[gma22]

Good morning to you all! It another gorgeous day here. Nice and warm already. I did get the deck done yesterday and came inside and my face felt like about 100 beestings even though I dropped all my clothes at the washer and washed up to get any pollen and such off me. Jack brought me a cold wash cloth and eventually it went away, but my eyes stayed puffy for awhile and I noticed I had a bit of a scratchy throat but that is gone this morning. I did have the 10 minutes of sneezing this morning and finally got my nose blown enough to stop that. It is a necessary evil and has to be done, but frankly Jack cuts corners and I feel like it is kind of sloppily done so I just do it myself. It looks nice now with no wild flower/weeds and the bushes trimmed and leaves blown out. It should do us for spring and summer until the leaves start coming off the trees.

Susan: Thank you for the spread. Jack loves Peanut butter and syrup, UGH! I may have to make this for him without telling him what is in it and see if he likes its. Let me know about how you like the asparagus recipe if you do it soon. My dil says the secret to tasty asparagus is breaking it where it breaks naturally and not ever eating the bottom part because it is where it is bitter. She said she thinks I didn't ever like it because I got some that was bitter. You guys have me interested in getting some jicama now. So what do I look for? Is it a root veggie, a leafy one or what? I am really trying to just go and buy a big variety of veggies for me and keeping Jack on WW the only way he will eat. I really want to cut out carbs stuff for me and replace with veggie variety so I have to find stuff I haven't had before. I hate brussel sprouts though I do like cabbage. Now that you can get cabbage in baggies like you do salad makings, I am going to get some and make vinegar coleslaw. Being a good German girl I love sauerkraut and I like cooked cabbage as well. Give me some other suggestions on veggies. I plan on getting beets and some turnips and have eaten spinach in salads but no other way. Maybe I will try a bit of spinich cooked so if you have a spinach recipe send it forth.

Maggie: thanks for your recipes as well. You know, since Jack is veggie phobic pretty much and adament about it to boot, I make make your "chicken salad" using pre-cooked chicken breast. You can get the roasted stuff in little containers and that way I would have it already cooked when I wanted it and could put together a meal for myself pretty quickly. I may have to label all my different veggies so I don't forget what is what! lol

Jean: Sounds like you have a very stupid school board! We have a ceiling fan only in the living room as we had to take the one in the bedroom out a couple years ago and replace with a light fixture. They do work well and I have never understood why the do it yourself shows always think they are so ugly. Some of them are quite beautiful. My way to make good bread:

You go to the store, you pick up a plastic bag of bread dough, you come back and put it on to rise, you bake it and you eat it! Seriously, I do that with yeast rolls.

Well, I have chores to do so I need to get with it and get some knitting done besides. I have deadlines! lol

Have a great start to the week! Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon, ladies. Only 85 today. :

Tonight is Bible Study. While I was eating my lunch today, a filling came out of my front tooth. I called the dentist right away but they can't see me until Wednesday morning. Fortunately it doesn't hurt. I know he's going to want to cap it and a back molar as well.

Faye, spinach cooks in just a couple of minutes. I like to saute it in a pan with olive oil spray or steam it in a Glad steamer bag. I put some bacon bits and vinegar on it. I also like Kroger's frozen creamed spinach and it doesn't have too many points. Jicama looks like a big round potato - brown skin. It is shaped like a turnip. Just take the asparagus and hold the bottom with one hand then bend and it will break. The bottoms are stringy and bitter.

Maggie, thanks for the recipes - I'll be making them soon.

Jean, some of our public schools wear uniforms. Usually the poorer neighborhoods where they have problems with gangs. Not long now and you can say goodbye to that mess at school.

Have a good day!

[Jean]

Good Afternoon! It is a cold windy day in my corner of the world. We had a short night at our house last night. We went to visit MIL taking along clothes because she was to be dismissed this morning. Her breathing was very noisy and she rattled for lack of a better description. Lucky for us she has had the same nurse 3 nights in a row as well as when MIL was in the hospital before, so she was familiar with MIL. We had just gotten home and the nurse called saying the doctor suggested calling the family in. His hour estimate turned out to be about 5 hours. It was 3 AM by the time I headed for bed, and I am feeling it now. We'd like to get her apt. cleaned out before the 1st; I can't believe all the stuff she has accumulated in a year! The memorial service will be next Monday for a couple of reasons. The little hometown church is part of a city-wide garage sale on Saturday and our minister can't come on Sunday since we are having a big fund raising auction at our church. The AZ relatives are flying in the day before and will leave the afternoon of the memorial service. I'm not sure about the MT relatives, but think they will drive. That has been my life for the past few hours. Bob decided to go ahead with the colonoscopy tomorrow to add to the excitement.


"Gma" -- I like your bread "recipe!" I'm sorry you had a reaction to the pollen. Every once in awhile we will have a pollen alert, but I think it has been too cold. I think all men must think along the same line . . . "looks ok to me," and on to something more interesting.


Susan -- It's too bad you have to wait until Thursday to see your dentist. I'm glad your tooth doesn't hurt in the meantime. I wonder if you could get in sooner if it did hurt? Enjoy your Bible study tonight.

Maggie -- Thank you for sharing the recipes. They sound good!


I have the last load of laundry going and need to pick up. Our minister came this morning and I was barely dressed. I don't expect anyone else but one never knows. Have a nice "rest of the day" and a terrific Tuesday tomorrow.


Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning ladies! It is already warm and balmy this morning. I am looking forward to swim time this year. I have no operations to get over so I can swim. I hope with the new rules they don't kick me out, but I am going to try it anyway. I still have a key, just don't know if it still works.

Susan: Thanks for the info. Do you just buy some jarred bacon bits and sprinkle a bit on or do you crumble fresh? I am definitely going to have to try that. I really, really want to get a lot of fiber and such in my diet. I am not having problems, I just want to eat healthy AND eat stuff that will keep me filled up. I still have a lot of hormonal issues and boy when my hormones are wacky am I hungry, ravenous really. So, I want a lot of fiber stuff in the house to eat.

Jean: Please accept my deepest condolences over the loss of your mil. I know the two of you weren't surprised by it and she was very elderly and ill, but still. Hope Bob comes out of his test ok. I watched a program on fit tv about digestion yesterday and it was pretty interesting. They had two over the road truck drivers swallow pills that had electronics in them and eat what they normally did and then see how long it took to pass. They they did the same thing over having them eat correct fiber per day and see again how long it took to pass. Like the one guy said, it improved his digestion, but he was going all the time and couldn't do that driving a truck. Thing is, your body develops a tolerance and you end up just being regular. It does take a few days of eating properly though.

I guess I need to get out of here and get work done. Today is clean the downstairs day and I want to continue to work on my knitting projects.
Have a great tuesday.
Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies. Another pretty day.

Jean, my deepest sympathy to you and Bob at the loss of your MIL. We are never prepared for the death of a loved one. Monday will be 1 year since my dh passed.

Faye, I use Hormel or Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits. One thing to remember is that protein is what keeps us feeling full and satisfied the longest. Have a little protein with every meal and snack. An apple and a string cheese, yogurt and berries, celery and peanut butter, etc. Drink lots of water with the extra fiber to keep it moving along. I'll say one thing about the BL menus, they are mainly protein, fruits, veggies and dairy with a few whole grains and I feel full all day long.

Nothing going on today so it will be an easy day. Have a good one.

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! The sun was shining brightly today and there was NO wind for a nice change. We were up bright and early because Bob's colonoscopy appt. was changed from 7:30 to 6:15. He did have a polyp removed but the surgeon said it looked ok. We'll get the results in a few days. The surgeon is a young man that knew Jason from scouting days and me from subbing when he was in high school. He looks too young to be a surgeon! Everyone who has had him speaks very highly of him. Bob was supposed to come home and "rest" which lasted about an hour. We met with our minister who is going to do part of the memorial service, stopped at the funeral home to give them the obit information, home for lunch, and back to MIL's apartment to continue packing. Beth and the kids are came over to look through MIL's pictures to put together a memory board for the service. She has more patience than I would.

"Gma" -- Thank you for your kind thoughts. I hope you are able to use the pool whenever you want this summer.

Susan -- It doesn't seem like a year has gone by since Stan's death. Thank you for your kind thoughts; you are right in that no one is ever ready no matter how ready you think you are.


I am heading off to bed. I am more tired tonight than last night. Have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!


Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

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