Hi, Gals! So glad the weekend is over! It was a long, tiring one. The drive to the college on Friday was incredibly stressful due to bad weather-very dense fog, high winds, rain, and freezing rain. DS2 said he thinks he did ok on the essays, but hated the interviewing. We'll find out in a few weeks if there's any more $$ coming his way. It was a nice day, though (except for the weather). The college had seminars and tours for the parents and even let us attend one of their basketball games for free if we wanted, and by afternoon, DS3 was ready for some activity other than "adult" seminar stuff, so we took him to the girls' basketball game and they were really good. DS3 is even saying he might want to go to this same college when he graduates (which, fortunately, is another 4 years away). It is a wonderful Christian college and we've been very impressed with both the staff and the students we've gotten to meet.

So, of course, today is catch up day, for housework, schoolwork, and hopefully, some rest! Have a great day! I hope to be back later....

HI RONNI ~ glad you made it to the college and back with the guys safe and sound; will pray that something good comes out of all that for DS2. Something good already has, with DS3 interested in attending there down the road. We have had such mild temps that we have had some rain the last 2 days; and our roads are clear right now, but they are now saying the temps will drop by tomorrow ... my, how things can change in just one day ...

We were going to go out today -- but the laneway was covered in ice; just watching DH and a neighbour sliding around convinced me to forget it. I'd rather wait til some new fallen ***** comes down, so it's safer to walk out there. DH spread some sand around that he pilfered from the edge of the street: don't want it to go to waste now, do we? ...

PURPLE is off on a delivery run with her DH and Rizzie today and Wednesday, so she'll be scarce this week. I forgot to post yesterday; I was on my PC but spent some time at another site for awhile til late. We are having some leftovers tonight that I want to use up; leftover pasta dishes from the freezer. Probably have a salad too.

Hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday tomorrow ... Rosebud

HI LADIES ~ OUR temps have dropped down to -15C and we had ***** today and they expect we will have some more tomorrow. This is normal for this time of year; but it sure feels chilly. As we approach February, then the real cold temps arrive, but that is good becuz we have our WINTER CARNIVAL in the middle of February and we need the cold temps for that.

We had stir-fry veggies on brown rice mix for dinner; nice and healthy. Had a good OP (on plan) day. Just did stuff around here today; not too busy.

Take good care; and have a wonderful Wednesday everyone ... Rosebud

HI THERE ~ well, we had gorgeous for most of the day in between some sprinkels of *****; and now it's about -17C and will likely go down to -20C like it did last night ...

Just stayed home and did stuff around here today; but made sure to sit in that beautuful sun for awhile to catch some Vitamin "D" ...

I am reading a book called FOOD TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH right now; and it says that we need to consume at least 1-2 tbl of good fats each day just for our body to function well. Then it can get rid of the bad fat for us. I have put back in omega-3 margarine and oils like Canola and Soya Oil; and Olive Oil (neutral); and, you can get good oils from nuts, nut butters, and avocados and still lose weight.

For a while now I was craving cheese & peanut butter; and had also read somewhere that I should be eating more protein too -- 1 gram for every 2 lbs of weight, so nuts and these two things would fit the bill. This has helped take away these cravings.

The other thing I am learning from this book is about NUTRIENT-RICH FOODS. As someone with a life-long vitamin & mineral deficiency, this is good info to know. I have made some changes, and am now eating foods that are especially high in Vitamin A and B, plus potatssium, calcium, and other vitamins & minerals. I'm sure this has helped my skin heal up too.

I am still studying this book and am amazed at some of the info in it. It is an older book that my mother found at a second-hand store for about 10c; but they were quite ahead of their time, I think. It is chocked full of detailed info about different foods and their nutrient values; and there's a second section that talks about common ailments and what foods might help them and why ...

We just had an easy lazy day dinner tonight but I did make sure to have my salad along with it. Now I am having my tea, and it's time to go put my tired legs up and read for a while. Take good care and have a great day tomorrow ... Rosebud

Hello, everyone!

Hope Purple is getting along ok with the deliveries this week!

Rosebud-I'm glad to learn that others have said the same thing about the healthy fats. I'm afraid I just cut too much out in the attempt to cut calories, so I'm re-doing my plan. How do you make your stir-fried veggies and brown rice? I love veggies and rice, but mine don't always turn out as tasty as I'd like, so I'd love to hear what you use to make yours. I'm same as you regarding the ice-if it's too slippery, I just stay in. I've had too many falls, usually on one knee or the other, and you know how badly that can affect the knees.

Well, not much going on here today-pretty much the usual housework and schoolwork. Have been working on our taxes little by little, but some of the info is slow getting here (compared to past years). We also were notified that our lawsuit on our car crash 4 years ago is finally going to mediation-sounds like the offending party is afraid to go to trial later in February, so her attorney finally agreed to mediation to try to settle. It's not that we're asking for much-just reimbursement for medical and other expenses for all the physical therapy, doctors, etc. I still suffer from severe headaches due to this and can't believe they don't think I deserve some kind of compensation, but since I don't have a "real" job, I don't seem to count. We even had to itemize all the days of homeschooling we lost due to doctor visits and my pain, then apply the standard rate that a teacher would make, to make them see that, even if the person affected is a stay-home mom, it does affect everything, especially when you aren't making the extra money to compensate for the extra medical and travel bills. I just hope this gets settled next week and we can move on. The most unbelievable part of all of this, though, is that the offender, who was issued a citation, still doesn't think she did anything wrong by running a stop sign and hitting another vehicle. She has been mislead to believe that it's just an accident when those things happen rather than negligence on her part. Climbing down now

Well, better get moving here or I'll just stay under my nice warm blanket all day! Have a great one, ladies!

PURPLE ~ so glad to hear that your sister came thru her surgery so well; have been prayin' lots for her and her surgeons that they would find the problem and fix it. Will continue prayers that she will heal well and recovery quickly. Also nice to hear that one of your DAD's tests have come back clear; one down, one to go ...

We send our condolences to you and your family upon the loss of your Aunt and great-Aunt; I have some aunts that I am very fond of too. Too bad riffs put so much distance between relatives; we see this all the time and it's a shame really. I have a few aunts left -- a couple keep in touch, while the others seem too busy or uninterested. I send Christmas cards to them whether they respond or not. I try not to get involved in the family riffs but often the innocent are neglected just by association; and that's a shame too ...

DH has only one direct Aunt left from what we know; she lives in another province quite far away, and he calls her regularly but she told him the last time that she hasn't been feeling well lately (we think it's all these flus going around; they are hard on the elderly). She is up there in years too (in her 90's), but she is as quick and spry as a young chickadee ...

DH and I are the same; we are fond of all our family, but some live so far away and they don't really try to keep in touch with us, even though we do. So we keep sending cards and emails; and praying for them all anyways.

You have had a busy week and stressful too! Glad to hear that your washing machine is working again, but not that your dryer is now on the fritz. If it's not one thing, it's another ... hope they get that fixed up soon for you. I did catch-up on a bit of laundry today myself; my weekly stuff.

Take good care and get lots of rest, and don't overdo it now ...

HI RONNIE ~ glad to hear that things are going a bit better for you this week; but the weather is bad all over. We have very frosty temps, -13 with the here today, but it is now down to -20C now that the sun is gone. I have been staying home and doing stuff around here; did my laundry today, and housechores yesterday AM. I also got caught up on my mending; I had quite a bit stacked up and still have a wee bit more of DH's to do yet.

We will be going up town sometime this week for some groceries; DH had been doing pick-ups for me both last week and earlier this week, but we are getting kinda low on lots of stuff, so it's time for a major shopping trip. Of course, it's getting close to time to pay the monthly bills too, so we'll get all that done at the same time.

I have my tax return but not our income slips yet; they don't usually arrive until February here, and then I usually do it one weekend and send it out by the first week of March for sure. I like to get it done and out of the way; I have always been that way ...

Now, for the stir-fry veggies -- this time I made them with beef or sometimes I make them with chicken breast or plain with no meat. I had some steak that I wanted to use up so I cut that in strips and quick fried that in a bit of oil (1 tbl) and garlic; then added sliced onions and mushrooms. Browned them and added some sliced tomatoes from the freezer (leftovers) and 1 cup onion/beef broth (made from soup bases and water).

I let that simmer for 2 hours til tender; but you don't have to cook it that long (I did that for my DH) -- adding more water if needed, then I cheated and added some frozen ASIAN veggies (about 2 cups) along with some others I had here (corn/zucchini). Heated this through for about 30 minutes with 2 tbl soya sauce, or to your tastes. Asian veggies have red pepper, carrots, broccoli, snap peas, and baby corn; but you can use any mixture of veggies you want.

Meanwhile -- I cooked the brown rice mix: 1+1/2 cups water boiled; add 1tbl chicken soup base & some parsley flakes. Stirred in 1+1/2 cups rice (half brown and half white converted rice). Boil for 5 minutes with lid on; then turn down to simmer or off, and let sit for 30-40 minutes. I use my simmer burner so it won't stick as much.

Any long grain white rice will do. Then I just fluff it up and serve the veggie mix over the rice in bowls. You may want to double the rice mix for your family; or just remember to use the same amount of water as rice; so 2 cups water to 2 cups rice, etc.

Tomorrow's Friday and the last day of the week; hope you all have a good one too ... Rosebud

We've got really cold temps here again @ -22C at this time; last night plummeted downt to -27C which was a shocker after having so many 0+ days in a row, which was mild for us. We had to crank up the furnace last night and again tonight to keep warm. I even have my little heater going now and then if I feel chilled. The car bawked and didn't want to run this AM, so we just stayed home! Oh well, another day ...

Hopefully this won't last too long though ... only 2 more months and April will be here and that means ... SPRING ... yeah! DH says this winter is whizzing by; but we didn't have permanent snow until the end of the first week of December, so maybe we got a bit spoiled, I think! We had hamburgers for dinner tonight; I had one with a salad.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend; and do take good care ... Rosebud

HI LADIES ~ I also tried to post in here last night but gave up becuz my PC was doing battle with some spam for so long it was getting too tiresome; so I decided to leave and go do some reading. I knew that I could do catch-up another time. The temps were much better the last two days; about -10 to -13 during the day with some glorious helping us out for both days too. Last night only got down to -15C so that wasn't too bad, but DH says that it is already down to -17C right now ...

PURPLE ~ don't worry about not getting in yesterday -- we know that you have a lot on your plate right now, esp this week, and with your own health issues added on top; you have more than enuff to deal with. I am sending up some more prayers for your sister for a complete and more comfortable recovery from her surgery. I am glad they sent her a pain management team; that's a good idea and shows that they care about their patients total well-being -- and really, there is no reason for people to have to suffer so much when we have the meds (I call them "med tools") to help them be more comfortable as they recover ...

I hope that you are feeling better too; and that's a good idea to text message her on a phone or Ipod. We don't have those but some people find them very handy for things like that, as I'm sure her family does right now.

We managed to get out shopping yesterday to pick up some badly needed essentials, as we hadn't been out in a while. We finally solved the car problem mystery; it was the new battery that we bought. Like we suspected, it was a dud or defective. DH had to keep boosting the car and we never had to do that before.

So he returned the bad battery this AM and they tested it and sure enuff it was a dud; couldn't hold a charge at all. DH suggested that they test them next time BEFORE selling them to an unsuspecting customer -- as this caused us so much unnecessary grief for last 2 days. Here we thought our car was broken down again; glad we hadn't taken it to the garage or it would have cost us all becuz they gave us a defective battery. Eeks ...

Anyways, I'll get off my 's now too ... We had leftover turkey with gravy for dinner with potatoes and veggies; really nice ... just popped everything in some casserole dishes in the oven.

Hope you all have a lovely Sunday evening and a marvellous Monday too. I will start a new February thread for tomorrow, so look out for that as well. Take good care ... Rosebud

HI LUCY ~ we are glad that you decided to come back and join us in our thread. This is the old January thread; come on over to the new FEBRUARY thread ... it's on the same page as this one, OK?

Rosebud