Good morning ladies! I didn't even realize I didn't post at all yesterday. I know you all think something happens to me when I don't get in here and post, but I am just fine.

I got my second birthday present yesterday. My girlfriend from Indiana sent me something. She bought me a great big black and white flower ring, a big beaded black and white crystal necklase and big black and white crystal earrings. I told her I loved it but I don't look good in them at all. She is sending me the gift receipts so I am going to take them back and get something that looks better on me. The ring is huge as it is a size 9. I can actually get it on my thumb. I called to thank her and she said she bought it for my middle finger, but having lost weight it is too big for that even. She is so sweet to have thought of me as I know she lives on a pretty tight budget.

Kelly emailed me to say they were tied up with a wedding and she is going to her brothers so we have to have my birthday late. Guess we will combine my birthday and Jack's in a few weeks.

Jean: We aren't doing anything tomorrow. Jack took me out to lunch yesterday instead. If we can avoid it, we don't go out during the week because a) Jack has to get up so very early in the morning he goes to bed really early and b) I just plain don't like to be out after dark in this neighborhood. We went to Chilis and had a fun time. I brought a lot of my lunch home and I almost never eat the rest of whatever it is, but we still have lots of fun. He bought me the perfume and surprised me with an IOU for my birthday. He is getting me tickets to see Jersey Boys when they go on sale here more towards the end of the year. I have been dying to go see the broadway show about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons so it should be great. The show isn't until January and February so I will be able to pick when I want to go.

Susan: We just had chili and it was so yummy. I used a half lb of ground sirloin in mine and like I said earlier it is not a lot of whole veggies as Jack doesn't like them. I add what I like after the soup is pretty much done in another pot.

We had lovely sun yesterday and it was so uplifting to have a nice warm sunny day. Lots of clouds, but I didn't care it was sunny!

Well, I need to get the day going. Have a grand one today!
Faye

Good afternoon ladies. We had rain this morning, but the sun is out now.

Nothing much going on today - preparing for Bible study tomorrow night and finishing the housework.

Faye, you have a super husband, a real keeper!

Jean, I hope Bob has a good day farming! We're getting winter crops in now. I need to get some fall flowers for the front yard.

Have a good day!

Good morning gals! Don't know if the quick reply is going to work as I can't hit the post reply button and it work. I get an explorer error message every time. We shall see when I am done.

I updated my tracker this morning and I am now down 42 lbs and have another loss of 4# total.

I have clinic duty this afternoon and a bit of cleaning upstairs I still haven't tackled so will do that very first thing this morning.

I got the cutest birthday email from Cirque du Soleil. I belong to the Cirque club so I can keep up with any sales or whatever they might have when we go to Las Vegas. It was a really beautiful ecard.

It will be a quiet birthday at our house today. Like I said we don't like to be out during the week at night because then it seems so hard for Jack to unwind and sleep properly. The dog went back upstairs when I came down this morning and I didn't know it until I heard him barking to get back on the bed, (training is coming along, but he will NOT jump on the bed without encouragement or in the total darkness,) so I rushed over to the stairs and called him and made him come back down. He stood at the top of the stairs and stared at me until he heard my "no nonsense" voice and then he came down and he is now on his pillow on the couch balled up asleep. lol

Susan: Oooh, you should see what the Universal Studios in Orlando is opening in the spring. The Harry Potter theme park part of the park is opening and it is going to be really cool. You walk into Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts express is sitting to the right just as you go in. There is an Olivanders where the wands choose you and you can purchase them, then the owlery where it sounds like you can get post cards and envelopes with the Hogsmeade stamp on them, Three Broomsticks and the Hogshead where you can get British fare and butter beer and pumpkin juice, and it goes on and on. Outside Hogsmeade are a couple rides, one is fashioned after the dragon task in Goblet of Fire and the other is after the Hippogriff ride. Behind it all is Hogwarts where you tour the castle and they are keeping what is in it pretty secret. I can't wait to go and I am hoping since we are waiting until after school starts next year it might not be a total zoo there.

Jean: Hope you had a nice breakfast and Bob got all his beans picked. There is a fresh produce stand just outside the back gate of the base. They are actually a fruit grower of peaches and apples, but they grow other stuff too and have the best fresh tomatos. I am going to miss when they finally run out as I quit buying the ones at the store and get mine there.

Maggie and Gloria: Hi to you both!

Have a great start to the week gals. Looks like I am going to run out of yarn for the sweater and have to order more, bummer. I am just to get a couple extra skeins when I order the yarn for Jackson's sweater. In the meantime, I am going to tear back the body part of Jackson's knitted jacket and lengthen it then get it sewn together and get a zipper and get it in so it is finished. I have the stocking cap to match done a long time ago so it will be another Christmas present I have finished.

Faye

Good morning, ladies! It's 72 degree right now and the sun is shining.

Faye, I'll meet you in Florida (maybe for our birthdays) and we can spend a week with Harry Potter. It sure sounds like fun. on the 4 more pounds gone. Your quilt will get a little bigger. I'm making 1 block for every 10 pounds you lose.

Jean, happy shopping! :

Maggie, how are things in the heartland?

I have Bible study tonight and Curves after work.

Have a great day!

Good morning to you girls! We had a whole day of sun yesterday! Whoopee!

Thank you for my birthday wishes. We had a nice quiet birthday! I got to talk to my very best friend for over an hour on the phone. She and I have been friends since 7th grade so it has been a longgggggg time!

Susan: I promise to keep working if you do! Believe me, I want to see the quilt done for more than having a beautiful quilt. Actually, we are going next year just a couple weeks before my birthday so it will be about a month before you and Jack's and about 2 weeks before mine. I just hope the crowds have calmed down by then. We plan on taking in Epcot Center and Disneyworld too since we have never been. We have been to Disneyland, but that was in the very early 70's so I know a lot has changed with the Disney properties, period.

Jean: Man fall zoomed right in on you didn't it? I have been wearing pants to the clinic and decided to wear a short sleeve tshirt and capris and didn't check outside first. It was barely over 70 when I left, but I a glad I did as it warmed up pretty well by the time I left the school at 3:30. It was a nightmare yesterday. I walked in on the poor woman who was totally overwhelmed and unorganized. It was nuts. There were at least 8 kids waiting to be helped and they just kept coming. When I have more than one kid, I put their hall passes in order then work top to bottom. She didn't know what was going on, who had been helped, she had the cards all over the place, it was a mess and took me an hour and a half to get them all out of there. I had parents calling about their kids where she had left a message, but she didn't put on their cards what was wrong with them so I couldn't tell the parents why they had come into the clinic in the first place other then to tell them their temp. I think she just got undone by it all. They then kept coming in spurts, but at least I had a handle on things. I had a headache when I left!

Well you girls have yourselves a nice day. I finished the neckline and shoulders of T's sweater and have half a sleeve left then can sew in the sleeves and side seams and his sweater will be done. One of the teachers came in to talk to me me in a minute of down time when I was knitting and oohed and aahed over it saying she thought the colors were great for Thomas. I made it a couple inches longer than his measurements as he is growing so darn fast.
Faye

Good morning, ladies! Rather cool 62 degrees this morning but supposed to warm up a lot by afternoon - we'll see. We had rain last night.

Faye, I loved DisneyWorld. The last time Stan and I were there, my boss paid for the trip and put us up in the Polenesian Village. My friend's brother is the had chef in the Crystal Palace there. He always gave us a free dinner and he and Stan had a lot in common. When I was in high school (back in the dark ages), the clinic was staffed by students. It was adjacent to the health teacher's classroom so there was always adult help available, but we passed out aspirin, bandaged up cuts, gave stuff for upset stomachs. I know you got the mess straightened out in short order.

Jean, I forgot to answer your question about the flowers I'm putting out - ornamental cabbages, mums, and tons of pansies. Pansies don't grow here in the summer (too hot) but will bloom all winter and into the spring.

I met my new neighbor last night. She is a single school teacher, youngish, and very personable. I'm sure she will be an asset to the neighborhood. It's a relief that it isn't someone who'll be throwing parties and not keeping up their property.

Nothing going on today. Have good one!

Good morning to you ladies! Clear and cool this morning when I took the trash to the corner of the garage and quiet as a church.

Jean: I am sure she will continue to volunteer as she has been doing it for more than just this year. What surprised me though is what she didn't know or know what to do in what situation. She wanted to call parents for skinned knees. I told her that my motto was, if it was cuts or scrapes that weren't deep or bleeding heavily, it was clean it, dry it and bandage it, head bumps, body bumps, sprains etc, where the child was not having vision problems, severe headache or could not walk, ice and back to class. If they came in with headache, stomachache, itching severely, rash, etc, etc, I took temps, recorded everything and called the parent and let them talk to the child and they decided whether or not kid should go back to class if they did not have a fever. Anyone with fever over 100, vomiting or coughing heavily, trouble breathing etc, the parents have to come and get the kid. I basically use common sense to determine whether a kid really is sick or just wants to go home for the day. You can usually tell. A sick kid, even one without a temp is lethargic, will sprawl across the bench seat we have, etc, the non sick ones keep up a conversation with me about my knitting or whatnot or are jumping all over the place as I am calling the parent. We may be over our hot weather for the year too. I just hope the almanac is wrong and we don't have a real cold and wet winter.

Susan: Nowadays, you are totally restricted as to what you can do. No medications of any kind can be given, the kids can't even use the antibacterial handwash I have on my desk. They have to use the soap at the sink. I can take temps, give out ice, or changes of clothing for accidents and do bandaids and that is all I can do pretty much. We are really looking forward to going to disney. Jack thinks I will enjoy Epcot a lot. I know that I want to go to Universal for Harry Potter! lol It will be interesting to see how much they put into the last two films since they are dividing the book. So much of it is important and there are two story lines too, the horcruxes and the hallows. It will be interesting. Luckily, the kids, who are all adults now still look young enough to play 17 year olds.

Thomas called me last night to wish me a belated birthday. He is going to come and spend the night at our house over Veteran's Day then he is going to travel with us to Indiana for Thanksgiving so he can go a day early. His parents can't leave until after work on Wed and we are leaving after Thomas gets out of school on Tuesday driving halfway to Effingham Il, spending the night, then driving on in on Wed morning. We should be there around noon or so. T can go swimming at the hotel and maybe Jackson too if his parents allow it. T is going to then spend Wed night at his aunt and uncle's. I gave him the choice of either the hotel which has a sofa bed or his aunt and uncle's and he wants to stay there. It is always fun having him so we look forward to it.

Well, need to get dishes put away and snack dishes from last night loaded into the dishwasher. Jack will be up in about 10 minutes and I try and have stuff done so I am out of his way when he comes down to fix his lunch and make his breakfast.

Have a great day all! Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is hiding; it's a cool 44 degrees with a slight wind. The furnace has been running too! I'm thinking about getting a space heater to put where our loveseat, TV, and recliner are. I like it toasty in the evening when I am just sitting.

Susan -- I don't think I have ever seen ornamental cabbage; I will have to look it up. I love pansies because they are so delicate. I forget about it being too hot during the summer for you to grow some things. I know that AZ is that way too. I hope you enjoy getting to know your new neighbor. She sounds like a keeper.

"Gma" -- We had to take a meds class and pass a test before we could give meds at school. It was pretty much common sense but we (special ed.) had to do it every year. We never had to take first aid nor CPR which I would think would be as important. You will enjoy your overnight with Thomas, I know. I'm glad he is getting to spend some time with you. He should keep the drive to IN interesting!

I need to get dressed and put my face on so I can head off to Bob's office. I'm glad it's not all day because that could really be boring since I don't know anything about insurance.

I hope you all have a GREAT day -- wonderful Wednesday and we are on the downside towards the weekend.

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good morning all! Looks like it might be another nice day today though cool. It is supposed to get into the 70's today so that isn't so bad.

Jean: I am not sure I have ever seen ornamental cabbage either. I am sure it is lovely though. Cabbages are actually very pretty when they are laid out. The leaves are so lacy looking. I would have thought you would have had to have rescue breathing and CPR too. I had to have it when I worked with the mentally disabled years back. I also worked for the YWCA in their womens' abuse shelter on the weekends and had to have it. It wouldn't hurt for all teachers and staff to know how to do it and I think all schools should have a portable defibulator too.

I went and got my blood tests yesterday. I now have a bruise and a big lump in the bend of my arm. She didn't have problems at all, was gently and the needle went in easy and the blood came out easily so I don't know why, but it is a doozy. I imagine it will go down over the next couple days and back to normal. I left the clinic though and came straight home and woe is me, I am having spotting again. Brother! I imagine after I tell her that she will just want to go ahead and do the biopsy unless she hasn't gotten the results of my estrogen test back. I know am tired of this bouncing rubber ball.

Is this not the most ferocious thing you have ever seen? I hope my son forgives me. I nabbed it off his facebook. Gosh he is growing so much. I guess the little guy is going to be a lion for Halloween. I have both the boys' Halloween pez, but am going to order their other stuff when I get done here. I always get them a pez machine for each holiday. Usually get Thomas some peeps as he loves them so I will check at the commissary for them. I am going to see if I can find any cute/cool Halloween tshirts for the two of them.

I have a load of errands to run, will stop by Walgreens and get my flu shot since our stupid dr office is already out of them. If I go to the Walgreens that has the little walk in clinics they take Tricare and I only have to pay a copay. Otherwise, it cost us $25 apiece for the darn things. I had a pneumonia shot last year so don't need another of those for 4 more years.

Well gals, I need to get going so I can get out and about this morning. My car is filthy so I want to take it and get it washed and maybe run by Cracker barrel and find a fragrance to put in the car. Have a good day and keep warm and cozy if it is cold where you are!
Faye

Good morning ladies! It is a bit cool here this morning and looks like me might have gotten a bit of rain last night, but it seems pleasant outside.

I am going to go to lunch with Jack today, but the only close enough is a bbq place so I will see if they have salad and if not I may just get beans and something else to stay within point.

Tomorrow is commissary day and I am ahead of schedule and have my list made out. I just have to type it up and print it off. Of course, since they moved everything around again, I can't put the list in order, but typing it does make it easier to work with I think. I do put stuff according to what it is like, meats, produce, dairy, etc so at least the stuff is usually in the same area. I get screwed up with packaged, canned and boxed stuff which they totally have goofed up again.

I noticed the city has changed vision providers again, but at least this one is pretty good. Looks like it is $45 total in copays and such, but I am not sure as to the contact allowance. I can go back to where I went last year, which is nice since we don't have to start from scratch for an exam, and this provider has a discount at online places which is where I get most of my contacts as they are wayyyyy cheaper. It looks like bifocal contacts are 33 a box, but buying 8 boxes gives me a discount then I get another 10% discount for being on the United Healthcare vision program. We don't use anything but vision and dental on the city program because it is outrageously expensive and Tricare beats the heck out of their plan. I think their premium amounts to $2400 a year plus the copay is $25 plus other stuff is only partially covered. Tricare is $460 a year with $12 copay and $30 total for hospital, but we never pay a dime for any testing, procedures, shots, etc. I didn't pay one dime for any of my ostomy supplies when I had them and one box of bags was something like $100 or something. Now that changes when Jack goes on medicare. We then will do a single on Tricare which will be $300 a year for me and free for Jack, but it is a 80/20 plan. Gloria said that pretty much whatever Medicare doesn't cover, tricare for life does so we would just pay Jack's medicare premium and we can remain on our prescription plan forever so that is good.

Jean: I bought this jar of bead things to put into the car. I never thought about a diffuser. I may have to consider that if this doesn't work. I found that the Cracker Barrel ones aren't working anymore so decided to forgoe getting one of those. I did get my car washed and it is all pretty. I then went to Kohls and returned the jewelry, bought a pair of gorgeous tiger eye earrings to go with my necklace and bracelet and a beautiful purple handbag that was bigtime on sale. I ended up paying $8 after my return so that isn't too bad. I then went to Walmart and got my nails done and did some shopping, but got home to find some jerk parked halfway across my garage so I couldn't get in it. I got out steaming and went next door and she apologized all over the place (this is the new neighbor) and said they were in the garage, but they weren't. I told her no one was there so she said, oh, ok and I thought she had a key to the suv, but instead called them. They had gone off to the parts store! I was furious. I pulled in front and blocked their garage and unloaded my groceries and stuff and I had steam coming out of my ears as she said they were just down the street. They showed up about 45 minutes later. I parked in back of them, but ended up blocking the other neighbors garage and don't you know it, he needed to get out so he was miffed at me, so I went and parked down at the end of the street. She was pretty mad at them and when I moved my car back, they came over and apologized and promised not to park in front of it again, yeah right until next time! She said to me, I am sure this has never happened to you before and I looked at her and said, "Are you kidding? I have had to go around and wake up neighbors at 5 in the morning trying to find out who blocked our garage overnight." We shall see if it happens again. I tried to keep as calm as possible, but I was pretty mad because I had to drag groceries down the street to my condo to get them into the house.

Maggie: Glad you found your computer glitch. I have so much stuff on mine now that it runs slow. Nothing you can do about it, but one of these days, I am going to buy a new laptop for myself and use it and keep all our tax stuff, pictures and business stuff on the PC and the boys can use it to play games or whatever.

Well I need to get hoppin'. It is almost 8 and I have to meet Jack at 11 and it is almost a half an hour drive. Have a wonderful weekend everybody!
Faye