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#1

Jean , 10-25-2005 10:14 PM

Good Evening, Flowers! It was another beautiful day in my neighborhood and tomorrow is supposed to be even better. It was a long boring day at school today. The material we had to read and discuss was from the 1970s and 80s! I guess the pendulum must be swinging back to that school of thought again. One of the teachers mentioned it would be nice to teach "character, respect, self-discipline, and manners" along with the rest of the curriculum. He got a standing ovation! Tomorrow should be a "normal" day and Thursday will duplicate today.

Gloria -- I'm sending sunshine your way! Is your DH having surgery on his knee? I hope all goes well for him. A year ago when I had my toe surgery and again when I had a colonoscopy this summer, the nurse asked me if I felt 'safe' at home and if I got enough to eat. I just laughed and asked her if I looked like I didn't get enough to eat. I know they have to ask those questions as part of being mandatory abuse reporters. We have to do the same at school. (not ask questions but observe any signs of abuse)

Gail -- If you've said, I missed it. How did Robyn hurt her arm in the first place? That is so scary! I hope she doesn't continue to have trouble with it. Your dinner out tonight sounds like fun. I hope you enjoyed yourself.

"Gma" -- Doesn't it feel so nice to have clean carpet? When we had carpet and DH would shampoo it regularly, we always thought it got dirtier faster the next time. We had it professionally cleaned the first few times and then bought our own shampooer. DH thinks schools should be run like a business which would eliminate a few problem students. Then if all parents had to pay tuition, that would eliminate a few more!

Maggie -- We both posted about the same time last night so I had to go back and find out about the figs! I've never had fresh figs. We had snow flurries Sunday morning but they didn't last long. I don't cross country ski. I tried power walked with walking sticks and about broke my neck! I took a 'walking' class to renew my teaching certificate several years ago. It was fun and we did alot of walking during the course of the week.

I need to do some ironing so better keep moving! Have a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow. Another week is flying by so quickly!

Jean -- from Iowa!

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#2

Maggie , 10-25-2005 11:11 PM

EVENING OF ROCK-tober 25
GOOD EVENING MY MAGNOLIA FRIENDS

I just finished watching The Quick and the Dead with Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman ~ if you haven't seen it you might want to take a look at a wild west town that is out of whack. Gene Hackman plays such a good bad guy. He is one of my most favorite actors ~ not because of his looks. Ragg Mopp played outside with his kitties all during the movie so I was left alone. Poor dear didn't get to see his groomer for she had to postpone his appoint until tomorrw morning. He sure can use a bath. I would give him one but he needs the works tomorrow, a trim of his hair and his nails also. Cowboy got Ragg Mopp a nice bone made of raw hide and it promptly disappeared when he took it outside. Well I found it ~ it was in the middle of where the car had been parked. So when Cowboy went to work without me being in the car there it was just laying out in the open. When I went out to unhook the door and shut it I moved it withing reach of Ragg Mopp and he was indeed thankful. I believe he brought it in with him.

JEAN my recipe called for dried figs. We used to have fresh ones every year for we had a tree. I like them best when dried or candied. My mother makes the best candied figs. She doesn't have a tree where she lives now but one of my sisters does. I have never done much baking with them because they are somewhat difficult to get dried. Of course you can get them over the internet but I don't want to buy more than I can use at a time. School back to "normal" where you work sounds rather scarey. How long is it till you can retire is it now? I bet you are looking to that day with glee. I think teachers are underpaid for what they have to put up with in the public schools. You can go back to using the old material but the kids still won't act like they did back then, sadly enough.

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#3

gma22 , 10-26-2005 08:57 AM

Good morning ladies! It is cool and clear here today. I have decided to leave the upstairs carpet to the man of the house (it is all carpeted except the bathrooms ) He really doesn't mind as I surmise he thinks I don't do it right anyway, but it doesn't take rocket science, put soap in container, clean hot water in container, turn on machine squirt soapy water into rug and vacuum up. Because I am left handed, believe it or not, it presents problems on how I can shampoo. All sort of physic semantics, but I get it done. I am going to get mopping and bathrooms upstairs cleaned today I hope and maybe get on the treadmill and see how my knee reacts to it. I need to get exercise everyday.

Jean: Maybe they need to swing back a few more decades to the 50's and 60's where kids weren't allowed to shoot teachers, wear inappropriate clothing, swear etc. I keep telling Jack they need to make "in school" suspensions so unpleasant the kids will not want them and out of school suspensions should be served doing things equally unpleasant. Jack says nowadays "civil rights" prevent the kids from anything so the schools wouldn't be allowed to say, make the kids clean toilets etc. Kids are so hardened these days too due to television. Man, I wasn't allowed to watch very much night time tv, no Peyton Place, I didn't see that movie until I was probably mid 30's, nothing violent at all like Combat, no romance, etc. My mom wouldn't let us go to movies that were anything but Disney either. I do remember my sister and I going to see Shoes of the Fisherman, but we weren't Catholic so neither of us understood it! My first voyage into the world of "sex" was Romeo and Juliet where Len Whiting got to show his behind standing up going to the window. I thought that was the raciest thing I had ever seen and I was probably 15 or so. The next time was The Godfather where Sonny Corleone took a bridesmaid upstairs and had sex standing up against the bedroom door. Jack and I were engaged and he took me. He told me years later he was very embarrassed and he shouldn't have been because I didn't know what was going on! I was extremely naive even at 18!

Maggie: I love Gene Hackman and find to him to be a superb actor. One of my favorite parts he did was The Firm. Of course, it was filmed here in Memphis, but his character was so sad kind of. He played the coach in Hoosiers and a myriad of really nasty people in several movies like the Secretary of Defense in No Way Out or the president in Absolute Power with Clint Eastwood. He does the nasty bad guys the best but I read what a truly nice human being he is though very private. I believe he does the voice overs for the Lowes commercials too. I have pretty much seen everything he is in. There was one STINKER he was in and that was the Ray Romano film, "Welcome to Mooseport." He must have been drugged to get him to sign on for that picture! Let me know how your fig bars come out. I am having a tomato melt sandwich for breakfast (that is what my ediets menu calls for!) so we shall see how good or bad that is.

Well, just dawdling here so better get on the stick as the floors will not mop themselves!

Faye

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#4

GailR , 10-26-2005 09:33 AM

Happy Wednesday morning!

I enjoyed my dinner out with the girls from work last night. I ate healthy. We all did! Broiled salmon, steamed veggies, and smashed potatoes. No dessert. But lots of good conversation! I also saw (and talked with) a lot of people I used to work with before coming to this department. I had fun!

Jean, Robyn (she's around 21 months old) was going down the stairs. She looked like she was going to fall. My sil was behind her and when he went to grab her, he took hold of her right wrist in such a way that her elbow popped out. Scared him to death. The doctors at the children's hospital said this was common. Of course, now they have to be extra careful of her elbow now but they also said it (her elbow) will get stronger as she grows. She was running around my house on Monday night like nothing happened to her.

Maggie, I liked that movie also. Also like Gene Hackman's acting. Amanda (my 5-year-old gk) says we need a dog. She tells us all the time.

Faye, I agree. Last week my Mom e-mailed me and told me that my oldest nephew's middle school was on lock down. Someone was shooting the school buses parked out front with a pellet gun. I work at a university and when I'm outside on my lunch hour I hear some of the foulest language from the "kids". One of these days I'm going to ask one of them if they talk like that round their mothers. It will be my luck that they will say she talks worse than he/she (doesn't matter what gender--I hear foul language from both) does!

Well. It's time to go to work. Oh yeah...I am here at work!

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#5

gma22 , 10-26-2005 12:54 PM

Gail: My dd says she knows we are now old folks because we have a big car and a little dog! (we have a little yorkie and a grand marquis )

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#6

GailR , 10-26-2005 03:02 PM

Faye!

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#7

Jean , 10-26-2005 06:29 PM

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another beautiful day in my corner of the world. The sun is shining and it was 62 degrees on my way home from school. Tomorrow is going to be another "sit and watch the clock" meeting all day. We do get Friday off so will have a 3 day weekend which will be nice. We won't be seeing the kids because Beth has to work while Jason and Amanda are going to spend the weekend with friends so the guys can go pheasant hunting. It will be a quiet one so maybe I can get a few things done aroung here.

Maggie -- I can retire any time according to my DH. I won't get any special benefits except for IPERS and that's a piddly amount because I only made $6.03 when I started in 1991. We got a quarter a year raises for the first 5 years and now we get whatever % the teachers get which still amounts to around $.50 or less. Since our health insurance is paid for by the district, that's a big plus. This year I work with nice kids for the most part so really have no issues of my own. We only have to give 2 weeks notice and we will be released from our contracts assuming they can find someone else.

"Gma" -- The juvenile court has had kids 'help' the custodians at school. The head custodian says they are more trouble than they are worth because they can't be trusted to work alone and do a sloppy job on top of it. The custodians have to redo most of what the kids mess up because they don't want to do it in the first place. How was your breakfast? A tomato melt sandwich just doesn't sound the best to me.

Gail -- I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner with your coworkers. The language at school is bad, bad, bad! Most of it is in Spanish now but you can tell by the way the kids look at you, they are not saying nice things. They talk about everything and for all to hear. There is no modesty whatsoever, which is sad. No wonder there are so many pregnant girls walking around. What's really sad is that the kids having babies won't want to be taking care of them in a couple years when they aren't so cute anymore.

I have bell choir tonight and need to box up the stuff for the church rummage sale so DH can take it to the church tomorrow.

Have a terrific Thursday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

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#8

gma22 , 10-27-2005 08:58 AM

Morning ladies! I am up and at em this morning trying to get things done. I am an avid "The Nanny" watcher and she comes on at 9 AM so I try and have at least the chores done by then so I can watch. Usually 8-9 I watch British tv, "Cash in the Attic" which is fun. Guess I like the Nanny because she is so, "Lucy" like. In fact, I once read an article where she said she most admired and tried to emulate Lucille Ball. She does a darn good job of it in a modern way. Miss the show not being on.

Jean: Hope you have a nice 3 day weekend. It is always nice to have extra time off. Jack has to work 90 days straight with no sick days and he gets what they call a bonus day so he can earn up to 4 a year. He needs his bonus day, which he gets Nov 7 for Thanksgiving since we used all his vacation time up in Vegas, but he has to have blood work done before his cardiology appt (which costs him a sick day) and his appt is Nov 22. So he called the lab and ask how long it took to process his work and get it to the dr and they said 2-3 days. So he put in for a sick day November 11 and then the 22nd so his bonus day count will start again Nov 23. Now here is the good part, he gets a whole day off Nov 11 for about 10 minutes in the lab as long as he gets a note that he was there, then the same thing on the 22nd, and his appt is 8:45 AM so he should be out no later than 9:30 and we can be on the road to Indiana. Now, he would be in a mess usually because Wed is a work day and you have to work the day before and day after a holiday, which is Thur and Friday, BUT instead of taking his bonus day for Monday, he took it Wed so he has a sick day, a bonus day, the holidays. As long as you take bonus or vacation days around a holiday, you still get paid for the holiday. Man's a genius, what can I say!

Hope everyone is doing fine today! I will say TTFN so I can put the clothes in the dryer and get a load of sheets in

Faye

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#9

GailR , 10-27-2005 09:24 AM

Good morning everyone! Another bright and shiny day outside. A tad brisk but it's nice over all. This weekend, I hear it's going to be up to 70 degrees on Sunday, so I think I'll clean out the geranium pots on the back deck and maybe buy a couple of pots of mums and set them out on the front porch. A nice fall wreath on the front door would be nice.

Well Jean, I'm sorry to report that the foul language on campus comes from our good old American students. It has been my experience that our international students have the best manners and always say thank you. Our international students are always very appreciative and hard working.

Sharon, how are you doing?

Faye, if I don't throw a load of laundry in the washing machine as soon as I go home night, it won't get done! My new plan each evening as soon as I eat my dinner is to do chores for one hour. After that I figure I've earned the right to veg out. So far it's working. Tonight's plan is while the oven is cleaning itself (thank goodness for small favors) is to clean the bathrooms, dust and vac the bedrooms in the back of the house.

Maggie, I know you go to WW tonight. Good luck! I am going back on Tuesday evenings. That's another one of my plans--staying more busy in the evenings. Also, Tuesday is November 1 and my game plan is to stay as close to program through the holidays. No...that's not right...I'm going to stay on program. I know it can be done--others have done it. It's just a matter of making up one's mind...right? (You may agree with me! ...if you like!) Which is also another part of my new plan--turn my stinkin' thinkin' back around where my eating plan is concerned.

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#10

gma22 , 10-27-2005 12:24 PM

Gail: I am one of those anal organized ladies so I have chores that are done every morning, bed made, animals fed and watered, load of clothes started, dishwasher unloaded and reloaded with breakfast dishes and cat box/puppy pads cleaned up. I then have the house divided up for each day, Monday is clean downstairs bathroom and dust downstairs, Tuesday is clean countertops, front of cupboards, ceramic flat top of stove and microwave and dining table (which has a ceramic tile top), Wednesday is mopping all floors downstairs, Thur is clean upstairs bathrooms, Friday is dust and vacuum upstairs change and wash sheets, Sat is a free day and Sunday is vacuum downstairs dining and living room rug. I then just start all over again. Seems to work for me. Since there are no kids in the house and I have been adament for years that my hubby keep things picked up, we usually don't have a mess. I stay out of his office except for vacuuming and so that is a mess, but I have had to force myself to leave it alone or we end up in a fight. I despise clutter so rarely sit for more than about 10 minutes without thinking something is out of place. I also shampoo rugs every three months, paint and or touch up the house once a year and clean windows, mini blinds and curtains every three months or so. Now, I do not work so I have a lot more time than any of you ladies do that work. Even so, I did all this when I worked full time. I got up early to do things than worked on stuff after dinner. It can be a problem if I let it as it really is never clean enough for me and I have to force myself to sit still sometimes. It is a psychological problem going back to childhood where I never felt validated and was always "just coming up a little bit short" with whatever I did so I have over compensated as an adult.

Well, I better scoot and decide what to have for lunch

Faye

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#11

GailR , 10-27-2005 12:47 PM

Faye, I didn't work for about 10-12 years (when the girls were little) and had myself on a similar schedule. My housework for the day was usually done by 9am except for those days I scheduled a large cleaning project--washing windows, etc. Then I went to work. For a long time I did most of my cleaning chores on Saturday morning with the help of the girls (age appropriate chores). They grew up, moved out, and I'm still working. There are just the two of us--hubby and myself. Most of the time my home is pretty much picked up. However, I find the older I get the more of a procrastinator I become (unless it's something I want to do like....read...knit). Thankfully, DH looooooves to wash dishes (yes, we have a dishwasher but he'd rather do them by hand) and vac the floor. Now...if I could get him to clean those toilet bowls! I like your plan!

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#12

Jean , 10-27-2005 05:41 PM

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It is a nice sunny day in my corner of the world! I came home to a kitten EATING the tail of a snake on my deck! GROSS! I quick put out a plate of cat food and it let the snake go. It only 'slithered' a little bit so I don't know if it is dead or not. I thought they could/would regrow their tail. The snake is on DH's "to do" list when he gets home from work! Today's meeting wasn't as bad as I had anticipated because the groupings changed and we got to go into another classroom to discuss our plan of action. I am proud of myself . . . I passed up the donuts this morning, the cookies this afternoon, and a Halloween cupcake after school. Our lunch was potato soup, a crescent roll with a garlic (?) glaze, and a dessert made of Cocoa Krispies, ice cream, peanuts, and chocolate sauce. (I did take one of the smaller pieces.)

"Gma" -- Trying to keep track of Jack's vacation, bonus, and sick days would keep me in a state of confusion for sure! It does sound like you have it all worked out to your advantage though! Don't you get Nanny at night in your area? I do enjoy that show too. I wish I had time to make a cleaning schedule and stick to it. I'm a hit and miss housekeeper unfortunately. I do like to have it reasonably clean and picked up for the weekends in case anyone would stop by.

Gail -- Will you save your mum plants over the winter months? I've never had good luck although some say they just put their plants in the basement and forget about them until spring. I'd be afraid the cats would use them instead of the litter box. Losing weight is definitely a mind over matter game . . . one I hope to win!

I'm waiting for a phone call so had better get off the computer. Have a nice evening and a fantastic Friday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

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#13

Maggie , 10-27-2005 05:42 PM

GOOD AFTERNOON ON ROCK-tober 27
HOWDY MAGNOLIAS

It is raining and has been since the middle of night. Nice steady stuff that will do some good here where we sure do need it. Tioga pass through Yosemite is closed ~ they got lots of snow last night. (We are in the foothills). At WW this morning there were not as many of us as usual but the core group you might say. I showed a loss of 2.4 which jazzed me and I am still being jazzed by it.

GALI when there were 12 weeks left before the first weigh in of the new year our leader had us make a plan to reflect what we wanted. I said that I would lose 12 pounds in those 12 weeks and several others agreed that we can do it during the holidays. I made little cards for each of us to record our weight on during those 12 weeks. So far I have lost both weeks, since this is the second weigh in of the 12. My average for the two is 1.5 a week ~ so I am a bit ahead of the plan and there is where I would like to stay. So you do see that I do agree with you! We can do this thing during the holidays for we have CAN DO. Yes we do.

Every one have a lovely safe afternoon.

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#14

Maggie , 10-27-2005 05:54 PM

and another thing....
JEAN looks like we were posting at the same time again for you weren't there when I started typing.

No snakes don't regrow their tails ~ lizards do. Lizards let go of their tails as an escape mechinism. What kind of a snake and how did it get on your desk? I don't mind snakes if they aren't of the poisonous variety. But to be surprised by one is another thing. CONGRATULATIONS on showing such great restraint by not eating those goodies! For that you do sincerely get a gold star. Glad your day went better than you had anticipated.

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#15

gma22 , 10-28-2005 08:39 AM

Good morning girls! I am a bit chilly this morning so will have to go upstairs when I get done and get warmer jammies and socks on I think! It is around 40 degrees this morning, but looks like a nice day. They are talking rain, but they have been doing that for months and it seems to keep passing us by. I hope it holds off now as I want to get out and blow leaves this weekend again. Can't seem to keep up with them!

Jean: EUWWWWWW not the snake so much as the cat chewing on it! Gross! My cat just chews on my poor dog. He can be such a bully to Fortune, who is such a little wuss and the cat outweighs him by about 10-12 lbs the fatso. He is even on low cal cat food!

I became industrious and fixed Jack french toast for breakfast this morning. I have started buying the new Sara Lee whole grain white bread, which I like very much, but it changes the taste of french toast somewhat.

We have a Halloween costume party tomorrow night, but we aren't dressing up. Can't talk the dh into a costume so I am not going to put one together either. Not easy getting a fat woman into a costume anyway. I am taking a lowfat version of 7 layer dip and chocolate frosted Rice Krispie treats with ghosts etc on the top for the kids. I don't know how long we will stay. This is Thomas's soccer coach and everyone is our kid's age but I think my grandson is coming so I always come wherever he is going to be.

I have started online Christmas shopping. Even having to pay shipping, I like it so much more than fighting the crowds at stores. I found gloves at Wilson's leather online and even get a buy one get one half off kind of thing, which is nice. I am getting all my dil's stuff at QVC this year and my sil's at some geek computer place online that he sent to my dd to forward to me. My son got a big external hard drive from us so he is not getting a whole lot of presents. Jack got the last of it last night, put it together and formatted it so it is ready to wrap. I think it is a 120 gb?????? I don't know a gig from a fig so.......

Not much going on in my world this morning so guess I will sign off and get the vacuum upstairs as it is the vacuuming day.

Faye

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