Good morning ladies! Just a quick peek in before I get started cleaning for the day. I have the daily chores done, but I want to get some of my weekly cleaning done and double up this week. We kind of have a busy week and I don't want to leave things undone. I didn't get anything done over the weekend as I usually do on Sunday afternoon while Jack watches NASCAR. I sat and watched it too and didn't get anything done.

Cheryl: Hope you have loads of fun and stay safe on your trip!

Everyone else have a great day and I will check back later.

Faye

Morning everyone..still watching grkids.. i put them to work this am.. dishes and vacumming which they did as long as sponge bob was on.. thats a weird cartoon but they love it..im a bit tired today.. nothing planned and havent been able to do any crafts lately still have not heard from meowee..have agreat day evryone ((((((((hugs))))))) rosey

Whew I am now officially pooped! I have been having a myriad of menopause symptoms and insomnia has been part of that going on about a week now, so I feel all dragged out. I did go to the pool and did 45 minutes of laps also cleaned the kitchen, downstairs bathroom, laundry room, dining room and living room. I even have baked steak in the crockpot with baby carrots for dinner. Jack will want mashed potatoes, but since he has this "thing" about how I peel potatoes I make him do it! He doesn't like the way I cut up onions either so that is another job he gets full time! Tomorrow is mopping day downstairs then it will all be cleaned downstairs. Wednesday is dusting and bathrooms cleaned upstairs and Thursday is vacuuming upstairs than I will be done for the week. Jack is off Friday for a PT appt so we are going to go to the commissary since it is on the way after he is done. Saturday the car has to go into the shop because the darn ac fan has quit and that will take all day then Sunday we are taking our grandson to Chuck E Cheese for a couple hours.

Rosey: Hope you are feeling a little less tired. I sure know how that is. I have not done scrapbooking for probably a year now, though I told Jack I want to get the photos off the computer and into books from our Vegas vacations. We have one with wedding pictures from 2004 of my son's wedding and then we went last year and I have all of those. I would like to have an album for each year we go. We didn't get to go this year, in fact, with Jack's doctor's appts and such we didn't take a vacation at all this year except we are going to my son and dil's the middle of September and going to a CUBS game. At this points I don't want to go even though I forked out almost $200 for tickets because they stink so very badly this year, but my son wants to go so we will go.

We have already started our saving and planning for Vegas next year. We hope to go over 4th of July for 8 days. Everyone thinks we are nuts to go that long, but it is our only vacation each year and we fly first class so I have to make it worth our while. We flew coach to our son's wedding and first class last year and I will NEVER fly coach again on a flight that long. It is murder, especially for a fat woman! With first class, I have no one but Jack to share a row with, the seats are lots wider too as is the leg room so my legs don't go numb being squished into the seat. From where we live it is a 4.5 hour direct flight and that is horrible enough.

Well, I see Jack should be home any minute so I am going to thicken the sauce on the baked steak.

Everyone have a super day!

Faye

Hi Faye..i sure can relate about the airplane seats they are not made for short women with a weight problem and i cant afford 1st class.so squished i am when i do fly and im miserable and the bathrms are to small so i dont eat ot drink when i fly..ive been to reno but not vegas.. that's a adream of mine..im jealous..i havent done any crafts lately as iv had to much company..and of course when the grkids are here i spend my time playing and catering to them..i love it even if i do get tired..sorry the big"M" is bothering you.. im all done with that and glad of it.. but i do have trouble sleeping from a back injury..your dinner sounds lovely and wtg by making yout hubby do the potatoes the way he likesi like that attitude..i need lessons in attitude have agreat day everyobe (((((((hugs)))))))) rosey

Good morning gals! Another night of little sleep so I am more tired than when I went to bed. Maybe I can grab a quick nap sometime today.

Rosey: When I started researching prices for Vegas year before last for last years vacation, I found that though Memphis is centrally located, getting a flight to Vegas is not easy. You can get them, but the times are all terrible and the prices outrageous. Northwest, which has a hub here, wanted nearly $900 and I looked at Airtran and round trip first class/business class was only $400 more total so Jack said to go ahead. Now the tickets are currently, $1700 total round trip, but coach has gone up significantly too because of the gas situation. You can get great deals in Vegas on hotels if you know when to go. Go middle of summer when it is the hottest or the two weeks before Christmas and there are a few days in January and Feb I think. Also, the last two years we went we stayed at an off strip hotel called the Orleans, much cheaper and the rooms are huge. It is a very big hotel/casino, has 14 restaurants or something like that, a movie theater, a BOWLING alley, a game room for kids and even babysitting service. They have a shuttle that goes to their sister properties and one of them is dead center on the strip so the first year we didn't rent a car but would ride the shuttle to the strip and walk one way one day and one way the next. That was in April though and I wouldn't want to do that in July! I got a flyer right before we went last year and called to see if I could get the sale price on the reservation I had already made and got the rooms for $29 a night Sunday-Thur and $89 on Friday and Saturday. On top of that I had coupons for buffets and such too. The one truly outrageous thing there is the shows. You can see less expensive ones around $30 apiece, but shows like Barry Manilow or Celine Dion can be upwards of $250-$300 APIECE! We usually do two shows. We went to a Cirque de Soleil show that was marvelous and Penn and Teller, which was expensive and awful though we had front row seats and I got to help with a magic trick. Until we moved down here 4 years ago, we could never afford a vacation so we now just save all year long and take it and our tax refund and go to sin city. Though we like to gamble, we have 11 casinos just 40 miles from here in Tunica, MS so gambling is not the reason we go. We just love the city and the sites and everything. We had this great routine. We would get up at 5 AM go down and have the graveyard breakfast special ( you could get a nice steak and eggs, potatoes and toast for $2.95!!, Ham steak the size of a dinner plate with eggs potatoes and toast for the same price, biscuits and gravy was less than a $ and eggs and bacon or sausage was $1.95) then come back up to the room and go back to bed until 10 AM, get up, cleaned up and go site seeing until around 1 PM come back to the room and get our suits on and go to the pool for a couple hours, then take a nap, go to dinner and go back out to pubs or site seeing or whatever in the evening. One of our favorite things to do was sit at the pool and people watch. They have this huge pool area and comfortable lounge chairs. Jack would go to the pool bar and get us a frozen margarita or a pina colada and we would just sit and watch people. As you can tell from the fact I go everyday, I LOVE to swim, but the pool wasn't heated and really really cold. Jack wouldn't go in it so I usually would go in for a few minutes then sit with him and people watch. Boy the things you see! Everything from near naked women to old men in speedos with blubber hanging so far over you couldn't see the suit to older ladies who thought they were 20 and would wear a bikini with a roll of fat hanging over the suit and their boobs practically falling out. There was this one lady last year, who was middle 50's at least and had THE most beautiful one piece suit on. She was slender, and it was black and pink and just gorgeous. She had beautiful white hair cut in a bob and looked better than the 20 somethings in there barely there suits.

Well, I hear Jack up showering so I better quit yakking. Anyone gets me on the topic of Vegas and I talk for ever about it.

Have a great day gals!

Cheryl, hope you are having fun, Brandy, Linda hope to talk to you soon!

Faye

Good morning gals! Boy it is back to being sticky again. Yesterday early morning it was nice and cool. In fact, the pool was cool when I got in, but I took out the garbage at 5:15 and it is hot and humid. It says it is 77, but it feels a lot hotter than that.

I made my grandson some "brookies" to take to him on Sunday when we go to pick him up to take him to Chuck E Cheese. They are brownie/cookies and are really good, especially if you like chocolate. They are chewy chocolate cookies and have chocolate buttercream icing.

My dd called last night and told us her husband got the job he has been wanting at FEDEX. He starts the middle of August. He graduates from Memphis University in December with his Computer Science degree and he had been planning on leaving the IT department of the Postal Inspector anyway as he put it, "my days are numbered there as they are laying people off." It is pretty big money I guess and he used to work at FEDEX years ago in the shipping department so it would not be a totally new company for him to work for. I think I was told by a former employee that went back to work for FEDEX that if you had worked for them before and returned then your benefits would start immediately and you wouldn't have to wait. They have great health insurance and stuff so that is good for my dd and Tom and Thomas.

I need to go and start working upstairs. I got out of bed when the alarm went off and came down and let Fortune out so the bed isn't made. Thought I might as well just go up and do the cleaning while I was up there. I know it is good exercise, but for a fat woman it takes it out of you climbing the stairs!

Have a good day girls!

Faye

Just a quick note to bring us up to the front page. Hope everyone is doing well this week.

For those of you older ladies who may have heard of this, I am contemplating joining a Red Hat Society chapter. I am going to one of their luncheons in a couple weeks and I look forward to it. Memphis has several chapters so if I don't fit in with the first one, I will try another one. I know a lot of people think these women are total kooks, but in truth they are just over 50 and want to have a little fun in their life and make new friends. I can always use that.

I am going to go upstairs in a bit and vacuum the upstairs than I have 3 whole days of cleaning freedom before I begin again. I "clean" everyday with what I call daily chores, but I have the actual weekly cleaning broken up into days, though I double up on some days or if I am not feeling up to it, don't do something than double up the next day. My house is never dirty and I HATE clutter so it is never ever ever cluttered, but I am one of those women who feels insecure about her home all the time so I keep it pretty clean, as much as you can with a cat, dog, and husband in the house. Though I must say, after all these years my dh knows what will set me off so he doesn't leave stuff laying around, shoes are always put where there are supposed to be and the clothes are always put in the hamper etc. My comfort zone is order and organization so Jack tries to help me feel comfortable by keeping things picked up etc.

Jack has a PT appt tomorrow morning so he is taking off work. I get him all to myself for three days. I can't tell you how happy I will be when he can retire from the city and stay home all the time. He still has 9 years though. I do miss him so. He is my best friend. He was funny. He told me yesterday that he loves going on trips with me and I said something about how I liked the trips we took to Philadelphia and Houston and Vegas, etc. He said, no he meant actually riding in the car with me going to some place. He said I always enjoy sitting in the car and talking to you. I thought it was funny because most men don't LIKE to talk and he is pretty introverted.

Well, I am going to skeddadle. Everyone have a good day!
I am going to the pool in about an hour. It is cooler during the overnight so the pool water is not as hot as it was a more refreshing to exercise in.

Faye

Hi there, Crafty Ladies -- I have not dropped off the face of the planet, although there have been moments when that didn't seem like too bad an idea.

Just absolutely not time to myself the past couple of weeks and no break in sight until the major portion of this work-project is finished up (another two or three weeks). As well as the work and the stinking, hot and humid weather, I've got an ongoing car problem that keeps me running to the dealership every couple of days. One very expensive repair turned out to be defective and we are now waiting for a replacement (no charge this time, at least) to arrive. To top things off, I've got the grandaddy of all yeast infections and I just cannot seem to shake it -- combination of stress and heat, I guess -- and my cataracts are really acting up, too. Finally have the surgery scheduled but it isn't until the end of March.

It's not all bad -- my BS readings are OK (surprisingly, in light of the yeast infection) and I actually lost 2.2 pounds this past week -- will wonders never cease.

Here's a great big welcoming for you Faye -- Hope to get to know you better once I'm done with all this craziness.

For the rest of you -- sorry I had you worried -- I will try to pop in once in a while over the next couple of weeks, but forgive me if I'm not here too often. As the saying goes . . . I will be back! In the meantime, ladies, just keep doing all the good stuff and the rewards will surely follow.

Linda, if you peek in, eat yogurt everyday for awhile and it might help with the yeast infection. Something about the cultures in yogurt kill and keep away the bacteria that causes yeast infections! Hope you get to feeling better soon and can get your work mess and car mess all under control.

Faye

I thought I better post again before we get stuck onto the third page! Come on gals, let's hear from you! I know that Cheryl is still gone, but there are several more of you we could hear from.

The lady moved in on Friday next door to us and has been banging away on the walls since then, I assume hanging pictures and stuff up. So far no trouble and I don't know whether she has kids or not, but I haven't heard any.

Chuck E was ok yesterday though I didn't see him anywhere around except on the tv screens. They have a mechanical one that sings with the tv stuff and this one little boy that was going to a birthday party was terrified of it. Instead of being nice and trying to make him understand his shrew of a mother got mad at him and told him to straighten up or they would go home. I wanted to wring her neck the old bat. He was only about 4. When we went to pick up Thomas he was sitting on the couch and said, "It's about time!" I told him we were early and he said something about it being 9:53! He got his shoes and was ready to go. Thomas and his granddad did the playing and I stood guard over the food and table. They would bring me back the tickets they won. He had a grand time and he wanted us to take him to the movies when we finished but I told him we couldn't and we would do it another time. He had 521 tickets and got a lovely bunch of junk for it! We paid $30 for tokens and the stuff was probably worth about $1.50! I love spending time with him and now that he is older it is even more fun. He is well behaved and obedient, doesn't throw fits when it is time to leave. We went through the car wash on the way home and I told his granddad that Thomas looked a little dirty to roll his window down! "No, no, no, I'm not dirty!" he laughed. I asked him if he was sure he didn't want a little bath and hair wash.

I have to try and get Jack's insurance claims on his PT appts straightened out. Either the PT place is billing wrongly or Tricare is. They have refused all the claims so far and I saw that it is being billed under our son's name, which is Jack III instead of JR. I already called Tricare once about this, but looks like I am going to have to do it again. I am also going to call Healthsouth and find out how they are billing as it may be their fault. I guess our son and dd remain on the deers list (that is the list for military and their dependents) even when they are no longer eligible. I guess DEERS, which is an acronym for something shows them having expired eligibility. I asked her if they couldn't be taken off and she said no! Stupid system in my opinion.

I now have the birthday and anniversary presents shipped off that I almost forgot and my sil wants money for his birthday as he wants to buy himself a pair of Clarks shoes with it so that will be easy. My birthday is Sept so I won't have another one until Oct, which is Jack's, who gets his present from me early as he wants an I-Pod to take to Indiana and Jay, who has his the 22nd and I may get him some nice dress shirts and ties since he just got the new job he wanted.

Our son called us yesterday and I asked him first thing if he was now gainfully employed in a new job and he said yes! I was so happy for him. He really wanted this job. It is a nice step up from his last sales position with the spa company and it is a foot in the door to better things along the way. It is really good money and commission, he gets a company car, expense account etc. He said he has a trade show to do the day we leave for Indiana in Chicago so he will be home late, but I told him that would be fine, not to worry about it. We would wait up for him, then Thursday we all troop back to Chicago for the CUBS game. They have won 4 in a row now, so I am hoping maybe they are going to turn around and the money I spent for tickets won't be wasted! We have to wade through August first though. I have 6 weeks until we get to go see our son.

Gotta go and check the laundry. Have a great day!

Faye

Good morning ladies, glad to be a bit more relaxed this week. I thought last week would kill me. It didn't but the heat and humidity still might do it!!!!

Linda-so glad you're ok. Take care of that yeast infection. If you want to try a natural solution PB8 and oil of oregano are a great combination you could get at a health food store.

Faye-my goodness you are busy! I'm tired from just reading about all you're up to!

As for me, I'm going to a Kenny Rogers and the Oak Ridge Boys concert at our local county fair tonight!!!! It gonna be hotter than heck, but I'm gonna have fun!

Hi Ladies...I'm baaaaaack!!! I sure missed you all!!! Just a quick check in for tonight. Been on the road for 12 hours today, so I'm tired and crabby. Haven't stepped or thought about stepping on the scales for 2 weeks, I'll do that tomorrow, but I'm expecting a gain. My feet have been swollen the whole two weeks, just glad to be home and getting back into my old routine.

Cheryl

Good morning girls! Hope your day has started out well. It is horribly hot here already and it looks like the rain will be all around us and we won't get a drop of it. The weatherman says upper 90's to 100's all week so it is going to be miserable for awhile yet. My poor grandson starts school today so I hope their AC is running well at the school.

Cheryl: Good to see you back! Get some water into you and get your feet propped up and the swelling will go down. It is always hard to come back from vacation because there is always so much to do. I always dread it. Hope you had fun with all of your family! We missed you here.

I did something to my shoulder and neck last night and had a sleepless night. I got up around 3 and put some Icy Hot on it and took some Advil, but it still hurts this morning. On top of that, my allergies are so bad with this heat that I don't sleep with that either. I am just a mess I guess!

I have been fighting the insurance company about Jack's PT sessions. They have been trying to bill under my son as a patient and he is 33 and is not eligible for our insurance and hasn't been for years and years. I have called them no less than 4 times and the last time I got mad. The woman told me not to raise my voice at her and I told her she needed to open her ears and LISTEN then. The dope kept asking me if my son was in the service. I said HE ISN'T EVEN THE PATIENT, DON'T YOU LISTEN!!!! I finally got an "Oh," after going through it about half dozen times. I finally gave up, wrote letters and sent the denied claims to their claims office AND to our local service center hoping one of them will get it cleared up. I have also had to repeatedly call the PT place to let them know I am trying to get it straightened out. SHEESH!

I need to get going and finish a couple chores before I go to the pool. I don't know how long I am going to be able to swim with my shoulder hurting, but maybe it will loosen it up and make it feel better if I take it easy.

Have a good day!

Faye

Hi...I missed you all as well. Been on the go all day, but tomorrow I can prop my feet up and get caught up reading my mail. My feet are not as swollen as they were yesterday, but still hard trying to cram my feet into my shoes.

It's hot here also, 90's and no rain in sight. Hubby and the FD's mowed the weeds today, just have some weed wacking to do tomorrow and the yard will look half way decent.

Faye...I hope you are feeling better and the swim helped. Hope you also get the insurance problem fixed.

Stepped on the scale this morning and I was up 4 lbs, but not a surprise. I ate pretty good and had a couple cadillac margaritas. Won't take me long to get it off, since some of it is water weight.

Had a wonderful time visiting family and taking the FD's to the Oregon coast, Crater Lake and a jet boat trip down the Rogue River. Hubby went deep sea fishing with our son and caught their limit in three hours. Brought home Ling Cod, Sea Bass and crab. Nothing taste as good as fresh sea food.

I was out most of the day with the FD, so I didn't have time to go through the pictures and get them ready to post,will try to do that tomorrow.

Cheryl

Good morning everyone. I can't imagine what my electric bill is going to be like this month. It was $230 last month. Oh well, I am not going to roast in my own home, so I will just pay it. I have enough trouble with allergies without having the AC off.

Cheryl: Sounds like you had fun. We are not boat, water, and fishing people but it sounds like you had a great time with your family. Before Jack and I got married, he went deep sea fishing on the Atlantic side as he was stationed in Va Beach, VA. The dummy got horribly sunburned and I remember him coming up to see me red as a lobster. It had to be true love because the ONE way drive was 16 hours and he did it every other weekend. He worked until Midnight Friday night, drove all night, spent half day Saturday, all day Sunday, left Sunday night around 9 PM and drove all night and went to work at 4! He did that for a whole year, bless his heart. I never knew the distance so I didn't have the brains to be scared for him!

I just read a great new book by Robin Cook. It is called Crisis and if you are into medical or legal who dunit sort of things, you will like this book. It has a tiny twist at the end. Unfortunately, I am now out of books and my new ones won't be here until at least the end of this week so I have to find something else to keep me busy. I started a sweater for my dil, but it is too hot to knit all that fuzzy yarn. I am just not as dedicated to it this year as I was last.

Every year for Christmas, I try to find something unusual or special to do for the kids for Christmas. I don't do much for dd as she is picky about what she likes, but I do try to do something for my son and dil. This year I found this great place on line that does color caricatures. They are animal lovers, had 3 cats and a dog and one cat passed away a few months ago of some horrible bloating disease. He was a beautiful and sweet cat and I know it upset my dil a lot when they had to put him down. So, I decided to have a color poster done of the three cats and dog and have it framed for them for Christmas. I thought it would be a nice memorial and something cute for them to have of their pets. I have a friend that does stained glass work and I have a project for her for my dd, but I haven't been able to get in contact with her and she lives in the Sierras of CA. I met her here at 3fc, but her husband is doing some park ranger stuff and they have moved into the darn woods with no electricity. I can't find her mailing address to send her pictures of what I want her to do. My son is into jujitsu and my dd is a pharmacist so I had her make a little village with my son having his own dojo and my dil having her own pharmacy. They were so cute and my dil's had a little light in it.

I better go. I hear Jack upstairs showering so he will be down for breakfast in a couple minutes and I need to go upstairs and make the bed and straighten up the bedroom.

Everyone have a good day.

Faye