Zoe...great video !
Donna...that was way too cool a site about our vets....I sent them a card too!

Morning everyone..its -10 out today brrrrrrrr. Feeling better today. ive been experimenting with diff foods,im sick of babyfood blah.and yes if i eat the wrong thing or to much my tummy hurts,i have stitches internally too as they rerouted my plumbing..today i had 1/2 packet of instant oatmeal so far so good. i have a dr apt later today,its a meds checkup to see if they need adjusting,ive allready talking less diebetic meds..and hopefully will be able to eliminate most of them. my girlfriend and i have arranged a xmas eve get together..this is the 1st yr since my kids where born that they wont be with us for xmas..so we are having a potluck and get together for the rest of the family and friends fun for all,,what are all of your plans? ttfn rosey

Hi everyone..i got back from my Dr apt..she was so impressed. i lost another 6# since last wed..also she took me off all my diabetc and cholesteral meds..im so pleased about this..its still brutally cold here..am glad im back in the house..hope you all are toasty and warm too rosey

Good Morning Girls!
Rosey...that is wonderful news, 6 more pounds and no meds! I'm surprised you can get off your meds that quickly.
DH has to work at 1:00 this afternoon until 9 so I'm going to goof off today. My daughter called and asked me to make something my grandson had at a friends house. I haven't heard of this recipe before but you take chocolate oreo cookies, smash them up and mix in some cream cheese. Then roll in tight balls and dip in almond bark or white chocolate. I asked if she put sugar in the cream cheese mixture and she said no. Anybody made these before? If I make them, I'd have to run into town on very icy roads to get some oreo cookies. Do I want to risk my neck? Hmmmmmmm.
Anyway, I have to get going before Bruce gets up. I like to fill in all the cracks on my face and do my hair before he sees me and gets scared.

Morning....Dark and dreary here, but warmer. Still can't find the gift I hid. And of course will never admit to losing it! Explain to me how I buy a pointsetta and leave at neighbor's(every year) and then few days later leave a jar of spiced apples on same doorstep and DH gets multiple thank you's. Feel invisible sometimes.

Took the fruitcake to bridge yesterday. As fast as I sliced it the pieces were gone. Report was it was excellent. So easy!


by hand 2 eggs beaten with 1/2cup of water or brandy. Add 2 boxes of quickbread mixes(used cranberry bread). Jar of mincemeat, 2 cups of dried candied cherries, cup of dried candied pineapple and cup of pecans. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake 350 for 60 minutes.

Bobbie....gonna try using date nut breads with chunks of dates and pecans instead of dried fruits. No idea on calorie count. But note I relied on others tasting!

Rosie....Wow on poundage loss that is wonderful but am totally in awe that you have been taken off diabetic meds already. WOWSERS DOSER!

Donna....Gesh snow yesterday. Darn it think he flew South Wednesday. This guy treats women like objects. And when Dh is around him he too gets a bit of an attitude which doesn't last long when my mouth gets going, but it gets old.

Zoe...I'll ship your first dose of sunshine later this week. Had to thraw it out.

Quiet day here. hugs, karen3

Nope Donna he flew back here Wednesday....darn it all k

Hey,nothing exciting going on here. hope your weekend is fun rosey

Good Afternoon to everyone. I finally got some decorating done and it's starting to look like Christma around here. I need to get my shopping done this week though and the weather is supposed to be nice so that is going to help out a lot. Tim and I will be shopping for the family but then I told him he has to stay home so "I can go shopping by myself"!! I have some ideas of what I want to get him just hope they are still in the stores!!

We took our son to the Nazarene church here this morning and he really enjoyed the service. It is pretty nice and a lot of the younger crowd go there and it is within walking distance for him. We then went to a buffet for lunch. Enjoyed that and told Tim that I finally got him out for his birthday meal!! Our son seems to be really trying to get back on track and has totally quit the drinking, at least he has made it a week without and it was his choice. I'm hoping that she just stays away but I'm afraid that as soon as he is really starting to be OK with everything she is going to come back and he will take her back. So doing a lot of praying that she just stays away!!

Ok, guess I'd better go and get something done this evening. I know that Survivor finale' is on tonight so I'm looking forward to sitting and watching it.

Have a great night!

Hi Girls, I've been trying to keep up by reading the threads, but haven't had much to post. Still haven't been able to lose anything.
We took the family to Florida for a vacation recently during one of the coldest spells on record! Fortunately we had our Minnesota coats with us and wore them every day. I felt sorry for the workers at Disney. They were wearing scarves over their faces, gloves and heavy coats to stay warm and it was in the 40's and 50's for highs during the day. It was cold but downright balmy compared to what it was when we left MN.
Busy at work and trying to get ready for the holidays leaves little time for anything else. Got some baking done this weekend - finally. Will be working Christmas eve day, so need to finish everything up in the evenings after work.
Thank goodness the daylight hours will start to get longer after the 21st. It is so depressing going to work and coming home in the dark. I think I'm getting that condition people get during the winter months up here. I think it's called SAD - seasonal affective disorder.
We have had so much snow this year and are expecting another 6 to 8" tomorrow night. We don't have anywhere left to put it. They just got the 20" of snow cleaned off of the downtown streets last Friday so you could drive in more than one lane in each direction. Now we will have to go through another week of snowy ruts and slippery roads. It took me 30 minutes to go five blocks one evening after work last week.
I am also thinking more about retiring. If it weren't for the commute to and from work I wouldn't mind it so much. I really like my job. I work at the corporate offices of a bank that is owned by a foundation (92%) and it's employees (8%). The bank's profits go to the foundation which gives away the earnings in charitable grants to the communities where the bank branches are located. They contribute many millions a year. Makes me feel good knowing I am a part of such a great organization.

Can't sleep, so checking in on you all.

Working more hours at a time, but less days a week seemed to have worked out well during the holidays. The tins of yummy cookies were empty, so I did not have to do battle fighting the urge to eat them.

Christmas party later today at work ~ but things like that are usually not a problem ~ it is what I do when no one is looking that gets me into trouble with the food.

Well, maybe I will go crawl under the covers and give it another try......

More later ~ take care

: snow4: PT, was that <gulp> excitement – I mean, a POSITIVE reaction – to snow?????? Yikes. I have to say that I’m thrilled to death that we haven’t had any to speak of yet. Oh, a few snow showers that practically melted on contact, a little dusting on lawns and shrubs, but even that was gone within 24 hours. Today and tomorrow they’re predicting snow showers – nothing heavy – in southeastern MA; the Cape and Islands, mostly, but nothing much up our way. I’m at my office in Canton this morning, and we’re southeast enough to maybe pick up a dusting (I hope that’s all we pick up) but further west – where I live, and where I’ll be headed around noon today to get out to a meeting in Springfield, MA – there isn’t supposed to be more than a stray flake or two. Suits me. I can only hope that those *weatherfools* have their facts straight this time around. I am WAY past the time in my life where I actually hoped for a white Christmas. All I can think about is the perils of driving in the winter mess. That, I can do without.
Well, Saturday night was a special one for us – my dd & sil and dd’s best friend brought all their children (plus a few odd cousins) around caroling. Luckily, we were their last stop, and I had a big pot of cocoa warming on the stove and some trays of Christmas cookies for them. So, they sang their little hearts out, which was lovely, and then settled in for their cocoa and cookies, and then, our little twinnies headed for the wooden crate that dh & I keep filled with assorted musical instruments – chimes, shakers, big drums, little drums, kazoos, whirligigs: you name it, we probably have one. Every time the twins come, they play with all the musical stuff, so they knew right where to head. So, before we knew it, everyone had some sort of instrument and was dancing, drumming, shaking, and tooting away. SUCH fun! And none of the kids wanted to leave – their parents had to drag them out under protest a couple of hours after they’d arrived. Dh and I had such fun with them! Can’t wait ‘til next year!
The rest of the weekend was spent working on the events calendar for our dgs and dgd – we give them calendars with our monthly field trips with them written in, and for each month, dd finds a picture online of wherever it is we’re planning to take them, and then photoshops the kiddos and him and I into the pictures. It’s pretty cool, and they love them! Oh, and I went Christmas shopping with my sil on Saturday afternoon to help him pick out things for dd, and then went shopping Sunday afternoon with dd to get a ski jacket for ds’s fiancée, as they are planning a ski trip in January, and don’t have a lot of warm stuff, having lived in L.A. for the past 5 years. They both skied in high school and college, but only did the water variety of skiing out on the left coast, so now they’re anxious to experience the snow slopes again. (Better them than me; I quit at 35 after my third broken ankle ). The rest of my weekend was spent working on those calendars and trying to finish knitting the scarf for dd. I finished her sister’s a couple of days ago. PLUS I had to call my sister last night (always an hour & a half or more) because I’ve been meaning and meaning to call, and have been putting it off and putting it off. Seems like I just don’t have enough hours in my days.
Bobbi, I LOVE the hours your dh is working! Sure wish mine would do that – even a couple of evenings a week would give me a nice break. Oh well, a gal can dream….
Oh, Karen3! I ALWAYS find gifts that I’ve forgotten that I bought and hid in the darndest places (places that seemed SO clever when I put the gift there!) months after Christmas is over. Good luck in finding the one you hid so well! Hopefully, it’s something you can use yourself, since by the time you find it, you will probably have bought something else for the intended recipient. (Good grief!!!! It’s not baked goods, is it??????)
Congrats on the good progress, Rosey! (Wish I could say that I’d made some, but I’m afraid that’ll have to wait until after the holidays for me).
Nice, isn’t it, Karen31, when you do a little decorating, and things look so cheerful and holiday-ish? I didn’t really feel much like it this year, but now that we’ve done it, I love it. And I’ve just learned that I’m going to host Christmas dinner this year, so I’m glad that it looks cheery and festive (even if, as you know, it’s our own particular brand of cheery and festive – lots of abstract decorations, doncha know?)
Hi Lily, nice to see you again – coincidentally, I write grants and such for a large, international non-profit organization – I don’t suppose you’d like to send me the grant application guidelines to your bank? (Just kidding – I know you live on the other side of the earth. Nice, though, to hear that bank employees feel so good about their charitable contributions. I can tell you that there are a lot of non-profits out there who do some real good with that money. So, thanks for your support of them! )
Hi and happy holidays to Lynn, Freda, Mary & Gayle….hope you’ll be catching a nice break over the holidays, Lynn.

Z

Good Morning!
Woodlily....We didn't get 20" of snow around here, more like 10" but it's really coming down right now. They predict about 6" today and I'm feeling sorry for the deer and pheasants, we keep brushing the snow off the corn we leave out so they'll find it. One thing about the snow if you're into photography, it's beautiful out. We have 50+ Blue Spruce trees on two sides of our property and all laden with snow.......so pretty. My computer desk is right below a large south picture window and I can see the snow coming down sideways, good thing DH doesn't work today. I have all my baking done and in the freezer. Today I'm going to make some experiment meatballs using some frozen apricots I harvested from summers bounty. I halved them and froze in orange juice, they should make some tasty sweet/sour meatballs. I'll probably have to tweak them before I make them again for our family Christmas party. I love using things from our orchard and everyone seems to appreciate it more. I love your Christmas pics KarenMo, the girls are sweet. We went thru some trying times with our daughter when she was 18, she fell for a very intelligent but lazy guy who we couldn't stand. The only good thing that came out of it was our first grandson who is a wonderful Christan and in a Christian college with asperations of becoming a youth pastor. His dad still lives with his parents in Mexico and hasn't paid a cent to help raise his son, what a jerk. One piece of advice I can give you Karen is not to talk about his girlfriend or put her down. For some reason our dd thought she had to stick up for the jerk when we did that, so we pretended that he didn't exist and never mentioned him. Eventually he went away, moved out of the country so he didn't have to pay child support. Enough of those bad memories, you have a grandchild from your son, right? I can't remember if the baby is your sons or hers from another relationship. Praying helps.
Zoe..........oh yes, it's heavenly. He's been retired for 5 years now and having him around 24/7 gets to be a bit much. We get along great but it seems like we have nothing to say to each other. When he gets out and sees other people, works, he always bring home stories about things and people and incidents, it's just not so boring as when we're together 24/7.
Donna...I sure wish someone would contact us about Isabella. I don't think we ticked her off about anything.
Glynne...What! Are you a closet eater? I use to do that years ago when I was working. Holiday Christmas goodies were always around, I'd go stand and eat stuff with everyone else, then take more in a napkin to eat at my desk in private so nobody would see what a 'pig' I was.

Quote:
it is what I do when no one is looking that gets me into trouble with the food.

KarenFla...I think using date nut mix and pecans would make a great fruit cake, maybe adding some rum too!
Rosey...I'm so happy to see your menu's getting better and you are a 'Losing Machine'!
I found the oreo/cream cheese cookie recipe on allrecipe.com and they were delicious and very easy. I used white almond bark on most of them until I ran out, then used semi-sweet chocolate baking cubes.
I better go thaw out some Elk for the apricot meatballs and get a load of laundry in.
Please everyone, stay OP for the next few days so we all can indulge on Christmas Eve and day.