Hi Everyone:
Poor Nikki, how is your mouth! I bet that smarts. Thank God you didn't
break any of your teeth.

Aleka! Panthers I'll bet you guys were glad it was only
a racoon!! We have had tons of racoons this year around our house.
I'm a big old chicken. I am more scared of them than they are of me,
imagine at my size

Lynn, is there alot of heavier folks at curves? I know all the fitness clubs
downtown have these slim young girls on there exericse equipment not
to mention well built young guys. I think that is what has prevented me from
joining the one (Bally's Fitness) in the building at 250 Yonge St.

Beleive it or not my appraisal was ok. wrote I was an excellent
employee and beyond reproach. I was shocked. The whole thing took about
an hour and she made me promise to go to the Christmas Lunch at the
Keg Mansion on December 20 I don't like those events but what
are your going to do. What kills me is admits she hates them too.
Go figure......As the saying goes misery loves company.

Anne.

Anne, that's great that your appraisal went so well. A big congratulations, good for you I am sure you are an excellent employee.
That must be a big relief to get that over with.
My mouth is ok, just a little sore, swollen and bruised. At least, I didn't split my lip on the outside and get a scar. It did split on the inside, but it's starting to heal up already.

Good morning,

DH & I had to make a trip to Walmart this morning. This Walmart is open 24 hrs. and is always crowded during the day. We thought if we went early we'd avoid the crowds. Not so! We had breakfast out, and I did very well. I had oatmeal and a small bowl of fresh fruit.

Anne, congratulations on your appraisal. That's fantastic news! We haven't seen any Panthers, but the couple we bought the house from, he saw one on his way home from work one night. We also have seen wild boars along the roadside where there are woods. We had a raccoon in NH that came into the yard and also a bear or two. Hope things will go well for you today.

Nikki, feeding birds is another thing we have in common. We have 2 bird feeders. One of them is hand made by the father of the woman we bought the house from. She asked me if I wanted it because her father was making her a new one for their new house. I jumped at the chance. Then DH put up one we brought with us from NH. We seem to have quite a lot of Mourning Doves, so many, that sometimes the ground seems to be moving when they're out there. We also get Cardinals, Woodpeckers, and most recently Quails. The Quails are so funny to watch the way they scoot across the yard at break-neck speed. There are about 15 or 20 of those that come at one time. There are also other birds I have no idea what they are. I did buy a bird book of Florida birds, but when I look in the book after seeing a bird, I can't seem to find it. We really do get a lot of enjoyment watching them. We also have a few wild rabbits that come into the yard and eat in the grass. I was told that in the spring we'll get Mocking Birds. As a matter of fact there is a nest in one of the bushes near or walkway. I'm looking forward to seeing them. How is your mouth today? Hope it's starting to feel better and the color is starting to fade.

Lynn, how was Curves yesterday and did your DH get the Christmas lights up? DH always had the excuse of not putting up Christmas lights because it was too cold. Now, he has no excuse.

Hope you all have a great day.
Aleka

Good morning,
The mouth is ok, just a little purple on the outside and more purple on the inside. Doesn't hurt much now though.
Stripe (the cat) is driving me insane. He gets up every morning at 4 am and starts to run wild through the house. He scatches on the tops of the kitchen chairs, on the couch and then on the wallpaper. He does this over and over until I get up. I try to just feed him and go back to bed, but after he eats, he starts it all over again until I'm up for good. I wish he would wait until at least 6 am, cause I never get to sleep before midnight. I was thinking of making a pair of striped mittens out of him
I lost .4 lbs yesterday and was going to brag to DH about it, but he lost 1.5 lbs yesterday and he ate like a pig. He even ate a quart of his favorite ice cream yesterday. I wish I could eat anything I wanted and still lose weight. He exercises alot though.
So, to get my metabolism going, I did the 2 mile WATP this morning. Boy, that really made me sweat and I was surprised, I could do it all. It really helps to walk in the morning, it gets my ankle all limbered up and I can walk farther for longer.
Aleka, we have a lot of mourning doves here too, but I wonder if some don't go south for the winter. My bird book says they stay here all year, but they aren't hanging around like they were this spring. Also, in the winter, they don't seem to call out and make that mournful sound. I love that sound. I can remember when I was a kid, waking up to that sound on a summers morning. I'll bet the quail are funny. I've seen them here farther out in the country, but none have come to my feeders. I have become somewhat of a birdwatcher in the last few years. DH isn't in to it, but he has mentioned how much more cheerful the yard sounds with all the birds hanging around. I think it's also good to help keep the insect population down. When they aren't eating seeds, they are eating creepy crawly things.
Hi Lynn and Anne, hope your days are going ok, take care, Nikki

Hi everyone: Just got home from running the dog after a very busy day. Anne, Curves has a lot of "mature" ladies and a lot of "heavier" ladies. The average member appears to be in their forties ( at least here) and the next age group is in their 50's. So I fit right in. I know I walked into a couple of gym's in the GTA and walked out. If you see their (Curves) commercials on TV they appear to be aimed at the more "mature" lady. I don't feel out of place, in fact the lady working with me said she could tell I did some exercise was a athlete in my youth. The exercising we have done puts us ahead of the average 40 something out there. Congrats on your appraisal. God, racoon's, I ask do they ever die except as road kill? T"is the season of crowds Aleka, I HATE them!!! Today I could see it is already starting. Glad your mouth is ok. Nikki, imagine if you had to go to the dentist after your Dr. appointment, thank your lucky stars for that. Well must go it is 5:35 my time and I' m sure DH is hungry. Bye for now.

Evening,
Just wanted to say, Anne, I've been in our Curves a few times and there are the same type of ladies here in Curves too. I think it looked like a place we would fit in.
Later, Nikki

Good Morning All:
Knowing puts new meaning to the pharse thank God it's Friday. Yesterday,I had to send Sylvia an email yesterday because a staff member came down with 3 months worth of cash they had been holding in their office. This staff member was trying to butt in front a line of patients paying bills.
I asked her (politely) to leave the cash with me and I would process it
later. She didn't want to do that and instead came back after three when
I had left. The new girl Farida didn't know what to do with the money and
sent her away I knew the staff member (from another department would
complain) so I wanted to give the heads up.
Well.....She phoned me and yelled and yelled and yelled........Finally I yelled
back "Sylvia, why do you always have to be so freakin rude" She answered
Watch it. I said no, you watch it, you are the one with all the compaints
in your file. I wish they would fire this woman! A manager of another
department was outside my wicket when I was on the phone with
When I got off the phone she said Syliva should be working in a jail as a
prison guard. I said, I tell people that all the time
Nikki, Stripe sounds like me. I get up to get ready for work at four and I
am always flying around too Especially thinking about another day with
you know who
Aleka, glad you haven't seen any panthers. Bears though hmmm.....My dad
had a cottage up in Bancroft Ontario years ago and there was alot of wild
life there. What I hated was the snakes. That was my weakness.
Lynn, Curves sounds great. Thats the sort of club I would love to belong to.
I wish I had one closer. There is one I Know of around High Park but thats
abit too far from where I live.
Have a great day everyone.
Anne.

Good morning,

We got a Thanksgiving pkg. from our former neighbors yesterday in the mail. They put some fall stuff in it along with some small loaves of pumpkin bread, that she had baked, along with an awfully nice card. I called them last night to thank them and she was saying that she almost put some fall leaves in the pkg. but they all crumbled. I told her as long as it wasn't any snow in the pkg. it was alright. She then said that I hadn't gotten my December bundle yet.

Anne, good for you on speaking up to When you speak up to people like that, they sometimes back down and will be nicer to you. Hope is that type of a person. At least other management people know what she is like. Snakes.... I hate snakes, also spiders. In FL we have these spiders, they're called North Carolina..something or other, and they're big to put a collar on and take for a walk. I told DH that if I ever saw one in the house, my suitcase would be all packed and sitting at the front door. Well, he had seen a few and killed them but didn't tell me about it until much later. We have since had the bug guy around and so far I haven't seen one.

Nikki, I got a big chuckle out of Stripes Sometimes you just have to wonder what is going on in that brain of their's. That's a good weight loss. Don't you hate it that men can lose weight so much easier than women? When DH & I were SSizing he lost 20 lb. to my 5 lb. GRRRRRR!!! Glad that the WATP tapes are doing you so much good and congratulations on going to the 2 mile tape. It's good to hear that your mouth is healing ok. I love to listen to the mourning doves too. The only problem with them is they make a lot of noise when they fly off. Many a times I've almost had a heart attack when they've taken off in flight as I've approached an area where they're perching.

Lynn, glad to know about the type of women who go to Curves. I've noticed a Curves not very far from where I live. It's coming on the winter season and there are a few more people around. I haven't noticed too many more people at the grocery store, which is good. When Jan. rolls around there will be an influx of people and most of them will stay until April or May. Maybe this winter DH & I will have to go to Walmart at 3:00 am to avoid the crowds.

Have a great Friday.
Aleka

Goodmorning All: I hope this finds you all well. It is a beautiful day here. I went to Curves at 7:30 today and was glad I did. There is an incrediable group of ladies there at that time. They visit and talk and have a great time. There was a few ladies in their 60's and I that had to be 70. There was one with a cane. Some can't do all the machines but still show up to do what they can. They go to Tim Horton's after for coffee and invited me along but I had promised DH a coffee from there. I will go the next time. I'm going to go at that time from now on, the time just flew. Good for you Anne the witch had it coming. I too hate snakes but spiders don't bother me and a good thing too as there are lots at the trailer. My big fear is mice. Havn't seen one since I was a girl. When we close the trailer in the fall I put a roll of toilet paper on the carpet in the livingroom because a mouse would use it for a nest. It is the first thing I see in the spring when we open up. It has never been disturbed, if it was I would NOT enter. Well of to the showers. Later

Hi,
I'm going to have a busy day ahead. I decided, I have to start it off with a good cup of and a quick post to my buddies
Anne, I know some prison guards and they aren't half as mean as She reminds me of something from the to tell the truth. What ever happened to that woman in her childhood, to make her the way she is now? Well, some people are just born bad and have had nothing happen to them.

Aleka, yesterday, I saw one of my favorite little nuthatches has a broken wing. She was trying to eat and hop around the tree and the wing was flopping all over. I felt so bad for her. I suppose Tony the cat will take care of her eventually. I briefly considered taking her to the vet, but knew DH would probably melt down if I even suggested that.
For the majority, the spiders and snakes here are not poisonous. There are a few, but they are rare. In Missiouri, there are all kinds of things that can kill you and DH, who is from there, said when he was a kid, they had a lot of problems with snakes. His mom finally said, they had to move out of that snakey place, . We usually have some little garder snakes, a few blue racers and occasionally a bull snake will show up in the garden. Most of the time, snakes are more afraid of me than I am of them. I usually just take the garder snakes out to the field. They are just little guys and bug eaters. I am deathly afraid of bats. I realize they are good for the environment, eat a lot of bugs and don't want anything to do with me, but they really scare the crap out of me.
Aleka, that care package from home must have been fun. What nice friends you have.
Lynn, that is great about Curves. Sounds like you've found your nitch there, good for you!
Got to run, I'm on my second cup of coffee and it's starting to kick in, take care, Nikki

Hi again, I forget to mention I watched Primetime last night and it was Peter Jennings ( a good Canadian boy) interviewing President Clinton at the opening of his Library. Did he ever come off as a nice person. I really enjoyed the show. He was a good interview and one question Peter asked he was "what famous person would you like to meet that you havn't" well as president there wouldn't be 2 many famous people he hadn't. He answered " the president of Kenya, he made education free and 1 million kids registered for school" a great answer as Africia has to come out of the dark ages and education is the only way it can. Also I have a recipe that calls for hominy, what is that? Thanks later

Lynn,
I looked hominy up in my ancient Joy of Cooking. It says, Hominy is corn with the hull and germ removed. In an attempt to give it calcium vaules, it is sometimes also soaked in wood ash lye. Hominy can be dried and ground into a coarse flour for baking, cooked as a cereal or used in any recipe calling for corn.
I've seen hominy in the can at Walmart, just today in fact. I've never eaten it and I've heard some people don't care much for it. I've always associated it with southern cooking. I would say, if you can't find it, use corn instead.
I have always like President Clinton. I thought he was a good president and our country went down hill after he left office. I know he wasn't the best husband, but his personal life didn't matter to me in the least. My favorite president was President Carter. He is such an nice guy. I think both of them had the countrys best interest at heart.
Got to run again, Nikki

Good morning,

Lynn, glad you had such a good time at Curves and met some very nice ladies. It sounds like you'll have a great time with them when you go for coffee. We can buy hominy in the grocery stores. It's usually in the Mexican Food section, and the brand name here is Goya. Like corn, it comes in white or yellow. I've had hominy added to soup, and it's good. But, I haven't eaten it on its own. I prefer the yellow. I also liked President Clinton. I totally agree with Nikki, he was a good president and things went downhill after he left office. My favorite president was JFK. After all these years I still remember where I was when I first heard the news of his assasination.

Nikki, oh, that poor little nuthatch. I hope a cat doesn't get it. I hate to see anything hurt like that. One time we had a bird fly into our window with a horrible thud. I went outside to see if it was hurt and it was just lying there unconscious, but still alive. I picked it up and hid it under some bushes so nothing could get to it. A few hrs. later I saw the bird fly off. There is this guy in FL who takes in injured birds and fixes them up. He mostly has Pelicans that have been injured. It was funny, after I opened up the pkg. and read the card, something snapped and I started to . I guess I never realized how much I missed them.

Anne, how did things go at work for you yesterday? Was any nicer to you or was she her self? More importantly, how are you doing?

DH & I are off to another craft fair this morning. We're still on the lookout for that certain something to put over the sliding doors.

Talk to you later.
Aleka

Good morning,
Aleka, either the nuthatch was eaten or his wing was out of place and is ok now. I didn't think we had 2 of that kind out there, but today, there is one that looks just like the one that had the wing flopping all over the place. We have 3 different kinds of nuthatch visiting the feeders.
We use to have a bird woman here that would take in injured birds. She wrote a column for the local paper and knew all about the local birds. She lived into her 90's and passed away a couple of years ago. I wish I could have met her, she seemed like a rare old bird herself .
I like to go to craft fairs too. DH isn't that interested in them, but the DD's like to go. I have plenty of stuff for the house, just like to go look and buy a candle or some homemade soap.
Last night, we went to a benefit for a nurse from the VA. We don't know her, but she's ill and they want to help her out. They served ham and beans and both of us have suffered ever since from them. I usually soak my beans over night and never have this problem. Next time we go to a ham and bean feed, I'm drinking water instead.
Guess I better get busy. The weather is suppose to start getting colder again and I have some stuff to do outside, take care everyone, Nikki

Hello Everyone: A very dull rainy day here today. It suits my mood. I read a book until I went to lie down with it and fell asleep. IT WILL BE A VERY SLEEPLESS NIGHT TONIGHT!!!!! God I hate when I do that. Nothing much to say I think I am still half asleep. Hope you all had a good day. Talk to you tomorrow.