Steel Magnolias #3

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! I've been to church and came home in drizzle; I had a meeting this afternoon, left here in rain, but nothing afterwards. Also have card club tonight on the other side of the lake which won't be fun driving if the weather does what the weatherman said it is supposed to . . . wind, rain, then snow on top or the rain.

"Gma" -- I'm sure Jack enjoyed having the day off in honor of MLK! I will send positive vibes that your car repairs will cost minimal and you will have money left over. Someday we will make it to Vegas, but it will have to be in an "off" Maui year. Bob just mentioned making a trip to AZ which doesn't excite me (relatives), but I could visit with some of my snowbird friends. We have lots of pregnant girls in high school too, only they're not black. They also think everything should be free.

Maggie -- I miss the specialty shops in the big cities, but will take my quiet rural living any day. I just bought Ernie a new toy -- it has 2 catnip fish on a rather long string with a bell in the middle. He takes after the bell and drags them around with him. I do miss having grapefruit, and I'm surprised that oj is ok since it is also a citrus fruit.

Susan -- What are you up to today?

Not much is newsy from my corner of the world. I need to think about supper since Bob will be home soon. I won't eat because we always have food at card club. Have a relaxing evening!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies. Just wanted to let you know I am still alive but sick. I had a bad asthma attack yesterday and Glory had to take me to the emergency room. I'm just resting today. I do feel some better but I have to do nebulizer treatments every 3 hours and I'm back on Prednisone. I'll post more later.

[gma22]

Good morning to you ladies. We have rain again today, but the temps are up today so it isn't cold.

I got the downstairs cleaned and now except for the footprints from Jack's shoes my house is clean. I will have to drag out the steam mop, but might as well wait until the rain stops because he more than likely will walk on it again without taking off his shoes. It is a man thing I think.

Susan: Oh gosh, I hope you get to feeling better real soon. Take it nice and easy and get those treatments in. You come back in here and visit when you feel up to it and not a moment more.

Ok, listen ladies, I have been thinking of this for a long time and didn't know how to broach it, but I am going to come right out and just talk about it. Susan's latest health scare makes me more determined to do it. I think now that we have been friends online for quite awhile that it would freak us out if any of us just disappeared off radar so to speak. I have already asked Jack that if I would pass away that he email Jean and then Jean can pass it on to you gals. Please ask someone to do the same for you to me and I will pass it on to the other two.

Jean: I desperately want to go back to Vegas, but maybe next year. I did work on our trip this year as I found out the Oak Ridge Boys are going to be in Branson around the time we planned our trip and Jack perked right up when I asked if he would like to see them. I did have to change our hotel reservations by a week, but nothing else major as I haven't bought any non refundable show tickets yet. Yah, send me some of those vibes as it sure would be nice. We have to pay $65 to have the darn thing towed and though Jack has gone out and started it, the battery finally died so we will have to pay to have it recharged as it is a new battery, then pay the ridiculous amount then charge to put the car on that diagnostic thingy and that's besides the repairs. Anytime Jack doesn't have to work he enjoys the day. Poor guy is to the point where he is counting years, months, days, etc until his retirement.

Maggie: I am sorry, the recipe doesn't say how many servings it makes. We have a large asian community here so it is pretty easy to get asian foods, spices and such. Also, the base has a nice variety since so many Philipinos join the Navy. We also have a nice German food area. I am a bit young to ever have seen Elvis in person. I always liked him, but he died when I was 24 and Elvis wasn't very popular for kids in high school in the early 70's. By that time, he was bloating up from the drugs and such and having trouble entertaining.

I think Kelly will be able to wear these socks in the dark and be seen! I think I will set the colors for her before I give them to her so they don't run. Like I said these are hand dyed and I would hate for the colors to bleed or dull when washed.

I guess I should get a move on. I am watching a White Collar marathon this morning and catching up on all my missed episodes! I want to get upstairs to get some dusting done. Seems like there is always dust! Have a great day! Faye

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is a cloudy 27 degree day here in the Heartland that feels like 20 because of the NNE wind at 6 mph. Will is at the doc seeing about is knee and having the prior to operation tests done. All is quiet except Beanie is playing with a plastic bowl that he just loves to bang around. I showed a loss of ~ drumroll please ~ 3 POUNDS at weigh in last evening. Yep this new program is working for me. I plan on keeping my focus this week and continue my losses. I know, I know I hit snags when being OP and don't show a loss when I think I should but it will come ~ I have my self convinced but get bummed anyway.

SUSAN I am so sorry you are feeling so poorly. Take care and do as the doctor says and rest as long as you need. It is wonderful you have a friend as Glory to take you for help.

JEAN I can just see Earnie with his toy. Cats are such a treat to watch. Grapefruit, isn't it funny that we want the forbidden fruit. Grapefruit does have some things in it or more of something that oranges don't, I do believe. I too like living in a small place but just want to know where to get the things in bigger places that I want. Or through catalogues. Or have someone who lives in a city get it for me. My dear friend out in CA told me that in the city where she lives ~ many of the stores we liked to frequent have gone belly up and are no longer in existence. Will does have a friend out there that has a knife shop that is still in business but barely.

DONNA FAYE That recipe looks like it would serve 4. I will know for sure when I make it the first time though by the volume it produces. Once there was a gal on a thread called Cuties way back when they first started and one day she was working as a Chef that came to folks homes and prepared their meal and put it in the fridge so they could warm it all up when they got home form work. She just disappeard from the thread. After awhile I wrote a letter to her. I got a letter, nice long one in fact, back explaining what had transpired. The letter was from her husband telling me she had passed away. Will and I had met the couple once and shared a meal at a restaurant about a year before. They lived in Kansas and we were living in Tennessee. They came to TN on vacation and we met them there. So your idea of keeping in touch is a very good one. I will tell Will to call all of y'all if I chance to expire. In fact I will put your phone numbers on my bulletin board so he can find them. I have everyones phone number except Susans.

I am off to do some glass work. I have an order that I need to build. So I had better get at it. Type at y'all later. Have a great day ladies. Make of it what you will.

[Jean]

Good Evening, Flowers! It's another COLD gloomy day in my corner of the world. I spent close to 6 hours working in the church office today; the 2010 giving statements needed to be in the mail and I was "it" to do it. Bob has a meeting there at 5:15 so have no clue what is for supper or when he will be home.

Susan -- I'm so sorry about your asthma attack yesterday! Did anything in particular cause it? It's a good thing Glory was able to take you to the ER. We do worry about you when you aren't here.

"Gma" -- Having someone notify the others in case something happens is a good idea. Bob used to do all of our car repairs, but since the 'technology' has taken over about all he can do is put gas in the tank, and air in the tires, etc. I get computer updates on my car now -- even told me my front tires needed more air which I knew because the warning light and announcement came on. How do you set the dye in Kelly's socks?

Maggie -- on losing 3#s last week! That is a great loss and should keep you motivated this week. My motivation has gone AWOL for too long. Every time we go to the Sioux City mall there is at least one empty store. They change so often I forget who is where from one time to the next. There seems to be a lot of "mod" clothing stores catering to the fashion conscious younger set. Who was the Cutie Chef? If I ever knew her I have forgotten.

Guess I will watch the news and see what the weatherman is guessing for weather. Hope you all have a relaxing evening and a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning to you all. I am hoping the rain has finally moved through. It is fairly warm in the house this morning though it says it is 37 outside at the moment.

Maggie: That is wonderful. I am so glad you like the new program and what it is doing for you. I will have to send you the new number as you probably have the old phone before we went to our Iphones. I hope they can get Will fixed up. I know Jack is really miserable. He is having more and more pain with the knee. He has a whole laundry list to go through with his doctor. He really needs the hand and the knee fixed, but to do both of them at the same time would make it impossible to walk with crutches. I am about to the point though of having him ask them to just fix everything all at once and we will deal with getting him to the bathroom and such. He will have to sleep downstairs anyway because he won't be able to get upstairs to the bed.

Jean: You set color by putting your garment in a cold water bath with vinegar and leaving it for an hour or so then just launder. I probably overdo on the vinegar, but I want to make sure it won't run and the vinegar won't hurt the fabric. I probably use a cup to a half sink full of cold water. I have never found anything that does a better job and never had it fail. Boy you sure went from helping out to being at the church all the time didn't you? Jack pretty much only does flat tire changes, puts gas in and that is it. He doesn't do oil changes and stuff like that we just take it in. Our car tells us when we need oil changes, tire pressure and stuff too. I told Jack that new cars practicaly drive themselves. I am a car worrier so I like the fact that if something is wrong I have some little icon that is going to light up.

Susan: Hope you are resting and getting your strength and air back. We miss you, but want you totally feeling better before you feel you have to come back in here.

I saw on Facebook that my brother had a pretty bad car accident. He went to work on Monday night (he is an electrician for Ford) and got run off the road and went down into a creek. He has to have outpatient knee surgery, but other than that he is just banged up a lot and bruised. Thank heaven's nothing worse happened. I have to talk to him and find out if the person left the scene or not. It was around 10 pm so it would have been easy to do if he was on a back road to the plant.

Well gals, I am going to go and sit and knit. I found if Kelly was to have all the colors on the skeing I would have to cut the yarn and remove one color to get to the next, which is what I am doing on the final part. I have about 10 rows of foot to do then do the toe and I have two colors left so I am going to finish the foot in the orange/salmon color then remove it from the skein and do the toe in the pink. These socks look like a crayon box! Have a great hump day gals and keep warm and dry! Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The is shining and it's a cold -3 degrees. There is NO wind right now so it doesn't look all that cold. I went out in the garage this morning and it reeked of gasoline. Bob had gotten gas for the snow blower last night and it tipped over in the back of the pickup. I asked him about anything that might spark and cause an fire because one of the teachers had that happen with an old refrigerator. He threw snow in/on it, but it still stinks out there. The garage door is open a little so I hope it goes away. He may have to go through the carwash with the cover open to wash away the smell.

"Gma" -- I know it would be a challenge, but it would be nice if Jack could get all of the surgery done at once. I don't mind helping at church, but do it on my own schedule. The secretary is going to be gone for a week in Feb. and asked if I would cover for her. I have other commitments on 2 afternoons so she will find someone else to warm her chair. I'd rather have something to do than just sit there, but I usually have magazines or a book to take along when I'm "in charge." Yesterday it was really quiet in the office and I could work at the long conference table. I'm sorry about your brother's accident -- he's lucky the water wasn't deep as he could have drowned. Scary to be sure! As I've said before, you have far more patience with your knitting than I ever would.

Susan -- I hope you are feeling lots better today!

Maggie -- What is on your agenda today . . . cooking and otherwise?

I need to run some errands this morning so had better get a move on. Enjoy your day today, and stay warm!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD LATE MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is a cloudy day of a temp 21 which feels line 11 because of the 9 mph E wind. Burrr. We watched a new movie out last night that I highly recommend if you like Angelina Jolie. It is called SALT. She is a CIA operative with lots of problems. I won't tell you anything about it because you just may want to watch it. Very action packed. Something has the neighborhood dogs sounding off. Ours inside don't participate while inside, thank goodness. I have not much on my agenda this day except some glass work. Will doesn't even know the time to be there tomorrow as of yet. They said they will call him sometime today. Wonder why that is.

DONNA FAYE You don't have to answer that e-mail I sent you. DUH when the first three numbers registered I knew it had to be a TN number. I'll email you mine and Wills numbers for I am not sure if you have them or not. Vinegar is great! I have a booklet of "Over 100 Helpful Household Hints." Vinegar is good for lots of things. Lots. We always keep a jug of it in the cleaning supplies cupboard.

JEAN It is good that you have that volunteer work to go to help your day be fulfilled. You can manage it as you wish for you have other things to attend to that you want to do. Jan is the name of the gal I spoke of. She was the secretary to the att general for the state (Katherine Sebilius) here in KS; who now is the head of the Department of Human Services in DC. That was before she started her "cooking" business. Her husband managed the grain elevators in their area. Hopefully that may help jog your memory. Oh, and she painted her kitchen navy blue. How could you forget that! Navy blue.

SUSAN Howdy, just here thinking of you taking good care of yourself so to get back to exact.

All y'all have a lovely afternoon. Type some later.

[Jean]

Maggie -- Par for the course, our sunshine has disappeared and the clouds have moved back in. It's warmed up to 8 degrees with a wind chill of -12. Did I say I was ready for spring? Jan must have been before my time with the Cuties because I sure don't remember her or the navy kitchen. In fact, the only ones I remember was a gal in CO (2 dogs ?) who moved to TX, and one from CA who had met each other I think. I also remember one from MT and that she was quite a bit younger with small children. Anyhow I don't remember their names, just that they all seemed to know each other pretty well. I wonder if that thread just disappeared? I have to get a couple church birthday cards ready to mail an have bell choir practice at 5. I was kind of hoping it would get called off since we are playing simple tunes that we have played before -- no challenge there.

[gma22]

See us at #4