Good evening everyone. It has been a lovely day here and I am so thankful for that. I go to WW in the morning and do some shopping afterward. My panini maker came today and It sure does work great. It will do a sandwich or piece of meat 3 inches thick. I am sure it will be one appliance that will get a lot of use expecially during the winter months.

JEAN sometimes our bodies don't accruately reflect what we have eaten the week prior to weigh in and the gain will show up the next week when least expecting it. The key is to now fret. Just do your best and take it as it comes.

Have a lovely evening folks.

Good Afternoon, Flowers!
It's another sunny, nice day in my corner of Iowa. The wind blew itself out and our yard that was full of leaves is now pretty bare. I don't know who got 'em, but there were LOTS.


Maggie -- Thanks for starting the new thread. I'm trying to really be OP this week so my loss won't turn into a gain next week. I have class tonight so need to do some reading before I go.

Have a fantastic Friday, Flowers!

Jean -- from Iowa!

It is another lovely day in this neighborhood. We went to Michaels craft store today and I picked up a few things for my village. The people were all too big for my little buildings but I was able to get a few things that will inhance the village when I set it up. I know of a store down south where we will be going for Thanksgiving that I can find some small animals and other things I can use. I got a neat tree that will work for a village Christmas tree and some tiny lights to go on it. Weigh in was not a disappointment even if I thought I should have shown a bigger loss. I did go in the right direction and the IRON MONSTER shouted out that I lost a whopping 0.6 which I will be ever thankful for.

JEAN your right to start now to not make the next weigh in show a gain. However don't stress over it.

Everyone have a lovely afternoon.

GOOD MORNING

It is going to be another lovely day here ... I am going to get a head start on what I am taking to the dinner tomorrow evening. Today I will make my pie crusts and then do the filling tomorrow and it can be chilling while I roast the two turkey breasts. Sounds like a plan to me. I have to find a moment today to cut these nails ~ they are just at that stage where they are starting to get in my way. They get quite long if I let them. Yep, I'm going to cut them when I leave here.

It is getting kinda lonely here in the flower patch. Hope everyone is doing fine and just taking a breather.

Good Evening, Flowers!
It's Friday night and the school is over for another week. I am doing a happy ! It was a nice, sunny day and life is good.

We are painting a bedroom tomorrow and visiting grandchildren on Sunday, I think. Ian's birthday party is next Saturday; it doesn't seem possible he is a year old already. Time does fly by.

Maggie -- Congratulations on the loss! I'm glad the iron monster saw things your way this week! The little cheerleader smilie is sure cute! Enjoy your dinner tomorrow night! I can smell the turkey and taste the pies clear out here! When I was a little girl, my grandma used to make pies quite often. She would give me the crust trimmings and I would make little cookie balls, sprinkle sugar on them, bake 'em, and eat 'em. YUM! My mom could make good pie crust too, but I think that talent has skipped my generation.

Hope you all have a nice weekend. Do something nice for yourself!

Jean -- from Iowa!

The sun disappeared around 4:00 and the sky turned that funny gray like it was going to snow at any minute. By 5:00 it was totally dark outside.

I've been working on piles today. Have to finish the livingroom shelves so the new one can be installed next week.

Not much else going on. Hope you have a relaxing evening and a special Sunday.

Jean -- from Iowa!

Hello girls!

Been busy all day cleaning downstairs and doing some "redecorating." I have been wanting to change my living room for quite awhile and since I was in a real funk this morning, after watching House Rules, it gave me the boost to start. My living room is a country blue, has paneling of some kind that was painted over and over (was a light tan when we moved in and painted.) The kind of blueberry color with the light cream trim gives it kind of a beach house look so I have been collecting "chatchkies" and started in. Took down all my country stuff and bagged it up to sell at the complex yard sale next summer, then moved my big mirror over the fireplace which is a cream "faux" stone look, big candles at one end and an assortment of tiny lighthouses from around the country which are what I used to call snuff boxes, I don't know what they are called now. I also bought a couple lighthouse plates for the mantel. On the entertainment center I have a brass clock and sailboat candle holders and a couple of adorable little tiny replica sailboats with real sails in a mint green and light blue. I need to get sand, shells, more candles and some prints for the walls. I have a new couch, but I have never liked the color particularly so I am going to get a blue plaid slip cover for it and a taupe slipcover for my recliner. I am going to make little tablecloths for the end tables and I will have one room done except for the flooring and putting in new blinds. Anyway, it at least kept me busy doing that and cleaning the downstairs and waxing floors. Didn't have time to pity myself.

It has been pouring rain and is chilly here around 50 degrees. Looks like the rain may hang in awhile.

Maggie: Yeah for you and the loss!

Jean: How much more of your house do you have to do?

Well, better go and check on laundry and get it folded and put away. Tomorrow is upstairs cleaning day!

Faye

Good Morning, Flowers!
I fell asleep in front of the TV and here I am, wide awake! I don't know why I do that; maybe I should start watching TV in a metal straight chair and then I wouldn't be so comfy. I worked on piles today while DH tore our bedroom apart to paint. It smells and looks so squeaky clean in there tonight. Now I have to dig out the new curtains and bedspread I've been storing in the closet.

I pitched and sorted, sorted and pitched the day away; I was the "gofer" for DH so spent alot of time running up and down stairs. Good exercise but I'm feeling the reaching and bending tonight!

"Gma" -- It sounds like you were one busy gal today! Your livingroom will look so nice when you are all finished with your project. Besides the livingroom shelves/cupboard to be installed next week, we have a new front door with side light windows to put in -- that is if the windows ever arrive in one piece. We ordered them right after school started and have had 3 sets shipped. The glass company is in Alabama; I'd think there would be one closer to Iowa so they didn't have to travel so far! I offered to pick out something different and the salesman said it would take just as long to start the process over. The poor contractor will be standing in snow when the time comes! We still have not picked out carpet/tile/wood because we can't agree on which to get. The downstairs is all open and runs into the stairs going down to the main entry level as well as the stairs going up to the bedrooms. I thought I wanted carpet (DH wants wood or tile) and have been living with the plywood floor since we ripped part of the carpet out this spring. That should finish up our upgrading projects. We bought this house in 1984 and just lived in it, except for new paint and carpet, until 1995 when we needed to replace the shingles due to water damage the attic. We mentioned that we'd like to add on "sometime" and the contractor pointed out that it would be costly to reroof and then a year or so later add on to the kitchen area. We took the plunge and were just going to add on a larger eating area and small TV area to the back of the house. That new roof and addition led to all new siding because we couldn't match the old and we decided to cover up the brick in the front of the house because we couldn't find anyone who would "fix" the places where the cement was chipping away. We had to use a support beam, which went through my kitchen cupboards, so that meant new sink, cupboards and countertops. The next summer we replaced the big picture window in the front of the house. The next summer we replaced all of the bedroom and bathroom windows upstairs. The next summer we added on a second garage and replaced windows in the lower bedroom and bathroom. The next summer we added on a deck in the back. The next summer we redid DH's bathroom which turned out to be more of a project than we had planned on. His bathroom was next to an outside door that we never used so enclosed that and turned the bathroom doorway 90 degrees into the hallway. Now he can't sit on the pot, brush his teeth, wash his feet, and see who is at the front door all at the same time! A tall person can now use the facilities without having to scrunch their knees against the door! This past winter we redid the upstairs bathroom enclosing a doorway that went into our bedroom and we never used because I had furniture in front of it. I wanted a shower surround and the only way to get that in was to cut a hole in the outside wall to get it in; it also meant losing my window in the process. So we put in a skylight, eliminated a second sink in lieu of floor to ceiling cupboard, and tore out a ridiculous linen closet in the hall which measured 11" by 12"! There we added a set of floor to ceiling cupboards which the contractor had to use his expertise to make fit because I wanted a place to put my vacuum without having to lift it. From there we replaced the iron rail going downstairs which had big open spaces that Ian could fall through. We liked the oak look so tore out the stairs and put in oak along with an oak mantel over the new gas fireplace that DH had always wanted to put in. I don't think I could ever build a new house because I have such a hard time making a decision on some things! DH says we will get it all finished, live in it for 5 more years, and move. I don't think so! The housing market in this town is the worst it has been since the early '80s and realtors don't anticipate it changing in the near future (until the packing plants close). Aren't you glad you asked!

Have a super Sunday, Flowers! We are going to see the grandkids for a few hours!

Jean -- in Iowa!

YIKES reading what the both of your posts tired me out and I am going to bed. Well actually I found them interesting and that is a fact. I love remodeling ~ it is such a challenge. Life is a challenge so treat it as an adventure.

Have a lovely Sunday folks. I'll type more at ya later.

GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS

It has quite a day! We had the kids and grandkids over for dinner! Need I say it is so quiet here now. There were 12 of us and everyone seemed to have a good time, including me. Had my oven fried chicken and plenty of veggies and for my daughters I roasted 5 pounds of potatoes. I have none left. That's a family joke as we are sure DD #3 could have eaten all 5 #'s by herself. She is thin, ( don't know how she does it. After dinner the kids and the two SIL's went out and had a game of tag. I think the older 'boys' were breathing hard after about 5 minutes.
DH always has a small present for each kid and the boys got small planes, the 12 yr old got football cards, then I had to think of something for the 2 girls...got the 10 yr old a small charm for her bracelet and little Steppie (short for Stephanie) got a cute little porcelain doll with red braids and a green outfit (it was a mineature of herself...they loved everything. It is now about 6:30pm and they have been gone for half an hour and I am just vegging here at the computer. Exhausted but wouldn't change a thing.

MAGGIE...congratulations on your latest loss! Those houses sound so cute....I, too, would love to see a photo of them when you are finished. I have a collection of some Dept. 56 houses but I have run out of space to my collection is complete...the houses are the first thing the youngest GK's go to when they visit .

FAYE....Wow! That sounds like an adorable living room. You could almost think you were at the seashore! You are sure ambitious to get all the done. Hope Jack is getting better each day.

JEAN...You have a new house without moving! What an undertaking. After getting it just right I wouldn't want to ever move again. DD#1 is working for a bank and doing mortgages and although the 'boom' has slowed somewhat now that the interest rate has risen slightly, she says people are still buying houses but more are refinancing them.

Gloria in MA.....starting to fall asleep at the .....so I will say good night all.

I'm heading for bed but wanted to say "good night" to you first.

We spent most of the day gone. Did some fast Christmas shopping at Target and Sears then headed for DD's house. She has the stomach flu while Madaline has bronchitis. Will just got over the flu. Then we headed for DS and played with Ian for a while. He is cutting teeth so has the snotty nose to keep wiping while he's on the go.

Gloria -- It's good to see you! Was your day an early Thanksgiving? It sounds like you all had a great time together -- something your grandkids will always remember. I don't think my house has been totally together for a number of years!

Maggie -- Did you have any leftovers to bring home? I'll bet not!

Have a marvelous Monday, Flowers!

Jean -- from Iowa!

OK now I am totally confused! I was in earlier and this thread came up and I went out and came in again and the new --2 thread was there and I posted. Now it is later in the evening and here this thread is again. Am I going bonkers or what ~ I thought these November threads were lost in la la land. Or maybe it is where I am right now - in la la land. YIKES.

Maggie, you're not losing it All posts from November 17 to January 6 were lost in the server crash. So what was old and buried is popping up at the top as new.

The new thread you are looking for is in the Support Groups forum, and this is just the Support forum for individual support requests.

Hope that helps!