Good morning gals. Still have a bit of soreness from the stiff neck and shoulders, but at least I can turn my head and such. Jack is fine. Because he walked on steel decks when he was ship bound, it did a number on his ankles, knees, hips and back. He now has arthritis and is in some kind of minor pain all the time, which he just blocks out. The other day though he was in bad shape with his back hurting and his bursitis in his hips hurting him something awful. Of course, weather plays its part in all of this too. The muscle relaxer helped with the back issue and one of his Aleve helped with the other and now he is fine.

Susan: How did you put in a sunroom when you own a condo? We have very strict rules about what we can and cannot do here and that would have been a definite no no unless we just remodeled another room and made it smaller to accomodate what we wanted. They are very strict here about remodeling at all. I like to listen to books all the time to. When you are walking is a great time. I also listen when I am in a car traveling. They take up the time better than music I think.

Jean: Hope you get your car back. We are looking forward to buying a new one end of year or in the spring. We are looking at midsize suv for us. Not too big or small and gets decent gas mileage. It will handle our trip taking junk too. The next time we go to Vegas we have decided to drive it and so we can take as much clothing etc as we want that way besides getting to see a bit of the country. Of course, with Jack being in the Navy all those years we have see most of it, but once we get past northwestern New Mexico, we will be in new territory. We have to go over Hoover dam and Jack is not too keen on that. The man hates bridges. I usually try and drive over the Mississippi here and then in Cairo, IL when we go to Indiana. Just gives him the heeby jeebies as my mom used to say. We got that fancy toy yesterday and he has it all set up. Couple of glitches though. Microsoft has come out with Vista their newest version and the darn thing isn't compatible with all programs. Jack couldn't load a game he has nor a cd/dvd burning program we have. It is automatically installed and so we are stuck with Vista. I told him he will just have to play the game downstairs and buy a new burning program for his laptop. I have one for our dvd burner on the pc that works just fine.

Well, I slept in a bit because I was so sore last night I slept in the chair downstairs. Went up at 5 and crawled into bed for a couple hours. Time to get a move on!
Faye

Good morning, ladies - a bite warmer today but really nice.

Faye, Glad you are feeling some better. When we contracted for our townhouse it was a piece of ground. They had 2 models built and that was it. We were able to get the sunroom added without hassle - partly due to the fact our townhome has nothing but wetlands behind it so not an "eyesore". The only way people can walk behind our house is to slog through the mire - LOL
That's also why we got changes to the kitchen easily. The association is very fussy that things are maintained, yards kept nice. We have to keep the 6 paned windows and white shades or blinds in the windows. Can't change the color of the shutters or trim. All sheds must be painted with this special color banana split that you can only get at one place in town. In our covenants it actually says we can't keep cows, pigs, chickens or other farm animals, we can't drill for oil or mine for ores - and other far fetched stuff. I quit going to homeowner meetings. Tell Jack the Microsoft Website. They have a lot of free downloads for problems. We had a game that didn't work either but they had a patch and now everything is good. Lots of good FAQs there.

Jean, did you get your loaner car? Can't get them around here anymore because of insurance issues. When I bought my car, the gave me coverage for roadside assistance and a rental car if it has to be in overnight. We have a Catholic Church here (right around the corner from where I live but I don't go there - people are not friendly) that has a thrift store to provide funds for their food pantry. I used to take a lot of stuff there but now they are into upscale clothes (and way to pricey for a thirft shop) and they have a person who looks over your stuff and tells you what they'll take. So now I put it out for the DAV who comes through our development on the 3rd Monday of every month. I like Beck alot - Day 3 was to add "eat only when sitting down" to our list. Today is "Give Yourself Credit". She has really good suggestions. I bought the workbook because it was $11.53 on Amazon and the book was $5 more. People on the Beck thread said the workbook actually had a bit more in it than the book and you didn't need both. They actually have it on CD as well for $16.47. You can get the book used starting at $5.49 and $3.99 shipping. I think it is going to help me.

I had a good time at my quilting bee last night. It's always fun to get together with friends. Jean, do you still have Bunko?

Well need to get to work!

Good morning, ladies! Hot here today!

Maggie, glad you found a house - Now that you have so many bedrooms we'll have to have a Steel Magnolias reunion You'll get lost in all that room! You can find information on most appliances, including there instruction manuals on the internet. Just goggle whatever brand you have. I'm sure Rag Mop will love the fenced yard.

I wonder where everyone is? I worry about Faye and Jack because she is always the first one here. Jean posts at night so she still has time. Haven't heard from Nannax3 and Gloria lately, Gail has been around.

I went to the doctor this morning and my asthma has improved on Symbicort. But the GERD is worse so she is sending me to a Gastroentrologist who will do an endoscope to see what is going on in my stomach and esophagus.

This is Day 5 of Beck - eating without distractions - no tv, reading, etc. Eat slowly and enjoy your food. Pause occasionally to see if you are still hungry.

Have a good evening!

Good morning, ladies!

Jean, the asthma medication doesn't affect the GERD just having asthma. The procedure is OP surgery - takes about 15 minutes and they just number your throat so they can put the scope down. You have a sore throat for about a day.
Not quilting with friends this weekend - getting ready for our weekend in PA next week. Have fun at the lake!

I wonder where Faye is....

Today I'm moving the stove and refrigerator so I can mop the floor under and the wall behind them. But for right now

I'm off to the Farmer's Market. Have a good day.

Good morning!

I just got in from Mass. It looks like we in for the trail end of the tropical storm today - just rain which we need. It sure is hot and humid already and there were a few rain drops already.

Today I'm going to do some mending and start getting my things together for PA. By the way, Jean, I'm not taking quilts, it is a quilt show we are going to.

Beck Day 7 is to get rid of trigger foods and stock the pantry with healthy stuff. I've already done that - its a lot easier when you live alone - no excuse for junk being in the house - darn!

Maggie, we have local grapes at the farmer's market in the fall and we also have a winery in Williamsburg that makes some really good wine. I love a vine-ripened tomato. In the winter, I'll get the tomatoes that are still on the vine - they have a good taste at least. Usually they are very expensive but one grocery or the other usually has them on sale. I have cast iron skillets I use that were my grandmother's. They are nearly 100 years old and cook better than a nonstick pan. Do you clean yours with salt?
When I was looking at the glass topped stoves the salesman said any flat bottom pan work - of course you can't always trust a salesman!

Jean, I was hoping you might know where Faye is. I worry when she disappears for days without warning. Glad you had a good day with the grandchildren. I couldn't move my old refrigerator, either but the one I got last year moves very easily - which makes me happy. Cupid loves to bat things under there.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Hey, ladies - had an email from Faye and she asked me to pass this along....she's having trouble with her ISP.

Evening gals! We are both fine. I did an oops and didn't realize I didn't post at all on Friday as I was running errands all day and forgot all about it. Saturday morning I got up and Jack was supposed to shampoo the hallway and I said, "Hey, you want to go to Nashville until tomorrow?" so that is what we did! We packed a couple little bags and took off yesterday morning. It is about 3 hours drive so not too bad. I had someone just peek at Fortchy. He is paper trained so we did just fine except he missed us. I couldn't see paying $45 for one day. I did a bit of shopping at Opry mills and bought my dd an adorable leather handbag from Wilson's leather which is going out of business. I got an $80 for $25. Of course, I spied something for myself so bought another not needed beautiful new bag too! lol We went swimming and just had a nice layabout. We came home around noon today. I apologize for scaring you half to death!

Maggie: I have a ceramic cooktop and like Jean said, find ceramic stovetop cleaner in your cleaning aisle. I have two kinds, a spray (Easy off brand) and a white liquid (Weiman is hte brand) that is a little abrasive. Also, here are a couple hints. You can clean off build up burnt stuff with a razor blade just be careful. I keep mine spotless so it can't build up, which is the best thing to do. I am enclosing a picture of the types I use. (can't get it to upload for some reason so I will continue to try later) I use a spray every time I use the cooktop with paper towel. I use one of those plastic net type sponges on deep clean day, which I do once a week. I use the white stuff, squirt it all over the top, scrub the top until you feel only smooth, then wipe and polish with paper towel. I always kind of lean sideways to look at the top to make sure it all gets wiped off with no residue. One thing is you do have to know your cookware. We just bought an outer base of ceramic cookware and the stuff can adhere to a ceramic cook surface and actually meld to it so you can't ever let something boil off and be dry. It will do that with a couple other types like porcelain too.

Well gals, I am not going to do replies tonight. I am pooped and have things to put away from our "date" weekend. See you in the morning!

Good morning gals. I finally got the ISP working well so I can post again.

Maggie: Here are the pics of the 2 products I used on my ceramic cooktop. They both work really well for me.

Jean: It is just unbearably hot and humid here. It got up to 105 in Nashville yesterday and the humidity is just awful. We had a fun time doing not much of anything. We went to our favorite bbq chain because they don't have one here, did a bit of shopping, but not much and got to go swimming, which I loved. We met a couple from Chicago in the pool who live in Augusta Georgia now and they were nice. Do you feel like you had your kids too early??? I see more older couples with young kids. They had a girl around 8 or so, but I swear these people were at least mid 40's. You never know whether they are parents or grandparents. We saw a ton like that at Opry Mills. I liked having my kids young and now have only the grandkiddies to have fun with and Jack and I are free to do as we like.

Susan: Thanks for posting for me! I too love Farmer's Market produce. I just like the whole atmosphere. I grew up that way and it was a way of life in my childhood to go to Farmer's Market on Saturdays. We don't have a particularly great one here and to tell the truth, Jack and I haven't been.

I guess I better get my day started. I have clothes to fold from yesterday and chores to do.

Have a great start to your week!
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies!

Jean, I have Club Aluminum, too - I bought it about 34 years ago and it's still great. 80's and humidity is fine weather here!

Faye, glad to see you were about to post this morning. Do you think one of the reasons why there are so many young children with older parents is because of second - or third - marriages? I sure wouldn't have wanted to have you children when I was in my 40's and 50's - the energy is gone.

I lost 4 pounds last week so Beck is working so far. I am pleased. On to Week 2. I'm doing WW Flex with Beck this week since the last 3 days will be spent in PA. I'm still eating Core foods until Friday and then I'll give myself a little leeway.