Annie ~ Yeah going to bed later in the evening will probably help me not to wake up so early in the morning, I'll try it and let you know if it works or not. No Sadly I havent worked out since Sunday but I will be sure to work out today and every day from day on. YES!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so ready for Christmas, Are you ready for Christmas too?

Laura ~ Oh okay yeah when I take a nap I will limit the time to 20 mins. only. Yes I was so relieved when I found my bus passes, Now I dont have to buy one for Jan.

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I woke up at 7 a.m. this morning, Its now 8:54 a.m. My only plans are to do my 40 min. chair exercises at 11 a.m. since I slept in this morning and I'll do it all over again at 7 p.m. tonight.

Good morning ladies,

I have to run off to my shift at the thrift shop this morning - will be back later to catch up. Snow is falling - we are due for 3 to 5 inches. I guess it's allowed for Christmas. Be back later...

Morning all,
Another perfect morning down here in the great South East. I'm off to do some painting shortly just as soon as I have finished here and got some painting clothes on. I'm hoping to have a second coat on the veranda posts today and also some trim done in the carport and at the front of the house. It will be nice to get rid of that dreaded Bathurst Beige for once and for all. Hate beige. It is such a nothing colour.

Happy - back to 'dreaming of a white Christmas'? Or is it getting a bit old already?

Terra - I am so not ready for Christmas, but then it isn't a holiday I enjoy so maybe I don't want to be.

Annie - good going on the 1lb down and 11lbs overall is awesome. Heck I have a party if I lose 1 kilo.
Poor C. Hope he can get the hernia fixed asap. They can be such painful things.
Don't think we have Nyquil here. However I don't have much problem sleeping although I do wake myself up a couple of times during the night. Then I find myself nodding off in the hottest part of the day and that doesn't help the sleep pattern one little bit - as Terra is finding out. I'm a cold type Strepsil girl myself. They work like a charm. And honey lubricates the throat - if you get the activeX stuff it has natural antibiotic properties as well. I stuff myself full of everything I feel like at the time. Something will work eventually - although I have to say this cold has loosened up a lot in the last day or so. Must be all that fresh air and exercise.

Laura - Yep I know the flower is an orchid. I even know what species/ genus of orchid it is, and I know one of the parents name but apparently two orchids and a couple of bees got up to no good in the breeders yard because the name of the orchid is 'Unknown'. Apparently not what he was expecting the flower to be.
Enjoy your time away from work and the dinner and visit from your family. Your baking sounds like you could be having and interesting after dinner feast.

Guess that is about it - hang on - photos. The neighbour across the road feeds the local birds. They line up in a pecking order, first the parrots, then the lorikeets and then the Jays and the pigeons. Here's yesterdays lot.

Shad
What a beautiful picture! I'm envious. I need to get the land lord here and do s few things. I don't mind the painting. But I need to strip some border off and I'm dreading this.

Sorry I've been away. Between getting to the gym, visiting Bob in the hospital, spending time with my step-mom and my bf Doug, and walking Santa...just doesn't leave much time for anything else.

I've had a busy and exhausting morning, so I'm going to lie down and relax a bit before heading out to the dog park. I'm also meeting a good friend for a walk in the park this afternoon. Then Doug and I might go out tonight...not sure yet.

Tomorrow evening, for Christmas Eve, we're going over to my step-mom's to exchange gifts and play cards or another game.

I hope you all are doing well. Even though I don't get in here every day, you're all in my thoughts and heart.

Much love,

Michelle
Understand completely about not having enough time. Maybe things will settle down after the holiday's.

Shad
Had to go back and read all the post. Can't believe that you did all that hard work. Goes to show your strength.

Annie
Sorry to hear that DH has a hernia along with the other ailments. Congrats on the 1 pound loss. I hear you that Michelle has been an inspiration. She has been for me also.

Laura
The "purple pill" is Nexium. Don't know how you get all things done.

Hello's to the rest.
------
I'm making plans to have a quiet Christmas day, possibly go to my uncles on Saturday depending on the weather. It will depend on how he feel's.
Work this week has been productive. I'm trying to get ready to end the year's paper work. Got the storage file room straightened up but not clean. Will do that next year.
I ate a light dinner last night but later on during the night my stomach woke me up in pain. If the doctor's office is open on Friday I'm going. And if the doctor says this is due to the diverticulitis I'm putting myself on a very strict diet.
Need to stop at the grocery store tonight on the way home. I forgot the butter/margarine. I'm making chicken and dressing for Christmas. This time I'm going to freeze it portions to have for later.
I'm not getting enough veggies in my diet. Gotta do better.

Thank you Shad for including a picture of the lorikeets - one of my favorite to look at. Sorry you are having the sniffles - guess having a cold around Christmas time is not just a northern hemisphere cold weather thing. I imagine you have your own chemist concoctions and probably more of a natural means than what we get stateside. My sister swears by hard drops that have a liquid honey center - good for coughs, antibiotics, soothes the throat, etc. Thanks for trying out that technique with the stuff nose, I will have to file that for future reference. I'm very surprised that after no doubt sweating it out hauling all those barrels of rocks in the blazing heat of yours, that a cold still is capable of living inside you! As for color schemes, I used to hate beige myself - white walls too for that matter and then I saw in a design book - make your walls neutral and accessorize with color - color curtains, pillows, pictures, etc. It pops the color in the accessories and allows to switch around color schemes a bit more easily. They showed a beige room with white trim and color accents of deep navy blue and cream - it looked really smart.

Hi Michelle - glad you are relaxing and enjoying your time off. I'm not sure how you will train yourself for getting back to work after next week but good luck with that, hopefully your healing is progressing well and in due turn so will your energy rebound.

Ok Terra, I am shaking a finger at you :nono: because that's what we do here - Get a workout in today girl! :D

Annie - yikes on C's hernia. Or is it a HISnea unless you gave it to him ? :rofl: Anyway - at least they found out the source of the pain. Will he need surgery? Doesn't his job involve lifting and carrying large trays of baked goods? That can't be good for him. I'm glad you came to some peace with your brother. Shame that his wife could not be civil. I was thinking about you the other day when I heard the score of the Colts game. Oh my!

Ceejay - I have always liked having a cabinet or drawer to put my purse into. Several of the ladies at the shop leave their purses lying about - some even opened with the wallet in plain sight! :yikes: Makes me nervous but it's their purses - they don't seem to be concerned. Glad you are feeling better. I just tossed out 3 bottles worth of those little purple pills - wish I had known you were taking them. Pricey stuff too that is.

Laura - your comment about borrowing the yoga videos from the library inspired me - sure enough there are 4 others which I have a request on. I just wish they let you borrow them for longer than 1 week. Yikes on the whole ordeal with the Christmas tree stand! Too bad that didn't work out - probably would have been quite pretty at that. I hope you felt well enough to get all your dinner plans taken care of as well as prepping for company. Secretly I am glad we aren't having anyone over. My friend who gently encouraged me to decorate was going to have us over but her DH is being (as she called him) a Scrooge about Christmas this year due to some bad experiences in his past. She said maybe for New Year's. I guess I will have to reciprocate myself. Maybe they will forget :lol: I really laughed at your story of BF and the receipt. Guys. :rolleyes: I can so relate. Glad you were cool about it although sometimes we feel like pinning a note to their shirt :lol:

Dee - sorry to hear that you reinjured your foot again :( Who would have though? Your workshop sounds like quite a set up. Reminds me of my friend down south - I never heard of a serger until she started talking about it. I'm sure you need all of that for everything that you do. I hope you are having some time to enjoy the holiday.

Susie - were you having any problems with your fitbit flex staying on your wrist? There were complaints about the design of that. I'm glad that they replaced your unit for you. Do you like it so far? I can't even IMAGINE trying to do my work, type on the laptop, answer the phone and talk AND walk at 3mph or greater. Seriously??? Wow. I'm impressed :lol:

I went to the gym for an upper body training workout yesterday. We got part of the way through - I cannot remember all these little details - and were in the yoga / exercise room doing some weights when the other yoga teacher came in to prep for her class. I asked and was given permission to try out her class. It's Kundalini yoga - a bit different from the Hatha yoga I was doing on Wednesdays. I actually enjoyed it - think I'm going to try this for a while too - of course an additional expense just like the other yoga class - good thing I saved money on my membership fees. :D I need to go tomorrow at 11 to finish my training session we cut short. At first I was like - on Christmas eve - really?? But the trainer is obviously a buff guy and that's probably because he finds working out fun :^: I figured what the heck - I might as well get my gym time in. I thought I'd be really sore today but I took 2 aspirin last night and I wasn't doing too badly this morning, especially once I got up and moving around. We had a steady stream of customers in the store today - not overly busy but enough to keep us occupied. There was some discussion about people being treated rudely who tried to offer donations and pricing and some people trying to control and make all the decisions. It's funny but this sounds remarkably similar to what had happened about a year before I came on board where most of the front sales people quit due to dissatisfaction and favoritism of people in the back. I also have to say that I am starting to see a big disparity between items priced by the pricing group for people within the pricing group and (downright steals) compared to the pricing out on the floor or even to others of us volunteers. Maybe my time with this group is coming to an end. Oh dear, what will I do with myself? Oh wait - maybe tackle the 200 books I have to read and enjoy my new furniture??? :lol:

Kitty has creeped up from laying on the side of my hand to stretching across my entire left hand and half across my keyboard so I am going to post before I lose this. Talk to you tomorrow.

Happy ~ LOL - (Shaking a finger at me) Yep I did get at least one work out in tonight, Thats better then none.

Evening all. Just a quick pop in to say hi. Definitely keeping busy. Last night I put the ornaments on the tree. I couldn't get our usual topper to fit on this tree as it basically goes right to the ceiling. Maybe I'll cover a star-shaped piece of cardboard with foil, lol. This morning I got up and made the cranberry tarts. They are a pain in the butt. I will probably not bother with them anymore unless I find a good shortcut for the crust. After that I made out a shopping list with our menu and went shopping. Of course before that BF and I had to iron out the details for specific recipes that we're using so that I could shop for everything we needed. Such planners we are lol. BF is still working on the half bath so I left him to it.

After returning from shopping I took the dog for his walk. We finally had sun today! ! :sunny: After that I started up with more baking and I'm happy to say I finished making the rest of my human cookies. Well, almost done - the almond crescents need to be rolled in powdered sugar and the thumb prints need to have the filling added. There's still plenty to do but we aren't eating dinner tomorrow until 5 p.m. And people aren't really coming over until three so we should be good to go by then just some light cleaning and putting out extra table & chairs, do table setting etc.

Okay this turned out to not be all that quick of a post but now I'm done. I'll probably not post tomorrow, so let me wish everybody a happy Christmas Eve & a Merry Christmas right now. Enjoy!

Will probably catch up on personals on Thursday. TTFN ladies.

:elf::elf:

Merry Christmas Eve! :xcheer::wreath:

I am not usually up this late but I feel asleep around 7 p.m. while DH was watching the Cavaliers play (and I was up late Monday night due to me watching the Bengals beat the Broncos! :carrot::carrot:--sorry Annie is you are still a Payton Manning fan--I am a Bengal girl with all my heart--they used to train in Wilmington when I was a little girl until I was 21; I used to go watch them all the time in the summer.)

I have been in my home office for the past hour paying bills and trying to organize a bit.

Today will be a busy day. We will spend time with DH's dad in the early afternoon and take him his gifts and baked goods. Then we are meeting my brother and his partner and my adorable nephews at 5 for a early dinner at Cheesecake factory ,then going to Sharon Woods to see the lights and then back to their house for gifts. I can't wait to watch my nephews open their gifts. I had so much fun shopping for them!

Christmas Day we will be with our friends that we spend Thanksgiving with.

I have given up on exercise this week until Sunday. I'm giving today through Saturday with no exercise (so I must watch the food) and then on Sunday I need to get back into a consistent routine. I'm not waiting until Jan 1 to do that!

DH had his appointment with the surgeon yesterday to discuss the fistula and surgery. She feels that he needs to loose another 30-40 lbs to make the surgery easier on him and since the cipro and flagel are keeping the infection away, she is going to keep him on that and see him in March. So DH and I have some serious diet and exercise to make a priority in our lives.

DH had lost 23 lbs since she saw him in October and she was happy with that.

I am happy with him not having to have the surgery in January---with the winter weather and the fact that the surgery would be in Cincinnati and traveling for that and then staying at the hospital with him for at least a week--it would be better in the spring.

Michelle: It is ok if you can't post everyday--we know you love us! Remember that you have to take care of you first. We are hear for you.

Terra: Good for you for getting one workout in.

Happy: You should feel proud that you are going to go work out on Christmas Eve! I am proud of you.

Annie: It sounds like the night with the band was fun. I am glad that they figured out C's issue. My DH had a abdominal hernia that he had repaired about 15 years ago. He got along fine with it. Do they think that is the route that C will need to go?

Ceejay: I think you should see the doctor on Friday if you can get in. You might need some meds to settle that colon down. Take care of yourself and I hope you feel better.

Shad: You got a lot of work done. Is your cold all better?

Laura: I couldn't find a topper for our tree that I liked so I just didn't put one on. It sounds like you will be ready for your company. Enjoy the time with them!

Dee: Merry Christmas to you my friend!

Ok..I need to get to bed.

I might not get a chance to post until Friday. Merry Christmas to all of you lovely ladies! I treasure the gift of your friendship and support!

Susie ~ Thanks, I'll be sure to get more then 1 work out in today.

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I woke up at 4:30 this morning after going to bed at 9:00 p.m. last night. As always my plans for today are to do my morning and evening chair exercises.

Good Morning Everyone. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!
:clause::candy::gift2:

First, I got on the scales and was down another 2 lbs for a total of 13. I am very excited about that and motivated.

I am working until around 1 today then off until the 29th...Yeah! Not bad for a newbie. My brother is coming over this evening as his wife has to work tonight, so our Christmas eve will be me, C and my bro. I may stop on the way home and rent a movie, if they are not all already taken at the redbox.

Cs hernia is labeled a hiatal hernia, which really is not a hernia, that is just the label. It has more to do with intestines and digestions. More like acid reflux and heartburn from WAY down below to upper. So far he is doing great on eating healthy for his issue. I am really proud of him as he is a junk food junkie.

SUSIE...yeah I am a Peyton fan, but still a bigger Colts fan. I root for the Broncos when they are not playing the Colts. Colts are in the play offs but I think they will be out the first game. They are just not a stable team. Sounds like you will be making the rounds for the Christmas holiday. Little kids are the most fun opening presents.

TERRA...keep on the exercising. Yes, I am very pumped for Christmas, as all my shopping is done and not hurried to do anything this year.

LAURA...even when you are not running your arse off, you are doing something around the house. All that baking, then it dissappears in just a few minutes. That is how I feel when I spend a bunch of time on a meal, then 15 minutes later, done. Your cookies sound marvy, I guess cause they are not chocolate. I would have to stay away from your house.

SHADDIE...take some time to enjoy the Christmas spirit and cheer. You are accomplishing a lot while you are home. Glad the cold is breaking up and giving you a bit of relief. The pix of the keets is adorable. I love the bright colors of the birds.

HAPPY...keep up the good work at the gym. Yeah what else are you going to do this morning, might as well go to the gym. lol Do a little exercising for me. Sounds like you are getting Thrift Shop burn out. If you quit, they will certainly miss you. You do a lot of good things for that store, even DH has helped out. Boo on them. I see so many kitty pix on FB that remind me of you, aren't you glad I don't share ALL of them.

CHELLE...come here when you can. You know the routine and we love you all the same. Glad everything is working out with the surgery, be sure to get enough rest and WATER. Hugs.

CEEG...you quiet Christmas plans sound lovely. A little time with the uncles might be good too, if they are up to it. Sorry to hear you tummy is giving you a fit. I think maybe adjusting your diet will help, better start sooner rather than later.

DEE...hope all is peaceful in your world and you get to enjoy Christmas with the wee ones.

EVERYONE have a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Hope Santa brings you lots of your favorite stuff.

Hugs to all.

Annie ~ Yes I will keep up with my exercising. Thats great that your pumped for Christmas and that all of your Christmas shopping is done. I'm pumped for Christmas too and all of my Christmas shopping is done as well.

Good morning everyone,

Guess I will do a quick post before I get ready to head out the door in a bit.

Whether we are having a quiet Christmas or one filled with lots of people in our lives - wishing you safe travels all the best of days and a happy mood and love in your hearts. Thank you friends for another year together - wish we could toast to our health and happiness in person :cheers:

Congrats on the pounds down Annie - keep up the good work. Glad you found motivation in your sister friend Michelle! I'm glad C is working with the program to help control his aching insides. Sometimes guys are obstinate about things like that :^: And finally - yes, I agree with you about all the cute pictures - I am that way myself. Awww, awwww, AWWWWWWW but hey, it's cheap fun and smiles ;)

Susie - Cipro :yikes: :yikes: OMG took that once for a bad respiratory infection - geez that stuff is very hard on the tum tum. Glad to hear that DH is tolerating it well though.

Terra - maybe you can march around the Christmas tree 10 times :D but don't knock any of the ornaments down :lol:

Laura - have a good time with the family and friends today - glad you have everything organized - nothing worse that last minute rushing around.

Hello to the rest of you wonderful chicks. Have a lovely Eve and a Merry Christmas tomorrow. :grouphug: :xcheer::santa::tree:

Good morning ladies!

Merry Christmas Eve! I'm going to head to Stanford Hospital to see Bob. His sister texted me that yesterday's surgery was a long a difficult one. Poor guy. I feel so bad for him. I wish there was something I could do.

After I get back from the hospital, I'll relax a bit until D and I go to my step-mother's tonight to open gifts and play cards.

Tomorrow D and I, along with my step-mom and her significant other, are going to a friend of the family's for Christmas lunch (since I'm still on a bit of a restricted diet, I'll be packing my own lunch just in case I can't eat what is served).

The scale is still being stubborn, which is why I've decided to get back to the gym and rev up my metabolism. I am noticing Non-Scale Victories...there's the drop in clothes sizes (from 18/20 in pants to Misses 14, and from a 3X top to a Large or Extra-large. Other non-scale victories include the amount of time I can stand and walk. Before my bariatric surgery I could only stand for 5 minutes at a time, but now that I'm a little lighter, I can stand for 20-30 minutes. And I can walk Santa for 4 blocks now whereas before I couldn't get around our block without pain by the end.

I had a great workout with my trainer yesterday. We did legs (side lunges, sumo squats and machines), chest and back, triceps, and an ab machine (that simulated crunches but with weight resistance). I was a bit hesitant to try that one because I hadn't even done crunches yet, but I figured I'd do a rep or two with no weight resistance and if I had pain I could stop. I didn't have any pain and I was even able to add a light weight to the resistance.

My energy is doing better for the most part, although by 6 or 7 pm, I'm starting to run out of steam.

===============================

Annie - I'm so proud of you for the weight loss!! Yup, we both have the same "tool" now. We can do this! You're an inspiration to me, girlfriend. I've been taking my B12 and other vitamins most of the time. Some mornings I forget. I'm pretty sure that blood work will happen at my 3 month post-op. I have my 6 week post-op appointment next week, where I meet with the surgeon and also the dietitian to show her my food log. So nice you made amends with your brother in Illinois! Glad you had a great time at your brother's band's show! So sweet that Jacob got some early presents! You're such a kind, loving and generous Nanna! To answer your question, I AM feeling better and better physically. Moving is just easier for me! Thanks for the tip about biotin. I just started taking that. So sorry to hear about C's hiatal hernia. Hopefully he can keep the symptoms under control with healthy eating. Funny about being a Peyton Manning fan. I've never been a big Colts fan or Broncos fan, but I enjoy watching Peyton Manning play.

Terra - I'm so sorry I've been behind on reading the posts. I'm so sorry to hear about Clyde, but take comfort in knowing you did the right thing and he's not in pain anymore. Nice to think of him in heaven with your grandma. The hardest thing about having animals in your life is that they don't live as long as we do.

Susie - I also watched the Michael Buble Christmas show. And Blake Shelton had a Christmas special that I enjoyed also. That's so cool that you have a stand-up desk and will get to try out a treadmill desk!! So cool! So nice of you to send your gym bag to Happy! So nice that your DH loves to bake! I'm so sorry to hear that your fitbit broke, but at least they replaced it for free. As for turning 50, I did that a couple years ago, and like you, I can't figure out where the years went. I still feel like I'm in my late 20s/early 30s. LOL I'm really sorry...I think I forgot why your DH needs a fistula. My apologies. Congrats to him on the weight loss! Well done!

Laura - Good for you for skipping the finger food at the office holiday party. I was invited to a holiday party with some friends last Saturday but by the time I visited Bob and ran the errands I needed too, I was just too tired. You're definitely right that now isn't the time to eat out a lot. I happened to have had lunch with a friend a bit over a week ago at Chilis and the chicken tortilla soup was good and I tolerated it well, which is why when getting together with another friend, I pretty much insisted that we go to Chilis...she understood. She was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat ANYTHING at a restaurant since I haven't graduated to "regular" foods yet. I need to start doing a plank challenge. I'm so sorry to hear you've come down with a cold. Feel better soon, my friend. I really like those Lil Dippers. Mine is still packed away somewhere in storage. Other than Christmas Eve (today), Christmas and the day after, I don't have any special plans for my time off. Just working out, and visiting Bob. Just reading your posts and all you do, shopping, baking, etc. makes me tired!

Happy - I just love seeing the photos you post on Facebook, especially the one of the owl! Absolutely breathtaking! Oooh, Annie had a great idea about framing it. Can you please email it to me too? I can PM you my email addy if you don't have it. How nice that you found a new rocker/recliner chair for you, along with tables, a lamp and a bookcase! I guess he must really think you're nice! Bummer that you have to get rid of your monster plant! I wish I did that well with indoor plants. Wow, $50 on goodies! Well, if it makes your mom happy, that's what's important. Glad you liked the new yoga class. I've never tried Kundalini yoga.

Shad - Good for you on the plank challenge! I need to work up to a minute. Have your tummy issues and summer cold subsided? No fun to feel under the weather for the holidays. The plant you found in the garden is very pretty. Take care when wheelbarrowing the stones. Beautiful photo of the birds.

Ceejay - Having a quiet Christmas is sometimes really nice and exactly what we need. Now that you're done cleaning your house, I wish you could come clean mine! LOL

Dee - So sorry to hear you re-fractured your foot. Happy Belated birthday to your DH! Wow! 5 Sewing machines and 3 serger machines!! That's impressive, but in your line of work...definitely necessary! I'm very impressed by the success of your business. To answer your question...I don't think Santa notices a difference in how I look, but he does REALLY enjoy our longer walks, especially since I can walk at a faster pace. On rare occasions, insurance will sometimes pay for skin surgery. I'm hoping mine will pay for it, if I need it down the road. Most plastic surgeons want you to be at least 18 months post-op. Thank you and your DH for your prayers. He definitely needs them. His attitude is positive most of the time. I just hope he can still be positive despite another rough surgery. Thank you for your very kind words. Bob and I have been friends for 30 years.


Santa and I wish you all a happy Christmas Eve and a Very Merry Christmas!! I'll try and post tomorrow morning, but it might be after we get back from Christmas luncheon. :hohoho: :present: :tree: :ginger: :rudolph: :wreath:

http://cdn-0.free-animations.co.uk/c...es/tree_26.gif

Much love and many hugs :grouphug:

The phone has kept me busy most of the morning but nothing to important. The ones that don't respond I just tell them that the office is closed till Friday. I've had to call out the sewer stand by person twice.
Called my aunt to check on them and tell them I'm not coming till Saturday. My uncle's potassium got to low yesterday but he's doing better today.
Believe it or not I'm making chicken and dressing tomorrow in the crock pot.

---------
Annie
Yeah for another pound down this week. It's always good to have family around during Christmas. I'm looking forward to sleeping in in the morning and not having to rush, get things packed and drive an hour sometimes an hour and 15 minutes.

Morning all,

And a very Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that you have a loving and peaceful time with friends and family.

My cold returned with a vengeance last night and I spent a long time coughing and spluttering. This morning I feel pretty awful. So I am just going to sit here and drink my coffee and not think about the million things that need doing. I'm still alive, if somewhat battered, and that is about all that matters at the moment.

Today I am going to my nieces house for brunch. I will take a fruit platter since fruit is really all that interests me at the moment and a yoghurt dip for the fruit. I have two little outfits for my grand nieces which will need t be wrapped shortly - they are sweet little clothes. I also bought one for little miss S since they were on special at buy two, get one free.

I have the DS2's cat for a few days since they have gone away to Turkey Beach for the holiday. J's father has cancer and is not given long to live. The cat thinks that he owns the joint after only a few minutes in it. Miss Puss acts like her nose is out of joint, but I notice she doesn't get stuck into him when he teases her.

So I need to go and get somewhat activated. Only a couple of hours before I need to be down the road and a few things that have to be done prior to leaving.

I hope Santa leaves nice things under the tree for you all. It's a bit dreary and grey here today, but no doubt the heat will ratchet up soon and we will all be complaining about the humidity.

Iwas going to post some pics of the little dresses. I'll have to do that when I get back as time has slipped away again.

Here you go. The clothes went down well with the mother if not the kids.

Not that the kids didn't like them. Little Miss E didn't feel too well and big Miss S (as opposed to little Miss S - grand daughter) was too excited at the number of presents under the tree to get enthusiastic about the leggings and lilac top.

Shad
Hope you feel better soon. Think the cold/flu virus has struck in our area too. My friend that moved last year has the flu. I'm hoping my stuffy head
is from all the dust I've been breathing cleaning out files.

Merry Christmas to each of you and enjoy the day.

I'm enjoying the quiet--no running motors, just the t.v. Slept late this morning. Dressing is in the crock pot. Read on FB that my nephew's son was in urgent care and hospital part of the night. He has the croop and had to have breathing treatments. I called and wished my aunt and uncle a Merry Christmas and now I'm waiting on my sisters to call me which will probably be tonight. To much going on right now for them.
We had evaluations at work. I'm pleased with a 4% raise.
Ummm, dressing is smelling good

:tree: Merry Christmas Dear Friends :xcheer: From My House to Yours :ginger:

It's going to be a quiet one here. I have a lovely prime rib roast for tonight's dinner. Yesterday we had crab legs (me) and lobster tails (him) in a nod to the old traditional fish on Christmas Eve.

I went to the gym yesterday, came home and finished the garland with lights on the stairway bannister - one of my favorite touches. That was a big ordeal as pieces were in bits all over the basement because of us having to shuffle things around so much in the spring with all the excess water. By the time I got supper going I was dead tired.

DH is feeling like he's getting a cold - me a bit also so today will be a chill day either watching all those Christmas movies I recorded or just reading - I have a stack of books to go through including at least 4 due back at the library in a week.

I hope you all are having a good holiday yourselves. DH just ran outside - he left the car out on the driveway for some reason and the stupid turkeys have surrounded it and are pecking on it. They must think it's some threat to their food supply - go AWAY stranger. :lol:

Anyway - just popped in to say hello. Have a good day everyone!

Shad ~ I'm sorry to hear you dont enjoy Christmas...Do you have a favorite holiday or holiday's? Mine are Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Michelle ~ Its okay that you are behind on reading posts. Thanks for saying your sorry about Clyde

Happy ~ I cant go ahead the whole tree but thanks for the advice


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Woke up at 5:00 a.m. this morning and Scott, my mom and I went to my mom's work to turn on the ice cream machine and then we come home and started making the food for Christmas dinner and then at 2:00 p.m. my older brother and his family came over and we ate Christmas dinner and then we opened presents and then I helped my mom clean the kitchen and thats all I did for today. I'm gonna do my 40 min. chair work out before I go to bed for the night. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We had such a nice time with our friends yesterday. We ate well (I tried to be on track--didn't do it perfectly but better than I would have if I hadn't thought about it)

We watched two movies--Stand Tall and Jesery Boys--both were very good.

My DH got me some really pretty things for Christmas. I love clothes and purses and he indulged me in that way. He also gave me beautiful new teal color pea coat.

I am working until noon today and then off until Monday. We are taking our 2006 Hyundai Sonata in for a oil change and DH hears a noise he doesn't like so we will have that checked out. We have a 2013 one that we try not to drive back and forth to work (unless we have things going on and can't ride share that day) to keep the mileage down on it) so we need to keep the 2006 in good running order. I hope it won't be expensive--too close to the holidays!

Terra: It sounds like you enjoyed Christmas with your family. How nice that you and Scott helped your mom with the cooking and cleaning up for Christmas dinner.

Happy: What books are you reading? I saw on FB that you are still dealing with your cold. I hope you feel better soon.

Ceejay: Congratulations on that raise!

Shad: I thought the clothes were darling and when those little girls get them on and feel all pretty they will then be excited about them.

Michelle: Good for you for getting back to the gym. I'm sure you will see things moving quickly now.

Annie: I have got to get busy and get these pounds to dropping...you are doing great!

Hello to Dee & Laura.

I will see you all tomorrow.

Susie ~ Yeah I had a nice Christmas. Yeah Scott and I always help my mom clean the kitchen after we eat Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

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I woke up at 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. and then I went back to sleep until 9:00 a.m. and now its almost 11:30 and I'm staying up for the rest of the day. I'm gonna do my 40 min morning chair exercise in a few mins and then I'll do my 40 min. evening chair exercises tonight at 7 p.m. Scott, My mom and I were gonna go food and non food shopping at Walmart this morning but mom caught the flu from a co-worker last week and last night it started to affect her so now we arent gonna go shopping until she feels better. I feel so bad for her.

Hi ladies,

I hope you all had a good Christmas - ours was quiet as usual. DH was feeling like he was coming down with a cold, late yesterday evening I started feeling badly too. We had a nice dinner - I used my "new" china finally. I was going to go to the gym today but I'm not feeling up to it. Tomorrow the washer repair guy is coming again - the part he "fixed" slipped out again and the washer is making noises. I hope the repair guy gets here first thing so I have the rest of the day to do my stuff. Hate this "they will be there between 8 and 5 thing where you often fritter the whole day away. Even if they gave morning or afternoon - I'd prefer that. I have some things to clean up around the house but nothing too intense. They are having 75 percent off sale at the Thrift Store on Christmas stuff - I'm glad I don't have to deal with that - 50 percent off is easy - and we have to figure that as we ring it in. Then there is the discussion between what is "winter themed" not on sale vs "holiday" stuff which is on sale. :dizzy: :dizzy: Hopefully it will be all gone by the time my next shift rolls around on Tuesday, although I'm sure they will leave things out until at least January 2. We are also headed for the deep freeze come Monday. Looks like it will stay that way for a while. I can't complain - we have had a more mild winter compared to last year and sooner or later you know it's got to hit the single digits - better January than before. I'll hit the sauna at the gym and come out and be a steaming mess :rofl:

Terra - sorry your Mom is sick - seems like there's a lot of colds going on right now. Be careful you don't catch it.

Susie - glad you had a nice Christmas. I love clothes - not so much purses. It's nice that DH picked you out some good stuff. My DH is world's apart from what I really like when it comes to clothes. You'd think after 40 years he'd figure it out :shrug: The books I am reading are 3 books from America's Test Kitchen - they show some really interesting cooking techniques as well as recipes. It's the techniques I like and also some ideas for recipes are always welcome. I am also reading 2 biographies - one from Patti Boyd Harrison Clapton and the other from Paul McCartney. And I just picked up Jodi Piccoult's newest Leaving Time. Thank you for the reminder that the Jersey Boys movie is available for rent. Have to check that out - surprisingly DH said he's watch that too. I hear you about keeping your car running as long as possible. We have a 2003 Avalon that I really like (not for snow though) and I hope we can keep it for a few more years also. Just not impressed with cars today and they are so expensive to replace! Do you put a lot of miles on yours?

Hello to the rest of the chicks. Happy Boxing Day! :present: I need to get off the computer and get busy before the day is gone. Have a great day all!

Morning all,

Was a quiet Boxing Day for me. Went up the ladder and scrubbed the front of the carport ready for painting only to find a bit of rot there as well. It's not bad and I can fix it myself - sometimes I just wonder if the wood preservative is not as good as it is supposed to be or whether the timber got any at all, but I also think that there wasn't enough maintenance done in the early years so now I am paying the price.
Anyway, I have a lunchtime barbeque to go to today, which should be interesting as it is raining. And since I am not fond of the hostess, this will really be interesting as she will have no alternative plans put in place. Just figured that it wouldn't dare rain on her parade. Any reorganising will have to be done by someone else.

Slowly feeling better over this damn cold. It's the choking, hacking sensation that rolls around every so often that gets me. Hope that goes away soon.

Ceejay - hope your nephew is okay now. It seems that since parents are apparently opting out of vaccinations these days, those horrible old diseases like croup are on the rise again.
Well done on the raise.

Happy - your dinners are sounding amazing. I'd have gone for the lobster tail as well. Crab legs always seem so much work for so little result. The rib roast sounds good.
Had a laugh at the turkeys pecking the car. They could probably see their reflections in it. Go away strangers - right! :lol:

Susie - well done for eating well. It is all too easy to slip into 'it's the holiday season' mode and over eat. There was good food at my nieces place and I did not overeat there and just had normal meals since. I just know there will be some great food at the barbeque since C & T (parents of the happy couple I am going to visit) are foodies and so is C's mum. I will have to be careful like you were.

Terra - hope your mum gets better soon. Nasty time to have a cold or flu, especially in the cold weather you are having over there.

Well that is about it. I'd better get busy and sort out the morning before I have to clean up and go to the barbeque. I want to go and buy a high pressure hose system for myself. It will make cleaning the house outside so much easier than a ladder and a bucket. Couple of other things I need at the shop as well. Like bread. I didn't want to go yesterday since they have the boxing day sales on, and I can't stand the greed and selfishness that goes with them. It's all so commercial these days. People buy more than they need, then complain that they can't get their credit cards back on track. Like what??? If it is already maxed, why did you go out and buy some more?

Afternoon all. Happy Boxing Day. Sorry I didn’t get here yesterday - I was pretty tired out from Christmas Eve that on Christmas morning I just chilled out on the sofa and watched an old movie called “Holiday Affair”. It starred Janet Leigh (of “Psycho” fame), as well as Gregory Peck. The little boy in the movie was really good – he practically stole the show!

Christmas Eve dinner here at the house was a bit too labor-intensive to allow me to have quite enough time with my family, but it was good to see them nonetheless. We had prime rib with au jus and homemade horseradish sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, roasted/seasoned white potatoes, steamed green beans, and cheddar bay biscuits (from a mix). Very tasty. Bf and I were beat after the day as well the cleanup afterwards.

After a lazy Christmas morning watching that movie, I took doggy for a nice walk, and then bf & I went to bf’s mom’s for dinner with her and bf’s aunt. I wish I could say it was the relaxing gathering I’d hoped for, but it actually wasn’t…Bf’s aunt cannot let there be just one conversation (among a group of just four people!) and I left with the start of a headache after four hours of listening to two conversations at once. It doesn't help that there was a rather heated disagreement between the two sisters at one point. On the bright side, the meal was tasty. We brought home a few slices of ham.

Last night we watched another old movie – “It Happened on 5th Avenue”. I’d never seen it, and it was cute. I still have a couple other holiday movies I dvr’d that I want to watch.

Ahhh, today - finally a day to just relax! The only productive thing I’ve done is get the garbage and recycling bins wheeled out to the curb for pickup. Oh, and I’ve got a load of laundry in the washer. Okay, I also checked my work e-mail. Nothing urgent came through, thankfully. I’ll be glad to have already gone through most of it when I return to the office Monday. But that’s about it. I went to the library and picked up some books, as well as the Peggy Cappy yoga video. (Happy – my library lets us have those for 2 weeks, probably because it’s not a movie/new release.)

No plans at all for the remainder of the day except more laundry and some puttering around. The thought that we have to return that !@#$#% tree stand to the store is niggling at me, but it’ll get done, perhaps this weekend. They better not try to give us a hassle about it!! End of topic, before I get all worked up, LOL.

Tomorrow will be Jazzercise class, and at night is a party at which we won’t stay long because bf is tentatively planning to go to another party of a friend in the city. Not me, I just want to get home at a decent hour and kick back and enjoy some “me” time.

Ceejay – Nice you had yesterday off and it sounded nice and relaxing. . The chicken and dressing sounds good to me right about now. I guess I didn’t eat enough yesterday – I’ve been hungry all day. Safe travels to your uncles’ tomorrow!! I hope your nephew’s child is feeling better now – breathing issues are scary!! I’d be happy with a 4 % raise too! Everything else has gone up (except gasoline I guess) - we need raises just to keep up with the necessities!!

Shad – Sorry your cold has been giving you fits. Mine is easing up. I only took Nyquil one night at bedtime and woke up with that awful grogginess. Christmas Eve I took one dose of a daytime cold med just to control the runny nose/congestion. Otherwise, it’s been bearable. Anyway, try to resist the call of your to-do list and just let your body rest and eradicate this cold! Awww, cute nieces and cute clothes! Nothing cuter than kiddie clothes!!

Michelle – You sound like you’re doing great with the workouts, and I’m so glad you’re getting your energy back. I was worried that the reason for the energy deficit was too few calories! Santa might not be able to keep up with you as your fitness continues to improve, LOL! Yeh, all the prep over last weekend and on Tuesday & Wed. was a LOT, but it was nice to host my side of the family. Not to say bf and I weren’t whooped by all the activity (and stress) on Tues/Wed – we definitely wore ourselves out. But our hosting duty is done for a couple years - for Christmas at least - LOL. I’m so glad you were able to eat out with your friend, and I know as your body gets accustomed to your new eating guidelines it’ll get easier to work eating out into your life once again. My best wishes to Bob in his recovery from this 2nd surgery.

Happy – Good job with the gym workouts! The garland on the bannister sounds nice. We usually put some lighted garland on our fireplace mantle. Didn’t get around to that – yet, lol. Since we are having people over on NYE, bf wants to get that garland up, and the big wreath as well. Too funny – I know of a few people who like to take everything down on the 26th, but we’re the sort to wait until after New Year’s to do that. If I’m going to spend a good amount of time decorating, it’s staying up for more than just a week or two. :D LOL re the turkeys pecking at the car! No damage I hope!!!! Your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals sounded wonderful! Sorry to hear you and hubby caught colds. Ugh. Sorry the thrift shop drama is turning you away from wanting to continue with that – what a shame. But would you plan to continue on the activities that don’t include shifts at the shop? Independent projects sound like the best way to go. This morning I went over to the strip mall where my local thrift shop and the bakery are (the one that sells the awesome rye bread) and was disappointed to see both of them closed. Probably for the best – the Christmas stuff is half off and I have a feeling I would’ve ended up carting home a few items. My intention is to actually go through some of my existing Christmas bins and weed out some of the items that never go on display for whatever reason. I like the America’s Test Kitchen tv series on PBS, and we own one of the ATK cookbooks and one of the Cook’s Illustrated cookbooks. After that one dog of a cookie recipe from a magazine advert that I made the mistake of trying, I’m definitely more comfortable trying out recipes that have been thoroughly tested, such as ATK’s.

Annie - Great job with the weight loss sister!!! Awesome!! Keep up the good work. Between you and Michelle and Happy, I’m starting to get psyched to get back to some exercise and trying to eat more mindfully. Poor C dealing with this hernia/hisnia (teehee). I hope that by supporting each other with your dietary challenges, you can both see great results and feel great! Yeh, none of the cookies are chocolate, and for whatever reason, I’m not all that tempted to go to town on them. I’ve given away a lot of them to family, and I’m ready to stick the rest in the freezer until we have friends over on NYE. The cheesecake too has all been sent home/left with family – bf and I had one small slice each yesterday when we brought it over to his mom’s for dinner yesterday. I guess it’s a good thing not to have any of my trigger/red light foods in the house!

Terra – Sounds like you had a nice Christmas with your family. Does your family cook anything special for the holidays? We don’t have a special dinner or particular dish, but here’s something goofy I did: I decided to put out some Bugles and some whipped cream cheese with chives for one of the appetizers because my grandmother used to do that when she had the whole family over on Christmas Day back when I was a kid. My sister saw that & knew why I did it! :D I’m so sorry your mom caught the flu!! I hope she isn’t hit too hard with it and feels better soon.

Susie – I’m glad you enjoyed your time with your friends yesterday. Fun to watch kids opening their gifts!! I hope taking care of the car issue isn’t too expensive. We have a 2005 Acura that we’re trying to keep in good repair until we take the plunge and purchase something newer. Cosmetically, it needs some work, but recently we’ve been focusing on the mechanicals. Nice you get to leave work early today!
Well, that’s it for me. Everyone have a wonderful weekend! TTFN. :wave:

Woke up today at 7 a.m. Had to get the trash out to the curb. It has been a beautiful day with sunshine so I got out and swept pine needles off the driveway. Then raked those pine needles up and put them in a trash bag. I also disposed of a dead squirrel. Don't know what happened to it but I used a shovel to pick it up and put it in the trash bag.
Decided not to go to the doctor today. I need to go in January for refills so I'll suffer along until then. Bought a different brand that I could take every two to four hours and that seems to be helping. I will be watching my diet as well.
I've really enjoyed my two days.
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Happy
I had to laugh at the turkey's pecking at the car. Hope they didn't damage it. Hope your cold get better soon. How are you like going to the gym.

Laura
I found an upper Body Electric video on line. I liked it. At least I don't have to be in any big hurry tomorrow morning to get to my uncles. I can still sleep in if I want to.

I'll finish this later.

Hi ladies,

I've got a bunch to do today. Have to take return some clothes at Kohl's, then see Bob, and maybe stop at my step-mom's. I've got website work to get done, as well as house cleaning.

I had a lovely Christmas Eve. D and I went to my step-mom's and exchanged gifts and played a game. On Christmas Day, the D and I were invited (along with my step-mom and her significant other) to a family friend's home for Christmas lunch. They live 1/2 mile from the ocean, so after lunch, we all walked down to the beach and walked along the beach for awhile, and then walked the 1/2 mile uphill back to their home. The weather was gorgeous! Bright sunshine and low 70s. We couldn't have asked for a better day.

I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to walk so far, as I wouldn't have been able to just a few months ago. :D

I'm going to try and get back on here after I get my errands, visits and cleaning done.

Much love and many hugs to all,

Happy & Shad ~ Yeah Thankfully it was just a 24 hour bug

Laura ~ I only food item we make that other people probably dont is Strawberry Cheesecake Salad and My aunt makes home made Stuffing.

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Woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning because my back was hurting. So far today my mom,Scott and I went to both Walmart and Dillions. I'm about to do my 40 min. Chair Exercises and then I'll do my 40 min. Evening chair exercises also and thats it. Mom's over her sickness, It was just a 24 hour bug. So I'm glad she's over her sickness.

Feeling somewhat better this morning. However I felt that way yesterday and it all went to **** in a handcart in the afternoon.

Still raining although brightening somewhat. We've had a good drenching this time round but it could ease up somewhat to allow the water to soak in.

Laura - good to hear that your cold is gone. Wish mine would just go away. Sounds like you had a good time with the family over Christmas.

Ceejay - glad you disposed of the poor old squirrel. More leaves???? Keep up the exercise.

Michelle - Congratulations on the walk to the beach and back. You really are improving condition now. Guess you will be our skinny Minnie soon.

Terra - good to hear that your mothers flu didn't last long. Horrible to be feeling down over the Christmas season when every one else is drinking and eating and being noisy.

Seems that my remote controlled gate does not like long periods of rain and/ or having the big tree shade it for part of the day. It has decided not to work or to only work very slowly. I took the cover off the motor yesterday - not that I know what I am looking at - and surprised two geckos who had set up house in there. There is power to the motor - I figured that because there are red and green lights working. I don't know whether it is my controller or the gate unit that is misbehaving. DS2 doesn't get home until next weekend so I will have to manhandle the darn thing. I used the key to put it onto manual but it doesn't want to do that either. So I have to pick it up off the wheels and manhandle it open or closed. Always something.

Anyway, I had better go clean up some of my mess. My coffee is done and I have to go buy cat food. The cats are not impressed with me right now.

It's bedtime at the uncles. so I'm getting ready to turn in also. When I got here my uncle wanted to go check on my aunts house. They are in
tx with her daughter. I put in a light bulb on the carport and swept off the acorns off the driveway. And my cousin wanted to get the mileage off her mom's vehicle.
More later.

Thought I posted last night, must have closed the browser before I hit enter. DH gave me a doozer of a cold, I am feeling quite miserable. Been doing a lot of sleeping mostly. Yesterday the Sears guy came to fix my clunky washing machine. He replaced one part and ordered another. Was on the phone switching to about 5 people - all of whom insisted I pay for the part - not when I just bought an extended warranty!!! I felt sorry for him, he said no one knows what they are doing there. He ran the washer through a diagnostic cycle with some towels in there and then was nice enough to toss them in the dryer when done. He seemed like a nice enough fellow. So when he left I took the wet towels out and put them back in the washer, this time with soap. I sat in the recliner and dosed off. DH asked me why the washer was beeping. It had an error code that basically said the water will not drain out of the tub. :mad: So there I was with a washer full of water and heavy wet towels. :mad: :mad: DH said it was possible when he put the washer back together he could have pinched the wire that told the switch to open up and let the water drain out. He called Sears and was given the run around by them - they can't come back until the part is in. He said to have the guy return TODAY to fix what he broke. He got no where. I was able to get about half of the water drained out. Made a big mess pulling wet towels out and squeezing them as best I could and just drying them. We soaked up the rest of the tub water as best we could - that "Sham Wow" towel works pretty good! DH said he will take a quick look see to see if he sees anything obvious with a relay wire. Good thing I am caught up on laundry however since my laundry drains to the septic system, I don't want to overload it so I don't ever do more than 3 loads per day. Sears is not due back until January 7 with the part. The service people said they would send someone out on Monday to check the washer but we both know that WON'T happen. :rolleyes: I did not go to the gym yesterday - am stuffy and short of breath and I know if I saw me there in the condition I am in, I would have been upset - keep your germy self home lady!

The deep freeze has moved in - a day early. Temps in the teens moving to single digits tomorrow and below zero overnight. That's good - the freeze actually kills the germs so I don't mind. AND I have an excuse to light the fireplace which I totally enjoy so all is good. Now if only kitty would keep her paws off my keyboard I would be a happy camper.

Ceejay - that was nice of you to do a little sweeping at the aunts house. Glad the tummy is feeling better - often our eyes see things our stomach's don't like - happens to me a lot too :D Ugh on the dead squirrel, hopefully he is resting comfortably on those pine needles. Do you have the really long ones by you? That's what we had in TN, I like the shorter ones we have up here. To your question, I do like the gym although there are far more men there than women. I think the women tend to gravitate towards the classes rather than working out on the machines. I don't mind the guys so much - most are nice enough, I just roll my eyes at the grunters who have to be really LOUD about it. Can't hear them with my iPOD strapped on though. :D

Shad - bummer that your cold is lingering. Has it been more than a week? I would imagine travelling does not do well for it. Would hate to fly with a stuffy head. Some people down south had remote gates - I thought they looked pretty but I was always thinking they would be more trouble than they were worth - which is why many people left them open I suppose. Are you home through the new year now?

Terra - when will you be able to start walking again? How is the foot? That's good that Mom recovered quickly and no one else got sick.

Michelle - sounds like you had a great day. I sure would love to hear the surf and walk on the beach - enjoy it for me too. That's great that you were able to walk longer than before. Remember these NSV when you get frustrated with the scale.

Laura - your dinner sounded fabulous. Do you like those Cheddar Bay biscuits? I have 2 boxes in the pantry I mean to cook up one day. Thank you also for the movie reviews - I have saved several on a list to check out when I'm looking for suggestions. I liked Yoga for Arthritis better than Yoga for the Rest of Us. I have 2 more on their way from other libraries. What did you think? I hope you were able to spend part of the long weekend enjoying some time to yourself. Ugh the thought of taking the tree stand back is downright UGH. Fighting off all those bargain shoppers too! I tend to agree with you about leaving the decorations up until New Year's once you invest all the time of putting them up. I don't understand the day after put everything away, toss the tree out December 26th 'ers :lol: My Mom would keep things up until Jan 6 - feast of the Three Kings.

Hi Susie, Dee, and Annie - hope you are enjoying the weekend.

Kitty is being obnoxious - she is really PUSHING my left hand and putting her paw across the function keys on the keyboard. She wants to curl up and go to sleep and I keep bouncing her head by typing. Silly kitty. Anyway I think I'll go make a pot of chicken soup. Have a good Sunday everybody.

Hello :smug: Looks like everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Mine was okay like most r. On Christmas day we drove 1 1/2 hrs. to b w our 2 sons & families in the afternoon. Our son phoned on Christmas Eve to say we'd not b having a dinner, his wife changed her mind about cooking because dIL had a headache (our dIL I mentioned on a prior post, my dh says that she & ('fruitcake'/dh calls Cher behind her back), r from the same 'nut tree' LOL :dizzy: So our DS asked if we'd mind if he grilled chicken breasts to make tacos & DS would make guacamole', etc. & veggies for a salad & that the kiddos wanted to make 3 kinds of devil eggs I taught them @ my home. We had plenty of food for all 9 of us for that day. I made 2 sauces w raspberries & peaches from my freezer for short-cakes, a Fresh 'chicken gravy' from a new roasted chicken I had in the oven when DS phoned & our 2 sons made buttermilk biscuits w me after we ate dessert, to snack-on that evening. I took my pasta-roller & cheese, etc. to make fresh ravioli w my 2 DS & my grandbabes w any leftover chicken, my boys r great cooks starting @ 4 yrs. helping me. Whenever we have a family dinner, my family asks to make 'fresh pasta' to keep, so they freeze their veggie cooking water (spinach, carrot, etc) to flavor the pasta dough & add vitamins. When dIL got bored texting, she joined us cooking & that made us a very Happy family.
We made the pasta after we all played Pictionary. I bought 'Smurf Monopoly' & took it & 6 of us played it; while 5 of us played card games. DS has a X-Box & he kept it & his TV off during the entire day/evening our party was happening. In memory of our son's Grandma, my lovely-hearted x-mIL; I annually make several Slovak recipes during the holidays keeping our DS memories of her w them, she taught me how to bake & cook; so I had 2 gift tins filled w her pastries as gifts & 1 for sharing. She was adorable, too bad my x-dh didn't follow Her example instead of his violent temper.

I got dh a cordless drill he wanted & dh got me flatware/silverware I wanted. We're on a tight budget w auto parts hitting us hard right now & our propane heat, so we kept our personal gifts under $100 this year; we spend $75 on each of our 4 grandbabes & that isn't much now days when the kiddos jeans r $20 pr. but they r always happy w our gifts. DH had Friday off from work & he bought a tailpipe & muffler & engine belts & put them on yesterday, original factory parts :D that lasted 14 yr. Next week I have to get 4 new tires on my car & drain dh's Christmas work bonus.

Today dh went back to our creek looking for downed-trees to make patio furniture & didn't find anything & he looked in our Cedar swamp & found several 20 ft.-30 ft. trees down, he'll go back & 4-wheel them up to our pole barn to prep when the ground freezes again. So, dh & I get to sketch-out/w a blueprint what we each want & get it finished by our March anniversary. I'd like a glider-sofa w a reclining back w a latch to flip-down wide enough to lay/nap & that I can touch my feet on the ground to swing. I'll upholster cushions & he'll debark the logs, etc. If I can locate my dvd w some of the furniture dh & I have made I'll put some pics on here. Our wood pieces r customized for ppl because their different heights & little ppl want to touch the ground when they sit too, & ppl w long legs/long torso want a wider back & to sit higher up. So w a custom sofa/loveseat/chair everyone is comfy as if they're sitting in a cozy recliner.

I made a pork loin yesterday in my slow-cooker & shredded 1/2 for sandwiches/salad & we'll eat the other half cubed-up in a stew for supper tomorrow. Dh only has New Years day off from work, I give my employee January off & she & her dh fly out west for vaca. My business is relaxing/slow & peaceful in January & July, & I get to enjoy the seasons. I'll do personals tomorrow, I gotta go give 6 puppy baths now, I just finished our 3 doggies baths. I hope you'all enjoyed the spring weather weekend we just had :cool: the cold will b back this week :(

Dee - sounds as if you had a very busy holiday. You have made me nostalgic talking about the swing. When I lived in Memphis we had a swing up by the pool. I would lay on it, stare at the sky and swing gently with one foot pushing off the ground. Sometimes I'd turn the pool light on and the blue light would sparkle in the trees overhead at night. It was beautiful and VERY peaceful. I do miss that. We brought the swing with us but the blasted red pine squirrels shedded the cushions the first winter we were here. Talking about pasta I am also feeling a bit guilty that I have a pasta roller new in the box I bought 2 years ago that I MEAN to use but don't get too. Ok, a goal for this January :yes: It's nice that you can go out on the property to gather materials for the furniture making. We just bundle the brush in the back where we can to make homes for the woodland critters - other stuff DH burns which the hippie in me freaks out - such POLLUTION in our lovely woods and fresh clean air. :yikes: Quick thinking on the tacos for Christmas supper. Nothing like changing plans AT THE LAST MINUTE :rolleyes:

Shad I also meant to compliment you on the pictures of the kidlets. Such cuties and I loved the clothes too. Good choices. There's only so many toys one can get them.

Today was a lazy day - I am feeling worse today than the last 3 days I've been sick. Just totally exhausted although I have been taking cold medicine at night and it's knocking me out so I get a good rest. I don't even hear the snoring DH claims is coming from my side of the room. :^: It was a beautiful sunny day - we haven't seen the sun in many days. I sent DH out looking for photo opportunities and I passed out in the recliner. Had a light dinner of leftovers for him, more soup for me and I'm about to hit the recliner again - this time with a book and a nice cup of hot tea. And some tissues. Tommorow I was supposed to get my hair colored but I left a message at the salon on Saturday - I just know she won't get it but I have no other way to contact her. I also cancelled my training appointment and I am bummed that I will miss my Kundalini yoga class. Drat, drat, and drat. I don't like being sick but I can see this is highly contagious and I don't want to pass this to anyone as I would be irritated if someone else made me sick - when I give DH his goodnight kiss I pull my shirt up and we kiss through the "shirt screen" :rofl: I'm not even sure I will make my shift at the thrift shop Tuesday and I've never had a sick day yet! Maybe it's more than just a cold and that flu that's going around. Anyway - have a good night everyone.

Shoot.
I had half a post done when something made it close the internet. Things have been very scratchy netwise over the last couple of days.

I've sorted the gate as mentioned in the last post. It seems it doesn't like rain much so it didn't charge. One day later with only a little rain and the panel sloped to allow it to drain, and I have my gate back. I hope I have deterred the two little geckos from setting up house again in the box. They are up to no good in there I can tell.

Happy - get better soon. If your cold is anything like mine, you need to rest up and keep warm and hydrated. Mine just disappeared overnight. Not sure why overnight, but I ain't complaining I can assure you.

Ceejay - nice of you to help out the family while they are away.

Dee - sounds like you've been busy over Christmas with the children and all. Nice that your sons care enough to ensure all the kids are at least fed.

Okay before I lose it again, I had better go. It's my bedtime anyway. I've had a fairly productive day so I'm looking forward to my bed, even if it means leaving the aircon in the lounge.

Oh yes, one thing about that cold, I rarely had much of an appetite while I had the cold. Today I felt that I could really eat. Here's my lunch. Healthy - yes? Mango, Apricot, peach, strawberries, kiwifruit, and fig with a blueberry yoghurt.

Good Monday Morning Sweet Ladies of the Worldly Type...

Christmas didn't seem like Christmas this year to me. I guess because our celebrations didn't happen until the 27th. My brother came over Christmas eve, we watched Maleficent (again for me, sis and I saw it at the theater), had chicken cauliflower casserole, roasted brussel sprouts and taters. All good. Christmas day we did absolutely nothing. Watched movies and piddled around the house. Friday was a bit of grocery shopping for Saturday. Sis came over early Sat morning and helped me clean house, then everyone started arriving aroun 4 to celebrate our family Christmas. We had our tacos, enchiladas, cheese dip, taco salad and my niece brought snicker doodles, which for some reason were fantastic, better than normal. I only ate one, thought about the second one, however all were eaten in a short span of time by everyone else.

C got me a beautiful cross necklace and also an angel necklace that I don't like as much but I guess it is the thought that counts. Sissy got me a new trash can for the kitchen with a foot pedal and a slow closing lid (on its own), very nice. For the most part I got just a bunck of little nick nackie things from others. All nice.

OK to all you cold/cough/stopped up noses...get some of the airborne (I get CVS brand) and drink it daily. It is amazing in fighting off colds etc. Even if you already have a cold, take it anyway. Mix is with water I only use about 3 oz of water as it makes it taste better, orangier, too much water and is tastes like watered down OJ. I drink this all winter long, maybe not everyday, but mostly every day.

SHADDIE...the gate opener could be a mix between the rain/water and the geicos. I had a ground squirrel problem one time similar to that when I lived out in the stix. Once I got those lil devils out of there, things worked very nicely. Hope you are feeling better.

HAPPY...so nice of DH to share his cold with you. He needs to know that sharing everything is not necessary. How are you liking the gym? Bummer on the washing machine. And why is it the dang thing won't drain when you either have towels or jeans in there. Never fails. The roast sounds delish.

LAURA...Your hosted Christmas sounded wonderful. I get what you mean about hosting, all the preparing then afterwards all the clean up. I spent the most part of yesterday getting my kitchen back together and also taking the tree down and out. OH the needles that had to be swept up. C did that while I put all the decorations away for storage. Think I am going to order the Cappy yoga DVDs for home. So I can add them to my stack of exercining DVDs that I don't use. Hopefully I will get into these. lol

CHELLE...be sure to get your rest. Yes the biotin for the hair, my friend Susie did not take it and her hair is so thin on top and has not really grown back in. She is 9 years post op. Vits and water, vits and water, vits and water....did I say vits and water??

CEEG...glad you made it to the Uncles and had a good time and enjoyed your time off work. Any time off work is good. haha

DEE...fun with the grandbabes, nuttin like it and making good memories. Making ravioli sounds like a lot of work, no thanks for me. I love to bake and cook, but not much in time consuming stuff.

TERRA...how is your foot and are you getting all your exercising in?

SUSIE...we have seen Stand Tall and Jersy Boys, I like both. Both a little on the sad side, but not bad. Sounds like DH knows how to meet you happy needs with gifts, that is great.

That is about it for me. Make it a marvelous/Monday/evening, and drink our Airborne!!

Morning ladies,

Day 5 of cold and I am feeling no better. I am dreading it moving into my chest. Cancelled my hair appointment this morning - I'm hoping she won't be mad that she went out in the early morning (it's minus 10 outside) only to find I cancelled my 10am. In my defense I did call on Saturday to cancel since by then I knew this would not just be a 24 hour thing. I have been home inside since Christmas and I am about to go stir crazy. Since this is such a rough and contagious cold, I don't think it would be right to go into the thrift shop tomorrow. We are also in the frigid weather - high of 6 degrees forecast for tomorrow. However, we also have bright sunshine which we have not seen in a very long time so inside the house with bright sun and lots of light, it's not that bad at all. I also cancelled my training session at the gym today and I am sorry to be missing the new yoga class. Oh well there is always next week which is January when everyone is gung ho on resolutions for at least a month, right?

Annie - I smiled at your comment about collections yet more exercise DVDs as I look at the 15 in the case in front of me. :o Not sure why I have such good intentions and no follow through when it comes to that sort of thing. I can say one thing though - after doing the yoga for about a year there definitely is something to it. It does help with flexibility, lubricating the joints, and helping to strengthen the muscles that support the joints in the body. I still need to work on my balance - rather bad at that. It's "very windy" when I am in tree pose :rofl: Thanks for the Airborne advise but does that have zinc in it? I have a hard time with zinc. I am working on some other natural remedies like ginger, orange peel, lemon and I will have to whip up some garlic chicken - something potent with garlic. Good for you for stopping at only one snicker doodle. Thank goodness they were gone when you went back to the plate. I didn't bother with cookies this year - why be tempted? How is your foot holding up?

Shad - your lunch looked very tasty - I was wondering where the protein was but then I saw the yoghurt. Perfect thing for such hot weather and all that vitamin C will no doubt make you feel much better. I am hoping I will wake up and this could will be gone - although I am starting to think that this is actually a mild case of the flu that is going around. The one that morphed from the strain they gave the flu shot for - not that I got a flu shot this year. Anyway it sounds like everyone has the sniffles so we are in good company. It has to be far more miserable being sick in your hot weather tho - you would think one would be sweating it out.

Think I'll go find me something to eat and then get on the phone and bug Sears again. I think there is just enough soapy water in the bottom of the washer that I can't drain out which will really start to stink in a few days if it's not dealt with. Maybe I'll let DH call - it's fun to listen to him rant. Later chicks...

Morning all. Back in the office today. It’s quiet here. The streets downtown are relatively quiet in terms of car traffic and the train was quiet too. Two members of our group are out today.

Dee – Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas with your sons & their families. How great that they know how to cook – that’s a skill everyone should have! How interesting that you and your hubby make furniture from the fallen trees on your property. I’d love to see the pics! I agree that getting furniture to fit the person is very important. Sitting on a chair that’s not deep enough is very uncomfortable for me. Yummm, the pork sounds really tasty! Enjoy your slow time, though I doubt you slow down very much!! ;)

Happy – I’m so sorry you’re suffering from a cold. :( I thought mine was on its way to being done and yesterday I woke up feeling a bit worse. Boo. It stinks that you’re having to cancel all your activities, but it’s the right thing to do if you think you’re contagious. I’m sure we all have gadgets (kitchen or otherwise) that we haven’t used as much as we envisioned when we bought them – or at all. Ours is a meat grinder attachment for our Kitchenaid mixer which we bought nearly a year ago. BF saw himself making sausage – I think we bought the casing stuffer tubes as well. However, just now mentioning this, it occurs to me that I can use the grinder to grind chicken breasts for a wonderful Thai basil chicken recipe we have. Re the Cheddar Bay biscuits – yes, they’re pretty tasty. But what isn’t yummy when it has shredded cheese in it and a melted herb butter brushed on top of it?? :D What a PITA with your washer problems!! How old is that washer? I had the impression that it wasn’t very old – that’s just terrible. Re the grunters at the gym – isn’t that just so annoying??!! I suppose you'll become accustomed to it and just tune it out. And if you have an iPod playing, even better. Re Peggy Cappy – I believe I borrowed her first video – Yoga for the Rest of Us, which included someone doing a chair yoga version of the moves alongside Peggy and another person. As an intro to the moves, I thought it was okay. As a complete yoga workout session, I didn’t care for it because it was a lot of explaining and not so much movement. One of the group fitness classes I really enjoyed at LA Fitness was the yoga class. It was a challenge for me, but in a good way, and it really kept us moving. So I guess you could say I prefer the more "athletic" yoga classes over the “relaxing” ones. Alas, this class/instructor was on Sunday mornings, and that’s really the only morning I get to relax. Of course it didn’t start ‘til 10 am, so I could have had several hours in which to be lazy with my tea and newspaper and still go to the class, but once I’m in that lazy mode, it takes me a while to get out of it, lol. Easier to linger in the pj’s and putter around the house than to get myself dressed and out to the gym.

Shad – LOL re the geckos setting up house in the gate motor housing. If it wasn’t the moisture causing the motor’s problems, it would eventually been the geckos. :yes: So your cold is history and you’re feeling better now? Glad to hear it! Your fruit plate looks wonderful. The brand of yogurt I like is no longer sold at any of my local markets – boo on that. Oh, except I spotted giganto tubs of it at our nearby Costco the other day – restaurant-sized for sure. Not an option. So I have to try out other brands and find a new regular.

Annie – I don’t mind moving Christmas celebrations to another day, as long as it’s not like that every single year. BF and his mom get angry about that because it’s his brothers that always go along with what their wives want every year - being with their families. :mad: Your Mexican fiesta sounds delicious! Bf and I’ll be having homemade tacos this week, for sure. As for all the work hosting entails – at least it’s a good excuse to do a thorough cleaning (since we don’t like housecleaning and need a good excuse to do it, LOL). Another bonus is we cleared our kitchen cart’s top surface of a bunch of junk we don’t even use on a daily basis (to make room for the Nesco roaster and the bigger coffee maker) and I don’t see the need to put that stuff back there!! Does the airborne drink mix thing have Vit. C in it? Re the Peggy Cappy yoga videos – I’d say try to give them a test run before you buy them. Do you have a library you can borrow them from?

Ceejay – I hope you enjoyed your time with your uncles. Nice of you to help out at the aunt’s house. Ick re cleaning up the dead squirrel! I came across a dead mouse the other day while cleaning up after the dog in the backyard. No fun coming across that kind of thing, and of course having to get rid of it. But who knows what the dog might have done with it if I'd left it there! :mouse:

Terra – So good to hear that your mom’s illness was short! I looked up the recipe for the strawberry cheesecake salad and if the one your family makes is anything like the recipe I saw online, it sounds delicious. :hun:

Michelle – Sounds like you had a nice holiday. I envy you in that warm sunny weather and taking a walk along the beach! :sunny: :beach: And it must have been even more enjoyable now that you can walk longer than previously.

Hi Susie – How’s it going girl? I received a Fitbit Flex for Christmas and I hope you can give me some tips for getting started with it!

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Let’s see – I last left off on Friday afternoon. We didn’t do much of anything Friday night except watch the old movie “His Girl Friday” that we’d dvr’d a few days back. What a fabulous old movie with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russel. The dialog is so great, but it’s really a lot of dialog and spoken very quickly, so it’s almost like I want to see it again sometime to catch what I might have missed. I’d seen only little bits and pieces of it previously, so it was great to finally see it all the way through.

On Saturday I went to jazzercise class. I mostly puttered the rest of the day – packed the leftover Christmas cookies in a tin and got them in the freezer, did some laundry, took a dog walk, etc. I’ve got a few candles with wicks that are completely burnt down, yet have a good amount of wax in the bottom of the jars. In the basement I have an old potpourri warmer that I pass every time I’m down there. It finally occurred to me to use this warmer to melt the leftover candle wax. I brought it upstairs and cleaned it (shame on me – I’d put it in the box without even cleaning it properly!). The candles are in the freezer waiting for me to pop out that wax. I checked the box to the warmer and it indicated it could be used for wax melting as well as potpourri. Does potpourri even exist anymore??!! Seems like a fad that came and went.

Saturday night we went to a party given by some friends that aren’t too far from us. It was a pleasant time. Best thing is that I was home by 9:30, LOL. Bf dropped me off at home and went off to his friend’s party in the city while I vegged out on the sofa watching a Hallmark movie. I was tired and I felt like I had a lot of fluid building up in my ears, so I took a Zyrtec and went to bed.

Yesterday was a lazy day. I woke up feeling like my cold was trying stage a comeback. I was also feeling some soreness and muscle fatigue, and I went through the day in a bit of a fog. I had my tea and newspaper and spent a good amount of time on the sofa reading a book and watching tv. I decided to do the Peggy Cappy yoga video that afternoon because I thought it would be a good way to stretch my sore muscles. As I mentioned to Happy, this video wasn’t quite the one for me and didn’t have enough movements to stretch out my muscles much. And the chill in the basement didn’t help matters any.

I got out for a dog walk right after that, and the rest of the day was spent reading and watching tv. Bf and I watched a couple more episodes of “Breaking Bad”. I also finally got around to applying for a Costco Amex card – we’ll use it to buy our gas and it'll earn points for an annual rebate check. It’s a free card as long as we have a Costco membership.

I think that's about it for me. I got on the scale this morning and it was down a couple pounds from where it was three weeks ago. I'll take it!

Okay, better get this posted and get back to work. It’s very quiet here, but I still have things to do!! Like brew another mug of tea for myself, LOL.
:coffee2: Join me!! :cofdate:

TTFN! :wave:

Above are the ingredients in Airborne. HAPPY...looks like a bit of zinc is in it, but not too much, not the main ingredient. LAURA...yes it does have vit C in it. All good stuff.