Apples2

Arlene...it would be a given that Joyce's DD would be a pretty blond....Have you seen her mother??????? Hope you miss the nasty weather. I no longer worry as much about huricaines since youngest DS moved out of Daytona. His name is Charlie and he flew into FL to live the exact day that Huricaine Charlie hit FL. It was quite the year for storms.

Phyll...love the puppy/kitty stories and am sure there will be more to come as your fur babies get used to each other. Sounds like it is going good with them. Have a great time with your Lucky 7's. I am pretty sure on of my good friend stayed in the area you were describing (where you could only get to by water). The name sounds very familiar. Arlene...good luck with your weigh-in. You are doing so well. You could write the book on how to turn things around when in a slump. I will speak for all of us when I say WE ARE SOOOOOOO PROUD OF YOU! At the rate you are going, we will have a tough time keeping up with you in Vegas.

Yeh, girls, like Eva said...keep chatting. All it takes is just a bunch of mindless chatter...20 or so posts a day and you will be able to make up for me being gone. (Not talking about Janet...no mindless chatter in her posts). AHHHHHHHHH....feels so good. Got all my bookwork done ahead of time for business and for the farm, chores done around here, meals all made. Now just need to run for a few needed items, back home and then I'm off. Hey Eva....I know the feeling of getting carried away when doing parties. I waaaaaaaaaaay overdo at times but I have so much fun doing it. Just be you and do what you do. Us "foodies" take great pride and get much pleasure out of cooking, etc. Have a great time at your party.

Have a wonderful trip Janet. Safe travels. Think I am going to be able to swing leaving today. My men didn't get in til 10pm last night so it gave me time to get a lot done around here...no interuptions and worked til after midnight to get things done. Now just a little bookwork, making sure I have enough meals ready, grab my dog and I'm on my way. Will talk to you all when I get back (July 13, I think). Safe travels to all on the road and in the air. Happy 4th!

I am thinking that maybe my egg salad is mad....seems like it by the way it is churning 9 hours after eating it. I am totally covered in itchy skeeter bumps after this last weekend. I have to be really careful not to scratch them. They are in full force. Wet spring = misquitoes

Cheri...good to hear you got your flight booked. I think that Great will be in about the same time as you and I will be in at 10:10. We will just all find a place to meet at the airport so you don't feel lost. We can work out those details closer to the date.

Oh Eva...your post brought me to tears. I am so happy that this past weekend and travelling to your parent's home has brought you some closure. You sound at peace with it all. Sending the love and thanks for sharing.

Eva...not a one time thing at the shop. I've done the last three Mondays and will most likely do every Monday that I can. Winter months will be iffy with the ice and snow and our travels south. It's a "stupid" job. (No offense to anyone working in a salon). Love that it's not stress. Just making appts, cleaning up around the shop, pricing products, coffee and sodas for customers, etc. I am loving it.

Joyce...posting at the same time. Thanks...not a problem with having fun. We have a great group of ppl and some very wonderful friends who make plans for the group every weekend it seems. I guess that's what it's all about and DH and I love everything about our life up there. Dental thing is not too bad. Kind of like labor...you forget about it once it's over. Think this work is why I've dropped a few lbs. There's a few days after the appts where it is difficult for me to get in what I need on a daily basis. Will just have to pay a little more attention. Off to fill another truck and bin. I actually love it when DH gives me jobs like this. Weather has been ideal and predicted to be a couple of weeks out.

Great...keep forgetting to take photos. Will try to remember to get some this weekend. Want to mention this now b/4 I forget. Peaches, Phyll, Janet...have a wonderful time at your get-together. As Great said, our June 2008 group just never really took off. I was lucky that I had made a connection with "Longtobethin" now, Great and we jumped on this thread. Just like a couple of hobos along for the ride! Anyway, have fun being friends and looking forward to hearing about it all. Not sure if I'm out of here tomorrow or not. Does not really matter...can go Thursday. Had to load trucks most of the morning and until 5pm. Not a bad job...just a lot of running from house to bin site and pulling levers and watching that I don't run the bins over with corn. Fun.

Arlene...good to hear that your eye ailment is the "norm"...wishing you luck with it.

Welcome back, Eva. What a woman driving all that way! Smart to stop and nap. Hope you can check in soon and let us know all about your trip. Get some rest and rid of that headache. Take care

Julie..get that trip booked!

Yes, Great, you guys will have 11 glorious days free of my "chatter". I will be leaving here on Wednesday, June 30 and not back until Tuesday, July 12. Good luck with the hair place. I know how you feel about going to someone new. Or, could be that this person will be "the one" and you will come out smiling.

Laura...good going on getting a refund on camp and good to hear they are going to use your experience and learn from it. Sad to hear that you are not sure if Vegas trip will work for you. Can DH make that a weekend he has off work???? Do you have any neighbors that you are close to that you trust to take Nels for a couple of overnighters??? My children did not have grandparents that "babysat" (basically saw them at Christmas and that was it) and we took turns with our friends when us parents needed a weekend and or even a 2 week trip. There were many times we moved into town for a couple of weeks to care for up to six kids, plus ours at our friends house. Was great for the kids to experience living in town and having fake siblings. Julie...wish I lived closer...I'd take you on a shopping spree and we'd have your house decorated in a few hours. You could just sit in your chair with a flat Diet Dr. Pepper and I would do the work! Lots of activity here on the farm today. Hauling corn to town with semis, tiling, cultivating, extra guys for dinner for me but already have the soup on the stove and the egg salad is mad. I have laundry done and hanging out on the line and catching up on the book and trying to get a little housework done. Need to run after lunch to do banking and a few farm errands. Have another big weekend ahead of us. DH is thinking of going up with me on Thrusday so we can actually have some alone time. Have to hit a retirement party on the way. Friday is a 5pm BBQ/potluck and plan on sneaking out early for recharge and some sleep. Would have been "Mom's" 90th bday on the 3rd. Getting together with her family (my fake family) at their lake resort on Sat. early till about 4pm. Then we have a "machine shed" party at some friends about 3 miles from our resort. Have a get-together at 8pm back at our resort. Sunday is a pot-luck at our lake place with about 40 ppl (just friends). I am making grilled steak strips and the desserts and others will fill in with salads, etc. All of us women and children are staying at the lake for the entire week for a little fun. Lots of floating on the raft, swimming, dinners on the deck, etc. Will need the rest and relaxation after the big weekend. I will have a dental appt thrown in there on Wed and will need a day or two to feel sorry for myself and do some healing. Hope you all have a great day...gotta run

Great, Arlene. If we do that, it might lighten the load for Janet or Eva doing airport runs. So happy you are coming

Hope you can get some much needed rest, Janet. :ohmy:

I imagine it would cost you at least $50 to change. Close enough arrival time that we can just meet for a nice lunch in Vegas or find a place to shop if we decide to take a taxi. Janet's tired so one of us should do a head count and make sure we have everyone included and with a place to sleep. I cannot remember if all the units are 2BR or if some are 3.

I also fly Delta on the way out to Vegas. I arrive in SLC at 9:03am, out of SLC at 9:45am and into Vegas at 10:10am. You got me excited. Thought we might be on the same flight. Flying Alaskan Airline on the way back with a layover in Seattle for a bit. I absolutely LOVE flying into Seattle. So beautiful..

Awww...what a sweet DS, LauraK. DS had all his stuff held hostage by a moving company when he moved from Santa Barbara to Daytona. 21yr old kid and NOTHING in his apt. The apt. owner were so good and scrounged to find him some furniture from others in the complex. Found him toaster, coffee maker, bed, couch, etc. They were great. Hope it all arrives soon.

Hey Chickie-Poos.... Got home about 6pm after my day of work for my friend. Her shop is only 8 miles from my lake place and works out great for me. Love the little job. Just what I was looking for. Customer service, pricing product, just a little bit of everything. No thinking. Right up my alley at this stage of my life. Pretty excited to read your post, Arlene, that you will be joining us in Vegas. Your DH sounds about as sweet as mine. Keep on walking...the scale will move again. Great...we did not have access to cell phones in FL in the forest either. We did have a land line so the kids could contact us. We really don't mind it. Peaceful Good going on the deal on patio set. Happy to hear you had a good weekend with the kids. LauraK...hope you can swing Vegas. You DD will do fine. Just give her a couple of weeks to settle in and start work. Us moms worry, don't we? Have had my youngest move all over the US and each time I just tell myself it will be fine....and has been. Safe travels back home. Laura...ditto what others have said about camp. We had a similar story with youngest DS at 4yrs old. Nasty yellow blisters on his back from a day at camp. TOLD them to make sure his tee shirt stayed on and left sunscreen to be reapplied. Nope. He ended up with a fever, dehydrated and blisters the size of eggs. A year later we had to have three deep moles removed to be safe. Very nasty. Should have had them pay medical cost. I was way beyond ticked. Hope you can make Vegas. You gotta. Sorry to hear of your parent's down time. Lot's of you and your sister to worry about. Hugs. Janet...what a worry with what went on with Andrew. And, yes, they do learn from these experiences. Happy he is safe. Hope you had a good weekend with your friend. Phyll...Zoey is adoreable. Our lab was a hand biter when he was a puppy. Our neighbor who is a trainer told us to shout a loud "no" (which you are already doing), turn your back to them and make absolutely no eye contact when they are doing something that is a "no". They also said to be very consistent in how you say your "no"...using the same tone for each negative action. Takes a bit but they do learn. Welcome empty nest parenthood! Julie...congrats on getting verification from your insurance co to go onto Mayo. Hope you get a date soon. Also, hope you reconsider Vegas. Jessica...Also wish you could join us but know school would get in the way. Hope you had a happy bday! Cheri...find tickets yet???? Judy...did I miss something? PS? Have a chicken and rice dish in the oven and eggs boiled for egg salad for the lunch boxes this week. Not even sure when my guys will show..usuallly between 9:30 and 10pm. I like planned meals but not on the farm durin the busy season. Think I will turn the oven off for now. Lovely but busy weekend. Had 3 bday parties and was able to hit some of the festivities in town for "Old Settlers Reunion". Fun, fun and more fun. Got more than my share of walking in also. Down 3lbs this morning. Shocked me cuz I ate like a little piggy. So, real mayo and butter this week. Will check in later. Gotta throw another load of laundry in and get the bread in the oven. BTW...I fly in at 10:10am on Friday and leave at 7am Monday. Need to find a room near the airport for Sunday night. Joyce....maybe we could room together Sunday night if you decide to stay. Looks like Lori and I fly in not too far apart. I thought I would just take a cab and never thought about Janet and Eva picking us up. That would be very nice but can still do the cab...or...Lori and I can have a lunch together and wait for others to fly in. I'm cool with anything.

I'll be sure to give DH a kiss from you. Heck...I'll give him tongue! LOL Not sure about the pooping on command thing with chickens. I think they just do it all the time. Sounds like we will have a nice crowd. Wonder if Melissa has contemplated coming since she was unable to make the last meet. Would be fun to meet Peaches...hope she can make it. Laura just can't not come. That's a given. Well, I'm ready to walk out the door. All the household chores are done (up at 4am), men, fert tanks and trailers and equipment delivered and redelivered to 2 different fields, gardens watered, meals made and laundry done. Have my new book in hand and dog waiting in the truck and a deck waiting for me to sit on my butt tomorrow. You all have a good one! I'm going to Vegas, I'm going to Vegas.:thumbup:

When you guys booked the rooms for Vegas, did you check to see if we could be near each other. When I booked for FL, I requested but one of the three condos (which we gave up anyway) was as far away as could be from the other two. Just a thought.

You guys will get a kick out of this. Any of you that are from a really small town (400 population) will get it and think this is the norm. There is an annual celebration this weekend in the little town near where our resort is located. "Old Settlers Reunion". Basically, it consists of garage sales, brats and hamburger in the park, beer garden in the park, volunteer fireman's water competition (putting a keg on a line and trying to hose between teams), and a chicken pooping contest. Now, doesn't that just sound like the most fun you have EVER had????

Yep, Janet, I'm pretty darned excited too. My DH had a talk with me last night and told me that after pretty much keeping things together and organized on this farm and tiling business, that I need to learn to let go and not feel the guilt of doing things for me. I actually started doing it a couple of years ago and have always done my 2-3 girl trips a year but not without feeling I shouldn't be doing leave when my guys are so booked with work. He reminded me that's one of the reasons we hired DS four years ago and that I do not have to work like a man on this farm anymore. (Hence the many hernias I have had to have repaired). Guess I need to work on letting go of the guilt. (Counting to 10.....OK...I'm over the guilt now). LOL Good for your friend having bypass and along with that changing to a healthy way of life. It does not always happen that way...whatever WLS a person has. I think with bypass, it's easier to forget that the lifestyle has to change along with the surgery. Have fun at your party. One of ours is a surprise (40th) and the other I'm not sure if I'm too excited about. DH's friend's wife. She's just one of those ppl. Debbie Downer. Hope she appreciates what he has done to have this party for her. Made some sinful bars to take to both of the parties. Completely "loaded" fudge brownies and cream cheese lemon bars. Had a couple last night. They passed the "OK to bring to the party test".