (They kept saying we'll get to you.) Anyway the guy left and then came back to finish the job so SIL did a good thing

As for SIL and her blood pressure It is not so high that any one is going to run in and start pounding on her chest. Diet and exercise will take care of it most likely. But in stead of waiting until we see the doctor she just does these things like not take medicine on her own. And then obsesses about it when she takes a reading. And that drives me up the wall. She insist that the pills are poison to her and are makng her dizzy. But even after she gets off them she complains of being dizzy. Thanks for letting me vent.

Now I have a problem too. With the stress of have a third pary living here and she follows me around like a new puppy I seem to have no private time to my self. Most of the time when I'm on the computer she is back here talking and talking Short of tell her to shut the heck up and leave me alone do you guys have any sugestions??? I've began to stay up late at night to have some time to myself and that is leading to rummaging around in the kitchen getting into stuff I should not be getting into. It's just these little thing that can drive a person to drink.

It is supposed to be relly cold here again today but you couldn't prove it by our themometer it is 20 above out there. That is a heat wave if you ask me!

Have to go want to get to curves and maybe make a trip to Alexendria for a WW meeting.

Thanks for listening

Karen

[marnie3]

Hello everyone

We're in the 30s this morning and the sun is shining! It's suppose to get to 20 below tonight! (How about up there, Karen).

I thought I wrote yesterday, but couldn't find the post: Early Alzheimer's?

I'm looking forward to spring days when I can walk outside.

Lily, thanks for your kind message after reading my journal entry. I've gotta take care of myself.

Later

Marnie

[flaggies]

G'day all,

Peggy by now the funeral you had to attend is over, hope it wasn't too stressful. How tragic for this person's family and his 10 year old daughter. There will be a state funeral for the person I mentioned before, next Tuesday. It will also be televised.

Lily sounds like the trip to Hana was well worth doing, good idea taking a bustour and saving your marriage

Karen I can so relate........when my sister (the pain) relocated to Adelaide after living in Sydney for 30 years, she asked if she could 'housesit' whilst we were in New Zealand. We had no problem with that but the problem was that she was here for a week when we were still there
She talked non-stop and followed me wherever I went...hates computers (because she doesn't know how to use them efficiently) but just about sat on my lip when I was using mine. She would ask questions which I would answer but then at the evening meal she would ask dh the same question, just to confirm that I had given the right answer
It never irritated dh as much as it did me but he also became very frustrated.
Whatever we suggested she could perhaps do as a hobby etc., her answer was always the same 'been there, done that'
I am not very subtle (you may have detected that from my posts ) and by midweek she knew that I was going insane. She said that we were not very good living together and she wondered why, everything had to be a 'big and meaningful' discussion with her of course being right at the end.
You really got me going Karen solutions.......well in the end I did tell her that I try and concentrate on what I do and that I found her constant chatting very distracting. I also told her that as she knows EVERYTHING and if she doesn't know she will drop names from people who would know, why does she keep asking me for what I think when you already know the answer anyway. She got a bit upset but was pleased I brought it out in the open as she could 'sense' I was getting a bit terse.
Perhaps I would suggest that you could have a special dinner for the three of you to review how things are going and how the arrangement can be improved etc. etc. I would tell her of your intention of the dinner and ask her to think of things that she loves and would like to share and things that perhaps she would like to be done differently. I would tell her that my aim for the dinner is a time for everyone to freely discuss how they feel.
If you have your dh's support, it may work. I would be writing down all the things that bother you, to ensure nothing is forgotten.
As this is a permanent arrangement I think it is important that everyone knows where they stand, it would not be fair on her if she is not aware of what is bothering you, it will never change unless she knows.
I hope my suggestion, or at least part of it, is of use.

Marnie aah spring, , probably autumn and spring are my favourite seasons. Spring with everything coming to live again in the garden and parks, is a real joy.

DH has an interview this morning for the new position, we are very much in two minds. I will probably be quite relieved if he was not successful.....it will be a massive upheaval if he is but of course not insurmountable.

Have a great day all....
Cheers
Maria

[LilyG]

KAren: I would have to agree with Maria. I think you need to "nip it in the bud" as soon as you can. I know its hard to do. But maybe say I really need my computer time to do what I need to do. Its my time for me.
Those arent the right words. But I know me and I would think about it forever and finally just say what I really feel. Think thats what you need to do. You need your sanity. So you need to find a way to get it.

Maria: So how did the interview go? I feel for you. Its a hard decision to make. I know you want to stay in your home. I just hope if he gets it, that it will mean less travel for you. That in itself seems stressful to me.

Well best go night night

[Karen L]

Maria and Lily thanks for the idea's. I will be having a chat with her as soon as I find the right words. Her feels are hurt very easy. But you are right since this is a permant situation I need to get this all out in the open. For the most part things are going well. Just need some time for me that is all.

Well it warmed up to 2 above "0" yesterday and stayed that way all night. And because it warmed up it snowed all night and still is . Just a light snow nothing earth shattering. It does pretty it up out side with the fresh snow.

I've change the color of things in my kitchen I'm not sure if I told you that . Any way I've gone from bule to red. So apples are what is showing up in there. And yesterday I bought an Apple clock. I've got to stop. My DH is dreaming of apples chasing him! Still need to paint the walls but can't do that until spring when we can open windows.

I've talked to my Manager about the fact that I really don't want to give up working for Weight Watchers all together. Was asking if it is possible to work in the south in the winter and in the north in the summer. She checking on that for me.

Slavika I think that answers your question about moving south for good. We have to much family left here to leave completely. At least that is how we are thinking now. I just want to be out of this bitter cold for the winter. My bones and sanity can't handle it any more. I think as long as my parents are alive we won't move for good. And they are 77 and still going strong.

Got to go and get my day started.
Karen

[slavika]

Hi All

Well today was just going to be a sort of not too exciting of a day.......well boring actually and then my DIL called at 10:00. I think I told you that she teaches children dance classes and she was going to pick up fabric for the costumes and wondered if I would like to go with her for company and to bounce idea's off of. I said YES! She always manages to design great looking costumes for her kids and picks the perfect fabric. When we got that finished she came back here and I made us a light lunch and we just had a great visit. We are so lucky that we have her for a DIL.
Karen I know what you mean about leaving family and friends behind to move someplace else......even if that someplace else is much warmer. I am certainly looking forward to getting away for a few months in the winter when DH retires but I would never want to move away permanently from my home. I know people say, "you will make new firends", and yes I sure hope that is true, but I have grown accustomed to my "old" friends and would be sad if I didn't see them, and talk to them and share things with them. I am hoping that when we retire and go "somewhere" for the winter that our friends and family will take turns coming out to visit with us. Karen does your SIL share in the household chores with you, and does she go out without you sometimes? I am thinking that you can't treat her like a visitor and she can't behave like a guest because this is a permanent arrangement. I was thinking if she could get involved in things that interested her then you would have time to do the things that interested you, and that would give each of you gals some space. I think your SIL is likely a very nice person or you would not have invited her into your home to stay, but it sounds like maybe she doesn't have too many interests, where she could just do things on her own. What things did she do when she lived on her own?
Lily LOL LOL you will have to pray for us, because Trudy and I will be driving in the car with our DH's on the "Road to Hana". We will tell you all about it when we get home. Peggy said she would go only if the brakes were on her side of the car. Maria any news yet as to whether you will be leaving your home again for awhile?
Well everybody, talk to you later.

[flaggies]

G'day all,

It has been a couple of busy days for me.
In about 20 minutes we have some friends coming for a bbq, I spent most of the day preparing.

Slavika you are lucky to have a dil with similar interests as yourself. My dd is very similar to me (which does cause the occasional clash ) but my dil and ds are totally obsorbed in their sports. I am not that sporty so I cannot relate that everything is second to their sport. I guess to achieve what they have done you have to be like that.
I am with Peggy I would also want to have a break pedal in the passenger side to go on a trip like that or I would drive.....I really hate it when dh is pointing out all the scenery whilst driving
I hope you and Trudy may be able to find an internet cafe and give us updates of your holiday from time to time.
We won't know anything about the job dh applied for until sometime towards the end of next week

Karen I hope things will work out for you with your sil.
You have the right attitude and are very sensitive to her feelings, I am sure you will find the right words....good luck!
Your kitchen sounds lovely and bright.
As far as your weather it all sounds far too cold to me. To think you cannot paint until spring because you cannot open the doors etc. for the paint to dry
I do remember as a small child in Holland in spring we used to receive all little booklets with samples of wallpaper. I used to love flicking through them. The wallpaper was of very poor quality and just about every year my father put on new wallpaper and at Easter the house was spic and span again.

I hear a car pulling up in the drive, so I must be off......
Long weekend here, Australia Day on Monday

Cheers
Maria

[marnie3]

Just got a minute to say hi and then to ironing kitchen and bathroom curtains! I got on a real cleaning jag yesterday and our home is getting somewhat normal.

Marnie

[painter5]

Hi,

Getting ready for the doom and gloom that is supposed to happen tomorrow. It's supposed to snow and freezing rain-about 2-3 inches worth. Can handle the snow but the ice is too much.

Karen it has to be hard and frustrating to have an extra person in the house when you are not used to it. You can come and vent anytime you want. Does she have any kind of interest in anything? Is she willing to go out and meet new people and join something? I agree with everyone to tell her very nicely-she just might not have a clue that it is irritating to you. It might take her a while to fit in and make some friends of her own. I have a friend who has an apple themed kitchen. Red seems to be hot color right now.

Maria do you have any idea when you will hear if you are going to Sydney? I'd be on pins and needles.

Slavika that's so nice that you have lots of things in common with your dil. I love mine but we don't have the same interests. They are so far across town that we don't really see them very often.

Marnie how nice to have a nice clean house. I should be doing curtains too. I would like to make some new ones for the kitchen. I have been thinking like Karen and leaning towards a rosy red.

The funeral was very sad. The mother was hysterical. But who knows how you would act in those circumstances. We sat with some friends who had their son commit suicide when he was 16. I felt for them too cause it had to bring it all back for them.

Quiet here tonight. My dh is dealing black jack for a casino party. Just me and the dog. Sort of nice for a change. I am in control of the remote.

[marnie3]

Hello all:

Peggy, I wonder if we're getting the same storm; 6 to 9 inches overnight tonight! I made kitchen curtains once; when they wore out I went to Penney's and got new ones!

Slavika, last night in our paper there was a recipe for oatmeal that you do in the crock pot! It had cranberries in it, too. Do you still have your recipe? I never did copy it like I had hoped.

Maria, thanks for the "update" on mad cow disease! Cute.

Hope the rest of you are staying warm and curled up by a fire place! (Ann's probably sitting in the sun some place!)

Marnie

[slavika]

Hi Everybody

Marnie Here's the recipe again for the Baked Oatmeal. With Lily's help we have now worked out the points for the entire recipe to be 62 points. I tried to "lighten" the recipe by using apple sauce for half of the margarine and using egg substitute but it just didn't turn out very good. The bottom of the baked oatmeal had a yucky film (I guess from the apple sauce) in it. This is one of those recipes that is best left as it. It stays good for at least 3 days just sitting on your counter top covered with saran.
Ok, here is the recipe.

BAKED OATMEAL
ingredients:
3 cups Oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup margarine
2 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 tsp baking power
1 tsp salt.
Mix all ingredients together (like you do for cookies) and pour into a 13x9 greased pan. Bake 375 for 25 minutes.
You can add dried fruit and/or chopped nuts to the mixture.

Recipe came from Our Hearts Inn Bed & Breakfast
Colorado Springs.

Marnie and all...after I posted this recipe here today I went to "Allrecipes" to see if there was a recipe like this and I found one that is very similar. I am wondering if I made a mistake from the first time I made this recipe to the next time I made it........ if I doubled the amount of milk in the recipe. Maybe it had nothing to do with the apple sauce sort of settling to the bottom, maybe there was just too much liquid. After I posted here today I quickly went and made the Baked Oatmeal, following the recipe above and I think that there is just too much liquid. I will talk to to Trudy and see what amounts I gave her. I have "re-copied" this recipe so many times now that maybe I made a mistake. Here is the recipe I found on Allrecipes that was submitted by a Lucy Blanchard.

Baked Oatmeal II
Found this recipe in Pennsylvania Amish country.
Everyone who tries it, loves it! Prep Time: approx. 10 Minutes.
Cook Time: approx. 40 Minutes. Ready in: approx. 50
Minutes. Makes 4 servings.
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Lucy Blanchard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries


Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2 In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar,
cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted
butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in dried cranberries. Spread
into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3 Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes.


LOL LOL...note she says 4 SERVINGS. This recipe shows on Allrecipes, www.allrecipes.com that if you divide THIS recipe into only 4 servings that each serving would be 790 calories. I don't think we need to eat that much of it.