Steel Magnolias #38
 

Good morning to you all! Boy we are sure zooming through another year here it seems like.

Jean: Sounds like you have a short in your dishwasher somewhere along with maybe some type of electronic gismo out of whack or burned out or something. I don't know how much electronics if any are in a dishwasher, but the thing sounds possessed to me like Maggie said! :) What an awful thing to happen to that family. I will say a prayer for them.

Susan: What are you reading at the moment? I haven't sat and read for quite awhile as I have to many knitting projects I want to accomplish. I have about 20 books here that I haven't touched and would like to get the new ones of authors I read, but they are going to have to wait. I may pick up the new Evanovich book tomorrow though as I have been dying to read it. Didn't get very good reviews from readers who though who said it is reworked stuff and nothing new. I feel sorry for authors as they have to run out of ideas when writing a series like that. I have had the no pudge brownies, but jack really doesn't like them at all so I just don't bother. I saw on the WW site a lady who makes cola cake using the new reduced sugar cake mix and diet cola. I wonder how that tastes. I know, it amazes me the boys are getting so big. I don't think Jay and Alicia are going to have any more so my two boys might be it.

Maggie: I am always amazed these days at how many men I see at the commissary alone shopping with a list. I would never send Jack to do the shopping for the two weeks. The most he gets to do is picking up a couple things here or there. He has no clue on picking veggies or fruits an would probably come home with icky stuff and I know he would be on the cell phone half the time calling wanting more info. Besides, I am too much of a control freak when it comes to shopping so I am better off doing it myself. Also, I figure he works all week I can at least do the shopping. The only reason he goes with me is to pick out what he wants to take in his lunch for the following two weeks. I have to work up a list tomorrow so we can go on Saturday as the kids will be home sometime on Sunday so we have to wait for them.

Nothing much going on here. Lots of rain, but it has finally moved on so I can go swimming today. I am sure it will be freezing as the temps have been about 10 degrees cooler for over a week, but you do what you have to do. The scale hasn't moved this week so I need to get some exercise in and see if that helps it with at least a lb!

Have a great Thursday everyone!
Faye

Good morning, ladies! Faye's rain has arrived right on schedule! It sure has been a lot cooler this summer and I am happy about that.

Maggie, we have to put our trash on the curb in the front of our house and it can't be put out before the morning of pick up. I pick up the trash immediately when the racoon gets in and knocks it over.

Jean, how did the dishwasher repair go this time? I hope its fixed.

Faye, I'm currently reading "The 8th Confession" by James Patterson. It's in the Woman's Murder Club series (cop, newswoman, coroner, attorney form up the club). I just finished "Declutter the Kitchen", another mystery. I read just about anything except sci fi and fantasy (Harry Potter doesn't count here). Have you ever tried the pineapple angel food cake? Just a box of angelfood cake mix and a can of crushed pineapple. Put it in a 9x13 to bake. That is pretty good with a dab of cool whip.

Well the sun just came out so the rain must be over and I need to get to work. Have a good day.

Thursday In The Heartland
 

Good morning girls! I came downstairs very early this am and did some bill paying on the computer, but still have to wait until after 8 to pay my life insurance premium! :mad: I like to get my bills paid all at once so I can be done with it for two weeks.

Maggie: Isn't the angel food cake thing one that you posted on the recipes? I printed that one out I think. I kept wanting to ask whether you need to bake it like a regular af cake in a tube pan. I will take a maintain over a gain, but I have to work hard to get to goal by late next year so I need to lose every week as much as possible. I know it won't always happen, but it keeps me on the straight and narrow knowing what I need to do. (I just looked at Susan's last post and she answered the cake pan question! :D

Susan: Have you ever read the series by Diane Mott Davidson where the main character is a caterer called Goldy? They are cute books. I started reading this series in paperback that was a hoot about this group of people in a retirement community that solves crimes, but my favorite will always remain Stephanie and her sidekick Lula. The food that woman carries in her purse! lol

Jean: Sheesh if it isn't one thing it is another. Our dishwasher problem is leaking and it leaks because the last time the guy came out and fixed it, when he put it back in he tore up the underside of the cabinet when he screwed it back in and though Jack fixed it, somehow it isn't in there quite right. Problem is, Jack doesn't want to take out the screws because we may not be able to get it screwed back in. We have very old and cheaper countertops and one day will get them and the cabinets replaced but for now, it is a towel under the thing when I wash dishes. Oh, I am glad the young woman is improving. That's great!

Well, I am going to sit in the chair and knit and fall back asleep if I can. I have a busy errand day today so should try and sleep a bit more for sure. I have been up since 2.

Have a great weekend everyone! It is commissary Saturday for us tomorrow, ugh, then the kids come home on Sunday.
Faye

Good morning, ladies! Looks like a nice day in the 80s in store for us.

Nothing exciting going on. I'm finally starting to get my fabric organized. I don't know half what I have and I'm going next weekend to buy more.... I'm also going to go through the rest of the stuff and put stuff aside that I don't use or want for the silent auction at retreat. That room really needs it and with the amount I have, it'll probably take 2 or 3 weekends to get it done.

Faye, I've read all the books you mentioned. I love Lulu, too. I can just see her in her spandex skirt and top gnawing on a chicken leg. I'm really partial to Joe rather than Ranger, though. The pineapple angel food cake is too moist for a tube pan.

Maggie, we don't have allys behind our houses. Either the back yards meet or in my cul-de-sac our backyards end in the wetlands.

Jean, I'm so glad the girl is doing better. Rehab is remarkable these days. It sounds like fun to meet up with your online friend. Too bad about the dishwasher. Too many computers in things these days really makes repairs costly.

Well, I need to go and get started. Have a good day!

Finally Friday
 

Good very early morning gals. I woke to go to the bathroom and my leg was asleep so had to walk around on it and get the feeling back so I decided to come downstairs and check on Marty as he wasn't upstairs sleeping in bed with us.

I am hoping to finish the blanket this weekend and then go on to the next project by next week. The blanket is now heavy of course so it is difficult to sling around to knit with and of course the dogs want to sit on my lap besides so it gets a little crowded on the chair! :)

Maggie: I am allowed 38 pts, but I usually keep it between 35-36 and I don't use my extra 35 ever. That doesn't mean that if I am hungry I don't eat my full pts and would use some of my weekly ones if I really need to, but I try and curb it in if I feel it is because of my hormones and I can tell the difference. I don't starve myself, ever, and I keep within those 3-4 pts of what I am allowed as I know it is important to eat your pts, but if I am not hungry at the end of the day and have a couple pts, I don't force myself to eat them just because they are leftover. I don't ever have trouble unless, like that three week period when I was hormonal. I am finding I cut back on the sugar and fat a lot now, though I eat protein at every meal except for snacks so that is why I am losing. We rarely eat fatty cuts of meat, though I will fix a pot roast or sometimes a little fattier cut of meat and have it, but always figure the pts. I have a website that has a very definitive list of pretty much everything so I can figure our meat and such that has no nutritionals on the label. For the most part, we eat chicken breasts lower fat content beef and pork and fish occasionally, usually salmon though I get some really good big frozen shrimp at the commissary and have them cold with a bit of cocktail sauce. I usually eat egg beaters, but will sometimes make an egg beater serving with a regular egg. I buy the precooked bacon and can have a couple slices of that occasionally as it is 1 pt a slice. I never snack at night except a small one sometime after supper of a pudding, or a 100 cal snack or maybe some fruit. If I get up in the middle of the night I absolutely never eat unlike it used to be where I would get chips or those little donuts in the bag or such. I may have a diet soft drink, but that is as exciting as it goes if it is overnight or past 8. It is creeping back up in heat here too and that will warm the pool back up. I am looking forward to going back and swim next week as I only got in one last week. I had planned to go a couple more times, but never did get over there. I had taken Marty over one day, but Stoney their cat sat at their back door and looked so forlorn that his "brother" wasn't in the house that I didn't take him back. I would have let Marty in the house, but Stoney is allowed outdoors when they are home and I was afraid she would get out when I opened the door and I wouldn't be able to get her back in so I didn't let Marty go in to visit. He goes home tomorrow sometime so he can reconnect then.

Susan: Thanks for the cake update. I really want to try it. You should have seen Jack and I yesterday. We went to Fresh Market, which is like a smaller version of Trader Joe's. We wanted to check out the fruit, but found they sold the exact same thing as the commissary but higher prices. Have you ever seen yellow raspberrys? They had them, but were something like $5 for a little box so I passed. Anyway, we were checking out the store and they have a fresh meat market so we bought a sirloin kabob to split between us and I got some fresh smoked salmon, yahoo, but it cost an arm and a leg. I will enjoy it anyway for breakfast with the one pt cream cheese. I bought a fresh loaf of sour dough and it should make nice toast. We continued to wander around and I was looking at stuff and not paying too much attention and all of a sudden, Jack says, "Ok we need to move on here." I looked up and we were at the bakery and man oh man what desserts. They had full size and individual ones in the cases and though I looked, I didn't touch!!!:D Jack got excited because they had macaroons, which he loves, but he did the points (he can do them in his head without the calculator thingy) and decided he didn't want to spend 3 pts on two little cookies so put the container back. We checked the brownie bites as I was curious but when Jack said, "whoa!" right away I told him to just set it back down! :lol: It wasn't all that tough to bypass the yummies, but they did have some spectacular desserts that was for sure. I am determined to be at least close to goal by vacation next year and eating a dessert that is a days pts is not gonna happen. I giggle just thinking of Lulu. Some of the outfits she wears are hilarious. You know, it always reminds me of a funny story Jack and I were told years and years ago because in one of the books she was carrying a pork chop in her purse. Jack and I knew a couple from our church way back in the early 80's and the husband was a Memphis cop. He could tell you some stories, boy but this one took the cake. He said that one night he and his partner got called out on a domestic dispute. They get to the house and it is a real uproar. A man and a woman were out in the yard, he was in just his underwear. She had a kitchen knife and he had a gun and they were screaming at each other and waving around the weapons. They weren't threatening to anyone but each other but were yelling so much thy couldn't figure out what was going on as neither had a scratch on them. They finally got them separated, disarmed and back into the house to get it sorted out I guess. The man finally told them that they were having dinner and she took the last pork chop and wouldn't give it back to him. When she refused to give it to him and he tried to take it, she went and got a knife and the chase began! She still had the chop inside her bra to keep him from getting it! :rofl::rofl: So, I could just see Lulu when I was reading that passage protecting that purse with her life!

Well, I think I will knit and watch a bit of tv until I get sleepy again. Later today is the dreaded commissary so I need to go back to sleep in the next hour or so.

You all have a great Saturday!
Faye

Good morning, ladies. It's heating up in the 90s today with high humidity.

I don't know what I was thinking starting in the sewing room yesterday. I want to move everything out and paint and clean carpet in there while I'm at it and I have a whole lot more stuff than I was thinking. I really would like to swap the office and the sewing room because I could arrange it better now that I am thinking about it. So I need to do the office first so I can move the stuff from the sewing room in there as I go through. At any rate, I packed up 7 cartons quilting books for a starter and a box for the silent auction and I for the thrift store - and 2 bags of trash and it's hardly a start. I've got fabric in two rooms now. Maggie, I like to arrange it by color, too, but keep the batiks and conversational prints separate. When Stan got sick, I didn't have much time I could be up there and when I bought fabric I just stuck it in the first available opening. Then it overflowed and I put it in a tub in the office, then another one, and it grew. Anyway, I'm going to stop in there and get started on the office today. That won't take nearly as long since there isn't a lot of clutter. Once I get those 2 rooms done, it'll be winter and I can get up in the attic and see what Stan had stuffed up there (it has a floor so you can store stuff and my furnace is up there). I know 95% of that will be junk to go in the trash. He was fond of saving everything because he was going to fix it some day. And then my house will be done and minimal (except for the sewing room which will be maxium). :D

Faye, I had yellow raspberries about a month ago. They were on sale for $2.50. Tasted just like red. Good for you and Jack foregoing the goodies. One day you'll be able to walk through there and not even want any of it. I think Whole Foods is a little more upscale than Trader Joe's. I get 18 points a day so I have to budget carefully just to get the basics in. I try not to use Weekly Points but I do eat exercise points if I need them.

Maggie, it looks like your hot weather has made it's way to us. In my estimation, there's nothing prettier than a quilter's stash. I keep mine in a double-doored closet (light fades) when it is neat.... I have one quilter friend that has no stash. She only buys fabric when she has a specific project to work on. I always say I'm a fabric collector. I buy it because it's pretty.

Well, I better go and start the cleaning. Have a good day ladies.

Stormy Saturday
 

Good morning ladies! I went to bed early last night so here I am up and at em already. My knees and ankles are hurting this morning as well as my hands so I imagine it is either going to rain or I did too much yesterday. Either way, a little pain medication is in order for me this morning. I would like to clean the downstairs, but it isn't going to happen gimping around like I am.

Jean: One of these days we are going to come to Iowa and see the Cubs play and will drive to Storm Lake and see you and Bob. At least have dinner or lunch together. I am sure it was fun to meet a friend you have never been able to. When I was in jr high, I had a penpal that was a boy from Pakistan. I lost touch with him before I went to high school and often wondered if he passed away in the flooding they had there during that time. It would have been lovely to meet him. His father was a professor of some type I remember and he wrote perfect english. The life insurance place actually had hours their website worked, but I went back a couple hours later and got right in so I am wondering if they were doing maintenance and that is why I got the message. I have 2 bills I can think of that I mail a check. All the others I can pay online and do so. The electric company used to charge you $5 but they now have their own system so it costs nothing.

Maggie: When I worked in a large ladies dress shop years ago in New Mexico, we used to have this little old mexican lady come everyday and sell homemade beef and potato burritos. They were the yummiest I have ever had. I am not that big a burrito eater. I will occasionally have one for lunch, but if I am at a restaurant, I order enchiladas. I love chile rellanos, but no one makes them like they do in New Mexico so I don't order them. In New Mexico they use long green chiles, not poblanos, and they stick a slice of white cheddar down the middle, roll them in corn meal and fry them in a pan. No puff batter then covered in icky sauce like the mexican restaurants I have been in do. I know that Gardunos in Vegas buys all their produce from the Las Cruces and Hatch area where Jack grew up and so their food is pretty much what I learned to eat. They use Hatch green chiles in their rellanos and they are pretty good even though they don't put them in corn meal and fry them.

Susan: Boy what a job! I would love to have a knitting room with bins to put the different types and colors of yarn. We just have no space. If I ever got rich there would be a room for me, that is for sure. Jack has an office in one of the bedrooms and the other bedroom is for the boys when they stay over and then ours. We use the living room as a dining area and the den as a living room so there is no place to do it there. Ahh, well.

I haven't heard from Kelly so don't know what time they will be home. If I remember right though, they have a whopping 16 hour layover in San Fransisco so plan on renting a car and going out and seeing the sites.

Everyone have a glorious day! Going back to scorching hot days here. It was mid 90's yesterday. Good pool weather! ;)
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! A hot day in the 90s and I won't even comment on the humidity.

I went to early Mass and we had a baptism this morning. The baby was all alert and smiling at the beginning when his parents present him to the congregation for our blessing. By the time we got to the part for the actual baptism, he had gone to sleep. I though sure he'd start screaming when Father poured the water over his head but he never even woke up. After he is dressed in his baptisimal gown, he is carried around he church again but the Deacon does this since Father Mike can't see. He can get himself around, but I think he's a little afraid of carrying babies. Anyway, he was awake then and just smiled at everyone. Such a good baby! He never cried and the service was over an hour this morning.

After Mass, I did a bit of grocery shopping. Double coupons so wanted to get a few things I had $1 coupons for. Then I came home and put on some cooler clothes and went to Super Cuts for a haircut, got some lunch and came home.

I got about 1/3 of the room done in a few hours yesterday. Today I am doing nothing but quilting.

Jean, I have a penpal that I have corresponded with from the time I was 9 years old. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand. When I was in my early 20s, she started on a trip around the world with her girlfriend and they stopped to see me in OH and stayed with me for a week. It was wonderful. Your dishwasher is possessed!

Maggie, A picture of your kittens sleeping with Ragg Mopp would make a cute Christmas card. We had a hole in the wall restaurant in a neighboring town in OH run by a Mexican family. That food was the best. I wouldn't eat it if you paid me around here. It's nasty. I keep thinking with so many Mexicans living here surely one of them will open a real restaurant but it hasn't happened yet.

Well, that wraps up today - have a good one.

Good morning gals! It is going to be a totally rainy week this week so I guess I will be going to the mall and walking this week. It is way too hot to walk outside and I just can't commit to getting on the treadmill. I just have too many problems with it unless I absolutely have to.

The kids had a great vacation and I guess the Chinese fell in love with Thomas. I guess that it is unusual for redheads to be seen in China and red is the color of luck for the chinese so they all wanted pictures with him. Kelly said that at Tiennaman Square they actually got in line to have their pictures taken with him until his parents finally said enough and had to stop it. I guess this happened everywhere they went but it was the worst there in Bejing.
Marty is home with his family and happy and the cat is happy he is home too. Of course, their luggage is in limbo somewhere so Kelly said she had no toothbrushes! lol

Jean: I truly have never even heard of tacos until I married a man from New Mexico. We didn't have taco bells, etc in Indiana and I had never seen a mexican restaurant. The first night we were in New Mexico a few weeks after we were married, we went to a Mexican restaurant that happened to be in an old mexican catholic church that was defunct. I had no clue what the food was or what to order or anything. Jack got me tacos and unfortunatley, I was hooked. I love really good mexican food and will eat a variety of stuff. I like hot food so spicy is never a problem with me either.

Susan: It was pretty awful here over the weekend, but the temps are going to be a bit lower because we are going to have rain pretty much everyday this week. It always feel so blue when there is no sun.

I better kick it up and get started on some cleaning. I went ahead and let Jack take the Mariner to work today so I am going to try and get some work done.
Faye