Good morning gals. I keep telling you I think the rain has moved out then it rains another day. I am hoping it is finally moving off today. They were powerwashing the deck next door for what seemed like hours yesterday and oh what a noise. Gave me a headache. I am amazed he makes any money at all with the work he puts into his rental property.

I got an email from my younger sister and she said her husband got fired on Friday so he is out of a job out in expensive California. They have two teenagers in the home and one of their grown children living there. Then yesterday, I got an email from my oldest sister and she had talked to my brother, who lives just outside Chicago. He works for Ford and they have cut his pay by about 35%. He built a huge new house not more than about a year or so ago and now is in jeopardy of losing it as he can't make the payments. He has always been money savvy, having a masters in accounting and he says he has lost big money in all his investments and they have gone through all their savings. They have three teenage children they have to think about, my brother is near 50, is obese, and has serious diabetes. Finding a job for him is going to be tough. So please keep them in your prayers. It might not sound very glamorous, but thank God for sewage! Jack jokes that he has ultimate job security as everybody has to poop.

I overdid my turnips so they were mushy and a little lame on taste last night. I made Faye's stuff so kind of used the sauce as gravy over the mashed turnips, which gave them some flavor. Tonight is sirloin burger for Jack and turkey burger for me and I am having a german cole slaw. I love vinegar based slaw so am looking forward to it. Because of the fiber in the slaw and the no calorie dressing, it is actualy minus on WW points. What could be better than that? I am going to make a pot of pumpkin soup for lunch I think.

Lots to do today so I better get with it. Hope everyone has a good day today. I am off to do chores and start the downstairs cleaning for this week.
Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! It is pouring rain like you wouldn't believe! Ernie wants to sit in the open window but guess it got too wet for him because he hopped down, I shut the window, and now he is staring at it and meowing, like "make it dry up there!" Yesterday went pretty well considering there was no funeral home organizer there. We were surprised and pleased at the number of people came. Several from the "kids'" classes who still live in the area, as well as some of MIL's college friends who still live in the Sioux City area were there. I am taking today "off" to get started on thank you notes. We didn't even open cards from the funeral yesterday so will have lots of them to do.

"Gma" -- I did find a couple of summer capri/top outfits at the mall. I bought them thinking "Maui" more than anything. Penneys was having a big sale and each time I checked out they asked for a photo ID. I finally said "no" to the last checker and she didn't know what to say to me. I showed her my other purchases and said I'd showed it enough times for the day and I didn't appreciate having to dig it out again. I felt bad afterwards because I was under the impression Bob was meeting with his siblings only, and the other two sisters-in-law came along. I didn't get to visit with them much yesterday and could have had more time with them on Sunday. Bob ordered flowers, from us, to be delivered to the church on Saturday so they would be there for the Sunday service. My good friend, who provided the music for the funeral, called me and said the flowers had arrived -- the ribbon had "Mother" on it and the card said it was from "Dick and Jean!" The shop was making other deliveries in the area and we are wondering if someone got a card from "Bob and Jean." Then we kidded Bob about having a brother than no one knew about; it was too funny because his mother was very straight laced her whole life. I'm sorry to hear about your brother's and brother-in-law's jobs. I hope that things will work out; it would be so hard on couples with children for sure. Anyone losing a job would be traumatic these days. I like Jack's outlook on keeping his job!

Well, the pile of thank yous is waiting for me to get at 'em. Have a nice day today and a wonderful Wednesday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good evening, ladies!

I don't know where the time goes anymore, it seems there isn't enough hours in a day to do everything.

It's still raining - and depressing - and it always makes my breathing worse. I had my echocardiogram this morning. I was able to see most of it on the screen - not that I knew anything about what I was seeing. I should have the results in about a week.

My friend and I had a Ruby Tuesday bogo coupon that was about to expire so we went to dinner tonight. Had a nice steak, baked potato and salad.

Faye, I think you asked me about baking a sweet potato and I never answered - yes, bake it like a potato. You can also microwave it. I'd love to have your pumpkin soup recipe. Have you ever tried mixing pumpkin into oatmeal - to die for. I'll add your family to the prayer list that they may all get jobs quickly. I'm with Jack - that's one business that has to keep going. The others are grocery stores and funeral homes. We have to eat and we can't keep the dead around for long. I'm so thankful I have my SS and pension, small as it is, so I can have enough to live on, if not high on the hog.

Jean, I'm glad you have Maui to look forward to during this sad time.

Well, NCIS and Biggest Loser are my tv for tonight - they overlap so I only see the last half of BL.

Have a good evening.

Good morning to you! Well I guess I spoke too soon. We had terrible thunderstorms and lots of rain all night and looks like today is going to be the same. I am well ready for lots of sunny weather. Won't be long and the pool will be open.

Susan: This is the recipe I used. I actually ate it cool from the fridge. It isn't terribly sweet, but I liked it. You can add anything to it to change the flavor. I thought I might add a bit of cloves next time. When Jack retires and we change from our Tricare Prime to Medicare and Tricare for Life and then Jack's city pension, ss, and navy retirement pension, we will lose about $700 a month but we will still be able to live comfortable though like you said, not high on the hog. I am just very thankful he has a secure job that he can retire with pension in 6 more years. My sister and her family will never be able to retire and live on ss as they have no savings or pension to live on. It is sad, really, but they have not planned for retirement and she is 2 years younger than I and her husband is a year younger than Jack. They also have a dd that is a senior in high school so they have college to try and find money for. I am glad I had my kids early so we could enjoy our old age.

Sweet Pumpkin Soup makes 3- 2 cup servings 1 ww point per serving

Large can pumpkin
2 1/2 c skim milk or 3 cans ff evap milk
½ c sugar free syrup
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon

combine and cook until consistency is as you like and warmed


Jean: Well at least nobody wondered if you were fooling around with "dick." It is kind of awful that they screwed up the son's name though.

I need to get hopping on the knitting and I haven't had my raisin bran this morning so I better get to it. Hope you have a good one and you at least have sun where you are!
Faye

Good morning, ladies! We had storms all night again and more rain today. The water has risen a lot so I hope it quits soon.

Faye, this seems like a good day for it, so I'll be having pumpkin soup for supper. There are a lot of people like your sister and bil who haven't planned ahead and have nothing saved for retirement. I'm hoping my IRA recovers some more before I have to start making withdrawals at 70. There a whole generation that thinks they have to have everything NOW and have gotten themselves so deep into credit card debt they'll never get out. The scary thing is that if all you have is SS and Medicare and you have to go into a nursing home, you'll end up in a horrible one.

Nothing going on today. I need to start planning meals for next week tonight.

Have a good day!

Good morning ladies. I actually slept in this morning and it did me a world of good. I did come down stairs around 4:30 but then slept in the recliner very nicely.

I have to go in a few minutes to the store for something I forgot to buy then to the gas station to give them Jack's paycheck. Someone is ripping someone off and we are getting the bad end of it with gas. We were paying $1.82 and overnight it went to $1.99 then by afternoon $1.94. Now you know there is something hinky with that. The barrel of oil cost doesn't jump around 2-3 times a day for them to need to change the prices.

Susan: As you know, my bil is in a nursing home, not top notch, but it is clean and doesn't smell and they seem to be well taken care of. They take all of his hospital pension, all his medicare, and all of my sister's pay except for $1500. She said she cannot sell her house and move into an apartment because they would take all that money too. When I visited with her last month, she said she is going back to the lawyer and discuss transferring ownership to her granddaughter and then sell it if she can. Like I said for us, we will have Jack's city pension, which will be 35% of what his gross income is when he retires, then his Navy pension which is around $1400 a month right now and his SS. We plan on holding off me drawing until we need to so I may wait until I am 70. The thing is, if you don't make a lot of money and can't afford to put significant in a 401K you are sunk too. I had one when I worked at the law firm, but they weren't offered anywhere Jack worked and I didn't put much in because I worked parttime. You also lost money in economic times like this if they don't invest for you very well. So, it is kind of a crap shoot I think.

I guess I better let Fortune out, he is whining at the door. Have a great Thursday everybody!
Faye

Good Afternoon, Flowers! I thought I posted yesterday, but I don't see it so must not have. My mind is fuzzy these days! It's been a strange day for weather in my corner of the world . . . sun, rain, sun, and now big white poufy clouds are moving in. Not much new or exciting from here. School was SSDD as usual.

I like pumpkin bread but not so sure about pumpkin soup. I don't think Bob would even try it; I'll have to ask him.

I'm off to write more thank yous! Have a FANTASTIC Friday tomorrow!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good morning to you all! I can't tell whether we are going to get rain today or not. It is very humid today, I know that. I have clinic today and they don't keep the school very cool so I have to make sure I wear something comfortable. I have this cotton tunic shirt that is thin and cool and have a pair of blue and white seersucker pants I wear with it. Sounds like just the ticket for today.

Jean: The soup I have is sort of like eating liquid pie filling. I like it alright, not great but alright. I think it needs more fooling around with to be really good though. Our kids have 2 1/2 weeks of school left.

Doing well with WW and have lost a large amount this week like I always do. I am staying OP though as is Jack which is the most important. I have found a goal outfit at Coldwater Creek I am thinking of ordering. Since we are going on a cruise next year this would be perfect for it. It is a capri outfit. I need to have something to focus on down the road and if I pay good money for something that won't fit for quite awhile, it may help me not to stray.

I guess I better tackle morning chores and have my cheerios. Hope you all have a fun weekend. I think we may go to the movies and see the new Matthew McConahay movie, which looks cute.

Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! The rain has finally ended and it is a lovely 80 degree day today.

I had quilt bee last night and quilt quild today so I've been busy.

Faye, I think your idea of getting an outfit as a goal to work towards is good. I have a size 12 pair of jeans, slim cut, I'm working toward. I'm glad you are off to a good start.

Jean, It's almost the middle of May already. Freedom is just around the corner.

Are you lovely ladies being treated to dinner out for Mother's Day?

Have a good evening!

Good Evening! It has poured rain off and on most of the day, and has turned chilly tonight; the furnace is running again. We had a half day of school today so I spent part of the afternoon writing thank you notes. I know it is time to quit when I start making stupid mistakes in spelling and grammar. Tomorrow we are going to my "sister's" to celebrate my "mom's" 83rd birthday and Mother's Day with them. Sunday we are going to Jason's to celebrate Zowie's 4th birthday early . . . maybe Mother's Day too. Monday will be here too soon.

"Gma" -- I hope your time at the clinic went well today. I just visited with a couple, at the funeral lunch, who had been on a cruise where the dress was casual for everything. She said they had a pool where they were teaching how to surf, and if you fell off you were pushed back up to the top, by the waves, to start over. I'm not sure I would try that one at my age. I would like the casual dress part though. I like to watch the travel channel and see how people live and travel.

Susan -- Do your fingers ever get tired when you do a lot of quilting? I need to get my Christmas stocking out and get going on it again. We have 7 days of classes left, 1 day of "playing clean-up" in the parks, and 2 1/2 days of final exams left. They have been moving teachers around to different rooms for next year; most of it makes no sense except to be a power struggle with the administration. I did find out that the technology IA (they eliminated her tech. position for next year, and informed her at the beginning of the semester) was offered the choice of doing the building aide's job and working 9 - 5, or taking my job. She was quoted months ago as saying she wouldn't follow any special ed. kids around; she also works doing taxes during tax time so I know that she won't like staying at school until 5. It will be interesting. I think I am glad I won't be there.

I'm heading off to bed and read. I have a book from the school library and they were supposed to be turned in today. Have a nice weekend, and do something nice for yourselves!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good morning to you all today! Well, it is raining again. In fact it is coming down pretty hard. This is about the 6th year in a row that Memphis in May has been sloppy muddy. The music festival was last weekend and it had to be a mud pit down at Tom Lee Park. I think the big bbq contest is this weekend and it will still be horribly muddy with this rain. This contest is the biggest and most admired in the country for pork bbq so people come rain or shine. You should see it, and the smell! You would die from the wonderful smell of bbq all downtown.

Susan: I thought since we were going on a cruise in Sept 2010 and I should be at or near goal by then, cruise clothing would be just the ticket. I told Jack it was going to cost him a bundle as I would have to have all new clothes for the cruise. He said he would too. So, we are truly working hard at this but trying to make it something we enjoy. After all, if you are forcing yourself to eat things you don't like, it won't last. I told Jack that last night. If I try something new and don't like it, I am not going to force myself to keep eating it even if it is good for me. I need to have a healthy lifestyle I want to stick to and live with. Kelly is out of town so emailed me and ask if we could put off going out for Mother's Day. Jack and I are sticking to home and I haven't decided what I am going to fix yet.

Jean: Sounds like this lady is not going to be happy at either position. The school was in kind of an uproar yesterday as it was field day so they all had on casual clothing and the dress code was relaxed. Give a kid one thing and he will take a mile. I noticed the teachers getting after them a lot yesterday about cutting up and talking and running in the hall. Hey, school is almost out, those kids want to be outside playing! lol I did have one mother get really snotty with me because I wouldn't/couldn't let her dd lay down with a cloth on her head in the clinic. She was nasty to me on the phone as her daughter has migraines and she wanted her to stay at school. Well, first off I had to tell her that the girl couldn't stay and she bit my head off about that so I told her that I was only a volunteer and didn't make the rules. Instead of saying she would come get her she then just wanted me to send her back to class. (oh and PS, she is a stay at home mom so it wasn't like her work interfered) If she were so worried about her why didn't she want to get her home? She obviously wasn't worried about her classwork if she wanted her to stay in the clinic the rest of the afternoon. She finally said to send her back to class she would come get her "because heaven forbid the school accomodate me." as she put it. So that is what I did. I felt sorry for the girl but there was little I could do about it. We can't give any meds, they can't stay in the clinic, so I don't have a lot I can do. I just try to be as pleasant with the parent as I can. I did call the pta person who runs the clinic and told her what happened just in case the woman wants to make a scene. Thought she should be prepared.

I guess I better get to it. I promised Jack biscuits and gravy this morning and though I have the lowfat sausage, I haven't made the biscuits.

Have a great Saturday today......Paddling to keep afloat in Memphis, Faye

Good morning ladies and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Just a quick post this morning, but wanted to be sure and wish you all a happy mothers day. It is still raining here off and on. We are going to float away.

I imagine it will be a quiet day around here. We have no plans as Kelly is out of town today so we will celebrate with her another day.

Maggie: I am sure your mom will love her little glass house. My mom always liked the things I would make her. Unfortuntely, I wanted them back when she died and never got a single thing back of all the things I made her. Made me sad and mad really, as they had no monetary value and I did ask my step father's family to get them to my sister and she would give them to me. I didn't get a darn thing back and I imagine they were just thrown away.

You gals have a super duper day and I will talk with you tomorrow.
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! Happy mother's day. After the 90 degree day we had yesterday, today's 75 feels wonderful.

I did laundry and cleaned out the pantry. Have to find all those things that get "lost" in the back of the shelves from time to time. I have way too much food for one person. But with hurricanes, nor'easters, and ice storms, I like to keep a good supply on hand.

I had to go to the grocery store after church because I had no milk in the house. That rarely happens but it came at a good time. Kroger has $2.19 a gallon for skim this week. They also had whole pineapples already peeled and cored for $2.99 and blackberries or blueberries at buy one get one free. Looks like a good week for fruit because I already had strawberries, bananas, apples, pears and grapes.

Faye, gas has gone way up here, too. Last week I paid $1.77 - $1.93 today. We expect it though because of being a tourist destination everything goes up in the summer. We get "Good Neighbor" cards so we get discounts at restaurants and amusement parks, etc.

Jean, hope you enjoyed your celebrations this weekend. My fingers do get tired when I quilt. Right now I'm having a time with hand work because of my thumb. It has never returned to the way it was before I dislocated it and the least bit of use makes it ache.

Maggie, now Will can have fun while he mows! I know your mom will love the house you made her. Your winter jacket sounds beautiful.

I'm making a turkey breast for supper. I had 2 in the freezer and it's time to use it up. So I'll roast one for tonight and then portion it and freeze most of it. Makes for easy lunch or supper to just pull a portion out.

Well, enjoy your day. I'm going to watch a movie.

Happy Mother's Day Evening! It's been a cool sunny day in my neighborhood. We spent yesterday afternoon and evening with my "mom" at her daughter's house. Today we went to church and then headed to Jason's to celebrate Zowie's birthday since they will be in MN over Memorial Day weekend. I feel like I spent most of the weekend in the car!
I should be writing thank yous but will spend a few minutes here first. I do need to do some ironing yet tonight.

Hope you all have a nice evening and a marvelous Monday tomorrow.

Jean -- from Iowa!