Sparkit's dad weights 150 pounds. He's absolutely going to be huge. We live in the woods. A little dog would get lost in the leaves!

Cyndi, congratulations on your impending wedding! How cool is that!

Chelby- I had your okra recipe last night and me and the hubby loved it! Thanks again! Even my 1 1/2 year old adored it. And what a cute puppy!

Femmecreole- happy birthday.

Barb, Wiis are so fun. I got to play one for the first time at another couple's house. Their kids have the basic one with the games already on it (the bowling and boxing and so on.) They don't have any other games yet but the bowling and boxing was so fun. I was really good at the boxing and it actually gave me a really good arm workout. Arms were sore for 3 days! Hubby and I plan on getting a Wii in the future.

Hi Pearlrose!

Ruthxx, that is awesome what your sister has done for the foundation. Inspiring as well!

Lexxiis, fortunately I did eat better last night, the okra recipe from Chelby and yummy grilled chicken (although I did eat corn on the cob. I grilled it with salt and pepper and it browned and it was great.) The deep fried food definitely sat heavy on my stomach that night and did make me a tad sick. Glad to know I'm not the only one whose hubby buys the wrong stuff when sent to the store! From now on I'll take a cue from you and try whenever possible to be the one to go to the store. We have no vehicle at the moment but I've decided to push aside my pride and ride along with whoever my hubby's got at the moment to take us where we need to go. If I don't, I'll never get decent groceries in this house! lol! Good luck with the home cooked dog food, I'll bet the pets are in for a real treat.

Hi cottagebythesea

Sophie, that veggie chili sounds great.

I'm sitting in my new digs with Liam, my 1 1/2 year old. Hubby's went off to our storage unit to grab our floor model Tv for the living room. The lady who still has some of her stuff in here gave us a ottoman, a brand new light colored wooden dish rack (so much nicer looking than a plastic one and matches with the cabinetry), a matching paper towel holder, a lot of cleaning supplies for cleaning her mess up so we won't have to buy any for awhile, an Electrolux vaccuum that works GREAT!, couch and chairs, etc. Her aunt who we are renting from knocked $100 off the rent this month for having to deal with her niece's stuff still being in here. The niece is one of those hoarders who compulsively buy the same things over and over again and stash it but she's a really nice person. I have helped pack up most of her stuff and now the only rooms with her stuff in it are the master bedroom and bathroom. Now you can see the nice home underneath all of the junk!

I'm so excited to finally be in a decent place for our family and I can't wait to start decorating.
My husband got some huge hideous painting from his cousin's grandma and I said hmmm... let's hang that in the hallway! (Dilemma solved. Now I can decorate my living room my way! ) Plus, although the niece gave us a couch and chair, it's got mismatched cushions and is pretty old and although we are grateful and will use it for now, my cousin in law's grandma also is going to give us her brand new matching never-really-sat-on-before couches and chair when she moves in with her family. It's going to look great in here and I'm so excited. Husband's current job has not had work in 2 weeks and our landlord is very understanding, and he has applied for another job with better pay and hopefully steady hours. Just wish he'd put his computer certifications to even better use than a side business! I am planning on starting college courses as soon as I am able and as soon as I can find help with daycare, and also part-time work. I want to have a private savings account and stow away money just in case anything happens and I need to be financially prepared for me and my son. Then the rest of the money I'll put into our bills and maybe a few extras like shopping for clothes! Woohoo! Things are looking up. I'm just so excited about my new place! And I turn 24 in 2 months. I'm really an adult! Time flys!

OMG, obviously not! Lucky its Jeff's dad, not yours. Does Pops know how big he's going to get? On a different note, good on 'ya, sticking to plan. Now we both have this next week, a day at a time. We got to church and there was a potluck. I didn't taste one thing not on my list.

Sophie ~ Yes, little Tyler is 2 and is just a ball of energy! He listens pretty well, but he won't let you sit down for a minute. Andrea just came by to get him, and I'm exhausted. If I had him every day I'd be thin as a rail, LOL!

Chelby ~ That's a very cute puppy, but I can understand why your DH was so upset. He's going to be so big that you may want to change his name to "Clifford." Good luck with him and I hope he brings your family a lot of joy.

Melanie ~ I'm happy that things are starting to look up for you and hope you have a bright future ahead.

I just picked and froze several quart bags of Swiss chard from my garden. I read that the more you pick, the more you'll get, so I think I'll have a nice stash to last me all through the winter. It's a good thing I adore the stuff!
It looks like it'll just be Jake and I for supper tonight, and I'm making him a turkey breast with stuffing and the works. It smells like Thanksgiving in here. For myself, I'm just having a Kuri Squash Gratin and chilled steamed broccoli with strawberry balsamic viniagrette.

Hey Gals - thanks for the wishes and thoughts Missed you all last night but no wifi We had a break in the rain and had the ceremony at the river then a lovely dinner. DD contributed serious food porn from Boston. My crazy friends had sparklers, did the shaving cream on the car thing and a silly little bow on top. Oh, and I can't forget the bubbles after the JP pronounced us married. The campground was so much fun - relaxing, great company and conversation. Then today's party went off without a hitch. Everyone knew I had to be on the road in the morning so things broke up a little early. nice for me. Times like this really make me appreciate my friends and DD. They were wonderful!

I'm not going to attempt to catch-up on personals. I'm exhausted - late to bed and up at my usual hour. I doubt I'll be on tomorrow morning. Plan to get out of bed, grab coffee and hit the road. I want to get to the hospital as close to the start of the procedure as I can. Maybe the hospital will have wifi.

Be back when I can.

Good afternoon ladies!

Melanie - glad to see you back and that things are looking up!

Chelby- WHOA! Did pops have one before that inspired him to get you one? As a vet, I must say...socialize!! They're guard dogs, so many of them tend to be aggressive (I remember a home visit, he tried to go thru the window at me!!)...he might try to guard Auston (good and bad all at the same time!!) He's beautiful!

Me - Saw a recipe in the weekend paper (the one everyone gets in their local paper)...recipe for southwestern shepherd pie. Has sweet potatoes on top (not sure how that goes with the black beans, etc.) but I might have to try it!

We're having a "girls time" now....she helped me make her mac n cheese, I had leftover cabbage patch stew (still yummy!). I just signed her up for gymnastics class (let the driving begin!!), so we need to get a leotard. The boys are at a rails-to-trails on a bike ride, so daddy should be happy .

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

YEAY CYNDI! Congratulations I am glad the weather at least broke a bit for you two! Get some rest and Have a safe trip tomorrow and we'll see you soon

I am so happy for you both!

Melanie, I think you're already an adult. Thanks for sharing your excitement of your new home with us.

Melanie, I'm so glad you liked okra and tomatoes! Sounds like you guys are settling into your new home. Do you have yard sales and thrift stores where you are? We have great ones around here, and lots of my furniture is from there. Kind of eclectic. BTW, once you push a baby out of your body, you are an adult, whether you like it or not! I was 35!

Twynn, There are two Pyreneese who live behind us, and Pops likes their temperament. We live in the woods with lots of wildlife. I think Pops has the idea that Sparkit will protect Auston from cayotes, possums, snakes and whatever else walks up out of the woods. But, I don't want him to eat the mailman's leg off...

Hi Rikki! Getting Spicy this week!

Cyndi, Your weekend sounds wonderful! Congratulations, again. Can't wait to see your pictures.

Jeff is not even in the house any more, and football is STILL on my tv. What the heck???

Cyndi, It sounds like you had a lovely ceremony and a great party today. Have a safe trip tomorrow and I pray all goes well with your Dad's procedure.

Lexxiss - We finally got a break from the rain around noon when I was picking Brian up from the campout. Everything he had was soaked but they only got rain last night so they had a wonderful time tubing, canoeing, wakeboarding and lots of other stuff. We've had over 7 inches of rain since Thursday but at least it is cooler. I don't think we got out of the 70's today.

I fixed whole wheat lasagne for dinner tonight and that was good with the cooler weather. Brian and I had a great time playing Beatles Rock Band. I think he'll crash early though. He's looking quite tired but I imagine 6 hours on the lake would tire him out.

Tomorrow I'll be in the office (unless I'm paged too much tonight). I'll have to drop Brian at the troop meeting early so I can head to Meet the Teacher night.

Cyndi - Sounds like a beautiful ceremony. I'm so glad the weather cooperated.

Chelby - pops will develop good muscles brushing that lovely puppy. Hope you have a good vacuum cleaner but what a nice memory your son will have that his grandpa bought him a doggie.
Melanie - Nice to meet you and so glad things are on the upswing for you.
Twynn - sounds like you are having a lovely evening.
Cottage - time to relax after chasing a two year old. I think if I had my grandson all the time I would be thin too.
Cyndi - glad that everything went well and happiness to you both. Hope everything goes well tomorrow.
Nice OP day today for me.
take care
Sophie