Teachlady

Good morning, Violets.. Back from our trip and now off to my volunteer shift at the hospital early so we can go to a funeral this morning. Nathan's grandpa died Friday. He was 84 and had been in failing health. His best day was a week ago when he was on the floor playing with Grady. It went downhill very fast after that. Had a real bad thunderstorm here yesterday. Lots and lots of rain. It's very humid. I hope to get some pool time in this afternoon. Off to shower and get ready to go. Everyone have a great day. oops.. change of plans. Going in to work on Wednesday instead of today. Now I have more time to chill before heading out.

Good morning, Violets.. Cutie Patootie grandson, Kat! Jenn... congrats!! I'm off to my support group meeting and then headed out of town. The Bobster is preaching in a church several hours away. We're leaving today and spending the night there, then headed home tomorrow after church. The hotel has a pool so you know where I'll be! Roomie... sounds like you're having a relaxing time there. Enjoy! Suzie.. you're chilly at 90 degrees??????? It's 58 here right now. If I didn't have the support group meeting, I'd be in the pool. Ours is 88 degrees also. PamELa... loved the post on Facebook.. Doves, eh?? :thumbup: Tracy, Haydee, Laura,Heather, Terry, Janie, TracyinKS.. hugs to y'all. (That's my Alabama accent). Everyone have a great day. Be good to yourselves!!

I think you'll be pleased with either one. They both have awesome photos. And tell Juan he has good eyes. MATURE eyes.

Not EVERYONE!!

Ahhhh just in from an hour in the pool with Ethan. The Water temp is 90. Might have to turn it down a smidge. Course the air temp is 74 so once we get in the pool, we stay way low in the water! Suzie.. sorry about the job. Maybe another will turn up. Our hospital is laying off like crazy. We have a new administrator and he's undoing all the good work that the previous administrator accomplished in his 30 years here. Kinda like the pastor we have at our church. Cept that might be resolved soon. We're taking Ethan to his daddy at 5 and then headed to a symphony concert in the park at 6:30. Hope is doesn't get too cool. The band shell is right by the lake. When the sun goes behind the clouds it gets downright chilly. It's hard to believe this is August 5.

Make that OLDball... I'm getting a usb hub to attach to the one port I have left on the laptop and then I'll have 4 ports all on one side. Better than nuthin. And neither the cat nor the dogs are confessing.

Uh oh.... Ethan and I went to McDonald's for a Happy meal for him and a cheeseburger for me and when we got back my laptop was on the floor. I usually have it on a tv tray next to the chair here. Either the dog or the cat knocked it off. The wireless mouse was plugged into the usb port on the side and that was totally ruined. Both the usb ports there are mangled. Luckily I have another on the other side. grrrrrrrr Wonder what that would cost to fix??? Maybe I can just live with one rather than three. sigh

Geeeze.. tell me about it!

Don't listen to her, Haydee. She's only been through 1 wedding. I've been through 4. I'm experienced. And old.

Boy, that's a tough decision Haydee. They both have great pics. I kinda prefer the Old World Studios. They really seem to capture the feeling of the weddings. Would like to see more black and white photos in their collection, but I like their uniqueness of shots. When Kris was married she had a friend of Nathan's take the pics. He is a professional photographer and we were amazed at some of the shots and the things he did with color and black and white. They have one picture of them leaving the church and the bubbles people were blowing. All was in black and white except for the bubbles. Great pic. The most important thing was that he was not a pest during the wedding or reception. He was not always in people's faces and that's an important thing. Either one looks great, though. Tough call!!

Here's the new color......

Good morning Violets.. Brrrrrrrr.. 52 degrees this morning. Ethan is coming in a few minutes for the day. Bob has an out of town meeting so it's just Ethan and me and the Wii. Hopefully the sun will warm things up and we can get in the pool this afternoon. I'm getting used to my new hair color. Nobody at rehearsal said a thing. That's not a good sign. But Bob likes it and I do too. Everyone have a great day!

Good morning, Violets.. I slept in late today. Sure felt good. I'm getting my hair cut and colored today. I'm going to go a couple of shades into the "brown zone" this time. After that I pick up Ethan and bring him home for the rest of the day and then have a rehearsal in the evening. I'm hitting the pool at 11 for exercising and hopefully some sun. I do see something resembling that warm orb out there right now. It's 71 at 9:30 so that's a good sign. Michelle...... step away from the carbs... tour the factory, but just look.. don't touch... or eat. (thanks for the card.. too cute) We had pasties from the bakery last night. Thought we'd give them a try and see how they compare to what we are used to. The crust was very buttery and the filling was mostly meat... no potatoes, just rutabaga and carrot. Tasty, but not the same as mine. I tried to eat more than 1/2 pasty and I pb'd so I was done. I didn't even have my lifesavers last night as I usually do when I read. Off to find some breakfast. Everyone have a great day!! Follow those bandster rules!!

Exactly Dr. Pam. You can't assume that each child coming into your classroom has had a good night's sleep, a good breakfast and lots of loving. You never know what these kids go through in their young lives and what baggage they carry to school each and every day. I had kindergarten students who got themselves up and ready for school each morning. Unacceptable..

Good morning, Violets.. 58 degrees and pouring rain....i just don't get this summer. At least I got in the pool last night at 6 after all the day's activities. Doesn't look good for pool time today. PamELa.. your face looks really good!! Glad the healing process is on schedule. Janie.. sounds like you're doing well on your weight loss! congrats!!! Suzie...hope you get some pool time today. I'm probably not. dang. Laura..thanks for the baby clothes email. The prices looks really good. I forwarded it on to Kris. I'm off to get some breakfast and find something warm to wear today. Can't believe it's August 3 and so darn chilly! Oh... got my first social security check on Saturday!!! I'm old, but I'm richer than I was on Friday.. :tt2: Everyone have a great day. Be good to yourselves!!

Good Morning, Violets.. Just got in from cutting fresh flowers for church. We have the fellowship time after service today and I made the blueberry buckle and have fruit kebobs to assemble when we get there. After church is a brunch with some friends and then off to another church to play in a concert at 3. After that is definitely pool time. It rained and rained and RAINED last night. I don't know when we've had so much rain for so many days. I haven't had to water any plants for weeks now. Everyone have a great day. Be good to yourselves!!

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE (like a blueberry coffee cake) 1/3 c. butter 1 c. sugar 1 egg 2 c. flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 cup milk 2 cups blueberries Cream butter and sugar..add egg combine flour, baking powder and salt add flour mixture to butter/sugar mixture, alternately with milk. Fold in the 2 cups of blueberries. Topping: 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup flour 1/2 tsp. cinnamon Mix the 3 well and then add 1/4 cup butter and work until crumbly. Sprinkle topping on mixture and bake in a greased 9" square pan or 11" x 7" oblong pan 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes

Jane.. I'll post the recipe on the recipe thread in here. Sea Foam is a light, airy candy that is chocolate coated. Very yummy. I have to stay away from it!

Good morning, Violets.. Just back from the farmer's market and gift and grocery shopping. I got some fresh swiss chard for lunch today. Kris and Nathan's 6th anniversary is tomorrow so we got them an iron decorative stake for their garden and 1/2 # of sea foam. The traditional gifts for the 6th are candy/ sweets and the contemporary gift is iron, so we combined them. Also got the fixin's to make blueberry buckle for fellowship after church tomorrow. Things are coming to a head with the minister and I expect by the end of the summer we might be looking for a new one. We've called in the state conference reps and they are going to be accessing the situation, talking with boards, the pastor and volunteers from the congregation. Then they'll decide if things can be fixed or if it's time for him to move on. TracyK.. hope Macy continues to feel good. Suzie... 73 here and I hope to get in the pool for exercises for at least an hour. We have a big birthday party to go to tonight. One of our friends is turning 70 and he has a long history in Alpena with teaching and theatre and now he's an ordained minister in our denomination. He and his wife have been friends of ours for years and they are having a dinner, roast and music tonight. Should be fun. Off to make the buckle. Everyone have a great day! Be good to yourselves and follow the bandster rules.

Very easy on the eyes and you can increase the size of the font so it's very readable.

There are two models of Kindle. The original is the one we have and was $320 when we bought it. The second model out this year has more bells and whistles and sells for $489. We're fine with the one we have. Bob just loves it. He read sooooo much and to be able to spend $9.99 on a book instead of $20 or $30 is saving us a ton. Plus I don't have the room in the house for any more books!! AND when we go on cruises he takes the Kindle along and reads several books at a time. And you only have to carry one little, thin Kindle. Haydee.. Rosie's blog is rosie.com I read it every day. She doesn't post on her "ask ro" site every day, but at least once or twice a week. The rest of the stuff is interesting too.

Kindle pages don't match printed pages because of the difference in font size. You can make the font any size that works for you. Yes, most Kindle books have a table of contents. I enjoy the Kindle, but I did find myself trying to turn pages last night.. duh!!! And I do like to see how far I've read and how far I have to go before the end. Rosie O'Donnell swore she would never get a Kindle, but she broke down and now just loves it. (I read her blog every day).

Good morning, Violets.. We had a heck of a storm last night. Rain just POURING for awhile. I checked the pool this morning and it's 88 degrees so that's a good thing. Air temp is 62. I'll be jumping in the pool at 10 this morning so I get one exercise session done before Ethan arrives at noon. Then I'll try to get him to come in with me this afternoon. He's not totally sure about the "fimming" pool. Suzie... not even going to weigh in until August. I took pictures of me July 2 and will take more Aug. 2. I took pictures at the beginning of this journey and then stopped after a year. It's time to get the visual motivation going again. Laura.. Grady was over here yesterday for a while. He's getting so big. He's now rolling over from front to back and back to front. Kris says he tries to pull himself up to a sitting position, but can't quite get that yet. He only had one crying jab and that's because he was hungry. Other than that he was very happy and loved being outside on Gramma's lap. Michelle.. I'm loving the book, but the only problem with the Kindle on this particular book is it didn't show a table of contents and I don't know how long the book actually is and how far along I am in it. I'm on chapter 18. Do you remember how many chapters it is?? Dr. Pam.. hope things are looking better this morning. The pictures you sent were interesting to look at. I always swore that if I won the lottery I'd get my nose made smaller and less noticable, but that ain't happening. Not at my age and not without winning some cash. I'm doing well on my eating.. my only downfall is having 8-10 Wintergreen lifesavers at night while I'm reading. Other than that, no sweets during the day. Actually the sugar buzz and then let down helps me to sleep. Good excuse, eh? TracyK.. speaking from experience, you need to stay connected in here no matter what. We're all in this together and we're all dealing with the same weight issues. All the stuff that surrounds those issues is the tough part and just being in here and venting helps with that part. I used to be on Wellbutrin. The doc prescribed it because it was supposed to not only help with depression, but also with weight. It was ok, but I didn't have the band then. If I had that combination, I bet it would have worked so much better. Janie..how are you doing, girl?? Are you getting some exercise and did you check into in person support groups? Gotta go find some breakfast and get ready to jump in the pool for the first round of exercises. Everyone have a great day. Be good to yourselves and NO ice cream today. TGIF.

Good evening, Violets... What crazy weather we are having. It was 59 degrees this morning when I got up. It got to 75 degrees, so I got in the pool a couple of times and was going for a third time when poof... it's 63 degrees and raining yet again!!!! The steam is coming up from the pool Water. What a strange sight on July 30th. This is going down as our coolest July on record. I sure am glad I have the heater for the pool, but dang.. I can't use it anyway because of the rain. We just ran out to put the solar blanket on the pool and I'm sitting here in a warm bathrobe. It's darn chilly out there!! TracyK.. glad to see you back. And I agree with Terry.. anti-depressants can be very helpful. PamELa.. hope you're feeling ok. ((hugs)) ((hugs)) to everyone else too. Off to watch NCIS reruns and then Royal Pains, then read some more of the book that Michelle recommended... Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. It's darn good. And then I have the new James Patterson book waiting for me on the Kindle. Everyone sleep well.......

Most definitely!!!