Good Evening, Flowers!
I'm on my way to bed but wanted to check in here first. "We" had to shovel snow today! I'd guess we got about an inch of the wet kind -- my outdoor kittens were so funny trying to walk around with snow between their toes. By afternoon, most if it had melted away.

Bubbles -- I'm with you on the sniper catch. I'll bet there are some people who would like to take a shot at them! Let me know what stove you decide on . . . I just saw a picture (don't remember what brand, though) and it had a smaller oven just above the larger one. The smaller one was a convection oven and the other a regular one. I've also seen a model where the oven above the burners is a microwave and the one below is a regular oven. Decisions, decisions!

Gloria -- I've never heard of a halogen burner. . .sounds like a good idea. I always had trouble with a gas stove in that things either burned or boiled over when I wasn't looking. Is the oven in a Jenn-Air smaller than a regular oven? My "mom" has one and we grilled on it when I was home -- that I do like.

Maggie -- A stone the size of a golf ball had to hurt! I'm glad all went well with the surgery. I have a charm bracelet that I haven't worn for years. But whenever Bob would get a charm for it, the jewelry store would solder it on for free. I should get it out and wear it for old times sake!

Have a fantastic Friday, Flowers! We have a half day tomorrow but the other half is staff development. I'd like to come home but have to serve on the birthday coffee crew during the break.

Jean -- from Iowa!

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

JEAN: I did not opt for the Jenn-Air model with the grill. I have an electric stove and it would have meant more work adapting the spot where I wanted the stove to be. The oven is very large and has 3 racks so I can usually get everthing in it. When we were first married, in the oh so long ago past, we had a gas stove and I loved the burners but did not like the oven and broiler as we had to relight it all the time. Now I love electric.
. Shoveling snow is not what I love.


MAGGIE: So happy to hear the wonderful result of Will's surgery.
I'll bet he is too.

BUBS: As for the range with two ovens. When I looked at them I thought that the lower oven being so close to the floor would make it difficult to lift a large turkey or roast out without hurting your back. My first electric range had two ovens but one was over the range much like the way they now have microwave ovens. I was great while the kids were growing up as I could cook one thing below and another at a different temp in the upper oven. My only problem was it took up too much upper wall space and partially covered a window. UGH! Hope all this info will help!!


Gloria in MA....off to a busy day!!

hi all,
i took a chunk out of my right index finger tonight. needed a stitch or two, but my friend the nurse got the bleeding stopped, we think. typing with one hand is the pits. i'll be back when i don,t have to keep it elevated anymore.
later,
bubs

Good Evening, Flowers!
Another week has flown by and I think I have the next two days at home to myself. At least no one has told me of any other plans in the making. I need to do some serious cleaning and catch up on ironing.

Gloria -- I think I would like a 3 rack oven and especially so when having extra food for company coming. I am definitely losing my baking ability. I made simple 'Special K' bars last night and ended up doing a 2nd batch of frosting. The first batch just didn't look right and tasted gritty. Evidently they were ok because people ate them today. One of the other hostesses put out a glass bowl with a mixture of candy in it and everyone was supposed to guess how many pieces. I guessed there were 362 and originally there were 364 but a couple of the teachers (men!) snitched a piece or two as they walked by. I didn't care about the candy but I liked the bowl!

Bubbles -- I'm sorry to hear about your finger! OUCH! I hope it is feeling better asap! Wish I could do something to help you out!

Maggie -- Tell Will "WELCOME HOME!"

Have a relaxing weekend!

Jean -- from Iowa where the snow is all gone again!

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

Nice to have Cowboy home. Good thing he is as healthy as he is or he would still be in the hospital. Turn was so happy to see him that he couldn't stop with the teasing. That is his rough and tumble buddy. Now I have got to get a grip on my program before the holidays are upon us. My FOCUS on my program rather took to slipping away and now I need to draw it up tight and keep it close.

JEAN kittens are so cute in the snow! Do get out your charm bracelet for they are in fashion now! I am looking forward to my next one to put on my bracelet. I have goten tons of compliments on it so far. Hope you get done this weekend what you plan at home.

GLORIA I always liked the grill on my JA stove ~ but we have always grilled more than we needed a third rack in the oven. That is so neat that they make so many different models for us to choose from to fit our individual live-styles.

BUBBLES for you! Sorry about your finger. Next time try biting on a carrot or something more tasty like a or a . OUCH - that must hurt seriously. Typing with one hand can be done but is tedious at best. And we don't like tedious do we. Come back when you can for we will be missing you.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend ~ be safe.

Good Afternoon, Flowers!
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood although just a tad on the chilly side. I finally tracked down the rest of the addresses that I needed to finish my funeral thank you notes. The gal who had access to them has been to Las Vegas this week -- no wonder I couldn't ever reach her at home!

My laundry is done but I still have a huge pile of ironing to catch up with. I'm sure it's not going to go anywhere.

Maggie -- It's good to see you today! I'm sure you will be back OP and in control; your determination is to be admired and I envy you! I am having a hard time bringing it all together again. Bob is farming today so I have been rambling around from one project to another. I need to focus on one thing at a time and I'm not doing that very well.

I'd better keep moving before I am out of the mood. Have a nice rest of the weekend, flowers!

Jean -- from Iowa!

It's raining/snowing here and gloomy, gloomy, gloomy! I'm sorting through magazines and catalogs; I thought I would take a break and check in here to see if anyone was in the flower patch today.

I haven't seen Jackie or Lorraine for a long time. Does anyone hear from them? Hope all is well with them.

Not much is newsy. DH left to farm as soon as it was light out so I expect he will be back home shortly because of the stuff that is falling from the sky.

Have a relaxing Sunday, Flowers!

Jean -- sort of thinking about a walk in the in Iowa!

What a glorious weekend in West(by God), Virginia! The leaves were at their peak and spectacular with the sun shining on the mountainsides! My friend and I went on a ride down memory lane for her, showing me where she'd grown up, where their camp on the river was, etc. We wound up about 25 miles down the road at a wonderful cafe for lunch. We had a cup of Acorn Squash soup which was divine, and split a Reuben sandwich. I'm going to try to get the squash soup recipe. I feel sure it had cream in it, but that can be adapted. It also had teeny bits of Granny Smith Apples with the skins on included, and that just gave it a bit of zing.
As you can tell, the big bandage is off my finger, and we're just down to a large bandaid. It looks much better. Now I have to concentrate on keeping it dry. Pat gave me some rubber gloves to use in the shower...........YEA! This GI shower is for the birds.
Y'all have a great Monday, and Lord help, remind me to go to WW on Wednesday again this week! YIKES!
As ever,
Bubs

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

I weighed in this am and it wasn't a pretty sight but not as big a gain as I expected. I got what I deserved for all my transgressions. Onward and downward I am going and not going to squander November and December. In November I am going to be changing my WW center and weigh in day. I will be weighing in on Thursday mornings instead of Monday's.

JEAN With all that gloom do you get SADs? I get e-mails from Lorraine and Cookie AKA:Jackie on occasion. All is fine in their neighborhoods.

BUBBLES they do have some wonderful waterproof dressing out now that a shower can't loosen on a wound. Will has those on his stomach and they are great. They will be there when he goes back to the doctor on Thursday. They can be cut to fit and I imagine they would work on a finger also. If you do get that soup recipe please think of me and send a copy my way. That sounds like something I would love to add to my winter eatings.

Have a great afternoon friends.

I'm waiting for DH to get home so will chat with you all for a bit. It's been another dreary day; the fog rolled in around noon and it would be perfect for Halloween. My body is still on daylight savings time and so is Leonard's tummy!

Bubbles -- I'm glad your finger is healing. Your weekend sounds like it was a fun one. I will remind you to go to WW tonight because I probably won't remember tomorrow.

Maggie -- I don't think I get SADs. I tend to have lots of lights on around the house once it gets dark. I don't think I would be a good one to live in Alaska that's for sure. Speaking of Alaska, do you ever hear from Pat? You will get your program under control in no time. You've come much too far to let the last couple of weeks do you in. You go girl!

I need to check out the fridge and see what leftovers there are. Have a terrific Tuesday, Flowers!

Jean -- in Iowa!

Evening Flowers,
I'm remembering to go to WW Wed. today, but Wed. may be a different story.
Thanks for the info on the bandages, Maggie. I'm down to just bandaids and bacitracin ointment now. I just change them when they get wet.
We had your dreary weather, Jean. It rained on and off all day, and is supposed to keep it up the rest of the week with snow showers on Fri and Sat. Joy, joy. We'll be travelling to the WW Training mtg Fri. night and back on Sat nite or Sunday. I'm not looking forward to it, but we always have a good time once we get there. I just have a problem with the powers that be. They act like we're so lucky to be working for them............NOT! We only get paid for two hours, regardless of how long we work. We always work almost 3, and when we do inventory it's more like 4. Can't change it, so might as well quit *****ing about it.
I'm trying to get my bills online with the bank. I've been entering them tonight, but screwed up one of the acct. numbers, so will call the bank in the a.m. to see what they can do to help me out. I tried to delete it, but the system wouldn't let me.
I'm off to take James for a walk, and then to bed.
Happy Tues. youall,
Bubs

GOOD MORNING STEEL MAGNOLIAS

I am rather excited. Yes, getting back to program is exciting. Today is an 18 point dayfor me and I woke up with that number forefront in my mind to start the day out right. I am going to do this ~ just watch me. Today will be an exercise of paying close attention and getting back to writing what I bite. Back to the good old habits. FOCUS. I vow to myself not to squander the rest of this year. I will make it count.

JEAN is it still gloomy there? I don't like gloomy. But the Christmas lights are sure pretty in the snow. How is it in May ~ Spring should be nice eh? That is when we may come out your way..... that is when we hope to go anyway.

BUBBLES glad your finger is healing so quickly. Tomorrow is your Weigh Day. Are you going to WW training? I must have missed something along the way, sorry. I hear it can be a real drag. You end up being a slighly paid volunteer which is a good work. Let me know how it works out with paying your bills on line. Hope it works out well for you.

Have a great day folks.

Good Afternoon, Flowers!
Another dark and dreary day in my corner of the world. It has been spitting a few raindrops off and on all afternoon; the snow is supposed to move into the area tonight. The leaves are a mess because it hasn't been dry enough to get out and "suck them up." We still have alot on the trees but there are so many in the street and other yards. We don't rake, we use the bagger on the mower. Before that, DH would just hope that the wind would blow them over to the neighbor's yard.

Bubbles -- Keep us posted on how the online banking works. It makes me a little nervous after I see how easy the whiz kids can get into the school files (and locked classrooms). I have enough trouble getting into my own stuff let alone trying to break a code to get into someone else's. The WW workers should keep track of their hours and then present the "bill" to the powers to be -- not that it would do any good but it might surprise them.

Maggie -- Last year March was more spring - like than either April or May. One thing about Iowa, if you wait a hour or so the weather is likely to change! I hope some of your renewed determination rubs off on me! I have WW tonight and am NOT looking forward to it. I've had another nonOP week and I don't know what my problem is!

I should get busy and pick up a little before I leave. For some reason the maid service around here leaves alot to be desired these days!

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Flowers!

Jean -- from Iowa!

I DID IT

I am so happy.... I am succesfully finishing an 18 point day and right on the point! I just love those one point burger buns. I can make a tuna sandwich for 2.5 points and it is huge with a pile of lettuce on it. With a cup of hot chicken broth and carrot and celery sticks I just can think I have good sense. Then for dessert a nice vanilla flavored low fat cappuccino. Life is good. We are going to have lunch at the hospital tomorrow ~ mexican food day. The chef there rivals the down town restaurants. Both of us can eat there for five bucks which is a great plus. Food ~ it is all about food. I look at food and see points.

JEAN that is too funny about those leaves. Been there and done that. OK how did you do at WW? Bet that Iron Monster wasn't as mean to you as you thought. I am really looking forward to going on Thursday mornings now ~ I hear that the leader is really a good one. I won't start this Thursday though because Cowboy has an appointment with the surgeon on that morning.... guess to get his entry ports they cut looked at and maybe remove some staples. There is another gal that is a friend of mine that will also be going over to the Thursday morning meetings which will be nice. She is a real neat person and fun to talk with. Speaking of neat people ~ To answer your question about Pat ~ I haven't heard from her in eons. I have often wondered how she is and Larry ~ did he successfully complete his bone marrow transplant ordeal. She rather dropped out of sight when they went back to Alaska.... I wish I knew.

Have a nice night folks. I am so happy that I did it. You just can't imagine how it feels for me to be back on track. I got in all my fruits and veggies too...

Hi Flowers,
Well, I got lucky and lost 2.4#, I think. I know it was over 2, but when you're weighing and recording 48 people, it's a little hard to remember even your numbers. All I know is, God is good, because I don't think I deserved it. With the weather having been lousy since sunday, haven't gotten any exercise. Guess I'll have to get out the Sanzone Videos again.
Happy Hump Day one and all. I'll be going over to visit a friend whose mom is closing up their house to head for FL for the winter......what a wuss:~}
Later,
Bubs