Hello ladies. Very quick pop in to say hello. Heartbroken over the shooting deaths in CT. This was a very disturbed person, and it's terrible he had weapons seemingly readily available to him. Can't comprehend how horrible this is for the victims' families & the survivors.

Got my gifts shipped today, yay. The rest should be a piece of cake, right??

More tomorrow. Off to lunch.

GOOD MORNING LADIES OF THE WORLD.

LOVELY RAINY DAY HERE ONCE AGAIN.
THIS WEEK IS GOING TO BE A NOTHER WET ONE.
GUESS IT'S BETTER THAN SNOW FOR THE SHOPPERS.
JUST WHEN I THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE GETTING OFF THE SINUS MEDS

I ORDERED MY STAMPS ONLINE & HAVE STILL NOT ARRIVED.
CALLED THE LOCAL POST OFFICE AND THEY SAID THERE IS A DELAY THEY ARE SO SWAMPED.
TOLD ME I SHOULD HAVE COME TO THEIR PLACE. DUH!!!
WHEN I EXPLAINED, HE WAS APOLOGETIC. ROFLMAO

I HAD A BOX OF GIFTS TO RE-GIFT IN THE LINEN CLOSET.
GOT THEM OUT AND BAGGED THEM UP.
JUST LITTLE TRINKETS AND STUFF.
JEN HAS A FEW FRIENDS THAT SHE CAN SURPRISE .
THIS YEAR THEY'LL VISIT A FEW FRIENDS IF RICHIE CAN STAY AWAKE FOR 2 HOURS.LOL
NOT MUCH ELSE IS NEW.
JUST HANGING AROUND LIKE AN OLD BAT
HAVE A SUPER DAY.





CEEJAY....YOU GOT AS LOT DONE ON YOUR WEEKEND.
I SEE YOU'RE ALL READY FOR SANTA TO VISIT
SORRY ABOUT THE 12 HOUR DAYS.
SENDING LOTS OF ENERGY YOUR WAY
I AM VERY GLAD TO HEAR THE AUNT IS IMPROVING




HAPPY....THE SAD PART OF ALL THIS IS THE GUNS BELONGED TO THE MOTHER!
I KEEP HEARING THIS ON THE TV WHEN I SURF THE DIAL.
I AGREE TOO THAT THERE IS JUST OO MUCH VIOLENCE IN THE MEDIA TODAY.
GAMES AND MOVIES ARE HORRIBLE. THE MOVIES ARE THE WORST.
MUST WE BE SO REALISTIC WITH THE VIOLENCE?
PEOPLE TELL ME THEY GET SICK WATCHING IT.
THEN NEXT THING THEY TELL ME THEY WATCHED TO PART TWO!!!
MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOUR HUBBY.
IT IS AN AWFUL THING TO GO THRU. SCARY.
HOPE HE FINDS AN ANSWER.
BUT IN MY CASE...THERE STILL IS NONE EVEN WITH A HOLTER MONITOR.
SAYING A PRAYER FOR HIM & THE MONITOR!







LAURA....GOOD WORK GETTING THE GIFTS OUT.
NOW THE REST AS YOU SAY SHOULD BE A PIECE OF CAKE!
BY THE WAY....YA GOT ANY???

Morning
Another work day. Nothing new since yesterday.

Good Afternoon ladies. I am here at work, trying to keep my eyes open. I am exhaused, could not sleep last night, flet like I was awake and tossing all night, started to fall asleep right wehn it was time to get up. Not much going on for me, just work and Family. my brother and SIL took my older three overnight Friday to Saturday and took them to see the Hobbit. That left DD3 with Daddy since I was at work. DH took her to see Wreck-it ralph in 3 d. they had a blast.

DS also had a b-day party for a set of twins...poor guy had the mom that embarrased him. I thought it ended at 9pm, so when I showed up to pick him up he wanted to stay because they had not had cake and were all still hanging out. I was a good mom and came back an hour later to get him.

So, I better go back to work. hope everyone has a great weekend!

Howdy all,

Looking at the pictures of these adorable little kids killed at the school - been tearing up all morning. While we'll never probably understand the whole story - still don't understand why the mother had these automatic assault rifles in the first place and then did not secure her guns when she knew her kid had big time mental issues. Just heartbreaking for the families of the victims - adult and children. I swear we are headed to Sodom and Gommora and it's time to cleanse the world of evil people...

We don't get very good radio reception at the store and pretty much the only station with Christmas music is the Christian one. Like most radio stations, they play the same 20 - 25 song list over and over. Heard a new song I like - Amy Grant - Breath of Heaven. Most people - well the ladies - who come into the store if it's playing comment on how much they like the song. I looked up the lyrics - an interesting take on a Christmas song.

Yesterday I limped out of the store - all I could do to stand on my foot the last hour. DH rubbed some medicine he had for his feet on my sore foot and it feels a bit better today. I woke up all achy feeling again - my first thought was that we had another storm coming through. It's gray and damp - wet but just above freezing which will be a real mess if the temperature drops a few more degrees. Hoping it hovers just above.

I have to work tomorrow, then I am off for 3 days. We are having our Christmas party/dinner from the store tomorrow night. I hope it will be nice and not awkward for the partners of the employees - will try to keep the "shop talk" to a minimum. I am looking forward to a glass of wine myself and a good steak of course. Won't have enough time to go home and clean up so I'll have to get changed at the shop unless she lets me off an hour early.

DH has a pot of chili on which smells wonderful. However, while he held off on adding habanero peppers at my request (begging actually), apparently we didn't notice that the chili powder is medium hot and the chili has a kick to it, so I won't be eating more than a spoonful or two My holiday tablecloths I ordered from Kohl's back around Thanksgiving finally came in so I have to decide if I want to re-do my dining room table decorations to put the new linens on. I'm thinking not. I have cards to do and right after I post this I'm going to work on my Christmas letter insert. A nap would be nice too but that will just be too hard to fall asleep tonight.

Ceejay - hope the work day goes by quickly.

Mel - I'm sorry the post office is so slow - I could have mailed them to you faster. They were pretty fast on the mail order when I called in TN - not sure if they have one place processing orders or if it's done locally. Our post office is pretty backed up too. I thought for sure they'd be open longer these last few weeks for the Christmas rush but they are doing the 10 - 4:30 and you just better wear comfy shoes for waiting. Thank you for your comments about the palpitations. I told DH - just so that he accepts the idea that he might have to just deal with it although when it races, it's really booming in there. Told him sometimes the meds they give you might cause side effects / problems more intense than the original issue. I hope Ritchie can stay awake on the visits with friends - I'm sure Jen looks forward to it and the poor guy just wants to "visit" the back of his eyelids Even my 18 year old co-worker was complaining how tired she was today - goes to show you these long work days get to everyone eventually.

Laura - glad you got your gifts shipped out. That's a big relief, isn't it?

Now I should get busy myself. to the rest of the worldies.

Morning all,
The weekend passed by and I had a very relaxing one. No one bothered me and I bothered no one and I went to the markets and got the last of the Christmas presents.
Whinged a bit to the people in reception in that while I love my unit - it's spacious, well appointed and very clean, it is also very dark, gets no natural daylight and it is at the end of a deadend street with 4 other high rises all very close to each other. One unit has a party, everyone gets to suffer. Guy over the street starts up his remote control car, we all get the engine noise x 5. Since my contract has been extended, I wanted to do a deal with them to change to the other side of the building and get a decent deal on a long term stay. It seems that I am to be shifted tomorrow to another unit a couple of floors higher and looking out to sea.

I was going to go into work early this morning, but can't be bothered. I'll get in at start time, and finish at finish time and that will be that. They are so disorganised they won't even notice that I am later than normal.

I'll do my personals later. Better get some face on and get some shoes.

Hello ladies....what a whirlwind weekend....some things accomplished, others not so much. Shopping and lunch with DD and lil man, got home, fixed turkey manhattens...turkey breast had been in crocker all afternoon...So yummy. Lil man spent the night last night so momma and dada could have a date night. He fell asleep around 7:30 then woke at 10:30, was having nothing do to with his playpen...so ended up in be with me and pappaw....he slept the rest of the night with his head in my back and his feet in pappaws back. I didn't sleep too soundly, kept worrying if I was going to roll on him. He woke at 7, fed him brekkie, changed his diaper and took him back to mommie at 9 so we could go see the Hobbit at 10. 3D. Pretty good, it started out kind of slow, but got better toward the end. Then off to Cracker barrell for shopping and a late lunch. Home again to make Christmas Rock candy and a ham for the pitch in at work on Tuesday. Here I sit..typing and Sass asleep in my lazyboy...lol Better post before I lose this.

GUess I left out some things on the above sentences...read between the lines...too tired to care. Sorry.

Shad - hope you get better living quarters. 3 months is a long time to live in the dark - I had a cubicle once that was in the far corner of the floor - dark gray walls and no natural light made it to my place. It was horrid. Difficult to realize how much sunlight improves things. Having a view of the sea would be quite nice I imagine. Even if you have an east facing room and catch the early morning sun.

Annie - I'd be nervous sleeping with the baby too - also afraid I'd roll over all thought I'm sure he felt as snuggly safe as he possibly could. Christmas rock candy sounds interesting - is that the stuff you make with a string, sugar water and a paper clip?

I did cave and take a nap now it's after midnight and I'm not tired and I have to be up in a few hours. Bad me. Doesn't help that I had a lively conversation with DH a few minutes ago. I will fall asleep trying to figure out how I'm going to work all day, close the store and clean, get myself changed and cleaned up for dinner and over to the restaurant when I'll need at least an hour more than I'll have. Anyway - might not have time to post in the morning. If not, I will catch up later. Have a good Monday kids...

Happy - Do not tell me that your conversation had to do with a certain post on facebook which you DH refuses to acknowledge that gun control doesn't mean you can't own a gun??? It's okay. I've deleted the post. We will go on to something else, like dairy cow milking of which he will have black cows and I will have white cows and we will be diametrically opposed as to how they should be separated from their milk.

Annie, not a good idea to have the baby in bed. He slept well, but seems to be the only one that did.

Mel - apparently so. So why weren't they locked up and put away from prying fingers? Okay, I have got off my soap box. I'm back to normal now.
Hope Jen and Richie manage to have fun with friends.
Good idea regifting. I should look up some of my stuff and see what I can do with it.
Funny how people get sick with watching the violence on movies but do nothing like boycotting violent movies. Nothing like drops in box office takings to make Hollywood sit up and say, we need to make different movies.
Same with games, parents need to check what the kids are up to instead of leaving the computer to babysit.
Okay off that soapbox too.

Ellen - what a good mum you are. Tired and all you went back for him.

Laura - don't bet on it that the rest will be a doddle. I keep thinking of things and people that I have to get things for - usually just after the long sigh and the heartfelt 'finished'

Ceejay - you sure have been busy.

That's about it. Have to pack for my move tomorrow. I have to pack everything up and leave it by the door and the staff will come and shift me tomorrow morning. I've just done the clothes, only the pantry, fridge, bathroom and gadgets to go. The new place should get the morning sun and be a bit gloomy on the late afternoon but morning is okay, I will see the sunrise and a lot of gloom is because the walls are painted a gloomy greeny/ grey/ beige. It's called being neutral. Bah humbug.

GOOD MORNING CJICKS.

HOPE THIS PIC ISN'T TOO BIG.
I COULDN'T GET IT ANY SMALLER AND I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT.
NOT MUCH NEW ON THE HOMEFRONT.
STILL NO STAMPS IN SATURDAY'S MAIL. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
QUIET SUNDAY AND GRATEFUL FOR IT.
FINALLY HAD TO CHANGE THE CHANNEL & STOP WATCHING THE NEWS.

TODAY I AM TAKING OFF. HOPING THE PHONE DOESN'T RING.
LEFT A REPORT AND A NOTE "NOT FEELING WELL" ON THE DESK.
KIND OF TRUE. MY TUMMY IS STILL BOTHERING ME.
JEN GOT WHATEVER I HAD AND I AM WAITING FOR RICHIE TO BEGIN

SO ANOTHER QUIET DAY
HAPPY MONDAY/TUESDAY





SHAD...I WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT TOO.
SOAPBOX OR NOT. SHE KNEW SHE HAD A TROUBLED CHILD ON HER HANDS.
I LIVED WITH A COP FOR 5 YEARS AND MADE HIM LEAVE HIS GUNS IN HIS LOCKER.
AT THE TIME I WAS VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT IT AND WANTED NO CHANCE FOR ANY ACCIDENTS!
THE COMPUTER IS THE NEW "NANNY".
OK...AS FOR PACKING...GLAD THEY ARE MOVING YOU TO A SUNNY MORNING ROOM.
THE SUN ALWAYS SETS ME STRAIGHT IN THE MORNING IF I CAN SEE IT!!
PS: I KNOW FRASSING NOTHING ABOUT COWS!!




ANNIE......GLAD THE WEEKEND SOUNDED GOO.
YOU AND SASSY MUST BE WORN OUT WITH COMPANY. SHOPPING AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
HOPE YOU FINALLY GOT A GOOD NIGHTS SLEEP




HAPPY....THERE WERE A FEW LIVELY CONVOS DOWN IN THE LOBBY.
I RAN AND GOT MY MAIL AND THEN PRETENDED I WAS TALKING ON THE PHONE!! ROFLMAO
I DID NOT WANT TO GET INVOLVED!! MOSTLY THE ME VS THE WOMEN! HA!
I WILL SEND YOU SOME ENERGIZING THOUGHT AND HOPE YOU MAKE IT ALL DAY AT WORK



CEEJAY......I FORGET IF I SAID I GOT YOUR CARD.
THANK YOU AND FYI....I PUT THE ONE FROM LASST YEAR OUT TOO!
IT WAS THE SNOW GLOBE!! FOUND IT IN THE ORNAMENT BOX.




ELLEN......GOOD MOM. BUT THEY SHOULD HAVE ASKED YOU IN!!!

Good morning ladies - I hope you're all doing okay. I'm doing pretty well. I got the divorce paperwork done over the weekend, and the ex will be filing it with the court clerk this week. We may be divorced by early February. I still have mixed feelings about it...sad that it had to come to this....but I'm just looking ahead and trying to move forward.

I had to start an additional diabetes med this weekend. It causes the pancreas to release more insulin...and the doc warned me that I might experience bouts of low blood sugar symptoms....and I have been. Oh well, my body will adjust (hopefully before vacation).

And I got my hair cut and colored on Saturday. I was going for a strawberry blond or light red with blond highlights...but as can happen sometimes when you work with color...it didn't turn out as expected. The first try was BOZO the clown red. Then my stylist tried to tone the color back, and it ended up sort of light pumpkin! She was able to fix it so now it's a darker red with blond highlights. It's actually pretty. I will probably need to start wearing makeup, which I haven't done in years so I don't have any and have forgotten all the makeup techniques. I'll try and get a photo posted soon.

I'm sorry I've been behind on personals...and I also apologize that I won't be getting Christmas cards out until after New Years. With work being so busy, and having to take work home, and all the divorce paperwork, etc. I just haven't had time to do much of anything.

I am so excited to be leaving for CA on Thursday! I am bringing my laptop, so I should be able to post while away.

I've got a counseling appointment after work, so I'm not sure if I'll be back online this evening.

I really do love you all and miss you when I can't check in every day.

Much love and many hugs to all,

Good Morning Sisterly Chicks.....

HAPPY..no rock candy is as follows.....

3 3/4 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1 cup water

Bring to boil, simmer until hard crack stage (300 deg) on candy thermometer.

Remove from heat then Stir in (be careful fumes and heat will get you):

1 oz candy flavoring
food coloring to match flavor (orange flavor = orange coloring)

Have a prepared 9 x 13 pan covered with powdered sugar, thick enough you do not see bottom of pan.

Pour hot candy mix over powdered sugar. When it hardens, crack with hammer. Store in ziplock.

SHADDIE...packing and moving...blah...hope the new digs are better. And isn't it that white cows give white milk and brown or black cows give chocolate milk? That is what my brothers used to tell me when I was little, and yes I believed them. lol

CHELLE...safe travels my sister...enjoy CA. Glad the divorce paperwork is finally finished.

MELLIE..I agree with keeping the kiddos safe. Guns can be scary especially when they are not kept in a safe place from them. Usually we shoot the wrong people, hardly ever the intruders or such.

Hello's to all the rest of you sweet girls.

Loves and hugs.

Annie - Thanks for the recipe for rock candy! The song "Rock Candy" by Sammy Hagar immediately popped into my head when I saw the recipe. Yes, I love rock n' roll, put another dime in the jukebox baby. And now I'm a "red" rocker, just like Sammy Hagar! I'm not leaving for CA until Thursday. I'm getting so excited! Although I realize that I'm not spending enough time in either Northern or Southern CA to see everyone that I want to see. But I'll be back out there in the spring (hopefully) for interviews.

I don't know why I'm in such a "light" mood today. Maybe it's being out from under the weight of the divorce paperwork (although I am a little nervous that I forgot to list something in the property division and it will bite me in the arse). Maybe it's because vacation is just around the corner, and I'll be seeing loved ones who I haven't seen in years.

My job security still isn't great. But I'm working hard and doing my best. And hopefully my boss will decide to keep me.

Anyway...with that...I'd better get back to work.

Much love,

Good morning ladies,

Can't wait until tomorrow when I'll have 3 whole days off. I didn't get to the cards yesterday, did go through the decorations, brought the little tree up but didn't do much more than that. Don't feel very Christmasy for some reason. Life is good, just not feeling the season right now.

Shad - yes, our conversation started with that post where I pointed out that he missed the point, progressed to youth in general and how I think that parents need to keep a closer eye on their kids and how the internet is another of the things that started out as a good concept and has gone terribly wrong. I love the internet as an information gathering tool - I can look up stuff, learn about new things and use it as a reference tool. However for kids there is too much availability to too many not so good things and they can do it in complete privacy. Sometimes DH has a difficult time accepting something / someone who is not of the same opinion of him - goes back to his childhood. As a result we have lively conversations - the good thing is that we still talk and in the end, kiss each other good night I closed the conversation by saying I do not understand alot of what is going on in the world today and am really glad I live away from most of it out in the forest here And I get your points and totally agree with them... I hope all of your belongings get moved from one place to the next. At least you will get the sunrise view, and you'll be up early enough to enjoy it. From your FB post today, seems like you've finally gotten a chance to have some long overdue relaxing. Enjoy it as much as you can

Michelle - glad you got the paperwork done. Time to move on and look ahead to good stuff - like your vacation. Will be here before you know it. Sounds like you'll be quite busy hitting both ends of the state. Don't worry about cards. I didn't get mine out either but there's still time for me. I hope you can reduce / eliminate some of the diabetes meds once life gets less stressful for you. Sounds like your hair (like my sister) grabs alot of the red in dye. I like red but not so sure anyone looks good in a pumpkin color

Annie - thanks for the candy recipe. That looks like alot of fun. I will save that to brighten up a blah winter's day. Along with the cows, I heard that the color of eggs is related to the color of the chicken - white chickens lay white eggs, brown chickens lay brown eggs. If that is true, what do black chickens lay -- 600 year old Chinese putrified eggs???

Mel - loved your pic so much I stole it for my avatar Except it looks better bigger. I'm sure that there are many conversations going on all over the place about recent happenings. So much sadness in the world - I have to seek out the happy things - like when I dish up some popcorn out of the warmers. They have glass fronts and I can peek through the popcorn and see the adorable little faces of tiny tots looking back at me through the glass. So darn cute! Lady came in last week with a toddler who took off full steam towards the tree and store decorations. I thought to myself - 1) wonder how many times little Stevie hears his name in a day (ie. Stevie - get away from there, Stevie STOP THAT RIGHT NOW, Stevie - NO!) and 2) I thought to myself now THERE'S a woman who goes to bed very tired This is why you should be young if you're going to have toddlers

Well I should probably get to work a bit early and knock out these online orders so maybe I can leave an hour early and have enough time to look a bit festive for tonight's dinner. Hello to the rest of the chicks who are checking in. Have a good day.