I'm starting this again. Hope it sticks this time. And here is the picture of Abi that I promised yesterday. ~Mandy

Turkey soup was a hit but, I didn't get to the pretzels yet. I'm so tired from helping BIL/SIL/baby move in. Shopping for stuff, working and picking up stuff from freecycle for them...just pooped. I can't say enough about the Freecycle group though...they've truly been a blessing. It's great to see them offer things they no longer use so it won't go to the landfill and also it's great to see people list something they need and someone else gives a hand. It's really been great and I'm glad I'm a part of helping that along. You should definately try Freecycle.org in your own state/area.

well....going to go downstairs to see if mom wants to try to make some pretzels. She's never made them so I'm playing teacher tonight. I had taken a few candy making classes and actually have quite a collection of molds etc. I just haven't done it in years. I used to make all kinds of handmade chocolates like coconut clusters, peanutbutter cups, nut clusters, molded and painted chocolate figures, almond bark, peppermint bark, peanut brittle etc. Lots of fun but, you need the time to do it. Great at Easter time to paint all the pretty eggs, bunnies and flowers though I miss my crafts sometimes. Someday I'll get back to them.

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend...Hope you have a lovely week :bolt: Love yas!

Hello Y'all!

What a busy weekend! And just too much food everywhere! Thursday Thanksgiving, Friday (had to work part of the day) and did some errands. Then Saturday was our late Halloween Party, (I'll post the menu) and today was my Thanksgiving dinner for home. I cooked most of the day, along with laundry etc. I am pooped tonight.

Now, if you have a weak stomach or things bother you don't read the menu!

It is a fun thing that my DS-I-L does every year, but her daughter couldn't make it here from California until this week so we waited for her.

There is candles lit all over the house, and the room is all fogged up! We sit in the front room with all this for the first part.

DRINKS

Bat Blood - your choice of fermented or unfermented

Urine on the rocks

HORS D'OEUVRES

Crusty Amazon Larva

Bags of green slime

Rabid Owl Wings

Deep fried human eyeballs

Withces nose warts with toe jam and crustys

And a house favorite....Jeffery Daumer Pinkeys with clotted blood.

Now, we move to the dining room, which is also all fogged up and the table is decorated with rats, spiders, snakes, and all kinds of weird stuff. Some are animated too! There is also a ton more candles burning.

SALAD

Leaves and Creatures of the forest

Poison Ivy and Oak leaves

Chopped Vulture eyes

Sliced Warthog snouts

Hanzel and Gretel teeth

White rat kidneys

Cold snake hearts

Gried green lizard brains

Dried cancer scabs

Whipped phlem or blood lymph spray

ENTREE

Headless round worms

Roadkill and Vulture brains in blood sauce

Bat fungus nail clippings

DESSERT

Dung topped with cat tongues

4 & 20 Black birds baked in a pie

And the dessert we have all been waiting for..........

Kitty Litter Cake

I thought some of you might get a kick out of reading our menu! It's a fun time every year!

Well, guys/gals, I am going to go kick back and rest now. I will try to catch up with everything tomorrow. I did get to read it all, just didn't have the energy to do all the personals.

Have a great night!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes!!!!!! Ya'll are the bestest friends!

I have not been able to get online since Thursday...we tried to get the new computer all hooked up, but something happened (doesn't it always?) and the DSL line dropped, plus the wireless router didn't like it's new computer, and so on and so on. So, today, a wizard friend of mine and his little wizard son came over, and a mere 5 hours later, voila! I'M BACK!!!!!!! Thank goodness! It was torture not being here to visit, or play POGO games, or shop online...talk about withdrawal!

Sounds like everyone did okay with their Thanksgiving dinners (sorry Betty!) and shopping...I don't get out there on Black Friday. This year, we are cutting back on gifting, and only the kids are exchanging. Oh, and we are giving both our fathers gifts, but they are more of the "experience" gifts...like we are taking my FIL to see Josh Groban in March. We are taking my DD to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert in a couple of weeks, as part of her Christmas present. She doesn't know it yet, but next weekend I'll wrap up the tickets and give them to her.

We have 1/3 of our tree up...it's prelit, but it's not as easy as it sounds! I'm still untangling the bottom branches! I need to take my DD's picture for our Christmas cards. So much to do....

I had a nice birthday...my DH and DD took my out to eat, then gave me "coupons" for a massage (sometime) and a movie. My sis and Dd and I went to see Happy Feet on Saturday. Very cute movie, with a heavy environmental message.

I'll stop for now...I sure have missed you guys!!!!!!

Hugs, Cindy

Trans-Siberian Orchastra is FANATASTIC to see. We went last year and LOVED it! Hope you enjoy it!

Betty--Your Halloween party sounds awesome!!! Are there any special activities that you do at your party? I love Halloween! :bolt:

Cindy--Happy Belated Birthday!!! :happybday:

I hope that everyone has a good week after our crazy holiday weekend and such! Tomorrow is the first day back at work for me, wish me luck!!! Have a great night!

Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry that I've been MIA. It had been so long that I didn't think I'd ever catch up, but I'm all read up and ready to go! You know you've been gone too long when Pat leaves you a message...

First, Kat I am so sorry about dropping the ball with the Christmas card list. Thank you for picking up the task, and I'll try not to be such a slacker in the future. If it's not too late, I'll PM you my address tonight. I only received 2 or 3, but I'll forward them to you in case you need them.

Cindy, Happy Belated Birthday!! Down to 19 days, eh? Yippee!!!

Beanie, you broke into the 200's!!! Congrats!!!!!! :clap2: :clap2:

Eilene, I hope you're feeling better. Being sick on the holidays stinks. :bolt:

Mandi, your daughter is a beauty! My son just lost his first tooth a few weeks ago. I wasn't sad about it until I read your post, lol. I only gave him a buck - your toothfairy is much more generous than ours is. :eek:

Pat, did you ever get the tree? We cut ours down this afternoon. It's up in the stand, but that's as far as it's going tonight. I spent a beautiful 60 degree day inside being lazy instead of putting up the lights outside, so I'll probably be out in sleet tomorrow getting it done. Thanks for the call btw, I appreciate the kick in the pants! :Banane44:

Sherry, I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't done Christmas shopping! I thought we were doing well getting the tree today until I read up on everyone else.

Cassie, congrats on your surgery and on your first Christmas tree! Hope your recovery is going well.

Betty, that menu is hilarious! Your party sounds like a lot of fun. :Banane44:

Dianne - have fun in Cancun!!

Patty, how are you doing? (((HUGS)))

Mary, Darcy, and everyone else I missed, how are you? (((HUGS)))

It's time to clean up the kitchen. My sister and her family were staying with us the last 5 days and the house is a trainwreck.

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Hi everyone!

Anne--I PM'd you--but DO NOT worry about the "dropping the ball" I am just glad you are back and OK!!! That was one of the big reasons I wanted to go ahead with it, so we would have contact for one another. Welcome back!!

Betty--the late Halloween party sounds like a blast---care to share what any of the food really was???

Cassie--glad you are doing well, take it as easy as possible going back to work!

Eileen--feeling better? Hope so! Not sure what the big deal over Elmo is--but I will say we took him out and played with him for a few minutes. There were just us 4 adults here, and he had us all laughing!!! He falls on the floor, and bangs his hand, and kicks his feet, and giggles, then stands up by himself. I was glad to find him, because she LOVES Elmo...she is having an Elmo birthday party next weekend. I would have never paid the hundreds of $$$ I have heard they are selling for online tho.

Cindy--you will love the Trans Siberian Orchestra, my DD and I went almost a year ago---and will go again if the chance presents itself!

Dianne--Have a blast in Cancun. We went once, it was a party all the time--be careful, and have fun!!

Sherry--I want some pretzels!!! I love the sweet/salty combo!!

Beannie--get everything taken care of?

Pat--where ya hiding at??? You are going to pop in here and be fully done and ready for the holidays now aren't you???

Mandy--your lap throw sounds like it will be something she loves now, for the Disney Princesses, and treasure later because Mom made it special for her. You are such a good Mommy!!! Makes me wanna squeeze ya both!

Chris--who ya gonna be kissing under the mistletoe??? You haven't been around much....come on & tell us!!!

Patty--Are the boys getting excited? What's on their lists this year?

Darcy--we miss your posts---stop in for a visit!

Well ladies, I just got my computer up and running again. I was not lying, DH about did it in, it is still not "normal" but I am online, so it is improving! I am afraid we are going to have to do as Cindy did and just suck it up and buy a new one....hate that!! It was a little tense around here last night!!! LOL

We got the outside lights up today, and the tree in the sled/stand, and some beads strung on it. I need more ribbon, so will take the granddaughter shopping in the morning, then we will finish it when we get back. Then I have the rest of the house to decorate. Then I need to get busy wrapping....only a couple more things to buy tho...for that I am grateful!

Well I managed to drop a pound in spite of the huge amount of food I ate!!

I did make much healthier choices this year, and my "huge" amount of food this year didn't make a dent in what I put away prior to being banded!

Well I am off to bed. Will take a minute and get our addresses sent off to y'all. Heck that makes me think, I have not even begun to get cards ready!!! Oh well, another item on the already loooong to do list!!!

Take Care All--to any I missed, pleae forgive me...my mind is failing fast!!

Kat

Good morning

Anne, good to see you girlie.... stick around a while will yah :bolt:

Kat WTG on the 1 lb down... its hard with all the sweets and rich foods. I bet I gained LOL. I'm not an ice cream eater but w/my sore throat its all I wanted lately...and well.. I ate about 1/2 a gallon in 3 days..oy.

Betty the party sounded like fun. Glad you all enjoyed it LOL

Sherry your making me hungry with all that pretzel talk LOLOL mmm mmmm did you have fun?

Cassie good luck today at work..hope your feeling good.

Cindy, glad to see you here. I was thinking that musta been one heck of a celebration to keep you off line for a few days :eek: hope your birthday was a good one.

Well I might run out of here early today, still sick. I have huge white spots in my throat and sheesh, I'm gonna start naming them if they get any bigger.

So my dears.......have a wonderful day and ttyl.

Hugs !!!

.

Good morning everyone. I'm dragging today... DD is at preschool, so am I using the time wisely and getting out the Christmas decorations? Nope - I'm playing Pogo and catching up on LBT. :bolt:

Last weekend I went for a weekend away with my mom, my two sisters, and my sis-in-law. Do any of you like to stay in Bed & Breakfasts? Well, it took us two months to talk my older sister into it, but she finally agreed to stay in one. The pictures of this place online were drop-dead gorgeous. We got there, and let's just say that first impressions weren't great. Rug on the front porch was bunched up and dirty, dirty dog brush on a pile of wood, upside-down fake Christmas tree in the corner amongst dirt, etc..

So we went inside and it was okay. Not nearly as pretty as the pictures, but okay. The innkeeper was a little odd (didn't ask us our names, started gossiping about past guests, etc).

The straw that broke the camels back? She has 3 dogs that she keeps locked away and goats out back. Now, we all have pets and love our animals dearly. But, the next morning we came down to a very mediocre breakfast and everything was covered in hair!!!! The tablecloth was covered in hundreds of hairs, and all of the food had hair throughout. Even the coffee cream had a huge goat whisker floating in it. Ewwwwwwwww! My sister is never going to let us live this one down.

We were there two nights and she didn't even make our beds. Plus, for some strange reason she turned off our toilet! We came home late one night and my twin sister used the bathroom (really used, if you catch my drift) and it wouldn't flush. She had shut off the water to our toilet! WTF?!

Still, we had a great weekend away from the hubby's and the kids and I got most of my Christmas shopping done. Plus, we have much funnier stories to reminisce about than if it was the nice B&B we were expecting.

Happy Monday All!

Eileen--sounds like you need a strep test, and some antibiotics maybe....be careful, strep is nothing to mess with!!

Anne--all I can say about your B&B is OMG!!!! I would have had serious issues as well. But you have a great attitude, I am afraid I would have let it ruin my weekend...terrible fault!

Address list was sent out last night...let me know if I missed anyone!

Kat

Hi, Anne!

That is the worst case of Bad B&B I've ever heard of. You might think about filing a report with the Better Business Bureau or some camparable entity...just as a public service to the other unsuspecting tourists out there. I would if I were you (but then I'm a trouble maker, and would feel compelled to right the injustice). It is so good to see you online again!

Eileen, hope you go get a strep test, just in case. I know it is going around down here. Also, since DH and I are not drinkers, pretty much no party is THAT crazy (anymore!)...I would have warned ya'll if I had thought for a second that I wasn't going to be able to handle a little computer transfer...but it surprised me!

Kat, we bought an eMachine, which is great on the price. One small complaint I have is that the motor/fan is pretty loud. We joke that we're "taking off" when we turn it on! LOL! However, it has a lot of RAM and a faster processor, and that's kinda all we were looking for. We didn't want to watch or record TV or anything like that.

Today is 18 days....it's starting to seem almost real. Sometimes I like that feeling of "going to work." I wonder what I will replace that with? I suppose I will plan field trips for myself!

How's the decorating coming, everyone?

See ya'll later...hugs, Cindy

Anne that is gross to say the least, how unsanitary... you really should report them, ick....and I'd be PISSED too. What did you all do when you saw the hair on the food? didn't she suspect something when you didn't eat it...please tell me you didn't eat it lolol.

Kat, we have a medical dept here and I'll prob walk over at lunch and get checked out. Thanks for worrying about me

Cindy, I don't drink either...my idea of a good night is just that.... going to bed at 8 PM and saying "good night" LOLOL, wholey schmoley 18 days... I"m droooling girl, I'm drooooling. I'm sure you'll find something to do, heck I know I could....uhhhhhhh

Hey All

I am just dropping in to catch up on my reading and say "hey".

No time for personals, again. The gal that was out for a month and a half for her foot surgery called in sick today. Hmmm. Dang - I have GOT to win the lottery.

I must confess that since we got the one toilet working, we did not actually take the time to fix the other one this weekend. I stopped and got all the stuff on my way home - but we spent the entire weekend slugging around. It was nice.

The house was clean, there was plenty of food prepared and ready to heat-n-eat and we didn't have anyplace we had to be. I suppose I will be sorry about that whole slug business later this week when the joy of showering in what we lovingly call "the coffin" wears thin - but for now, it was well worth it to enjoy a completely stress free weekend.

I did spend the entire weekend eating - and it was not a good thing. So, either I am totally retaining water - or I took in 24,500 calories that have been converted into 7 lbs of fat. I am hoping for the water thing - but we will be returning to the gym starting tonight!

I love you guys!

TTL

Hey Guys...

Sorry I have been a dud lately. "bonks self on the head" Still having problems with the new van. (NEVER BY A HYUNDAI) Still gaining weight (ALmost up to what I was pre-surgery) and quite frankly... I'm pretty darned cranky about both. I think I'll go and eat some worms............... with whipped cream........................................ and chocolate sauce.

I really do read all of your posts and I love every single one of ya and I celebrate every victory and happy moment. (((hugs)))

One day down....4 more to go and boy did I let it rip at work today. I have two bosses old and new so I let the old one know that I can't keep up with the work right now. Training two new supervisors, 3 new people of which one isn't making it, trying to answer the accounts questions, so many projects behind grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr I was antsy today. So we're suppose to all meet - old boss, new boss, old account manager, two new supers to figure out how the hell we're going to transition all this and have I heard when we're suppose to meet...NOPE grrrrrrrrrrr

Anywho....so how's it going y'all? hahaha I didn't make my pretzels yet. No energy after moving the in-laws in. DH and I soooo need some time alone. DS is going with his dad this weekend, in-laws are settled into their new place so looks like it might happen this weekend. Yeap PEACE AND QUIET ohhh baby. First time there hasn't been anyone else in the house for over 3 months. If I'm lucky we'll get snowed in heh heh.

Darcy - So sorry you're having trouble with the new van. Can ya do the lemon law thing or is it not to that point yet? Gosh that's terrible to have a new car and have trouble. Friends of ours have Hyndai..those SUV things. They love them and have had good luck. I do hope you're problems with yours get resolved...so sorry.

Bean - Oh I want a weekend like you just had I can't blame ya for resting. Work is nuts enough for you so take those weekends and enjoy them :clap2:

Eileen - Wow I'm with Cindy...did you get a strep test? I do hope you feel better soon. Glad to hear your back is doing better. Are ya done shoppin for Christmas yet?

Cindy - 18 more days...wowza girl. That's going to happen faster than ya know it. So this is going to happen before Christmas huh? ohhhh I'm jealous Are you going to work doing something else after you retire from teaching or are you going to pick up a nice hobby

Anne - Holy smokes you're better than me with the patience. If I were paying for a nice getaway I certainly would of had something to say with that place. I have two goldens and believe me they shed but, holy smokes my plates and food don't have fur all on and in them ewwwwwwwwww. I would cry false advertising and leave! My car sounds cleaner than that place geesh! God bless ya! Glad you enjoyed your time away though. I guess next time your sister wins and ya stay at a hotel huh?

Kat - What happened to your computer? My DH fixes them for a living...cripe he'd be willing to listen to what happened to it and help your DH a bit if he can over the phone. Any of you ladies just need to call me or pm me and I'll see if he can help you. He can't solve it all over the phone but he might be able to point ya in the right direction. Oh and the pretzels are delicious with the salt and sweet hee hee. Have you ever had chocolate covered chips? Same combo there. Easy peasy to make too.

Vegg - How did you do at work today? Did ya wear something on the loser side so it won't squish your incisions? I know I had to. Hope you had a good day.

Betty - That Halloween party sounds like fun. I'd love to see pictures of the cake if you have them. I bet that was funny. I made homemade turkey Soup over the weekend yummmmmmm. Hmmm this weekend who knows lol. I'm thinking zucchini bread or chocolate chip Cookies. Hmm maybe I better come up with something more band friendly...errr unfriendly so I don't eat it huh? hahaha

Mandy - sounds like you got so much shopping done. I got some good deals at Walmart myself. What I really liked was they had plenty of the things on sale this time! No fighting for stuff....I liked it lol. Also went to Michaels and picked up my gingerbread house kits. Mom and I are making them this year...something for us to do on a snowing weekend.

We're suppose to get some snow on Saturday. Yippee love it on weekends when I can stay home lol. It's so pretty then...as long as the roads are clear for work lol

Patty - How are you hon? I've tried to email you a few things but your email won't let some thing go through...or I have the wrong email addy lol. Thats certainly possible.

Pat - Do you have your tree now? Professional Tree decorator does your tree. My gosh it must be beautiful...do post pics Do you pick a theme and they go with it or colors?

I'm sorry if I missed anyone...advanced mode mama is me. Hope you're all doing well and Shrinking!