TerriDoodle

So sorry, Pammy!! I don't wish back pain on anyone! Can you do some gentle stretches? That always helped me -- but you gotta know exactly which ones to do. I've been emailing back and forth with Jenn -- she has been real sick and the doctor thinks she has Lyme Disease! She's been tested but won't get the results for a week or more. In the meantime they're treating her for it. The list of symptoms is horrible!! She needs our prayers!

Laura - How's Carson doing sleep-wise? Is he getting a bit better? What about his crankiness? Are you getting some rest?

Laura, I think you should definitely call the doctor and see what they recommend. I doubt the tests they need to do are worth the risk. Is Russ running a fever? If so, get the hell outta there.

Poor Pammy! :ohmy:

Dang, Laura....while they had you sliced open you should have gotten a tummy tuck! Pamela - You better take it easy at the gym girlfriend! Aleve is the best over the counter med for back strain -- don't know why, but it works! Sounds like you are having some major back spasms -- you need a muscle relaxer!!!

**Food Porn WARNING** Sopapilla Cheesecake Ingredients: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 cup white sugar (I reduced to about 3/4c) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls 1/2 cup melted butter (I reduced to about 1/3c) 1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon Directions: 1.Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.2.Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth; set aside.3.Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each sheet into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one sheet into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough, and brush with melted butter. Stir together 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cheesecake.4.Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

What a day. I subsisted on sugar most of the day. My son insists I make this dessert called "Sopapilla Cheesecake" which is deadly. We just finished a pan of it yesterday and then Hannah wanted some tonight! So I made another pan but this time with less sugar and butter. It makes a wonderful casual dessert for company or pot=lucks if any of you want the recipe. Super easy too. Laura, I don't think they pull your uterus out during a c-section....maybe it's the placenta? I could be totally wrong, of course. When i was in nursing school the first live 'operation' i ever saw was a c-section. I almost fainted. I know for a fact I turned very green. There was just SO MUCH FLUID!! There's a reason I'm a secretary rather than a nurse. Kat - that totally sucks what they are doing to Rick's hours. OMG - how low can you go? Oh, and my budget is doing real well. this month I should be right on target and am so proud! I've paid off 52% of my debt....and every month I pay off about another 3%. Still waiting on two estates to settle and might get to give them a good final whack soon. Or.... I might build a new extended patio/arbor/hot tub! tee hee. Dave Ramsey would be so NOT proud of me. I can't keep my eyes open. I'm headin' to the bed. Laterz.

....rushing over to Facebook!!.............

Well, that rain system was stalled right over the area between my house and my office all night long! We had 10 inches (TEN INCHES!!!) of rain last night! I tried to get to work but had to turn around about halfway there...so I'm home and watching the incredible pictures on TV! The bad news is that we have a board meeting today and neither secretary could make it into work. Tee hee. I guess those guys are gonna have to fend for themselves! Evan was happy to hear he can turn off his alarm and go back to sleep. His school is at a freeway intersection where the underpass dips way down and the water is about 10 feet deep there! Don't think his Civic will get thru that water. Poor Hero is under the weather today He got into some of our garbage and he didn't have a good result. Poor baby.

sounds good.... you can always cancel it later if we need to.

LOL....!! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex standing in the foyer of the church staring up at a large plaque. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it. The six-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside the little boy, and said quietly, 'Good morning Alex.' 'Good morning Pastor,' he replied, still focused on the plaque. 'Pastor, what is this? ' The pastor said, 'Well son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service . Soberly, they just stood together, staring at the large plaque. Finally, little Alex's voice, barely audible and trembling with fear asked, "Which service...the 8:30 or the 11:00?"

You probably won't get an answer out of Jenn - she's got an interview this week and is waiting to see how that is going to turn out. We'll probably get her answer next week or so.

Pamela - I hereby pass my Gym Nazi crown to you. You are an inspiration!! ... but could you work just a little harder at it? I haven't signed up yet!!

I think the money is due two weeks before we arrive, so I'll need it a week or two before then....so let's say it's due to me by Memorial Day. I don't have a final number because now we're waiting on Jenn to decide whether or not she can come.

Kat - Men do soooooo well with the band. I hate them! The weight just melts off of them. He sounds like he's got a good attitude and would probably be a great candidate. Ew, but I guess he'd have to be self pay? Ouch. I had to laugh at your visual about trying to give your cat a bath! LOL Yeah, been there, done that! And I REALLY had to laugh about your MIL and the spa thing. One look at that picture of her on Facebook and you KNOW instantaneously that she is not the spa type!! ROFL!!!! I would imagine she would be very uncomfortable and fussy about it. But, oh well! What do we know, eh? Could be all wrong!! Hope you continue to feel better today! Last night sounds like hell! Suzie - what kind of show is that? Never heard of it. Pamela - that does sound like a good book!! What a great premise! I'm munching on a yummy snack that works well for me -- cucumbers/tomatoes/onions in sour cream and vinegar. It fills me up, it's refreshing, healthy and lo-cal!! Wow!! Who'da thunk it? Gave Hero his shower already. Gave myself one, too! Maybe I'll go bake a chicken for lunch. That sounds good. TTYL

Glad you're on the mend, Tracy!! Man, that is one fast-moving contageous bug!!! Call me later if you feel like it. I'm just hangin' today.

Laura, when Evan was little he would tell me he loved me about 10x a day...I mean, it was heaven! And I would tease him that someday, probably when he turned 12 or 13, that he'd grow out of that habit and it would be a sad day for Mommy!! He swore to me that he would never, never stop telling me he loved me....and he hasn't! LOL He still hugs me, kisses me and tells me he loves me about 10x a day....even when his friends are sitting "right there"!!! So in many ways they never change....and that's what holds your heart captive forever.

Yes, Jane, he really does like showers!! I think the part he likes best is getting dried off with the towels -- like a full body massage. He even likes the hair dryer!

Tracy didn't have any wine...she was a good girl. I'm the wino. You must be getting around pretty good after your surgery, Laura. You haven't complained one little bit about it. Of course you have youth on your side! If I haven't mentioned it, I can't wait to hold and kiss Carson!!!! Between Judy and Pamela, I'll be lucky to get ANY kisses in!! :smile2: They'll probably only let me change diapers. But that's OK!! I'll take what I can get!:w00t: Here's a pic for ya.... nothing as cute as Carson!..but it's Hero waiting on his loofa treatment. He LOVES his weekly shower!

Kat - I've got an idea.... why don't one or both of you just tell the guy straight up that you and Rick agreed that this is just not a comfortable relationship and prefer that he not call you or drop by any longer! I know you are not a girl who is afraid of speaking your truth, so speak it! I think the guy 'blew it' when he called you about the BBQ after just speaking w/ Rick. What is UP with that??? Creepy!

ruh roh, Tracy -- sounds like you got Macy's bug!! Did you take the medicine you gave her? Sorry you're not feeling good. the house is quiet -- i think I might go back to bed. Hero always gets me up early. He doesn't understand the concept of "weekend". The only thing I need to do today is go find a new floor lamp -- mine broke. Exciting life, eh?

Haydee, you bought your ticket?

I've always admired Krauthammer.... the calm voice of reason, always. He really knows how to drill down to the core of whatever issue is on the table at the moment. Prolly would make a good presidential candidate, if he could only learn to smile.

April 24, 2009 Obama: The Grand Strategy By Charles Krauthammer WASHINGTON -- Unified theory of Obamaism, final installment: In the service of his ultimate mission -- the leveling of social inequalities -- President Obama offers a tripartite social democratic agenda: nationalized health care, federalized education (ultimately guaranteed through college) and a cash-cow carbon tax (or its equivalent) to subsidize the other two. Problem is, the math doesn't add up. Not even a carbon tax would pay for Obama's vastly expanded welfare state. Nor will Midwest Democrats stand for a tax that would devastate their already crumbling region. What is obviously required is entitlement reform, meaning Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. That's where the real money is -- trillions saved that could not only fund hugely expensive health and education programs but also restore budgetary balance. Except that Obama has offered no real entitlement reform. His universal health care proposal would increase costs by perhaps $1 trillion. Medicare/Medicaid reform is supposed to decrease costs. Obama's own budget projections show staggering budget deficits going out to 2019. If he knows his social agenda is going to drown us in debt, what's he up to? He has an idea. But he dare not speak of it yet. He has only hinted. When asked in his March 24 news conference about the huge debt he's incurring, Obama spoke vaguely of "additional adjustments" that will be unfolding in future budgets. Rarely have two more anodyne words carried such import. "Additional adjustments" equals major cuts in Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. Social Security is relatively easy. A bipartisan commission (like the 1983 Alan Greenspan commission) recommends some combination of means testing for richer people, increasing the retirement age, and a technical change in the inflation measure (indexing benefits to prices instead of wages). The proposal is brought to Congress for a no-amendment up-or-down vote. Done. The hard part is Medicare and Medicaid. In an aging population, how do you keep them from blowing up the budget? There is only one answer: rationing. Why do you think the stimulus package pours $1.1 billion into medical "comparative effectiveness research"? It is the perfect setup for rationing. Once you establish what is "best practice" for expensive operations, medical tests and aggressive therapies, you've laid the premise for funding some and denying others. It is estimated that a third to a half of one's lifetime health costs are consumed in the last six months of life. Accordingly, Britain's National Health Service can deny treatments it deems not cost-effective -- and if you're old and infirm, the cost-effectiveness of treating you plummets. In Canada, they ration by queuing. You can wait forever for so-called elective procedures like hip replacements. Rationing is not quite as alien to America as we think. We already ration kidneys and hearts for transplant according to survivability criteria as well as by queuing. A nationalized health insurance system would ration everything from MRIs to intensive care by a myriad of similar criteria. The more acute thinkers on the left can see rationing coming, provoking Slate blogger Mickey Kaus to warn of the political danger. "Isn't it an epic mistake to try to sell Democratic health care reform on this basis? Possible sales pitch: 'Our plan will deny you unnecessary treatments!' ... Is that really why the middle class will sign on to a revolutionary multitrillion-dollar shift in spending -- so the government can decide their life or health 'is not worth the price'?" My own preference is for a highly competitive, privatized health insurance system with a government-subsidized transition to portability, breaking the absurd and ruinous link between health insurance and employment. But if you believe that health care is a public good to be guaranteed by the state, then a single-payer system is the next best alternative. Unfortunately, it is fiscally unsustainable without rationing. Social Security used to be the third rail of American politics. Not anymore. Health care rationing is taking its place -- which is why Obama, the consummate politician, knows to offer the candy (universality) today before serving the spinach (rationing) tomorrow. Taken as a whole, Obama's social democratic agenda is breathtaking. And the rollout has thus far been brilliant. It follows Kaus' advice to "give pandering a chance" and adheres to the Democratic tradition of being the party that gives things away, while leaving the green-eyeshade stinginess to those heartless Republicans. It will work for a while, but there is no escaping rationing. In the end, the spinach must be served. +++++++++++++++++ I just hope I'm dead long before this health care "reform" takes hold. The list just keeps growing......

Look at this angel face I found on Facebook!!!