[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

I am taking a break from doing chores and here I am checking in. The dogs are both outside lazing in the sun and all is well. I got the little things in my favorite spices that tend to clump and I know they will work for they are 100% food safe silica gel. I'll just have to remember that I put them in on the month of June so I can order fresh ones in April or May of next year.

SUSAN Nope, Beanie has excellent eyesight so he doesn't need glasses. I will get them both doggie goggle shades to wear when we have the top down on the Jeep though. They protect their eyes from the wind mostly and they look so cool with them on. Sounds like you had a yummy lunch and stayed within your points.

JEAN I don't take those jaw breakers out to get a drink just drink with them in my mouth. Right now I am drinking a soda and I usually drink Pepsi and it is tasting different ~ duh ~ I grabbed one of Will's diet Dr. Peppers which are good if you know what you are drinking. It's fine now that I know what I am drinking. I even moved something out of the way in the fridge to get to a Pepsi and got the wrong can.

GAIL The docs will get your system all straightend out and on an even keel now that they have more stats to work with. I bet you hair looks cute cut like you described. I am surprised your gal didn't tell you what she was doing the first time. Just assumed you wanted to be a-semetrical. She was being quizotic assuming you wanted it cut that way. Just wanted you to be stilin' dahlin'. Life is good. What in the world did they think offering Wayne 5bucks an hour less than he was making. I bet besides running out his jaw dropped.

My break time is over now.

[gma22]

Good morning ladies. It is going to be hot again today. Unlike you gals, we haven't had a break in our temps so the house does not cool down much. It was in the upper 70s early yesterday morning so I threw up the window in the bedroom and put the big fan in it and it cooled the bedroom off about 10 degrees which was much better than it was. It was hot last night for sure. Jack is at Lowes right now picking up the portable ac. I hope this does the trick to help the regular ac work more efficiently and cool down the house.

Maggie: I remember those things from when I was a kid. I have never been a big fan of "red hots" and candy like that so never did take to the fireballs. My uncle ran a country store about 3 blocks from our house. He had a ton of penny candy and lots of different gumballs. They were my thing when I was a kid. My favorite were these aqua colored ones that were coated in sugar and these yellow onest that had like a red tie dye to them. I would use my pennies to buy them and the store was on the way home from school so when I had a couple pennies my uncle would get them!

Susan: What kind of food is the happy belly just basic menu? You have such great seafood places there. I haven't been knitting because it is too hot to do it right now. We get the living room cooled down and I will get back to it.

Gail: Hopefully they will get you fixed up. You may need a pacemaker to regulate your heart rate. They fix that and you will certainly be feeling more rested and such. I am on a bp med that slows my heart rate and we have to take my bp often to make sure it isn't slowing it too much.

Jean: I loved teaching sunday school and always worked Bible school, but since the kids are grown and I am older, I probably wouldn't do it again. It takes a lot of stamina to work with children.

Well gals, I am going to go. Jack should back soon and I have to help him take a storm window down this morning before he goes to the doctor then on to work. Have a great weekend all. Faye

[GailR]

Happy Friday! Wayne was so excited today being Friday this morning! He's looking forward to the weekend because we're not going down to Va. Beach since I'm leaving on Monday morning to spend the day and that night with my Dad and then fetching my FIL the next day to take him back to Delaware. I'm feeling easier about bringing my FIL to my home now that I know that the hospital will have a wheelchair and a new walker with front wheel (insurance is paying) for him before he leaves. And Wayne and I discovered the pharmacy that is 5 minutes away from us have the other home care stuff he will need and the prices are those of Walmart (I've been doing research on pricing on-line). I know how much my FIL does not want to come to Delaware and I really do want to make his stay nice for him. He plans on staying 15 days at the most and if we can keep him here for that long we'll be lucky. I have a cookout planned for Father's Day weekend. And I'm going to make sure he sees his granddaughters and great-grandchildren as much as possible. And...(there are a lot of "ands" in this paragraph)...I want to take him to church with us. We have a lot of things planned for him but not overwhelmingly too much because I know it may be a bit too much for him (without him realizing it) since he's been in a controlled environment (hospital) since April 27.

It seems I've been so busy that I haven't had much time to freshen up the guest room. I need to go to the grocery store and post office this morning and then I have got to finish getting that room prepared! At least I have moved out all of my knitting stuff! Wayne is going to install more shelving for me inside the closet of our home office which will help me organize better.

Donna Faye,the last two days have been so hot here in Delaware. The last two days we have broken heat records. Yesterday, it was up to 97 degrees but my car said 100. Late last night we had a thunderstorm--mostly lightning and thunder; not much rain. It's supposed to reach 90 today and that is still hot in my book. I think of you on these hot days and know what you are going through with the heat and not being able to cool your house down properly. I am so grateful we were able to replace our ac and heating unit back in March. I hope the portable ac unit helps. It should. Gosh, I hate being hot at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. And then I retain fluid in this heat also. I would be telling an untruth if I told you I was not anxious about my heart. Right now the one thing I want most is to stay close to home but I've got to drive down to Va. Beach on Monday to fetch my FIL. I know life goes on but I am a homebody and when I sense that something is not right I want to be close to Wayne. I am on blood pressure meds now and that was increased when I saw my family doctor after my passing out episode.

Maggie, yeah...Wayne said even after he told the interviewer how much his making presently and what his work schedule is, the man kept talking like Wayne was going to take the job! My all-time favorite soda is Diet Dr. Pepper! Looooove it! Oh Lisa did explain to me what she was doing when she initially cut my hair but when she styled it, it looked so cute. But then the humidity got to it and everything fell....and then it looked just plain weird to me. I told her yesterday that I just may be one of those people who are set in her ways. She is such a sweetheart of a person. She has some severe health issues and the way she deals with it is an inspiration to me.

Jean and Susan, I want to say hello...I'll be back in here later...

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! It's another cool cloudy morning in my corner of the world. We did get a little rain during the night. I finally slept all night which is rare, so I feel pretty chipper this morning. I have a dental checkup this afternoon and then we are heading for Sioux City. Bob needs some "nice" shorts to wear in public, we'll meet some friends for an early supper, and then go to an Elvis play/program with them.

Gail -- I'm so glad your blood work came back ok. I know I, too, would be thinking about the heart issues. It's good you have an appointment set up for that. You are being so thoughtful in preparing for your FIL to come stay with you. I hope he appreciates all you do for him. I can just picture Wayne trying to get out of the interview as fast as possible. I can't imagine the interviewer would be dumb enough to think Wayne would change jobs for less money and worse working conditions.

"Gma" -- I am to say this, but our furnace came on last night! It was raining and so windy that it was just plain chilly in the house. Does Jack have the whole day off or will he go back to work after his appt. with the doctor? It'd be nice if he gave Jack another week of light duty. I hope the portable air conditioners will give you some relief from the heat.

I've got a load of laundry that should be ready for the dryer. I need to get dressed and do some decluttering. Have a fantastic day and enjoy!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[GailR]

Jean, I'm sitting here paying bills and thought while I was sitting at the desk I'd pop in and see if anyone came in...and there you are! I'm glad y'all are not melting in this heat. Wayne said the interviewer talked mostly about himself! Anyway, I think Wayne appreciates his job a little more now. I have to admit to you that I'm not really looking forward to my FIL coming to stay with us; however, he will never know it. I feel a little resentment towards his selfishness and thoughtlessness towards Wayne who tries so hard with his Dad. Wayne and I will get through this.

Well...got to go to post office...

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies! Not quite so hot today but the low 90s non the less. They will be here Monday to put in my new AC/Heat. I sure will be glad. Yesterday was really the first day I was really uncomfortable. It got up to 88 in the house and only cooled down to 83 last night. I think my brain is about fried - I went to the Y this morning with no towel so I came home. It's bearable right now but I'll be leaving in about an hour to go to lunch and the quilt shop, Walmart, the library and Kroger and then I come home and put the groceries away and if it's still too hot I'll go to dinner. It's supposed to cool down to 72 tonight.

One of my quilting buddies died 2 years ago and her husband is finally ready to get rid of her quilting things so 3 of us are going to his house to have a yard sale tomorrow. Am I nuts or not? The air quality hasn't been good so if its bad tomorrow, I might have to come home before its over.

Faye, I hope the portable AC works the way you want. How's Jack's foot?

Jean, I so envy you with the colder temps. Could you send some my way?

Gail, I hope they get things resolved quickly for you so that you get to feeling better, especially with having to cope with your FIL. My feet are so swollen I can't get my shoes on, only my crocks. I have Pulmonary Hypertension (high blood pressure in my lungs, enlarged right heart, normal blood pressure in the rest of my body) from the asthma.

Well, keep cool or warm depending on where you are.

[gma22]

Sheesh I just spent 45 minutes in the heat making homemade dog food!!! Fortune will absolutely not eat the regular dog food and I have tried 4 types of canned and dry. So, I guess I am going to be making homemade. He is having ground sirloins, peas and rice for the next two weeks than I will rotate and give him carrots, chicken and pasta, then turkey potatoes and some other veggie. He is supposed to get a carb, a protein a veggie so there you go. Went and found some fairly simple dog food recipes that fit the bill, read all about making sure he has quality nutrition, he takes supplements to which help so I am not a homemade dog food mama. My kitchen looks like i put on a reunion and though he scarfed his new food there are little rice pellets on the rug in the living room and around his bowl I have to clean up, UGH.

Gail: You hang in there, things will even out for you.

Susan: I know you have to be anxious for your new ac. I am really hoping this one works. It is sitting here waiting to be put in when Jack gets home from work this afternoon. If it is laid down, you have to sit it up and let it be in the upright position for at least 6 hours and Jack had to lay it down to get it in the suv so it is sitting here waiting on him. It will be a good 9 hours when he gets it in so it should do fine. He went at 6 am to Lowes and got the last one they had. The guy said they have been flying out of the store. I bet with this heat.

Jean: Jack has to go back to the doctor next week again but he hasn't let me know whether or not he is still on light duty or not. He said the foot feels better as walking doesn't cause excruciating pain like it did, but it is still very sore. One of the problems right now is that the overnight temps don't dip low enough to cool the house off so the next morning we still have a house that is 85+ degrees to start off with.

Well I need to clean up the mess in the kitchen and the dogs dribbles. Faye

[GailR]

Here I am again. I'm taking a break from getting the guest room ready. It's really not in that much disorder (the knitting is out of there) but I'm slow as I get sidetracked very easily! I'll see an old magazine and next thing you know I'm sitting on the floor cross-legged and thumbing through the (knitting) magazine! So I'm taking a break from taking a break!

I missed a phone call from the Director of Social Services at the hospital where my FIL is staying. We've talked before. Nice lady. I think she's ready to get rid of my FIL! So I called her back and now I'm waiting for her to call me again.

Donna Faye, I've heard that once a dog eats people food they won't go back! My next-door neighbor's daughter feeds her dogs people food too. Bless your heart, you're good puppy mommy! I'm sure your ac unit will work once it's installed. I hope Jack's foot is feeling better.

Susan, you've got the idea--if its too hot go somewhere its cool! The heating and air conditioning guy phoned me this morning and wanted to know how our new unit is doing and I told him FABULOUS! He was happy to hear that! Bless your heart, Susan, you have a lot going on with your body! I hate swollen feet but what I hate more than anything is this time I'm going through now of sort've knowing what my heart is doing or not doing and getting the right regimen started whatever that might be.

Yeah Jean, send us all some of that cold air you have in your part of the USA.

Okay...back to doing what I was doing before....oh....btw, I went to WW. I lost .4 of a pound but please don't get excited for me--I'm still tackling a few pounds I gained a couple of months ago. I'm maintaining in a range of five pounds and this has to stop. I know I need to be good to myself and lose some more weight because we all know how too much weight hurts the heart.

Everyone, stay cool....except for you Jean, I hope you're warm enough!

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

The Weather Channel on my Blackberry tells me it is the high 60's and not to get higher than 77 on this day. Oh so fine with me. We got some good news from the fixit place where Will took the Jeep in early this morning. When the guy first drove it and how it behaved it indicated it needed a rebuilt tranney which would cost around $3000. I din't think so for that Jeep isn't that old but who am I for I am certainly not a mechanic. Well after tearing into the thing the mechanic just called and said that it was not the trannie after all but the "cylinoid box thingie in the shifter" that made it think the temp was over 110 and making it jerk like the trannie was going out and that would run us around $600 to $800 to have it fixed depending on the parts, etc. The part is coming from CO and will be here tomorrow. Yipekio I am a happy camper. I just got my new WW magazine and there are some good sounding pops and mini cone recipes in it which I will have to try. I got an email from a WW leader friend today also and it contained a recipe for Forzen Yogurt Pops which sounds yummy also. Tis the season. Wonder what Beanie got into for he is sneezing up a storm. Might have an alergy to something out back he stuck his nose in. He is part pig the way he likes to root around and part cat the way he is so nosey. He can't root around in our garden though for he hasn't figured out how to get through that fence. What a fun puppy he is.

DONNA FAYE I sure do hope your new AC will ease the temp in your place. That high heat with the high levels of humidity are hard to take. Been there done that. Sounds like you found some yummy tasting dog food recipes. We hardly ever give our dogs anything from the table for we don't want that type of "begging" to begin. They are real good about just staying in the back when we are stopped at a fast food joint and don't bother our eating at all. But if you have one with a troubled tummy you have to do what you are doing. Will just bought a $50 dollar bag of food for Ragg Mopp for he was out. Beanie still eats a different kind of chow since he is still a puppy. They get a small treat when they come in after being in the back yard for quite awhile. Beanie caught on and went out then right back in ~ so we stopped that little behavior. Just ignored him. So he knows now he only gets a treat after he has really been out back. He is such a character and loves his people. Good way to start him out.

SUSAN Yep, you stay in where it is cool. I am sure you are looking forward to Monday with glee. Good that you have made plans on going to places that are cool in the meantime.

JEAN Are you in the cooler temps today?

GAIL My mom is in her mid 90's and just recently had a heart regulator installed. Her blood pressure had been running low but she feels great now and has energy she had forgotten she had. Modern meds have come a long way to make quality of life improvements. I am going to say it anyway ` for that .4 loss of a pound. Every bit counts on the way back down. Forget you had some gains. Rejoice on the fresh way down my friend.

I am sipping a sf ff latte Will just brought in to me and it is oooo so good! Earlier he brought lunch after being at the car fixit place. He brought KFC and was so thoughtful of me and got me the grilled chicken which is only 4 points+ instead of the extra crispy that packs a whopping 13 points+. They put some secret spices on that grilled chicken that makes it really good. I ate the potatoes for 3 points+ and the cole slaw for 4 and gave him my wonderful 5 point+ biscuit. I feel like I had a good meal. That leaves me enough points for a good dinner. Life is good.

FROZEN YOGURT POPS
3 bananas
24 oz low-fat strawberry yogurt
16 oz frozen strawberries, thawed with the juice
8 oz canned crushed pineapple, with the juice
Dice bananas
Mix in other ingredients
Place into muffin-tin cups and freeze around 3 hours.
Transfer cups to freezer bags.
When ready to eat, remove the individual cup liner
Thaw 10 minutes.
Yield = around 20
1½ points+ each


Type at y'all later. Have a great afternoon which is the eve of a weekend.

[gma22]

Good morning ladies. We have commissary day today so we are up and at 'em. I decided I wanted to get the shopping done today and the errands tomorrow. We are going to replace the two blinds in the master bedroom tomorrow instead of today and I need new ink cartridge and other errands to run.

The portable ac unit works just fine in conjuction with the fans in the living room. Our living room and kitchen open into each other so it is like cooling two rooms. Jack couldn't buy the bigger unit I wanted as they only had this one and nothing else. The heat has caused a run on them I guess. I am sleeping downstairs until they get more in and we can put one in our master bedroom as it gets stifling hot up there. It cooled the house downstairs off 10 degrees though over all and probably 20 in the living room so it is very comfortable and the big fan keeps it all circulating. The way the unit goes in the window you hardly notice it. It has a thing that you lift your window about 2 1/2 inches and put this long piece of hard plastic across the window then put the window back down on top of it. It has an oblong hole where there vent funnel goes and the the funnel connects to the vent hose which connects to the unit which sits on the floor on wheels. The only thing you see on the outside would be this piece of plastic at the bottom of the window and like I said it is just a little over two inches and sort of looks like a very wide blind slat. In the winter, you can either remove it completely, or take out the hose and slice the plastic thing closed. It is a pretty cool thing actually. It doesn't drip or leak if you follow the directions, puts out great cool air and actually has a humidifier for winter, you don't have to drain it or anything as it has a system that recirculates the water through the system. You can't beat it for the price.

Jack is upstairs and Fortune is enjoying his homemade breakfast. Only problem is I think I am going to have to make the individual servings bigger! He is really eating now, thank goodness. He will be on the antibiotics for about another week then we will be done with that. I called the vet yesterday to ask her to order him another bottle of the Epakitin, which is the powder for his kidneys. She asked me if I would like a free bottle (the stuff is over $30 for a bottle and lasts about a month) and I said sure. Come to find out, this elderly lady had just bought a bottle for her little dog last Saturday and they had to put it to sleep on Sunday so she told them to please give it to someone who could use it!

Kelly emailed and said Thomas wants his birthday dinner at Melting Pot again this year. I think this is the third year he has had it there. It is an enjoyable time as both sets of grandparents, his dad's sister and them all get to have dinner together. He wants money this year, but I bought him a cute pair of cufflinks as he collects them too. Jackson's birthday party is today so I am sure they will have fun. They have some balloon person coming out and one of those bounce houses. I am sure they will have the hot tub going and are having a bbq and such too so they should have a nice time. Wish we could have gone, but we had to get this ac business fixed. We have spent nearly $1000 on it between the house unit and the one we bought and the house unit still isn't completely cooling the condo.

GRRRRR they aren't opening the pool this year and I am major irked. I can go to Tom and Kelly's but it is easier walking across the courtyard, besides they don't seem to do anything but lawn care, garbage pick up and a paint job every 6 years so where is the money going. I am so fed up with these people. They might as well just tear the thing out of the ground and cement it over.

Maggie: I'll tell ya a car can cost you a mint, but if you keep the maintenance up on it, it can last you for a long time. We need to take ours in for its first brake pad replacement. When Jack got the oil change a couple weeks ago and a tire rotation they said it is about time for that. Glad the repair wasn't the more expensive route. I got the new magazine too but haven't looked through it yet. I have to get going on knitting now that we have the heat issue under control.

Gail: You should sell your yarn, either on Ravelry or knittinghelp.com. If you have enough of one color to do something with it. Just charge a low price plus the cost of shipping. I am sure you would get rid of it fairly quickly that way and make some bucks. I know right now you are swamped with everything, but it is something to think about.

Well gals, I need to get some breakfast and get a shower and such. You all have a wonderful day!!! Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun has been in and out a few times; it is a cool 50 degrees in my neighborhood this morning. The furnace was running when I got up. Bob is on his way to the lake with a couple stops in between. He needs paint and oriole food at Menard's then is going to look at a fishing boat "for the grandkids," but I think he wants to play with it too. At least if he buys a boat it will go to the cabin and not here first.

Our road trip to Sioux City was so fun. We met our friends for supper and then did a drive down the interstate by the flooded Missouri on our way to the play. You just can't believe what it looks like, it is just plain scary to me. The play was a musical with all Elvis songs; the gist was that boy gets girl and lives happily ever after. The cast was made up of college and high school kids with mega talent. We stopped for ice cream afterwards and 3 of the cast members came in while we were there. Bob started talking to the female lead and she has so much personality. They have been practicing for 3 months, 5 days a week, for 5 hours each day. I'm not sure how the college kids managed that because some of them were from across the state.

Susan -- I noticed we posted 4 minutes apart a few posts ago so I missed your's. It is way too hot where you live! I'm sure you will be so happy when your new air conditioner is installed and working. It's nice of you to help with your deceased friend's yard sale. I'm sure her hubby really appreciates your help. I just found a box of my mother's knitting needles, odds 'n ends of thread, and sewing items. I'm guessing one set of needles is wood just from the looks of them.

Gail -- on your loss at weigh in! ANY loss is a GREAT loss! Elderly people can be just like dealing with little kids again. I've saved magazines thinking I would go back and read articles or try recipes. I just found another pile and they are going out for recycling on Monday! Lately I've been marking a page #, on the cover, if I want to cut out something. I do take some to the hospital.

Maggie -- I'm glad your Jeep "fix" will be a less expensive one that you first thought. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Since they are frozen I plan to give them a try. I've decided I just can't have "fun food" in the house because once I start eating I don't stop. Even the WW treats are too tempting, and I have NO will power these days.

"Gma" -- I'm glad your new air conditioner is helping to keep your livingroom and kitchen area cooler. I hope you can get another one for the bedroom soon. I'm so glad Fortune likes his homemade food. You are such a good doggy mom! It was nice of the vet to offer you the free meds, I would feel the same way if I'd just paid for expensive pet meds. It's amazing that more people living in the condos don't pitch a royal fit about the way the pool is run, or not run in this case. For what you have to pay in maintenance and fees, the board should be on top of things like that. How often do you have to replace brake pads? We've never had to do that, but we don't do much big city driving either. I hope the commissary has everything on your list today!

Well, I've rattled on long enough. It's time to get busy and start making my "going to MN list" for next weekend. I take a lot of my own favorite kitchen things, as well as ingredients to make meals. It's no vacation as far as I'm concerned. I hope you all have an enjoyable day today!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

Good morning ladies. I have at it since 5:30 am making dog food, cutting up and bagging and storing fruit, doing dishes, cleaning up the mess and on and on. Fortune now has a choice of gr sirloin, rice and peas, or turkey, orzo and mixed veggies or chicken, orzo and carrots! I bought diced potato to make a group, but the box of orzo made so much I thought I would use it up. I was going to freeze it, but the chicken only made a weeks worth and I don't want to have to do this again until 3 weeks from now so just went ahead and made up turkey. I had bought this yummy carving board cooked turkey for myself for lunch but sacrificed for my DOG!!! I bagged it in individual freezer bags and put it in the little basket in the freezer so I can pull one each morning for the next day. He sure does love the burger one so hopefully he will like the rest. We now have chopped up watermelon, a couple canteloupes, which I haven't cut up, I eat them in sections, cleaned and containered fresh raspberries, fresh blueberries and fresh strawberries. I also have some pears and nectarines and bananas so I am all set. As a treat I bought a could cans of fat free ready whip to make the fruit more like dessert at dinner.

Jack is upstairs at the moment fighting with the new blinds to get them in. We were hoping we could just leave the old brackets in and buy new ready made white blinds and hang them up, but from the pounding and the "not so good at the moment" comment Jack made a few minutes ago when I asked him how it was going, He is probably having to take everything down and start from scratch. These blinds are ancient and because I have curtains in front of them and Jack can't stand having them open, I rarely pay attention to them, which means I am terrible about dusting them and such. Poor Susan would probably die coming to my house from blind dust! It is one of those chores I hate to do so basically avoid doing it though I know it is important to do it. He just dragged the old ones down in pieces. He said when he took it down the whole thing fell apart, but we have nice new blinds up now. What he was mad about was that one window was a tiche smaller than the other one so the right one, with the crappy blind in it, would not go in. He finally was able to trim it, but said it may never come out of there now!

Jack grilled steaks out last night and I made augratin potatos to go with asparagus. He bought hickory chips to put in the grill and boy did it make those steaks yummy. To keep from heating up the kitchen I put the potatoes in the microwave and liked them even better than in the oven. Tonight is chicken casserole night, which is one of Jack's favorites. It is a snap to make and great tasting and way low in points.

I found some beautiful pork chops to stuff, some decent premade lower fat crab cakes and some gorgeous shrimp. I bought a can of salmon to make salmon cakes so we are getting more seafood in our diets too, which is nice. I get tired of the same stuff so at least this will give us some variety.

You sure do take advantage of your ac and not even think about it until you don't have it. This thing keeps the living and kitchen area really nice and cool and even the rest of the downstairs is tolerable instead of like a furnace. A unit upstairs for the bedroom will fix that right up too, though I am going to start opening the window after Jack goes to work in the morning when it is still cool and put our big fan in front of it to draw in the cool air and cool off the bedroom then go up and close up everything before he gets home. He has this real thing about anyone seeing in so all our windows have blinds and curtains on them.

We made the national papers again yesterday. Just finished up a murder trial of this guy here who murdered his wife and chopped her up. He was found guilty a couple days ago and the penalty phase is going on now and into next week. He is black and his mama is crying all about him going to prison or getting the needle that he is her only son now that his brother is dead and on and on about him being a good boy, yeah right. This guy has SEVENTEEN prior convictions and has been in and out of prison since he was a kid. Total piece of trash and I hope they put him to death He actually had the gaul to blame this on his then 12 year old step daughter who he said killed her mom and begged him to help get rid of the body so he chopped it up for her.

Jean: Sounds like you had a grand time. Did you do OG for dinner??? The play sounded like it was a lot of fun. I am sure looking forward to getting out of here in Sept for a week and I hope the Elvis tribute artist is decent. Jack will enjoy the Oak Ridge Boys and the other shows will be fun I think. I can't believe it is that cold there. I have no clue about the brakes. Our Mariner has around 35000 on it now so he showed Jack and said it is time for a maintenance on the brakes. As usual, something you said reminded me of a Lucy show. She and Ethel get stuck cooking for Ricky and Fred on some camping trip and they turn the tables on them. I don't know why men think trips like this are fun for the women as they are usually harder work that cooking in their own kitchens and vacation should be about relaxing not working, which means not cooking all the time. Well, good luck with all the packing anyway.

I guess I better go. We did all the running around yesterday so we could relax today. I am going to sit and knit and read. I have a ton of projects to get done for gifts. You all have a wonderful Sunday!!! Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies! Only 78 degrees right now, but they are calling for a high of 92 today - and 67 tonight! And then we are cooling down all week into the low 80s.

I thought I was going to be cooked at the yard sale yesterday. We ran it from 9-3 and sold -- over $1,800 worth of stuff and that was just the stuff from the first floor. Fabric was $1 a yard, books $3 and about a million pieces of tupperware at 50 cents each. We gave a lot of stuff away, too. We told Robert no more yard sales until it cools off in the Fall.

We had thunderstorms Friday afternoon and last night and that cooled things down and gave us some much needed rain. We are into water restrictions now so my grass will not get watered. Some places have already declared a drought. We have had about 10 inches of rain this year and we normally have 19.

Faye, I'm so glad you have found a solution to keep your house cool. I've kept all my windows open (close the first floor at night). I tried keeping them closed one day thinking it would keep the heat out - yep it heated the house like an oven. You'd die if you came in my house right now - not from the heat but its like a pig sty because I haven't done much housework for the time I've been without AC. It's dusty. I've kept up with the kitchen and bathrooms and laundry, but that's about it. Come Wednesday I'll be cleaning like a demon in the lovely cool AC. If you have a problem with your raspbetties molding, it could be because you washed them. You shouldn't do that until you are ready to eat them. My husband taught me that and it works. Do you have a recipe for your potatoes in the microwave?

Jean, I just bought a set of wooden knitting needles to make my scarf. I like them better than the metal ones. Men - any reason to be able to get a boat without saying they really want one. Fun for all! That play sounds great. It's amazing what kids can do.

Hello Maggie and Gail!

Enjoy your day!

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's another cloudy, rainy, windy day in my corner of the world. We went to church; we only have one service, on Sunday, during the summer and it's an hour later than we usually go; it muddles up the whole morning for us. Today was confirmation . . . and communion . . . and extra hymn singing . . . and the Bible School kids shared their music they learned this past week; all to the total of an hour and 20 minutes! We went early so we could sit in our "assigned" seats which added another half hour to the mix. Several older people got up and left after an hour. The confirmation kids had a reception afterwards so I'm sure some of the people spent another hour plus doing that. We came home!

"Gma" -- I just chuckle at Fortune's menu choices. Like I said before, you are a good doggy mom! It sounds like you can have "fruit of choice" at your house. I've had mini blinds in the bathroom and finally pitched them because I hated cleaning them. I gave up the window when we remodeled, and I do miss it. Do you keep your blinds and curtains closed during the day too? I like to look outside if nothing else to see which way the wind is blowing. We didn't eat at the OG the other night; we opted for the little bar/restaurant in Bob's hometown. The food is good, but definitely not OG atmosphere. Then we had time to drive by and look at the flood waters on our way to the play. I try to make a couple casserole meals while in MN, we eat out at a nice restaurant one night, and the rest of the time is either fish or sandwiches of some sort. Since my "mom" broke her hip and is still using a cane, I told her not to worry about food this time. It wouldn't hurt any of us to skip a meal or two! Bob is good about helping with whatever in the kitchen but it's still up to me to decide what to fix. Do you use a recipe for your microwave au gratin potatoes?

Susan -- Wow! You really did well on the yard sale profit! I thought you were just selling your friend's quilting items but it sounds like her hubby was getting rid of other things too. If you are having water restrictions, it's too bad Sioux City couldn't pipe some of the river water to you! Bob said the boat and motor was rather "ratty" and had been sitting in the farmer's grove for a few years. He would have to do a lot of clean up work on it, as well as overhaul the motor which he doesn't want to take the time to do. He's hoping maybe we'll see one on our trip to MN.

Maggie and Gail -- What is on your agenda today?

Not much else is newsy so I should go work on another SOS box. That project is slowing down because I'm thinking more about MN lists: what food to fix, clothes to pack etc.. With this crazy weather I may be taking warm and warmer clothing! Enjoy the rest of your day and evening!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[gma22]

SCALLOPED/AU GRATIN POTATOES this makes about 5 1/2c servings
you will have to figure the new points. It is 3 pts on old scale.

1 tbl margarine
1 tbl flour
1 c skim milk
for au gratin's 1/2 c grated 2% cheddar
1/2 large onion minced
2 cans sliced new potatoes (I prefer these because you never have to worry they don't get cooked and they are firmer and hold together better)
salt to taste (I don't use salt in recipes because of myself and Jack so don't know how much to say to put in)

empty potatoes into a collander and rinse well, then place in baking bowl or dish along with onions, stir to mix then set aside

melt margarine in a small sauce pan, then add flour and stir until it is thick like paste, add milk and whisk until smooth no lumps and thickening, add cheese here if making au gratin's and continue to mix until cheese is melted into the roue, then pour over potatoes and mix it all well and level it out.

Bake 350 for one hour or 15-18 minutes in the microwave. If microwave baking cover bowl stir at the halfway point, then continue cooking without a cover on it.