Good morning, ladies!!

Angie - sounds like your friend is a survivor! I'm just so happy she got her dd back. What is a bellini?

Katy - yep, poplars are a pain, for sure! I too love black and white photos, and had some in matching frames in my living room of candid shots. But the kids have replaced them with color professional ones, and I'm not allowed to copy those. Could do it on my scanner though, lol. Like you, I'm itching to rearrange or change something in my home. Must be in the air, lol. Have fun at Tinker Toys today. What a cute name for a toy store!

Ellen - I'm losing with Weight Watchers and determination, lol. I really, really like the freedom of WW since I can eat anything I want. Just have to practice portion control. Have to admit that I don't waste many points on junk, though. Hope you find the holiday spirit for yourself and for your family's sake. Maybe easier said than done, though. Thanks for the tip about Barbara Taylor Bradford's new book. Have you checked out the book thread we have?

Gabrielle - hope you can be stationed close to your family. Is that one of the conditions as to whether you sign up or not? My DD's twins were preemies, and that was scary! They were born at 35 weeks but had no severe problems.

Sue - wah! I want a soft blanket, pillow and bag, too! LOL. I have to tell you, I wouldn't feel comfortable in a real swanky neighborhood, either. One of my friends lives in the most elite sections of town and her house is like something you'd see on TV, and I am not comfortable at her house. It's just too darn perfect, ya know what I mean? We have a lot more fun at my house, lol.

Marti - so what was wrong with your puter?? Glad it's better now! Also glad your work supervisor let you off early to spend time with Jahnai!! What's going on this weekend for you?

Cristi - hope your weekend is going well.

Hi also to Susan, Shanna, Katiecat, Kathy, Julie, Mindee and Sam.

The scales showed a 1/2 pound loss this week. I'll take it!! I think I mentioned that one of my church friends wants my too-big clothes, and she's coming over today for them. I'll let her have the ones that fit her and give the smaller ones to a different buddy. It'll be good to get them gone.

Made an angel food cake for a funeral dinner for a member of my church and got that delivered.

What are your plans for the day?

Good Morning Everyone
I can't believe I'm up , my focus is off ,I think I need more coffee ,one didn't quite do the trick .Where are you girls ,get up ,or I'm going back to bed.I think its cleaning day again.but then when isn.t it.Things sure get behind when your out of commission.It looks like a real pretty day outside the colors of the trees are so beautiful,but that will all change soon,Angie I'm so dissappointed , no snow up there, I was sure if anyone had some to spare it would be you. Hi Marti so happy you get to spend time with Jhanai. hope you have nice day.Well I'm going to make myself somemore coffee . I sure would like some of Janes apple crisp to go with it. Maybe when I come back some of you lovely ladies will be here,although I know how busy you all are,I'm off for coffee and something to munch on,be back later. *Ellen*

Hi Jane
You popped in without me knowing, the program I'm following isn't working out I don't know if you have tried it , its called the seefood diet , I see food and I eat it LOL. all kidding aside I am at my wits end trying to get control of this, and it wears you down.I admire your determination hopefully I can work it out ,I wish my legs were long enough I could give myself a swift kick. I didn't know that there was a book thread I will look at it Thanks. Good morning to all you other ladies I didn't mean to exclude anyone I was popping out for coffee when Jane popped in but I will be back to see how everyone is doing today.but I need coffee

Good morning everyone!

Marti - have fun with Jhanai...isn't our weather just gorgeous? I'm going to get a walk in today before DS' soccer game ( last one!) I am going to go through Gabriel Park and admire all the beautiful trees.

Ellen - So glad you are back! Yeah, our arborist is probably sending his kids to college on what we have had to pay him, lol. They make very good money. Fortunately PGE doesn't charge to cut down the lion's share because they feel it is in the interest of the neighborhood and cheaper in the long run to remove trees that threaten power lines. I need the arborist to chip the branches - PGE will just leave them in my yard PGE is also not one for aesthetics so the remains of the trees affected may need some shaping.

Sue - You know, I do like decorating shows, but we do not have cable by choice. I think we would be couch potatoes, and I don't want my kids to get in the habit at such young ages. But that's just us - most people can turn off the darn thing....for us too many choices is not a good thing. When I am at my mother's house we like to watch that show about dressing a house to sell. We also like the one that takes the designer room and re-does it on a budget. My mother and I both like interior decorating, but are both pretty frugal people, so we always like designing on a dime themes. I have cultivated a host of great tips and tricks over the years.

Gabrielle - glad to hear your DD is not experiencing bad effects from her early birth. Children really are a blessing - My DD just turned 3 on Halloween, my DS will be 8 on Thanksgiving. We joke that we gave birth to a pumpkin and a turkey. Hope your DH can put off any overseas deployment while DD is so young, but I know it is all out of your hands.

Angie - candling sounds interesting, not that I'm going to run out and try it anytime soon I have read of a technique called nasal irrigation that is supposed to work wonders in preventing nasal congestion, sinus and ear infections. You buy something called a Neti jar and make up a saline solution that you use to basically wash out your nasal passages. I rarely get sinus or ear infections, but it's something I have thought of trying when I get a head cold. Hate cold meds.

Jane - "The Young and the Rest of Us' Remember "As the Stomach Turns" ( Carol Burnett Show - now we REALLY feel old!) Congrats on yet another loss! Santa Claus should be bringing you a whole new wardrobe, lady! I keep repeating what you advised me in the holiday thread " Do I want the scale to go up or down?" I think I am going to print it out and put it on my fridge and in my car (the drive through was an issue yesterday)

I re-did my ticker as I have been shaving off little bits over the last month. Haven't been so good as posting progress due to lack of time. Also, I have a cheapie scale that makes it hard to note fractions of pounds, so I just hop on now and again and note what's going on. So I am just about 1/2 way to my goal! Lots of fluctuations to get to this point, I must say. I visualize that my weight loss is like I am bouncing a ball walking down a flight of stairs. The ball is my weight. It is going up and down alot in the short run, but ultimately, it IS going down....That is an image that brings me comfort when I feel things are not happening fast enough. I KNOW I am not going back up those stairs.

Cheers! Hope all is well where you are
Katy

good morning everyone
Ellen you still have leaves? We don't over here its pretty barren ,,,don't like this look. I personally love all the colors that the leaves change to, but I hate that it means summer is over. We are having a rainy day...

Katy, I am so with you on the shows and budgets...friend call me to ask how they can work around the cost in decorating. I swear I can make copper wire out of pennies.
My friend Tarra and I talk decorating all the time,,,her and I are similar in cost but different in style which is I think fun.

Jane, a bellini is a BAAAAAAAD drink,,,like a slush, of peach shnapps and other things like rum mixed in it, with champagne poured over top and a bit of grenadine. Its totally girly drink.

Todays plans are a Costco run,,,hate the crowds,,,arghh then promised Tan we would look for a watch for him, then relax at home. Going to go look for things for Brandon while hes laid up, the DR said it would be a full 6 weeks. And after his last surgery he believes her. He thought he would be bouncing back without a problem and it was a rude awakening for him to be unable to do just that. So with this surgery being of course the major one hes not happy right now. Did I mention he cut his hair? He long beautiful curly hair? over 7 inches gone,,,poof!

Yesterday I had a moment at work that even now Im not sure if I would take it back or not. There is a woman who works right next to me, she has been there now over 2 months. I find her annoying, she talks so loud that I have one hand typing and the other plugging my ear that isn't covered by a headset. That I can almost live with, but well the things she says to the customers are so embarrassing,,,she flirts and that in itself is fine but she goes WAY over board. She asked this man for a job yesterday, he was calling in a beer order from a restaurant, and well she went on and on to him about how shes waitressed for years and is great,,,blah blah the kicker was her telling him he would have to pick her up cause she doesn't drive...I just had enough and told her to stop it. She looked at me blankly and was WHAT? I told her she was talking inapproperiately. She is so crass that I really am amazed she got this job...no one else in the office is like her. I felt horrible the rest of the day having said that but I wasn't going to apologize.
Well better get ready for a shopping spree day

Hi again everyone
Yes its safe to say not much is getting done today, no energy so far.Angie I do have leaves but at the rate the wind keeps blowing they won't last to much longer, I was wondering, if you can make copper wire out of pennies can you make pennies out of copper wire or possibly anything bigger LOL,wow that bellini sounds sooo good although the last drink I tried was a year ago and probably the only one in 5 years I don't get out much ,but if I happen to get out I sure would like to try that one.Last drink I tried was called a B52 shake ,it was yummy. Don't worry about your moment at work , you probably saved her from herself. I was wondering if you girls wanted to help me with my Christmas Spirit dilemma,what kind of christmas songs ,cds, movies are your favorites, and what do you all do for the holidays,decorationg what stye do you do , traditional ,red ,green and gold or theme.What are your traditions, do you have real or artificial trees big or small. do you go for sleigh rides or horse drawn carriage rides ,drive around the neighbourhoods looking at lights anything you would like to share.This is my favorite time of year I love to decorate I love Christmas music from november to end of January I love Christmas movies I love the feelings that the season brings, but this year I find myself lacking in spirit and I am desperate to dig deep and find it , so if anyone has the time I would love to hear everything you would like to share with me. I hope all of you girls are having a wonderful day and I hope to hear from you when you have the time. Sue I hope your feeling better
today.*Ellen*

Ellen,
I spent years in retail which can sap the christmas spirit out of anyone. But I used to do soem volunteering each year and that was what kept me going, I would find about 6-10 men each year to pose as santa over the phone. Then cause I would get the word out that santa would be making calls.... I would then charge each family either 3.50 or 5 for more then one child for Santa to call them. I made eleborate sign up sheets which would help my guys along to talking with each child. Then with all the money raised I would then adopt a family and make sure they had a christmas. Somehow I was able to keep this from Tanner,,,he was about 2 when I started and 8 when we moved to Calgary. This was a win win situation for everyone,,,,the kids were shocked...Santa calling them? Parents had fun sneaking one past the kids, I loved it cause it was just too much fun, and the guys would have a blast. I remember one of my guys stopping by one day to give me a gift and with tears in his eyes tell me how this brought back the joy in the season.
My house becomes totally gawdy at Christmas,,,i have boxes and boxes of decorations. I have a huge fake tree,,,and I decorate it all red and gold.
I listen to mostly the older stuff, Bing Crosby and such...but do love listening to Marah Cary and Brandy.
Something else I do,,,,I buy more then normal apples and oranges,,,and if they all don't get eaten its ok. I take my big pot and fill it with my bruised (no one wants to eat) apples and oranges...then add cinnamon sticks, cloves, and water I bring to a nice simmer you can keep the heat low but keep and eye on the water..which you can just keep adding more. Ahhh the smell is wonderful. Plus during the winter the air becomes so dry so this is a benefit also for moisture.
Another thing I used to do, is when the kids were small, invite all their friends over for cookie decorating. I would make about 4 batches of sugar cookies and would using all my christmas cutters would have trays and trays ready for my lil friends to paint on.
egg whites and a bit of water,,,with dropps of food coloring...I bought cheap paint brushes at the dollar store and there you go.
After all was baked, they would come out looking like stain glass...really nice. I would have the kids decorate paper gift bags, with stamps and paint. Fill them with their cookies and they would bring home their present to mom.
I miss small kids....
But that is what I still do or did....
Angie

Thanks Angie
I have containers full of christmas decorations as well ,its amazing how much stuff we we collect over the years.When I lived in my other house it was larger than my house is now which I have been in now for four years, so this is our 4th Christmas here . Wow time flys.Things had to be changed around quite a bit because of the size I had to incorporate two different styles of decorations in one small house,so what I did was decorate the living room with cream and gold and red with white lights, more formal and my kitchen and combined dining area is decorated with the traditional red ,green and gold with coloured lights with gingerbread and nutcrackers and christmas bears and everthing christmas which sounds like what you do .I had to change the real tree for artificial there just wasn't the room to fuss with a real tree here , but no matter its just as nice and like you I fill the house with the smells of Christmas Fragrance
but I have my faithful pot pourri pot that I fill faithfully with the fragrances of the seasons. Walmart has some really nice liquid pot pourri's I have one called apples and cinnamon and it smells wonderful for this season. I'm a fragrance junkie thank goodness for walmart.For years we used to go to McDonalds and take two or three angels off the tree and give gifts for the little ones who needed them, I loved to do that it brought such a wonderful feeling to my family.The kids and I also baked shortbread and christmas cookies.When my kids were really small I would take some jingle bells and shake them outside there windows it was such a small thing but so rewarding to see the excitement on their faces in anticipation of Santa Claus. I do miss the little ones to,and it seems that I will be waiting a while for some grandbabies.it usually takes me about three days to get it all done so I usually would have started by now ,its to much work for a couple of weeks of enjoyment, so I am really hoping that I can find some spark of something to get me going.I love Bing Crosby Vince Gill's Christmas , carpenters Christmas,Mantovani Christmas Andy Williams Dean Martin I love Christmas music .I love Christmas Movies white Christmas , Holiday Inn , Christmas in Conneticut , Meet me in St Louis , Its a wonderful life the grinch Jim Carey version ect. I am looking forward to seeing Christmas with the Kranks it looks really funny, I heard surviving Christmas got bad reveiws but I will rent it later anyway to judge for myself. I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me about your holiday traditions , it does give a little spark of spirit in me Thank you. To bad your so far away , your home sounds like a warm and fun place to be. Maybe I will go down to the basement and start looking in some of those containers ,even my big kids are getting anxious for the decorating to start and I really would not want to let them down no matter what I'm feeling,so I will pull up my socks and do what I love to do and I'm sure the feelings will follow how could they not, it really is the most wonderful time of the year , no wonder they made a song out of that LOL. Thanks Again Angie

Angie- The bellini sounds good. I have heard of a peach bellini in which you put peach nectar in a flute and slowly pour champagne in. Yum.

Ellen- Yes, thanks I am feeling better today. As far as Christmas, I have actually always had the tradition of having a big family Christmas Eve at my house. That way as the girls got married and had in-laws they could plan around my night. Now with my younguns scattered it is hard to carry on traditions, but wherever we spend the holiday I have Christmas Eve. I also have made stockings for every family member and they hang each year even if some can't come home. I don't decorate as much as I used to, but we still enjoy family time.

Sorry Jane
I don't know a lot about computers but I will get my son to help me tommorrow and see if we can figure it out . have a great evening *ELLEN*

Hi Sue
So happy to hear your feeling better, I have always loved Christmas Eve , especially when it snows those beautiful large snowflakes, it has such a warm feeling for me even more so than Christmas Day , Its when I prepare the stuffing fixings and make the cranberry sauce and pumpkin cheesecake , the house is filled with wonderful aromas christmas music and beautiful decorations , I still have my Son and Daughter with me and they love being home at Christmas, its always been a special time for us .
That is nice that you hang the stockings even if they can't get home ,it keeps everyone close even if there far away.Everyone has stockings here to even the kitty cats and they out number us.I can almost smell the turkey and pumpkin cheesecake.Thankyou for sharing that with me Sue and I hope you are soon feeling completely well. *ELLEN*

Ah Ellen, my favorite movies are Meet me in St. Louis, Christmas Lampoons...omg I still completely lose it when watching that show! And of course Santa Claus,

And I once heard Micheal Bolton sing a opera christmas song and since then I have been hunting down that cd. It gave me chills hearing it...
After writing the last post I ended up making my fragrance potion...The house smells wonderful....
When Brandon is home, I may pull out all the rubber maid containers and have him just help me go throu some things that he can do while lying on the couch. Untangle lights,,,cause no matter how good I am about putting them awau they always tangle.
I did go and do my shopping, Costco,,,picked up a cordless for my parents present at Best Buy. Its a new store have to say I didn't like it much. It was so loud in there I wanted out now...didn't help that I had a bit of headache,,,but that would of given me one even if I didn't have one.
its almost 10 and well I think Im going to head for bed...
night all
Angie

hmmm, we are talking about Christmas???

I will try and get in the mood from Hawaii.....lol....
I laid on a chase lounge listening to the sound of the crashing ocean this morning - got a slight tan.

We went to Kona yesterday and stayed at a resort ( www.RoyalKona.com ) I haven't checked out the website but maybe it will give a picture of what I am talking about.
Kona is beautiful!!! The Kona Coffee Festival was going on....lol...just so fun.
The motel is right on the coastline- and you can sit at the pool and watch the waves crashing on the wall.....
We watched the luau from our balcony and he held my hand.
A turtle dove came by and kept us company..... He is very romantic. I asked him if he always stayed at that motel and he said no......but he said the sunsets were romantic and he wanted me to see one.
We drove the loop around the island today. Stopped at a black sand beach at the south end of the island -- saw turtles in the ocean, took pictures.

Yesterday we were packing to go and he grabs his guiter and starts playing the hand holding song,.........which had me crying and he started getting tears.....so sweet.

I started crying on Thursday though about having to leave on Monday. Though I miss Gabrielle soooooooooooo much and I miss the older girls too......

He did ask me to marry him............and I said yes. I adore him . He has a huge heart and he loves me so much. He loves my kids without even meeting them ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,course once he does , he might not....lol.

Anyway, we are just throwing around details on when and where- April is the soonest.
And........I probably would only bring Gaby with me.......and that is the hard part. Though the older girls could always live with me......I dont think they would come.......
I just,,,,,,,,,,,,,want some happiness. It has been really hard trying to be a mom to the older girls at a glimpse here and a glimpse there. I don't really get a say on what they do or in how they are being raised anyway.........

I guess the best I can hope for is if they would come for the 3 months at summer and during spring and winter break. I would probably even see them more that way anyway,,,,,,,,

Anyway, I am just thinking out loud.......

Happy weight loss Jane and...........welcome Gabrielle.......

best get!!!!!!

ok- the web site works....lol

It was Royal Kona Resort- so beautiful.....

best get

wow that is a beautiful place....I wanna go!

Glad to know you are enjoying yourself...
big hugs