Good morning gals! I see we were at #19 so thought I would start a new thread. It is cold, windy and rainy this morning so I will be staying indoors for sure.

I started my book club back up since Jack is back to work and got an email 3 day special where you got 30% off everything if you ordered 3 books or more, $1.99 for shipping AND payment deferred until March 30 of next year on everything you order before December 30. I thought it was a great deal, so I clicked on the email and went to the site, switched out a bunch of books from my wish list and started to check out and it didn't give me my discount so I went back in and looked at the email and it EXPIRED Wednesday night! I didn't even get it until sometime overnight last night and besides that the staff didn't send it until late Monday afternoon and since it expired by midnight on Wednesday, I didn't even get three days anyway. I emailed them and complained. Probably won't do any good, but I got it out of my system anyway!

The people at ServPro never called here. I wonder if they are dodging us? Jack is going to call them again today and try and get them back out here. I am going to tell my son NOT to pay the bill until we can get them to fix this thing properly or tell us why they can't and then I am not sure we should have to pay for it if they can't blow it out completely.

Susan: Hope everything is alright with you and Stan. We haven't heard from you in a few days and I always get nervous that something has happened to Stan.

Jean: Are you on a short day again today? Usually you have two days of school conferences so thought you might be getting out early again today!

Well, I need to get going and get some things done this morning. We are having what Jack calls mutant chicken in the crockpot tonight so I need to get the spices on them so they can sit in the fridge and marinate awhile.

Have a good Friday and a great weekend!

Faye

Good morning gals! I feel so lonely here! Jack has to go in and work today so I really have to make this short so I can get him some breakfast. He is making time and a half for sitting around and watching movies or reading a newspaper. He volunteered because they are rerouting a section of pipe that has a huge tear in it today and they have to have an electrician/electronics guy there in case something electrical won't start or start back up or whatever.

Boy it was cold yesterday morning, became balmy by noon and then was freezing by evening. It is chilly here this morning when I let the dog out.

I guess I better run so I can get some breakfast started!

Faye

Good morning gals! Hope you all got your clocks set back last night and don't end up at church an hour early! I made a recipe from one of the Food Network shows last night and am in the process of finishing it up this morning. I have kind of a mess in the kitchen at the moment and have to get up and clean it up.

Jack worked about half the day yesterday. I guess I shouldn't say work as all he did was sit out there and then come home. He said his boss told him to go home and stay by the phone so he wants to talk to his immediate foreman and find out about getting paid overtime for sitting at home as the union contract states. I told him he doesn't want to cause too much trouble about it, but I think he should let his foreman know he sat at home in case they needed him so he should get paid for that.

I finished up a good book yesterday and cleaned upstairs except to vacuum so I did get something done besides fooling around with baking, but I guess I need to get started on the downstairs stuff this morning.

Have a good Sunday gals!

Faye

Good morning to you all! Looks like it is going to be a nice day today, but I am backed up on cleaning I didn't do yesterday so I doubt I get outside much today. I really really have to get organized and get Jack and I back on a diet progam and exercise schedule. Everything has been such upheavel since his surgery and I need to get down to business with it all. I am miserable and it is because I am eating the wrong foods and not getting any walking in.

Jean: Glad you had a nice time at the wedding. It is always nice to get away. I am so used to taking several small trips a year and with all that has gone on this year we have gone no where and can't for the rest of the year because Jack has no vacation time at all. We may just have to plan an overnighter or something just to get away from everything. I got the winter Penney's catalogue and on the back they have the most gorgeous Christmas stockings and matching mantel stocking holders and you get the monogramming free so I think I am going to get all new stockings for everyone and getting one for the new baby without his name and then have it monogrammed later. Since there are 6 different stockings I think I will make the couples match then pick different one's for the grandkids.

We are going to dd's for tomorrow night. "Thomas" just put in all new flooring in their house so I am anxious to see what kind of job he did! I wish you could have seen his Christmas list. He made it out himself and you know how first graders are with writing. I had to have him decipher some of the stuff for me.

Well, I have tons and tons of stuff I need to get done today and sitting here isn't going to get it done so I best hit the bricks!

Have a good day all!

Faye

Good morning gals! Well, the soap opera couple are at it again. Jack's tongue started swelling around 1:30 PM yesterday afternoon so badly that he could barely talk or swallow, though he could breathe ok. We spent all afternoon and evening in the emergency room. We started out in the chest pain one (I told the nurse they needed to name one of the rooms after Jack he had been there so many times) then to the regular emergency room. We had a very nice PA who looked at Jack and ordered a shot of Benadryl, then Pepcid, which is I guess a really powerful
H2 (histamine inhibitor I guess) and then steroids. They took blood and urine and we sat and waited for Dr Anderson to get there as he had something going on at Methodist hospital across town. He got there right before 7 pm and told Jack he wants him to see an allergist. He said, "We fixed your heart and screwed up your immune system some way." He went home with a prescription for Benadryl (which I have) Pepcid (which I have) Prednisone and an EpiPen, which he now has to carry with him everywhere. Just a few weeks ago we had him carrying nitroglycerin with him everywhere and now this epinephrine pen. Poor man, I really feel for him. The swelling was down by the time we went to bed and it was gone by this morning, thank goodness. Jack is going to call his regular dr and get an appt so he can get a referral to an allergist. I thought we were done with doctors and hospitals for awhile.

Jean: Since Thomas is a little older, I think he would get the idea of a savings bond and it would be ok, except for knowing he couldn't cash it right away. He actually DOES get them from his other grandparents for birthdays and holidays. We are the FUN stupid gift grandparents! So sorry, you had another friend pass. Unfortunately, once you get to our age they seem to start dropping left and right. I tell Jack that everytime some celebrity we grew up with passes away. Ooooh, I don't think I would want a washer for Christmas either! Well, unless it is one who is human and comes in and cleans house and cooks etc too!

I haven't gotten any chores done so I need to get going on them. We are supposed to be at dd's house around 4:30 this afternoon.

Have a gals and don't let the get you tonight!

Faye

Good morning to everyone! It is cooler this morning and raining again. At least it stopped for a few hours and the kids got to trick or treat. We had dinner with Thomas and Kelly and they went trick or treating and we handed out candy. We thought me might not get anyone, but they started showing up around 7 PM. Thomas went out for about two hours and brought back a haul. Kelly goes through it and separates what he will eat from what he won't and what is unwrapped etc. He is such a funny kid. We bought Sonic stuff for dinner last night and when we got back with it, he SET THE TABLE, napkins and all! I got all tickled about it and told him we didn't really need silverware but he told me part of his allowance is setting the table and he darn sure was going to get that quarter for setting the table whether we used the stuff or not! I am including a picture of my little trick or treater. He went as a "software" pirate. His trick or treat bag had an arrow pointing down and said "Download candy here" and his pirate belt was a bunch of CD's with different programs written on them. He was a total hoot. He came home and she scrubbed off the beard and chest hair and told him to go up and take a shower and get ready for bed. You could hear him upstairs singing in the shower!

Jean: It seems trick or treaters get older and older. Kelly had a pregnant one! They drive in to her area because it is more upscale and the candy is better. One kid tried to come into the house when Jack opened the door and another one's MOTHER was trick or treating. She actually reached OVER her child with her bag. A bunch of the older kids didn't even bother with costumes. But, you know if you don't give them stuff they will break windows or worse around here. I notice yesterday out of the safest and most dangerous places to live with #1 being the safest and going down from there, Memphis was 359 out of 371!!

Well, I need to clean up breakfast dishes. Jack is having UGH, chipped beef on a biscuit for breakfast.

Faye

Good morning gals! It is chilly enough this morning that the furnace kicked on. I think we are going to go out to dinner tonight just to get out somewhere.

Jean: What a mess you have at school! Gosh that book isn't even difficult to read! We had to read oddball ones like The Crucible and I had trouble with Red Badge of Courage Geez, they ought to at least go to the book store and get Cliff Notes and read them to keep up! They probably don't even know what they are! I mean, I can understand having trouble with Shakespeare or even something like a book with a lot of symbolism etc, but her book isn't that hard to get through if you at least TRY and I think that is the word here, TRY. Everytime you talk about the kids not doing their work I think about how I was terrified not to turn something in on time. Even if it was all wrong, I turned my work in on time. I figure these kids think, "I ain't goin' to college so why study this crap?" (or the Spanish equivalent of that statement )

I am worried about Susan and Stan. She didn't say anything about them going on a trip or anything, did she? She wasn't planning on some quilt adventure? I think I will email her and see if they are ok. She hasn't posted since the 18th of October on thread #33.

Gloria: We haven't heard from your part of the world in a long time either, missy! Hope you and hubby are doing ok!

I gotta run. I want to finish the front of T's sweater and start on the sleeves so I can get it done. I am hoping it isn't going to be huge on him. He is really getting tall, but he is skinny as a rail. I was afraid to make the 4-6 size that it would be too small, but this 7-8 looks pretty big for him. I wanted to sneak a tape measure around him to see his chest size the other night, but I never got the chance. I also need to give Fortune a bath. He is pretty ranky.

Have a good Thursday girls and stay warm and dry! Remember: It is less than 8 weeks to Day!

Faye

Good Morning!

I haven't fallen off the end of the world! We have been busy and as a matter of fact this is the first morning this week that I have been able to stay abed til 8 AM. Between working on the cellar and the garage and then we did visit my girl friend on the Cape last week. This week we also went to the Cape on Monday...to visit DH's eldest cousin. She is 84 an lives alone and is sharp as a tack but we had found some old photos....at least the turn of the century...last century, I mean, and thought she would like to see them. She lives way down the cape close to Provincetown. It turned out to be a lovely day and the temps were in the high 60's. On Tuesday it was an early moring run to Bedford Commissary and then on to DD#3 for a short visit. Wednesday DH had an echocardiogram done at 7:45AM....we won't know the answer for a few days.

Faye: Glad Jack is on the mend from his OP but that rash is a puzzlement!
Hope you get to the bottom of that fast. Can't believe that he has gone back to work already but it is good that he can do his job sitting down and it doesn't require a lot of heavy work.

Jean: Those kids haven't changed in all the time I have known you! I know it is frustrating but you can't let them get to you too much. It is too bad that they will never amount to too much but remember that retirement is not that far away!

Susan: Hope all is well with you and Stan!

Your reminder about the approaching Christmas holiday is headed....for the first year in a long time I haven't even made out my list yet. We only by for the GK's but now that they are getting older I find it hard to know what they want. Thinking of gift certificates and maybe a small item to include with it. Hope that won't look too cold!

I will try to get back here more often.

Gloria

Good morning gals! I hope this day will be better than yesterday for you! It is chilly this morning when I let the dog out.

Jean: I don't know how you continue to put up with it day after day. I am afraid I would go into the office and tell them to shove the job and retire. Your school seems to be getting worse and worse and the fact you get NO help from the admin makes your job and ALL the teachers' jobs totally ineffective. Nobody learns in your situation, even the ones that want to. Where did you eat last night? We went to our favorite local Italian restaurant, BollaPasta. Jack doesn't like ricotta cheese but loves ravioli and they have meat ravioli and the best meat/bolonaise (sp) sauce I have ever had. He also likes the toasted ravioli appetizer so is happy all around. The place is really reasonable, has never been busy when we are in there, has great service and is quiet !

Gloria: Hope dh's echo comes out just peachy. Sounds like you HAVE been really busy lately. With the holidays bunched together, it always gets busy this time of year. I just always worry about you ladies when I don't see you for awhile. I am really worried about Susan as she hasn't answered her email either and she usually does.

I am almost done with T's sweater now. I got mad about a direction for the sleeve that I thought was totally confusing and ask for help at my knitting forum. I got a response, but had also contacted the yarn company pattern, which posted the pattern. Each of them gave me DIFFERENT explanations and one of them would be wrong and one right! It made me mad because one of the ladies that responded to my post was a little condescending about my asking for help then saying I thought they should do a better job of the directions. She told me that, "No that is how knitting pattern directions are done and that you have to learn to follow the directions as they come." Well, the only thing is THEY WERE WRONG! I posted back a little snippy that it was why new knitters had so much trouble and posted the email I got from the yarn company. GRRRRRR I am also making this soft cute pillow for my teenage niece for her new room. They are moving from an apartment to a house and she is getting to paint her room and redo it. I had yarn that was just perfect colors for a pillow for her room and she is wanting to learn to knit and I sent her instructions Jack and I filmed on a cd that showed her how to knit lefthanded. I told my sister to buy her a certain size needles and a certain yarn and I would send the pattern instructions for the pillow and she could make a complimentary one as her first project as it is a really easy pattern that I designed.

Well, I have chores to do so I need to get going. Have a wonderful Friday and weekend. (Jean: You can't copy and paste the smilies into an email, sorry)

Faye