I'm here to help...

[llkb4me 1]

Meredith, WOW girl you look wonderful..

Janet, my version of Puppy chow is butter melted with P butter & choc. mixed over cripix Cereal coated with powdered surgar with nuts stirred in. It's ok my kids love it but give me salty anytime.

Julie, if I can remember when I get home I have a carmel corn receipe I'll post for you.

Laura K

[Charlene K 1]

Meredith, You look Fabulous! Congrats!

[Mrs. Bubba 0]

Hey gang, I'm about ready to leave for Bismarck and amazingly I don't have any doctors appointments today!!! shock shock...... Slept well again... I'm really starting to get used to this again...

Meredith, you look wonderful.... It must feel so good.... I'm happy for you......

Joanne, your picture was wonderful, too.. Are you winding down now or still going at 70 mph...?

Gotta go... DH has the car warming for me and I need to get home again as Mimi comes at noon. He can handle her, but I don't like making him do it too long alone... Hope you all have a great day....

Laura K, I'd like that recipe if you get to it.... Thanks.

Bye now.......TTYL.............Julie

[IndioGirl55 32]

Meredith you look fabulous! What great pictures -- you should be very very proud of yourself -- you look so happy!! I used to do crazy things like that at your age, so enjoy it now -- lol.

Feeling good again this a.m. had a good night's sleep. DGD over last night and we decorated a few Cookies. Her mom brought over the already cut out made kind -- all we had to do was bake them. Yuck - they aren't very tasty which I'm thankful for although with the icing they were tolerable (lol). Janet, she just turned 3 and yes, we make cookies already, but I meant wait till she's older to make the more difficult ones. She's definitely interested in it where my step kids never cared about it.

My computer says its 9 degrees right now -- with the wind chill, probably minus 10 or so. Just thought I'd share that with you southern girls. LOL.

CBL have a great day everyone! Linda

Linda - I use to decorate my xmas cookie to the 10th degree but now a days I just let the kids slap on the frosting - I just do the roll out cut out sugar cookies w/frosting - and maybe some choc chip and oatmeal raisin but that's it for my cookies - my family like just plain stuff - I don't care for the licorse ones - one time someone brought them to work the looked really good but once I bit into it - black licorice ugh

Sending sunshine & warmth to my northern/eastern peeps - I think it's suppose to be like 72 or 74 - my car said 50 as I was driving to work..

I am so impressed on how well you are doing !!! You go girl..

I go tomorrow for my MRI on my knee - it hasn't been bothering me - I think it only does when I am on my feet for hours - this is my 1st MRI - the only thing I have ever had is xrays..

Meredith, WOW girl you look wonderful..

Janet, my version of Puppy chow is butter melted with P butter & choc. mixed over cripix cereal coated with powdered surgar with nuts stirred in. It's ok my kids love it but give me salty anytime.

Julie, if I can remember when I get home I have a carmel corn receipe I'll post for you.

Laura K

LauraK yours sounds good cuz of the Peanut Butter - I love peanut butter ;0)

Hey gang, I'm about ready to leave for Bismarck and amazingly I don't have any doctors appointments today!!! shock shock...... Slept well again... I'm really starting to get used to this again...

Meredith, you look wonderful.... It must feel so good.... I'm happy for you......

Joanne, your picture was wonderful, too.. Are you winding down now or still going at 70 mph...?

Gotta go... DH has the car warming for me and I need to get home again as Mimi comes at noon. He can handle her, but I don't like making him do it too long alone... Hope you all have a great day....

Laura K, I'd like that recipe if you get to it.... Thanks.

Bye now.......TTYL.............Julie

Julie - I am so happy that you are feeling so much better that's such great news..

Well gang at work - just cking in again - gotta get busy

so will cbl

[JoannMarie 0]

Hi All - I'm thinking of Lori this morning as she heads out for her second knee surgery. My first one was 7 years ago this month! Time sure flies... The right knee is bone on bone and has been for a couple of years or more. Oddly, the weight loss has improved it to the point where I am not in a hurry to have the replacement done. DD wants me to wait if I can - till they return from the Korea posting and she can be here to help out. I'm okay with that now, though before the weight loss I was not hopeful about that. I figure with another 40 pounds off next summer the knee may be willing to wait even longer. I hope Lori's surgery goes well and her recovery goes as well as the first one. At least now she knows first-hand what to expect and what to watch for.

All this talk about Christmas goodies... I have a few things on the to-do list for kitchen treats, will probably tackle them this weekend to take to the Christmas day festivities. This week I am working on a quilt for older DD who lives close by. I've had the top here for quite a while, working on the quilting and hope to have it finished by the end of the week. I have to be very careful, as she stops by unannounced some days - I don't want the surprise spoiled. Sooo - back to work. Hope everyone has a great day!

Joann

[JoannMarie 0]

p.s. Do y'all realize you fill up about 3-4 pages in a day's time? No way I could ever catch up! Serves me right for being gone so long! Thank you all for the warm welcome back. I've missed you...

[phyllser 3]

Thinking of Lori this morning... probably in surgery by now.

Meredith... GREAT pictures! You look wonderful, and happy.

Laura, so sorry about the news about your Dad. Very difficult and sad situation and I'm so sorry... hugs!!

[Apples2 19]

Meredith...What a difference 80lbs makes. You have done wonderfully and look so happy. Way to go! Hey, what's wrong with having fun and staying up till 5am? I love a good party! I've been party trained for a long, long time. Even though I cannot abide in liquid bliss much anymore, I can still party. Do it while you're young and enjoy.

Linda...I, too, am amazed at how well you are doing. I'm confused...DSS? is in the hospital, right? Not DSD? Would have loved to be a fly on the wall to watch the cooking making with your 3 yr old. She probably did better than I did yesterday with my white sugar Cookies. They ended up be very festive bars. Got ticked at them. But, the bars turned out so good...looked like they were meant to be.

Lori...hope things are going well. Hang in there. You are just going to progress a little every day. I know it's tough, painful and a lot of work. But, never again will you need to go through having painful knees.

Julie...you just made my week with your posts saying you do not have the pain like you have in the past. Hope it only gets better from here on out.

We were on the road by 6:15 this morning to get DH in for his procedure. Got home about 11:30. He stopped long enough to have some date bread that I made yesterday (he drooled all day yesterday...in between whines) and could not wait to taste it with a cup of coffee. Then he was on a full run to harvest the rest of this corn. Bitterly cold and they are all working out in it.

JoAnne...will you be my mom and make me a quilt like you are making for DD? LOL. I LOVE quilts and have 2 or 3 on every bed in the house, plus, most of my rooms have them hanging on the walls. I don't make them though. I sew but never learned quilting. I have a friend that makes the most beautiful ones. I admire you for your talent.

[phyllser 3]

We were on the road by 6:15 this morning to get DH in for his procedure. Got home about 11:30. He stopped long enough to have some date bread that I made yesterday (he drooled all day yesterday...in between whines) and could not wait to taste it with a cup of coffee. Then he was on a full run to harvest the rest of this corn. Bitterly cold and they are all working out in it.

JoAnne...will you be my mom and make me a quilt like you are making for DD? LOL. I LOVE quilts and have 2 or 3 on every bed in the house, plus, most of my rooms have them hanging on the walls. I don't make them though. I sew but never learned quilting. I have a friend that makes the most beautiful ones. I admire you for your talent.

Glad the "procedure" went well! Our SIL had to have TWO this past summer.. about 2 months apart, because he was not sufficiently cleaned out the first time! And he wouldn't take any anesthesia because he wanted to go to work afterwards! I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain, but I don't think I'd want to do that without a little light anesthesia!

Joanne's quilts are PRO level! Have you seen any pictures of her quilts??? AMAZING!!

Hope our Lori is doing well!! She had her first knee done AFTER mine!! Brave to be doing the other one so soon, but have to admit I'm a little jealous because I'd like to get the other one done and get it over with too!!

[IndioGirl55 32]

FYI for the pple who have fb accounts

Do not open any Facebook emails as it could be a virus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

got this warning from our it person -

Facebook Christmas Worm Spreads Holiday Infection

Koobface, the worm that has plagued Facebook, Twitter and other social sites, is back.

The latest version of the infamous Koobface worm carries a Christmas greeting that can render victims' computers inoperable.

PandaLabs, the research arm of anti-malware company Panda Security, says that a variant of the Koobface worm, Koobface.GK, is being spread through the posting of malicious links of Facebook wall pages.

The links take Facebook users to a fake embedded video player that offers a Christmas greeting, in keeping with the tendency of cybercriminals to try to exploit current or seasonal events.

Attempting to play the video or to click on the links on the page leads to an infection attempt, which will compromise the victim's computer if successful.

Once installed, the malware presents a CAPTCHA image that threatens to reboot the computer within three minutes.

Solving the CAPTCHA puzzle at the worm's behest creates new Facebook accounts to help the worm spread.

PandaLabs says that while the infected computer does not shut down if the victim does not solve the CAPTCHA image within three minutes, it is rendered inoperable.

The computer's operating system isn't damaged so badly that it requires a clean system installation, but Sean-Paul Correll, threat researcher at PandaLabs, says that the typical user will not be able to escape the CAPTCHA screen presented by the malware.

Luis Corrons, technical director of PandaLabs, says that social networks have become a popular attack vector because users tend to trust messages that appear to come from friends.

Cisco's 2000 Annual Security Report also sees risk in social networks and notes that the Koobface worm has affected approximately 3 million computers.

"New attacks rely on social media users' willingness to respond to messages that supposedly originate from people they know and trust," the report says. "It is easier -- and often, more lucrative -- to fool a social media user in order to launch an attack or exploit or steal personal information."

To prove that point, Sophos, another security firm, set up two fake Facebook accounts to see how much personal information users would reveal upon receiving a friend request from an unknown person. After sending 200 friend requests from the two fake accounts, Sophos won 95 "friends" who revealed personal information about themselves and about others they knew.

The impact of attacks that arrive through social networks affects businesses as well as consumers. Cisco says that as much as 2% of Web traffic on corporate networks comes from social media sites.

Correll says that business users should worry about attacks through social networks, just like consumers.

[Apples2 19]

Glad the "procedure" went well! Our SIL had to have TWO this past summer.. about 2 months apart, because he was not sufficiently cleaned out the first time! And he wouldn't take any anesthesia because he wanted to go to work afterwards! I'm pretty tough when it comes to pain, but I don't think I'd want to do that without a little light anesthesia!

Joanne's quilts are PRO level! Have you seen any pictures of her quilts??? AMAZING!!

Hope our Lori is doing well!! She had her first knee done AFTER mine!! Brave to be doing the other one so soon, but have to admit I'm a little jealous because I'd like to get the other one done and get it over with too!!

So happy DH came out OK. He has a tendency towards palyps (sp?). He's been getting procedure done every three yrs for 12 yrs now. Family history. First time he had 5 very large, three yrs later 4 large and this time one small one. Cleared for not another one for 5 yrs. His uncle passed away very young from colon cancer. Just good he went in and now we can breath easy. Doc says he was VERY clean. Should be for getting up every 15 min. The jug did the job but he definatelly did not start early enough yesterday. We will both be getting some good sleep tonight. Even after being put under, he has been at a dead run today. Can't tell an ole' farmer anything!

Yes, have seen photos that JoAnne as posted here. They are to die for. She is quite talented.

Phyll...we'll hopefully be reading about your 2nd knee recovery soon. You've done so well with your first one.

[IndioGirl55 32]

Apples glad DH is a ok - those meds they used didn't do anything but make me feel like I had a good buzz - I did take the day off work - but I could have gone to work after wards

Well sitting here waiting for 4:50 to leave for gym - got a chicken boiling - Chicken Tacos for dinner - I may have one - I am hungry -

Bf - Fish - lunch salad - snack 1/2 cup popcorn - 1 tsp Peanut Butter & 4 cracker (pre-workout snack :0)

[llkb4me 1]

Julie, Here's the receipe

2c light brown sugar

1/2 c light corn Syrup

1/2 c butter

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

6 qts popped corn

Combine brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, cr of tartar & salt. Heat to boiling, stirring over medium heat, stir constantly, boil rapidly to hard ball stage, 260* about 5 min. Remove from heat, stir in baking soda & pour at once over popcorn. Stir gently until all coated. Bake in pre-heated oven 200* for 1 hour, stirring 2-3 times. Turn out on wax paper. Cool.

Hint: keep popped corn in 200* oven while making caramel sauce. You can add peanuts or other nuts if you would like.

Hope you like it Julie.

Laura K

[IndioGirl55 32]

Well just cking in - back from the gym - have the animals fed including GS lol...

I wonder how Great did??

Laura how was your DH's homecomming

[Mrs. Bubba 0]

Laura K., thanks so much for the recipe....I'm going to try it one of these first days.... Julie