allison - thanks for the garlic tip. We have one of the rubber roller thingys and it works quite well. I will definitely check out the video when I get home tonight!

Michelle - my neighbor is also a children's librarian and often recommends the Terry Pratchett books for 'older kids' like me. :) We are hanging out with her tonight, I'll ask her for any other suggestions as well.

Gary, if you're out there I'm sending all of my positive thoughts and cancer-cell-destroying vibes your way. You're always such a positive and cheerful personality here, it is so appreciated.

Saef, I'm so sorry, hang in there honey! :hug: I hope you get those meds and they start re-building their supplies in your system soon.

Shannon, sounds like you're doing the right thing finance-wise, and bonus that you like the Focus! A coworker drives one and really likes it, too.

Becky, I've been thinking a lot lately about how my habit of afternoon snacking has grown, and is bad. Between my summer work schedule and having a dog, my summer (and late spring and early fall...) schedule has changed to putting me at home around 4-5 pm, and I always snack. And I'm not usually hungry. I hear you. As I move into fall I really need to change things. It's become such a habit, I need to build new, better habits.

Allison, I hope poor Misty gets better soon.

SSDD with me over here. Have a good day all. :)

Saef - I've been thinking about you the last few days. I hope things even back out for you.

Gary - positive thoughts your way as well.

Becky - this is why I buy jarred garlic. I'm too lazy to deal with it. ;)

:wave: to all!

Hi guys!

I posted over in the fearless thread after a long hiatus. I was lurking for a couple of weeks and I'm jumping back in if you don't mind.

I am so sorry to hear about Gary. My Mom has had a recurrence of the ovarian cancer she first had seven years ago and she is back on chemo until around April or May. It really and truly sucks.

Megan, what kind of dog did you get? We adopted a golden mix about a year ago. She was dumped at a shelter with her nine puppies and we got her through a rescue. She had terrible separation anxiety at first but she is now officially the BEST DOG EVER.

I am looking forward to chatting with everyone again (and to getting these *%^$* extra pounds off).

Hey Ward! Welcome back. Sorry to have to welcome you back to the fearless thread, but good to see you back here in chatter. :)

Hey Shannon! I am in awe of your running. You are killing it lately!

Asking advice from you home decorators. I shared on the fearless forum that I am rearranging my bedroom, one thing leads to another as we all know. I now have a puffy comforter. shams and bedskirt on my bed. I like it but am tired of it and want to do something to "reduce" the puffiness. I want to find a spread that isn't so puffy , something a little smoother. Any suggestions ?

Invite all your friends to come over and jump on your bed. Might break the springs but that will probably get the puffiness down ;)

My neighbors had a HUGE fight last night after some dog issue. I've never heard such ungodly sounds come from a dog and there is blood splattered all over my front stoop, so I'm guessing some dog got bitten. After whatever happened, the neighbors screamed at each other for a while threatening to beat each other. My conclusion is that they are insane, and I should get rabies shots.

My Mom was famous for finding a beautiful new quilt on sale and bringing it home which would then mean new everything else (curtains, bed skirt, wallpaper, etc., etc.--and none on sale). LOL Anyway, look for something more tailored. My bedskirt and duvet are both microfiber and I can't say they look puffy--well maybe the duvet over the down comforter. But there isn't any trim like lace or ruffles or stuff. It's actually rather masculine, but I like that look.

Bargoo, I deeply dislike the standard bedroom decorating apparatus of our time, which includes duvet covers, whole families of pillows, seemingly propagating like rabbits, most of which have to get thrown off the bed every night, and bedskirts.

Because I have very distinctive likes and dislikes, it won't surprise you that I have jacquard woven coverlets from the 1840s-1860s on my beds, with antique quilts folded at the bottom, over the bed rail or on a quilt rack.

The operative term is "bedspread," which I think of as a bed covering that has dieted down considerably.

Try a Google search for these terms and see if any of these appeal to you:

- Chenille bedspreads

- Bates bedspreads

- Jamawar/pashmina bedspreads

Some of these may be too retro for you, others may be too exotic or with prints or colors that don't suit. But at least that will make you conscious of a wider spectrum of choices than getting the standard duvet/pillows/skirt package.

ETA: My taste for this stuff came about as I quickly discovered that antique beds were not made to have really puffed-up things sitting on top of them. It ruins the profile and often obscures very nice parts of the bed, the solid sheets of walnut and mahogany and rosewood & some of the carved areas.

Thanks for the suggestions. Interesting that you mentioned chenille.Back in the day everybody had chenille bedspreads, the thought had actually crossed my mind, I haven'seen any lately, though.
I did a google search this morning and found lots of wild prints and garish colors. I do have something I may consider. After my mother passed away I found a new, handquilted quilt in a cedar chest, I had never seen it before. My mother was a quilter but I don't think she made this one, more likely it came from someone in her quilting group. The quilting is exquisite and the pattern is nice but the ugliest colors I have ever seen. There ought to be a law against such colors. I think I will get it out later and see how it looks may not be as bad as I recall.

Bargoo, I have quilts I got at bed, bath & beyond on all the beds in my house during the summer (I use puffy comforters/duvets in the winter when we need the warmth).

Bargoo, the antique jacquard coverlets that I own look like this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._-_overall.jpg

See the corner, with the writing? That often has the name of the girl they were woven for, the date, and the weaver's name. Sometimes even the place where they were woven. It is amazing how well some have lasted.

I like it. I don't have anything like that but I do have black lace veil that my grandmother made and wore to her young daughters funeral. It is in perfect condition, I have no idea what to do with it of course. It proves that fabrics in the olden days are far superior to the man made fabrics in use today.