OMG WHERE IS EVERYONE THIS MORNING...FRIDAY

Hi Marcy (Mrs. Scrooge),
I don't usually start getting ready this early.  I'm doing it because my grandkids who live 260 miles away from us will be here at Thanksgiving.  Because we always go to their house for the holidays, the grandkids have never seen Grandma and Grandpa's house decorated for Christmas. I thought I would give them a treat by at least getting the lights up on the outside of the house.  I will do the tree after Thanksgiving weekend.  The tree is a smaller one that we bought for when we know we won't be around at Christmas.  Our bigger one takes a day to set up.  We'll be up at the Grandkids this year for Christmas.  Last year we went up there for New Year's instead.
With money tight, all of our relatives that are not immediate family have agreed to only buy for the kids this year.  This helps a lot. That means we only have the great nieces and nephews and grandkids to buy for.  And of course, my Mom.  My Dad and the in-laws have all passed on.
I hope you don't get too unnerved having to listen to the band play.
Bev

Bev,
  I'm sure your grandchildren will love it!!!  I have an artificial tree (my son is allergic to the real ones),  my daughter and her boyfriend volunteered to decorate this year.  good cause I'm just not in the mood..not yet anyway.
  Where do your grandchildren live?  We have to do 2 Thanksgivings this year...here at my house on Thanksgiving day..but my brother and SIL can't come cause they will be vacationing in Puerto Rico.  SO SIL just declared that we have to do Thanksgiving dinner at her house on Sat. 
  Well maybe I don't want to do it again!!  Who knows how I'll feel on Sat.

  Don't mind me...there is so much flu in my school and I'm just tired from a very long long long week.

  I need sleep and peace and quiet.  
  I'll start closing my door at school when I hear them playing the x-mas tunes again.

 Have a great week end.

 Marcy

 Oh oh Marcy - don't come near my car Monday night. I already have 3 Christmas CD's playing in my car. Tom does the bah humbug thingy so I can't listen at home without complaints. And to think he was a Christmas Eve baby.

I'll wear my Ipod and listen to some loud music..

 Feeling better now that you know about your labs????
 If I drink any more tea I'm going to either float away or be up all night running to the bathroom.

 I really want to rest ..but...I'm bored already.

 Dang...just can't make me happy tonight can you guys...don't worry it will pass.  Guess I'm just feeling really really tired.

 Marcy

Truthfully, this is about the right time for the band to be practicing the Christmas music.  They have to have it down pat for the holiday shows.

Hi Marcy and my OFF family:

It has been crazy, crazy since yesterday. After doing my usual Thursday payday shopping, I came home to a phone call from my brother. The hospital had called him and wanted to change his surgery date to Nov. 10 because one of the operating rooms was going to have an electrical upgrade and wouldn't be available. On top of that, the day before a house inspector shows up at his duplex and wants to do a home inspection. His landlady has been trying to sell the place. So now Gary is worried about having to move and wondering if he should have the surgery at all. (In case I didn't tell anyone, he was having surgery on his cervical spine ... he has bony growths that are impinging on nerves and causing his left hand to go numb ... fortunately, he is right handed, but still, it makes it hard to do a whole lot of things with one hand).

So most of yesterday was spent trying to change my vacation week from Nov. 15 to next week. Now that I have to deal with a different boss (although my old boss is in charge of the whole copy desk, I have to ask Pete for vacation time). Andy said he would forward my request to Pete, and Pete would get back to me last night, but he never did. So I had to wait until this morning. He e-mailed at home and everything is a go. So I had to get ahold of my cat sitter Gayle (a friend who lives nearby) and change things with her. Then I had to call and cancel my psychologist appointment for next week; next I have to call my cleaning lady and change that from one week to the next (I like to have her come in when I'm not home, so it'll be easier for her to do while I'm gone).

At first, I thought I would drive to my mom's in the Chicago area on Sunday and then drive to Gary's north of Milwaukee. But Saturday is such a long night and I'm so tired afterward, so I decided just to wait to drive on Monday. That way, I can rest up on Sunday and do laundry (also watch football Sunday ... my mom is not a football fan and I'd have to force her to watch football).

I had a rough night sleeping. After sitting up and watching TV before going to bed, I had some nasty leg cramps, and from there on, I was in a lot of pain ... back, knees, you name it. I want to get to the chiropractor this afternoon before I go to work. I don't have to be to work til 6 p.m., so I have some time. It's strange not to have to go in til 6, but oh well, I work at their pleasure and on their schedule. I'll have to check the chiropractor's schedule and see if I can drop in (it's like a drop-in clinic there).

Sorry you are having allergy problems. If I didn't have allergy meds, I'd be in trouble, too. I'm down to just two (nasal spray and inhaler) in the winter; during allergy season, I'm up to four (two pills added in). Allergies are nasty.

Have a good day.

Eileen,
  And your news just confirms...when it rains it pours.  Hopefully, (knock On wood) things will calm down now.  I agree if you are tired, rest up then try traveling on Monday.
  Yes allergies are the pits...I'm home now stopped to get my allergy shot and the dr. said, "I don't like the sounds of that cough"  crap!!  She listened and its my asthma...which hasn;t bothered me for 2 years.  I guess its just all this sickness and humid cold weather.  so I'll take my singular and my xyzal and get out my advair inhaler and treat myself for the next week or so.

  Good luck on your trip ...prayers for your brother..let us know how he does.

 (((HUGS))
  Marcy

I'm stuck at home today waiting on a UPS delivery for DH. They usually come between 2-4 but DH has been calling every hour since about 10 to see if it's here! In the meantime I've done some laundry, cleaned the kitchen from the mess I made mixing chai tea this morning. Chili for supper is in the crock pot so I think I'm going to work on the quilt top I started last week. It's about half finished and something I can do without much concentration!

DH is working this weekend on one of his extra jobs, it's the one that provides our play money so neither of us complains about the lost Saturdays. But I will miss him being around the place.

I'm coming up on 8 weeks post op and have been doing great, no problems or complaints. I haven't ventured very far from soft foods, mainly because I'm really pleased with what I've been doing so far and don't feel like being in a big hurry to change things. I have discovered that chicken thigh meat sits a lot better than the dryer breast so maybe I'll get more chicken into the menu list. Weight loss has been slower than I initially expected but I certainly can't complain, I've lost 47% of my EWL!

Deedles..
  Wow I would say you are doing very well...92 pounds lost is impressive!!!  I haven't made the chai tea yet..are you using Pam T's recipe??  I need to buy some powdered tea, but I'm also lactose intolerant.  Pam emailed and gave me the heads up that they sell powdered soy milk.  So I bought some and I'm going to try her recipe.
  Chili sounds good and its so good for you and yes stick to dark meats for awhile.  I too had trouble with chicken breast..I'm over 12 months post op and I still cannot eat fish, beef or pork chops...my meat has to be grilled or baked in  a crock pot till it falls apart or it gets STUCK!!

  We're all different..but you'll find whats good for you.
  Have a great week end...enjoy working on the quilt..I would love to be wrapped up in it right now.

  Marcy

 

Thanks! I was pleased with myself for losing 60lbs pre-op. DH tells me I got rid of the 'easy' weight before surgery is why my loss has been slower than others report. But I'm not losing any sleep over it!

Yes! It's Pam's magical recipe. I'm using Nectar Vanilla Bean Torte protein for the base and it dropped the calories down to 103 per cup...plus I can't tell the difference in taste. I hope the soy protein works out for you, I don't see why it wouldn't. I just love the stuff!

We're enjoying some great weather. It gets in the 50's at night and mid 70's during the day so hot chili is tolerable! I have a white chicken chili recipe I want to try but I'm thinking I'll wait until it's really cold and/or I get tired of the beef version!  Something about 'white' and 'chili' just doesn't compute! LOL!