Kat & Baylee....WHAT are you doing without me?????? I had company and couldn't chat...now I missed out!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Tina I made a pecan pie this morning AND a pumpkin swirl pie! It has cream cheese swirled in it! Can't wait to try it! It was quiet an interesting morning! My dad and I were trying to duplicate my mom's stuffing recipe! She emailed it to me and I got all the stuff but you know those old recipes where they don't measure anything! Well this was one of them. I think it came out pretty good...we will see once its all cooked in the bird! We didn't get the bird in the oven till late this morning so we will be eating later.

I just need to pick up the house (toys) and run the vaccum then jump in the shower. My dad went to go get his hotel room and take a shower then is coming back. He is staying at a hotel next to the turnpike so when he gets up at 4 am he can just hop on and go to Pittsburg before the traffic starts...he stayed here with us for 2 days and Andrew was in heaven!

Well I gotta get my hiney going! You all do the best you can with dinner and remember...tomorrow is another day!

I love you all!

TTFN Michelle

Oh Kat...I forgot to say...thats such a wonderful story! My little guy was born 4 weeks early and he weighed 6 lbs 4 oz....and that was with prenatal care! That was such a little miracle for that family!! I hope he is healthy!!

TTFN Michelle

South Of The Border Dip
This recipe is on the back of the Lipton's 7 Vegetable Soup Mix box.

2 cups of Sour Cream ( light or fat free is fine, and healthier )
1/2 cup of Salsa ( I used fat free salsa )
1 packet of 7 Vegetable Soup Mix

Mix well and set in Fridge for about 2 hrs, so the vegetables have a chance to soften. Serve with Tortilla Chips or Nacho's, or crackers, very good and low fat. Enjoy

OK Ladies you can start laughing now:

I'm not known as a good cook by a long run. Today I managed to screw up Thanksgiving dinner by following the directions on the darn turkey package. Luckily dinner was only for myself and a dear friend who's used to my less than stellar record in the kitchen.

Because there were only 2 of us I went to the turkey farm and bought a fresh turkey roast ( a mix of light and dark meat). This afternoon I put the thoroughly thawed turkey roast in the oven. According to the wrapper this size should cook in 1.5 hrs. I figured on 2 hrs to be on the safe side. Well at the end of two hrs I put in the meat thermometer and it wasn't done (yes our oven cooks at the temp. on the dial, so that wasn't the problem.) Anyway, I had baked potatoes too and they were done. So was the beautiful califlower and the cheese sauce. The only thing I'd held back on was the frozen slivered green beans and almonds cause they only take 5 min. in the mcrowave. Oh God, was I pissed. The meat took more than 3 hrs to cook completely.
We ended up with reheated Califlower, and wrinkled potatoes!!!! Thank God I'm not married and don't have inlaws. Just think of how bad it could have been?

Oh well, I tried. No one has ever thought I was related to Martha Stewart anyway! The meal was good when I finally got it on the table and it did give us extra time to chat and catch up on old news. At least I was able to stay OP and the chocolate pudding and cool whip looked as good as it tasted for dessert.

Time to nap of the turkey for a ittle while.

I hope you all had a wonderful day. Mine was OK. I'll leave it at that...

I just lost a post and it was probably for the best...lots of ranting about my mother...it's best that I let my angry words sail on off into cyberspace. It was good to get it off my chest anyway..

I haven't got the energy to repost...I'll check in tomorrow!

Baylee and I had a great chat last night! Missed you guys!!

oh boy, I'm dozing...better go

love to all...

One Last Thanksgiving Thought

Black November

When I was a young turkey, new to the coop,
My big brother Mike took me out on the stoop,
Then he sat me down, and he spoke real slow,
And he told me there was something that I had to know;
His look and his tone I will always remember,
When he told me of the horrors of..... Black November;

"Come about August, now listen to me,
Each day you'll get six meals instead of just three,
"And soon you'll be thick, where once you were thin,
And you'll grow a big rubbery thing under your chin;
"And then one morning, when you're warm in your bed,
In'll burst the farmer's wife, and hack off your head;
"Then she'll pluck out all your feathers so you're bald 'n pink,
And scoop out all your insides and leave ya lyin' in the sink;
"And then comes the worst part" he said not bluffing,
"She'll spread your cheeks and pack your rear with stuffing".

Well, the rest of his words were too grim to repeat,
I sat on the stoop like a winged piece of meat,
And decided on the spot that to avoid being cooked,
I'd have to lay low and remain overlooked;
I began a new diet of nuts and granola,
High-roughage salads, juice and diet cola;
And as they ate pastries, chocolates and crepes,
I stayed in my room doing Richard Simmons tapes;
I maintained my weight of two pounds and a half,
And tried not to notice when the bigger birds laughed;
But 'twas I who was laughing, under my breath,
As they chomped and they chewed, ever closer to death;
And sure enough when Black November rolled around,
I was the last turkey left in the entire compound.

So now I'm a pet in the farmer's wife's lap;
I haven't a worry, so I eat and I nap;
She held me today, while sewing and humming,
And smiled at me and said "Christmas is coming..."

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Once again,
Happy Thanksgiving!

Shhhhhh my company is still sleeping and I will be off to work shortly.

Are we chatting this weekend? PLEASE???????? I will be available anytime after Saturday AM...that's when my company leaves.

Going to work is even harder when you are getting less pay!!!

I ate too much yesterday - had that I don't care attitude! Work, lack of money .....I need Kat to give me some enthusiasim too, Baylee.

Sounded like a movie, Kat, when that baby came into this world.

Well, off to work....I will post, post, post this weekend...

You wouldn't catch me anywhere NEAR a mall or shopping center today...I had the nerve to go into KMart yesterday morning, (yes, on Thanksgiving!) I stopped at the supermarket on my way home from work to get milk...saw kmart was open and thought, what the heck, I'll pick up a turtleneck to go with the sweater I had planned on wearing...how crowded could it be? HAH! How crowded indeed! Good grief...I found what I wanted and quickly headed to checkout only to find five lines, with at least eight people on each...I somehow found myself on the self service line and thought, "Oh good, i'll be outta here in no time!" HAH! Both people in front of me managed to freeze the computers...the one lady was SCREAMING for help...EXCUSE ME!!! CAN SOMEBODY HELP ME OVER HERE!??! The poor manager, who was up to her eyeballs in customers, finally came over, fixed the screens and was then rebuked for doing so....Geez! So much anger...and it was only 7:30 in the morning!

Christmas shopping should NOT be an anger inducing experience...it should be joyful and fun! That's why I'll be shopping online for the things that I would have to stand in line for at Toys are Us (video games for my son) or at the Wiz (cds for my daughter)! Gift certificates for the movies for nieces and nephews, baked goodies for brothers and sister's and their spouses. Harry & David baskets for my aunt and uncle. I may get over to the new shopping center by us, but not with a list that I'll have to bulldoze my way through crowds to finish. I want this Christmas season to be as stress free as possible.

As per Baylee's and my chat the other night...I have turned over a new leaf as of today...{{{Actually, yesterday I was not that bad...I had decided that I would not restrict myself on Thanksgiving, but I only had a little of the things that I truly love, NOT some of everything, "because it was there," and only a slice of apple pie for dessert...I guess once you give yourself permission to indulge, it takes the 'fun' out of it?? hmmm...this bears further thought...}}}

We discussed how we're NOT going to jump on the scale weekly, only once a month...((So maybe we should weigh ourselves on Sunday, the 1st of Dec and make it the first of the month from then on....what do you think Baylee? )) We talked about Sara, (hey, it's gotta be SOMEONE!) and her amazing progress and decided that there's no reason why we couldn't do as well...there is NOTHING stopping us, except a self defeating attitude, and that we decided to chuck out the window!

We CAN discuss this further at chat Saturday ...ok, LUCKY??? What time is best for everyone? I plan on doing some serious housework this weekend, so I will be home...whenever you say should be good for me.

Today's eating plan includes fresh foods only. No additives, preservatives, or junky stuff. I had a smoothie for breakfast made from the juice of two grapefruits, an orange and a frozen banana. It was good! Lots of water inbetween...lunch will be a baked potato with broccoli and cheese. Dinner...still not sure, but it may be something like pasta primavera with shrimp...or a stir fry with shrimp and lots of veggies... I really feel a need to cleanse myself of all the crap I have ingested lately.

Well...I think I have blathered and rambled on long enough...I hope to "see" a big crowd at chat this weekend...

Hoping you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving...see you later!

Hi Everyone!

Crowds, did someone say crowds??? I was out of the house by 5:30 this morning and in line at Best Buy at 5:45......from the front door, around the side of the store, and all the way around the back of the building! YIKES! What a mess! The worst part is they were out of the item I was after by the time I got in the store!

Then I headed to Comp USA because they opened at 7:00. I was in line there by 6:30. I was going for a PlayStation 2 that they had advertised. Got into the store and asked someone where they were and they directed everyone to customer service. Customer service had no idea why they were sending us to them and had to call someone and further directed us to a stockroom door where there was another line. Got into that line and guess what? You got it, they ran out! Well, I have to say that there were a whole lot of people really ticked because we found out they only had 10 to begin with. argh! So we decided to hold a sit in, standing up, and wouldn't leave until they gave us all rain checks. Of course, they weren't going to give rainchecks but we kind of demanded it! Then on the way home I decided to stop at Walmart and see if they would price match the ad. The electronics manager said 'no', but this old girl was not taking 'no' for an answer, after being up since 5:00 battling crowds, so I found a store manager and he walked me to the checkout and had it run up for me. Now, I'm a happy camper!

Yes! the power of shopping the day after Thanksgiving!

Well girls, I'm off to the theatre, I'm a 'showgirl' again today. I hope to see you all later!

I am so maddd My heart feels like it's beating a million miles per minute, and I feel like I've got the shakes. I just had a lovely conversation with the lawyers from the bank that foreclosed on the property. The letter that I first received dated Nov 5, stated that we needed to vacat the property on Dec 5, so when I called the Lawyer to tell them that I hadn't found the letter till a week later, she had agreed that she'd give us a week longer to move and said that Dec 15 would be fine, and then she called me back and said that if we pay the Dec rent to the bank we could stay till Jan 1. So that was all fine and dandy, we found a place and decided to move on the weekend of the 15, seeing as that would give us half a months rent free, as well as the extra money to pay the damage deposit, and find second hand appliances, seeing as this place doesn't include the appliance. So this morning I call the lawyer, leave a message stating that we will move out on the weekend of the 15, she calls me back and now all of the sudden we didn't have an agreement about the 15, she keeps notes of all the discussions, and in her notes, there was nothing about bumping the vacant day till the 15, and if we don't pay the half months rent they'll send a baliff and change the locks, So she gets her supervisor to call me, and he's all political, stating because of insurance reasons, he can't let people stay for free, till then, and any verbal agreements I had with the lady, didn't mean jack ****, that she didnt' have the right to tell me we could stay till the 15, so I said fine we'll be out by the 8th, but no that wasn't good enough he wanted me to pack up and be moved out this weekend, like that's possible, I had to fight with him to let us stay 3 extra days, and then he gave me this speech about if were not out the locks will be changed on the 9, and we better be gone. I am definetly not cleaning the place. We got so screwed over, we were paying our rent in good faith that we would have a place to stay, now we have to move in short notice, I won't be getting my damage deposit back, and the bank wont give us a break. And you know the first thing I did after I got off the phone was grab a buch of little choclates that were sitting on the table and a cup of coffee, and I don't even drink coffee, If I had alchol in front of me I would have downed that, my nerves are shot. The christmas is going to suck, you better get those cards out to help cheer me up.

Sorry for the rant, I'm so mad, I just needed to get this out. I wish I had a lawyer friend. To see what rights the bank has.
I could just scream.

Other than that have a greatt day.

The Parrot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A young man named John received a parrot as a gift.
The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary. Finally John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot.
The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hands, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute. Fearing that he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arm and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I am sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior." John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Duckie...call the Legal Aid Society. There must be something that can be done. Perhaps they can put you in touch with someone who would take your case pro bono. Call the local newspaper too, tell them about this "heartwarming" holiday story.
Don't turn to food! You are making THEM the winner if you do. You are already hurting now...overeating will not make you feel better. In the long run, you will only feel worse. I'm saying a prayer RIGHT NOW for you and your family. I hope you can get this straightened out.

{{{{HUGS}}}

Having my sister and BIL here has been very traumatic for my cat. As you know since I don't have time to post, they arrived on Sunday.
Sunday: They arrived and my brothers family came over so Dusty got "testy". I had to put in the bedroom.
Monday: While I got ready for work he sat on my sisters lap while
she pet him. At 9AM she calls me at work to report as soon as I leave the house Dusty starts hissing and swatting at them. If they walk anywhere he goes after them. Lucky for them they are going into the hospital for the day.

Tuesday: Same as Monday, however my BIL had come home at 2AM from staying with his Mom in the hospital. When I got up for work and walked into the kitchen there were hard, crunchy things on the floor. My BIL had left a HUGE bag of pistachio nuts on the table and Dusty got into them. He must have swatted and chased them because they were everywhere!!!!!
When I got to work I called my sister and had her take the remaining nuts and put them in a zip lock bag and told her not to tell the BIL until they were through Iowa on the way home!!!

Wednesday: My sister is home baking pie, bars, etc. Dusty is
hissing at her and mad that she is in the kitchen. About 10:30 she calls with a "problem". Inbetween cooking, she is wrapping gifts. She heard a noise and there was Dusty with his head through a gift bag handle running around the house but by now she is scared of him after Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday so she doesn't dare take the bag off his head.

Later after we talked, she said he sat down and she got the bag off of him. He then went into my bedroom, got on the bed and stayed there the rest of the day.

Thursday: he was confined to the bedroom because of all the people - 13. He doesn't like crowds.

Friday: Dusty went into my bedroom in the early morning, got on my bed and stayed there for the day.

I think he just gave up!!!!! He will be happy to find out he gets
his house back on Saturday - until they come for Christmas!!!!

Is anyone up for chatting this weekend? I feel I haven't "talked" to all of you in forever!!! I can chat anytime but prefer after 2 on Saturday because I have to get some sleep!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also need to get on your bandwagon Kat & Baylee!!!!! Maybe I will have time to scan some pictures this weekend....after I was 8.