Just a quick one as I will post in the morning. We decided to go to St Louis on Friday afternoon at the last minute so that is where I have been. We had a nice time but as we left the hotel this morning it was a black sky with the wind about 35 mph and we drove into a horrendous rain storm. We were soon out of it and it was sunny the rest of the way home.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Faye

Hello, ladies!

Not so hot here - 84 degrees but the humidity is up there. We were supposed to have rain for the last 2 days and today and haven't even had a drop.

I went to Mass this morning. I do love going to church. You know how much I love cleaning the house, well that's what I did the rest of the day.

Faye, glad you had a nice trip to St. Louis. I hate driving in rain.

Jean, I know it was good seeing the kids and I'm glad you had a good time at the wedding. Was it an elaborate one? MayoClinic.com has a good explanation of Barrett's esophagus. It's rather rare. I can't have caffeine, chocolate, tomatoes, or mints, have to have low fat. I got some decaf coffee; it'll probably taste terrible but I'll try.

I'm going to grill a T-Bone steak for supper and have it with salad and an ear of corn.

Have a good evening.

Good morning to you all! Hope your Monday is starting out well. Won't be long until the buses are back on the road filled with kids. The city and county kids start school a week from today. Thomas should be home from Costa Rica I think today, but they may have gotten in yesterday. I sent Kelly an email about Tom's birthday wanting to take them out to dinner, but haven't heard back yet.

Looks like I have to change my dr appt for next Tuesday. Jack made his echo cardiogram appt the same day. It isn't a big deal, I am just hoping I can get a full release from Dr Wheat this time.

We had a nice time in St Louis. We went to Harrah's casino and ate at their buffet. Boy they had the best desserts I have had at any buffets and that includes the Bellagio's which are top notch. Nice thing is they are mostly little samples so you can take a couple and not feel you are eating a bazillion calories. I can't eat much sugar so I did take a couple things and just tasted them. They had this great chicken takay that was really good and I had a nice salad that I liked. I wanted some waldorf salad, but it had huge pieces of walnuts and I knew that I shouldn't eat the nuts so I bypassed it. It only had the nuts and apples in it. Our hotel had free breakfast and was not bad. I usually ate a bagel and a banana. Their eggs were gross! lol We also went to the St Louis Mills outlet mall, but it was so incredibly hot in the mall we left and came back to the hotel and hung out. I didn't need to do shopping anyway!

Susan:How is the quilt project coming along? We not only have the humidity, but the temps are hovering near a 100 everyday. It was really hot in St Louis too, so we didn't go and do what we wanted. I wanted to go to the Arch and then take this riverboat trip, but it was way too hot to be out in the weather for us at least. We will save it for another time.

Jean: How old is Zowie now? I love the toddler age. They can be so funny. Jack talked to Jackson on the phone and he wouldn't say anything, but he laughed into the phone. I guess he is almost to the walking stage now. His day care has moved him from the babies into the younger toddlers so I imagine he will want to be walking around like the other kids and it won't be long. Jay says he can do it, it is just laziness as it is faster to crawl. We paid $3.64 for gas here at home and it was around $3.69 in St Louis. They are predicting a possible $3 a gallon by years end. That will be nice. I remember when it was .23 a gallon though and during the gas shortage got up to .35 and we thought it was highway robbery. Boy how things change.

I hear the washer has ended so need to get the clothes in the dryer. Have a good day everyone!
Faye

Good evening, ladies!

Faye, your trip sounds like fun. Sounds like Spring or Fall would be a good time for the boat and arch.

Had a busy day at work so it went fast. I went to Curves after work and now I'm really tired. Looks like an early night tonight.

Good morning to you all. The dog kept jumping off the bed, Jack had one of his Niacin "spells" where he tingles all over and breaks out in a bright red flush and it lasts about 45 minutes now, so I took the dog and came down and slept in the recliner. It is too hot to sleep in the spare room and besides it is full of suitcases and such as we can't see sticking them back up in the attic when we are going to Houston in a month. Needless to stay everything is stiff but my eyebrows this morning.

Susan: I need to get out to the pool everyday even if I can't use it early mornings anymore. Rarely are there people in it before afternoon anymore. I also need to start getting on our treadmill. It is usually 85 by 5 am and way too hot to walk outside, but I can certainly get my butt on the treadmill in the nice cool house. Our Curves closed around the corner from us. Hope you got a good rest last night.

Jean: We are only about 4.5 hour from St Louis and it is a straight shot up I-55 so it is not bad at all. You know we are huge Cubs fans and the Cardinals are the Cubs "arch enemies!" Anyway, the mall was full of people with Cardinals shirts, hats etc on. I was sitting waiting for Jack to come out of GameStop and I saw a group of 5 boys around 14-15 coming towards me talking and cutting up a bit. All the boys save one had on Cardinals shirts. The other boy had on a Cubs shirt. As he passed, I told him "Way to go, you are a brave kid to wear the better team!" He just looked at me and smiled a bit. Zowie sounds like a real character. Kelly was that way. She would get in the car and talk none stop. Used to drive Jack nuts but I just learned to tune her out.

Well, nothing is done in the house though I do have the dishwasher and washer going. We ate out last night as I had to take the rental back so the dishwasher didn't get run last night and had a few dishes in it.

Have a good one gals!
Faye

Good morning, ladies! Another hot and humid day in store for us.

Faye, I run the dishes through the rinse and hold cycle every other day and only give them a full wash when it's full - usually once a week. I really should just do them by hand. I do laundry every 2 weeks so I have full loads. My water bill has come down by half since I've been alone. I chose to pay to go to Curves because I just don't exercise the way I should on my own. It goes so fast when there are others around, I don't mind it at all and look forward to seeing my friends.

Jean, I know what you mean about storm weather. I used to feel that more in Ohio than here. It's kind of scary. I am curious why they were able to have the wedding in the Catholic Church without a mass. It wouldn't matter if he were catholic or not, but it sounds like he is divorced. Church only recognizes divorce in cases like abuse, abandoment, and other 12 other reasons and then you have to go through the Vatacin to get permission. Maybe most of the people in attendance were not catholic and they thought they'd be too uncomfortable? Who knows. Sounds like a nice wedding anyway.

I stopped the caffeine now and this morning I get up and I have a bit of a headache and I feel shaky. I think I must be having caffeine withdrawal. I really did drink way too much coffee. Guess it will go away in a few days. The funny thing is, I am just as content with my glass of water as I was the coffee - just a bad habit. I tried decaf yesterday but that tastes terrible.

Have a good day!

Good morning to all you lovely ladies. Same old story here very hot and very humid.

It is time for upstairs cleaning so I am going to try and tackle that today. The baseball game comes on at 1 pm so I want to be done before then. I got so at them yesterday I turned it off a couple minutes before Jack came home then turned it back on for him. They were ahead 6-1 the top of the 6th and the starting pitching ran it up to 6-5, then the reliever came in and added two more so it was 7-6 and I got mad, yelled at them and turned it off. Luckily for them, they won 11-7 so they didn't get screamed at by me again! Sadly (weird feeling for me anyway), they are almost all of them my son's age or younger so I feel a mother's righteous wrath! At least Lou Pinella is older than me!

Susan: Smart girl doing something that costs you money so you will be sure and do it. Many don't though. My sister has paid for Curves and other places and goes once or twice and that is it. I imagine the headache may last another day if you have been on the caffeine a long time, but it will go away. Funny how headache products won't help or at least they don't for me.

Jean: I came down early with Fortune again this morning and fell asleep in the chair so I am again stiff. It will work itself out once I get up and moving though. That dog is so dependent he has to sleep on me in someway. I have to get mad at him to get him to sleep on his pillow on the couch. You should see him when we play Wii Bowling. He is afraid of the game. If it is just Jack playing by himself, he will get into the chair with me and fall asleep, but if I am playing with Jack, he is such a scardy cat he goes and sits on the stairs until I go and tell him we are finished then he comes back into the living room. It is a hilarious thing to see. First time it happened, I asked Jack what happened to Fortune and I went to go upstairs and there he is sitting on the stairs. I don't even know why he is frightened as the sounds aren't loud or anything. You don't hear crashing bowling pins or stuff like that. It is like having a skittish toddler or something. Half the time he won't go outside when the cecadas are making noise as he is afraid of them too. He has finally gotten used to the nutso squirrel that lives in our tree. The squirrel is braver than Fortune.

I guess this isn't getting chores done and I have a bunch. Have a good Wednesday!

Faye

Good morning gals. It is pouring down rain here just now. It started about 10 minutes ago and it is all black outside. Not threatening with lightening or even thunder, just heavy rain.

Jean: Fortune would never bark at you, but he would sure want you to pet him. He is the only dog I know that the postman, UPS guy and Fedex guy aren't leery of. They come right in the gate and if Fortune comes out with me if I have to sign something, they pet him and talk to him. He is the biggest scardy cat I have ever seen. I imagine you will be getting your stuff ready for school to begin again soon. I know you are looking forward to that. The kids here start on Monday.

I have one room left to clean, the kitchen then I am done again. I am going to go up after posting and strip the bed of sheets and wash them, then get the kitchen done and over with.

I saw a picture of Annette Funicello yesterday and that poor woman is in bad shape. She is now in one of those high priced wheel chairs that tilt back with the big head rests on both sides and the big bottom. She is all twisted up from her disease and doesn't even look like the same person. The picture was taken by some paparazzi, the ghoul, so it wasn't clear of her, but I don't think it will be long until she passes. She looked like some of the residents I used to work for when I worked for Holy Cross years ago. They were severely ******ed and disabled. What a horrible thing to happen to such a sweet woman.

Well, sitting here isn't getting anything done. Have a good Thursday everyone!
Faye

Good morning, ladies! I hope Faye's rain is coming our way - it has clouded up - we sure need it.

My cold has done the usual and turned into bronchitis so I've been under the weather and going to bed as soon as I get home from work. Prednisone is finally starting to work so I am feeling a little better today. I have one of my quilting bees tonight and I don't want to miss it.

Now that I'm not supposed to eat tomatoes, people are bringing me bags of them and even leaving them at my door. And today one of the tenants at work brought me a huge pan of lasagna. He's divorced and loves to cook and his stuff is great. It should last me 2 weeks so I'll be putting it in smaller portions in the freezer.

Well, got to get to work - have a great day.

Good morning to you all. We got another big rain around noon yesterday so of course, I got soaked going out to get the mail even with an umbrella. I had to lift it over the gate to clear it and got wet. I should have had brains and went through the garage!

Susan: Enjoy your lasagna. Tell your neighbors to send those nice tomatoes my way. I love them. Jack hates tomatoes unless they are chopped very fine like in a pico de gallo or as a sauce. Sometimes it is frustrating having a husband who won't eat most veggies. I really do need to get some of those green bags and buy salad makings and such. Maybe I will get them this weekend while we are out shopping. Hope you get to feeling better real soon. I know bronchitis is no fun and I imagine it is 10 times worse for you.

Jean: Yes, Annette Funicello has MS. The little blurb said it raised its ugly head in 1987 so she has had it 20 years, but I mean she looks awful, poor thing. My bil has MS and is now in a nursing home and uses one of those full sized powered wheel chairs since he can no longer sit up by himself. I haven't seen him since he has gone in there though so I am not sure how bad he really is. My sister says he is doing ok is all she says. He has become like lifer prisoners do in prisons, accustomed to his surroundings and doesn't even want to leave anymore. She brought him home last time for Father's Day or his birthday or something and he wanted to go back within the hour. She was mad as a wet hen because she has to pay out of pocket for a van pick up and drop off and then return trip and it costs her over a hundred $$. The poor thing is practically at poverty level now because the government only allows her $1500 a MONTH to live on. The rest of her money has to go towards his care. They bring in money from his disability payments, his pension from the hospital where he worked for 30 years, her pension from a company she worked for 20 years and what she earns with the school system now. She can't sell her house or they take the proceeds from that too. She would like to just move into an apartment. Personally, I think she should deed it over to her granddaughter and have her granddaughter sell it, put the money in savings and then draw it off for her grandma under the table to pay her rent in an apartment. She is almost 64 and won't be able to retire anytime soon because she won't have enough money to live on. She won't let us give her anything, but I know her son helps her out from time to time. Her dd and sil help in other ways, but she is still living pinching pennies.

I think we are going to go and see the new "Mummy" movie tonight. We have seen the other two and enjoyed them.

Haven't heard a peep from my dd since they got back from vacation and T starts school on Monday. I emailed her about taking them out to dinner for Tom's birthday, which is a week from tomorrow (Elvis memorial day btw so we will have people all over here again) but haven't heard a word from her.

Chores are calling so I best get going. Hope Maggie and Cowboy got into Kansas and got settled and we hear from her soon.

Hello to Gloria, Gail and Nanna!
Faye