[SunnyD57]

Joe making Homemade *Homestyle Bread* taken this morning:












All done for now...

*MERRY CHRISTMAS!*

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[SunnyD57]

Hi!
I have one more picture I'd like to share with you all...

It's been a busy day... I was writing to you all and posting pictures thinking that Joe was watching his favorite Christmas program on DvD and when I came into the room this is what I found. So adorable! He was plum tuckered out!



*Merry Christmas with Love*
SunnyD
<><

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[candlelady4]

Merry Christmas my new and dear friends. :merry: :snf:

Thanks for all those wonderful pictures Sunny. I must say you are one busy lady, sure could use some of your energy.
So sorry to hear about your car accident. I don't take hormones any more, Dr. took me off, but I still had this problem when I took them. I am on an antidepressant, but may consider that SamE one day. I do feel better today got a good nights sleep which helps tremendously. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas, and yes we still have a little snow left on the ground.

Sheila I know you are enjoying having your family there with you, enjoy your day. I love the idea of a photographer, what really wonderful memories you will have of the season.

Charlotte how nice to have all your family there for Christmas, I know it was a true blessing for you. You dinner sounded yummy, crockpot candy sounds interesting. We live in Weatherford about 60 miles W. of Dallas. Congratulations on being a great grandmother.

:merry: to all you other great girls, enjoy your families and treasure the memories.

[Angel-lover]

Merry Christmas, my friends! I hope you all have a beautiful day!!!

Thanks for the pics, SunnyD. I love home made bread. But, I like that pillow even better!

[candlelady4]

Whew..........I am so tired, how about you all? You must be since it has been so quiet on here today. Where is everybody?

I hope everyones Christmas was a wonderful as our was. It is such a blessing to be with family and take the time to enjoy each other without having to rush around. I really enjoyed the Grandsons ages 2,9 and 14. The sparkle in their eyes when I said they could open their presents was heartwarming. The sweet kisses of appreciation were the best!!

Our Mexican meal went off without a hitch and was delicious. As usual I ate way too much, but the New Year is nearly here and I have got to make some major adjustments here.

I will check back later to see if anyone has peeped in here.

[Sheila53]

Happy Boxing Day!

Sounds like those grandsons had a great time, Candlelady. Right with you on the overeating!

SunnyD, love the photo of your two "boys" asleep on the couch. You should frame that--it's priceless.

We had a wonderful Christmas, too. We actually had a Christmas miracle because Santa, who was not expected to visit our house this year, showed up unexpectedly. My DH and I had told the kids that we just couldn't afford to fill 7 stockings. On Christmas morning, my daughter woke us up and said that Santa had come, and we were totally shocked when we saw plastic bags with each name on them filled with small gifts, tangerines and nuts. My kids really stepped up, and I was so proud of them. I think my DD had been really bummed by the fact that we weren't doing stocking presents, and decided to enlist the help of her brothers. It was so wonderful!

I was hoping that the sun would come out while my new SIL was here because I'm hoping to persuade him to transfer to the nearby naval base after his tour is up in VA (in 3 years). Although the sun didn't cooperate, he still fell in love with the area. I'm afraid my DD and I cried at the airport today. She starts her new job on Thursday so hopefully she won't have too much time to be homesick. They have a new apartment, too, that they need to furnish before her DH leaves again on January 14 for a month.

We also have a tradition of going to the movies on Christmas day, and it appears that others do, too, because we ended up sitting in the second row. Never again! We saw "Meet the Fockers," not a movie I would have chosen, but it had some funny moments. My oldest son and I stayed up until after midnight talking. He's leaving tomorrow, and it's going to be so darn quiet around here.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that the rest of the weekend was great, too!

[JoAnn]

My name is JoAnn. I am 58 and was wondering if you guys are following any different plans to lose weight for 2005?

After reading your posts, I didn't seem to find anything much about any weight loss plans?

I need to lose 30 pounds, and my plan is to do my best to eat Less, move more, and drink more water.

Do ANY OF YOU, have plans to be ACCOUNTABLE for 2005, and try to lose weight?

What are your goals for 2005 concerning your weight?

[willow_1]

Hi Sheila, Bluet, Charlotte, Sunny, .....
You know, I don't think Fat Puss is coming back. Do you sometimes think she was pulling our leg all along?

Anyway, I see you all survived the holiday.

Sheila, that was so sad when your daughter had to leave.

I hadn't planned on having Christmas this year, but my 20-year old granddaughter wanted to come over, and her Dad came down from the Twin Cities and then my two sons and their families who live nearby came and before I knew it I had a housefull on Christmas Eve. I made a shrimp pasta salad, sloppy joes, chips, lots of sweets, deviled eggs, soda and coffee. Not a lot of work, and it was nice and relaxing.

I have this next week off work so I'll get started exercising again. I've gained eight pounds in the last week, and I know a lot of it is water in my tissues. I need to start drinking my water more faithfully.

The weather here has been nice and wintery. Ha! I know you don't like that Bluet, but i like my snow in the winter.
I went out for a while yesterday and returned some videos, filled my gas tank and bought some groceries. It was nice to get out in the clean crisp air for a while. It put me in a better mood.
A girl on my board put a recipe for some soup on there and it reminded me of that WW recipe soup so I got the ingredients and I'm going to make it today.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are hundreds of variations, but the main point of
the soup is to be full and to get lots of natural fiber.
Almost anything can be added or removed to your sense of
taste - bell peppers, corn, tomato juice ..... Try
substituting chicken soup mix for the onion soup mix. Prep Time:
approx. 20 Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 30 Minutes. Ready in:
approx. 50 Minutes. Makes 8 servings.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
16 ounces frozen green beans
2 (1 ounce) packages dry
onion soup mix
6 cups water


Directions
1 Combine water, soup mix, and vegetables in a large
stock pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer until
the vegetables are tender.

So, I guess I'll sign off and get busy here.

Don't know when I'll get back in here, but I think of you gals a lot. Take care and please stay well.

[Bluet]

Hello Everyone,

Guess what? I have the day off from work! How sweet is that. You can actually hear a pin drop in our house today! The silence is so welcoming.

We had a wonderful Christmas, I cleaned most of Christmas Eve day and then we went to my Mother's for Christmas Eve, all my sisters and my brother go there every year on Christmas Eve and our children. Mom has a very tiny house, but we all pile in and have a good time . Christmas day DH and I went to church and took care of our sacristan duties and then took my Mom out to eat for dinner, then we stopped in to see my sister and her family for a while, we took my Mom home and shoveled her drive way and her sidewalks, because it was snowing again all day. DH and I had a relaxing evening preparing food and getting ready for all the kids and grandkids coming the next day. By noon everyone was here, plus DH's Mom and brother and my Mom. We had a wonderful time. Lots and lots of noise and fun. So that is why the quite is so welcome today. Back to work tomorrow though.

Sheila, so happy to hear that you had a great time with your children. Even though it was sad to see them go, how marvelous it is that SIL likes the Seattle area. I am glad to hear that you got to spend a quite time with your oldest son too. I can tell you are a good listener, gosh knows you always have time to listen to me and my troubles.

Sunny, how cute, your boys sound asleep on the couch. Bread making is a hard job, I know, because I have made plenty in my life time. My cousin who lives in Tell City Indiana call my Mom yesterday, and told here they have over two feet of snow. They never get a lot of snow, she isn't too happy with it. The problem is when one gets this much snow so early in the season, one runs out of places to push it to before winter is over. I remember when I was young, most of our snow got hauled and dumped into Lake Michigan, but I doubt that can be done anymore with all the environmental codes and regulations. Your home is so bright and Christmas looking, how long do keep you things up before the big job of packing them away again? I usually keep things up until the end of January or until it starts to bug me. It will take about three weekends to pack everything and store it away again.

Charlotte, glad to hear your Christmas was wonderful. Did you have that Christmas party at the station too? I remember all the nice pictures you shared last year of your Station Christmas Party. I am wondering how your thumb is doing. When I finish here, I am going to go back through the last posts, I remember you put a name to what another doctor thought you really have, and then I want to go on the internet to read about it, so I understand what you are talking about. It snowed all day yesterday again , but today is sunny and bright, I will post a picture of the farm covered in snow taken with my new camera, if I can figure it all out, later today.

Candlelady, yes those grandchildren are wonderful people in our lives, aren't they. They always seem to love their grandma's. It must be all that spoiling that goes on. We usually are pretty quite on the weekend. But during the week we all check in daily, uh, just about daily

Joanne, it sounds like you are looking for a good support group to belong to. Well, this is a good supportive close knit group. I believe, everyone of us is on some sort of diet, but we got away from talking about it on an everyday basis. We could start again though, if the other ladies want to, and it would help you.

Willow, amazing, how you can whip up a party just like that, I probably would have been a nervous wreck. You are right, I still don't like winter and snow, but there must be some hope for me, because I still live here after all these years. I would hope that Fatpuss, was not "pulling our leg" so to speak. I liked her posts very much, enjoyed reading them everyday, and she seemed genuine to me. We also sent personal messages back and forth from time to time. I just never got the idea that she wasn't for real and said who she said she was. It is sure nice hearing from you. check in more often! I remeber my sister being on that Weight Watches cabbage diet, she lost a lot of weight eating that soup and going to Weight Watchers.

Well, I am going to go put all my dishes away and finish cleaing up the kitchen check with your all later.

Bluet

[Sheila53]

Hi, all!

Willow, how great that you stopped by! Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas with everyone stopping by. The soup sounds pretty darn good, too. You know, I really don't think Fatpuss was pulling our leg. I still hold out hope that she'll come back.

JoAnn, you have a great plan, and I wish you much success. I've lost a bit over 80 lbs. on Weight Watchers, and plan to make it to goal this year.

Yippee, Bluet--a day away from OB! What a fun time you had over Christmas. How many people did you end up having at your Mom's house, and then your house? You know, I should tell my DH that if we had an artificial tree, we wouldn't have to take anything down until later. It's so warm and cozy with all the stuff up, isn't it? I hate to see that go, but a dead tree in the middle of my living room dropping needles isn't that aesthetically pleasing. Plus the cat eats the dropped needles, then throws them up in other parts of the house (yet another good reason to have an artificial tree!). Hope you got to have a wonderfully relaxing day!

My oldest son left today so we're "childless" again. I started to cry at the airport with him, too, although I know I'll see him sometime this year. Today was that perfect Seattle day with sun, bright blue skies, and all the snow-covered mountains visible. It's the kind of day I'd been hoping for when my SIL was here. Oh, well! We slept in today, and puttered around the house, then went out to lunch at a place on one of the Seattle lakes, then to the locks (like a mini-Panama canal locks) to watch the boats go through, and back home via the waterfront and along the beach, which is our favorite drive. We watched a bit of the news on our new 27" TV that my son bought us. My DH and I had discussed getting a larger TV sometime this year, but we'd never mentioned it to anyone else. It was a total surprise when he brought it down the hall! He also hooked up our surround sound (something he'd given us several years ago). It's so nice to have a techie for a son.

I ordered photos from the kids' photo session. It was hard to choose them, but I got one of all the different combinations, and I bought extra to give to the kids. Ended up spending only $10.88 more than the deposit (this was the photographer for the December wedding that we had to cancel so I'd already made the deposit and had to use it or lose it!).

Hope everyone had a relaxing Monday!

[Angel-lover]

JoAnn

Yes, we are all serious about our weight. We just get involved talking about other things. I haven't talked much about mine, because I was just maintaining, until lately. I had lost almost 50 lbs....then, this summer I gained back around 10 lbs. Lately, I've been on steroids because of my stupid thumb, so, as you can see at the bottom of my post.....I'm back to losing. As for a diet, I didn't really go on any special diet. I ate mostly fruit in the mornings, & drunk a lot of water. For supper, I ate a regular meal...only out of a saucer! Remember, lots of water! I can't exercise, so it left slowly. About 1-2 lbs a week. I hate going through that again...but, going to try.

Hi Bluet....well, one Dr called it Herpes Whitlow (kind of like shingles)...but, my Rheumy is disagreeing with him. So am I. He thinks there is nerve damage, or blood vessel problems. Says I may have Raynaud's Disease. He's sending me to my Neurologist Thursday for tests. I really like my Neurologist. He's more like a friend. I trust he'll find what's going on. I just hope steroids aren't part of the treatment! I'm afraid it IS getting worse.
Yes, we had a party at the station, also. It was a lot of fun. I may post pics later. I haven't even sent them to Connie, yet, to put on the TV Station website.
I'm so glad you had a good Christmas. Also, glad you have the day off!! You deserve it.

Hi Sheila....it is soooo hard to say good bye to our kids after visits. My daughter asked me to please not cry, when she started to hug me. Well.....I think I was going to be alright until she said that. The water works started.

SunnyD...the card was absolutely beautiful. Thank you soooo much. I'm going to keep it & others close by.

Hello Candlelady....you sound so tired. Get some well-deserved rest.

Hi Willow....so nice to get a post from you! I know.....I'm bad......just can't seem to get the time to post anymore. Maybe since I'm through with the albums (which were a great success!) I'll have more time. I AM with my mother a lot, though, since my step-dad passed away.

Well, it's 1 am, maybe I can sleep now. Everyone have a great day!

[Angel-lover]

Ok.....from left to right......back row....

Our son, David. Kevin & Paula. DH, Paul David. Grandson, Jake & Jenny. Gina & Chris. Trina & John.

Front rows...Carly, Jessica, Tori, Nicole, Kelley, Tasha, Tasha's boyfriend, Matt, Brooke, Jamie, Amber.

Down front...Jeremy & Charlotte

[candlelady4]

Welcome JoAnn. I too am serious about losing weight, I blew it over the holidays so I have to get back on track now before I have gained too much. I had been on semi low carb since last May and did pretty good along with exercise at least 3 times a week at Curve's. I have been unable to go for the last 2 wks. and my body sure can feel the difference.

Charlotte good luck with your Dr. visit, sure hope they can figure out exactly what is wrong. Your pics were great, such a nice looking family and so many of them.


Hi Sheila so sorry for you sadness when the children had to leave. I am so lucky to have mine living in the same town. That was a wonderful present from you son, we could use a larger one ourselves.


Bluet I am sure you enjoyed your day off. What a wonderful sounding Christmas you had.

Hi Willow thanks for reminding me about that soup, I had forgotten all about it and I love it. I am heading to the grocery today so might just pick up the stuff to fix it for supper.

Have a good day girls...

[Sheila53]

Hi, everyone!

Look at that incredible family, Charlotte! What a fantastic photo! Dang--I was so hoping your thumb was better. I hope the neurologist can figure out what the problem is and fix the darn thing. And without steroids!

Candlelady, I blew it pretty badly over the holidays, too. I threw out 1/3 of a chocolate mousse cake last night, some leftover fruitcake today (that was easy--it wasn't very good fruitcake), and I'd given a bag of chips, a huge tin of cookies (why would my half-sister give cookies to our diabetic father??), and some homemade cookies to my son so I wouldn't have them around the house.

I just couldn't get myself going this morning to get up in time for water aerobics. We plan to go tomorrow and Friday, though, and my step-daughter usually gets up really late so I'll probably be able to go to lift weights on Thursday. Once I get back in the exercise routine, the good eating follows. I WILL reach my goal this year, even if it takes all year to lose those last 10 lbs.

Very foggy here today, but we did go for a walk with the dog. Hope everyone had a good Tuesday! Our local TV station is having a one-hour special called "55 Ways to Stay Young" and I'm gonna be watching.

[Bluet]

Good Evening,

Just a few lines, I had a hair cut appointment after work tonight and then I stopped in to see our son and grandaughter for awhile. DIL was still working at the clinic. Then I had to stop at my Mother's to drop off some presents she forgot at my house on Sunday. Mom was in a talking mood, and I just listened to her until she was done. She talked about a lot of different things and then I came home and it was 8:00 before I ate any supper.

Sheila, aren't you the reader that loves mystery novels? Well, I have seen Hallmark Channel advertising a series that is starting in January on Friday evenings. Every Friday they are having a mystery story and I think this is right what I am telling you, watchers get to guess who the quilty party is in the mystery by following clues or something and then call in who they think it is then they have a chance to win $10,000.00. All of us could start watching the series (if they like mysteries) and have our little chats about the show, like we did with Survivor. Is that too outrageous? I am sorry if someone thinks so, but it might be fun for us. January is usually a longggggg month for us, in Wisconsin anyway.

Charlotte, I looked up both things that have been diagnosed for your thumb, and I don't care for either of them. I am praying that you have good news from your doctor on Thursday, and no steriods. Lovely picture of your family. I love that when you girls share photos. I am sorry you couldn't sleep last night 3:00 a.m. is a lonely time of the night.

Candlelady, It was pretty mild here today and it didn't snow. Twenty-five degrees above 0. We have some friends that live in the Forth Worth area, we visited them many years ago and really enjoyed Texas, we drove down from Wisconsin it was a long drive, but then we were young and up to the challenge.

Jo Ann, we are willing and ready to discuss diets, whenever you are ready to start a roundtable.

Sunny, miss your posts, but know you will be back soon. You are such a busy little lady.

Fatpuss, we miss you very much, hope your Christmas was very special.

Good night everyone, have a wonderful Wednesday.

Bluet