No-Bake Cookies (there r other variations of online, but these r #1 for taste & texture)
In a saucepan (stovetop) or glass casserole (microwave) add: 2 c. wh. sugar, 3 T. cocoa, 1 stick of margarine & 1/2 c. milk; bring to a boil then remove from heat.
Next stir in: 2/3 c. peanut butter (store brand is best, the name brands seem to have more oil & the cookies won't dry) & 3 c. instant oatmeal. Slightly cool & drop onto a sheet of waxed paper w a spoon to the cookie size u want to eat (Let dry on a cookie sheet or table/counter-top) about 6 hr. or overnight... I made these for a customer on a diet a few times & she needed the nutrient count, so I estimated by the ingredients & divided by the # of cookies for her.

Happy, Yes, having our sons back in the same state is a relief because Ds1 isn't married & lives alone in WI, & when he's sick & been injured I worry. Both sons told me we'll have a monthly, Sunday family meal, cooking together as before. When I bought my treadmill about 10 yrs. ago I never thought about needing a cushioned track, I wore size 8-10 clothes & my knee was ok...I didn't foresee myself w any pains, or having probs, until I'd b 70 yr. :rofl: I surprised myself & stuff started @ 58 yr. :( Now I need a Benadryl being outdoors because of pollen & weeds & I have arthritis in my neck & knee pain. Your $7 of sales, that's lots of 50 cent bargains :D

Ceejay, That's great your 4 day weekend starts today, is that every week or a few weeks out of the month? Is there anyway that u could move your bed or put a air deflector on the vent to keep u comfortable to sleep? I set our sleeping temp @ 64* & add a blanket.

Shaddie, Sorry to hear about w the rain down pouring. Where I live we seldom have a torrential rain. :goodluck: finding a computer that will serve your needs & make u happy for a good price. I'm glad u checked-in w us. Will the 'agency' that gave u bad advice 'pay your accountant' to try fixing what they screwed up on your tax bill advice? I'd give the agency that bill & show them how ignorant they r.

Annie, I don't like cold temps below 30* either, but the fluffy snow is lots of fun since it doesn't last long & we don't play outdoors when the temps r below 20*. If our sons lived in a warm state we'd move there in a heartbeat. The cold temps make me sleepy early & makes me crave carbs & sweets. Congrat's on your post-op appt. today.

Laura, Do u get to vote on which book is read, otherwise I wouldn't enjoy being in a book club. Do u trade books w other clubs or do u have to buy everything u read? Your so accustomed to being @ Jazzercise on Saturdays, I hope u enjoy your new exercise classes just as much. Piloxing class sounds too aerobic for me, so enjoy-enjoy :exercise:

Miche, Can Bob lay on his good side & play cards or board games? Because playtime gets our minds off lousy stuff. How about a Pastor occasionally dropping by to visit w Bob, would that ease Bob's mind so he can enjoy life? Re (walking on the treadmill hurting your back.) I love walking outdoors & also hiking like u do too & walking w our 3 doggies. When Dh had his back surgery 18 yr. ago his Doc told him to walk daily to strengthen his back, so looks like your step-brother can b your new walking partner :running: for a month or so.

About cut foods, air makes cut foods oxidize turning brown & texture change; if the cut/peeled part is covered/sealed it shouldn't turn brown. Try plastic wrap, aluminum foil; like when u make guacamole & u press plastic wrap onto the surface to keep it from turning brown after squeezing lime on the surface.

It seems like this winter is lasting way too long. Ron's going ice fishing w a friend tomorrow, the temps will b back in the 20*s & they asked the wives to go :brr: we both said 'no' we'll fry & eat their fish.

Susie & Terra :wave:

A quick one for me
I'm getting ready to go over to eat lunch with my uncles. Seems like every one is on the mend. And it's supposed to be a pretty week end. The sun is shining this morning.
Talked to my friend via FB last night and she is not doing well. She's been sick a lot since she went back home.
My aunt told me this morning that our city's problem has been on the front page of the Jonesboro sun for three day's. That goes to show you I don't read that often.

----------
Dee
That's the recipe I normally use for the no bake cookies.

Laura
Yes I've closed the vent in my bedroom. If I close it up completely it whistles. Must be letting some air by some where. I've thought about that as being the cause of my allergies. I like a Pilates DVD that I have from the Firm collection. It's pretty intense.

Hello's to every one else. More later as I have time.

Dee ~ Yeah I dont know if I said or not but I'm had a cold since Monday but I'm finally feeling better so thats good cause I have a busy week coming up.

Laura,Ceejay & Annie ~ Thanks, Like I told Dee I'm finally feeling better.

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Woke up at 8:30 this morning. Its now 1:16 p.m. I'm about to clean the bathroom. Before its gets dark I'm gonna try to go for another walk outside. Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.

Hi Everyone. It was a brutal work week and I will have to do some work from home tomorrow but I will survive. The extra $$ is nice, especially when we will have some medical bills coming up until we hit our deductibles and things like that.

I had a 3 lb loss at TOPS on Thursday. I was very happy with that! :carrot:

My work meeting on Wednesday was called "Mindset" and is a part of a program called "Pathways". It is all about positive communication to make better teams. There is a book that comes with it called "Stomp the elephant" and for the next 9 weeks, me and my table mates (3 I know, 2 I don't but will be getting to know them) will meet for 1 hour to discuss the chapters we have to read each week. We also log in and do some questions on this website. All I could think was "ughh!" more things to do for work.

I did my PT (physical therapy) today. We did some of the things that we did on Tuesday and then she added a few new exercises. One was for my core. I sit on a exercise ball and hold 3 lb weights in each hand and I lift my arms (holding them straight out in front of me) alternating each arm. I do 3 sets of 10 of those. I could REALLY feel that on my core and lower back. It made them feel "tired". For my abductors and abductor muscles and hip strength I had a new one where I sit on the ball and I march in place. I do 2 sets of 10 of that right now. Felt that ALL over.

They printed pictures of the exercises for me to do at home. I will do them on Tuesday's and then my PT is Thursday and Saturday. I can say they are really helping me to feel better and I do the stretches every day.

She also told me if I felt like it I could do the 1/2 mile walk and the 10 min on the elliptical daily or if it gets to be to much, every other day. She also told me I could choose to swap out one of those with 5 min on the bike.

DH and I went to see "American Sniper" today. It is good and very, very thought provoking. There wasn't a sound in the movie theater during or after the movie. I did see a lot of people whipping tears away..including me.

Anne: I am praying for you son. :hug: I am also giving praise and thanksgiving that you had a good report at the doctor!

Dee: I'm glad you will get some snow-showing in. You seem to really like it and that is the best exercise..one you really like..because when we like the exercise that we are doing we seem to do it.
I am still going to TOPS.

Shad: I think one of those tablets with the removable key boards and a port on the tablet would be something I would use.
My husband is a tennis fan and he is watching/ following the Australian open. It looks very hot in Melbourne. Have you ever been to the Australian open?

Happy: It sounds like you are getting your computer back in check. How is your yoga class going? I thought what you wrote about eating food that isn't fresh and nutritious was very interesting. I have fibromyalgia and I never thought about that my food could be causing inflammation. I know that when I don't exercise or move or get enough sleep my fibro kicks up. My IC symptoms do too. Both IC and fibro are autoimmune disease and I read that a lot of inflammation comes with that...so it really is all coming together when I think about it and what I need to do to feel good and healthy.

Laura: Did you make it to jazzercise today? You mentioned that the fit bit is water resistant and that is correct, but I will say that it must be waterproof to a certain depth because I washed mine once and I didn't think it would work but it did (I had it in my pocket because my band had broke and I was waiting for the free replacement they were sending to me and I forgot to check my pockets before doing the wash).

Michelle: My heart breaks for Bob and for you. How awful that he is afraid to go to sleep. He really, really needs to talk to someone about all that. His Hospice nurses should be able to help him with some of it. I imagine that there is no way to totally be at peace with that...but if he could talk to someone who could give him perspective. Also, if he wants to go back to the hospital and still have Hospice I believe he can or he could go to a Hospice facility.

About your lower back and knee aches. My ortho told me that walking on the treadmill is hard on the knees and back, better to walk on natural surfaces (ground, grass). About the balance loss. It is something that comes with age...our hips get week and so do those abductors and adductors, that is way it is good to strength those muscles and keep them flexible. Have a strong core also helps us to balance. Usually when you stand on one leg and wobble it is because those muscles that keep us upright are not strong and so after a few minutes we start to wobble. It's a deal of use it or loose it. I think that standing on one leg while brushing your teeth would be a great exercise to help regain the balance.

Terra: I hope you have been resting well and that the cold is going away so that you will have energy for next week when you have a busy week.

Ceejay: How was lunch with the Uncles? I'm hoping your paycheck didn't bounce! It seems that city government always is arguing about the budgets.

Claygirl: How are you?

Ok. I need to go Swiffer the floors..DH ran the vacuum for me so I could catch up with all of you. :D

Evening all,
How time gets away from me. It's been hot and busy over the past couple of days. if I don't get here before the rest of the day begins, then I don't seem to get here.

Susie - Nice to hear that you are getting some benefit from the PT and the Chiro. Sounds like they are doing a good job on you.
I hope your DH is enjoying the tennis. I watch some of it. I haven't been to the tournament although my ex has. It's expensive and you don't always get to see the player you wanted to see. Too many people and too much alcohol on the outside parks where they have big screens for those who can't get in, for me.
I went looking for a new computer yesterday. The dual tablet/ computers are available but they are very expensive and you don't always get any programs with it. One I looked at was Surface Pro. Because it comes in different colours you don't even get the keyboard with it so instead of 1800 dollars you end up forking out for the keyboard $149 and Office10 - another $300 to $500 and the anti virus - and you can't use any of your old programs on it either.

Ceejay - safe travels. Hope you have a good meal with the family.

Dee - I live in the sub-tropics. We get torrential rain in the summer. It's part of season. We don't generally mind it, however sometimes it comes down in measurements of around 12 - 15 inches in a couple of hours and the drainage finds it hard to cope. Autumn/ Winter/ Spring is the season to be here.
I doubt that anyone will care that I have a tax bill. I just have to sort it out. With a bit of luck I can get a credit from NZ and only have a small amount to pay here with all the expenses I can claim.

Michelle - Sorry to hear that Bob is home and still having issues. It must be hard for him. Maybe he will be better off in the hospice, but he so badly wanted to come home. Does he not like the nursing staff or something.

That's about it from me for the time being. I am posting a pic of my dinner last night. I should have been doing this for the last month, but it is hard when you are relying on the outside world to provide the food. You really have no idea how balanced it is or indeed what is in it. It's a Spanish omelette with some prawns and a small amount of cheese. And I had salad with it with a dijonnaise dressing.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ps641fa920.jpg

See you tomorrow

Morning all,

Yesterday we headed up north for some errands and shopping. Returned some clothing DH did not want. Stopped at Target and picked up some of my favorite granola bars - cherry almond. They are treats for me and DH tends to scarf them down so I will dole out appropriately. I stopped in a fabric store to check out some crafts but DH asked me to pick up some cloth as a backdrop so he can take pictures of his guitars. He is going to try and sell some of them I think. After I found cloth I had to wait in line forever to get the cloth cut. All of my shopping time was taken up getting his stuff. Just as well I imagine... We then went to look at computers for both of us. Like you Shad, I was tallying up the costs. I need a CD / DVD drive as I play videos and upload music. Most have external drives, fortunately not at an extra cost. I also need an SD card reader for uploading my camera pictures - extra cost albeit minimal. Don't like the chintzy cheap wireless keyboard especially when my cat thinks it's her part time cat bed. Extra cost and let's use up another USB port. And then as you say, there is the extra cost of Office 2013 which says it will work with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 but nothing about Windows 10. I use Word and Excel so would like to have Office also. We are talking about a cost of approximately $1500 and we each need another computer! :yikes: I am not sure if I want the All In One or another laptop. With my eyes and the touch screen features of Windows 8, I'm thinking the All In One model might be more practical for me. I know what I want, what I use and I accept that I am getting older and less technology inclined so I don't use things like Instagram and apps. Yet. And I can't find a compelling need for a tablet device. Like you Shad, we also looked at a laptop that flips over, locks the keyboard and becomes a tablet device. :shrug: I also looked at the Surface Pro and the price is several hundred dollars above the cost of the other 2 models we looked at. I don't like the touchpad and wider base of the laptops either. What to do? :dizzy: I upgraded a video driver on my current laptop and disabled the sleep mode completely which seems :crossed: to have fixed my constant issues with the system. DH said he did the same. I hope it holds up because we have some pretty pricey expenses this year - new deck and new front door and I'd really rather not spend the money on computers right now. I am hoping the sedan car holds up as well as my washing machine that is again starting to make noise. :rolleyes:

Going to post this because I have to reboot from driver updates, will come back for personals.

Ok, now where was I?

Shad - your dinner is not only pretty but it looks very delicious too! Yum. Regarding the computer - can't you just transfer the antivirus from the old to the new? I'd do the same with Office but now that they come preloaded - there is no way to load the last copy to the new computer :mad: I agree with your comment about dealing with restaurant food and not knowing how it was prepared. I have had several meals from the "lite" side of the menu and they either contained an abundance of sauce or oils that made me think they were not as "lite" as they proclaimed. One of my favorites that I felt did stay true to form was grilled salmon with just a brush of teriyaki glaze, steamed broccoli and grilled pineapple rings. You could see it was fresh, had minimal additives and probably was close to the estimated calorie posting. Hard to consistently find meals like that.

Susie - good luck with the Stomp the Elephant thing - I think my response would be the same as yours - oh great - more work. ;) Can't we just meet for an hour a week and have a group lecture :lol: Congrats on your weight loss this week! Thanks for the review on American Sniper - it's at the show right now, not sure I can get DH to buy into it but I'd kind of like to see it based on what everyone is saying. I'm glad that my post gave you something to think about regarding food and inflammation. I was telling my sister about how badly I feel if I've eaten too much sugar. Like caramel. I love it but I can guarantee that if I eat it, the next day I feel like Quasimodo (the hunchback of Notre Dame) - I am almost in crippling pain. I'm not so sure about the good effects of anti inflammatory foods like garlic and green tea but I do know that the ones that up the inflammation sure have an effect on me. Sis said since I mentioned that, she has noticed the same thing.

Terra - what's going on that you are busy this upcoming week? Glad you are feeling better.

Ceejay - yes I remember those no bake cookies - they are very good. I hope you had a good drive, enjoyed some sun shine and had a nice meal with the uncles. Are you enjoying your 4 day long weekend?

Dee - thanks for the cookie recipe. One of my coworkers would make them and we all really enjoyed them. A lot. A LOT. :D In fact I have extra oatmeal and peanut butter to use up so I might make up a batch. Did you have a good time girl chatting while the guys were out? I'm not feeling the winter is too long yet - usually I get that way in February which is just around the corner but I sure wouldn't mind a whiff of fresh air and some spring warmth if only for a day :D

Annie - sounds like you had a great day with the kids and grandkids. Hope you had lots of loving and happy smiles. That's the best part. Then comes good eating ;)

Laura - it's interesting that you mentioned about thinking about cold restaurants when you go out. I do the same myself after being caught in a few drafty places or those cabin styles with high ceilings and all the warmth way up top. I bring an extra sweater now just in case. The rendered lard came out quite nice. If I was ambitious I'd make a pie crust and use up the rotisserie chicken into a pot pie but I'm leaning more towards soup at this point. I will freeze the big "tub of lard" I made and just use the quart jar I have in the refrigerator. That will last me quite a while. I do want to try a tiny bit cooking eggs in it - they claim it's the best eggs one has ever had. Just a hint of pork flavor - not as strong or salty as cooking them in bacon grease. Would be a good way to use the fresh eggs from the farmer's chickens too - I have 2 that look like they are about the size of 3 medium size eggs combined. That's how you know they came from chickens that ran around the place - all different sizes. As to your question about the thrift shop - I would have to say our 2 biggest category sellers are jewelry and books. We have a nice selection of books, particularly in May when people come in and donate their winter's reading list. We get LOTS of great new hardcover books. So much so that I will have to work more shifts or pop in extra times to keep an eye on things. Also we do well with jewelry - we get some nice vintage pieces - one enamel flower pin from pre-war Japan recently sold for $100. We also have some nice gemstone jewelry which even at $20 is a bargain and then we have of course costume jewelry, pins, necklaces in the $1 to $5 range. A very nice selection of things, several of which I bought too :o We have some cute things in the boutique area but they are mostly size medium which is too small for me. Probably a good thing as I have enough clothing already. Other than that probably the next thing to sell well is decorative items from people who come into town to browse and then the household items sell well from people who have cabins or rental properties and need to restock their kitchens or linens cheaply. I heard you have some weather coming your way - hope it's not too messy by you.

Michelle - do whatever works best for you on the machines at the gym. I can't do the elliptical (even though they have 3 that are adjusted for height). If the treadmill bothers you - find something else. Interesting that you are doing better with the outside terrain. Whatever works for you, just keep working towards enjoying all of those beautiful walking trails out your way. I hope that Bob can find a place he is comfortable in. Is he afraid to fall asleep and start choking or something? Because as you say he did sign a DNR so they would not make any heroic efforts to revive him. I guess it's easier to sign a paper but dealing with actually dying - we have a very strong self preservation drive. I do hope he will find peace - has to be awfully hard. :hug:

Time to go rustle up some lunch and then I have a few big housekeeping chores to tackle. Have a good afternoon everyone.

Terra - who is the dog in your new avatar - that's not Clyde, is it? Nice picture though.

Susie ~ Yes my cold has went away.

Happy ~ I have to go get a consultation to get new shoes tomorrow and then Scott has a doctor's appt. on Tuesday and then I dont have anything on Wed. and then I have school on Thursday and then I have therapy on Friday. I dont have any plans on Saturday and We go out to breakfast on Sunday mornings

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Woke up at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Its now 1:30 p.m. We went to walmart to get a few items and then we went to breakfast and then we went to another walmart cause our walmart was out of my mom's cat's cat food and then we went to another walmart cause we found out they had her cat food so mom bought all that they had so her cat has plenty of food for awhile. I hope everyone has a great Sunday afternoon and evening.

Morning all,
It's another bright sunny morning here and I have already been out and done some poisoning of the weeds - including some from next door . She only mows when the grass is too tall to find the dog. :lol:

It's Australia Day here. I have no plans other than to do some work around the house and start on a jigsaw puzzle if it gets too hot. I can't be bothered going shopping. The crowds will be enormous as will the crowds at the fireworks tonight. Since I am working from home this week, I might do some preliminary work on some courses that need to be written. At least I can map out the story book on the simulations required and that will save me a lot of time later on.
I have the cats for the weekend since DS1 and partner went off to Turkey Beach to see J's Dad. Apart from the odd incident, they are cohabitating nicely for a change. They don't seem too happy with the food I give them, but they accept that if it is not eaten within 30 minutes, it is gone. And they get it back for dinner. Nasty mum.

Happy - good luck with the computer hunt. The one I did see that I liked was an ASUS Zenbook. It gets good reviews but doesn't have the cd player that you wanted and I just realised that I used mine for music as well but it isn't that important to me. The sound on this computer is not good enough to enjoy the music so I tend to play that on the Blue Ray through the tv. It does however have a slot for my camera uploads - very important. And it has a couple of usb ports and an extra screen port. The surface pro didn't seem to have much of those. It is also cheaper than the Surface Pro but as yet I don't know what comes with it and what I can use from this computer. The Surface Pro apparently won't use any of the stuff I have at this time. And that is fairly useless to me. Like you I also need Office because I do a lot of work on Power Point, Excel and Word.
My dinner was delicious the first night. Not so much last night. Omelettes don't reheat well. I think it might be fish tonight - either snapper or salmon. I'll have to see what veges I have, otherwise it will be salad again.

Anyway, it is time for breakfast, coffee is done. The sweeping awaits and then I will get into the spare room - always the coolest room in the house and see what I can get into there. There is always some stuff I will decide I no longer require. I might also get some painting done in the car port. There's a thought.

See ya

Hi. It has been a restful Sunday--I took a nap. I really shouldn't have as I have a lot of work to do but I have told myself that 2 hours is all I will do tonight. I read the material that I needed to read for the Mindset meeting for an hour this morning. That is enough time to devote to work. :p

Shad: Wow that is a lot of money for a new computer!! For sure this is a purchase that must be researched. What is Australia Day? It sounds like our July 4th. Do you get an extra holiday from work for it since it fell on a Sunday?

Happy: Fingers crossed that you have the computer working well. You might give it a couple of months before buying something new if you think you might go that route. I remember that there are a lot of sales during tax return time. I bought my desk top a few years ago during that time and saved some money.

Terra: I'm glad your cold is gone. Is your consultation for new shoes for your walking shoes?

Hello to the rest of the Wordlies....hope to see you tomorrow.

Back home from a good trip to visit with the uncles.
Rode the bike at my uncles last night for 20 minutes. Took a much needed nap this afternoon before I came back home. Didn't rest good last night. Kept hearing things outside the bedroom window. Probably some type of varmints as they live in a wooded area. Didn't see any turkey or deer this trip.
My 4 day week end has come to a close. Sigh it's work in the morning.

Shad and Happy
I don't do as much as I used to on the computer so the Surface Pro was a better option for me. I wanted some transportable too. Although I would still like to download a few things every once in a while.

Susie
Hope you took a nice long nap and left the work alone.

Terra
Nice avatar. Is the dog Clyde?

Food tonight.
It's a marinated chicken bits meal called Singapore Sizzle. I've added some green peas, parsley and a couple of left over prawns and a bread roll.

Wish the rest of the day had been on track as well.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...ps8f9896ff.jpg

Good Morning All....quite the lovely weekend.

Saturday was great. DS came up at 11 am, DD came over at 12:30 then we went to visit my brother Michael, the one with cancer that seems to be holding his own at the moment. I think he goes for his testing this week to see where we are at this point. C and I rented Gone Girl and Lucy. I believe I like Lucy better. Gone Girl really just peed me off. I would say why but it would be a spoiler alert for those who have not see it yet. Yesterday was church, which was very moving, the spirit sure got to me, I had goosebumps during the service. Whew!! Then we met Sis and family for lunch. Grocery shopping in the afternoon, relaxing time with the hubby before bed. All and all a good weekend.

This morning I got up to bright red bleeding instead of the brown. Guess I will call the doctor to see what is up. That is the one thing she told me to watch for, you might know. Hopefully it is not anything too serious.

I will be back to do personals later. Got some pressing issues here at work.

CLAYGIRL..where are you??

SHADDIE...your food/meals always look so yummy. Usually things I have never eaten before. What a treat that would be. Yuck on having to buy a new computer. And that is a necessity in life these days, especially for you. Medical bills are slamming us right now for me. At least we met our deductible for this year from my surgery. Unfortunately that leaves me with about 4000.00 worth of medical bills to pay.

HAPPY...sheese, you like SHADDIE computer woes for sure. I hate buying a new computer/laptop/printer etc. Thank God my nephew is computer sauvvy and fixed me all up when I needed a new laptop. DH eating your snackies. C does that as well. He eats his and mine. I don't care but just tell me that you like mine and I will buy more...Men...hmmmm.

CHELLE...I hope Bob is resting as peacefully as he can. Do you know if he is just afraid to die, mayby talking to clergy would help. Just a thought. How is your body holding up with the exercising? I am proud of you for all you are doing/going through right now.

TERRY...glad you are feeling better, back to exercising.

CEEG...I find it hard to get back into the swing of things after having several days off. I think I am better just working with no days off. Nice visit with the uncles, good for you. Naps are nice, wish I could sleep when I try to take a nap. Forget sleeping in the day time for me.

LAURA...nice, got the punch card for the gym. Hopefully Sis and I can start the yoga class this week. At least that it the plan for now. I am not much of a stay up all night person either. Used to be in my younger days, but not now.

DEE...I like no bake cookies, PB only, but never have success in making them. They always stay gooey and not harden up. Gave up on trying to master that one.

SUSIE...WOW, congrats on the 3 lbs down. What a great reward for hard work. Motivation sister, that is motivation. As if we don't have enough work to do then we have to go to training/classes to find out how to do this or that better or be a better person, sheese.

Hello Claygirl, come back.

Everyone have a marvelous Monday/evening.

Hugs