Morning all,

Well that was breakfast - fresh fruit (Orange, Apple and Mango) with Quark yoghurt and coffee. Yummy. Just finishing off my coffee before going back to the clean up stuff. Today it is cleaning up the dining room, find table linen ( or sheets to fit on the table - you can see I don't have much in the way of table cloths anymore), clean up the front verandah (dogs new favourite toy/ tool THE KARCHER) and put away a lot of gardening stuff (shed is in such a mess I will just throw it all in and shut the roller door on it until after Christmas. I need to get some glasses out for our Bellini and put them through the wash. And I should do the shopping as well. That means I have Friday and Saturday to ensure that I haven't forgotten anything and the kids will be around to help move heavy stuff. I need to wrap the gifts for the great nieces as well.

Laura - I see you got the Christmas tree up with lights only - yeah mine is pre lit as well. I have put some decorations on it but there is a box of some more just waiting for the littlies to arrive so they have a job to do before breakfast is ready.
Yes it is quite surprising about what you learn when the medical profession start talking to you. I also learnt that I have cysts on my lung, liver and kidneys but they will not kill me.
Summer here arrives 1st December. We are not precious about special dates etc. with regard to weather. Mother Nature will decide ultimately anyway. Tonight is the shortest night - summer solstice and then our days shorten by 1 sec per day until we hit Autumn around March.

Happy - sorry that you lost one of you epic and interesting posts. Maybe later you can resurrect some of it. Glad to hear Meadow is not on the danger list. Poor thing it must be either itchy or sore if it is bleeding occasionally.

Annie - so nice to have people greet you warmly after a long absence. Sorry to hear about the death of the uncle, but it seems to be true that we grow apart and only seem to be able to get it together for weddings and funerals.
If I don't get to see you on facebook or on here, have a wonderful Christmas with the family. Hope you have a great time and let's hope that 2017 will be better for all of us than 2016 ever was.

Ceejay - enjoyed that picture you posted on FB this morning. Glad you are exploring and enjoying your new surroundings.

Okay - I'm out of here. It's getting warm and I have much to do to get today organised. Fortunately I did much of the outside work before it got too hot.

Laura
Most of the specialist are in the medical mile as it is called in Springfield. The building is on National just a couple of blocks from Battlefield Rd. I had planned a route but that didn't work out so I drove down Republic to National. It was a bit overwhelming but I made it and had time for my blood pressure to settle down. Glad I got there early as they sent me to x-ray when I got there.

I made it to the doctor's office, podiatrist, which was in Springfield on National in the medical mile district. I took Republic down to National which was a bit overwhelming as I've not been that far down by myself. Think I got into one of those diamond intersections. It was a bit daunting for this small town girl.
My foot is a mess according to the x-ray. The bunion has stretched the bone from the big toe back to the ankle. Plus there is arthritis in my toe and foot. ugh. He gave me an injection in the big toe for the arthritis and told me to come back in three weeks. I'll talk to my sis about the results later.
The counter tops are coming tomorrow. Yehaw.
I also shared a painting that my nieces husband posted on FB. He's really getting better and better.

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Laura
I had to take a different route than what I thought I could according to my gps. But it wasn't to bad. Glad I gave myself plenty of time. I think next year I'm going to just have the pre lit tree with no decorations on it. Told my sis that I may have a tree in every room. :lol:

Shad
I love this area for all the rock and hills. There is usually water seepage from these rock but never thought about it freezing. It made a beautiful picture to me. Wow didn't know about the cyst. Glad they are benign. Always things to do before a gathering. I didn't get to do all these things while I was working. Just glad to be able to get to do them now.

Happy
Good that Meadow got a good report. I know what you mean about this website. It's doing better since I've been clicking the remember me at the top. It doesn't seem to go directly to the page but it's usually here when I check back.

Annie
Wow you are getting a long Christmas break. Are you taking iron? My new doctor here wants me to take it but he didn't tell me how much. Sis told me to take 325mg but I could only find one for 200mg. I'm feeling better.

Hi Friends,

I have all the packages wrapped! And I can see the floor to my home office. I need to work on the filing in there but now with the wrapping stuff put away in the garage and the gifts no longer on the floor in that room, I can move and get to the file cabinets.

I won't get to that tomorrow though. I need to return a few impulse buys to Walmart and go to the bank, pick up something at church and I have TOPS tomorrow night. My plan is to get things done early in the day, then come home and take a nap before TOPS. Tomorrow is the last day I will have to myself; DH is home with me until Jan 3 starting on Friday.

Happy: I am thrilled that Meadow doesn't have cancer and that they can help with this issue and get Meadow back to feeling well.

Your post on the oranges makes my mouth water.....I can't eat them anymore due to my IC....they are way to acidic.

Anne: My heart hurts when thinking about Mike's gbabies and them wanting to see him.

I hope you get all your errands done tomorrow; so am I understanding you are off work until December 28?

I was thinking about your DS and having to deal with seeing the ex with someone new. I get the feeling that the someone new was in the picture before they split and that is a situation where no one wins. I call it building your happiness on someone else's misery. I don't ever think I see that turn out well. DS should feel lucky that it happened early and not years after they were married. Now he can focus on healing and liking himself and not settling for that type again. He should take some time and do what makes him happy, happy to just be with himself and his plans and his morals and once he is settled in that, he will attract someone who has the same hi self-esteem and can then have an adult healthy relationship

You have been posting on how low you are with iron and such. Is some of that due to the weight-loss surgery that you had. I work with a girl that has issues like that with her iron and has trouble absorbing some vitamins. She gets some sort of an infusion every so often. I hope you are feeling better.

I think you will have a wonderful time watching Christmas through your gbabies; I was laughing at the image of the 12 x12 inch candy canes on the tree. Precious memories you are making there.

Shad: I put January 24 on my calendar as well--and a note on January 23 as abdominally and it is quite a lot of recovering. I know many how had it done by laparoscopy and they get along quite well. You will need to take it easy for 6 weeks no matter what. While you might not have the incision on the outside, there is a lot on the inside.

Your garage shed sounds like it is going the way my home office was heading. You are correct, you can sort it after the holidays. ;)

Laura: Until you posted it, I forgot that it is the first day of winter. Just think we are now adding back in minutes of daylight! I had to laugh when I read you counted the days I will be off. I told DH, I will most likely need retraining when I go back being off so long. The nice thing is that most everyone is now off and so the email won't pile up while I am out.

Did you get the tree up? I am one who has it down usually the day after Christmas as I put it up the weekend of Thanksgiving. I too have a pre-lit tree, it makes things a lot easier.

I hope your foot is feeling better and continues to do so. Have you thought about using Uber while you aren't commuting your regular way? I have never used Uber before but I plan to next week when we are staying in Cleveland. I want to use it from the hotel to the arena and back to the hotel. I'm going to set up my account and put the app on my phone.

Ceejay; Glad to hear you found your way to the podiatrist office. When you say it is in Springfield, is that in MO? We have friends who live in Mt Vernon MO; I think that is about 30 min from Springfield Missouri.

When I read what they found out about your foot, I though YIKES! I didn't know that bunions could cause those issues. Is the shot he gave you helping?

I have to tell you all about the weird dream I had last night. It woke me up out of myself. I dreamed I was at work and there wasn't a lot of people there due to the holiday's We heard an announcement come over the intercom to use extreme caution and evacuate the building quickly due to a person in the building who had a knife.

In my dream I was down by the dock and not in my usual area. I was trying to figure out how to get out of the area I was in to a safe location when I saw the person they were talking about but they didn't see me. I was crouched down and headed to the exit when I could see another co-worker walking straight toward the man with the knife but my co-worker wasn't aware of how close he was to the man...I then woke up.

Crazy dream right?! So tonight I logged on to my work email to put a note on my calendar for something the week I go back and noticed an email from Security that mentioned they had locked the front gates to SWIC early in the morning due to an incident in the area but they were now unlocked.

They didn't say what the incident was or anything but it freaked me out to read that knowing the dream I had. I think when I get back to work, I'm going to ask them what the incident was.

Hi all,

Going to try a quick post before I head off to bed. We have a bunch of errands to run in the morning. It's going to be complicated as a friend is stopping by to pickk up some oranges and she's coming by (for her errands in town) at the time we were hoping to be gone. So we will wait for her. She has shared fresh eggs from her chickens and many canned items with me this year so I want to make sure she gets some fresh citrus.

The temp cap that they reglued on my tooth came off again at dinner - not even 24 hours after they glued it. This is so frustrating! Hard to go through the holidays like this. I can't chew on the side I normally do because that's where the crown keeps coming off. I can't chew on the other side because I have no bottom teeth for 3 missing molars and they sent my partial plate along with the new crown to the lab so they could fit it properly. That means I have to bite and chew with basically my front teeth. This makes it difficult as I can't eat anything very "chewy". Not sure how the Christmas ham is going to work out. Will have to chop everything into teeny weeny pieces I guess. Or drink smoothies until January 4. :no:

I am way behind in Christmas stuff. Was supposed to make my cards out tonight and that didn't happen. Was supposed to write my Christmas letter and instead I'm doing a post to you guys. I don't know why I do a letter - more for me I think than anything as all the cards I get just have a signature in them anyway. I have not been good about keeping up with my journalling this year either. Lots of goals for next year!

Thank you for the good thoughts about Meadow. She is such a sweet cat. I have a small 18 inch Christmas tree on the table next to the couch. It has ornaments that all look like S'mores treats - graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate bar bits. Got it at the Thrift Store last year - cutest thing. We found Nina sitting on the arm of the couch sticking just her face through the tree crouched and waiting for Meadow to walk by so she could pounce on her. Apparently she thinks she is hidden by the tree :rofl:

Annie - enjoy your time off. I'm sorry DS is having such a rough time of it. Hopefully there is a new girl deserving of his love just waiting for him to notice her. I loved the mental picture of the boys decorating a 12 x 12 space on the tree. What a Kodak moment - you should have taken a picture before you straightened it out. :rofl: I'm glad the ex-family embraced you at the services - sorry for your loss on the uncle. It must be difficult when divorce separates people who truly like each other. Very sad for Mike's grandchildren and for you who is missing him and your folks so very much. :hug:

Susie - OMG - that was a frightening dream! Especially when you got the email. Work is scary, being on the road is scary. I'm glad you are home and can enjoy a long well deserved rest. Hope DH is not underfoot too much, just enough for you to enjoy time together. I'm sorry you can't eat oranges and other acidic items. :( I would miss that stuff.

Ceejay- ask the pharmacist about the iron pills. I was not reading the box properly - it's marked very confusing and I could not find the 325 mg pills I had to take after surgery and they were right in front of me on the shelf! Maybe after what Annie says, I should keep taking them. But they did mess with bowel movements so I stopped taking them when I thought I was done with them. Take care of that foot of yours. Bunions can cause alot of problems - the whole foot structure shifts and what they don't mess up, arthritis does. Maybe it might not be wise to walk the treadmill right now. It's probably helpful that you don't have to be on your feet as much as you did at the plant.

Shad - you always eat such nice, fresh breakfasts! I hope your brunch turns out nicely and without too much fuss. They will be glad of whatever they get, I'm sure. What are you going to do with ODDU during brunch? Me thinks he thinks he will be part of the celebration and hey - look what she made for me to eat :yikes: :lol: I'm sorry things are a bit sour for DS2 on the job. Terrible that people are not concerned about safety and such whacky people on the job now a days. More of a pity that HE has to leave. I hope he lands something quickly. Is he still flipping houses with the partner or is that on hold too? Will be sending good thoughts along on January 23 so they reach you in time. Get things set ahead of time, you will need time to recover. You might feel great but believe me, if you overdo it, you WILL feel it. Not good. Have to keep ODDU from jumping on you too. Happy first day of summer to you - if I could, I'd box up some snow and send it to you - you could use the cold and the water!

Laura - I was thinking with everyone's talk of time off that you probably had not much of anything left since you used a lot to help your Mom out. A worthy sacrifice. Is she happy in the new place? More than that is she happy purging her stuff? Yay for getting the Christmas tree up. I hope you got the ornaments done. I pass by homes on the street and everyone's lit up trees in the window look so pretty. I just don't have the ambition to fuss alot so I will live vicariously through you guys :lol: Glad you had a nice lunch with the boss even though your last talk was :dizzy::dizzy::dizzy: Never know where they are coming from, do you? Then again, some people don't have great management skills either.

Ok girls. 2am. Alarm goes off at 7:30 so I'd better get to bed. I'm going to just take my pain pill and go on the recliner. It's not the best for my back but I fall asleep quicker and that's what I need tonight. I just can't get comfy in my bed for some reason.

I probably won't get back here until tomorrow night so have a good day and hello to the missing chicks. :wave:

Morning all. Loving this mild weather right now.

Happy – You’re quite the night owl! Great news for Meadow and I’m happy to hear it. == How very frustrating with that temporary cap!! Is that a metaphor about you coming unglued, LOL?? If anything will do it, this holiday stuff sure could. Try not to stress over it. :hug: == Okay, I’m maybe feeling a wee bit sorry for myself about not having much vacation left to play with, but it is my decision to carry over the 2.5 days I do have left so I’m not in the same position next year. I think mom is happy enough, though she’s said more than once that she did not imagine herself in a place like she’s in with all the amenities one could need - and more - in one place. I think she would probably have preferred the type of complex that bf’s mom lives in, which is a simple over-55 place with no amenities. But my mom needs the transportation services, as well as other services she may need in the future – assisted living, medical, etc. This is just week 5, so she’s still got a lot of settling in to do. And I won’t tell her that my sister and SIL set her up in the very affluent, ritzy, highfalutin’ suburb of Arl. Heights when she’s more of a Mt. Prospect type, LOLOL. ;) == Yes, the Christmas tree did look pretty through the front picture window when I got home from work last night, all lit up. I put some ornaments on it last night, and I’ll add some more tonight. Debating if I’ll bother with any garland. I have the old school tinsel-y kind, some that looks like strings of cranberries, or I could be a bit different this year and drape the tree with some of that sheer ribbon with the wire along the edges. I’m leaning towards no garland.

Susie – Glad you have the packages all wrapped and you are on to other things. I hope you fit in some “me time” that *isn’t* errands or chores… Hope the scale is good to you at TOPS tonight. -- Re winter – I’m sure many people feel like winter came when the temps went down to freezing, or the snow fell, so the “meteorlogical” winter start on Dec. 1 is more meaningful than the winter solstice. But for me, the signal that the days will start getting longer is a very uplifting thing! -- Re my commuting this week – I thought I’d be using uber instead of taxis, but it turns out during peak periods, Uber uses “surge pricing” and it really isn’t competitive vs. taxi fares. And if I’m lucky, I just walk out of the train station or my office building and a taxi is waiting. But in other situations, I think uber is more convenient, especially in areas where there aren’t a lot of taxis already hanging around. It was great when I needed to get myself home from the salon a few weeks ago. So what’ll you be doing in Cleveland at an arena?? === Wow that was quite a scary dream you had, and how freaky that there some sort of actual security incident actually occurred.

Ceejay – I’m glad you made it okay to the podiatrist office without mishap. I do recall my mom saying the area by the hospitals is called the medical mile. I have to tell you that coming from the Chicago metro area, the Springfield streets and traffic are right up there in terms of being a driver’s challenge – big multi-lane busy streets with lots of traffic. And I haven’t been to Branson but once as an adult, but it’s sort of the same thing on the main drags. I can only imagine being accustomed to small town, rural/semi-rural driving and then dealing with Springfield/Branson roads. == Gosh I’m sorry to hear about your foot! I hope the shot helps with the arthritis. == Yay that the countertops are coming! == A tree in every room – how fun would that be. :) I think I love my ornaments because they have such great memories for me, but I could also see having a pre-lit tree with just some sort of garland and that would be pretty. The lights on a tree are what make it for me.

Shad – I’m going to have to look up what a Karcher is when I get a chance. == Good idea to have a job for the little ones to do to keep them out of mischief- for a bit anyway. == Hmmm, sometimes I think I might not want to know quite as much about what’s going on inside the bod…just more to worry about. – Meteorlogical, astronomical seasons – don’t mean all that much when you get what you get in terms of temps and precip. The fluctuations happen and does it really give you comfort to understand the “why” behind the sweltering hot days or frigid cold days??

Hello to Annie, Dee and Michelle.

==

I’ve finished my foot rx as of this morning. My foot’s still sore, but not nearly as much. I’ll keep up with the limited walking and see where I’m at by Tuesday next week, when I have a follow-up appointment.
Nothing much else to report. The rescue org calendars arrived the other day. Just flipped through it this morning – much more professional-looking photography, yet I think I liked the previous versions better…but the labbies are still wonderful!

Well, well, I’ve received an email saying that our office will close at 1:00 pm tomorrow. :carrot: We usually don’t get emails like that in advance. Nice.

Okay, gonna post this and get on with the rest of my lunch.
:santa::santa::santa::santa::santa:

Evening all.
I went to Republic to deposit some money from the other bank. I did find a mistake on my new checks but it isn't in the routing or account number. Just my name! It will probably be January before I close the other bank account. Making sure the SS check is deposited.
The counter tops arrived today. They are not completely installed but more than likely will be tomorrow. I really like them. Still haven't heard from the garage door installer. This man's daughter helps him and she is good. She took out one of the sinks and the old counter tops and has the other one almost installed. I can't wait to see them finished.
Finally got outside and mulched the leaves. There was so many that they didn't mulch as good as I would have liked. I should have gone over them again but told myself that this would be good fertilizer for the lawn next Spring.
I have a gopher in the back yard. I leveled two "houses" this afternoon. Going to find something to catch this thing.
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Laura
I'm happy that the rx is helping your foot. My toe was really sore yesterday and this morning but feels better tonight.
The traffic on some of the major streets in Springfield can be overwhelming to me but I'm beginning to get more brave. Once your mom gets everything unpacked I think she will get settled in quickly.

More later. I still need to work at least an hour on my filing. I sure do want some cake.

Nothing much to report from here. Weather is being good although we need some rain. I have been busy getting the house sorted for my guests on 25th. The dog and his dad are at the farm wearing themselves out and J has gone shopping and meeting up with friends. So just me and the cats. Nice it is too.

So that's about it. Will be back with more rantings and ravings tomorrow

Hello Ladies! Yesterday was my last day at home alone before DH is off for Christmas vacation and we will be home together. I went to Walmart yesterday and return some things that I had bought that I ended up not using as gifts because I found other things I wanted to give instead. Then I picked up some things that I needed like tights, pantyhose body wash, lotion you know important things like that.

I had my last weigh-in at TOPS last night and I am down 6 pounds from the beginning of the year; not a whole lot of weight loss but at least I showed a loss for the year. I got a lot of work to do in 2017. We also had Christmas with our nieces last night. It was a lot of fun watching them open the presents we had gotten them. They were very happy with all of them one thing that really warms my heart was Aidynne said, "Aunt Susie, it isn't because you and Uncle John get us such nice things, which you do, think that we love our gifts it's because you know what we like and have an interest in us and you really put a lot of thought into our gifts and it shows how much you love us, because you really know us and that is what love is to me. It sure warmed my heart.
Today we are going to meet a friend later and see the new Will Smith movie Collateral Beauty and that's really all that's on tap for today.

Until we go to the movie, I will be filing some things in the office and just taking it easy.

I will come back and do personals later.

Morning all. The train was rather empty today, and it’s very quiet around here. Neither is surprising. It’s in the md-thirties today, but overcast. Some wet snow is forecast, but it won’t be around long at all because we’re getting even milder temps in the next couple days.

==

Ceejay – As long as the SS checks get into the account, that’s what matters most! :D LOL re mulching the leaves – ours have been covered with snow for quite a while now, so when our snow melts away, the leaves will be a soggy, moldy mess. They’ll have to be cleaned up in the spring. It’s great you had the opportunity to do that – in late December!! == You’ll have to post a photo of the counters when they’re done. -- I recall my mom talking about gophers or voles (?) in the lawn. == Glad your toe is less sore.

Shad – Glad you had some alone time, and you probably got a lot done!

Susie – What a sweet thing for your niece to say! It’s so nice for them to recognize the thoughtfulness of your gifts, and for her to voice her appreciation like that. – Hope you enjoy the movie – let us know if you did. I want to see La La Land, but I’ll probably end up seeing that with my movie group gals. == Great job for ending the year with a lower number on the scale! :cheer: If I hang on for the next week, I too can end the year a few pounds lighter than I began it. Thanks for sharing that – I’m going to keep that in mind and hopefully make smart choices and eat smaller portions throughout the holiday meals I have coming up.

Annie – Enjoy your family time today!!

Hellos to the rest of you. Hope you’re enjoying your week.
--
As usual, a ho-hum day for me yesterday. I did some vacuuming last night and remembered to wash a load of a few tablecloths along with some other items to make up a full load so that the red tablecloth is clean for tomorrow.

My mom and bf’s mom will both be over for our meal – unbelievable, but it will be the first time they’ve met! For our meal, we’re having ham medallions from the breakfast place that specializes in ham. On the side, we’ll have homemade au gratin potatoes and green beans with tomatoes and garlic, and some sort of roll or biscuit. Simple meal. For dessert, I’m going to make a German apple cake recipe my sister used for a gathering a few months ago that was so tasty. Bf had suggested cheesecake because everyone likes it, but I’m tired of making that. If anything, I have a recipe for mini cheesecakes that get baked in cupcake cups, and even that recipe will get halved because it makes too much.

I heard about the Cuisinart food processor blade recall and checked my machine last night – it’s a Kitchenaid, so no worrries! I have a thank you card to send, so last night I thought I could pick out a thank you card from my "collection" that I’ve accumulated over the years, but naturally there was nothing I wanted to use. I’ll run out around lunchtime today and buy one from the pharmacy down the block.

The office closes at 1:00 pm today and there’s a special express train at 1:24. Bf and I will likely go get some lunch when I get home, and after that I’d like to do a bit of cleaning today while he does the grocery shopping.

That’s it for me, so I’ll get this posted. TTFN.
:hohoho::hohoho::hohoho:

Good morning ladies,

Here it is 2 days before Christmas and I am hoping to get my minimal Christmas decorating done today and get my cards in the mail tomorrow - nothing like last minute, eh? I was planning on being home tomorrow but was asked if I could stop in the thrift store tomorrow to put up signs for 75% off all Christmas items. I will also try and put all items together - clothes, jewelry, as well as thrift and type up instructions on how to use the cash register to figure out the discount. I guess I can plan on a few hours at the shop so more pressure to get things done at home today...

Tonight Mr. UPS man should be delivering a box of Chicago food treats which DH is eagerly awaiting. Thing is, we are last on the route so he might not be delivering until 8pm so I guess I had better plan on making dinner tonight. I went to the store to pick up "a few" things for holiday dinner. Bought some stock up staples also but managed to spend $300 again. :no: I really HAVE to make sure I use up the food and it doesn't go to waste. I was hungry and bought some things from the deli - salads and sandwich meat. The store has changed and their deli salads look good but are missing good taste so done with that. Even the 3 bean salad - how can you mess that up? Was yucky. My friend traded me 18 fresh chicken eggs for some winter citrus so my refrigerator is overloaded with eggs. I will cook up some today and make a few deviled eggs as well as use the rest in potato salad. There goes a dozen easily. I also found some interesting brunch recipes.

Susie - yay for you for taking back the unneeded gift items to Walmart. I tend to put the stuff on a pile to return and then forget about it. Congratulations on being down weight wise from the beginning of the year. Yes, it might be a smaller number than you'd like BUT ending the year smaller is an accomplishment to be proud of, not matter what. You've also had a super busy year and it's a perfect example of how life seems to consume us and take us away from our own personal progress. We have to make ourselves as much of a priority as Mr. Executive's jumbled schedule and Miss J's monthly reports! I tend to do the same thing - let other things overshadow my personal goals. I like what your niece said - how perceptive of her. One of my co-volunteers gave me a 365 page a day calendar with yoga moves. It was unexpected and so sweet and I told her that I LOVED that it was such a personal gift. I think that's the issue with gift giving, we are in such a rush and people just don't know each other that well anymore and we buy to buy. It took a long time and my sister is fighting the same thing with people in her circle - to get together and enjoy each other's company and skip the gift giving. But some are reluctant to give it up. I'm glad the girls enjoyed their gifts. Hope you enjoy the movie - let us know what you think. That looked like a good one.

Shad - enjoy your peace and quiet while you have it. I hope your brunch comes out fabulously with minimal effort on your part. And afterwards when everyone goes home, I hope you get a good rain to give everything a much needed drink of water. Please explain what a karcher is too - is it a window cleaner???

Ceejay - glad you like the countertops. Must post pictures when the project is complete. Funny that they got your name wrong on the check. People must be in a hurry - I am getting mail with misspelled names on it - including my Mom's card to us - I have had the same last name for 40 years now and she spelled it wrong. :rofl: One of DH's cousin's also spelled our name wrong and it's their Mom's maiden name !

Laura - sorry the rx didn't completely take away the foot pain. That sure is a stubborn one to get over. Wise to limit the walking if you can and give it a rest. Yes, I totally understand feeling blue over not having more vacation time to spare. When you are working, nothing is more precious to me (at least) than time off. Never enough time to get things done and if you take some me time you feel guilty for it. I also laughed about your comment of "affluent" Arlington Heights because I used to joke I lived on the "poor side of town" south of NW Highway :rofl: There was definitely alot more money up that side of town than from where I lived. But then they built the fancy homes around me which I thought was insane. As for your Mom, I'd take the building with amenities over just an apartment complex to live with older folks. It's just that those can become frightfully expensive at times. What did you decide on for the final topping on the tree? I did notice and do like the decorative holiday smiley line you have completed your posts with this week :D

Well I'd better get off the computer before I blow the day away - again. Spend your weekend wisely!

Lost my post, but it wasn't very long. Just saying that I am busy and attaching the photo of the karcher. Dogs best friend.

Still got a long list of things to do, so better get on with it.

Hello Friends.

We really enjoyed the movie yesterday. There was a twist that I didnt see coming...and it made the movie beautiful.

We are going to Christmas Eve services here in a bit. We visited DH's dad this afternoon. Oncr we get back from services I have deviled eggs to prepare and some cookies to bake. In the morning the ham will be fixed. It is a precooked one, it really jusy entails heating it up and glazing it.
We have having Subway subs for dinner tonight so we dont have to cook and get those things all going as well. DH got them.this afternoon and they are in the fridge.

Laura, your simple meal sounds very nice. I cant believe that you and BF's mom's have never met. This will be fun! I bet they will enjoy getting to know each other.

Stay the course so you can show a loss on Dec 31. You can do it!

Happy, you are such a good friend to that thrift shop! They are lucky to have you!

$300 at the grocery!!!! You shouldn't have to shop for awhile.

The calendar that you received sounds so nice and very personal to you. That was very thoughtful of that woman. I dont like to give gifts that I haven't put thought into.

Your DH posted a FB a beautiful picture of two dears in your driveway. You live in a winter wonderland land! You dont need decorations to feel festive there but I hope you got up what you wanted to and are enjoying it.

Shad, Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Annie: I hope you are having a beautiful Christmas Eve with your family.

Ceejay: are the counter tops installed? I would love to see pictures when you have them. Did you solve the issue with the gopher.

Merry Chritmas my Wordly friends. Your friendship is a a very special gift to me.

Just a note to say Merry Christmas

Evening all. Bf just left to take our moms home. In spite of a simple meal, I'm pooped after a day of baking, cleaning, & cooking. Bf asked if I wanted to go to the gathering of some friends of the family after the mom's got taken home, but like I said, I'm pooped and the gathering isn't all that close to home, so I took a pass.

Just relaxing with a glass of wine now. I'll get to bed at a reasonable time so I can get up and bake some cookies tomorrow to bring to my family's gathering in the afternoon.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas. Shad, hope your brunch is going well and you're finding time to enjoy yourself.

:ginger: :xcheer: