Good morning gals! It is all quiet here this morning. Jack has left for work, Fortune has been fed so he is quiet for the moment and I, well I just need some good ole fashioned sleep. Woke up at 2 and could not go back to sleep. I have all kinds of things to get done today so I can't do much napping no matter what I want to do.


I got lots of birthday wishes on Facebook and my sisters both sent gifts, which I haven't received yet so they will be a surprise. Like I said we will go out with the kids on Saturday more than likely for lunch.

Jean: I imagine our farmers are getting the beans in right about now if they haven't shriveled up. We really do need rain. How did bell practice go? You get out of the routine of working everyday and it is hard to do it again. I know it was for me. Most jobs I had were for money and I really only liked the job at the law firm in all the ones I did, but it could be really tiring lugging all those files around and stressful trying to find stuff that people asked for and somehow lost. That kind of stuff drove me nuts. We can't beg for rain here. It has clouded up completely two nights in a row and not a drop of rain. We need it too and I wonder if the farmers are in trouble yet. Looked to me like the cotton is slow going this year and I think they usually pick it this next month.


Susan: Oh, I am sorry you missed your luncheon yesterday. I am sure your boss appreciates your extra hard work and if he doesn't he should! lol I am going to start on the vinegar this next week and see how it does for me. I am also going to start eating more yogurt which I read helps lose weight too and since I eat the FF stuff no worries about extra fat. I don't have the proper vinegar so will get it on Saturday or Sunday when we commissary shop, depending on what the kids decide to do about getting together. It takes half a day to shop and put stuff away and travel time and all. Hope you dry out quickly.

I have one heck of a stiff neck and shoulder so guess I will have to sit with a heating pad on it for a bit to get it back to normal. Man, getting old stinks. Jack and I really had some good laughs in Branson because we would go into a restaurant and everyone in there was over 50 or go to a show and they were all seniors. We had never experienced that before and it was really funny. The first night we were in Branson and we went downstairs and had the hotel's light dinner, everyone was white or gray haired. Jack whispered to me, "Guess we are in the right place!" lol One of the nicest things was that everyone was super friendly and wanted to not just say hi but would engage in conversations with you. That is not Jack's thing, but I love it.

Well, I need to go. Have a great Thursday everyone! Faye

Good evening, ladies. The remnant's of Nicole have been dumping rain on us continuously - nearly 10 inches since yesterday. I've got a big pine tree limb down and I'm really upset because it broke down Stan's rose tree. At least it didn't hit the fence or house. I've got water standing in my yard, front and back, but no danger of flooding the house right now. Many areas are underwater however. If that wasn't enough, a soybean oil tanker was involved in an accident about 4 am on I64 and tipped over, the oil spilled, shutting down I64 all lanes west. The stuff they put down to soak up oil is soaking up the rain and they don't know when they will be able to get it open again. Anyway, the rain should be over around noon tomorrow. It was coming down so hard when I came by the Y on my way home I didn't stop. Even with my umbrellas, I'd have been so soaked by the time I got in it would have been too uncomfortable to do weights. I'll make it up after water aerobics tomorrow.

Jean, we have more than 1,000 families in our church so around, 3500 - 4000 people. We are very involved in the community and have a person who takes care of the volunteers are projects, etc. We have separate people for elementary, middle, high school and college children. The older children go on mission trips in the summer both in the US and Central America and that takes a lot of work. We no longer have a school, but we have extension religious education and social programs for the children and all age levels. We don't go about preaching and trying to convert people in the community, but we do work with everyone. Our church is open 7 days a week and busy all day into the evening and that takes a lot to keep everything clean.

Faye, I got some of the Yoplait and Dannon Greek yogurt - they should be ashamed to put that on the label. They thicken regular nonfat yogurt with Kosher gelatin (according to the ingredients). Its more like jello than the creamy Greek Yogurt and doesn't have the nutrition of the "real" stuff either.

Good morning gals! I am under the weather, not like poor Susan being literally "under the weather" but I am having allergy problems and they are diving me nuts. I take meds, but I still have a lot of sneezing and coughing, puffy eyes and such. I hope the pollen count goes down soon and that will abate things. I can't see getting the shots and such when this is not an all the time thing with me. It happens once in awhile and I usually have a clear runny nose a lot, but for the most part I am ok.

Jean: Congrats on the loss. We have to take them when we get them I guess. Hope Bob is coming along with the harvesting stuff. I imagine he will be happy when it is done. I hate it when public areas are either scorching hot or freezing cold. Our Walmart is always hot and I usually end up miserable by the time I get out of there. On the other hand, the commissary could freeze a side of beef it is so cold in there. I am really pooped today, but I have so much work to do that needs catching up on. I took Fortune to the groomers so he is gone for the day so maybe I can get something accomplished. I sure hope so. I am leaning towards a nap since I only slept about 3 hours last night again. My knees are bothering me a lot and will continue to do so until I get a good portion of this weight off.

Maggie: Glad you got all your electronics up and going properly.

Susan: You poor thing and you must just really be sad about it taking out Stan's rose tree. Little things like that are really devastating because they take our past away from us. Could you not save any of it at all to start it over? I have no clue about gardening I have a black thumb all the way up my arm... Sure hope your rain stops soon. We again haven't got any rain and doesn't look like we will get any today either. It is bright and sunny and light blue clear skies.

Well gals, I need to get some laundry done and tackle this housework I want to get done. Have a wonderful weekend all! Faye

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another beautiful fall day in my corner of the world. This morning I worked at the hospital for 4 hours; the auxiliary had a jewelry fair where a sales rep brings in tubs full of jewelry, already sorted in small plastic trays or on display stands. We set up a whole lecture room full of long tables with everything priced at $5. As ladies came in to shop, we gave them plastic boxes to put their purchases in. Volunteers could have one piece of jewelry free for every 2 hours we worked. I found a necklace that I liked, but I'm not really into a lot of the big jewelry that is popular now. The fair runs until 4:30 this afternoon so I hope they are as busy as we were this morning. I should get busy and do something around here, but feel pretty lazy right now.

Susan -- I hope your rain has come to a halt by now. I'm sorry about Stan's rose tree; actually I didn't know roses grew on trees, and thought they only grew on bushes. You are lucky to have an active church. At our rally last Sunday, the leader said that many churches are suffering from low numbers both in people and in giving. I know we are down about 20 members due to death and/or a few who no longer can drive.

Maggie -- I did get your email address and sent you an email back. It hasn't come back so I hope you got it and it didn't get lost in cyperspace somewhere. Where did you go to eat last night? I haven't cooked all week because I never know when Bob is coming home and sometimes the farmer's wife will feed them supper. I think I will fix a roast tomorrow or Sunday; that is good for leftover meals for a few days.

"Gma" -- I feel for you with your allergies. What chores you don't get done today will be waiting for you later. I hope you got a nap in this afternoon! Enjoy your birthday lunch/dinner with your family.

Guess I will change clothes and go get the mail. Have a relaxng evening!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good evening, ladies! The rain has finally stopped. We had over 14 inches since the beginning of the week. On Monday, the total rainfall for this year was 33.68 so you know it was a lot! There was actually a notice in the paper this morning that the summer water restrictions have been lifted as of today - ya think!

Maggie, I go your new email address just fine. Did you try the Verizon email? It's free. The matter of portability is why most people don't use email from their internet provider. I've used yahoo email since 1995 but occasionally use cox.

Jean, I've bought jewelry at those shows when Stan was in the hospital so much. Rose trees are not very tall but still called trees. Our church is growing. We added another Mass in September because we were getting so crowded in the other 3. There are 26 would-be Catholics in this year's RCIA class. They will attend weekly classes until the week before Easter and then make their decision to join or not. If they decide to join, they will be baptised during the Easter Vigil service and make their first communion on Easter. Father Mike has a breakfast once a week for the new families moving into the parish and joining St. Joan's.

Faye, my thumb is black, too. There are no branches left so I doubt Scott can save it but he'll try. I hope you enjoy your evening out tomorrow with the family.

Have a good evening.

Good morning to you all. Fortune got me up at 5 o'clock wanting out so I let him out and fed him and tried to go back to sleep, but didn't happen so thought I would come in here and post.

Fortune was groomed yesterday and she always puts a little cotton cloth scarf on the boy dogs. I got to the car and opened it up and put Fortune in and told Jack, "We now have a redneck dog!" She had put him in a camouflage scarf! He lasts about 3 days then he tries to get it off.

I guess my son, dil and grandson are coming down here for Thanksgiving this year. He always insists we stay home and have dinner so if that is what he wants we will probably order one of those turkey dinners from Kroger, I will make a couple pies, buy a small ham and that will be it. When he is not with us on Thanksgiving, Tom, Kelly, Thomas and us usually go to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving dinner. They have a nice turkey dinner with pie and no clean up!!!

We are mulling over whether or not we will go over to my step-aunt's again this year for Christmas. I guess it depends on whether Kelly and Tom are willing to keep Fortune for a couple days and that is all dependent on whether or not my sister and her dh visit his mom. She is pretty fragile and I think he wants to visit as much as he can. He called me on my birthday and said they are trying to work out plane reservations. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Susan: I hope the man you have working on your landscaping can save some of your tree for you. Glad that the wet weather may be finally stopping for you. It was quite pleasant here yesterday. I had the sunroof and windows open driving around with the radio on yesterday.

Jean: Maybe you can snag something the girls might like. I am more of a big jewelry kind of gal, but then I think it looks better on me. I wear what I call chunky necklaces if I dress up but most of the time I just wear earrings if I am out and about. I noticed Jack has the sniffles and sneezes so we both seem to be having the allergy thing. It drives me nuts because my inside my nose and ears always feels like bugs crawling around in there that's besides the runny nose constantly, but this too shall pass.

Our nutso squirrel is back tormenting me. I noticed he got into the trash last evening and I had to go out and clean it up and try and put something heavy enough on it so he couldn't get into it. I had an old towel on it and it just peeled it right back.

Well I need to go. Tomorrow is commissary day so I have that to look forward to. I am going to finish downstairs cleaning today and then be done with that for a bit. Have a great Saturday all. Faye

Just a quick post. Computer is in the shop. This is from my cell phone tp let you know where I'm at

Later

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's a beautiful day in my corner of the world although it could be a few degrees warmer imo. I went to a church craft sale this morning because I need an exchange gift for Christmas. There was lots of "stuff" and lots of food. I bought 2 Christmas kitchen towels, that have pot holders folded in half at the top, to hang on a drawer/oven handle. I figured anyone can use a kitchen towel, right? Then I opened the hospital gift shop for 3 hours where I was the one and only customer. Other than getting caught up on my magazines, it was a waste of my time. Now I have laundry sorted and the first load washing. I should vacuum but think I will go to the store and get a roast to put in the crock pot tomorrow.

Susan -- I'll bet you feel like you have webbed feet from all the rain! I hope that the rose tree can be salvaged even if you have to start over from a tiny sprout. I don't know much about outdoor plants but do have a few inside that seem to survive in spite of my hit and miss care. Are you cleaning or quilting this weekend?

"Gma" -- I did find a necklace at the fair yesterday. I don't wear silver very often so it caught my eye. It is long and different sized circles looped together; I'm hoping it will be "in style" for awhile. I just read a sewing tip where the lady had saved all of her dog's scarves, and sewed them together to make a blanket for him. Did you go out for lunch today? Thanksgiving dinner "out" is a great plan imo!

Maggie -- Sorry your computer is sick. Hurry back!

The mailman just whizzed by so guess I will go and see what he brought today. Hope everyone is enjoying their day today!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good afternoon, ladies. The sun is out today but there is rain in the forecast for the next 3 days. It's only 68 degrees so a little chilly.

I decided today was a good day to put my winter weigh in clothes on since it was in the 50s when I went to my meeting so I switched from shorts and a thin t-shirt to long pants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I was up .6 but that wasn't all from the clothes. I had some over-indulgences last week, too. And today I received my IHOP coupon for my birthday. That'll be used on their talapia, broccoli and potato or the hawaiian shrimp.

I went to the Y this afternoon for my weight training. I'm having chicken and dumplings for supper. It just seemed like a good day for it.

Faye, I just heard, on the History Channel, how rednecks got their name. It was back when the miners were starting to organize their union. There was a huge mining conglomerate that had managed to keep the union out and the union miners from surrounding counties banded together and went there. There was a major battle as the company tried to keep them out. So that the union members could identify each other in the fray, they wore red bandanas around there neck and the term "redneck" came into being. They also won and unionized the area.

Have a great evening!

Good morning everybody! Today is commissary day so you know I always look forward to that. On top of it, first weekend after military and retirement paydays so it will probably be busy. Because of vacation, I didn't even go commissary shopping last payday so I need all kinds of stuff I usually jockey around, (I buy extras of stuff so I don't run out) but this time I am jockeyed out so to speak!

The dinner last night was fun. They burnt my sandwich, which I didn't even know they grilled in the first place and the soup was so heavily salted I couldn't touch it, but it was fun being with the kids. We had a nice visit with the kids, they gave me this teeny tiny fragrance bottle they brought back from Egypt along with some lovely perfume made from the flowers/spices grown in that region for my birthday. It is oil based so it will last a long time on just a tiny bit. Thomas had his new Ipod touch with him and was busily playing with it last night so the adults were of no interest to him. We talked a lot about their cruises and such and discussed hints and tips they had about it. All in all, nice evening though I hate coming home here after dark, especially if there are people milling about, but it was no problem.

Susan: I looked at our projected 10 day and we are getting no rain at all. We sure could have used a bit of what you got. It is getting pretty bad here as we haven't had much rainful for over a month now. The temp is cool in the 60's today then in the 70's for a couple days but then goes back into the 80's. Thanks for the redneck info. I always find it interesting how names come about. I heard a real interesting one recently and when I can remember it, I will post it. It was something I heard on the "Holmes on Holmes" show.

Jean: Actually, that is a cute idea about the dog scarves. They are all pinking sheered so they do unravel and I bet them would make a really cute patchwork type quilt for your doggy. Paula does holiday themes and stuff so I imagine his next grooming he will have Halloween stuff or at least fall, which I think was what she was aiming at with the camo, it is hunting season. My dog would be a great hunter, all he would want to do would be sit in your lap up in those tree blinds! Hope you like your new necklace. I have a beautiful big beaded tiger eye one I bought when we were going to go on the cruise this year and I found some matching earrings some place else.

Well, Jack is stirring around and I haven't typed out my grocery list yet. It is sitting here beside me. Typing it out I don't seem to miss stuff like when it is long hand. Have a beautiful Sunday all! Faye

Good morning, ladies. Its only 64 degrees and raining again. Faye, we hadn't had rain in nearly 2 months, and in the last week we've received 1/3 of our rainfall for the year. At least we got through September without a major hurricane in our area.

Faye, you are too nice. I send burnt and too salty food back to the kitchen. I'm glad you had a nice time anyway. I hope the commissary trip goes well. You sure can tell fall is here in the produce department. I got parsnips, turnips, and rutabaga this week.

Jean, we must have been posting at the same time yesterday! I'm not very good with plants either. My poinsetta lasted for the third year and made it through the summer so I'm trying to remember to put it in the closet at night and bring it out during the day so the red comes outs.

Have a great day. I have clothes buzzing to come out of the dryer and then I'm quilting.