Steel Magnolias #45

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  • Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another cold windy day in my neighborhood. We had wet streets this morning and the rain gauge said .41" -- I'm sure the farmers are wishing for a few dry days so they can get their planting done. I played bells this morning; it was a challenge as we played two pieces with two different time counts, and with different sharps/flats in each. To add to the misery we played chimes in both and malleted parts of one. I told the director my gray brain matter is too old to be doing switcheroos so early in the morning! Everyone said we sounded great but we knew better! Bob and I came home for a couple hours and then went back for a spaghetti dinner put on by the men's group; it was to raise scholarship money for the seniors. I've been lazy this afternoon, just finished reading the paper.

    Maggie -- My favorite jeans, from Penneys and their brand, are no longer available. I expressed my displeasure to the sales clerk and also sent a letter. Of course I've heard nothing back. I did see where the company is in trouble because of the last CEO. Sonny has spent the whole afternoon napping up on the couch which is a spot he usually doesn't choose. He isn't sleeping on his favorite chair at night so I hope he isn't on the cold basement floor. There is an area rug but I don't see that he's chosen any one spot there either.

    It's going to be a busy week as I have something every day starting with a luncheon tomorrow and a tour of a country mansion that has been restored. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening!
  • Good morning ladies. It is overcast, but not particular cool. It is supposed to be in the 80's today so the ac might get turned on. I need to get all my housework done this morning before it gets too hot.

    Busy weekend and I never did get in here. Jack's been assigned July 8-12th for his jury week. It fit in ok as we were concerned with him getting stuck either before or after the weekend we were going to Indiana in June. So now he just waits for his time to come. Hopefully if he is seated it is a quick trial of something easy not complicated.

    Jack's back is acting up again so he has been limping around sort of all weekend. I finally convinced him to put the heating pad on for 15minutes to half an our several times a day when he had the time. I imagine he will be sore when he gets home tonight.

    This morning was weigh in and I am down another 4 lbs for the week. I am only a few oz from the next step down in lbs. I bought some cookie type things for breakfast called bella vita. Don't have any idea whether they taste good or not. I do buy the Special K Fruit Crisp things for a sweet tooth. There are several different kinds you can buy with two two a package and 2 pt per package. The remind me a lot of Pop Tarts though these small and the "crust" isn't thick like pop tarts. I sometimes eat them with fruit or yogurt or whatever for breakfast or sometimes if the sweet tooth is roaring, they are good for that too. I am not a huge sweet eater but sometimes I just want dessert. The thing with me I have found is to not have breakfast until around 8:30 or so, eat light then. If I fix eggs and such or something heavier, I tend to be hungry all day, but when I eat like say a banana and those crisps or an oatmeal with some fruit in it, I am fine pretty much. The hormone pills impede me or try to a lot. They can make you feel like you haven't eaten in forever.

    Jack is now all set to get his new glasses. We are going to shop around at places that take our insurance because Walmart has a crappy selection. We did order him a pair of prescription sunglasses and bought myself a pair too as I had a coupon for buy one get one free. I have been having a lot of trouble seeing with my contacts so am just wearing my single vision glasses for the time being. Have no idea why wearing contacts have become so blurry and I actually changed a new pair for another pair out of a different box and it didn't help. She said to come in and she would check it out as a walk in so I will probably keep the car one day and just go in and see if she can tell what is going on.

    Kelly and I had a great time going to lunch. We talked about funny stuff and some real serious stuff, but it was a great lunch and this is a nice place to eat. She said she is trying to get her dad and I out of the rut of eating at chain places. It is just we don't know any restaurants here and when I google Memphis restaurants I get the fancy places and not the nice little diner or cafe type ones.

    Maggie: Glad the walking is coming along for you. Any exercise is good exercise. We are having crab cakes (Jack) and cold shrimp (me) tonight. Jack likes tots so he is having those and I will have one of my frozen veggies I imagine. I am not a particularly big eater of potatoes. They're ok, but other then McDonald's ff's which I stay away from for the most part, I am not a big potato eater.

    Jean: What fun to have new bedroom furniture. It is way down the line for us. Anything on the upper level is. Seems like problems keep adding up here as usual and right now our remodel fund is puny. It will eventually get fatter, but we pretty much want to do all the downstairs work at the same time except maybe painting and new furnture for the living room. I want to paint the walls gray with yellow, green, or orange accents in furniture. Jack is so pattern phobic that it has been hard getting him to agree on stuff. He wants solids period and that just isn't going to go. We are buying a new smaller 2 seat recliner and then two chairs. The recliner is solid and want patterned chairs but he doesn't like any of the fabrics I like. I just wish he would let me have at it as I know he would be happy with the results.

    Well girls, I haven't had breakfast and have clothing to fold and chores, etc, etc so need to get going. Have a great start to the week. Faye
  • Weigh Day

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    I will give you no more talk about my walking each day to bore you with but I just want you to be aware that I am keeping up with it and doing well. When things change and I can walk a long streak then I will brag about it. If I am able to stick to my plan by the 25th I will have worked up to 3 sessions of 20 minutes each. I will stick to that routine for awhile then make 2 sessions of 30 minutes each then work up to a one hour session. That is my plan anyway. If it is too much for me to handle then I can drop back to two or three sessions a day. I’ll just have to wait and see when the time comes.

    It is another day here in the ♥-Land with temperatures in the 40ºs and mid 60ºs as I type and “they” say it won't get any higher this day. We went be to Applebee’s after evening services last night where I picked a nice steak off the menu with WW in mind. After having just one taco for lunch dinner was very good especially. With all the wind we get off and on it brings with it itchy eyes and I was able to get some eye drops that work to cut out the itching. It has a good name of “Eye Itch Relief.”

    I get to go to the dentist this afternoon at one of the clock to get a spot filled in one of my back choppers. Other than that I don’t have any plans of going anywhere except to WW this evening. My scale shows me down and we shall see what transpires this evening at weigh in. We will probably go to I-hop after the meeting.

    My computer is still acting up and I tried to order that digital scale that folds away to nearly nothing that can be kept in a drawer and I was having a fit. Will ordered it for me on one of his computers. It is the one that they featured in the WW magazine awhile back that when unfolded it weighs up to 11 pounds. I want it to keep in a drawer in our future motor-home. That way I can still weigh and measure food items when we are on vacation easily without having to take along my large kitchen model. It is hard to explain what it looks like but if you want a peek you can go to josephjoseph.com and see it there. On the sight just type in digital scale. They only had 2 green ones and one white one left when I went there. Guess lots of folks ordered them after they were featured in the WW magazine. I went ahead and ordered one when I saw that they were running out when I went to check on them.

    JEAN I love the oxford cloth button down coller with one pocket long sleeved blouses with cufs and they aren't available in womens catalogues and such that I have searced in. Ah ~ but I found they on a site that sells clothing for Chefs. They have them in several colors and aren't real spendy either. Made exactly like the ones that are too big for me now. I am a happy camper for sure and will order one of each color they offer which are gray, white & yellow. The ones I shrunk out of are pink, yellow, mint green and white. I like wearing them with pants. I wouldn't worry too much where Sonny choses to sleep. Cats don't usualy pick a certain place all the time. When he isn't next to my feet on the bed Cecil loves to streatch out on the bedroom carpet in front of the bathroom door though. To get to the bathroom one has to step over him.

    DONNA FAYE on your great loss. Just think how much you will lose before your next cruise. You will be stilin'. They say walking is as good or better than jogging for one. I just do what I can and will introduce hand weights to my routine later. I want that little walking person WW gives after we chart our activity progress in meetings for 6 weeks. The walking person will look good on my bracelet next to my sneeker and barbell. They may have given you the wrong perscription of contacts if yours are blurey. Mickey D's does have the best fries don't they. But Freddies do also. I too stay away from them. Definite red light food there.

    PS ~ I'm back after being to WW and ~ drum roll please ~ I am down a goodly amount for me which is 2.2. That makes me just 'point 2' away from having lost 90 pounds. I am a happy camper.
    Everyone have a wonderful day
  • Good morning all. It is going to be another warm and lovely day here in Elvisville. I am jazzed about the nice weather, that's for sure. I guess they had to call the baseball game in Denver because the snow was up over their ankles! I guess you could lose the baseball in the snow!

    First off before anything else, I want to say Jack and my prayers go out to all the people in Boston and those injured and killed, their family and friends. Frighteningly enough, Tom's cousin runs that marathon and lives in the Boston area, but didn't run it yesterday. What a terrible tradgedy.

    I got most of the downstairs cleaned yesterday. Today is dust and sweep and mop floors. Fortune did one of his bounce all over the place and not sleep last night so I am pooped. I have to babysit him so Jack can have a good night's rest. Of course, Fortune is sound asleep on the recliner now.

    Maggie: Big congrats on the loss. Sometimes it is a real struggle, sometimes not so much. Hope you can figure out what is whacked about your computer. Our pc is acting up only in the fact you can't hit the back button and it back up. It does it then doesn't. Probably run a scan to see if anything is causing the problem.

    You all have a great Tuesday. I am going to get started on chores and such. Faye
  • Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is peeking out through the clouds and it doesn't look too windy yet. I need to run a few errands this morning and then vacuum fur bunnies. Spring has to be here judging from the way the cats are shedding.

    Maggie -- on losing another 2.2#s! You are doing so well on your road to thin. The fold up scale sounds like a nice gadget that won't take up much space. Lands End had shirts like you described, but not sure about the pocket part. Glad you found what you were looking for.

    "Gma" -- on another 4#s gone forever! You are doing great! We need to paint the three bedrooms and install new carpet before picking out any furniture. We never did replace the bed in Beth's room when she took hers so will move ours in there. Before anything happens I need to sort through the "stuff" stored in the two spare rooms. I can't believe how things multiply behind closed doors! We had four runners in the marathon and all are safe from the Sioux City tv reports. There were several from around the area and as far as we know all are safe. What a horrible thing to happen!

    I need to keep moving and accomplish a lot today since I was gone most of yesterday and last night. Have a terrific Tuesday and enjoy!
  • Titilating Chilly Tuesday

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫


    It is a chilly day here in the ♥-Land in the 30’s and low 40’s to top the day. Chilly spring weather. “They” say that we should not bother to plant a garden this year for it will get fried ~ so we will go ahead and do the pot thing we were thinking about so we can bring them under the awning when needed. The folks who planted their gardens early got their plants all frost killed. At least we can have some fresh tomatoes and a few other veggies by pot planting. We have been saving jugs of water by filling them when we turn on a faucet when we want hot water and it comes out cold first. Doesn’t take long to fill a milk jug that way for it takes a while for the water to get up from downstairs where the water heater is. My dentist said yesterday that he does the same thing with his water and will be pot gardening also. I really like my dentist for he is so much fun to talk with.

    I got a notice today that my little digital scale, that will weigh up to and including 11 pounds, has been shipped. I really think that is an important item to have for travel for my program doesn’t get left at home when we are vacationing. My little purse model weighs up to 1.1 pound. It was also featured in a past WW magazine. I am so glad they find those neat little gadgets for folks like me. They make my journey to thin more enjoyable. The WW leader here told me last evening that she has gotten the 100 pound loss charm for me when I reach that loss amount. That should be doable before the long hot summer is over with. It is hard for me to imagine that I will have lost 100 pounds ~ what a mile stone I will have reached. I must keep my FOCUS.

    The WW leader also asked me to show my charm bracelet to a new employee for she thought she would really like it. When I showed it to her and explained what each charm stood for ~ she loved it and wished she had made herself one to reflect her journey to thin also. It isn’t too late for she can still get the charms that pertain to her journey and I will take her the website address where I got most of mine. She really liked my “believe” charm and I told her I had that one before WW adopted that word. The charm has cut out letters BELIEVE with a frame around them. I wear my bracelet daily for it really does help me keep my FOCUS. I used to sleep with it on but don’t anymore for I was getting impressions of it on my face.

    A book just arrived in the mail that should be a good read which is called The Senior’s Guide to Metabolism along with a pamphlet with “101 Things You Should Never Do.” I will have some reading material to go through this day. These are from The Editors of FC&A Medical Publishing® in Peachtree City, GA.

    I am going to make a pasta salad with the leftover spaghetti noodles. I have combined a few recipe ideas for such a salad and it makes a good meal. It has chopped up veggies that we like in it, some hard salami sliced in match stick pieces, & chopped up WW string cheese with a light oil & vinegar dressing. Each time I make it is a different experience for I never use a recipe. It is one of those “shop in the fridge” things that are so good, What is on hand gets to be in the salad. I can figure the points by knowing what I put in the bowl and the amount of servings it will make.

    JEAN That same sun shows our dust bunnies frolicking about also. And the beat goes on and dusting never gets completely done for it just comes back again. I will have to check out what Lands End does have in shirts for women and compare prices before I order. I am glad your runners are all safe ~ my heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones in that mess. Sounds like you may have some things hiding in those rooms you can put out for a good yard sale when the weather permits. I think we will have a yard sale and get rid of some of the things we "thought" we just had to have once we moved back into a house. We can get lots of tables from next door to put things on so we don't have to have them on the ground. Folks can shop better when things are on tables I do believe.

    DONNA FAYE I think my computer is just "old" for I have had it for a few years and they aren't ment to last a long time. I think it will limp along fine until I get a new one. My virus protection does a good job so I don't belive I have any bugs in it. Isn't that just the way of it to have Fortune all bouncy and keeping you awake then sleeps in the day. Maybe you can grab a good nap while he is down and out. Ole Ragg Mopp has been asking to go "out back" in the wee hours of the morning now. As he ages I guess his bladder isn't holding like it used to. He wakes Will up for his early trips and I just keep snoozing away. I don't hear about it until Will tells me the next morning what transpired. I sleep good most nights.

    Hope everyone had a wonderful day
  • Good afternoon, ladies - a cooler 68 degrees today but back to the high 70s by the end of the week - with rain, of course. We've alread had 13 inches of rain this year.

    Friday, Saturday and Sunday Sandy and I will be teaching at the quilting retreat again. The ladies asked for a Christmas quilt so that is what they are getting. We've made thumbles for each one of them. A thumble is a pin cushion you wear on your thumb. I look forward to seeing these ladies again. They are mostly country ladies and such a refreshing change.

    I spent the weekend cleaning the downstairs - rearranged all the furniture and I have some for the next thirft store pickup, cleaned all the windows inside and out - not hard since mine open in, moved my sewing room back upstairs - just didn't feel right sewing downstairs, steam cleaned the kitchen, foyer and bathroom floor. I'm pooped but I earned 9 extra APs for all my hard work.

    Faye, maybe you need to make Fortune stay awake all day (good luck with that) so he'll sleep at night. I find good relief for my back with Bayer Back and Body tablets. They work better than anything else for me. I also use those hot patches when I'm away from home. All our mom and pop type restaurants are disappearing around here. It's sad. Thomas is sure a good looking red head! Congratulations on the weight loss!

    Jean, I'm so glad Sonny is home. I'll bet you have a really hard time getting him in the carrier to go to the vet again after that experience. You sure have a reasonably priced Vet.

    Maggie, you are doing so well that 100 lb. charm will be yours in a month or 2. I signed up for the Live Life Active Challenge, too. We can't win any prizes if we work for WW but it's still an incentive to do more. I also get Balance Rewards points for Walking with Walgreens. My FitBit syncs with Walgreens so I don't even have to remember to add the steps. I love the walking person charm from WW and am trying for the sneakers when I do the 8 k June 1 and then another when WW 5k takes place. Not too shabby for an old lady. I made the Italian Beef and Lentil stew that was in the WW Weekly a few weeks ago. It is so good and filling and the portion is 1-2/3 cups.

    Have a wonderful evening.
  • Good morning ladies. It is going to be a hot one here today again. I turned the ac on first thing as the house was hot and damp feeling when I got up. Lot's to try and accomplish today but we shall see what gets done with it being so warm.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GLORIA!!!

    I decided not to spend the astronomical amount that Direct tv wants for MLB extra innings this year (aroud $50 a month for like 6 months) so I paid for the sports package which should have covered the ability to watch Cubs games. We went along fine for about 5 days then they started saying it wasn't subscribed. Jack got on the phone with them for about an hour and like I told him before you get no where. Anyway, I canceled it because if we can't watch the games, there is no reason to pay the fee. I paid for us to listen to it on our PC. We can get all the games, on WGN radio for $20 total for the season.

    Jean: We won't be starting any of the remodel until probably 15-16. We want to do the whole thing at once. Probably in 15 we will get rid of all the furniture we want to get rid of, stuff on the walls, etc, etc and sort of start from scratch. We may have them come in early and put the flooring in what the condo association calls the living room, which we put dining room furniture in and never use. Anyway, we are making it a big pantry storage area. We have no storage and tiny closets. We have had leaks through the roof they aren't great about fixing right away let alone put on a new roof so we don't want a lot of stuff stored up in the attic and the garages leak something fierce so same issue. We have things stored both places in big rubbermaid containers like our Christmas decorations, stuff like that, but we can't just put stuff away. So this room is going to be shelving for small appliances, china, etc, a pantry for dry goods, cubes for my knitting, storage for Jack's tools, etc. Nothing will be permanent so that when we pass, the kids can take it out and it will be a living room again to sell it. We have lost huge value on the place, around $30,000 so it makes no sense to try and sell and move somewhere else at this point. We are going to just try and make our senior life as comfortable as we can.

    Susan: The night thing isn't a sleeping issue it is a heart issue. He has a congestive heart and dogs tend to wander at night with this problem we were told. Some nights he is like that some he stays settled. Also being as old as he is, he can't hold his bladder all night so he has to go out a couple times overnight. We can only love him until he passes away and put up with it. Jack "takes over" the babysitting on Friday and Saturday nights, but during the week he needs his rest. You have been a busy lady. Those little thumbles sound cute.

    Maggie: Glad you items have shipped. I am on a back order for some undies that I just love. I bought 5 pair and two have been back ordered for a couple weeks. They are all cotton and the waist and legs are covered in cotton over the elastic so they don't bind. The darn things are $13 a pair, but they are really comfortable for me. My tree budded out really late this year but my azaleas are huge this year with a lot of flowers. Fortune likes the azaleas and goes out to pee and goes over and sticks his head in them to smell them. I have seen him do this a ton of times and it is funny to watch him smell the flowers.

    Guess I better hop to it and get the day going. I put chicken in the crockpot with stock for dinner tonight. It always comes out so good without frying it. Jack get mashed tatos and I will fix a box of frozen veg I think. Have a good day. Faye
  • Wonderful Rainey Wednesday

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    It is raining off and on this day. Last night we got a gulley washer it came down so hard but they say it will all stop around noon time. I have the blaws this morning and don’t have a clue why. Maybe when I wake up more things will improve. I had a very good night’s sleep but have no interest to do anything today. There isn’t anything I really have to do this day so I’ll just ride with the tide and go with the flow. Now that reminds me of my surfing days. The cat came in all wet so it must be still raining some. His big ole feet left puddles the shape of them across my floor which I find interesting for I would have thought they would have been blotted by the time he walked down the carpeted hallway to here by my desk. He and Beanie don’t mind being out in the rain but ole Ragg Mopp stays indoors where it is nice and cozy.

    That pasta salad I made last evening was so good we are going to have it again today for I made enough for a few servings. I think I will thaw some lean burger meat and mix it up with some dry onion soup & other chopped veggies and make small meatloaves and bake them. They bake up nicely using a small muffin tin. Leftovers make tasty Panini sandwiches. I have some strawberries all sliced with a tad bit of Splenda® & balsamic vinegar sprinkled on them in the fridge that will be good with dinner. Eating fruit with dinner aids the digestion. On that pasta salad I used a vinegar – oil dressing that is1p+ per 2 Tbsp and very tasty. The dressing is one of the lightened versions out on the market now. I have one of those WW dressing containers that dispense 2T which is trick. I think I’ll get another one of those containers because I have more than one type of dressing opened it the fridge at a time. They come with recipes printed on the sides.

    My stomach is growling ~ must be time to eat something but noon isn’t here yet. I am still sipping on my morning joe. I just noticed that I have been given another sticker on my container which is “Keep calm, enjoy life.” I now have 13 different ones around and on the top of this containers lid. I think 3 more could be fitted on it. Most are just pictures but a few have sayings on them. My favorite one with a saying which is “Walk softly, speak tenderly, pray fervently.” That is also the first one they stuck on my cups lid. These are the little stick on things they put over the opening in the go cups to hold in the heat.

    DONNA FAYE I can just see your beautiful blooming trees in my minds eye. I wish Magnolia trees would grow here but we don't have enough moisture or humidity for them to do well. A few places have some Red Buds though. You will love having a pantry/storage area after you do get the remodelling done. What fun to get it all planned and mapped out.

    SUSAN Nice to see a post from you. I just know that you will have a great time teaching that group of quilters. I was thinking of trying that recipe and now will surely do so since you said it was good.

    Hope everyone had a wonderful day
  • Good morning girls! It is overcast but very warm and we are expecting thunderstorms this afternoon. Hopefully Jack will get home before it starts in. The people here drive so nuts makes me nervous when he is out on the road in bad weather.

    Yippeee our prescription sunglasses have been shipped. I gave up trying to go back to wearing my contacts. I am just wearing my back up regular glasses which are single vision. I just am put out that I bought 2 pairs of those led light reading glasses and now won't need them. Ahh well, what can you do? I don't have my yearly appt until August so just have to hang on until then to see what she can do. I may just need a bit stronger prescription and she did say I could wear one toric lense in one eye and a bifocal lense in the other eye.

    We are having spaghetti and meatballs for dinner tonight. I always use ground sirloin so there is very little fat and don't add a bunch of stuff to my meatballs. We use a lower fat bottled sauce too. We just haven't had pasta in awhile so thought it would be nice.

    Not much other news from down here. We just keep clicking the days off until the cruise. You all have a nice Thursday and take care! Faye
  • Titilating Chilly Windy Snowey Thursday

    GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    It is going to stay in the 30ºs here in the ♥-Land with the ever present wind. Not a day to be working outside for sure. I took a sip of my morning coffee and it tasted absolutely awful I couldn’t drink it. Will said he had not used “filtered” water and that was the cause of the taste. Water right out of the tap is horrible to drink. We have a filter on the faucet and also have some bottles of water we use for drinks. He was half asleep when he made coffee this morning early for the dogs had gotten him up before he was ready to leave the comfort of the bed.

    I read a news article today that was a hoot. Some company in France has manufactured a fork that vibrates when you eat too fast. You can also hook it up to a computer to get a read out of “whatever.” They have the right idea that folks should eat slower anyway. They think their fork is the answer. You get them by making a $90 donation to some organization. No I don’t want one so I won’t be getting one. I eat very slow as it is and my chop sticks do a good job of helping me do just that. I can e-mail you that article if you would like to read about it.

    Here is another funny: From the editors of a book for sky divers ~ IMPORTANT NOTICE: If you are one of hundreds of parachuting enthusiasts who bought our Easy Sky Diving book, please make the following correction: on page 8, line 7, the words "state zip code" should have read "pull rip cord."

    Oh the wind doth blow and rattle the trees and windows. It made the rain drops whip against the living room picture window and made the dogs go over there to investigate. And here is a cute one ~ just a few minutes ago when Will was out in the kitchen making a fresh pot of coffee the cat was in here eating and Beanie was lying beside the cat’s table. Will made something go “bang” out in the kitchen and the cat’s head whipped around and he froze in that position listening and Beanie hopped to his feet then they both ran down the hall to “investigate.”

    I am going to make a crock pot roast with veggies for dinner this day. Will’s day to work at the museum and then he has a board meeting afterwards so a piece of meat out of the freezer will cook nicely by the time he comes home and has dinner. I will put it on to cook when I get off here. For my lunch today I will finish off that yummy pasta salad.

    DONNA FAYE I mostly wear my perscription sun glasses and couldn't tell you right now just were my clear perscription glasses are. I see fine in the house and use readers for close work. Your eyes will get a nice rest from those contacts while you wait to see what gives with them.

    Hope everyone had a wonderful day
  • Good Afternoon, Flowers! We've had rain, sleet, snow, and the usual wind today so far. Right now it is seriously snowing and the ground is covered but it is melting on the street and driveway. I'm glad the church ladies canceled/postponed the salad luncheon for today, and I didn't have to go out. For once I hadn't made the salad or we would have been eating it for a long time! I've been sorting through catalogs and decluttering the visible area if anyone would stop by, which isn't likely on a day like today. The bedrooms are another story. The rummage sale stuff can go to the church on Monday so I will work on that over the weekend.

    Maggie -- I think planting your garden in pots sounds like a good idea! Our one neighbor plants several pots of tomatoes then shares with us. What all did you put in your pasta salad? That is what I was going to make for today, and bought the same stuff for another salad I have to make for Saturday. Now I have enough pasta to make a BIG salad. I can make coffee the same each day, using the same water, etc., and some days it has no taste to it.

    Susan -- I know you will enjoy teaching at the quilting retreat. Christmas will be here before we know it, and the ladies will be all set! Enjoy your squeaky clean downstairs. My windows are such a mess but there's no point in washing them quite yet. Sonny has started licking his paws and other parts of his anatomy, so I'm hoping he will keep it up. He is quite a bit calmer than before he got sick so I don't know if that is due to the neutering or the fact he is feeling better. Bob can walk by him and he doesn't run, just moves over a little if Bob gets too close.

    "Gma" -- Direct TV would have to pay me to watch sports of any kind. It's good that you have your remodeling project planned out so well. There are a few things I would have done differently after the fact, but didn't think about them in advance, and neither the contractor nor the electrician made suggestions. Where did you order your undies? I'm thinking about trying cotton; although I've never worn cotton I've had such dry skin this winter and itch! I wish you could share some of your "very warm" weather with me. Glad your sunglasses are on the way!

    The mailman just drove by so guess I will go see if anything interesting is there. If I want something to be picked up from my mailbox, and processed out the same day, the mailman has to be here by 3. That doesn't always happen so Bob has been going to work by way of the post office. Business people are having a fit because they get their po mail after 10:30 and outgoing mail has to be back by 3:30. Guess I should be thankful we get mail delivered at all.

    Hope you all are enjoying a nice day!







  • Finally Friendly Friday

    GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS☺♫

    Currently it is 39ºs and not expected to get higher than the mid 50ºs this mostly sunny day. I got my little food weigh thingie yesterday and it is trick. As advertized it weighs like it is supposed to and folds up nicely. It weighs only 5 ounces itself. I will put it with the items that will go in the motor home.

    Have any of you tried the BelVita Breakfast Biscuits? I have a dollar off coupon for some and am thinking of using it to try them. I think from the picture they come in 5 different flavors ~ they are whole grain. Now is to find them in the market but they say they are in the cookie-cracker isle in Wal*Mart stores. I’ll have my shopper take a look and he can pick the flavor. I am hoping they are points+ friendly. The coupon came in my latest copy of Eating Well magazine.

    I just opened a new tube of Fluocinonide cream and 4 inches instantly landed in my hand. What a waste for I only use about a 16th of an inch for an itchy rash I get sometimes on my “bad” leg in one little area and it is a prescription medicine. The tube doesn’t look like it has lost any of its contents either so it must have been put in there under intense pressure. That, my friends has never happened with any of the former tubes of the “stuff” I have had. The tubes are of the metal kind and not the plastic kind where you can’t tell how much is left inside. I have never used a tube up before it expires. Before they gave me a tube as big as a toothpaste tube and it never looked like any was gone by the time it expired. This time they gave me a real small tube more the size of the sample sized toothpaste tubes. I doubt I will have used it all up before the expiration date on the crimp at the bottom. I am really happy to have this much smaller tube.

    For the dinner meal this day we will be having a re-run of that wonderful roast meal I made last evening. That, my friends, makes me happy for I don’t have to come up with a menu for dinner. Not that I don’t like to do that but sometimes it is nice not to have to.

    Schwans® no longer carries those little individual tubs of berry cobbler that are only 4 Points+ each with that yummy crumb crust sprinkled on top of a medley of berries. Four servings came in the box so we do have a couple servings left in the freezer but wanted another box today. They sometimes rotate things out of their offerings and usually it is something I don’t buy anyway but this time it was something that we like. They will probably be adding some new items for summer will be coming along soon.

    I have not fully gotten into gear this day but am slowly waking up to a nice spring day. We are planning to go shoot some caps this afternoon at the range. I’ll work my exercising in and around that adventure. We are planning a trip to Texas soon. I think it is next Tuesday we will be heading out. So I won’t miss going to WW we will go Tuesday and probably come back Thursday or Friday. Just a quick get-away and to see our friends in that state will be a good and fun outing.

    Will is back from the store and brought a box of those breakfast things mentioned above which are the Apple Cinnamon ones. They come 4 to a serving sealed in an envelope and there are 5 servings in the box. Each serving of 4 biscuits is 6 Points + so I will be eating 2 of them for 3 Points + with some fruit and yogurt and have a good meal. Right now I am having my two with my coffee and they are yummy. I can see we will be trying the other flavors they have. I can imagine these will be great with slices of apple.

    JEAN Into this pasta salad went chopped celery, carrots, tomatoes, green onions, fresh parsley, cut up WW cheese sticks, hard salame, and a low point vinegar & oil dressing. It was really quite yummy. We have to use bottled or filtered water for drinking or cooking or that clorine taste comes through. I don't know if they use too much but it sure does smell like it. Guess too much is better than too little. Our mailman doesn't deliver at the same time each day and I don't think we have the same one every time that does this route. Guess it depends on which end of the route they start on.

    DONNA FAYE & SUSAN Hope all is well with the two of you.

    Hope everyone had a wonderful day
  • I swear I came in here this morning and posted. Yikes! It went from 85 to 51 degrees in about half an hour last evening. It is in the upper 40's now and it is back to the furnace for a couple days. I left it off until just a bit ago and got so cold I moved the temp up to 71. I sit around in socks, sweater and blanket when it is cold.

    Jack had to work fairly late last night so our dinner was late, but he really liked the meatballs I made. He said he would have liked oregano, but I told him I usually put in italian seasoned bread crumbs and didn't know I was out. I didn't want to chance putting in too much for it to ruin the taste so they were a bit plainer, but not dry at all and I used ground sirloin. We had a tasty spaghetti and meatball night. Tonight we are going to have a take out roast beef sandwich from arbys. I love their arbys sauce. I would like to try their rueben, but I hate corned beef and they only have a turkey/corned beef combo rueben not a turkey rueben alone. With a few ff chips I think we will have a nice no washing dirty dishes meal!

    Jean: I bought these from Junonia.com. It is geared toward larger women who exercise and such and their stuff is expensive, but I bought my swimsuit and my swimskirt I wear over it there. The undies I bought are their comfort edge classic brief. I have been wearing cotton for awhile because it wicks moisture away better and having spotting and stuff with the female, I can bleach white cotton undies. They come in black and white, but the smallest size may be too big for you. I have a lot of junk in the trunk! I know the country has been having some wicked weather. Chicago got half a foot of rain in one day in some areas. They even closed some of their expressways because of massive flooding. I guess Indiana got sunk too, especially around Kokomo and Indianapolis. We got rain hard for half an hour or so but not as long as their were predicting. Now we have to climb back into warmer weather. Glad Sonny is getting around and maybe settling in this time.

    Maggie: I bought the chocolate Belvita biscuits just last Sunday. I like them. I eat them with a piece of fruit for breakfast or for a snack. I thought about trying the chocolate ones with a dab of peanut butter for a snack too. I found them in the cookie section of the commissary so I would look their to buy them. Let me know what flavor you get and if you like it and I might try another flavor. I figured them to be 5pts a pack of 6 cookies.

    Well, Jack should be home anytime now so I should go. Hope weather gets better for all of us and starts having the lovely spring days instead of cold ones. Have a great weekend. It is shampoo living room this weekend since Jack was bothering him last weekend and Fortune has puked in a couple places. He spits up bile and it is the devil to get it up. Faye
  • Good Afternoon, Flowers! I just typed my two cents worth and it disappeared into cyber space. Not much newsy from my corner of the world today. We started the day with sunshine but it has disappeared now. Most of the snow has melted and the grass is turning green. We have flowers coming up; cold weather, rain, and possible snow is predicted for next week so I hope they survive. I've got laundry going and really need to vacuum the furry floor, can't believe how much the cats are shedding. Sonny has started giving himself a bath, lets Bob pet him in a weak moment, and has been sharing the recliner with Ernie. Ernie isn't too happy about that part. Sonny is definitely a different cat after being sick, or neutering, don't know which.

    Maggie -- I will have to look for the BelVita Biscuits as I've never heard of them. I've had the very same thing happen with tubes of toothpaste and hand cream. This morning I opened a new bottle of juice and evidently squeezed it too hard because the bottle gave way and juice slopped all over. I had a drawer open just a bit and of course it spattered in there too. A trip to Texas will be a fun thing to plan and look forward to. My pasta salad had pretty much the same stuff except I didn't put any meat nor cheese in it. I will have to try that next time.

    "Gma" -- My furnace is still running off and on, and I've got my space heter going right now. I've been seriously thinking about having the furnace cleaned this spring since we are almost 3 years over the estimated predicted life span when we bought it in '95. I just hope it doesn't quit when it's below 0 or above 90! I will check out the website and see what I can find. I used to order from a Hanes catalog but quit getting those several years ago when I quit wearing pantyhose to school.

    I need to keep moving or I'll sit here the rest of the afternoon and surf. Enjoy the rest of your day!