Hi everyone- we are still far too quiet on this thread!
Jan, I'm so glad you all enjoyed the cruise on the Mississippi! I sure wish I could have been there too- would love to have met Joyce, and be able to put a face to Linda! I can't wait to see your pix! Tell dh that this nurse says there is NO WAY his doctor doesn't have those results yet- and he needs to get on his case and make sure that no news is actually good news! Was your dad with you on your trip? Give my best to him and to dh as well.
Nothing much new with me- or at least, nothing worth repeating here! Little sweetie can say/sing his "ABC's" up to "F" when he's in the mood to, and is becoming quite the little man. He has a little of his daddy's temper in him too at times, though!:lol:
Have a good evening, everyone, and a good op Hump Day tomorrow.
Carol

Welcome home, Jan!
 

Oh, joy -- I am so glad that you are home safe and sound, Jan, and JOYce will be home tomorrow! I can just imagine what fun the two of you had on the cruise down (up?) the Mississip', and aren't her flag pins wonderful -- she is so talented! I am pleased that you liked my beaded safety pin flag, too. You got the right idea about JOYce... she is everything you saw her to be, and even more. She does lots and lots of things for others "behind the scenes," most people never even know about them.

Carol, I think your little sweetie must be very smart to be able to say/sing his ABC's up to the letter "f." What fun you must have singing along with him! Someday, someday I will join the ranks of grandmothers, too....

Texaslady, where are you...are you buried under a pile of mums yet? I'll be so glad when you have some extra time so you can post again!

I'm baaaack!
 

What a fun week! the high point, of course, was meeting Jan and her dh! she is right, we talked non-stop, our time together went much too quickly! she is a precious lady and looks great in her tiny size clothes:) Hearing her talk about her students let me see what a devoted and caring teacher she is too!
Her dh sounds and loooks like he could be my uncle! and there is only one letter difference in his last name and my maiden name, so who knows!!:lol: He and my dh talked lots about the fishing and such, they had a good time too.
Although I sampled gumbo, crawfish, jumbalaya, bignets, pralines, blackened shrimp, red beansand rice, oysters, and who knows what else!!! (spelling doesn't count today!) I didn't eat very often or too much at one time. And heaven knows I did enought walking to make it o.k. anyhow!
We saw plantations, and alligators, and I took a tour that was much toooo short of an old house full of dolls and dollhouses along with the antiques etc, and a marvelous history!
I've missed you gals!
I'll catch up more, later!
Have to go catch up around here! :)
It's good to be home.
:)

Hey Girls! I hope everyone is having a good week.

Welcome back to our travelers. JOYce and Jan, I am so glad that the two of you got to meet and that you enjoyed your trip to New Orleans. Did Patti join y'all on the riverboat cruise?? It seems like I remember her saying that she was going to make reservations for that. I can't wait to see pictures of the trip.

Carol and Linda did a wonderful job of holding down the fort over the last few days. It has been very quiet here. We went to Birmingham for my birthday to a Point Of Grace/FFH concert. It was almost sold out and we really enjoyed it. It was very uplifting.

Texaslady, I know you are probably up to your ears in mums and wedding preparations, but try to at least jump in and say hi so that we will know that everything is okay. I know that is hilarious coming from me...the AWOL queen. :D It's just not the same without you here.

I am still plugging along trying to stay OP, but it has been difficult last week and this week. I've managed to lose about 10 pounds so far, but I've probably lost those same 10 pounds a dozen times already. Last week I had several birthday celebrations complete with cake and then we went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner. My entire family went since it was also my brother's birthday so there were 10 of us. My mother treated us all, but the bill was huge. I don't see how large families make it these days...everything is so expensive. This week has been hard too since our state fair is in town. Yesterday was the first day and we went there for lunch. I only ate a Pronto Pup since the fair didn't officially open until 5 pm and most of the vendors weren't cooking yet. We have several more trips planned, so I'm going to do my best to resist temptation. We are going to a yearly festival Saturday and one of the girls wants to meet that morning for breakfast, and then Saturday night we are having a fish fry for one of our friends who is turning 30. That will mean cole slaw, hush puppies and of course, fried catfish. That will REALLY be hard for me to resist...so send good vibes my way!!

I better get back to work, but everyone have a blessed and safe OP week. Talk to you all soon!

Janet (Kudzu)

JOYce, so glad you had such fun on your plantation tours! It was so great to meet you and your dh, and you're right, the time just went way too quickly.

Carol, thanks for the info; will press dh harder to call in. It's amazing that your li'l darling is already saying his a-b-c's! Wow, how time flies! I know you're enjoying getting to be around him more often at this fascinating stage of his life. And won't it be fun when he's a bit older, too, and you take him to places like Disney World, right around the corner from your new digs in Fl? And no, Dad didn't go on this trip with us; it was so fast, it would have tired him, and he prefers quiet holidays at the beach. We'll probably all go there very soon.

Janet, big congrats on the ten pounds lost! I just know that in spite of all the challenges ahead this week, you'll be just fine. And a belated Happy Birthday to you! Sounds like you had a wonderful time. How sweet of your mother to treat everyone like that, too. Re: Patti, no, we didn't get to meet her. Haven't heard from her in a long time; Patti, if you're reading this, we miss you!

Linda, I almost feel like we've met now, too; JOYce had so many wonderful things to say about you. You and she are truly birds-of-a-feather, I can tell, and your community is lucky to have you both.

Not much news from down here. Have had lovely weather, so DH is taking evening walks with me. We had friends over Mon. night for a shrimp dinner, since we found lots of big, fresh shrimp in Cajun country on our way home Sunday. I used to always fry 'em, but now I think their flavor comes through much better grilled w/peppers, onions, and such. We even found some baby portobellos on our way thru' Houston, to put on the skewers.

Guess I'd better run. Dh, Dad and I are heading out to the ranch this afternoon, in a few minutes. Maybe I can talk them into letting me take the kayak along for a quick paddle! The lake is just lovely now after the big rains last month.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and weekend!
Saara, stop by and say hi! And Texaslady, I second Janet's request, just a line so we'll know you're doing ok, ok?
Regards,
Jan

Good for you, Janet-- ten pounds gone? That is just wonderful, I am most impressed with your OP-ability. Pronto Pups! Man, I haven't heard them called that since I was in my early 20's (wayyyyy back in the early 70's). A friend who was also my co-worker and I used to go to lunch at a fast food chain called "Roy Rogers" (haven't seen any in decades; they must have gone outta biz) for lunch in West Los Angeles and we always had a Pronto Pup apiece. When Roy Rogers in that location became something else, they still had the "Pronto Pups," but they called them something different. Margaret and I refused to go with the flow -- we never stopped calling them "Pronto Pups" when we ordered them. Hmmmph!

Well, Jan, I hope that you get to take that cruise on the water at your ranch--good exercise, that. How is your Dad doing?

My sweet sister and I are going to a retreat up in the mountains tomorrow for the weekend. I am so excited! Her church, which is putting on the retreat, uses the KJV so I am taking DH's NKJV, plus my NIV Study Bible. I want to be able to refer to DH's translation, but when I have revelations and new thoughts as a result of the classes we will be in during the retreat, I will have my NIV also, so I can write in it.

Water retention...:(
 

AAARRRGGGHH! at least I was expecting it...I wasn't very faithful in taking my medication while in New Orleans, so retained the water, which weighed a lot at my WI this morning...but it was all worth it, and I assured the leader that the gain will be a major loss next week. I was tempted to skip today, but this early morning class is a new one, and they are needing to have a minimum attendance, so felt obliged to go, :angel:since I enjoy getting up and weighing in early before I start eating and drinking.

I have a busy day, need to get some things ready to mail, and take the dog to the vet etc, etc.

Good morning, friends! I hope everyone is looking forward to a pleasant weekend. We are supposed to have a real downturn in our temperature here. Yesterday we were in the upper 80's, today after some rain it should only hit around 60, and tomorrow night there's a frost warning!! BRRR!!
I have nothing special planned for the weekend. I work today from 6 till about noon, and then I need to get into "Laundry 101"- the dryer is still broken, so that means a trip to the laundromat with the wet clothes, so I've kind of put it off till the weekend. I lead such a wild, exciting life! :lol:
Sunday is dd and dsil's 7th wedding anniversary. I gave them a gift certificate for a restaurant they like, and exdh sent them money for a dinner out too, so I imagine they will go out at some point over the weekend. I kind of hinted that they go out after the little guy goes to bed one night- I'm having a bad time with the arthritis in my one knee, and it's been quite swollen and painful for the past week, so I'm not too adept at toddler chasing at the moment!
Linda, enjoy the weekend retreat with your sister. It sounds wonderful. We still have some Roy Rogers places in this area- I always loved their "Double R Burgers". Don't eatthem now, though- they are a trigger food. (no pun intended!)
Joyce, it sounds like you had a wonderful week, and I'm glad you had a good time with Jan and dh. They are such a nice couple! I enjoyed seeing the picture of the 4 of you! I'm sure your water gain will be gone in no time!
Janet, I'm glad you had such an enjoyable birthday! How wonderful that you have so many friends who want to celebrate with you! It shows what a special, caring person you are! Congrats on the 10 pound loss- keep up the good work, girl!! Oh- by the way- you have done it to me again- what in the world is a "Pronto Pup"??? Never heard of it- is it just a regular hot dog?
Jan, I'm glad you and dh are back to walking in the evenings again while the weather is nice. How is he doing with the WW thing? Has he been able to keep up with his journalling. I hope he hears from his doctor soon! How is you Dad's photo project coming along?
Beth, how are things going with you? We haven't heard from you in a while.
Saara & Texaslady, where are you two? Neither of you has ever been gone from our group for this long!!!! Stop in and just say "hi" so we know all is well!
I'd better run and start getting ready for work, as much as I hate to this morning! Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Carol :wave:

Carol, Be good to yourself! I'm sorry your knee is bothering you. and we all lead exciting lives at times, My laundry is going already this morning, I'm glad i don't have to do the laundromat trek today..HATE it when that happens! take it easy! yes, we did have a marvelous time on our trip! meeting Jan was a real high point. Glad you liked the picture. (Janet I sent you a PM telling you how to see it.)
Seems there is nobody else around to show it to. :(
Janet, I forgot to mention that I did find a cart with boiled peanuts when we took our drive down the coast thru Mississippi!
Interesting!:dizzy: I guess it is an acquired taste. my peanut loving hubby only ate a few, as did I. but was fun to try.

WWWWWELLL, This house is not cleaning itself, so better get going! I'll let dgd sleep a little while, the BIG rival football game was last night, she got home late, and her big sis stayed at a friends last night and is not home yet. they wer getting up EARLY to go on a "Fox race"! I never heard of it, but there is a store in Orange County that does this every year and has a really big sale on Fox brand clothes, and it is a race to get the best bargains before they are gone.:dizzy:
dh has a toothache, so he is taking it easy too, should have gotten to the dentist yesterday, but he will have to wait til Monday, now, probably an abcess.:eek:
I'm rambling, so will ramble off to clean something!

Hi girls! Long time no *see*! Sorry that some of you were worrying about me - I am still here but have been so incredibly snowed under that some things had to give - this board being one of them, unfortunately. I hadn't even turned on the computer for weeks - and there was some kind of glitch with my e-mail program and many of my e-mails posted three times. Took forever to load them all!

Homecoming season is officially over for me now. The game was Friday night and I have spent all the time since then trying to inventory my stuff and pack it away so I know where to start next year! I did really well financially this year - probably the best ever. So it really is a good thing I turned down the cheerleader mum offer. But during the short mum season there were 3 bridal showers & 2 dress fittings which took away precious work time. Last week-end was a marathon - I stayed up late & got up early - but I did get them all finished. There were a few days there when I thought I might not make it!

I spent a chunk of that mum money yesterday when I went shopping. I bought some earrings (I did get my ears pierced about 6 weeks ago - did I remember to tell you guys that?) and a new pantsuit for the rehearsal dinner. Also finally got some SHOES!!! There are black, low heeled suede shoes with a sling back. The toe is black leather but the rest of the shoe is black suede. I saw some gold pumps but thought I may actually wear the black ones again and knew I would never put the gold ones on again. They are made by Vanelli - and weren't cheap - but at least I won't have to go barefoot! And nothing is the size I had hoped it would be for the wedding - but that's the way it is. Someday I will get this all together again -

Three weeks from today, the wedding will be over. I can hardly believe we have less than 3 weeks to go - the date is Oct 27 for those of you who asked to be reminded. DD has her last gown fitting on Tuesday and the seamtress will teach 2 of the bridesmaids how to bustle the train. She is trying to keep the weight of the gown off dd's back so she is just sort of "bunching" it up along the whole backside of the gown - sounds weird but it looks ok. We also have a Plan B - she is making an old fashioned hoop (decorated w/satin & beads) for dd. If the weight of the gown on her back gets too much, she can unhook the bustle and poke the train through the hoop and carry it about. I guess you have by now figured out that she decided not to cut the satin away from the train. She had her bridal portrait done and he took a picture of her at the church with the satin pulled away from the train and she didn't like the look AT ALL. So that was that. We do have the pics and I will try to get some of them posted for you guys - but not today. Need to go see my Mom - I have neglected her for weeks though I did slip by for a couple hours last Sunday on her birthday - she is now 86.

The bridal showers were very nice and the kids have gotten a lot of really nice things. They have not gotten much of their china and almost nothing of their daily dishes. I keep telling them that there are lots of wedding gifts yet to come as really only a very few of the wedding guest list were invited to the showers. The wedding response date is Oct 10 - next Wed. Unfortunately we only have back about 110 out of 160 reponse cards. Looks like we are going to have to do some serious calling. Each "branch" of the family gets their own delinquent list and will be responsible for making contact to determine if the guest is coming or not. If it weren't so darn expensive, I wouldn't bother. But at $80/head, 12 extra people is $1000! Don't know why people are so negligent about putting that darn little card in the mail. It even has a stamp on it! Manners are not what they used to be.

Joyce - I pulled up the pic of you and your dh and Jan & hers. You look wonderful - and both of you wearing red!!! That couldn't have been planned. I am so glad that you had a good time and the food in New Orleans can be outright dangerous, can't it!

Jan - You skinny little thing! I can't believe how much thinner you are than when we met last spring. You look fantastic. I wish I had remembered it was time for the trip - I would have invited you and your dh to stop by on your way home. When you passed Fry Road on I-10, you were only about 2 miles from my house! It wouldn't have taken you 10 minutes to get here!!! The next time you find yourself coming through my section of the highway, please call & consider yourselves permanently invited to stop by.

Janet - so good to be hearing from you on a regular basis again. I am thrilled you are back OP. Hopefully, I can get it together myself when things calm down a bit. I know that is a poor excuse, but it is mine none the same.

Carol - Glad you got your place rented for a few months. I know that helps make the mortgage payment. Good luck in finding a new job in the area - its scary but remember that you are a most qualified and strong woman and you can do it! Take it easy with your knees - I swear you are going to fall apart on us! And get that darn dryer fixed or replaced. Landromats are such a pain in the wazoo.

Linda - I know you are enjoying your time away with your sister this week-end. The mountains sound lovely.

We are having a bit of a cool snap here - was in the low 50's last night. A nice switch for us, but the humid warm stuff will be back in a couple of days. It rained so hard Friday night when the front came through - my dd was here (we WERE going to the high school football game, but chickened out when the weather turned bad). She said over and over, I hope it doesn't rain like this the day of the wedding. I told her there were lots of worse things that could happen!! She is getting pretty stressed & cranky lately. Will be glad when they can get away for their honeymoom. Did I tell you future sil got the week off and they will be going to St. Thomas for about a week. Now - let's get all these storms out of the area!

I have gone on forever! Sorry about that. Thanks for worrying about me and I will be checking in better now that things are relatively under control. Still have to make the pew bows, place cards and table signs - but hey, that's hardly nothing! Have a great Sunday. It's just beautiful outside here today - crisp & cool, a rare "fall" day for us in south Texas.

Texaslady!! , so good to hear from you! what a relief to have the mums finished!
And yes, the 'red' was planned. when Jan told me she would have a red shirt on, I agreed to do the same. She located me right away!
gotta run!

Carol, I am sorry that your arthritis is bothering you. I do hope that you can take something which will keep the pain and swelling at bay, and that you are able to sleep well at night; you do have an early morning tomorrow, don't you! I'm also sorry that you had to go to the laundromat with the wet clothing. Wish you lived next door so you could use our dryers -- we have my Mom's washer and dryer along with ours for awhile until DD and DSIL get their own condo or house (they live in an apartment now) and can take her washer and dryer with them. It sort of looks like a mini laundromat in our garage! Oh, and I giggled when I read that the hamburgers at Roy Rogers are a "Trigger food." Hee!

The retreat with my sweet sister was just wonderful; we talked for hours by a big fireplace both Friday and Saturday nights, just the two of us; it was a blessing to be with her. We did a bit of walking, and lots of climbing stairs as our Bible Study sessions were upstairs, and the game room (where we went frequently to buy cold bottled water) was up another story from the classes. Thank you all for wishing me well on the retreat, it was really a special time.



Texaslady, I am so glad to hear from you! Your email was so interesting and full of information about what you've been up to. I'm glad that you were able to take the time to post. Gosh, only another three weeks til the wedding? It's really approaching fast! And your shoes just sound lovely--I can just picture how they look. Vanelli shoes are especially nice. I'm glad that you were able to visit your Mom on her 86th birthday. Moms are very special, aren't they!

We're near a 2nd page, so I'll start a new thread. Come on over!