Good morning! I hope your weekend is looking good. May your mood be sunny even if it's raining.

Aside from Church tomorrow morning and the usual weekend visit to Harry, there's not much planned. I do have a couple of loads of laundry and should plant some tulips but the rest of the time will be quilting and reading. No sense raking leaves until they are all down and some trees have not even turned as yet. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

This will probably be the weekend I start the woodstove in the back room although it's still comfy out there with the little heater going in the evening. I really should look into getting furnace heat out there but the foundation is two feet of granite so it'd be quite a job. Maybe next year. The stove is great but lugging wood and ashes is a drag with my knee problem. I need a boyfriend! :wink:

Hey! The sun just showed its face. If it's dry enough later, I'll pick more raspberries - it's been a bumper year for some reason.

Have a scrumptious Saturday!

Good morning Ruth! mmm raspberries, I'm jealous. I had some in the yard but I think my neighbor cut them all down last year and they haven't come back. I'm waiting for a call from my buddies and then I'm off to meet them at Colorfest. I just packed snacks so I won't be tempted by fair food. We usually get soup at one of the stands for lunch so that should be okay and the place we go for dinner does seafood so I intend to be strong.
Everybody stay warm!

Good morning!

Ruth - It never made sense to me why people would rake leaves for a month when they could do it all at once. My grandma still insists on raking everyother day. But, at 77 she's in better shape than I am, so maybe she's on to something.

Schmoodle - Have fun at Colorfest, what kind of festival is it?


Me - We've got no plans for the weekend, so I think it will be yardwork, the gym, the track and maybe some Playstation3 or Wii. I really should drag out the tire pump and fix my bike tire. We finally turn the a/c off last night so it's time to start doing more outside in DHs opinion. He hates the heat, hates the cold, I swear he should live in a Biosphere.

Morning to you dixie! It's a huge crafts festival. I'm not a big crafts festival person, but this one has a lot of artisans and other stuff, and mostly it's a chance for a yearly reunion with some old friends.

We have been freezing our butts off, but haven't resorted to turning on the heat yet. I have to vacuum out all the radiators first or we'll have that burning smell, and I haven't had time to do them all. I hope one day soon to have a weekend with no plans too! Enjoy!

Sounds like everyone has great plans for the weekend! Mine are just work/cleaning but the weather here is cool and crisp and gorgeous, so anything will be fun!

Ended up having a wonderful day yesterday despite the circumstances. Got to see cousins at the wake and had a good time catching up with them and their lives. Then went to the cemetery to "visit" relatives and got some interesting shots of tombs. Then went out to eat on the lakefront. All the restaurants out there were destroyed, but one had been replaced by my favorite restaurant in Cajun country that we go to when we are out that way. We were thrilled they opened up one here. I have attached a picture of the salad I got for inspiration. It had crab claws, lump crab, shrimp and salmon. The smoked salmon was rolled around herbed cream cheese. I ended up taking the cream cheese out of it and just leaving a tad in it. But I thought we could do the same thing, only use laughing cow and add herbs to it, then roll it up. It was an outstanding meal and no, I didn't eat the bread...brought it home to my son who adores garlic bread.

Hey ladies! Just a quick check-in. I made it to Austin in good time yesterday and was able to surprise both of m parents. Lots of stuff planned for today; shopping, eating out, and etc. This afternoon, the whole family (excluding my DH ) will be together. It's going to be a really fun day!

*streeeettttcccchhhh*

Good morning ladies! Boy did I sleep well last night. No waking up freezing for me this time! I wore a sweatshirt and was prepared. I will show that cold weather! See if I turn my heat on in October! It's going to be a high of 77 tomorrow. Welcome to Central Illinois. Was a low of 37 last night, high of 62 and rain today, and tomorrow it's going to be hot again. At least I have two closets, one for my winter stuff and one for my summer stuff, so I'm not really hauling a whole bunch of stuff out each time the weather changes.

Think I'm going to go shopping (AGAIN) tomorrow to look for some fall clothes. I spent a fortune last month on winter clothes, but don't really have any "in-between" clothes to wear, except 1 shirt my friend David picked out for me the last time he was here. Going to head to Gordman's and see what all they have, but I'm limiting myself to $100. I've spent so much money on myself lately that it's ridiculous. I could be saving SO MUCH but instead I'm spoiling myself.

Since I've moved out, I've gotten: 7 sweaters from VS, an Urlacher jersey, patent leather red pumps, a shirt from Target, a $120 Halloween costume, $75 worth of Victoria's Secret, and $110 worth of Bare Escentuals makeup. I know I'm all liberated now, but for crying out loud, SOMEONE STOP ME!!!!! OK so the Gordman's trip tomorrow is necessary so I can stay comfortable in between hot weather and cold weather, and I may stop at Old Navy to see how far I am from wearing a size 4, since my size 6 jeans are getting big.

And girls, you know if I fit into size 4 jeans I AM going to buy them. I haven't been in a 4 since I was 14.

After that, I'm done. I need to start putting money away (well, more than I have been) because I want to go to Key West in May, and when I get back, I want to buy a new car. (Everyone pray that ol' Rust Bucket makes it through the winter!!!!)

Well, I'm going to get my tea and maybe read a little bit before I have to shower. Have a great day girlies!

Lisa

Weezle - I've never been in a size 4! Even when I was a teenager and only weighed 120, I was in the same size I am now. I wonder if sizes have changed in the last 20-30 years?

Cat - Those pictures bring back memories of my trips to New Orleans. I love Landry's! We have them here but I haven't been in a long time.

It's only in the mid 70's now so it should feel nice outside. Time to get out and get back to popcorn.

Sorry I haven't been around girls. I am working open to close and probably will be for two more weeks. It is hard on my fibro so keep me in your thoughts and prayers. It will be so nice when I can do something besides work because somebody can't show up. The work force in this area is so undependable.

Hope everyone has a really good weekend on the

to those that need it (that would be me) and for those need it.

Barb, oh I know sizes have changed plenty over the years. My mom likes to bring up the episode of "I Love Lucy" where tiny little Lucy is trying to squeeze into a size 12 dress like all the ballerinas wore and it was hysterical because she just wouldn't fit.

I remember my junior year of high school (I was a size 6 then) when it was Spirit Week at school, and there was a different thing to dress up as every day. "Come As You Are" Day, "School Colors" Day, etc. Well there was "Retro" Day, so I went down to the basement to find some of my mom's old clothes from the 70's to wear to school, and found a REALLY cute outfit to wear, and it fit me perfectly, but it was a size 10.

Things definitely have changed. I won't get on my soap box about the media and such, but in my opinion, they have a ton to do with it.

Oy. Going to be a long day. Overcast, drizzly rain, and I'm here for 4.5 more hours. Thank goodness I'm leaving early to go to dinner tonight. It's my one "treat" this week, and I'm not treating myself as much as I typically do, so I should be ok. It's my Irish food place. Mmmmmmm. Potato cakes and mashers.

(Sorry for the food porn but you girls were killing me with the cookies and such the other day!)

Well, back to work I go. Hope you chicks are having a fantastic day!

Lisa

Hey Girls!

Jake had to drop his car off at the dealership for servicing this morning, so he drug me out of bed early, and we've been running ever since.
We drove out to Amish country to get a bushel of Golden Delicious apples for baking with, and stopped at a big crafts warehouse where I spent a small fortune on supplies for the girls and grandkids. After that, Jake wanted to go to a flea market where I got to watch him stuff himself with junk food. I was starving but managed to wait until we got back home to have lunch.
I'm going to babysit tonight, so I'd better get supper started early. I'm going to make a stir-fry with chicken, red peppers, mushrooms, onions and lots of garlic. The girls will love me!

Cottage, that whole post made me salivate. Sounds like you are keeping busy on your Saturday!

And way to go, holding off until lunch instead of having junk!!!! And tell Jake that I say it's ok, as long as he's still not smoking.

Nope, he hasn't had a cigarette for over a month now! He's putting on the weight, though, but it's still better than smoking. How are you doing, still smoke-free?

Nooo smoka smoka! Still enjoy being around smokers and going SNNNNIIIIIIIIFFFFFFFFFF ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. But otherwise I'm good!

hi all!

I'm burning the midnight oil in lovely Tom's River NJ. The family and I are going down to Six Flags Great Adventure tomorrow, and I'm excited. We're at a great hotel, with an indoor pool, so I will be tomorrow also. I'm hoping for an all day total of about 120 min of exercise, with all the walking. And we are getting provisions before hand, so we won't have to eat a lot of greasy, heavy park food.

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend!