Good morning girls! Boy the site has been really sluggish for a few days now. It took me forever to load a new thread.

I have my pot roast almost done in my crockpot so all I have to do it stick the veggies in and dinner will be a snap today. It is over 100 again and there is not end in the near future according to all weather experts. I saw this morning that western Tennessee, north Mississippi and Alabama and part of eastern Ark are the hardest hit with the high temps. The article said the upper 90's heat was going to last through September, ugh! I imagine Thomas will get a lot of swimming in still with it being this hot.

I am doing laundry at the moment and will get up from here and get my dishwasher unloaded and reloaded with a couple things from doing the roast last night. We have nothing planned today except one errand so will stay indoors. We had a really rough rainstorm move through in the middle of the night. Fortune wanted to go out and I went to let him out around 1 am and it was raining so hard you couldn't see. A bit later I heard rolls of thunder and it moved through quickly because I let him out at 5:30 and everything is almost dry. Guess that tells you what the heat is like here.

Jack is still snoozing upstairs so I want to try and be as quiet as possible. I will probably just read a bit or play one of my hidden object games until he gets up then we can get some breakfast.

Have a lovely Sunday all! Faye

Good morning, ladies. A nice day in the 80's today.

I don't know what is wrong with this site - it's been losing my posts and is so slow. I hope they get it fixed soon.

I've been to church and read the Sunday paper. I'm going to the Y late afternoon when it's not so busy to do my strength workout. I'm having roast pork, stuffing, carrots and broccoli for dinner. I am trying not to do anything but necessary housework (cooking, dishes) on Sundays and making a day of rest to do things I enjoy. I'm going to have to do doubletime on the housework tomorrow. I let too much get in the way over the weekend.

Faye, we are supposed to be in the mid-to-high 80s for a week...I'm ready for it! The outdoor pools close Labor Day around here. It's nice to have a pool so you can swim when you want to. I'm trying to get more whole grains in my plan do when I make Faye's Stuff tomorrow, I'm going to have it over barley.

Have a great day!

Good morning everybody! I won't even sound like a broken record today, nothing has changed weatherwise. We are expecting no rain until the weekend sometime and more of the same stuff.

Today is cleaning upstairs day. I hope to get at least half done before it gets too hot to be up there doing it. It can sure take it out of you fast trying to clean and dealing with the heat.

Jean: I have several online sites I use for the games. I usually download and play their free hour than uninstall it. Sometimes you can go to the next site download the same game and pick up where you left off and play a second hour or a third if you go to another site. I have to really like the game to pay for it because unlike pac man or a card game or whatnot, once you go through the hidden object game and play all the puzzles you have solved the ending. It isn't much fun to start over since you know what puzzles they have in them and how to solve them, let alone knowing where the objects are hidden in the room and such. The only changes if you play a game from beginning a second time is the list of objects you are supposed to find might change, but all the clues are in the same place, the puzzles are the same, etc. I do like that style of game though because it makes me think and challenges my pea brain and I am finding it frustrating when I can't remember names or whatever and so it helps somewhat with that. Sounds like you had a nice time at the lake this weekend.

Maggie: I am pretty much anti dentist because as a child had a really horrific time with my family dentist and to tell you the truth it scarred me pretty much. I was about 10 or so and the dentist my mom made us go to refused to give me more novacaine when I said it hurt and kept trying to pull a tooth over and over with me crying and begging. He wouldn't allow parents in so my mom didn't know and finally he gave up disgusted and told the nurse I was too much trouble and to schedule me for oral surgery, which is what happened and I became deathly ill from the anestheisia and vomited for 3 days straight. It was unfortunate, and in high school when I lived with my grandparents they made me go and my dentist was a nice man, but I would get violently ill just walking in smelling the place and even as a teenager, cry through something as simple as cleaning my teeth because I was terrified. As an adult with Jack in the Navy we didn't have dental insurance so even if I wanted to could not afford to go, but would scrape the money together to take the kids to a sedation dentist so they wouldn't be afraid like I was. At least they were able to grow up without fear and loathing this way. Our current insurance is horrible, in fact a couple years ago Jack had to have a tooth extracted with oral surgery and even with the insurance we ended up paying nearly 500$ cash out of pocket for it. It is too bad that there isn't dental insurance that is more like health insurance because maybe then more people would take better care of their teeth. I am having problems with the site too and no other problems with any other site. I am finding it loads pages very slowly then almost locks up before it finally shows the page. I haven't lost posts yet, but it is really slow.

Susan: Do you cook barley like rice? I always liked barley in vegetable soup. I try and get a good dose of fiber everyday and take acidophilous besides. I don't want any problems with the diverticulitis, that's for sure. I don't eat cereal right now because it is so hot the milk upsets my stomach, but I try and eat a lot of fruits and veggies and grains in like granola bars and such to keep things as they should be. Let me know how Faye's stuff went with the barley. I bet you could take the recipe, add veggies and the cooked barley and have a great stew too!

Jack's getting all hyped up about Florida now. He is putting addresses in his gps and talking about how long to get to Birmingham and Montgomery, etc. I am not thrilled with how we are going to have to go because exits including restrooms etc are practically non existent, but to go the other way puts on three more hours. The way we are going will eventually become Interstate 69 but right now it isn't, though 4 lanes, there are no rest areas and not even fast food places or gas stations to stop for rest room breaks. I guess I will take a can.... We have about 4 1/2 weeks until we go and I am praying the weather will be good, no rain and no threat of tropical storm or hurricane because everything we want to do is outdoors.

Well gals, I guess I should get started on some chores. We went to Target yesterday and bought Jack 6 colored tshirts for vacation. He said it is too hot to wear his golf shirts so we got him some tshirts instead. I washed them but since they are 100% cotton I decided to air dry them and hung them on my fancy hangers that don't cause points. They are hanging from the treadmill handles and should be dry so they need to go upstairs today and be put away.

Have a good start to your week! Let's work hard to stay OP! Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! Same as yesterday, in the 80s, but the humidity is a little higher. I saw in the paper this morning Tropical Storm Danielle is now at 40 miles an hour and about 500 miles south east of Miami and could turn into a hurricane. They have no idea where it would hit so I'll be watching that closely. September is the worst month for hurricanes in my neck of the woods.

I have done laundry and vacuumed and dusted and I went to my Silversneakers class for 45 minutes of aerobics. Tomorrow is work, then strength training and treadmill at the Y, home for a quick shower and meet my friends for dinner then on to The River Country Quilt Guild to see Ami Simms, a well-known quilter and teacher from Michigan. I've been to her lectures before and she is hiliarious.

Faye, I cook barley like rice. For savory dishes I cook it in broth. It's also good for a hot breakfast cereal if made with milk or water. The problem with dental insurance is there isn't much of a profit because everyone has standard procedures a couple of times a year. I go to the dentist twice a year because if I don't, it costs way to much for the things that happen to be fixed.

Jean, I'm glad you enjoyed your retiree breakfast. It's nice to see old collegeaues. Hope the dentist appointment was over quickly.

Hi, Maggie!

Have a good evening.

Good morning to you all! It is cool this morning and supposed to only be in the low 90's which is a cool down for us, but it isn't going to get much cooler than that anytime soon.
Jean: We all seem to be heading towards birthdays again. I come first then, Susan, Maggie and Jean are all clumped together! I find the more I eat out the more I want to eat out. The weekends are the worst as Jack is home all day. It's not his fault it is just you find reasons not to cook on the weekend and eat junk. We did fine this last weekend and though had a sandwich out, put it into points, but other than that we didn't eat out at all. I love to cook, but sometimes it does get boring and eating out is nice, but it can be really difficult to behave yourself I think. The only time I have had barley is in canned veggie soup, but I did like it. I don't know if I would like it in abundance or not, but I like the texture and whatnot of it.

Susan: We only have a little over 4 weeks and Sept is the worst month for hurricanes so I sure hope we don't have to contend with anything. We have to cancel our reservations by Monday before the Thursday we check in not to be charged the first night if it looks like bad weather. I asked Jack if he wanted to go somewhere else or not go at all if it looked like rain that whole time or tropical weather and he wants to get away so we will probably opt for Nashville. There are lots of things we can do and they are all indoors for the most part. How did you guild session go? I think I have heard of Ami. Maybe I have seen her on tv. I don't quilt, but I love to watch the quilt shows when I can catch them. It is like watching Holmes on Homes though, for the most part his explanations of constructiona are gibberish to me and I feel that way about quilt explanations, but I still love to watch them being put together and such. I will be glad when it cools off and I can go back to knitting. I have to finish Kelly's socks for her and maybe I can get that done while in Florida since they haven't been nearly as hot as here.

Maggie: If you said, "Where's your baby?" to Fortune he would start looking around for his little elephant. When we bought him from the breeders he was just 8 weeks old and 1 1/2 lbs. I went to Petsmart and bought this little white fleece elephant that had a squeaker inside. I had to cut off the tail because it was yarn and he chewed on it and would then upchuck, but he took right to it. Now, 10 years later, he still has his baby, just new ones everytime one wears out. They now make only gray ones and you can no longer buy them at their stores, but I can order them online. I order 6-7 at a time just in case then trade them out when they get worn out. He likes to take the trunk and "worry" it back and forth like he was the meanest dog in town. It is hilarious to watch. He usually loses his grip on it and it goes flying then we have to go find it for him. He won't go get anything under tables or in tight places. People can be disgusting human beings that's for sure. You would think they grow up not knowing what a trash can is for.

Well, I need to go. I want to get something accomplished today. I have sort of a queasy stomach and a headache this morning, don't know why though, so I will probably have something late for breakfast.

Have a good Tuesday all! Faye

Good morning. I am still finding the site really slow to load pages is anyone else having problems? I don't have problems at other sites so I am assuming it is just here.

It has cooled off some and cooler at night so it isn't so unbearable the last few days. Good thing too as Jack had the box fan in the kitchen because he was using the broiler for dinner last night. It was vibrating, fell over, one of the pieces came off and jammed into the fan so it went out to the garbage this morning. We will have to buy another fan now, but it was old and they are inexpensive so unless it gets really hot again we may not need it this season.

We leave 4 weeks from today and seem to keep getting bumps in the road. Jack brought in our canvas beach chairs and the umbrellas we bought won't work on our chairs. The reason is our chairs don't have a metal bar across the top in the back and the umbrella clamp screws onto the bar. Well, the advertisement for the umbrellas shows chairs exactly like ours and so I bought them and now cannot return them because we didn't contact the company asking them if they would work. The company won't take them back unless they were shipped inoperable in some way so we are stuck with them and I don't want to put out a couple hundred $$$ for new chairs that will work. I will figure something out, but it just seems we keep getting things in the way of making our trip terrific! lol

I did get my swimsuit and though I probably should have ordered one size smaller, I am keeping it because it gives me more material to cover my belly. That way I can be sure and have a suit that fits. It isn't a gorgeous suit, but it fits the need for going swimming and that's all I care about.

The city is trying to pass new regs for employee vacation and sick benefits to the detriment of the employee of course. The way it works now is that you get so many days the first of January for vacation according to how long you have worked with the city. You earn sick time so much per month. They are kept separate and aren't just paid days off. Well, they want to go to a paid time off system, which would be ok except they want to strip people of what they already have earned pretty much letting them only bring a few days with them into the new system. I just worry about Jack's losing what sick time he has banked in case something would happen to him with his heart again and would need a lot of time off. When he had to have his open heart surgery, he only had about 2 weeks total sick time banks along with what vacation he had and we went without about a month of pay as he had to use the unpaid medical leave thing. Ahh well, not much you can do about it if they change it.

Maggie: Glad you got your permanent plate for the jeep now and can drive it again. It sure took a long time to get it that's for sure.

Tv was stinky last night so I watched "Nanny McPhee" again on tv. That is a cute movie and the new one that is out looks even cuter. I guess Emma Thompson thought up and wrote and everything the whole idea of the original movie then starred in it and did a great job.

Jack is in the dog house! He just called me to confess he got caught speeding on his way to work. Only 5 mph over and costs $25, but he is going to have to work it off at home! lololol

Well I need to get going. I cooked a chicken in the crockpot over night for chicken and noodles and have to debone it and cool it and skim off the fat and such to make dinner tonight. Have a good hump day all! Faye

Jean: iwin.com has PacMan. I saw it on their site today. You said something about wanting PacMan

Good afternoon, ladies! A lovely 78 degrees today but humid. We have a cold front hovering over us. I wish it could stay until the end of September because they say it keeps hurricanes from coming ashore. I saw in the paper this morning that Danielle had strengthened but once again is diminishing and no longer of hurricane force so no threat to land for us but plenty of surf coming in at precisely the right time. The East Coast Surfing Competition is this weekend in VA Beach.

My friends, Laura and Adora, and I had such a good time at the quilt guild meeting we visited last night that we joined them and will go every month. Ami Simms is so funny and she had everyone in stitches last night. We had dinner at IHOP and I had the talapia and broccoli from their healthy choice menu. They have the best talapia. If you have an IHOP near you, you can go to their website and sign up (free) and you will get a free meal for signing up, and also free meals on your birthday and the anniversary of the day you signed up and coupons all year long. I usually get something from the senior or healthy menu. They have nutritional information so you can quickly figure points.

I had a message from my friend Pat when I got home so returned her call this morning. She was taking her machine in to be serviced and wanted to know if I wanted to come with her and then go shopping and have lunch. So we did that. Stopped at a new barbecure restaurant and had a barbecued pork sandwich and coleslaw. Walked over 2 miles according to my pedometer so that was good. I'm taking a day off from the Y today. The pool is contaminated so it has to be drained and refilled so no water aerobics. I'm also a bit sore from yesterday because we increased the weight by 5 pounds so I'm now doing 30 pounds on each machine rep. It totals 1800 pounds for my total workout. I started at 10 pounds and have been gradually improving. I'm very pleased.

This site still has problems. I takes forever to load.

Faye, rats about the umbrellas! It sounds like the city is finding a way to sneak in what amounts to a pay cut if they take away what has already been accumulated.

Jean, Walmart is like other stores in that there isn't that many clothes, housewares, etc. manufactured in America anymore so you have to go abroad to set stuff. This has become a service oriented economy. If we ever got into disputes with China, Mexico and Tiwan, we'd be in big trouble! Just take a look around the produce in the grocery store and see all the fruits and vegetables that are now imported so we can have them year round.

Maggie, glad you have finally got the jeep back on the road. My license plate has the cardinal and dogwood on it - state bird and flower. We have hundreds to choose from. Any group that can sell 250 sets can get a plate with whatever design they want. There is a one time fee of $25 for the plates. Then my plate is also a vanity plate and it has IKWILT instead of numbers for $10 a year. Hardly anyone has standard plates. We have stiff fines for littering but people toss stuff anyway. The prisoners are put out the pick up trash from the side of the road - about 10 in a group with a guard holding a very big rifle. They even have a portapotty on the back of the truck for them. If you aren't a violent criminal or a danger to society you are made to work. It's hot and humid so it is punishment. Here's a way the city wastes money. The Newport News Jail is built on the most expensive land in the city...It fronts on the James River. It's a lovely piece of property. They have prisioners that have to care for the vegetable gardens and they feed them with whats produced. They could sell that property, build a new jail and still have a couple of million left over. All the river front property is owned now around here so it is extremely expensive to get a place on the rivers or Chesapeake Bay.

Have a great day. I'm thinking a light supper tonight.