! We're going to have it all the next couple of days! I even heard it thundering sometime during the night. Yesterday it was in the 70s, and tomorrow we're supposed to only be in the 30s. It's unreal!

I'm up early so I can enjoy my coffee and some quiet time before I wake up Carley to get her ready and give her a nebulizer treatment before we leave. I have to take the girls to school this morning, so we have to leave here by 7:30. As I was leaving yesterday, Cindy informed me that she volunteered me to keep two of her friends' boys this afternoon, too, since the kids only have 1/2 day of school today. That makes 5 kids I'll have! If this rain holds off, I'm sending them all outside to play!

So, while us Northerners are getting out our snow shovels and heavy coats again, what's everyone else up to today?

Us really North Folks had thunder and lightening in the night which freaked the dogs. I looked out the window and was fascinated. We still have snow and it was just brilliant out there during the flashes.

Gosh, cottage - 5 kids and two of them boys! I'm hoping the rain holds off.

I never did "get back later" yesterday. One of the "boys" was on his way home and brought me back a missing serving ladle. Of course, he had to come in "and set a bit". They got 3/4 of the trees tapped and should finish today and start hanging buckets. We may be boiling by Sunday. Yes, we do it the old fashioned way in "Ruthie's Bush". The guys love going into the bush with the horses this time of year. Some one asked about sugar on the snow. It's called jack-wax around here and the bigger sugar shacks do it for tourists. They also use oil or gas in their evaporators while my wee operation uses wood. I'm quaint!

Donna comes to clean this morning and I am going to ask her to tackle my fridge. I must have 17 different kinds of oriental sauces in there and it's time to pitch most of them. This afternoon, I am going to the greenhouse to take some cuttings to Colette the new owner and see how things are going for her. I will be going in there a couple of mornings next week to set up her herb collection. Tonight I am going to dinner at "the" farm in the area for a birthday dinner. Joan and Ron are Delta "aristocrats" so I may wear something that's not denim pants and crocs.

I'm babbling and it's after 8. We slept until 7:30 this morning - my body is over-adjusting to the time change.

Have a lovely Ides of March and stay away from the Forum, Julius!

Good morning all!

FIrst off.. I want to report in and tell you I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER! I am only 7 days post op today. But yesterday the doctor took the splints out of my nose... OMG I can breathe. I actually slept 9.5 hours last night! In MY OWN BED instead of the Chair!!! I have been cleared to start walking again next week... I will swell a little today and tomorrow so he wants me to take it easy for a few more days. But I can run a few errands here and there. So I am hitting the grocery store.

The bad news is that with all the relaxing I did the last few days, I gained back 3 pounds. BUT, I am starting Phase one again today I am going to go for about a week to see if that will help with the cravings. If not.. then I will go for a full 2 weeks. I am still on steriods for a few more days so time will tell I guess. But 3 is a lot less that I thought I would gain....

I will check in later!

I didn't manage to leave work at 2 yesterday as we had an outage that kept me there but I did leave at 3:15 (8 hours is 4PM but I seldom get out at that time these days). Brian and I got out and rode our bikes for almost 2 hours. It was such a nice ride. The weather was beautiful and it felt great.

I had to come in for an early meeting today and then I have a troop guide meeting tonight so I won't have as much time to spend with Brian but he and his dad are working on a computer today so that will keep him occupied. Yesterday Brian pulled out a latchhook kit be bought long ago and he got quite a bit done on it. I really like that he has such varied interests.

jovimom - I remember when I had surgery (was it really 20 years ago?) for a deviated septum and they enlarged the entrances to my sinuses. It felt so good to get the packing out. I had far fewer ear and sinus infections after that so it really was worth it.

Hello chicks, it is a raining foggy day here in good ole Saint John. Busy morning here, did DH taxes and the are all net filed, did a couple loads of laundry in between playing with the wee ones and a cranky baby who is cutting his eye teeth. I am off to the bus stop here in a minute and we have to have an indoor day here today just wayyyyyyyy to muddy and damp. Well gotta to dash time to hit the road and walk to the bus stop. Have a great day chickies. Love ya's LC

Afternoon all. Nice to see new and old chickies! Weather here is wonky too --as goes life sometimes.

I have a LOT of catching up to do so I am going to go do it!

OOh, we had thunder and tons of rain last night, but it started snowing at some point, so everything's white now. So much for the 60+ temps we had earlier this week. I have to get to the grocery store to get stuff to make soup for tomorrow's "Soup and scripture' lunch thing at church. I hope it's not too slippery!

Ruth, I'm so excited about your sugaring! Tell me more about the jack wax...is it soft and pliable, or hard and crystallized like the maple sugar candy we're all used to? Do you need tons of snow to make it or do you not let the syrup get that hot? When I tried to make it, it melted all the snow before anything happened to the syrup.

Have a great day, Beachies!

Hi Barb! That was exactly what I had! Fixed the deviated septim and opened the entrances.. plus a few other things too... apparently my Nasal pasages and Sinus Cavities were very "ANGRY" when he was in there. Apparently my body just got tired of fighting it all... it was supposed to be 1.5 hours and ended up being 3...

I cannot tell you how much better I can breathe today though! It is amazing.

Ok.. I am doing pretty good so far today. Putting all my foods in my Fitday.. and eating is on track. I am going to go take a shower and then have some lunch!

Back for a bit before I go and class up a bit for dinner at six. My hostess gift bottle of wine is already chilling in the car because it's sure cooling off around here.

Donna called around ten to tell me she couldn't make it because her grandson had slept over last night. Grrr! Did she just notice he was there at ten? I know she needs to work for the $$$ but she's pretty lackadaisical about it! She will come on Saturday as I am busy tomorrow.

Ally, I know what you mean about interviews. I did a lot of it when I worked for the feds. It was interesting when interviewing at Universities to see the same navy blue suit appear several times on different guys!

JoviMom, I am glad you are well on the road to recovery. The weight just may be water weight. Your body likes to hang onto it's padding when you are stressed from illness or other reasons.

Barb, I'm glad you got a chance to ride with Brian. Latch hooking? What is he making?

Little Chick, of course it's cold, damp and foggy! You live beside the ocean - and I envy you. I hope your day went well.

Another at Jenne1017.

Beachgal, no recipe for Jackwax but you do need to heat the syrup to 230F. If you don't have enough snow, you can use crushed ice. That's soft ball stage, I think, so the stuff is sticky and thickish. Maple sugar candy needs to be heated higher.

Well, I'm off to tiddle up for dinner. I know I'll be almost forced to eat Birthday cake. I think there's a rule about that in the Bible somewhere. I found out by change that it's

Hello everyone! The weather is so damp and rainy it is depressing! ugh! But I am going to make the best of it because I have to get a new pair of jeans because the ones I bought three weeks are sagging in the wrong place and look terrible! NOT that i am complaining!

St. Pat's is a big crazy day in Pittsburgh so those festivities will ensue this weekend. One of my best friends is coming from Germany! I have not seen her for along time! Her husband is stationed there. I am allowing myself one green beer in celebration! and then spending extra time working out Sunday! This weekend should be great-all of my college friends meet for this!

I hope everyone is doing great and feeling good!!!

I just found out there is water all over my basement floor in the toy room. ugh...ofcoarse being the 'toyroom' it is packed full of stuff all over the floor. I have been wetvacing and picking up wet items for the last hour. Does that count as exersize?

Hello! A little late of a post from me - especially since I had the morning off. I woke up feeling a little headachy, so I tried to convince the bf to go for a walk, he didn't want to I went by myself and intended to walk until I wasn't cranky, but after an hour and 28 minutes, it just wasn't happening. At least I got some good exercise in!

Sounds like some crazy weather out east! I can only imagine how amazing it looked to see lightening with SNOW on the ground, wow.

Ruth - you have someone to clean? I am jealous! I am the only one who does the cleaning in this place, although the bf does do laundry.

jovimom - how did you know that you had to go in for surgery? I have sinus issues but haven't gone to see a doctor about it yet. My mom is convinced that it's diet related, so I've been experimenting with that before I see a doctor. Surgery scares me, but being able to breath properly sounds so good sometimes!

I gotta go jump in the shower for work, I will talk to you all later!!

-Aimee

Ruth - Brian is using a kit that has the picture of a dog. It uses 10 different colors but he has been doing great with it.

Hi Aimee!

It scared me too.. but even though I am still down.. I feel much better already!

I am Severly Asthmatic. I had it under control with meds for about 9 months until Last March. Since then it has been one asthma attack after another.. steriods, antibiotics, and constant changes in meds just to help my lungs. Once the lungs were functioning properly, we discovered I had a sinus infection too. I have had Cronic Sinuitis forever. but I was on 45 days of antibiotics and it didnt touch the infection.

After having a Sinus CT and Brain/Sinus MRI with contrast, we discovered the infection was still extremely severe. THe doctor didnt want me to have surgery (Allergist/Asthma) but my son's soccer coach is a good family friend and an ENT and had been after me all fall to go see him. So I took my reports and did. He discovered that my anatomy was so small and my septim was so deviated, that I couldnt get enough air/meds/etc in my sinuses and nasal passages that the infection couldnt completely heal. The infection also caused the tissue to be severely damaged as well. SO basically it was totally needed! WHen the asthma and allergy doc got the reports.. he told me to do it and do it soon! He isnt trained to look at these reports for more than the signs of infections and tumors/polyps.

Don't down play the diet roll though too. Cronic sinutis is also agrivated by Gastric Reflux (Which I also have due to a congenital defect in my stomach flap) Watch the spicy stuff! And any sign of heartburn can cause sinus issues! I had the Upper Endoscopy in January and have been on Prescrition strength Prilosec ever since. I can say that part of it did get better since that too! The weird part for me though, is that I had no "NORMAL" symptoms of Reflux. Mine manafested in Sinuitis and Asthma... which is another way it can happen. My sister was diagnosed with it several years ago.. but she got the normal symptoms. I was totally reluctant for months to have the test because I saw her problems and didnt believe the doctor that it would cause my asthma! Boy was I wrong!

hope that helps!