Good afternoon, ladies! It's so cold for VA - 24 degrees right now.

I went to WW this morning, down a pound so I'm happy. Then I had to go grocery shopping since I hadn't done that since right before Christmas. No fresh fruit and vegetables, no milk, bread almost gone, you get the picture. Kroger had Lean Cuisines $1.60 if you buy 10 so I did. I get home late from my second job and they are quick to fix. I also got a pineapple and cherries in addition to the standard apples, oranges, pears and bananas.

I worked at Jackson Hewitt from 9 am until 7:30 pm last night. It's an easy job, just sitting and answering the phone and greeting clients. I wasn't even tired when I got home. But with the cold today and having to go out I'm just worn out and I think I'll go have a nice nap soon. The cold is really hard for me this winter but I can't stay in the house until spring. I wanted to go to the Y, but the energy just isn't there today.

Maggie, I'm glad Will came through his surgery so well. It is amazing how they do surgery now. I have the scars to prove it wasn't always that way!
I've sent you my phone number earlier today.

Jean, The last haircut I got was so short - even for me - that it's just now getting to the stag where I'll need a trim in 3-4 weeks. I'm not going to that girl again. Of course, it was partly my fault because when she finished I told her to take a little more off...

Faye, I so feel for Jack. There is nothing worse than pain in you hands and knees and having to keep using them. I've had a lot of pain in my lower back this week so the disk are probably compressing more again. I swear, I'll be 3 feet tall if I live to 80. I saw a neat felted slipper pattern on tipnut yesterday. I might give it a try. Supposedly they are very warm. I hate having cold feet.

I've got to go get the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer. Why can't they make one machine that does both?

Good morning everybody! I think we are supposed to get some rain or snow showers today, but the temp is going to be too high to sustain snow I think. It is commissary day for us. We seem to always pick the day it is going to rain to do the shopping.

I think Jack is going to take a vacation day off this next week to get the car towed in and get things going on it to get it fixed. It will be nice to have the second car again so I am keeping my fingers crossed the cost won't be out of what we feel we want to pay to have it fixed. We have to have it inspected and then tagged too so you have to add that cost in with the towing and such. Cars can bleed you dry sometimes, but I can't complain about the grand marquis. It has 157000 miles on it and we haven't had much trouble with it at all until these spark plug issues.

Susan: for losing your lb! Because of my size I have trouble in extreme cold or hot, but I think cold is harder on me. I try not to let it get to me as I know I have to get up and get around and not just sit though. I got some really nice fruit at Fresh Market yesterday but it cost me that's for sure. I got blueberries, a pineapple, strawberries, oranges and nectarines. I bought a couple apples of a kind I have never tried so I hope they are good. I think they call them "honey crisp." I usually get granny smith as I like tart apples, but we shall see how these taste. I still want to get some bananas and grapes at the commissary today then I will be all set with fruit.

Maggie: Jack's right knee sort of looks like that with the little cuts. I had gall bladder surgery back in 1992 and had the three cuts and two of them have disappeared. The only one visable is the largest one. Of course I have a huge ugly one from my navel down from my colon surgery and the big "hole" one where the ostomy was so no bikinis for me!

Jean: I agree, you should probably leave out the nuts as so many people have allergies to nuts anymore or they plain don't like them. You bars sound really good. I think my favorite bar cookie are the butterscotch ones. They are so nice and chewy. Hope you can stay warm today as you sure are having some cold weather up there.

I woke up at 1:30 to go to the bathroom and never could go back to sleep so I imagine I will crash this afternoon sometime. I need to go to Target and get Jack new undies, tshirts and socks. I usually try to buy them staggered, but he has waited to tell me he needs all new stuff so we shall go get them today. I need some new socks to wear around the house so will get them too. One of these days, I will make myself some socks.

You gals have a nice Sunday. Take care of yourselves today and stay warm and dry. Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! It was -13 when we left for church this morning. There is no wind and the sun is shining. After church we went to the benefit breakfast and are now home again. It has "warmed" up to 2 according to the Weather Bug, but I don't know how accurate he is! My bars are made for tonight and I have to declutter the kitchen counter before I do anything else.

"Gma" -- I get Honey Crisp apples here and they are very sweet apples. I hope you like them. I use Granny Smith apples in the Snickers salad. I fell asleep in front of the tv last night so when it was time for bed, I was wide awake. I do that every once in awhile. Other times I wake up and then can't go back to sleep; sometimes I will get up but since I turn the furnace down at night the house feels too cold to just sit around. Have fun at Target -- that is one of my favorite stores to visit.

I need to get a move on or it will be time to leave for church again and I won't have accomplished anything. Have a relaxing Sunday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good evening, ladies. It was a little warmer today - got up to 34 degrees.

I didn't even go to church today. I got up congested and breathing with difficulty so decided it would be better not to go out in the cold air. It seems to have let up now. I'm going to try the Y tomorrow. If its too much, I'll just come home. I miss my exercise! The grocery store had a closeout sale on Skinny Cow pecan ice cream bars. What a rip off - 3 points for about 1/4 cup of ice cream. Oh well, that's what I get for not getting my calculator out and figuring the points before I bought.

Faye, I hope the commissary wasn't crowded and well stocked today. I know you will be glad to get your "wheels" back on the road. I hope it isn't too expensive. I like cameo or gala apples the best.

Jean, www.tipnut.com has something for everyone. It's a fun site. Give it a look sometime.

Maggie, We're getting strawberries from FL here - $2.50 a package. I won't be wearing a bikini, either. I have a scar from kidney surgery that started at my belly button and went around the back nearly to my spine, scars from intestinal blockages (4) that ended up going from hip to hip and above my belly button to my bikini line (lost my belly button on that one). X marks the spot for me!

I haven't had the tv on since Thursday and I sure won't have it on tonight. I'm not a football fan. It's more fun to read or quilt.

Have a good evening.

Good morning ladies! It is a balmy 39 here and supposed to warm up to near 50 today, which will be nice. It was fairly warm yesterday for this time of year. I am ready for spring and then summer swim time!

Saturday we had to take my phone in as the "home" button was not working. We went in first thing Saturday morning to the ATT store that said we had to go to the Apple store so we did. It is lodged in a very ritzy shopping center, ie, they have a Vera Bradley store, J Crew, JJill, etc. Well this place is so elitist you have to make an appt!!! They gave us one for 3 and said to come early to "check in." They have people standing at the door with Ipads like guards! They changed out to a new phone, but not before we had to stand around for an hour!!! The people that work there were friendly enough and the tech was super, but the whole place wreaked of "stuckupness!" Of course, it is in the "stuck up" part of town! The parking lot was full of beamers, lexus, jags, etc. Jack said our little Mariner felt real lonely out there in the parking lot with no one to talk to! The nice thing is having an Iphone, you just come home, plug it in to the computer and it brings up Itunes and Itunes stores everything so you sync it and it puts all your apps and phone address book, etc back onto your phone for you. I also made sure that everything was erased off the phone I turned in, but that was part of the procedure anyway.

Sunday I got up and found the bathroom floor flooded again. I wasn't dressed so I sent Jack over and the jerk wouldn't even open the door. Jack had to yell through the closed door what was going on! These dirtbags took offense to my calling their landlord last time and started throwing their cigarette butts and their cigar tips over onto our patio so I am not too pleased with them at all. I told Jack I was cleaning it up and if it happened again I was done and would call their landlord. I now have to do laundry and go to the laundromat today to dry towels and we just went on Saturday. We did the commissary thing, came home and unloaded and I decided to skip Target for another day. I wasn't feeling well, (another round of the female stuff) so I didn't want to be walking all over the Target store.

Today I am going to try and get cleaning done downstairs again. It is that time again. Sure seems to come around a lot!

Susan: Boy, I hope your breathing and such improves soon. Sounds like you have been having a rough time lately. I haven't ever seen the skinny cow pecan bars. Jack likes the WW toffee ones and the ice cream sandwiches. I am trying to just stay away from desserts of all kinds for awhile to get me "desugared" so to speak. I paid $5 for a larger box of strawberries at Fresh Market on Saturday. I got blueberries 2-$5, but paid a premium on some of the other stuff. They have really nice produce so I bought most of my stuff there rather than the commissary, which is apple heavy at the moment and not much else.

Maggie: I have made those bars with the coconut and chips and things years ago. They are pretty good, except I hate coconut! lol I still like the butterscotch bars. I bet you could lower the fat and such by using margarine for the graham crust. I don't see why you would need real butter, do you? Sounds like we all have "scars to bare"

Jean: Well at least some people showed up for the soup! Did you have a lot of food left? You sure aren't getting a break on warmer weather this year. I would just hate to have to deal with temperatures like that.

You gals have a nice beginning to your week. I need to go in and change out the stuff in the washer and start another load, unload the dishwasher and get myself some breakfast. Faye

Good afternoon, ladies. Only 30 degrees so feeling cold.

I'm feeling much better today. I went to the Y but the pool was closed because the heater broke and the water was 71 degrees. I did my weight training instead and then the Silversneakers class.

Faye, that's how it is at some of the shops in Williamsburg. But there are hundreds of outlet stores so who needs the snobs. I'm glad you got your phone replaced.

Jean, we have soup suppers every Friday during Lent. The ladies are great cooks. No desserts because of it being Lent, though.

Maggie, thanks for the recipe. I love pumpkin anything!

Have a good evening!