Good morning to you all! It is cool and clear here this morning and expected to warm up. It was lovely yesterday except for the wind.

Well, Jack is now all healed, or at least we hope so. He doesn't have to wear the brace, is off the crutches and is finishing up the steroids today and tomorrow. He even has a healed hand, which is great. The brace the hand doctor gave him really seemed to do the trick on that. Now we head into my surgical procedure in the next few weeks and maybe we can settle down and not have any more medical issues for awhile. We will have Marty too in about three weeks while the kids are on a cruise to Mexico with their inlaws.

Jean: Sending good warm weather wishes to you! We are actually going to hit 60 in another week, woohoo! That means it is sandals for me! YEAH! Wow, that is a big difference in billing. I have never actually paid attention to our billing with regards to the drs. Almost all the doctors at our practice are residents, ie mine is leaving in July and I am just sick about it. I finally have a dr that doesn't concentrate on the weight first and the issues last. She helps me not harangues me and I hate losing that. I told her straight out, I want her to give me a doctor with her "vision." We shall see. I just hope I get someone that speaks clear english. We have a of them that don't. It isn't bigotry, it is understanding what they are saying so you can participate in your care.

Maggie: We have two HP printers, both have fax, printing, photo and scanning and there are terrific. Only difference is the one on my computer is wireless. They do use a lot of ink I have to say that. Of course, I do print alot and in black, which is what we run out of all the time. In fact, I need one now. That is too bad about Applebees. Folks trying to control their weight have enough problems without having choices other that salad with ff or no dressing as a meal. If WW can have a bazillion cookbooks that are "diet" friendly, you would think restaurants could adapt.

Well, I am going to oust Jack out of his office so we can have breakfast. I missed my favorite show, "Burn Notice" on Thursday night and it is rebroadcast at 9 so I want to watch it before I get involved in cleaning and such.

Have a great Sunday all and hope it is sunny and warm where you are today! Faye

Good evening, ladies! It was 50 degrees today so I have hopes spring is just around the corner.

The quilt show is over, we took the quilts down, and can now rest up. I ended up spending a lot today on a very few things. I got my sewing machine trolley and matching supply carrier, subscriptions to quilting magazines for 2 years each, a special ruler to make Hunter's Star blocks, and a hand-made pair of taupe leather sandals. The sandals are made for people who have foot problems or are on their feet a lot. They felt great the instant I put them on my very tired feet.

Faye, I'm glad Jack is healed and soon you will have your procedure and then I insist your family stay healthy for a good long time!

Jean, Home shows are not what they used to be. I quit going to them several years ago. The new WW salad at Applebee's sounds really good - I'll have to give it a try.

Maggie, too bad you can record Will's sermon and send it to us.

I'm heating up some chili for supper - too tired to cook.

Have a great evening.

Good morning to you all! Sounds like we are all ready for spring and sandal weather. I know I sure am. It is really pretty here this morning and looks like it is going to warm up nicely.

Jean: The home shows used to be great, but seems in recent years they do tend to just have windows and such. Not everyone needs just windows in their homes. When we moved into the condo there was some ugly red brick on the fireplace and the mantel needed some loving care. We went and bought this spray for bricks and sprayed the bricks gray and used this textured spray and sprayed the mantel with this textured stuff. It tooks terrific and we didn't have to spend hundreds to fix an ugly fireplace. I was sort of amazed that it worked, but everyone that sees it doesn't know the bricks aren't gray but red. That ww salad does sound good.

Susan: I knew you would spend some quilting money besides pencil lead somewhere! Good for you! Chili sounds really good. I think it is one of those hearty soups that you can take from being really fattening and make into something very tasty and lowfat. It is especially good for someone who is not a veggie eater but likes soup. We are keeping our fingers crossed that no more accidents, etc. I am going to try and make my procedure for the first as Jack has th second off as Good Friday and then has the 5th off because it is MLK memorial day here. That will give me plenty of recoup time in case I have more problems than expected.

Maggie: I saw a house in the "ritsy" section of Memphis that had those I think they are called shaker wooden shingles. It was a huge house with lots of ups and downs and curves, etc. They were ripping one section off and replacing, then going to another section. I came by the house twice in about 4 days time and the last time I came past, they were still at it and had a quantity to go yet. I imagine they are probably still at it.

Alicia emailed me and said Jackson liked his Valentine's bag, put his aquarium tshirt on and wore it all day and watched the movie we bought him several times. It was "Secred of Nimh" and if you know that movie it is about rats and mice so you know it was brave of Nonny to send, even touch the box of that movie! I found it at Walmart and I was sure he didn't have that one. It was made way back when Jay and Kelly were little as I had bought the vcr version and they watched it a lot so I though Jackson might like it.

Well gals, I need to get some breakfast and then get to work in the house. Seems like time to do weekly cleaning has come right around again. Time sure does fly!
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! March has come in like a lamb. It's in the 50s today and the sun is shining. I see some bulbs are putting out shoots.

I went to Walmart and Kroger this morning. I was completely out of milk so had to go. I have Bible Study this evening. Now I am doing laundry.

Jean, I eat chili year round. I love the stuff. I hope you see signs of spring soon. I'm sure the grass will need to be cut by early April.

Maggie, it took us 3 hours to hang the quilts and 20 minutes to take them down. I won't breath a sigh of relief until I get them all back to their owners next week.

Dryer is calling so enjoy the rest of the day!

Good morning to you all! It is raining here right now, but I imagine it will clear up today.

Susan: Nothing is more welcome than when you start seeing the daffodils and the crocuses peek out. I can't wait for spring and summer.

Maggie: They swear the mid part of the country is going to get another bad snowstorm before it is all over. Let's hope they are wrong.

Jean: Hope you got to Souix City and back alright.

We are going to go to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. I have a coupon for 25% off our whole meal and it expires today. They have a great salad bar and I may get their small steak. I have been slipping and sliding and have to get my brain back on WW mentality. I need to get some fruit as I have run out again.

You all have a nice day. I am going to get my chores done and then run some errands. Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining and it's 19 degrees as I type. I can tell it is lighter earlier in the morning . . . just in time for daylight savings to begin in a few days. I need to do some much needed ironing and put together a ham loaf for lunch. I get hungry for something and it's usually in the freezer; by the time it thaws out I'm out of the mood.

Maggie -- You are a smart gal to fix a first aid kit for your vehicle. Bob has one that his insurance company puts together as well as a towing rope. We have so much snow that you can't see the cornstalks in the fields; it will be a long time before any flowers come peeking through. Someone saw a robin in Des Moines but so far none have shown up here.

Susan -- I'm hoping our flowers survived the winter and will come up eventually. Those in-the-know about yards, etc., have already issued warnings that grass will suffer from the weight of the snow this winter. We had some grass kill last year and the lawn service told Bob it was from the snow. There was a pile on the north side of the house that didn't melt until the very end; that was nothing compared to what we have now.

"Gma" -- I hope the snowstorm prediction is WRONG! This is Iowa and the weather changes every few hours so anything is possible. Somewhere along the way I heard that March is supposed to be a snowy month. Enjoy your dinner at Ruby Tuesdays; I wonder where that name came from?

I'm off to get dressed and plug in the iron. Have a terrific Tuesday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good morning, ladies! Waiting for rain and snow this afternoon and early tomorrow, but no accumulation. It's 39 degrees right now.

Jean, Ruby Tuesday's got it's name from a Rolling Stones song of that name. The chorus is: Goodbye, ruby tuesday Who could hang a name on you? When you change with every new day Still Im gonna miss you... A little trivia for today from www.chacha.com. The robins are back here, too.

Faye, I like the petite sirloin or the talapia at RT. They have a great salad bar.

Hi, Maggie.

Nothing happening in my corner of the world today.

Good morning all! It is pretty cold this morning. It ended up being cold and windy yesterday and poor Jack had to work outside all day in it. He came home pretty wiped out.

Susan: It is indeed. Good ole Rolling Stones. We had a nice dinner last night then came home and crashed for the evening. I went to bed early as I was having some discomfort, but didn't get much sleep. Just one of those things I guess.

Jean: Hope you enjoyed your ham loaf. How is that made, btw? I have never seen one. I sure hope you start warming up soon. I know you have to be tired of the cold and snow by now.

Nothing earth shattering going on here today. Jack has an eye appt on Saturday and I have to go in and have my new contacts checked at the same time. I then plan on going to Fresh Market and see what kind of fresh fruit they have available and stock up. Some things at the commissary are great and some stuff not so much.

You all have a great day and hopefully it will start warming up everywhere soon! Faye

Good morning, ladies! It's a cool 36 degrees this morning. There was an inch of snow in the night and now it is raining so it is a slushy mess out there. I think I'll stay in today.

Nothing on the agenda but a load of laundry and housework...how boring. I'm working on a new quilt design so that will be my reward for doing the other. It being Lent, today is a meatless day so I am making potato soup for lunch and salmon steak for dinner.

Faye, thanks for mentioning Jack's eye appointment. I keep forgetting to make mine and I called as soon as I read it.

Jean and Maggie - hello, I hope you didn't get any more snow.

Good morning to you all! It is chilly again this morning. I was expecting a warmup already, but it seems to be struggling getting here.

I had to run Jack's car (he took the mariner yesterday) across the street to the bbq place as poor Kelly's battery konked out. We drew a crowd, which was awful since I was in crummy clothing and my hair and makeup weren't done at all. In fact, Fortune's sweet old vet came striding out and put the jumper cables on telling Kelly he would always be at service to a pretty redhead! He is in his mid 70's!!! Anyway, we got her jumped but when she got home last night it died completely and had a dead cell so she had to buy a battery and one of her coworkers will install it for her. Her hubby is out of town until Saturday.
She should have asked Jack, I imagine he could have done it.

Jean: Sort of like meatloaf with ham, huh? I will have to try that if I can find somewhere that will grind ham up for me. Keep your fingers crossed, maybe spring is on its way for you.

Susan: Jack is going to get multifocal lenses like I have. They are really pretty terrific, but durn they are more expensive. I can buy 8 boxes at my regular online vision store for around $19 apiece single vision, multifocal are around $45 a box. Of course, you wear the multifocal for a month instead of 2 weeks so truthfully, they come out about the same. I found a really inexpensive place to get them. Walmart rips you off. They charge $60 a box!! We get a $150 contact allowance so I will buy two boxes from Walmart then just buy the rest online out of my own pocket. I can get 4 boxes for $155 and free shipping. That will give me more than a year's worth so tide me over until my next appt.

Well gals, I need to get to work. There is always something needing doing around here. Have a good Thursday all. Faye