Carlene

Great post, BJ.....simply GREAT! Our city encourages recycling. The bins are free...you just have to go to the City Hall and they will give you as many as you need. We have three, and the truck comes once a week. Ours are always all full. Recycling is not free, of course. We all pay high garbage/sewer fees and part of that, in turn, funds the recycling program. But the non-participants get charged the same as those of us who do our part for Mother Earth. Some cities make you buy special bags for recycled stuff. I think that discourages the practice. Wal Mart recycles plastic bags. I love that, as we aren't supposed to put them in our recycle bins. I store mine in the garage and take them back to Wally World about once a month. I, too, hate the big rigs. They are the most aggressive drivers on the road. And I am often forced to drive "the tunnel" between two of them on the freeway. I really hate that! The city I used to live in limits vehicles (by law) to one for each bedroom in your house. We had 4 bedrooms and 4 vehicles for years. My (4) kids were close together in age, so there was a period of time when we had 5 vehicles, but no one turned us in. (The car insurance bill was our second highest expense each month - the mortgage being number one.) Our area has no public transportation, so we are all gas-guzzlers. I wish it were otherwise. I am envious of the Metro system in DC. Hardly anyone needs more than one car!

That is total garbage! Every doctor in my area advertises that they will band anyone 60 pounds or more overweight.

Probably because the bride's mother never stops being the mother. At my daughter's wedding, we didn't have a designated gift-packer-upper because it never crossed our minds, to be honest. So the job kind of fell to me by default. I had three sons get married and didn't have to do much of anything...just show up on time and wear something that didn't clash.

I'm so glad you are going to get this taken care of. I'll bet the doc doesn't remember the last time someone offered to "do it in the backseat of my car"....LOL

Yep...we're the Bush whackers....and damn proud of it.

Which facility/doctor? And where are you? We will figure something out if need be. You can't wait until Monday if you aren't keeping water down.

You must be able to get liquids down or you will dehydrate. If you can't drink water for 8 hours, you need an emergency unfill.

www.pauladeen.com She has a show on the Food Channel and owns a restaurant, has published cookbooks, etc. She is famous for Southern cooking.

You are too sweet, BJ!!! I'd give you all my "Rep" points but they turned it off! I love maple anything. When I ate pancakes, I only wanted real maple syrup. Otherwise, it wasn't worth it.

This is my "smelly person" story.... A couple of years ago my DH, DGD, and myself briefly lost our minds and opted for the Easter Vigil Mass, which is 3 1/2 hours long. And, of course, the church is packed like sardines in a can. ("Good" Catholics go to Mass every Sunday....not so good ones go Easter and Christmas. I am personally lobbying for an edict from the Vatican that would prohibit anyone from attending Easter or Christmas Mass that has not been to Mass at least 10 other times in the past year.) Anyway, shortly after entering our pew, I began to smell something awful. Discreetly glancing behind me, I saw a woman with a baby about a year old, and thought "dirty diaper....surely she will leave soon to change him", and she did. Only the smell didn't. It, in fact, got worse. DH leaned over and asked, "Where is that smell coming from?" I shrugged my shoulders. DGD rolled her eyes and made obvious gasping noises. I elbowed her in the ribs. DH leaned over again and asked, "It's not me, is it?" "Of course not", I whispered back. "I sniffed the old guy on the other side of me and it's not him," he said. I rolled MY eyes. "It's that woman up there," I said, nodding slightly to indicate a very short, very round woman in the pew in front of us. DGD is now holding her nose and covering her mouth. "Can't we just leave," she pleads. "NO," DH and I answer quietly, in unison. It was our penance for the entire year.....maybe more.

I am on mushies (almost 3 weeks) for a dilated esophagus. I am eating almost anything, once it's been blended. All kinds of soup (homemade). I just pulse it a few seconds to make the pieces very, very small. Homemade beef stew (with potatoes and carrots, onions,etc) was terrific! I could do chili, too, but it gives me indigestion. Also lots of beans. Pinto beans, blackeyed peas, lima beans, etc. The pintos are great if you blend them up and top with cheddar cheese, then microwave for a minute. It's just like the pintos and cheese at the Mexican places. I peel and steam sweet potatoes, then mash with zero calorie "butter" and some brown sugar Splenda. Those are yummy! Applesauce.....I buy the little cups that come in different flavors. Strawberry banana is my favorite. SF Jello with FF Reddi Whip on top (much better than Cool Whip). My doctor describes mushies as anything you could eat if you didn't have teeth.

I make awesome barbecued ribs. Also Southern fried chicken that is to die for. And apricot fried pies (also peach), homemade biscuits and gravy, pecan pie, and a seriously sinful cheesecake. I should have opened a restaurant years ago. I could have upstaged Paula Deen.

No kidding! And us little short girls are "short" everywhere....you'd think that would be a no-brainer, but I guess not.

First of all, a guest should not show up at the wedding bearing gifts. I know some do, but it is considered poor etiquette and the bride's mother - the person who has to pack them up and take them somewhere after the ceremony because the happy couple is leaving right then and there for a week-long honeymoon in the Bahamas- will never forgive you. You should have the gift delivered to the bride's address BEFORE the wedding date. I do not buy separate gifts, even if I attend both the shower and the wedding. Let's face it, everyone has a price limit and if I have to buy two gifts, you are getting half my gift limit at the shower and the other at the wedding. Most couples would rather have one big gift than two small ones. Personally, I think bridal registries can be great, or they can be pretentious and just plain rude. If you want a set of dinnerware from Crate and Barrel, that's great. I will buy you one place setting and we'll both be happy. If you register for Sterling silver flatware from Tiffany's, you'll most likely get a teaspoon or two. If everything but the high-end items are spoken for, then you'll get a gift card for the same amount those teaspoons would have cost me.

Your mind's in the gutter, girlfriend......AGAIN. LOL

Totally OT....but I have to relate this. Ellen read a letter on her show from the mom of a 3 or 4 year old. It went something like... My son, Jake, loves to use my Chapstick. So I showed him where I keep it, in the bathroom drawer, and told him he could use it anytime, as long as he put it right back when he was done. This arrangement worked very well for us until the day I turned the corner and saw Jake very carefully applying my Chapstick to the cat's puckerd little bottom. Moral of this story......never share your Chapstick (or Carmex).

Wow! I'm totally blown away by you ladies' revelations, and beginning to wonder if it's too late to re-think my "good Catholic girl" upbringing! I may have missed the boat on this one (penis comparison test).

I went on it (Estrogen), off it, back on, and am now off again. Can't make up my mind. Can anyone equate HRT with hair loss? I read that too much Estrogen can cause thinning hair.

Here is a pic of my robotic floor cleaner. Works equally well on tile, wood, or carpet. Energy efficient, too.

I read a review somewhere (Consumer's Digest?) about "As Seen on TV" products and the pasta "cooker" was rated very low. The pasta came out under-cooked. The number one products were the Magic Bullet and Ronco's rotisserie. Those both got high marks.

Green....that' so SAD. My daughter is 34 and although she's perfectly okay with cash for Christmas and birthdays, she won't let me stop with the Christmas stocking and the Easter basket! She loves getting lots of little do-dads.

Ditto me and Sally Field. She has a new series called "Brothers and Sisters", which we enjoy very much, and I'm willing to admit (grudgingly) that we're probably old enough to be Callista Flockhart's mother, but she's doing commercials for Boniva, too. The only thing worse is having your celebrity look-alike hawking Depends.

Our congrats to Mrs Yo. :clap2:

Laurend... Thanks for the link to the live journal community. Although it has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, I loved this post... Dear Potential Mother-In-Law, I hope to be introduced to you really soon now, so that if you ever show up unscheduled like that again, I won't have to spend two hours hiding in your son's closet. Affectionately, the pagan chick you won't approve of

There's a formula somewhere....I think it's for every 10 pounds you lose, you seem to gain an inch. Of course, it doesn't really get longer....but by reducing the size of the gut, it has the same effect.