Steel Magnolias ~ #122

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  • Good morning everybody. I spent most of the night up and down and in pain. I am hoping today might be the last day I have the really bad stuff that the Provera is out of my system. I know I just cannot continue to go on like this. I am now in pain everyday and it just screws up your quality of life. I have to force myself to do chores and fix dinner. He just has to do something, but I have to wait until January 1 so Jack has his new vacation time. I can hold on until then if they just say they will take it out then.

    I have the latest J D Robb In death book and am itching to read it, but I want to save it for Thanksgiving. Our kids ask us about Thanksgiving and at the time Jack only had one day left of vacation. I told them we weren't coming to Indiana so they went ahead and made plans for the two families. Well, that was a few months ago and in the meantime Jack earned bonus day and comp time for working overtime. This was before the female stuff got really bad. I didn't want to screw up the kids plans as they have rented a house on Lake Michigan so Jack started cruise shopping. It had to be a short one and he found one that goes over Thanksgiving and fits right into what time off and weekend he has so we booked and paid for it. He gets Thanksgiving and Friday off and with the couple extra days off he has we are set to go. I just hope the female stuff settles down so I can enjoy it. The things I have bought for the cruise were originally for next year, but I hope they are too big for me by then. I will use them this year.

    Susan: Thank you for thinking of me. I am a pretty strong woman, but this has just knocked me for a loop because it has gone on so long. Wouldn't that be nice not to have to use the heat until November. Our temps are staying pretty high during the day though they cool off into the 60's at night.

    Jean: I at least got them on clearance. I don't know how the sandals will go so we shall see. I usually buy the kind that go between the toes so they stay on better. I am going to try and post them, but can't figure out why they won't come up on the pc so will try and come back in here after I post using my Ipad and see if that works. Looks like you are having a busy week. Hope Maddie's team does well. We have pizza we have to order two and the only place Jack will eat them from is either Pizza Hut or Dominos. He likes meat pizza and I like veggie pizza so we always order the smallest we can get, but get two. How interesting. I didn't know that about hummingbirds. I have seen a woodpecker, an oriole, bluejay, robin and starlings here in the years we have lived here.

    Well gals, best get going for the day. Have a good one!


  • Good Afternoon! Well, it's my turn to have my long two cents worth disappear! Our sunshine has disappeared, a slight breeze is blowing, and very humid at 75 degrees. I went to have my nails done this morning, have two loads of laundry washed and put away, vacuumed fur bunnies, scooped cat boxes, and here I am! Bob went up to the cabin to drain the pipes and bring home what food the kids didn't take. I made him promise not to go up on the roof to fix where he thinks it is leaking without someone there with him. That will most likely be me some day next week. His farmer friend thinks some of the beans will be ready to combine tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

    "Gma," what would happen to Jack, if he had to call into work because you had "emergency" surgery? Wish you could just have the surgery and get it over with as I'm sure you do too. I hope you are feeling better today. Are you going to tell the kids you are going to be gone over Thanksgiving? We used to have Dominoes pizza from the corner gas place, but they are now part owners in the Pizza Ranch so no more Dominoes. We used to have Godfather's and I would order a mini beef, onion, and green pepper just for me. Bob prefers different kinds of meat w/o the onions and green peppers. When the Pizza Ranch opened Godfather's closed a couple months later. We do have Pizza Hut but that seems to be a hang out for the Mexicans in town. I love the snazzy sandals! I hope they will work for you. Do you ever duplicate purses? I like them too.

    I need to figure out what to wear to Maddy's game tonight -- definitely layers! Ian and Zowie both have games tonight but this is Maddy's last game. Her other grandparents live in Sioux City but never come to games. Their excuse is the interstate construction; last year the excuse was they couldn't find a parking place. They live less than a mile from last years fields! In my humble opinion they show way too much favoritism to their other grandchildren never missing their activities. Ian and Zowie have several more games we can attend.

    On a more fun note, Kolby has decided to play the violin! Beth said he figured out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star without knowing how to read the notes! Maybe we have a musical prodigy in the family! Ian has to be in the marching band this year and he doesn't think that's as much fun as football.

    I need to put the vacuum away and find a sweatshirt! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your terrific Tuesday!
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  • Good morning to you all. It is really cool here this morning, but supposed to get pretty warm by afternoon.

    I did get the bathrooms cleaned and clothing put away yesterday and I am going to try and vacuum and mop today downstairs. The floors in the bathrooms are so small I actually just hand wash them rather that drag stuff upstairs. The hall bath is actually two rooms and the room with the sink is carpet. The other bathroom has the sink in the bedroom and the tub and toilet in it's own room. Screwy but that's the way they build the thing.

    I am fixing chicken tonight with mashed potato for Jack and broccoli for me. I really like this medication. It is doing everything it is supposed to without any side effects for me. It is kind of weird because some people who started taking it said it did just the opposite, making them want to eat more and more and one lady said she gained 8 lbs. I just know for me it really has settled in and helps with the hunger so I can easily stay on points. I also am eating quality food.

    Jean: No, I have never duplicated handbags, but I have duplicated nail polish a couple times. I like OPI and I buy it online and sometimes I see a color I love and buy it and find out I already have it! Kelly comes in here and reads stuff on and off I think so she may see the post but probably not until the last minute just so they know what to do if something would happen. You couldn't keep me away from my grandkids stuff if I could attend it. I enjoy watching them. Good for Kolby! Thomas can play the violin and he really liked it. Sounds like he has an excellent ear to be able to find the right fingering without music or help. Thomas was told he would have to do marching band this year and had no interest in it so quit the band. He is a pretty talented trumpet player but then he can play the piano and the violin too. He is his own little band. I like to hear him play piano. His dad is a great piano player and they actually have a piano that WC Handy played. (if you don't know who that is, he is a famous blues player from way back known as the father of the blues and is as well known as B B King who is also from Memphis.) Isaac Hayes is from Memphis too as well as of course Elvis who is actually from Tulepo, MS. I saw yesterday that Wayne Newton has made an "Elvis" style museum out of his home and it has a mini zoo.

    Well I need to get out of here and check on things that have been shipped. You all have a great middle of the week.
  • Good Afternoon! We got up to enough rain that the guys couldn't combine today. Bob is out at the farm to help repair whatever is wrong with the combine; he drove by this morning and it had been moved to where they work on machinery so he knew that wasn't a good sign. This was my morning to work in the gift shop. We are having a sale on fall items, including Halloween decorations which I found a little strange since it isn't even October yet. Oh well, what do I know?! I did sell a couple things and bought a sparkly pumpkin that I need like another cat! Maddy's game was late starting last night so the ref said they would play 20 minute halves since it would be too dark to finish. He ended up cutting it even shorter because of lightning. Her team won and one of the mothers brought bags of treats for the whole team; there were several different kinds and it looked like Maddy had been trick or treating. The same mother gave Beth a candle from Bath & Body, which I thought was really nice. Jason called this morning and Ian made the "elite" football team. The first game is in December in Minneapolis. I'm betting we will be there! He said the college coaches start scouting at these games. That is just crazy for 7th graders imo! I have bell practice later this afternoon. Our widow neighbor was in the coffee shop this morning and asked if Bob could check the stopper in her sink. She screwed it in too tight and couldn't get it loose. Every time she calls for help, it is usually something simple he can fix for her. We sure don't want her to move for fear of who/what might move in.

    "Gma," I'm so glad the Belviq is working for you! I have been hungry for ham but haven't had time to go to the store, maybe tomorrow or even tonight if I can talk Bob into going with me. I wish I could have talked one of the kids into taking my piano but no one was interested. I think it is a great tool for learning to play any instrument or even sing. Bob can't read music but he's a good singer.

    I need to unload the dishwasher and decide if I want to fix anything for supper. I brought rhubarb pie home from the coffee shop. Yum! Hope you all are enjoying a wonderful Wednesday!
  • Good morning to you all. It is nice and cool this morning so the ac is off but I will probably have to turn it on by around noon or so.

    I got the floors vacuumed and mopped and the laundry done yesterday so I am going to cut and hem a pair of pants I bought for the cruise. The have tabs to roll them up, but they are way too long for me so I am going to cut them off and re hem them and since I wanted them sort of like the old clam diggers, I am going to tack them after I roll them up and button the tab. I don't want them to keep unrolling and looking bad. They are black so it should be interesting.

    Today was my one week weigh day for Belviq and I am down 10 lbs. It should even out next week I imagine and lose the 2 lbs or so a week then.

    I got an order of some makeup from Sephora yesterday and got a couple perfume samples. One of them was Prada Candy and I really like the smell of it. I may have to order some down the line, but I have Dior's J'adore, Donna Karan's Cashmire Mist, Gucci's Guilty, Estee Lauder's Sensuous Nude and one other one to use up. I like flowery/powdery scents that don't overwhelm you. I smell according to my mood!

    Jean: I think about all the things I would have trouble doing if Jack was gone. Simple things like changing ceiling light bulbs. I would have to ask Thomas to come over and help me I guess. Glad Bob could help her. I got a glass stuck in the disposal side of the sink once and had a devil of a time getting it out. Yep, everywhere you look is Halloween. Christmas stuff is not far behind I imagine. Congrats to Ian what a great thing! What position does he play? I think scouting in jr high is ridiculous and it's just getting worse and worse. I saw these on Amazon and the great reviews and just had to get a pair. They will be great for walking in sand.

    You all have a great Thursday.


  • Good Afternoon! It's a cloudy, cool, "drippy" raindrops kind of day here. This morning was my once a month coffee date. Bob is at the farm helping fix the lights wiring on the combine. I need to make a grocery list and make a run. I like that chore less each time I have to go for more than bread and milk. It seems like it is more expensive each time I go. Gas has come down again, $2.08 this morning. That I like!

    "Gma," I have a pair of capris to shorten, as well as a couple of mending projects. Wish I had a sewing fairy! My mom used to do all that for me when she came to visit. on the 10# loss! There was a lady in the gift shop yesterday and she was wearing Estée Lauder, the original scent from years ago. I always think perfume smells much better on others than on myself. I have no strength in my fingers and hands any more. Beth gave me a Pamperd Chef jar opener that usually works for me. Otherwise I have to wait for Bob's help. Ian plays several different positions. I will have to ask Bob as sometimes he grabs (tackles ?) a player with the ball when he really isn't in the position to do so, but the runner is close by. He's a good player and very coachable according to his coach. Wish he'd take as much interest in academics as he does football. Like father, like son. Cute sandals! If you order something not stocked by Amazon, does the Prime shipping still apply?

    I need to get moving and head to the store. Have a nice rest of the day and enjoy!
  • Good morning to you all. I just finished balancing the checkbook and paying the bills and wrote up my grocery list for the commissary and will make iced tea for Jack and press my pants that I altered. That's it for work for me today.

    We are having a date night sort of. Since my birthday is Monday, I didn't want to go out to eat tonight so we are just going to go see "The Intern" with Robert DeNiro. No snacks for me, just a diet coke. I am doing so well on the Belviq I don't want to screw it up. We are eating at home and the movie isn't until 7 PM.

    Jack is taking me to Red Lobster for my birthday and that is a place I can stay on points. I can get some kind of non fried shrimp and salad and broccoli instead of a baked potato loaded with stuff.

    Sadly, I am having to send my leather sandals back. I love them and they fit, but since I am flatfooted, walking in them rubs my instep pretty badly so they are a no go. I bought them on Evine.

    Jean: Usually, if it is not shipped by Amazon, they include a return postage sticker and take off about $7 of your refund. Woman Within and Roamans are notoriously slow to get my money back so I try really hard to make sure it is something I love and a correct size. I have had trouble finding led 3 way bulbs for my lamps in the living room and had to order them online. Steep price as they were $40 apiece, but they had the wattage I wanted and like I said none of the stores here carry anything but low wattage or nothing at all. They are guaranteed for 25,000 hours so for us that would be about 4 years with the number of hours the lamps are usually on. The Estee Lauder I have is very light and sweet smelling. I don't wear heavy stuff and this is the first of her stuff that isn't strong. I don't wear it often as I like some of my other's better. We aren't supposed to have any rain until a week from Monday and upper 80's until then each day. I actually like to sew, but the chair I have gives me a backache so I usually have to do it in sequences. Yesterday, I tried the pants on and marked how much I wanted to cut off, measured and cut them off after pinning up the tab so I didn't accidently cut it. Then I sat in my recliner and pinned the hem in then a bit later I sewed one leg then the other and they came out perfect. They are cotton cargo pants with roll up bottoms that you button a tab on. They called them convertible length as you could roll them as short or long as you wanted, but when I cut them, I did the an inch or two about the ankle and hemmed them so when they were tabbed I didn't have to roll them.

    Well everyone, need to get my chores done. Hope you have a nice weekend.
  • Good Afternoon! The sun is shining and it's a beautiful day in my neighborhood! I went to the grocery store first thing this morning, and forgot a couple things I needed for a recipe. "Oh well . . . ." I had two pounds of ground chuck in the freezer that I needed to use and decided to brown the whole package and then divide it in half to use some today and the rest later. For kicks and giggles I decided to weigh the meat just to see how much weight cooked off in the juice. The label said 2.03#, and when I weighed it, it weighed 1# 5oz.! I ended up using it all to make sloppy joes. I've been spinning my wheels on the iPad since lunch, and have no urge to do any cleaning, etc.

    "Gma," hope you enjoy the movie tonight! I wanted to see the Barbara Streisand movie but movie review in the paper made it sound like a chick flick. Eat a Red Lobster biscuit for me! Bob likes a low watt light if he's watching tv and I like LIGHT. The tv has a hanging lamp, with one bigger bulb and five night light bulbs, over it and I turn that on. I don't like being in the dark and have two small lamps on timers in the livingroom plus another one down in the entry hall. I find it harder and harder to get three way bulbs here. Wish my hemming project was done, but I probably won't wear them again until Maui time. Good for you to get yours done!

    Not much newsy from here today. Hope you all enjoy a nice weekend, and do something fun along the way.
  • Good morning all. It didn't cool off too much last night but I was able to keep the ac off. We have to go to WM this morning to pick up a few things the commissary doesn't carry and come home and put it all away then go back out to the mall to get Jack's new watch fixed. Nothing is wrong with it except it is too big for his wrist so we need to take it in and get a couple links removed. I looked at dozens of watches and found all the bracelets were too big. He has thin wrists. I am hoping they can do the job because Jack loves the watch.

    I love my multicolored sandals. They are very comfortable and will be great for the beach and stuff. You can wear anything with them as they have every color in the rainbow. My new blue handbag is just ok. It has a short zipper and makes it harder to put stuff in, but it is cute.

    The movie was wonderful. It was really funny in a charming way, very touching and just lovely. It was one of the better films we have gone to see lately. When we walked out there was this short, obese, black woman walking down the sidewalk in a pair of see through white pants that were glued onto her. Made her look awful and besides that she had no undies on and you could see everything. It was pretty disgusting. I don't know why fat women think tight clothing looks good on them.

    Jean: We had sloppy joes last night. I don't like them warmed up if I use Manwich so there was a lot of waste. I only use ground sirloin and it has very little fat so wonder what it would cook down to? If I were close by, I would be happy to do your hemming.

    Well, I need to get going as we want to be out by about 7 to get the shopping done before the nuts get up and descend on WM. Have a great weekend.
  • Good Afternoon! The sun is shining and it's been a nice day, not too hot and not too cold. Windows and sliding doors are open -- perfect! I spent the morning scrubbing my kitchen. I don't know how it gets so grubby with just the two of us. Our excitement for the weekend happened last night. I took the "boys" down to the basement to go to bed and noticed the floor in the laundry room (where they sleep and their litter boxes are located) looked wet. I took one step in to turn on the light and my foot was covered with water! I yelled for Bob to come down and check the sump pump. It had come apart so wasn't working. We always keep a spare but what a pain! I vacuumed water while Bob exchanged pumps. It's dry today so that's good. I'm thankful Bob was home because I know nothing about how to switch them. He bought a new one today; we always have a spare just for times like this. This afternoon I've been doing laundry and sorting through magazines to take to the hospital, or pitch.

    "Gma," I often wonder if some people ever look in a full length mirror, or even own one, before they go out in public. We have two, one upstairs in the hall, and another one by the downstairs bathroom. I agree with you about fat people wearing too tight clothing. I notice a lot of the tops, this fall, look like maternity tops we wore 30 years ago. I did use Manwich this time, but I take the two bun halves, with the meat and a slice of cheese, then melt them in the oven. Bob is better with leftovers than I am.

    I was hoping to catch the news but football is on all the local channels until 6:00. Ya right, wish they'd shut them off when their time is supposed to be over at 6. Hope you all have had a nice day; enjoy your evening!
  • Good morning to you all. Today is dreaded commissary day so will get that done and come home and put it all away. We decided to go out tonight for my birthday rather than tomorrow so we will do that around 5 or so.

    I got all my meds yesterday and had to fold up my shirt into a pocket to carry them all to put them away. They finally got the prescription right at the doctor's office so I got plenty of the lancets and test strips. I mean I pay the same price for them no matter the amount so might as well get enough rather than cutting it close.

    I fixed marinated skirt steak for dinner last night. Jack had tater tots and I had purple cabbage from a jar. I love this sweet and sour cabbage this company makes. I am a true German at heart for sure.

    Jack watched football and baseball all day pretty much. We went out to WM and did chores than brought the stuff home and put it away then went to the mall to get his watches links taken out. Cost us $20 bucks and now fits fine. We then went and got the car washed as it had bug guts and bird poo all over it from sitting at the plant, dropped a package off at the post office for the shoes I couldn't wear then came home for the day. I did three loads of laundry and that was about it. Jack ate ff potato chips for lunch so I didn't worry about fixing anything. I had an individual dinty moore for lunch. I texted Thomas and ask him if he would like to go to lunch this next month if he had time. I told him to pick a Sat or Sunday. He texted me back awhile later with, "Sure, I have nothing next month, but let me check." I figure he had to check with his mom about any plans.

    Jean: Oh what a mess to have to deal with. Glad you had a spare to start up so you could get it dry down there. We are having really nice weather though some days can still get pretty hot. Yes, they call them baby dolls. I have a couple, but don't wear them much. Funny thing, when I wear them I always get a lot of compliments, go figure! I sat in the food court and messed with my Ipad and listened to music while Jack went down to the watch repair place. I had a chicken biscuit, though I took off the biscuit and just ate the chicken and a diet soda and really just enjoyed people watching. I get a kick out of that. I saw this older gentleman, probably around our age and bravely he had his three grandchildren with him by himself and they were all under 5. I thought what the heck is he here alone with them because he looked kind of frail if one of them tried to take off. Jack bought me Pandora charms as a birthday surprise while he was waiting to get his watch fixed. He got me a tiny post card that said, "wish you were here" and a tiny passport. I am making a cruise bracelet with all the countries we have visited and such and the beads for it are a pastel rainbow color in things like lt blue and peach and yellow.

    Everyone have a great Sunday.
  • Good Afternoon! It's a bright sunny, cool day in my neighborhood today. Bob's group sang at church today at first service. He came home afterwards, changed clothes, then went back to replace four spot lights that were out. I went to the grocery store for bread and came home with fruit and bacon along with the bread. He is mowing now and I just finished putting lunch away. We are going to the movie "The Intern" later this afternoon.

    "Gma," I took your movie review and talked Bob into going. I hope it works out for you to have lunch with Thomas. It seems like young families are so busy; I remember my mom saying she didn't know how I kept everyone's schedule straight when Beth and Jason were little. I didn't work so I think that helped. We did the football marathon yesterday too. Some of the scores were pretty sad. I like to sit in malls or even the airport and people watch. They definitely come in all shapes and sizes, colors, and styles. What a nice surprise to get charms for your birthday! The cruise bracelet colors will be very attractive.

    I have a load of towels to fold and then finish reading the paper. Hope you all are enjoying a nice fall day!
  • Nice Sunday Afternoon

    GOOD AFTERNOON IN SEPTEMBER MGNOLIAS
    ☺♫


    Good afternoon this wonderful hot day. We are enjoying the folks here and know we will have a nice life living here. Will has been to the doc here and the doc said the CT-scans he got from where Will was doctored before are so blurry he couldn’t read them properly & had scans done here. Will is to go back on Wednesday to have a meeting with the doc and discuss the new scans that were done. The doc didn’t make an order for Will to get a port inserted for meds to be administrated so that is a good sign. We will find out more come Wednesday.

    Beanie is having fun here learning about cows. For awhile the three of the cows came to the fence near the MH and greeted him but today they were no were to be seen close by and Beanie was trying to call them over and was so cute in his efforts.

    We have several things we want to get done here and I think the first thing will build a deck the side where the main door is and have it butt up against the top of the outside steps so when the door is open and one wants to go out they will have the two MH steps out onto the deck instead of the 5 steps getting to the ground. It will certainly make it a lot easier for me for sure. We will have one gate to open to steps down to the ground. Beanie will have a nice large deck to play on and we can have plenty of pots of nice things growing. I can set my nice wooden herb growing pot out on the deck during nice weather. Otherwise it can be inside on a small cupboard that sits in front of a window what gets the morning sun.

    I see you gals are chatting between you . . . Have a wonderful evening.

  • Good morning to you all. It is warm and sticky this morning. I want to get the floors vacuumed and mopped today and that's about it.

    I couldn't keep my hands off the new J D Robb book and as usual it is pretty good. She someone keeps it interesting without it being repetitive like a lot of authors.

    We had a nice time at dinner last night. I got garlic noodles and steamed dumpling and brought half home. I looked the stuff up on Dottis so I could put it in my points and eat it for lunch. Nutri Grain eggos for me with sf syrup for breakfast. We are having salmon for dinner.

    My brother texted me yesterday back and forth because my oldest sister is in financial trouble bigtime. She told my brother she didn't want to alienate him her alcoholic and druggy 50 yr old son. So, I guess it is ok to alienate the other two, who have families and her grandchildren. Sheesh. Anyway, he and I are going to try and prop her up financially by ourselves, but I told him no way would I send her the money. She will give it to him. I will send him the money and then he can pay her bills etc. Anyway, he works for Ford and got us a pin number for their family plan which means Jack and I can buy any Ford or Lincoln product for 15% off. So we talked about it last night and looks like we are going to buy a new car next year. We were going to wait, but he was generous enough to do this and it has a one year expiration date. Looks like we can save around $7000 on a car not including incentives they offer at the time. We always use our credit union and not Ford credit as we get a better deal too.

    Jean: Thank you for the ecard it was beautiful! Hope you enjoyed the movie. Our led bulbs are supposed to get here on Wed or Thur for our floor lamps. Good thing too because one of them has burned out on the 3 way and will only turn on once. I am doing laundry this morning. How two people can dirty up so much laundry is anyone's guess.

    Maggie: Glad you made it to Texas.

    Have a great day everyone.
  • Good Afternoon! It's cloudy and 75 degrees in my neighborhood. Bob just left to either help work on the combine (again) or else head to the elevator in the semi. He made the comment he hoped this wasn't going to be a harvest of fix, fix, and fix some more. We balanced quickly at church this morning but my part ended up being a huge snafu! Normally, everything is posted into the budget unless I put it somewhere else. When I was checking the account totals over half ended up in the youth account which meant I had to check each entry individually, delete and redo if it had gone into the youth account. There wasn't a whole lot of money but that process just takes time and adds to the frustration level on my part. The old secretary will be on vacation starting October 1st for two weeks, and I'm sure the new one won't know how to fix any computer glitches like that. I have the gift shop deposit ready to go and have to do the end of the day paperwork later.

    Maggie, I was wondering if you were on the road and/or just where you were hanging your hat. I hope all goes well for Will with his new doctor. You will enjoy a deck, it sounds nice.

    "Gma," I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner last night and hope you are enjoying today. It's really hard to watch a family member make bad choices. It's nice of your brother to let you use his discount to get a new car. What will you choose? We did enjoy the movie! I was surprised how long it was. I had the air conditioner fan blowing on one side of me so I was glad I had my jacket.

    Not much else going on from here. I should vacuum fur bunnies -- maybe later and maybe tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your day!