Good Afternoon! It's a cloudy, windy, and cold (imo) day. We finally turned the furnace on; it's supposed to get down in the low 40s tonight. Brrr! It's been a "hanging out" morning watching the dog nap. I think we may do some shop hopping this afternoon. The guys had no luck fishing this morning, so are trying again this afternoon.
Maggie, I do bring along my favorite sharp knife and veggie peeler. Last year I bought a cake pan because the one here was so gross. We had rain last night, along with thunder and lightning.
"Gma," thanks for the recipes! Every once in awhile I get the urge to bake something. I have to provide cookie treats for a group in July. I can practice on Bob first. I like the yarn colors -- definitely Lego colors!
Connie is ready to go so need to go too! I don't want to get left behind! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!
I have been discombobulated today because of a migraine head ache. I take pills so I don’t get the pain but I still feel weird. What really bothers me about it is that it is hard to get to sleep at night when my head is like this.
I didn’t do much at all today but hang around. We did go for a nice drive and saw the buffalo and there are still the three little female babies. Probably the fourth female adult won’t have one again this year.
Not much to talk about so this is a short one. Will bought me a surprise and it is clear iridescent nail polish with sparkles in it. My nails are having a party.
Tomorrow we get a new fridge with a side freezer. It will be the one we will take to Texas when we leave here. I’ll have time in the morning to get the one we are using cleaned out and they can take it back.
Good morning to you all. We are wet and muggy this morning and the temps aren't as cool today as they were yesterday. I just hope we are through with rain for awhile anyway.
I got Thomas's yarn yesterday so will probably do the gauge swatch and then start on those. I know I have his socks written out, but I can't find them so will start over with a new set of instructions. I do this so I can go back and just use the same size needles and cast on and such. I knit pretty close to gauge most of the time.
Today is lazy day. I put my boneless skinless thighs in the crockpot with ff chicken stock to cook. I will shred it later and make chicken and noodles for dinner tonight with a nice salad. I always eat my chicken and noodles in a bowl more like soup and Jack doesn't like the liquid so he uses my strainer dipper and puts them over mashed potatoes. Too many carbs for me to do that. I am getting him to eat veg every night though. He is having cucumbers and onions tonight with ff Italian dressing over them.
Jean: I just hope Jackson doesn't think it is to babyish. I found a cross stitch pattern of a little lego man and I am going to try and duplicate stitch it onto each sock leg. I have only done duplicate a couple times and never with fingering yarn, which is like string. Jack loves macaroons so I might make a batch and take them on vacation with us. I hate coconut so he can have them all.
Maggie: Hope you are back to feeling better. Kelly gets migraines and takes some med that starts with an "L" I think.
Good Morning! The sun is shining brightly, no wind, and the furnace is running! Barney is perking along better, eating, and his plumbing is working so all is good. Yesterday we went to a really nice shop that we go to every year. They have a punch card and after you spend $200, you get a $20 gift certificate. Connie had $20 left on her card and they told her they no longer accept them. She explained we only get to come once a year and always make sure we go to that store. No, "I'm sorry, I can give you a discount, too bad,etc.". The clerk was rather abrupt I thought. Needless to say we won't be making that 50 mile trek next year! I did find some short wine glasses that I have been looking for. My card would have been full for next year. Not sure what is on the agenda for today.
Maggie, hope your headache is history by now. Have fun with your new nail polish and refrigerator!
"Gma," Ian still likes to play with Legos so I think Jackson will think Lego socks are pretty cool. I am amazed at the intricate Lego sets, the really big expensive sets. Bob's mom made chicken and noodles a lot. It was a texture thing for me, and I picked the chicken out as best I could. Enjoy your lazy day!
Today is Friday the 13th and the full moon rises. What a day for those folks who are superstitious to ponder.
The oldest two little girl buffalos are a lot more independent than the newly born one for she sticks close to her mother or her mother sticks close to her. It is cute to see the two frolicking around with the older ones in a ring around them munching grass.
My head feels good but I still feel a bit goofy but that isn’t new I guess. I am just thankful that I don’t get the pain that used to go with the migraines since I found what works for me off the counter and not have to take a prescription. My doctor told me years ago that folks with migraines could find something that works without a prescription but some folks just think they just have to have one or don’t want to experiment with over the counter meds to find the one that works for them.
Those silly guys that are supposed to deliver the fridge today didn’t bring the proper tools to take the doors off now have to go fetch them and the fridge is standing at attention out front on the sidewalk. If they cooled it down as per our request it won’t stay cool long for there it sits out in the heat like that. Oh well we can go buy some bags of ice and cool it down quickly.
JEAN It is so nice to have a day without wind. We get very few of those here. Poor Barney, I felt so sorry for him. That may happen one day to Beanie for he eats anything and everything.
DONNA FAYE Thomas is going to love those sox - what nice colors in that stripe combination. You knit the nicest sox for those kids.
Good Morning! We are on the road heading home. It's pouring rain and looks like a rainy weekend at home and at the lake. Beth is there and Jason is coming today. We'll head up tomorrow for Father's Day. We will stop for breakfast in a half hour, then gas an hour or so later. The ride going home is never as much fun for some reason.
Maggie, I hope the "goofy" feeling is gone by now. What do you take for a migraine? Beth gets them once in awhile. I hope your fridge is installed in your house now, and running tip top! Barney was really nervous as we were moving around this morning. He was smiling when Frank picked him up to go to the car. With the rain it's a good day to head home.
It's raining hard! Hope you all enjoy a nice weekend!
Good afternoon to you all. We went out first thing this morning to Walmart and it was crazy nuts. We got the last handicap space, there were gobs of people in the store and of course rude, rude, rude. We stopped at Lenny's Sub Shop got a couple sandwiches and came home and had lunch. I had a terrible night last night and was dead tired so we got into the recliner(s) and took a short nap.
I have to talk to my dr next month about the stinging in my breast. It is on the side where I had the surgery and I surmise she did something to a nerve because it comes and goes. Unfortunately, yesterday it came and didn't go away. I rubbed the thing all day long to get the stinging to stop and it usually helps it go away, but not yesterday. On top of that the arthritis in my shoulder/arm acted up and nothing helped it either. I finally gave in and took one of Jack's heavy duty pain pills from when he cracked his rib. Slept a whole 3 hours and it woke me up so I gave up and just watched tv. I watch Law and Order reruns early on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Jean: Hope you all made it to your destination safe and sound. What a rotten thing to do abut the gift card. They probably aren't getting enough business to cover giving it away anymore.
We have been out and about this day and visited the buffalo. All is well in that area. Nothing much happening around here this day and I don’t have any energy to do a thing. I don't hurt ~ just feel like lazing about and going through a large stack of catalogs and tossing most of them. At least that way I will have accomplished something.
JEAN I have been meaning to ask you what kind of dog Barney is so now I am asking you. Hopefully you got home safely in all that rain.
DONNA FAYE So sorry you aren't feeling up to exact and hopefully your doc can locate the cause of what it is that is bothering you in your side.
Good morning to you all and Happy Father's Day to your hubbys.
We ate breakfast and spent about an hour looking at home videos of people who posted them for the inside of the balcony cabins. We have a cabin where the closet is next to the bed and we wanted to see if the cabins that have the closet next to the couch makes the closet more accessible. It is about the same as these closet doors slide back and forth instead of opening up as they did on the Freedom so either way works just as well.
Just a quiet day at home today. No plans of any kind.
Maggie: I searched online about the stinging/burning in the breast and come to find out it is common with women who have had any surgery to the breast. Mostly because the breast is loaded with nerve endings and they can get messed with when you have anyone in there cutting. So, not much can be done about it just live with it when it crops up.
Good Morning! We got 2.75" of rain during the night. It's cloudy but the sun is supposed to come out this afternoon -- just as everyone is heading home from the lake. We are on the road again. Taking the corn salad, hamburgers, buns, and baked beans again, and I just fixed them last week.
"Gma," I think that MN shop has a monopoly on the area. It's a small town in between other small towns, and has MN labeled souvenirs, a bridal registry, lots of kitchen items, greeting cards, books, candles, greenery, etc. It really is a fun place to visit. I hope your stinging sensation and should pain are better today. I take it you are cruising with a different company this time. I hope you like the balcony cabin.
Maggie, did you find anything interesting in the catalogs? Hopefully your energy level will perk up soon.
We are in the pickup and it is hard to type. Hope you all enjoy a nice day! Sun is peeking out and guess who forgot her sunglasses?!
Good morning everyone. It is going to be in the 90's all week this week so it is going to be steamy for sure.
I took my nails off as I want to get a new set, but don't know if I will wait an extra week or not to give my nails time to "relax" so to speak. I try to do that when I take them off. Besides, I had trouble with one of them and it tore my nail back so that one I am not sure I could even put acrylics on. We shall see what happens.
Weigh in and I am down 4.9 lbs this morning. I will surely take that. I was afraid I was only going to drop a miniscule amount again this week. I am finding it even harder with the diabetes to lose weight. The good thing with that is I am now staying in the 80's which is spectacular.
Tonight is tenderloin steak and b potato for Jack, but I am having salad with mine and no potato. We had leftover pork bbq that I made a week ago and froze the remainder of it. I didn't know how it would come out, but it was really good. I make my own sauce and use a pork tenderloin to make it lower in fat and such, but next time I am going to cut my pork tenderloin in half and only use half a one to make it and use the other half for something else.
I guess I will try and get upstairs and clean bathrooms again today. It is that time again. I don't know how hot it is going to be up there as we turn the ac unit off when Jack comes downstairs in the morning so it doesn't run all day with no one up there. I am sure it will be fine as long as I don't wait until afternoon to go up there and clean.
Jean: We are using the same cruising company, Royal Caribbean, but going on a different ship. The ship we are going on this year is the biggest ship of any cruising ship. It is only 5 years old and we are anxious to see how it goes and if we like the balcony cabins. It all depends on how my vertigo reacts to it. If I can't go out and sit out there, there is no reason to get one other than a few extra feet of space. I didn't have trouble with the vertigo when I took Bonine last year so I don't expect any trouble. I have a habit of taking all the sample shampoos, soaps, etc any hotel offers when we go and stay somewhere. Jack always takes his own bath wash and shampoo and I usually take my own shampoo because it is for color treated hair to keep it from fading. So, I have drawers full of stuff in the spare bedroom. We decided to try and cut out one bag this year, the one we put all the hygiene and medical type stuff in so Jack brought the drawers down one by one and we went through them getting out lotion, shampoo, a couple shower caps for me, mouthwash, etc. We are going to get a couple more sample sizes of toothpaste at CVS and my sample size of hairspray that I use and know they carry. We saw the best thing on one of the utube videos about cruising. This lady bought those hanging shoe bags with the pockets in them, hung them over the door and put all her hygiene and stuff in them so we figure with 24 pockets (I bought a 12 pr shoe one) that we will have plenty of space for the stuff. I took everything out of the boxes last year like otc allergy meds, immodium, bonine, etc and put them into Ziploc bags because the boxes got so beat up on the cruise. It saved a lot of space too so I just left them in the bags when we got home so they are all ready to go. I always take everything I can think of just in case. I am not about to pay cash money big time to go to the ship doctor for pepto bismal or something for a stomachache. I take first aid stuff, diahrrea stuff, constipation stuff, headache/arthritis, sleeping and on and on. I don't take a huge amount, but enough to get us through the cruise. When we are on land, we can always buy stuff in the states while traveling, but on the ship you can get stuck and believe me, I don't know about this ship, but the other one didn't carry a bunch of stuff. I also take Lysol spray, the gel no soap handwash stuff, etc to cut down on the possibility of norovirus that can cause problems on a ship when it crops up. I bought a great pair of sunglasses with big lenses that cover really well. I have another pair, but I like these because they cover so well. They seem to be darker too, which I like. I can wear the lighter ones when needed in the car, but the darker ones are great for the tropics.
Well girls I need to get out of here and get the day started. Hope you all have a great start to your week. Faye
Good morning, ladies! It's already 75 degrees and heading for 92 this day.
I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. My life has been pretty boring. I wrote a nice long post last night and just as I was about to post it, the power went out.
The big announcement is I am officially retiring, although my boss wants me to continue working from home (I did say retire to him) as of August 1. The budget will have to be carefully monitored, but my needs are small and I have plenty of quilting supplies put away for when I retire. I still have a couple of years to pay on my house but then I'll be in really good shape.
I've been doing my usual quilting bees and last Saturday I went to tea with Glory. We've been teaching Nora, the lady who does the teas, to quilt. She is so excited. She's become a good friend. Glory has moved into the modern world and bought an IPAD so I am giving here lessons. I set her up with the local library for ebooks and audiobooks. She couldn't believe how easy it is. She likes to listen while she quilts, too.
Faye, our weather is in the 90s all week, too. Hopefully the humidity will stay down. We've had so much rain the last 2 weeks. You are so organized when you travel. I pack an hour before I go but I do have a list so I don't forget things. I use the shoe bags to store quilting notions on the back of the door to the closet in that room. I feel your arthritis pain. My right hand is at the point where it hurts most of the time now. My fingers go off to the right about 30 degrees. I use playdough to keep it flexible. Hand sewing is my joy, but it is becoming increasingly difficult. I'm trying to teach myself to use my good left hand more.
Jean, I'm glad you had a nice vatation. Now back to volunteer work!
Maggie, I hope your headache and goofy feeling and are gone and your fridge is in the house!
I'm off to yoga and water aerobics. Have a wonderful day.
Good Afternoon! One rain storm just passed through and more is on the way. Knock on wood, we haven't had any hail in our area but some have really been hammered. One small town had roof damage on every house and most of the windows broken, as well as vehicle windows. Church balanced ok, and so did the gift shop. Right now trying to decide whether to head for Ian's game which hasn't been called off . . . yet.
"Gma," On the GREAT loss last week! Wow! When I was ready for a new set of nails, I cut mine down as short as I could get them. I really like having the "gunk" applied without the acrylic nail. My nails are still soft and icky underneath. I usually forget something that I intended to pack from the bathroom. We've made more than one trip to the drugstore on our trips! Hope you got your cleaning all done.
Susan, it's nice to see you today! I'm sure your boss doesn't want you to retire. As long as you can afford food for you, cat food, and pay your bills, you will be fine. It's scary though. I don't know when I would have time, but wish you could teach me to quilt too. It's nice of you to "teach" your friends -- you are a smart lady.
I need to change clothes in case Bob decides to head for the game "just in case" they play. Enjoy the rest of your day!
I am so totally disgusted with myself. I weighed today and am up 2 pounds which is only part of the disgust. Last week I was down 3 now up 2. I have totally shown an upward climb in weight ~ be it up and down on the way of gaining back some of what I worked so hard to lose. Will is doing the same so we have decided to quit eating out so much as we have been. Even if I counted the eating out points they seem to weigh more when eating out. Somehow the restaurant points weigh more than the points eating at home cost. What has been so frustrating is that I thought I was giving an honest answer to what I had consumed but the evidence is in the weighing in that it isn’t so. I did my best when we at the majority of meals at home so that is what we are planning to do.
We were out an about today and saw the buffalo and the 3 little babies are sure growing. We stopped by and picked up some doggie treats and then to the market for good for us food items.
JEAN That is sad about those folks all getting hail damage in the small town with that hail storm. I am sure glad my long nails are mine and not glue on ones. Guess I am blessed to have inherited them from my mother.
SUSAN Sounds like you have a workable retirement plan ~ good for you. My head thing has retired! The new fridge is great. It has an automatic temperature gauge that sets it's own temp and keeps it where it should be.
DONNA FAYE That's a whopping lot ot lose in a week. You go girl. It is so great that you now have your diabetes under control.
Good morning to you all. It is already warm in the house this morning so I imagine it is going to be hot again today. I am not going to complain after the cold weather we had this last year. It is mainly the humidity that drives you nuts because no matter whether you are skinny or fat you sweat! :lo:
Jack has 2 lbs to reach his vacation goal. He really looks terrific having lost a lot of belly. He even got into a pair of 36 jeans. He said they are snug in the waist, but not uncomfortable and he has a whole bunch of practically new underwear he can wear now because they are smaller and don't roll down. He does have to wear a belt with all his shorts pretty much though as most of them are 38's, but he said that is no problem.
Jack's sister, husband, and son will be driving through next Wednesday. We were going to take them to dinner, but the fact they are leaving Lubbock at 7:30 AM and driving straight through there is no way they will be here until late and I cannot eat dinner late. So, I told Jack to explain to her the situation and that we will just meet them at their hotel and visit with them. They will leave early the next morning as they are going to W VA to pick up some kind of band equipment then driving into VA Beach to see his brother, then hightailing it back to Lubbock as she has to go back to work. She works a one week on, one week off schedule at the hospital. She is a cardiac care nurse and he is a respiratory therapist. Kevin got out of the army and doesn't have a job and from what I understand isn't looking too hard so am wondering who is paying his bills. I imagine it is mom and dad. He has an expensive Lexus he just bought.
I am making hamburger gravy and mashed potatoes with veggies tonight for dinner. Lunch for me today is egg salad. I use lowfat Miracle Whip and Truvia and mustard instead of reg MW, sugar and mustard. I like a little sweetness to my egg salad and have always used sugar not relish, but the Truvia works so great in place of sugar. I like it better than any other sugar substitute and since it is plant life, it is natural not synthetic. I haven't tried it for baking yet, but am thinking of making some cookies with it just to see how it would do.
Maggie: One thing you always have to remember Maggie is no matter what the menu says, you don't always know what goes into restaurant food or how much. If you cook at home you do so you can be guaranteed the pts. We don't eat out much at all now either. If we do, we have something like a sub sandwich we can count pts and the place we go to weighs their meats and such and we get turkey or roast beef without all the gunk on it, come home and put our own lower fat cheese and condiments on them. They still have more pts that sticking a couple slices of lunchmeat on wheat bread or whatever, but you can be more exact I think where if they are making something back in a kitchen you have no clue if they are following their own nutrtition stuff or not. Unfortunately, eating out is a killer on pts no matter how you look at it unless you only eat salad all the time.
Jean: I saw there was a bad tornado come through Nebraska and wiped out half the town. We had a fire go through over the weekend in an apartment building down in Tunica, which is about 35 miles from here and wiped out several families. They smelled smoke and had enough time to walk out the door and the roof collapsed on the whole building. People were standing around in pjs and that is all they have left. I felt so sorry for one lady who has an autistic child and said they have nothing and no where to go. In these days so many people just cannot afford renters insurance for their stuff. Hope you got to see the game last night. Jack put on the world cup last night as USA was playing and they actually won in the last couple minutes.
Susan: Hopefully your saying your are going to fully retire will stick as your boss seems to keep talking you into working some at least. I hope that financially it will all work out for you. I know Jack and I have sat down over and over and figured finances to figure when it would be ok for him to retire. He can retire now as he has tenure with the city, but he would like to work until 20 years so he can get half of his current pay in his pension. It would be a no brainer if he would get the promotion, but at this rate they won't do the interviews until after he has retired. They are sure slow about it. The last thing Jack knew they were mailing out dates for interviews and that was probably 3-4 months ago so who knows? You desire to retire and be done with it all. It is just always sad we have to tighten our wallets when that happens.
Last year I bought a cake pan because the one here was so gross. We had rain last night, along with thunder and lightning.
I can practice on Bob first. I like the yarn colors -- definitely Lego colors!
Thursday & a Very Nice Hot Sunny Day
Not sure what is on the agenda for today.
Have fun with your new nail polish and refrigerator! 
I am amazed at the intricate Lego sets, the really big expensive sets. Bob's mom made chicken and noodles a lot. It was a texture thing for me, and I picked the chicken out as best I could. 
I take it you are cruising with a different company this time. I hope you like the balcony cabin.
Hope you all enjoy a nice day! Sun is peeking out and guess who forgot her sunglasses?! 
On the GREAT loss last week! 
I'm sure your boss doesn't want you to retire. As long as you can afford food for you, cat food, 