Good Morning, All…
Wow, the computer is acting wacky today…. I’d better save my Word document throughout my musings!

Rie – I don’t know about your mom and doing in-store demo gigs. I’m a few years younger than she is, probably, and I almost weep from the pain at the end of one of these events. Five hours of standing in one spot is absolutely killer on knees, back, and hips. I took two Advil during the event, two when I finished, and another two around 8. The throbbing kept me up most of the night until I took two more around 4 a.m. I’m not sure the very little money is worth it. It does get me into the shower and into polite society, but I could probably do that with some prior planning, anyway. I only do these once or twice a month, and I’m not sure I’m going to continue. As the leg/hip gets worse, so does my enthusiasm.

However, the Newton Fruit Thins are quite yummy! I snagged one of the broken ones to try. They’re 140 calories for three cookies, 22g carbs, some whole wheat flour. As snacks go, they probably aren’t the worst, but they definitely would be a TREAT.

Are you and your son on better terms?

Bobbi – was your family rebellion successful?

TeaGranny – hello!

Freda – I think you might be one of my psychic twinnies, too! Not only do you hate summer/heat, as I do, but you don’t like dumplings, either! Gross! I can remember those blobby gross sluggy things floating in a pot of boiled chicken…. eiuuuuuuu, eiuuuuuuuuuu, eiuuuuuuuuuu! No WAY was I putting one of those things in my mouth! I’m sure that the recipes we’re hearing about here are MUCH more palatable.

Nancy – are you walking into walls this morning after getting up at that godforsaken hour of 4 a.m.??

KarenMO – I think I see another Cadillac in your future! I remember the pinup photo of you draped over your last one, with the come-hither look!

Gayle – is work any better these days? One of my customers yesterday had a smock emblazoned with the name of the hospital where I used to work, and my blood turned cold! Everything you say, I can empathize with... and am grateful that I left there.

Lou – glad to see you, and I love your girl kitty’s name! Rumple and Mungo… great! Wasn’t that video fun? I laughed all three times I watched it!

KarenFL – you aren’t whining… but you COULD whine, if it will make you feel better! I’m so sorry you’re feeling so poorly and are so frustrated that this just doesn’t seem to be improving for you! This always makes me feel better, so I’ll give it to you: “oh, poor baby!”. Did that help?

Lynn – I tell you, the GadgetGods are in cahoots! I hope you can get your new joy-of-home-ownership woes under control. How long do you think the a/c will work this time?? You will love the kitty video, and it’ll cheer you right away!

Marie – I hope your work re-entry is painless!

My cousin’s boy will be here to do some yard stuff soon, so I’d better get rolling. Hope you’re all having a lovely day (now and later, too!).

It won't be good morning in 5 minutes, so good afternoon everyone.
KarenFla...I'm thinking of you and sending angels to watch over you. I couldn't have said it better than what Rie posted:

Quote:
Oh, Karen, I am so sorry that things are still going rough for you! I'm sure you know that having a slightly rough road is common about a month after this kind of event. I hope that you can do some little things that will help you in baby steps and mostly help you feel less helpless. If you feel teary, then cry because you have every right. besides it releases endorphins to help you feel better. We all need a good cry at times and for less than you are enduring

I'm back to watching what I eat today...the family rebellion (reunion)had lots of good hot dishes/casseroles. That's what most folks in the midwest eat at gatherings. My daughters pastor is Italian and when he moved to Minnesota he got so sick of all the hotdishes made with cream of mushroom soups. He said don't you make just normal foods without the cr. of soups? I'd never thought much about our foods before than, it's something I grew up with. I rarely use soups in foods, maybe once or twice a year. I'd rather make homemade white sauce with spices in it.
Glynne...no typo, I did call it a rebellion. We actually all get along great! I have a weird sense of humor.
Donna...how were the Fig Newton cookies? I looked for them in the store and didn't find them. Someone made some Danish bars made with lots of butter,sugar, white flour, almond paste and sliced almonds. (yeast type of kringle)I ate 4 of them, geeez they were delicious. My hubby is the Czech, not me. I'm full blooded Danish and the family reunion was made up of mostly Danes. My mom made the same kind of soft dumplings as some of you gals mentioned and I love the Czec dumplings sooooooo much better. I'm with you on that recipe Marie. BTY...I didn't know you were so talented, let us know what happens with the script your daughter turned in.
Mary...how did you meet your hubby? I think it would be fun for all the golden girls that were/are married to tell all...where did you all meet? Did you have an instant spark, did you like him right away?
Koala...I am artistic and never put floral gardens and my painting ability together. I used to do a lot of oil painting/canvas but not so much anymore. Since I retired I'm just too busy to pick up a brush.
your garden sounds like a marvel to behold. I reckon it takes the soul of an artist to create and maintain a beautiful garden.
Lynn...I can't go back and look at the question someone asked you, I was wondering the same thing...my brain is blank at the moment...what else is new.
I have more to gab about but DH said I better get my climbing roses tied up before the sun hits the back yard..........It's hot out there in the sun.
Later Gators

Good Afternoon gg's,

DH went to DGS's football practice and I have an entire 2 hours ALONE! I had gotten a zumba exercise video at the library and did that. Fun! And now a few min. to catch up here. Didn't do much of anything today except laundry. Lots and lots of that. Not sure where it all came from. I think it multiplies like bunnies. Still have to do my weights but that I don't mind at all. I'll do an extra set for you Marie. If only! Wouldnt' that be nice. we could trade off what we don't like for something we do.

Karen, Sorry you're still feeling so poorly. Did they do an O2 study with activity before you came home? Not sure what kind of Cardiologist you've got girlfriend, but low 80's is not ok!

Gayle, Hope your day at work is good.

Bobbi and Marie, I love sourkraut! The cabbage with brownsugar and spices sounds good too.

Marie, Have a good first day back to work. It always takes me awhile to get it back together.

Donna, We do seem to be Psychic twinnies about a lot of things! And I so agree about the "dumplins" yuckey, poohey. And according to everyone, my mom made the best. I always wondered, if these are the best, I wonder what the bad ones look and taste like.

Koala, We all fall off that wagon from time to time. Just run fast and jump right back on! No one said you had to be perfect.

Nancy, You got it girl. It's "dumplins". And it's a "southern thang".

Lynn, sorry about your run of bad luck lately. things have to start looking up soon. At least the air conditioner is working now, right?

Rie, You never know what kids are going to like. I bought all the Poo books, thinking of how much fun I would have reading them to the kiddies. Neither of them would let me read them. They did like the Dr. Seuss ones though.

Rosie, I've called you that for so long I don't know if I can change now. Anyway, your pictures of Alaska make me want to pack up and move.

Karen31, When you find the right car you will know it. We keep our cars forever so I really have to like something when I get it.

OK, how did I meet my husband. In high school. My friend introduced us. She was in "love" with his cousin. She moved on and married someone else. My husband and I married as soon as I graduated. It was the "thing" to get an engagement ring in highschool. I do hope kids are smarter now. Not that I regeat it, but that is sooo young. I think we are one of the only couples that got married after graduation (and there were several) that are still together.

First time I saw DH was in high school. I was 7th grade and he was 9th grade. Our school had a large cafeteria where all the grades had a study hall. I always watched for him because he was a 'bad boy' type. Pitch black hair styled in a duck tail, always had a black leather jacket and jeans riding on his hips. I never talked to him, he was scary. His dad was the captain of the police force and he always had to prove to everyone how hard it was to be a cops son. He was in fist fights all the time, smoked too. One time his dad caught him with a bottle of brandy in his boots and sent him to his grandparents farm for the whole summer. He was 13 at the time. Anyone else have a crush on bad boys?
Then I didn't see him again until the summer I graduated from high school. I was dating a friend of his and we were all at the beach. He asked me out right in front of his buddy, I said yes and the rest is history. He told me on the second date he was going to marry me. He'd lost his bad boy image by the time I actually met and talked to him.

Hi everyone! I slept in this am. I started feeling kind of sick last night when I lay down...I'm sure it was my hernia and that I ate too much and triggered the discomfort. I got up for a while and then went back to bed about 2:30 and took Tyl pm ...and I finally got to sleep sometime after 3. Feel better this morning though. It's a cooler day which I like. My dh returned the wood splitter and has been stacking wood and doing other stuff in the yard. I have just done daily work, cleaned out one shelf in the fridge and mopped kitchen floor. Other than changing sheets this is just work leftover from last week. I hope I do better this week. I've also been setting up a new eating plan, based on what I know about Medifast. MF is too expensive for me so I am improvising. I like that I can eat small "meals" frequently. I don't like that I can't have fruit (with the diabetic plan). I also will miss bread, rice, pasta, corn, potatoes, peas, carrots and my mocha drink but fruit is the worst esp at this time of year. It's so tempting! Quite honestly I am not very confident of sticking to this plan but I am taking it day by day. I am telling myself I can just do it this strict for a week or two, then move up to the other diabetic plan which allows a few more calories/foods. But I have to do something because my weight has really gone up since Dec.

Bobbi - I don't like dishes with cream of soup in them! As to how I met my dh. I was going to business school near an AF base. There was a weekly dance put on by the Catholic church and many of the girls from my school would attend as well as the guys from the base no matter their religion. It was just records and dancing, no drinking, drugs or even smoking. There may have even been chaperons from the church now that I think about it but I didn't think of that at the time and never saw them. I had a boyfriend I'd been dating for four years and we planned to marry. In fact we almost got married the summer before my senior year but we broke up for a little while and although we carried on it was never the same for me. I made plans to go to business school. Since the base was outside the town I lived in while attending school, we continued to date a few weeks but then he was discharged and went back to his home town. I actually felt relief! I'm SO thankful I didn't marry him! Looking back I realize he was NOT a nice guy. Still I considered myself unavailable and when my roommates tried to get me to go to this dance I refused for a long time...I felt it was wrong because of my bf (he was VERY jealous too!) and also wasn't comfortable with dancing...told my gfs no one would even ask me to dance. One of my roommates told me about this Filipino guy she liked and danced a lot with. She was short (shorter than I at the time) and liked to dance with him because he wasn't so tall (he was maybe 5'7" then). They finally wore me down and I went to the dance with them. I had barely sit down when I was asked to dance! So that covered one of my objections and I had a fun. And the other thing that happened was I met her Filipino friend! When I saw him we realized we had seen each other before. His first words to me were "small world, isn't it?!" A few weeks previous to this, he had come into the office where I worked with his friend who was buying insurance. I thought he was very good looking and sneaked peeks at him and later learned he was doing the same thing with me. When he left he told his friend, there's a girl I wouldn't mind marrying. His friend told him to go back in and ask for a date, but he didn't. I figured all the girls fell for him and didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing I thought he was cute too. LOL So anyway, here we meet at the dance but he didn't ask me to dance cause he thought I was too tall for him...I was almost 5'5" at the time but with heels and being so skinny I looked tall. So I danced with other guys and chatted with Joe between dances. It's a long story but eventually he did ask me to dance and as they say the rest is history..we've been married 49 years in Sept.

I loved this, Marie! When you kissed did you see blue lights too?!! Loved your story too, Bobbi. Yes I had crushes on bad boys. There was one I still remember..he was considered very wild. He was in a bad accident and had 1/2 his face burned. I still wonder how his life has gone and hope things got better. My dh was never a "bad boy" but he was into martial arts and wore a jacket with a dragon on it with the collar turned up which looked very cool.;-)
He was like no one else I knew at the time and I guess that was part of his charm. I honestly got a better deal than I even knew I was getting at the time so I feel very blessed.

Freda - I often wonder how many people from my senior class that married young are still together. I know a few are as I've seen them on FB. When my kids grew up, their friends actually thought it was strange that they had parents who were still together!

Hey GGs,
Don’t know what’s the matter with me lately - just been feeling lazy, & not up to doing much, including posting here! I do really enjoy reading everyone else’s posts though. But, that sorta feels like cheating (if I don’t post back). Hope y’all will bear with me until I get through this, whatever it is! Maybe the heat? Summer doldrums?! Whoa! Just looked at my indoor thermometer - it’s 88 degrees in here! That might have something to do with my lethargy! I only had one of my window AC units on, but just now turned on the other two -on high! To heck with the power bill!!!

Donna, I haven’t bumped into any walls, but sure am feeling blah! (see above). And Gayle, the reason I get up early, is because my SO has to - he still has a job. I would just feel too guilty if I didn’t at least get up with him & fix him breakfast! I try to go back to bed after he leaves, but usually I can’t get back to sleep (I did manage to today, for 2 hours! Yay!).

KarenFL, I’m so glad you’re keeping us posted about how you’re doing. I just really, really hate that you’re feeling so bad. I wish there was something I could do to make you feel better! Maybe the angels Bobbi sent to watch over you will help! Please take care of yourself! I feel like you’re my “Florida connection”, & you’re very important to me (& I’m sure, to all of us GGs)!

Rie, of course I enjoyed the buffet - I really do looove eating! And I highly recommend getting a swing, so relaxing. But, I didn’t get to spend much time in mine yesterday - it was too hot! Oh, & I’m glad someone else here likes my kind of dumplins! Gayle, you didn’t say if you like them or not (mine are the biscuity kind), did you?

Poor Lynn, don’t you just hate all these permits you have to have for everything these days?! Just one more way for the government to get it’s hands in our pockets (not to mention it’s nose in our business!). Bet it’s not that bad in Alaska (is that right, Rosey?), because I’m sure that fishing cabin Rosey posted a pic of on FB, never would have been approved! Glad you found a little shade at your festival yesterday.

KarenMO, sorry you missed your swim. With those kind of temps, I’m sure you really needed it. Good luck with the “car hunt”.

Koala, you just “shuffle” on in here any time. Hope you caught up to that wagon. And thanks, I always enjoy reading.

Look at this, I’m ended up posting quite a bit! Might have something to do with the fact that the temp in here has now fallen to 81 degrees?! I really must go - it’s past time for me to start fixing dinner. Wait, I forgot to mention this - we ate the first tomato from my plants yesterday (on hamburgers), & it was good. I was sooo excited, I’ve never grown anything I can eat before! (This must sound silly to all you veteran gardeners, but it’s new to me.) Tonight we’re having BLT’s with my second tomato!

Ok, really got to go! Sorry to all I missed!
NCNancy

I wrote this post about 3 hours ago, then lost my internet connection. Thank goodness this was on my word processor, so it wasn't lost! I'm sending it now (if I can). Maybe I'll post more, but maybe not.

Hallo, y'all! Haute, here. Got all my ceiling fans whizzing around on their highest speeds (got 'em in every room in the house - I avoid AC unless I just absolutely HAVE to have it because it makes me clog up and then cough & sneeze) and also a couple of strategically-placed tower fans that purport to clear the air of toxins as well as cool you down. Ah, who g'nows? LOL...I LOVE the cookies being called WhoGnu! Anyhoo, how we met our dh's? Dh#1 or Dh#2? Okay, well, I'll tell you both. I met Dh#1 when I was actually engaged to somebody else when I was in my sophomore year in college. I know it will probably surprise and amaze you to hear this, but I was something of an activist at that point in time - and sort of hippie-ish, too, to tell the truth. I started tutoring at a neighborhood center founded by none other than Abbie Hoffman himself. (And I KNOW you all have to have heard of Abbie Hoffman - people of our generation generally have; it's the young 'uns who look at you blankly if you should somehow have cause to mention his name.) So here I was, young, impressionable, with hair down to my butt and wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and bell bottom jeans - with delusions of saving the world. I became more and more interested in and involved with the Civil Rights movement, and sure enough, ended up breaking my engagement and being one of the first in my crowd to marry a good-looking black guy who gave a lot of speeches and organized a lot of sit-ins and such. Abbie was the best man, and we got married in a beautiful park with me in a long white India cloth dress, flowers in my hair and bare feet. Four outrageously gorgeous children later, having obtained Master's degrees for both him and me and having lived a somewhat twisted version of the American dream for close to 25 years with him cheating regularly and taking far too much pride in his big house in the suburbs and his country club membership, I divorced the no-goodnik and started living my own life. Three or so years after the divorce, I'd made plans to spend a Sunday afternoon at the Worcester Art Museum (which, is, incidentally, world-class) to see an exhibit that I now disremember completely. One by one, my friends cancelled out on me, and annoyed, I made up my mind to just go ahead and see the exhibit by myself. I was sitting on one end of a long stone bench contemplating one of the paintings when a very attractive fellow - tall, with the prettiest silver hair tied back in a pony tail, a mustache and neatly trimmed short beard - sat at the other end of the bench. After ten or so minutes of silence, we struck up a conversation, he asked if I'd like to have a cup of coffee with him in the Museum Cafe, I said okay, and as everyone else has said, "the rest is history". We spent a year or so getting to know each other, and then we got married and I moved into his house/ studio up in the Monadnock mountains of New Hampshire. We later moved. He retired from a successful career as a software engineer and is now "at home". We're still together and my biggest complaint is his snoring. Well, I have others, but that's the biggest. I DO think that after one miserable marriage, I have become very focused on not being dumped on again and am maybe a little too demanding. Oh, well. That's not going to change anytime soon, trust me. THE END.
KarenFla, I am thinking of you and hoping that you're feeling a little better tonight. So, so sorry that you're having such a difficult recuperation. You know we all love you dearly.
Glad you came back, Koala....I missed my early morning Australian connection!
Nancy, heat I can handle...humidity makes me feel exactly like you're feeling....completely lethargic and without a drop of energy. My advice is to move as little as possible, drink cool drinks and sleep if you can. Sleeping, at least, keeps you from feeling the stuffiness so much.
Oh, I LOVE all the "how I met my dh (or reasonable facsimile)" stories! Please keep them coming!
Going to run...am tired and ready to call it a night.
Z

Hey Y'all,
I just have to chime in on this “bad boy” thing. Being a “good girl” & overweight & very shy, as a teenager, of course I was attracted to bad boys! But I was scared to talk to them! Then Mom, a recent widow, got “picked up” in a bar, & then invited the guy to come to our house a few days later for a home-cooked meal. And that’s how I met my first husband. He was 29 yrs. old (Mom was 32, & I was 15), he’d just been out of prison for a month (he’d served 4 yrs. of a 40 yr. sentence for armed robbery & was out on parole), & he’d been married & divorced 3 times. How’s that for a bad boy?! Of course I decided I was “in love” with him, & that all he needed was the love of a good woman (me, of course) to straighten him out. 2 weeks later he was dating me instead of my mom. A month after that we were married! Believe it or not, somehow that marriage lasted for 7 years, but he never did “straighten out”.

Second husband was a bad boy too, just not as bad. I was working as a clerk in a convenience store when I met him. He was in every day, playing one of the video games they had in the stores back then. He didn’t have a job or a car, & was sleeping on the couch at his brother’s house. But, he was a good looking guy - 6’ 2”, blonde hair & blue eyes, & he was interested in me! (I was still overweight, & still had no self confidence!) On our first date, the first thing he did, was drive to someone’s house (in my car) to buy “weed” (for himself, I’ve never smoked, anything). And he left me sitting in the car, in the driveway, for over half an hour, while he made the “transaction”. And, I waited for him, & continued on with the date (we went to a drive-in movie). I let him come home with me that night, & he moved in with me the next day. We lived together for 9 months, & then got married. He did get a job shortly after moving in, & kept one most of the time we were together. That marriage also lasted 7 years, but ended when he fell in love with a woman at work. That was actually a good thing, because it never was a good marriage, but we were both too scared of being alone to end it. That’s the main reason we ended up together in the first place.

This is getting way too long, & y’all probably didn’t want to hear all this anyway. Suffice to say, there are quite a few other bad boys in my past. I was always just so grateful that any guy would be interested in me, I just didn’t set my standards very high (what standards??!!). And I think that had a lot to do with my being fat. I just didn’t think a “decent guy” would be attracted to a fat girl! Fortunately, my SO happened along when I was once again working at a convenience store. He’d just gotten out of a bad marriage, & I’d just ended another bad relationship. We had a rather rocky start - he dumped me to pursue other interests (nicely, it was supposed to just be a casual thing between us), that didn’t work out & he came back, & then I dumped him because he didn’t want to get serious & I did. Finally got all that worked out, & here we are, still together after 15 years. I think I got the right guy this time. And he is not a “bad boy” (though he can be a real “jerk” at times)! Ok, I’ll shut up now. Sorry to be so long-winded!

NCNancy

PS: Zoe, I just read your post & your stories sound just like they're out of a movie. Mine sound like episodes of The Jerry Springer Show!