[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! It's a pleasant 68 degrees with a nice breeze this morning. It would be nice if that would last for a few days but I'm not holding my breath. I'll be leaving for church in a bit, and if all goes well should be done in less than an hour. The first Sunday and the Sunday after the 10th, when the automatice withdrawals come in, are the biggest $$ days.

"Gma" -- I slept in until 6 this morning! I'm glad you got to yesterday as I know how much you enjoy it. Your sweater is coming right along and I'm sure you are anxious to have it finished. I must admit our WM has a better selection of WW frozen items than either grocery store. I also noticed that WM is adding height to some of their shelves. They must be getting more merchandise that they discontinued awhile back. What irritates me is that some of my preferred items, or size of, are not available in all the stores so I end up making multiple stops. I hope the little boy found his home AND that your new neighbors are good ones!

I need to get going. Hope you all have a marvelous cool Monday!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is a beautiful day in the Heartland and this week is projected to only have two days in the 100's. We shall see won't we when it comes. Will has gone with the dogs. He will first drop them off at their groomer for a hair cut and bath and then he will go to his groomer for a shampoo and haircut. My hair doesn't need a trim just yet so I opted to stay home. Since to day is my weigh day I am happy to say I am down another pound. I would love to be like Donna and lose in chunks but, alas, I am just me and I lose in little incriments. I have yet decided just what it is I will get into this day but I have time yet to decide. Today is sheet washing day so I have stripped the bed and will let it air this day before making it this evening. I've gotten that much done so far this day.

DONNA FAYE Is it easier to make the dog food now that you have done it a few times? Your little one seems to be thriving nicely on what you make and hasn't been ill of late which is terrific. Sounds like your sleeping habits are keyed to the dogs now and you will be a very early riser now. What time do you go to bed at night? My inner clock is set to stay up late and get up late. That sweater is going to be georgeous! Sounds like you are almost finished with it now. Be sure and show us a picture. I too like the LQ dinners better than the WW ones. However, Will buys what is "on sale" or what I have coupons for, since I don't eat them often at all. But there are some tasty ones for sure. BTW did you check into that pur kitchen faucet attachment that takes those flavor drops? I think you would really like one of those.

JEAN Nice that you have an easy day with the money count. You can be in and out and about quickly. Wall*Mart is probably getting more goods from China to sell in it's stores. Speaking of sizes ~ I needed a small amount of applesauce for something I was baking and had that on my list. In my head I was thinking of those small lunch sized containers. Well what came into my kitchen was a large jar. When I asked him about it he said to just use what I needed and freeze the rest because that jar was so much cheaper than those little containers. Well, I used what I needed and froze what I didn't use in an ice cube tray to use later. Like he bought a huge 6 pack of selectasize paper towels and said that it was cheaper than the three pack. Smaller now days is more expensive. I understand the marketing end of it but just how much more shrink wrap does it take to wrap 3 more rolls in the bundle. The six pack was actually cheaper than the 3 pack. Go figure.

SUSAN & GAIL Hope this Monday day is going well with you.

Type at y'all later.

[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon, ladies! Only 88 degrees this day so I am happy about that. We had a storm come through last night.

I get Hungry Girl's newsletter and thought I'd share this link with you - you really can't trust the calorie counts at sitdown restaurants. Surprisingly, fast food is pretty much in the ballpark. Everything was tested more than once. For example, Olive Garden's Minestrone is listed as 100 calories when it's actually 256. That can sure put a crimp in counting points! http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness...ted/49517614/1

Haven't done anything but go to the library today and some boring housework. Tomorrow is work and then River Country Quilt Guild so some fun.

Faye, it has to be cheaper to make Fortune's food than pay the vet bills when he is sick. You could probably make a little extra money selling it. I hope you get some decent neighbors for a change.

Jean, I like most of the LC but especially the Spa Cuisine ones. I love their pizza but I don't have it often because at 8 and 9 points, it's too pricey when you only get 29 points a day. I saw in the paper that WM is adding more food items and more organic stuff.

Maggie, I'm with Will on the Applesauce - the individual ones are more than the big jar. It keeps quite well in the fridge for several weeks without freezing. These days you really have to be a savy shopper.

Hi, Gail!

Have a great day!

[Jean]

Maggie -- It has become very humid this afternoon but only 86 degrees according to the Weather Bug. What project did you decide to do today? I sorted through some papers in a drawer; I save stuff thinking I may "need" it so if I haven't, then I pitch. I've used the smaller paper towels for years; they are just the right size most of the time. I do buy the individual applesauce and fruit cups which is habit from taking my lunch over the years. I've had things get shoved to the back of the shelf and then I end up pitching them cuz they're old.

Susan -- Thank you for sharing the link from HG. That's enough to spoil the eating out fun. If I know we are going to eat out, I try to save most of my points for that meal. I just started a new library book and think I've read it before, but I'm not sure yet. The characters are in other books by the same author so could just be familiar from that. I know you will enjoy the River County Quilt Guild tomorrow. Is that the county you live in?

Gail -- What are you up to today?

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Started doing an exercise program this day and I did some reps with my “heavy hands” for my upper arms. Starting slow and working up to more reps and when it gets “easy” I will change the end weights. Right now they are heavy enough. I have a page out of some magazine (I forget which one for I have had it for such a long time) called “Say Farewell to Flabby Arms” which has pictures of a gal doing 9 different exercises holding one-pound weights. It is a 3 day a week 20-minute exercise plan designed by Linda Allen, a TV fitness expert from Chicago. And I have a page out of somewhere that shows the right way and wrong way to hold the hand held weights while doing arm exercises. Two soup cans or grapefruits work just as well if you don’t have weights. Directions are for every exercise do three sets of 10 for each arm. You can bet your sweet bippy that I will start with only one set for each arm and work up to the three. I imagine all of us could use some arm work so look for a copy in your mailbox. If you don’t want it toss it. I will get them in the mail tomorrow so look for a large white envelope in your mailbox soon.

SUSAN That is naughty of those restaurants to not put out the correct information. Thanks for the site ~ I used to get her mailings and then they stopped ~ OH maybe when I had my computer worked on and they deleted some things. Anyway I signed up again. I really like her work and probably told you before I have 3 of her books. Thanks for the heads up. I know you will be having fun tomorrow at your quilt guild.

JEAN Today has been going through my exercise material and getting a program set up that I can start in slowly and build up. I have been putting this off for too long. I was doing well then tapered off and quit. Shame on me. But I am back at it again and that is a good thing and chose to start on my arms plus do some walking then work in some other things. I was exercising my best when I had that Nordic Track Ski Machine.

Time for me go go start dinner. Oven baked pork chops and a nice salad and some veggie I haven't yet decided on. Type at y'all later

[gma22]

Good morning to you ladies. We had a hard thunderstorm that knocked out power for 2 1/2 hours. I had dinner in the oven and it totally messed that up and it got very, very uncomfortable in the condo. We had the door open, but it was awful. Then Jack went upstairs to get something and water was dripping on his head from inside the attic door, which pulls down at the top of the stairs. He couldn't see a whole lot, but he said the pan that sits beneath the water heater was dry so it wasn't the water heater. We called the managment company and someone is supposed to call in the next day or two to come look at the roof and such, but the fact is, if it isn't dripping where do you look? I wondering if it is around the chimney somewhere.

I am sooooooo over having two dogs. They are driving me stark raving nuts. Fortune is standing here barking because he wants to be fed and I refuse to feed him until at least 6:30. I am trying to get him on a new schedule so he isn't waking Tom and Kelly up at 4:30 when they keep him. They are due in tomorrow night so we will take Marty back tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they will have our car done and we can pick it up and take back the rental too. They told Jack Wednesday so hopefully they will have it done. I need to get back to normal. I am so sorry I haven't gotten around to mailing your slippers. I just feel like I am running around in circles at the moment. Trying to keep the two of them out of trouble, do my chores and cleaning and run errands and stuff and I am cuckoo at the moment. Luckily, when Fortune is at their house, Kelly and Tom work during the day so at least gets away from them. I know Fortune is a handful as he always wants to sit next to you or on top of your or whatever and when he wants something is pretty insistent about it where Marty is not like that. Marty has barked at us, but that is because he wants treats or a a couple times wants out. Fortune "communicates" more! Of course, when it is just he and he doesn't have to share attention, you don't know he is around!

Susan: I read the article about the restaurants too. Jack and I figure the best bet is to not eat out and if you do, then it should be a night where pts don't matter, something special in other words. The truth is, unless you are fixing it, you don't know what is going into it so you best bet is stay home and cook. No doubt about it that making his food is better than having him sick. I don't mind at all, it is just yesterday they were underfoot with me in the kitchen making it hard to chop veggies and cook the meat and rice.

Jean: It is so humid here (97%) at the moment if you could squeeze the air you would get water! It is horrible outside. I ask Jack if he wanted to go swimming tonight and he said yes and I imagine he will need it after working today.

I gotta run. It doesn't look like my dog is going to shut up so I need to feed him before he wakes up the neighborhood! Have a good one. Faye

[GailR]

Good morning everyone!

Not a whole lot has been happening around here...and THAT can be a very good thing!

Donna, I hope nothing serious is wrong anywhere in your condo with that drip. One morning, not long after we moved into this house, I walked down the hall and noticed a drip coming through the crack of the pull down stairs to the attic. Wayne went up there immediately and he found that it was raining so hard and it was windy, outside it was coming through the vent under the roof. What did he do for it? Placed a bit of plywood up there and it stopped! Last night, my oldest daughter phoned and said their ac unit died. Thankfully, they can afford to replace it and a new ac/heating system is being installed tomorrow. It has been so hot and humid here. We did get some rain late yesterday afternoon and last night and it has cooled things off a bit but more hot weather is on its way. Wayne wants a puppy but everytime we talk about it we say now is not the time because both of us are a little nervous that his Dad may need us and we really don't want the responsibility of schlepping a puppy around with us in the car.

Maggie, congrats to you on your weight loss. Good job! Equally important is doing the exercising. Good for you! I used to have a Nordic ski machine. I ended up giving it to my oldest daughter.

Jean, all this talk about cleaning out drawers and pitching stuff reminds me of a project I need to get done and that is to store the pots and pans I use regularly in a more "Gail-friendly" place (easily reached) and place the stuff I use only once or twice every six months somewhere else. It's getting difficult for me to get down on my knees and stretch halfway inside my corner shelf. Where there is no light. I'm all for using those smaller paper towels--have been using them for years now. I often buy individual sized foods: applesauce, pudding, jello, fruit packed in its juice, and also buy individual potatos for microwaving (which taste as good as when you bake it in the oven) which cut down on waste for us.

Susan, thank you for the link. I've always suspected about the food that is cooked in sit-down restaurants. How do they know that each serving is the same? And don't all cooks cook just a little different? And some people are more generous with their dishing out of servings?!

Well, today is going to be exciting. I'm going to pick up an order for Wayne at a parts department at a dealership. Gonna pick up the fuel injectors that he ordered. Oh yeah...exciting!

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining and it's promising to be another hot humid day. I am feeling lazy this morning. Ernie and I watched the Today Show longer than we usually do. I should be thinking about food for the weekend, and making a list. Beth will be coming here Saturday morning and we will all go to the lake to visit with Bob's brother and family from MT. Beth, and kids, will spend the night here and then back home early, on Sunday, to go to Will's family reunion. We'll probably head back to the lake after church since that group will head back to MT on Monday. That is a 12+ hour ride, one way, for a weekend at the lake. Kind of like a long ride for 2 fish!

Maggie -- on losing another pound! You have the scale going in the right direction! I haven't had a chance to read emails but thank you for sharing the exercise information. Even though I hate to sweat, I know that exercise is a vital part of losing weight.

"Gma" -- I'm sorry your electricty was off for so long. Were you able to salvage your dinner? I hope they can find the source of the water leak. Bob thinks ours might be a roof vent at the cabin; he's hoping his brother might have some ideas for a fix-it. I know you are looking forward to getting your life back in a normal routine. Don't worry about mailing the slippers. Enjoy your this afternoon!

Gail -- I used to have a Nordic Track ski (?) machine. I promptly fell off the thing the first time I tried it so that was the end of that! Now I have a dreadmill and at least I can stay on it. I buy individual potatoes, apples, etc., rather than multiples already bagged. Otherwise I end up throwing stuff away. It's nice of you to pick up Wayne's truck (?) parts for him. Will injectors save on fuel or make him go faster?

I need to get dressed and get moving. My correct, I hope, glass lenses are in so need to take my sunglasses in and have them switched. Have a GREAT day and stay cool wherever you are and whatever you are doing today!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

Here in the Heartland it is a mostly sunny day with a temp to rise to 104. Summertime. Our garden is having a hard time of it. Not only ours but all the ones around this area. We water them from the bottom and the sun bakes from the top. Hopefully we can salvage some items. I guess a person really needs a climate controled green house. Our Jeep has its lisence now for another year. How quickly the time flys ~ seems like we just bought them not too long ago. Will is being taken out to lunch today to some posh place by the head folks on the board of the local First Call today. They are wooing him to be on the board. We shall see if he decides to get on that board. He turned down the board position at the Museum ~ just wants to continue to volunteer there. He has just about finished the second display case for the Museum and can get that delivered soon. I am going to get a mirro installed on my closet door here in my office so I can see if I am doing my exercises correctly. I don't want to end up hurting myself again. I can sure feel it in my arms that I did those exercises yesterday. Today is all about walking laps inside this house.

DONNA FAYE Girlfriend I feel for you. What a terrible thing to happen to have the electricity go off right when you are cooking dinner. We so depend on electricty don't we. My stove is all electric. Makes me think of what we can do when the lights go out about cooking. If that happened here we would have to take it out of the oven and finish cooking it in our charcoal Webber for it can bake things. Yep ~ it is best to have a back up plan. If I was cooking something on the stove and the electricty went out I would use my camp stove which does have two burners and we have fuel for it. Thanks for the "heads up" for I have sat here and made a plan for we could always lose our electricty here. Leaky roofs are a pain ~ hope you can find the source soon and get it fixed. You will win the struggle with your dog about his eating time but what a pain in the meantime. They can be so insistant.

GAIL When the right time comes you will know and you can get a puppy. We totally enjoy ours for they are a great source of entertainment. I get such a kick out of little Beanie for he waits for me to get in bed at night then gets up and close to me for a few strokes of petting then down he goes to his bed in the corner. It is a ritural. Not a good time for air conditioners to die. Hope your daughter gets one installed soon. I love those wrapped bakers that you leave the wrapping on and microwave them. They have such a real baked flavor.

JEAN What a picture ~ falling off your ski machine. I did so love mine. I don't want any machines anymore. I'll do my weights and walk. We get our fruits and veggies individually also. That way we eat what we buy. I don't want a bag of potatoes sitting there sprouting. Nope. Those individual bakers are the way to go. Hope Bob brings home some nice fish for you to fix.

SUSAN Howdy to you this day.

Type at y'all later.

[GailR]

.....checkin' in.....

Jean, Wayne has an expensive hobby. We have two Corvettes. The 2000 is a black convertible and it is babied. When I say babied I mean from the beginning of November through to the end of March, it is covered up and is on a battery charger...and the entire vehicle is lifted so the tires don't touch the garage floor. The other one, a red 1986, also a convertible, is his project car. That is the car that needs the new fuel injectors. I won't even go into all the work, time, and $$$$ that has been spent on it. ...and I'm fine with that! He is very very understanding and supportive of my hobbies also although mine aren't quite as pricey!

Maggie, DD#1's new ac/heating will be installed tomorrow! Her husband who is a large man (6'4", 275 lbs.) sweats something terrible when he works out or just being in this hot and humid weather. He can't take the heat! So Heather did some researching on-line and talking with people and decided on the company (in the area) and was lucky that they could do this so soon. At this time of the year heating and ac companies are busy!

Well, I'll go do some chores and then go get those fuel injectors.....He will be so happy when he comes home from work today!

[Maggie]

GOOD DAY MAGNOLIAS

Will is off to the office supply place and then to the PO to mail those large envelopes to you gals. Hope the PO doesn't fold them or wad them up for they only have two pages of paper in them. OH well, let me know if they get there in good condition or what condition they did arrive in. I probably should have put a piece of cardboard in them but that is hindsight. I just ate a brunch consisting of a couple of Schwans 2P+ breakfast steaks, WW string cheese and fresh pineapple. That was a yummy 5 P+ meal for me. That is one that I should remember when I am on maintenance when that eventually gets here and I won't have so many points+ to consume.

GAIL I remember Wayne loving those Corvettes and taking real good care of them. My brother drives a 2010 model Corvette. They are sure fun to drive. I remember a friend in high school who had a brand new one and let me drive it while he was at work. His dad told him that I was the ONLY girl that he could let drive it and he wasn't even my boyfriend but a friend of my brothers. I loved crusing the strip in that thing top down and being the envy of all my girl friends. My brother had a T-Bird at that time and I got to drive it a lot also. They were both convertables. Had to be, they were in California on the coast. I have also had a few convertables in my time. We don't take the top of this Jeep much because of the heat. AH Life is good.

I think we will just have some turkey Pananni sandwiches for dinner and maybe the last of that pineapple. Type at y'all later

[gma22]

Good morning everyone. Today is the last day for our little houseguest. He goes home this afternoon. I know his human brother and his kitty sister will be glad to see him and he will be glad to be back with his family again.

We had a lovely swim yesterday afternoon. The sun was shining and there was no wind and the water was wonderful. I got some nice laps and aerobic exercise in while Jack floated around the pool on one of those noodle things. My shoulder is sore this morning because of it I think, but that's ok, I just liked the exercise with no stress on my joints.

Our car won't be ready until Friday now. The guy said he would call Jack the day before. Jack said he would call him tomorrow afternoon if he hasn't heard from him to see about progress. I have to say the claims adjuster for Liberty Mutual has been great, but I want our car back. It kills me knees to get out of that car because it does sit much lover than an suv and it doesn't have a hand hold on the ceiling to help me out.

We are now 7 weeks from vacation and 5 weeks from Jack's surgery so things are rolling along. The kids are going to be here the Thursday before Labor Day for a visit, which will be nice. Jack will probably be on crutches, but we never do zoo and that kind of stuff with them anyway. The only thing is Kelly will have just started a new job and Thomas will be in school so on Thursday and Friday they will have to find their own entertainment, but there are things to do here for kids.

I have to get crackin' this morning and get chores done. I want to finish the first sock today since I have been knitting on the sweater all the time. I just love doing the pattern. Once you get in the grove of things it is easy and this is just an 8 row pattern, 4 rows of which are straight purling so it isn't hard.

Maggie: Congrat on your loss!

Jean: Sorry you couldn't post in here yesterday. I have weird stuff happen every once in awhile with this site. They did just do a scheduled maintenance so maybe it still has a few bugs to work out here and there.

Gail: I tell Jack the same thing about his hobbies. I may buy handbags, I may spend money on yarn, but nothing compared to computers and such. I too don't begrudge him the pleasure, after all he is earning the money, not I, but I do have a budget we have to stay within. You are right, you dd is lucky they found someone to do it right away. The ac company's get swamped this time of year. I imagine they are busy all over the place this year as most of the country is deep in hot weather. It is going to be 99 here today so I imagine the heat index is going to be steep.

Well, I need to get things rolling. Fortune is sitting here half growling at me because he wants to eat, but I am trying to hold him off until 6:30. Have a good middle of the week! Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! I've been to get my nails done and need to do some serious cleaning today. We have a ball game in Sioux Falls tonight, but I'm kind of hoping we get rained out. We had a little shower early this morning. The sun is shining brightly and it's going to be another hot humid day in my corner of the world.

"Gma" -- Will Fortune look around for Marty or be glad that he has gone home? That's too bad about your car, but you do want it fixed back to 100%. People who drive vans and/or SUV type vehicles say they will never go back to a car simply because of the ease of getting in and out. I know you are looking for to all the coming events at your house. July has just flown by too fast. I know that Jackson's visit and vacation are at the top of the list. It will be nice to have Jack's surgery over and done with too. I'm sure he is more than ready for it.

I need to get a move on. WW is in an hour and I have no excuse not to go today. Have a wonderful Wednesday and enjoy!

Jean -- from Iowa!

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It just turned noon o'clock here in the Heartland whose temp is geared to reach a high today of 106F. A good day to dry some corn for sure and I can make corn nuts out of it. I have been reading the national news and these are just some of the headlines (and I am not kidding these are real):

7 Year Olds Taught Pole Dancing
Naked Animal Hoarder
Stinky Mystery Waste Washed Up On VA Beaches
School Shut Down After Teacher, Principal Caught Smoking Meth in Office
Hospital Bills Dead Woman $9.2 Million
Goldfish Survive 134 days Without Food

There is nothing new under the Sun. And the beat goes on.

I am going to be rotisserieing a chicken this day for dinner and pop a couple of those plastic wrapped potatoes into the microwave and build and big green salad. I use the left over chicken in salads and such for later meals. Sounds like a good meal to me so I will make it happen. Y'all are invited to dinner. My table with the two extra leaves will seat a crowd. That table is so long with it all together it ends up out in the living room some for it is too long for the diningroom. The person sitting on the end sits on carpet.

JEAN That ball game just may get rained out from what forecast I have seen. Our humidity has been low lately and it makes it so much easier to bear the heat. I am not a fan of that always feeling moist and wanting a shower. Sorry that you aren't able to buy those bakers in your area for they are so good.

DONNA FAYE I can just see Fortune growling at you. But don't budge for you need to get that breakfast time fixed at a later time. Little Beanie got something in his eye and we are keeping an eye on it. We did flood it with water so it should get better. That is a good shop you have you car in to want to make it back to exact. I can just see that smile on your face when you get it back. It is so much easier to get up and in a car then down and in. But an occasional ride in a sports car is sure fun ~ going fast and huging the road in the curves.

GAIL & SUSAN Doin' OK are ya?

I need to go prep the chicken now and get things in order. First I will do my arm exercises. Yesterday was walk, walk, walk. Type at y'all later.

[GailR]

Yep! I'm doin' okay, Maggie! Today has been a beautiful day...and still is for that matter. I heard about the naked hoarder! But I'll have to phone my Dad about the stinky VA beaches! He lives only blocks away from the ocean.

Donna, my DD#1 has a new ac/heating unit now! Installed today. Yes, she knows she's lucky. Now...they have to pay for it! They are on one of those 10 months no interest thingies. Knowing my SIL he'll have it paid well in advance. I tell Wayne the same thing about my hobbies...and I hear you about the budget! Now...IF WE can balance our budget how come Washington DC can't? No need to answer that! Personally I think a panel of housewives could do a better job!

Jean, I finally went to a WW meeting this morning. It was not pretty standing on the scale but I'm claiming a celebration for going back. Not only did I return to WW after a 3 week absence, I walked in the park today. 2.6 miles. So I'm feelin' mighty righteous! Hope you had a great weigh-in!

My grandchildren are here finally. Gotta go greet them! Y'all take care!