Quacker Talk-December 2019

[Gail Norusis]

#104130

Well, here we are in the last month of the year. I hope it’s a good one for all our Quacker friends and families.

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[Gail Norusis]

#104136

Here’s more.

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[Anonymous]

#104139

How is it December already? I love the pups dressed up for Christmas. None of our dogs would allow you to dress them up.

We are having a messy weekend. Sleet & freezing rain today & snow tomorrow. I will be staying inside especially since the ice will be hidden by snow so you cannot see it until it is to late.

I was going to put my wreath on the door yesterday. I put batteries in but it would not light up. It is only a year old. So I guess no wreath on my door.

[Dianne Danielson]

#104154

Hi Ladies,
It’s hard to believe it’s the end of the yr already. Where did the yr go??!! We were supposed to get hit with snow, but it went elsewhere. Yay!! The “Bomb cyclone” was a big storm out in the Pacific & was supposed to hit hard but it didn’t hit here. Cyclone is the Pacific ocean version of a hurricane. I have no idea why. The weather people out here who have been doing weather for 30 yrs had never heard of such a thing. Luckily they aren’t a normal weather happening. It’s cold but we didn’t get the snow, just rain.
I’ve been decorating the apt slowly but surely. The tree is up, but not decorated yet. Everything will have to be shatterproof, & unbreakable cuz I don’t know how furball will take to it. So far she just goes underneath & hides from me. Or so she thinks. she’s so confused with all the stuff around she doesn’t know what to do. Right now she’s perched on one of the cans I use for decorations. I saved the tins of Harry London scenes for decorations. I also use the village tins for odds & ends.
Well, that’s all I have for tonight. I hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day & weekend.
Take care.
dd

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[Colleen]

#104177

I hope everyone had a good Holiday and are done with their shopping for Christmas.
Colleen

[Gail Norusis]

#104190

Hi Sue,
Maybe you could just use the wreath without lights. Or maybe you can add a string of fairy lights and hide the battery box in the greenery.
Let us know how much snow that you get.
I love the cute pictures of animals too. I had a really cute one with three guinea pigs in Christmas hats but this site wouldn’t let me post it. The same with the month of December picture that I had picked out. Don’t know why some will post and some won’t. I still wish we could cut and paste here.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104217

Hi DD,
I’ll bet you and Snowball will have some fun adventures with the Christmas decorations. It’s funny. Some of our cats used to try and bat the balls hanging towards the bottom of the tree and others could have cared less about the whole deal. We had one cat that no one but us ever saw because as soon as someone outside the family came into the house she would run and hide under a bed. She was such a nice cat too and very pretty. She was gray with white paws and her name was Dixie. People called her our phantom cat. lol Many of our cats were strays that just found us-one always remained feral and never set foot in the house but most were indoor outdoor cats. We had one that was supposed to be strictly indoor and she was always the one who would sneak out. I think if I ever had another cat (which I can’t since Greg is now allergic) I would have a strictly indoor cat as there are too many coyotes and such out this way now.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104219

Hi Colleen,
I got quite a bit of cyber shopping done over the weekend. Hoping to finish things up today. this year i am having several things shipped directly to Brent instead of shipping them here and then shipping back to him. Although I have a few things from home to send him too.
Did you have a good Thanksgiving? Hopefully Mandy didn’t have to work. We’ll have to find out if Adele finally used paper plates. We have been on a crusade to get her to use them and lessen the work.
Gail

[Anonymous]

#104244

Well we did not get the amount of snow predicted. That is fine with me. So the temp got above freezing & snow turned to rain so its gone now. There is still quite a bit in the mountain but down here it is just wet. It will most likely freeze tonight & is to get very windy again so maybe the wind will dry it up before it freezes. It sounds like Adele is getting a lot. NY & New England are getting it.

I even got out today. I discovered my bread was green so had to get more. The store was about out. I forgot how everyone flocks to the store for bread & milk when snow is forecast. It seems I have trouble using bread & milk before they go bad.

I don’t use paper plates. I wash everything with the 2 hands God gave me. I can understand kids using paper plates so they don’t break something. But not the adults. When we had a lot of people there was a kids table & a table for adults. Sometimes we had so many people some would eat & then the second group & we had no dishwasher all done by hand. When we got old enough we had to help. I know when we went to my Uncle’s place we had to get up from eating & do dishes.

[adele shanbar]

#104246

Hey Gailster
It sounds like you had a great Thanksgiving. That was a good idea on getting suggestions from the kids on what they want. Go Gail!
Wow- you finally met him. Sooooo, what is he like? Did the two of you like him? I hope the meeting went well.
Thank you for the wishes for Steph and Jhonny. I think they will continue to need prayers, as once they break up, it is so hard to stay together. I pray so hard for them every night.
Steph stopped over on Saturday with Aizen. they stayed for a while, and it is so nice she can just get in the car, and go where she wants. I can’t tell you how much her getting her license has meant to me. She was at the Christmas Tree Store, and got a couple of decorations for Gary for Hanukkah.
I have been putting things away, and netting things out. As we are in the middle of a storm, I have the cool outside creatures form the Q at the end of the kitchen, until the ice and snow ends.
We are in day 2 of the big storm- getting 9 more inches. We lost power last night, and went to bed shortly after. We saw two huge light flashes- they were blue. It was a transformer on the next street. We got the power back early in the am, and glad we did as it was getting cold. Tillie was stuck in her recliner, and Bobby had to get her out of it. Those recliners should have a battery back up!
I have the 2 trees up, but no decorations on them. I hope to be done decorating at the end of the week. It takes so much longer when you have the dreaded arthritis….LOL
Hope all is good with everyone! Love the Christmas pictures.
Adele

[Gail Norusis]

#104261

Sue,
I’m glad that you didn’t get much snow. Often we don’t use all the bread and milk before it goes bad either.
I remember those days at my MIL’s of washing and drying endless numbers of dishes by hand. Fortunately we have a dishwasher and don’t have to do that anymore. However, even that can be time consuming when there are a lot of people there. I think we have all deferred to paper plates in order to be able to spend more time with our family and friends. We like to have more time for fun! Plus when most of the company is kids they could care less what they eat on or even about the food at all. Especially at Christmas. That way we can eat and go back to playing games, or watching videos and just spending family time together.
How did Penn State do this year? We don’t pay much attention to college ball except for Illinois or Wisconsin. We still follow Harvard high football and they have done awful the last several years. They were actually pretty good when our kids were in school. but since then the coach retired and i think he had a lot to do with the winning teams. Of course we follow the Bears and they have been pretty mediocre this year. Sad to say. We Bears fans would love to be spoiled like Adele and have a winning football team year after year after year. The kids from Boston will grow up thinking that the Patriots are in the Super Bowl every year-they will be surprised when they are not. lol
Did you decide what to do about the wreath?
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104265

Hi Adele,
It sounds like Steph is really taking good advantage of her license. I’ll bet having it really gives her a sense of independence and freedom and I’ll bet she feels better about herself because of it.
Ricky seems nice enough-it’s hard to tell from just one day-although he got there right before we left on Friday night too-so I guess he will be around
Wow! I didn’t know that you were having a storm. I’m glad that your power went back on. Poor Tillie-stranded in the chair! I never thought about that. MY MIL had one here but I guess she was never in it when the power was out-fortunately.
I was an ordering fool over the weekend once I got some hints from the kids-so I think I’m about done shopping. I can’t tell you what a godsend online shopping is. I get really worn out going out to shop anymore so this helps so much being able to shop from my couch. I do miss the spirit of being in the stores a bit but I guess if I really miss it that much I can take a day and just go out and window shop. Another thing is you never know when the weather might interfere with a planned shopping day so it’s nice not to have to deal with that either. The older I get the less i like to walk around in the snow and Ice as I am afraid of falling. The sun is out today so that is nice although it seems at this time of year it’s already darkening by three. I look forward to Piper’s birthday on the 21st as after that the days start to lengthen again. I don’t know how the people in Alaska do it with days of just a few hours of daylight.
When is Hanukkah this year?
I was thinking it has been six years this year six Kim died and she died on November 28th-so it was Thanksgiving Day when she died and Thanksgiving was on the 28th again this year. I wonder how her folks are doing. We never really knew them as they lived in a totally different place from us. Plus they never even came to Brent and Kim’s wedding which I never quite forgave them for. It was just Brent and Kim and us and their witnesses in the park but i was still mad that they didn’t come. It was in NM so we had to fly out there too. I think maybe it was her third marriage so they didn’t care that much but it was still our son’s first and probably only marriage if she had lived-so I kind of resented that. Oh well. They were a bit different anyway.
Kim’s oldest daughter got married last summer. That’s so hard to believe. I hope she will be happy. Kim really raised three nice girls.
I think shortly after Kim died was when Barbara’s DIL now Lisa got into that really bad accident. So glad that she recovered from that.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104267

Colleen,
I was thinking about a gift for your visiting service man. I was thinking about a basket of goodies-like beef jerky-those salami sticks-cheese sticks, nuts, some candies, granola bars, those cheese and peanut butter crackers a couple bottles of flavored water etc. Just a thought as it seems like most young men like to snack. It’s nice that you are giving him a substitute home over the holidays. That’s what it’s all about.
Gail

[Barbara Smith]

#104308

Hello friends. We are doing some better. Jerry and I were so tired after the baby left that we could barely get from room to room without resting. We are really out of shape and I know we both thought we were in a little better shape before they came. I guess following along someone who is as fast as lightning is harder than I realized. He is SO sweet though. Just out of nowhere will come a sweet little something out of his mouth,. Neal just sits and grins. Sarah is just Sarah thats all I will say on this. I am glad everyone had good holidays. Gail, I love your pictures for this month. The kitties and puppies all dressed up is so cute. Our kitty will run like crazy if Lisa even comes close to him with anything that is not edible. ha ha Ruby will let you dress her up anytime. She wears outfits for every holiday. Our son in Vegas little bullie dog had on a Christmas sweater and booties while Stacy was decorating their mantle. It was so sweet. Yes, Gail, it was at the same time when Brent was suffering his loss that Lisa had her terrible wreck. What a scary time for us all. Hope Brent is doing well. Little Piper and MawMaw’s birthday is on the same day. MawMaw was born in 1926. She will get her chocolate cake for her big day. She loves her chocolate. She is doing really well. We wanted to bring her out to our home for Thanksgiving, and she put her foot down and said it was “too cold” and she wasn’t going outside. She is good and clear some days and not good other days.
Sue, I had a wreath that stopped lighting up too. I opened the battery box and found that one of the batteries had “leaked” I guess; so I cleaned it up with a paper towel and put a new set of batteries in; and mine worked again. Just a thought. I probably just got lucky. I have had some of my light up things just not work for more than a month or so; just long enough for it to be past the 30 day return. Glad you didn’t get a bad storm. Sorry that you did Adele. Poor Tillie and her chair. I am attached to my chair too ha ha. I bet it got cold in your house. Jerry keeps saying we need to buy a generator since we get so much bad storms, but I just can’t bring myself to. The ones he has looked at are SO expensive.
Gail you did good on your shopping. I too really miss the sights, sounds, and smells of the malls and stores at Christmas. It just seemed so special to me and I could make a day of it. I even enjoyed eating at the food court. And then window shopping at the expensive stores and seeing some beautiful jewelry pieces just sparkle. So I’m right there with you, but those days are over for me.
DD did you get your tree put up yet? I bet you had lots of help trying to take down what you just put up. lol DOes Snowball have an outfit to wear? Hope you have a great holiday season. Colleen what does Eliza want Santa to bring? We were told that dinosaurs are important by Colin. ha ha
Hope you all habe a good evening. Take care all, Barbara

[adele shanbar]

#104310

Hey Gailster
Well, Hanukkah is about 3 days before Christmas, I think. Not good for the belly or the veins- way too much fat in a short period of time….Ho HO Ho
I bet you all had a hard time this year. Her anniversary coming on the holiday made it all come back, for all of you. How did Brent do this Thanksgiving? it is so difficult when our loved ones die on or about a holiday. Did Jenny say anything about it? Some people try to ignore it all, and hope the sad memories go away.
I bet Kim’s parents are sorry they did not attend her wedding, as look at the function they HAD to attend shortly after. I always say, there are no re-do’s on important milestones in life when you miss them. So awfully sad for Brent her daughters, and all of you. Was Brent invited to the wedding?
Tragedies keep coming on the holidays, no matter what. A teen boy in Saugus hung himself on Thanksgiving day. He was depressed about kids bullying him. He was an only child. Enzo’s sisters, and the boys next door are going to the services, as they were in school with him. Awful, just awful. It broke my heart when I heard about it, and I hope the police go after the kids who bullied him. I also heard about 2 school tragedies in your neck of the woods not sure which state it was. My Christmas wish is for all these hurtful, horrible losses stop. I am saying…”what is wrong with people” almost every single day. (My Dad died on December 23rd- not good either)
We had a two day snow storm. the creatures are buried into the lawn. I hope it gets warmer so they can be rescued, and the new Peanuts ones can go out.
This has been the second time Tillie was stuck in her chair. They really need to have a battery back-up in them!
I hope you have a good night! I think it is very good that you like Jenny’s boyfriend. After all, first impressions tell a lot, and he passed that one.
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104312

Colleeen and Gail
That is a a great idea for the visiting service man. How about adding some note paper, and envelopes, so he can write to family and friends?? Or gift certificate so he can get a game on his phone to play?
Dying to hear how nice your Christmas goes with the soldier!!
Adele

Attaching a couple of pics….

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[adele shanbar]

#104317

Hey Barbara!!
So glad you all had a good time this Thanksgiving. You all deserved to send the wonderful time with Colin, even though he was sick. Everybody is sick with this awful cold. JJ and Aizen and Steph have had it, and Gary is on his 3rd prescription to stop the coughing. It is an awful cold, with the lingering cough.
We all realize when we try to do the holidays the way we want to, that we are way out of our element….LOL We are old foggies, and when we get those reminders, we are quite shocked!
I have only a couple of people to get stuff for too. I need something else for Aizen, as I feel he does not have enough. I am thinking of a cute movie, with a stuffie to match??? Just not sure. I got Tillie 4 of her favorite brand of nightgowns,and 2 robes- one in fleece and one in flannel. The kind that they used to call “house coats”. She wears those knee length house coats that either zip or snap, over her nighties, and she will stay in them all day when it is cold and raw, as she is comfy and warm in them.
I heard a Charlie Brown Christmas is on Thursday….I am right there! I love the Peanuts gang.
How is Lisa? Does she have any deficits from her accident? I hope not. PTSD will always be a part of her life form the accident, I am thinking. So hard not to go back to that moment when something happens that is similar. Not to mention all of you! Trauma affect everyone.
Hope you have a good night,
Adele…who has about 8 inches of snow on the ground.

[adele shanbar]

#104319

Gailster…..forgot to say. Yes, I am the same way- so glad for on line shopping. I have no desire to be pushed around in a store, and get hot and sweaty walking around with all the bags. So done with all of that! I would like the hot chocolate and a goodie after shopping…..I can arrange that….LOL
Yesterday I had a hot chocolate with Gary, and got it all over me, as usual…..LOL
Hope you are all good….oh…Steph is quite pleased with herself! We all are.
Adele

[Gail Norusis]

#104435

Hi Barbara, It sounds like you had a wonderful time with Colin. Those little ones can wear a person out quickly. I know I’m tired if I am around our grands most of the day. Who would of ever thought that when we were young and juggled houses kids, work and a million other things. When I watch Jenny and all she does sometimes I am just amazed. Will you get to see Colin at all over the Christmas holidays? That could be too much traveling in such a short time span, I guess. But at least they are closer and you can see them more frequently than when they were in California.
Yes I remember the days when I could wander the mall just for the heck of it. Now I get tired of the walking and the people. I’m a crabby old lady!
That’s nice that Piper and your MIL have the same birthday. It’s so close to Christmas-I’m glad that kids will be able to make it to her party. Last night she was showing me the tablecloths and the candles for her party and the two swim suits and the robe that she was going to take to the pool. I like the way she needed two-I guess the birthday girl may need a costume change during the party. lol
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104437

Hi Adele,
Actually Brent did fine over Thanksgiving-it’s six years now so the pain isn’t quite as bad. He worked that day but before he went to the new girlfriends house and there was family there so he wasn’t alone and lonely-those are the things I worry about. He phoned when we were at Jenny’s so everyone got to talk to him. He was invited to Kim’s daughter’s wedding but wasn’t able to attend. I know Brent has kept in contact with her.
Yes, the deaths around holidays are just a little extra bad-especially if unexpected. Your Dad Died Dec. 23 and my Mom died Dec. 20th-her funeral was Christmas Eve and we flew home Christmas day and went straight from the air port to Greg’s Mom’s house. It’s kind of all a blur still.
Last night we stayed with the kids so Jenny could go to a wreath making party. I had brought a new game over but only Piper wanted to play it so she Greg and I played. Kendall is getting to the age where she wants to be in her room a lot and just pops her head out now and then to say a few words or get something to eat. Poor Ricky usually goes to the gym on Friday nights but he was sick with a cough but Jenny told him he had to stay in the bedroom because I have a compromised immune system and can’t take a flu shot so I couldn’t be around him. I said I felt bad for him but Jenny said she gave him strict instructions to stay away from us. lol
Well I’m done ordering stuff now hopefully everything will arrive before Christmas-I’ve already gotten some things delivered but I have one thing for Lachlan that I’m not sure will make it so I may have to run out last minute. I hope not. today I had gotten a notification from Etsy that an item had been delivered and I was looking all around the house, porch, by the garage and it just wasn’t there. It was for Greg and i was upset as I figured it got delivered to someone else and I didn’t know if I’d ever see it again. Well fortunately it got delivered to out neighbor across the street and he called and said that he had it. Tragedy averted. lol
Haven’t started decorating yet am getting the last of the fall things put away this weekend and than after that I will be a decorating fool. Jenny already had her’s all done the day after Thanksgiving. Piper laughs at me and tells me to get busy. Plus sometime in the next couple of weeks the guys will be coming to install the new fire place insert. That’s kind of our present to each other this year. Greg’s always cold so we are replacing the fireplace with a woodburning stove. They just install it right into your fireplace so it doesn’t stick out or anything it’s just more efficient than a fireplace.
Gail

[Dianne Danielson]

#104445

HI Ladies,
I’m taking a break from decorating to write a few lines. Snowball can”t figure out what the heck’s going on at times. I’m in closets, pulling things out, putting stuff all around, the apt is a mess. I got the tree up & decorated finallly. I had to go to the $ tree to get unbreakable ornaments. She’s already bounced a couple of the tree, as did her mom. I’m debating whether or not to make a little memorial to Jewell on one of the shelves where no one can get at it.
Oh, did you guys watch the Christmas Lighting show last week? Did you see our Mansion of a Million Lights? Ive been to it several times. It’s so gorgeous when it;s all decked out for the holidays. I have a ‘few’ pics of it. lol. I have one I can share, the rest are on film. I wouldn’t have a clue how to get em to digital.
Barbara I’m so glad you had such a wonderful time with Colin. I wish we could have just a little bit of their energy!! Will you see them again at Christmas?
Colleen, I must’ve missed a post of yours. The one about having a soldier with you for the holidays.
Well, that”s all for tonight.
take care.
dd

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[Colleen]

#104467

Hi Ladies,
My computer has been down all week. My grand came over and got it going for me but we are not sure if it will last. So if I disappear for awhile that will be why.
Thanks Gail and Adele for the ideas about gifts to get the soldier. Now I need to find out what his name is so I can quit calling him the soldier. I did get him a baseball cap so that will be good.. I may just fix a basket for him with snacks and writing paper and pens. I wonder if they write letters now or if they e-mail their families. I will have to find out from Melissa.
DD the soldier is a friend of my daughter and husband. He has now where to go for Christmas so they are bringing him home with them. That is fine with us it would be sad for him to be home alone.
I am glad that Brent did okay this Thanksgiving. I wonder if he spent the day or evening with his new girlfriend. I hope that he had some one to spend time with.
Poor Tillie getting caught in her chair. It was good that Bobby was there to help her out. There is no way that you could have helped her. I am going to look into those generators that hooks up to your gas so that you never lose power. I think that would be great. I think that someone said that they were expensive so will have to check into it.
My fridge went out and we had to get a new one. They cannot deliver it until Friday and we are finding it hard to keep the old one running. We have to keep hitting the reset button and checking. We were gone today and the dumb went off and Ron had to fool with it to get it running. We will be so lucky if it lasts until the new one comes.
Barbara sounds like you had a really good time with Colin. I hope that you will get to see him over Christmas. I hope your family will be able to come and spend time with you again.
Well that is about all from here. I have to read and try to catch up. I hope all of you have a good night.
Colleen

[Barbara Smith]

#104506

Hello All, sounds like everyone is really in the Christmas spirit. Jerry caught the cold so he has been pretty sick. We are sleeping in seperate rooms; but it is okay since we have Ruby this week too. So the kitty, puppy and I sleep on the futon let out in the family room. It is quite a sight to see the three of us all stretched out. Jerry sneezes a lot; and I am so afraid of catching this. Neal did call and ask (before Jerry got sick) if we would come watch Colin the week after Christmas. Sarah has the week of Christmas off; and the Montisori school the baby attends; is closed that week and the next. So if weather permits; we will go. I am so leary of the mountains we will have to cross right as we get there. So hopefully the weather will co-operate. Ruby has been so good this week. She is getting older too; so likes to sleep a lot. Joey and Lisa are due home late tonight. Long flight. Yes, Adele, Lisa does have PTSD I think. Joey has said to us he thinks she does. She attends a closed head injury group every month. But we aren’t supposed to know this.
My feelings are a little hurt since SARAH told Neal we should come up on Sun. and leave the next Sat. so this means we won’t be there at all during the CHristmas week. Enough said.
Colleen, soldiers I’ve known love playing cards, books, snacks, candy, homemade goodies, gift card (little amount) things like that. I think this is so sweet of you to do, and he will appreciate it so much. Just the smallest gesture to someone far away from home helps them feel good. sorry your fridge played out. i dont think ours is far behind. We have a side by side now, and I don’t plan on getting another one since this one doesn’t open fully in the corner we put it in if that makes any sense. lol
That is a great gift to each other Gail. We also have a wood burning stove. Ours sits out on a brick semi-circle/ bricks go out about six feet and our stove is pretty big. But we use it to heat the whole home and have used it once when we had a terrible ice storm to keep us warm AND cook on. Everyone else was eating sandwiches and we had hot soup and other goodies/even mugs of hot chocolate.
DD I can just see you and Snowball busy decorating. I bet your apartment looks just great and very festive. We sent our son in Las Vegas one of those Valerie wreaths for him and his family. He said they really like it and it really brought back memories of how he and his brothers and Dad would go tree chopping and gather greenery for wreaths years ago. Made me feel good. Made me think of times long ago too.
guess i better go, Ruby is looking at me with those big “feed me one last good meal please” and I’ve caved. lol nite

[Colleen]

#104525

Hi Barbara,
I think that the cold is really going around. Ron has had a cold for awhile and is finally getting over it. I think that I am catching it now. I hope not I still have a lot to do.
Thank you for the ideas of what to get the soldier. Everyone has sent me some good ideas. I have been thinking about getting him a gift card and maybe get him a food basket. It will be one that I put together. I am not sure that the ones that they put together for you is such a good idea.
That will be fun spending a week with Colin. Sarah does not realize how much she is missing by treating you so badly. She will find out when she cannot turn Colin against you because your son will not let her. Colin will always love you and Jerry and want to be around you.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104561

Hey Gailster!
I am with Piper- you better get busy!!
Everyone all across this country has that cold. Gary has been sick since Thanksgiving. So far, he is the only one who has been coughing his brains out. He has had 3 medicines- z pack, a pill to take 3/a day to stop coughing, and now a codeine cough syrup. Yuck. I keep telling him he needs an x ray, and he refuses to go. I then remind him of all the people I knew who died from the flu.
Kendal is like JJ- he stays in the bedroom with the door closed, on his phone. We check in with him, and he comes out to get supplies, and food only. It is just too funny. He is that magic age….13!
When my dad died, we had to wait to wake him on the 26th. Worst Christmas ever! Mind you, that was the second time I did that. My Uncle died on Dec 23rd too- my Dad’s brother. I have made it clear that should anyone else in this family die on Dec 23rd, I will not attend. Period.
I am still waiting for Tillie’s nightgowns and house coats to come from Macy’s. Also a pretty set of pj’s and a pair of leggings form the Q for Heather. My dam bow from amazon for the front door wreathe has also not arrived! What is up with the deliveries this year????
I better go…. its getting late. Ill answer the rest later.
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104563

Hey DD
Your holiday kitty is real funny. She wants to be right there, in the thick of it all. She certainly loves Christmas!
We have both been decorating our fingers off. I am finally done.
I love your pics- especially the Peanuts one. We have Peanuts stuff to put outside, and can’t because of the snow out there. It is supposed to be warmer tomorrow, so Gary is hoping enough disappears, so he can get them out there.
I have the Great Light Fight on right now….gotta get going, as my eyes are tired. I will read the rest tomorrow.
Have a good night!
Adele

[Gail Norusis]

#104577

Hi Colleen,
I hope your computer doesn’t go out again.
Yes, I think young people don’t write letters. They probably email and text and Facebook message people. Letter writing will be a thing of the past.
Yes, Brent spent part of Thanksgivings at Tenasha’s house and then he had to go to work. so he wasn’t alone which was good.
So he calls me yesterday and tells me he has been robbed. Someone broke into his shed where he keeps his tools stored and stole every last one which is probably thousands of dollars worth of tools. He has tools for working on cars and he does woodworking so he has woodworking tools and some other specialty tools. I know he has a lot as he fixes a lot of things himself. I feel so bad for him-it breaks my heart. He doesn’t have renters insurance so unless they can find the person before he gets rid of the tools he is just out of luck. They suspect that it might be the person who rented the house before him as he just got out of jail and he is a dope addict so he is probably looking for ways to get money to buy drugs.
I hope you like your new fridge. Now Ron will have something to do-he will be feeling the sides again to check up on it.
When will Melissa be arriving? Will Danyielle and the kids be spending the holidays with her boyfriends family.
Now that we have met the mysterious Ricky, lol, I have to find out whether he will be here at Christmas and get him something too.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104579

Barbara,
I hope Jerry feels better soon. Do you have to cross the Smokey Mountains to get to Neal’s. That is never my favorite part of any trip either. I am just not a mountain person. I am a Flatlander and proud of it. That’s what the Wisconsin people call us here in Illinois. lol
Well Sarah knows she needs you guys to watch Colin and you know it too. Since she didn’t invite you over Christmas I would make a big deal about being there to usher in the New Year with Colin just to get her goat. lol Sometimes sweet Gail can be naughty Gail.
Our previous fridge was a side by side and when it went kaput I got one with a freezer on the bottom which I love. it’s so massive though that I actually need a step stool to get to the back of the top shelves. I never really liked the side by side after I got it as the refrigerator side was so narrow. I was glad to replace it with the bottom freezer model.
Yes our wood burner won’t be the pot bellied stove like you have so there will be no cooking on top of it. They put the insert right into the fireplace hole so it doesn’t take up extra space and you don’t have to extend the hearth-so basically it looks like a fireplace but it has the heating capacity of the wood burning stove. You have to buy it according to if you have a masonry chimney or a prefab chimney with the siding surround. We have a prefab chimney as the masonry chimneys were so expensive when we built our home.
I used to send those Valerie wreathes to my brother when he lived in NM. He always enjoyed a little slice of the pines from home in the arid southwest.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104581

Hi DD,
I did watch the Light Fight show. I’m always amazed at how time consuming doing that must be. So you have seen the million lights place in person. That’s cool. Is there a lot of traffic past there constantly. I wonder how the other people in the neighborhood feel about it. I do enjoy watching that show though.
Good thinking to get the unbreakable ornaments. I’ll bet Snowball is really scratching her head over this turn of events. lol
I think it would be nice to make a little memorial shelf for Jewell. I have a picture of our dogs on top of a bookcase and next to it is a sign about losing dogs and next to that is a sculpture of a woman in a chair reading with a dog at her feet and hanging on the sculpture is the last collars that the dogs wore. It’s in a corner that no one even ever notices but me-so even though it’s in plain site it’s kind of private.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104583

Hi Adele,
I hope Heather is getting some movement back and doesn’t get too frustrated about it.
I’m sure she wants to be moving and doing-especially at this time of year.
Gary should get that xray as he could have pneumonia and that would need a different antibiotic. Although it does take us longer to shake things at this age too.
Yes, Kendall is almost 12 so she will be starting the moody stages soon. It’s kind of hard to watch-your sweet kid turning into someone you barely know. Unfortunately it’s been so long since I was that age that I can’t remember what it was like and what I was thinking but I don’t remember retiring to my room as much as the kids do now. For some reason Kendall has taken to going into Lachlan’s room-maybe because he’s rarely in there and she shares a room with Piper. Speaking of the Pipster she wants to enter the Milk Day princess contest next year so now Jenny and I are searching for someone to make the required crepe paper dress. Jenny never sewed at all and it’s been years since I sewed and i just sewed simple dresses back in the day-nothing as complicated as a crepe paper ball gown.
I am still waiting for some orders too. Mostly for the kids. i have one Item for Lachlan that I am just not sure if I will get in time or not. We’ll see. I heard that there is a shortage of package deliverers this season so the deliveries are slower. I have had an actual Amazon van come to the house. I sent Brent some stuff from Omaha steaks and he got an email that it had been delivered and he never got the stuff and he was home at the time he got the email so they must have delivered it to the wrong address and of course the people kept it-in the spirit of the season. (sarcasm) But he called Omaha steaks and they are resending. I got an email saying a package was delivered and I was looking all around the house for it and it ends up it got delivered to our across the street neighbor.
Gail

[adele shanbar]

#104588

Good Lord, Colleen!
All your electric items are on the fritz. That stinks, especially this close to the holidays.
I hope you love your new fridge. At least it will use less electricity than the old one. What kind did you get? There are so many choices today.
I think it is wonderful that you will have a soldier at your table. That is what the holidays are all about. Kindness, and giving. Your family is so good. God bless you all.
Well, when Tillie told Amanda what happened to her when the lights went out, Amanda nearly peed herself. Someone should invent a battery back up for those chairs!
Are you all decorated? I wrote my Christmas cards today- they will go out tomorrow. One more project completed.
I hope your computer will last through the holidays, so we can hear what you have been up to.
We are getting another storm tonight. It was 60 today, and then the tempts started to dip again. We will have a combo of ice and snow, so I rescheduled my doctor appointment to Friday.
Hope all is good at your house, and the new fridge is coming, or installed.
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104590

Hey Barbara!
So sorry Jerry got the cold. Gary has had it since the week before Thanksgiving. He is still coughing. It is a long lasting cold, that ends with coughing for weeks. I hope Jerry gets better way faster than Gary did/is.
My neighbor came over last night with her little doggie. He is a Bishon Poo. I had such a good time playing with him. He put his paws on my pal, and let me pat him as long as I wanted. He did not bark once. When Gary gt home, he stayed with him. Gary kept moving so he would not step on him ( with the neuropathy he never feels if he steps on something). Every time Gary moved, so dd the puppy. He wanted to feel Gary near him, and then fell asleep. When my neighbor got up to leave, he went under my legs and would not come out. He liked us! I was thrilled to lay with the puppy. He is all black, with a Bishon face. Her other dog is a huge rotweiller. the little dog follows the big one all around, all day long. So cute.
I am sorry you will not be there for Christmas with Colin. I will pray that changes, and you will be there….maybe a storm will come and trap you there until Decemer 26th…..
Are you all ready for the holidays? I have to wrap.
Have a good night!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104592

Hey Gailster
Read my post to Barbara- it has all the puppy visit stuff in it ( not actually a puppy).
Well, I just called Marissa to tell her to go home after work, and call me when she gets there. She was coming here to get our list for BJ’s, and I told her she cannot go tomorrow as it will be ice and snow. Bobby’s friend just stopped by, and said the roads are already bad. She thinks she is taking Luna to the vet tomorrow for her check-up- I told her to cancel it. She tells me she is an adult, and knows what she is g doing, so I swore at her….LOL I made her promise to call me when she gets home tonight- which should e pretty soon.
I am still shocked at what happened to your Brent. Dam them. He is always in my prayers. That kid has no luck at all.
Oh yes, JJ stays in the room most of the time, and comes out to eat, or play a game he likes….LOL He had no interest in tree decorating.
I love my freezer on bottom fridge. It keeps the food so fresh, I am continually amazed.
Hope you have a good night….also hope your deliveries come and you two do not catch the boyfriend’s cold!!
Adele
PS…only one nightgown arrived for Tillie. Bought her 4 and 2 house coats. MAcys is real bad this year.

[Colleen]

#104619

Hi Gail,
That is terrible that Brent got robbed. I hope they catch whoever did this. It could be the guy that use to live there. He may have just wanted to get even with the owner for renting out the place to someone else. People can be so strange.
It will give Ron something else to do for awhile. He quit feeling the fridge and the freezer but he will have to check the new one. Now he will be checking this one We got one with the freezer on the bottom and the french doors. I am hoping that I like this one. I agree with you about the side by sides. The fridge part does not have enough room. I am hoping that we like this one as much as I think we will.
The kids have all this electronic stuff now they do not have to socialize with the family.It seems like they do not like to talk to anyone. They want their privacy. I know that Owen and Ethan are like that.
When is the Milk Day? I hope that she wins.Is it hard to find someone that can make the dress? She will be so cute. It is nice that the kids want to do things like that.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Colleen]

#104621

Hi Adele,
We got a Samsung french door fridge. It has the freezer in the bottom. It has two ice makers on it and I did not one. Ron likes an ice maker but I am not crazy about them.
We have a soldier at our table every holiday. It will be nice to have an extra soldier this year. lol I was just kidding. We do have Stephen here when they can come. It will be nice to have them here. I have so much to do
We just bought this computer. It is just a year or maybe not that old. I cannot believe that I am having this much trouble with it. I use to really like Del but this has changed my opinion. I have never used any other type of computer.
How is Heather doing? I hope that she is walking without a walker or cane. How is Tillie doing? Does she like this doctor that comes to the house? I really hope that she does and will listen to him.
I have never seen a Bishon Poo? What do they look like? He sounds really cute. That was cute that he was staying right by you and Gary. Puppies are so cute and are usually lovable. It was nice of your neighbor to bring him over.
How is your shoulder? I hope that it is better and you are able to do more. That is horrible when your shoulder hurts. It is hard to do anything and it goes into the neck and back.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104649

Hey GAilster
I forgot to say how thrilled I am that our cutie Piper will be in the contest. We have to pray hard she wins, and I think it will not go over well if she does not. After all, she knows she is a Princess, and Princesses win. Go Piper!!!!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104651

Hey Colleen
I am so pooped today. Could be the weather, and it is definitely the decorating!
We got another 4 inches of snow. If it does not melt, the Snoopy outdoor decorations will never get up.
Tomorrow Heather goes back to the neurologist, so we will find out what is up, and how much she has improved in the last month.
Tillie has been very tired. It could be the exercises they are doing with her, or the weather. We have been getting a lot of miserable weather.
She does like the doctor, and the PT and OT staff.
You are going to love that fridge. I love mine. They keep the food so fresh, you will not believe it.
Do you have a good virus protection on your computer? That could be the issue. Check on that to see if you are ok.
Do you watch Bless This Mess? I almost peed myself it was so funny last night!
Gotta go….GAry is having trouble putting Snoopy together….LOL
Adele

[Colleen]

#104669

Hi Adele,
I can see why you are so tired with all the decorating that you have done. I love the way you decorated though it looks so pretty. I have just about got my house completely done. We do not have our singing Santa out yet but am not sure if Ron is going to get him out this year or not. I think that he is just so tired from moving things around he does not want to get it out.
You are getting snow early this year. We were supposed to get some snow but so far we have had nothing. You got it all. lol It would be so nice if Heather was walking around like normal for Christmas. Any improvement that she has will be great. sounds like they are really working on Tillie. It is no wonder that she is so tired. That is good that she likes the doctor and the PT and OT staff. That makes it easier on everyone.
I think that I have good virus protection. I did a check and it came up that everything is okay. We did all types of things and finally Kylie got it working again. I am lucky to have my grand daughters around to help with things like this.
I miss all those good shows. Ron wants to watch all the old shows or the news. So that is what we watch. Some shows I forget about and do not watch them.
I hope that Gary gets Snoopy put together and he will be out in the yard soon. Well that is all from here have a great night.

[adele shanbar]

#104695

Hey Colleen
I am attaching the snoopy characters. the mailbox opens and the little yellow bird comes out….LOl
Now, I am on to wrapping- the easy QVC way, with the bags.
Heather got the news form the neurologist today- she had an appointment with him. It is all her spine. He said since she is responding to PT, he is not recommending surgery right now. She is not so happy about it. She is afraid she will be worst than me, and I fear she is correct. My back did not start when I was in my 40’s. It started in my late 50’s. I guess all we can do is pray for her back.
Nancy and Gerald came to visit today. we had a lot of laughs, and I needed that real bad.
Then,. the end of the day we realized that when the oil company delivered oil, they hit Heather’s Jeep ( used to be Bobby’s), and the bumper was on the ground, with a few more parts. I got a big headache. Called the oil company, and they came down with the owner and the driver. They will take care of it, through their insurance. I did have their truck on video from my security system- so it was pretty clear. Bobby took care of it all, after I spoke with them first.
I am glad you are almost done decorating. Go Colleen!
Thank you for the nice comments on my crazy decorating.
Have a good night!
Adele

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[Barbara Smith]

#104699

Hope Heather got some good news from her check up Adele. How are her legs and feet doing now? Does she feel like the sensations are coming back? Prays for continued improvements. Ms. Tillie is probably just tired from all the activity; and I know that I am not able to do as much when the weather is cold or rainy. My bones and body in general just ache; and all I want to do is huddle under warm cover and sit. I know that is not good, but if I push myself then I feel worse. I am like you, Gail when I see young people working so hard, and think back on all we did as young ones, and now how little it takes now to take me off my feet. Gosh, how I would love to feel young again. I am so sorry to hear that Brent had all his tools stolen. That is so sad, especially when it was something he uses often. It is so sad that people feel what seems to be no remorse to take anothers property. I have had to call the Q twice about our packages being delivered to someone else’s address. Our “reciever” didn’t bring it on to us; like your kind honest neighbor did. This has been a terrible year for package delivery. The Amazon person pulled up to our home yesterday and literally tossed out of the van a package on the drive, and pulled out of our drive. I was trying to get my robe on to open the garage, but couldn’t in time. Luckily, I saw it so I could get the package. Back to Brent-I hope guilty conscious will make the person bring his tools back to him.
I am excited about Piper entering the contest. Mabey Heather can find someone who makes the paper dresses to help her out. Piper will do great. Is there a talent portion?
How are the mommies to be doing? Getting close now. Bet their little tummies are sticking out there now. What a happy time for all.
Adele, it sounds like Gary needs to do a sputum specimen (cough hard and spit into a glass tube, and close) since the cough keeps hanging on. He might agree to that, and as gross as it sounds it really gives precise information as to what is in his lungs. Mabey the doctor who comes to see Tillie could bring a specimen tube for the lab, and send it off for him. Just a thought.
Colleen, I have had nothing but trouble with the HP computer I bought 2 years ago. It makes me crazy most of the time. Sorry to hear of your troubles too. Glad you got your new fridge. I love the bottom freezer too. What I have found now that since we don’t use our ice maker as much with not much family using it now, that our ice maker freezes up at times and Jerry has to do something to it. I still have an old metal ice cube maker with that handle you pull to loosen the cubes. I have had it for years, and can’t part with it. lol love so many old the “old” things.
DD, your kitty loves you so much. She is just trying to help you decorate. lol Did you get her an ornament this year? I saw a cute kitty Hallmark ornament and it was solid, so they must know our kitties ha ha I think it would be so nice to make a shelf for your beloved Jewell. We have a special spot on our mantle with our furry family that have gone on and it really means something special to us. We always include memories of them during the holidays. It helps us to remember the happy times we had together.
How are you doing Sue? Good I hope. Did you get any bad weather with the storm that came through? Take care when out and about. Hope your door got fixed.
Take care all and have a good evening. Barbara

[Colleen]

#104708

Hi Adele,
I love your Snoopy set that you have in your front yard. I bet that is cute the little yellow bird in the mailbox. Does the mailbox open on it’s own or do you have to open it by hand. I love all the blow ups and yard decorations.
We will all keep praying for Heather and maybe she will never have to have surgery. You never know by the time they think she needs it they will come up with something else and it will not require surgery. The way medicine is going you never know. Just will have to keep praying.
How is Marissa doing? I hope she is not getting crabby like Brook is. It is hard to get along with her right now. She is always frowning and acting mad. She is a mess. We still have not met the father. We invited him over for Christmas so hope he comes. I told her that we all needed to meet him.
You are lucky that you have that camera and saw the guy that hit Heather’s jeep. It is good that they came right away and are fixing her jeep for her. With the proof that you have they cannot go without paying.
That was so nice that your friends came and cheered you up. You really did need to be cheered up. You have ha a lot going on there. Did you order lunch while they were there? I hope that Tillie came up and joined you and had some laughs also.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Colleen]

#104710

Hi Barbara,
I know how all of you feel. Never knew that we could have so many aches and pains as we got older. I do not think there is anyway to stop if from happening. Even if you exercise all your life when you get older you have aches and pains. Wouldn’t you love it if they had some type of pill that could stop all the aches and pains. Whoever came up with it would make a million.
I do not know about Adele’s grand daughter but mine is so crabby it is hard to be around her. You have to try not to get upset with her. She smarts off at us and rolls her eyes at us. I told her eyes were going to get stuck and she will have to hold her head sideways to see the baby.
I guess that all computers are the same. They just give us all kinds of problems. If it wasn’t for my granddaughter my computer still would not be working. I think this thing gets really bad right after they do p dates. I do not know what is up with that.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen
p.s.Hope that Jerry is feeling better and your aches go away soon.

[Dianne Danielson]

#104715

Hi Ladies,
Just a quick note to let ya know I’m alive. I know how some of you feel about the aches & pains we have. I’m not doing so well myself; decorating has taken a bit of a toll on me too. I can’t do nearly as much as I did even last yr. I can’t get excited about the holidays as I have in the past. I’m not really sure but it just doesn’t seem the same without Jewell. I miss her not getting up on the sofa & laying across my leg/lap, or on my chest. Snowball hasn’t got to that point yet. she doesn’t like being held at this point for any length of time. Maybe she’ll become more that way with time. she sleeps under the tree a good deal of the time.
Today is Poinsettia day so I took pics of mine. I got all of them at Michaels several yrs ago.
we’ve got alot of rain this week. Means lots of snow in the mts. the skiers will enjoy that. It’s too warm down here, 50+ for highs during the day. Verrrrry mild for this time of yr.
OH, I have several pics of the Mansion of a Million Lights & I was gonna try to snap pics of em but they’re so glossu=y, you could see my reflection. Like a mirror.
Well, that’s all for now.
take care
dd

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[adele shanbar]

#104759

Hello all…

First let me tell all of you that Barbara’s MIL had a fall, and is in the hospital. She broke her hip (think its the hip), and the hospital wants them to see the hospice staff for a consult.
She also said both she and Jerry are nto feeling well. I do not know why. One could assume they caught the baby’s cold.
Prayers needed for all of them.

Barbara
I have a lot of news too. The neurologist said all her issues are due to her spine. But, since she is responding well to PT, no surgery. She will have to see her spine doctor, which is the same one I have.
Heather is a little bummed out, as she does not want to end up like me, and she has started way earlier than I did.
I went to my GP for my annual. I have tachycardia….a fast heart beat, and the heart occasionally skips a beat. So, I will be on a new med to slow down the heart. My sitting rate is in the high 90’s, and I have topped off at 117 when PT works with me- walking around the house. I feel it is the level of pain I get to when walking that makes the heart go up that high, as I will begin to get woozy and sweaty when the pain from the spine gets worst. Happy days!
So, I also had my doctor look at Gary…to his chagrin. He has lots of noise int h lung, and he gave him another antibiotic, and sent for xray. the xray showed he has an elevated diaphragm, which decreases the lung capacity. There is also an area of the lung that has “stuff” in it, but not enough to be pneumonia right now. Should he have waited, it would have been full blown pneumonia.
Other than that, we have all the peanuts stuff outside, and everyone is good. Heather and I have all the gifts in the kitchen, and we will wrap tomorrow.
Marissa is feeling good, accept the baby gives her heartburn, and she is tired. so, that is good too.
Hope you are good Barbara, and that your MIL is better, as well as you and Jerry. Prayers sent!!
Love you!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104761

Hi Colleen
Well, Marissa is just as crabby as your granddaughter. She us usually so upbeat and bubbly. Not now. Se will bite your head off in a second. I told her I am dying for her to have the baby, so we can get her back….LOL
Tillie did not come up- it was way too early for her. She is not a morning person….LOL
Thank you for the prayers. I guess I need some too. As well as Barbara, Jerry, and his mom. She had a fall, and is in the hospital. Jerry and Barbara do not feel well. It is just awful, as they need their strength to help Jerry’s Mom.
The oil company is paying for the repair to Heather’s car. Do you believe- they even came and measured where the car was hit, and then called me to say the measurement lined up exactly with their truck. Ya think????
Please read the post to Barbara, as it explains what is now wrong with me…..not bad, I think.
Hope you have a good night….do you still love the new fridge?
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104763

Hey My Sweet Friend DD!
I am so sorry you are down. I think it is a feeling lots of people are having this year. It just does not feel like Christmas, no matter how much we decorate. I think with all we have going on, it gets harder to be excited. I ahve not even baked that much, and baking makes me feel good. I think it is because this house is so full of PT and OT people every week- 10 visits in all. Four for me, four for Tillie, and 2 for Heather. But, as of this week, Heather goes out patient, and Tillie’s nurse will no longer come. So, next week it will be 6 visits….LOL I am grateful they come,but it interferes with cooking and baking…..LOL
I wish I could get Snowball to come onto your lap and snuggle. Maybe when it gets real cold, she will come up to be warm. Each cat has such a different personality from the other.
Are you ok, physically?? When we decorate, it takes days to feel better again. Please be careful.
I was going to wrap presents today, and we never got to it. We were able to get the gifts out of the office, and out them at the end of the kitchen table. I hope I can do the wrapping tomorrow.
If we all lived closer, we could help each other out. You and Sue (and everyone else who is not living alone….LOL) could come for dinner, or coffee, and we would have such good laughs. We could have a pot luck and taste our good cooking, and a bake off to see who makes the best brownies!! that would be such fun.
Please read the post to Barbara for my latest medical news. The kids are a bit upset about it. I have nto told Tillie yet.
I hope I said something to make you smile. I love your pretty pictures. You know I love Snoopy!
When Heather finishes her room, we are going to watch Christmas with the Cranks. You should watch it too, so we can laugh on both sides of the country!!
Love you!
Adele

[Colleen]

#104765

Hi Adele,
At least the trouble trouble that you have with your heart can be controlled with medicine. That is always good news. It was good that you spoke up and the doctor looked at Gary. I cannot imagine how sick had you not talked to the doctor. Hopefully the medicine will help him to feel better and stop the infection. Why are men so stubborn?
I can understand how Tillie feels. I am not a morning person either. I am better at doing lunch. It is weird. I would rather go to the doctor or dentist in the morning then in the afternoon. You get in a lot sooner. I go and then come home and take a nap.lol
If you have a video of the truck hitting her jeep all the measurements in the world will not change it. They really do some dumb things that are just a waste of money. I wonder what was said to the driver. He should came to the door and let you know that he hit her car. That was not smart to just drive off like that. You were lucky to have a camera to record that.
It is hard to put up with my grand being so crabby sometimes. I feel sorry for that baby if she does not snap out of this. I guess we all get crabby the further along we got. It is really uncomfortable the last 2 or 3 month’s.
I went shopping and picked up some things that I needed to get. We went to JC Penny and then went to Rural King. We got thru the place really quick.We were surprised because there was a lot of people in the stores. e always have an extra person that is coming that we do not find out about until last minute. So now that is taken care of. We found a really good restaurant while we were out. It is a bbq place and they give you enough food for two meals. We had pork steaks and have enough left over for tomorrow.
You are always in my prayers. All you girls are and your families. I just say a special for the ones who are having a harder time. Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104792

Hey Colleen!
well, get this one! As the storm was so awful yesterday, it gave me a gout attack. That has been happening lately. So, I took extra indomethacine and it gave me a belly ache today….LOL LOL LOL If I were having a heart attack, i would never be able to figure it out!
Marissa just arrived to wash the baby clothes. She has 5 weeks left, and is getting everything done. She is very organized. She wanted to use our washer, as it is huge. Steph and Aizen are coming too. Everyone will be folding baby clothes….LOL
I am glad you got all the shopping done…now on to wrapping. I hope you do it the QVC way….bags.
I am a little disappointed that Quacker did not have any new Christmas cardigans. I like to get a new one each year.
Heather thinks the baby may come early, because Marissa is “nesting”. God help us- we may need a Christmas outfit for a baby…..ho ho ho.
Hope you have a good day!
Adele

[Colleen]

#104796

Hi Adele,
Sounds like you should have stayed in bed today. Wish I would have. We had freezing rain here today and now it is as slick as it can be here. At least we do not have to leave the house tomorrow. We were suppose to get some snow but instead we got the freezing rain. I like the snow but the freezing rain and sleet we can do without.
Sounds like Marissa is getting ready for the little one to arrive. She does not have that much longer to wait. Saturday is Brook’s baby shower. I do not like the day they chose it is too close to Christmas. She should have had it a little earlier that would have been better. Oh well you cannot tell my daughter anything.
I am wrapping the q way. The only problem is I have some that are too big for the bags. So it looks like I will be doing some wrapping. I did not ordered enough bags so next year I will have to order two bags of them.
I have been a little disappointed with Quacker this year. They did not seem to have as many cute things like they usually do. It seems like they are showing a lot of the same things over and over. I hope that they are not running out of new ideas. I do not like a lot of the new companies that are coming to QVC. I think that the prices of their clothes are a lot higher.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104823

Hey Colleen!

I had to argue the point to get them to do this shower early. Funny thing- Marissa said the other day that I was right about getting the shower as far away from the holidays as possible.
I hope you have a great time at the shower. What was the theme for decorations? Who did the favors- what are they? Just curious, as they were so crazy about this one….LOL
Yes, Marissa is in the “nesting phase”. She has 5 more weeks. So does your granddaughter! What was her date???
We are getting another storm tomorrow. Yesterday, form the rain storm we got, we had high winds. The winds knocked over all the nutcrackers and the snowman near the front door, and the Peanuts decorations came out of the ground. We even have some debris from other people’s decorations on the next street….LOL Gary had to fix one nutcracker- his drum fell off. Gary got all the blow ups back up, and we will leave them on again. Hope it works this time, and it should, as long as the electricity does not go out again.
You know, I loved the 2 piece Quacker Christmas sets- the tank and cardigan sets. I got every one they had. I was hoping they would do something like that again. or at least new cardigans. I wear my Quacker holiday cardigans every day, with a sleeveless mock neck turtleneck under them, or the matching tank from Quacker.
I hope the storm was not too bad for you. Ours starts some time tonight. God help us! LOL
I am praying Jerry’s Mom will make it through this, as losing eh close to Christmas is awful.
Adele

[Colleen]

#104834

Hi Adele,
They do not have a theme and no decorations. They are just using the Christmas decorations for the theme. They should have been planning this a long time ago. They are not doing anything fancy. My daughter just called me today and wants me to make squash soup. I cannot find the recipe have no idea what I did with it. I am trying to get things ready for when Melissa and her family come to visit. This is just a bad time. Since we have moved all this stuff in here from my mom’s and his sisters I cannot find anything.
Brook has about the same amount of time left. She is due a couple of days after Marissa. It would be funny if they had their babies on the same day. We still have not met the father of the baby. I keep telling my granddaughter that it will be weird to be at the hospital and none of us know him. Her mom has not met him either. This is strange.
I am glad that all of your Christmas decorations were saved. Sometimes they blow over and get flat and that is all for them. We have ice and snow on top of the ice. I wish we would have just got the snow and no ice. It would have been so much nicer and we could put the lights on the deck. Oh well next year we can put them out.
That is hard when a family member gets hurt around the holiday. I hope that she gets better. This is going to be rough on Barbara and Jerry. Wish they lived closer then we could all help her thru this. I just hope that Barbara and Jerry take care of themselves while going thru this.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night and be careful.
Colleen

[Gail Norusis]

#104854

Hi Everyone,
I hope we will hear from Barbara again soon as to how things are going with her MIL.
Colleen, I hope Brook gets a lot of nice things for her shower. Where are you having it? How is the new fridge? When are Stephen and Melissa arriving?
DD-did you get the decorating done? I am struggling getting mine done. We still have not put up the trees. I have been working on the table top stuff and wreaths nativity and Christmas village. I can’t believe I used to be able to get this all done in a couple of days. But when it’s done I love just sitting and watching the lights in the peacefulness of a quiet night. I don’t think i will take the decorations down until the end of January as it’s taking so long to get them up.
Sue, how are you doing? How’s the weather. I saw that last night there was a tornado in the town that my parents used to live in in Louisiana. My Dad’s grave is in that town in the National cemetery.
Adele, I’m glad they are addressing the tachycardia-hopefully it will help with the being out of breath. You guys are sure having a lot of trouble with your outdoor decor. The blow ups are so cute but are really affected by the weather conditions. I think we are going to have a green Christmas this year as they are saying probably no snow which is just fine with me. Quacker had very few new things for both Christmas and Halloween this year. The majority of their shows are now on Q2-I just see them as a declining commodity. I think the market for the type of embellishment that they do is disappearing. They had a big deal on Q2 last week and the pants I wanted in the colors I wanted were already sold out in my size before the sale even started so i was disappointed in that. I like their ankle pants the best as even the short in other styles are too long for me. The Q in general has had very poor items this Christmas season and they stopped selling Christmas decorations in October it seemed.
Colleen, I bought two sets of the bags but then I went and looked under Kringle express and also bought extras of the larger bags from them. I will still wrap some gifts-things that are in nice rectangular shaped boxes. I have to get crackin with that too. i can’t believe how far behind that Thanksgiving being late has put me.
Last Thursday we went to a Christmas concert by a group called 1224. they usually play only out east and this was their first foray into the midwest. They do a lot of stuff like TransSiberian orchestra. We went out to dinner before hand to an Italian restaurant that we hadn’t been to in ages called Cafe Calimari. It was really good! We didn’t go to Jenny’s last Friday as she was having a wine and sock party-I could have gone if I would have wanted to but i would have been the only old lady there since she doesn’t invite her ex-MIL to these things anymore-and even though I know most of the women-I’m sure conversations are more free without me there. Friday we will celebrate Pip’s birthday-and when she is having her party on her actual birthday on Saturday we will be visiting our friends in the city. Then Monday will be Christmas guitar night. A very low key acoustic concert. busy busy busy-in between all that I need to finish decorating and wrapping.
Gail

[adele shanbar]

#104861

Hey Colleen
I hope you find the soup recipe. That is ok that they are using the Christmas decorations. They are quite festive. I bet it will look very pretty.
Marissa had an ultrasound Monday- baby weighs about 5 lbs. I think she is getting nervous because she gets some pains- those braxton hicks ones, I guess. Heather keeps saying she will go early. I think as long as she hangs on for 2 more weeks, all will be fine.
That is very weird that none of you have met the Dad. What is up with that? It makes me wonder if she plans on keeping him aorund. Does she talk about him at all? i hope everything between them will work out for the best.
It snowed here, and now we are having sleet. Gross.
I am making American Chop Suey tonight. Everyone loves that, so it should be ok.
I bet you are getting excited about Mandy and the girls visiting. When do they get here? It will be great to have everyone together.
I hope we hear from Barbara soon, and that Jerry’s Mom has improved. It is a difficult time to lose a loved one.
Hope you have a good night.
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104863

Hey Gailster
I am also wondering how Sue has been doing. I hope all is ok as there was a day when the winds were really bad. I hope her door stayed shut and secure.
I wonder if Barbra’s MIL is worst, as we would have heard if the news was good. Just awful to go through these things at Christmas. My heart goes out to all of them.
You sound like you have some nice events planned. It is so cheery to go to Christmas events. The concert sounds nice too. I bet there will be some funny stories from Piper’s birthday. She is such a cutie. I would love to see her and Aizen have a conversation, as it would be hysterical
It has been taking a lot longer to get the decorating done. I feel the same way- lets leave it up a bit more to enjoy all the pretty lights. I have never finished decorating this late. We are getting to be old biddies…..LOL
Totally agree on the Quacker stuff. I was dying for a new Quacker cardigan. Oh well.
Hope you have a good night!!
Adele

[Anonymous]

#104865

I am okay. Just not into Christmas like the rest of you. I have had to listen to it since July & am sick of it & just want it over. Sorry that is how I feel, glad you all love it. I am so ready for something to watch on TV that isn’t Christmas.
Also been staying in out of the crappy weather. All I want for Christmas is sunshine. It has been so dark everyday that the lights needed to be on all day long. We have had every kind of winter weather. Today my car & everything outside was encased in ice. Tomorrow is to be very cold & windy with snow showers. I need to get out to the grocery store & a few other places so I hope it lets up soon. I just don’t want to fall.

Those of you with babies check out Quacker lifestyle collection. They have a lot of baby things and 20% off right now. I don’t think you can fault Quacker Factory for lack of items. QVC decides what they want & only buy what they want. QVC also sets the outrages prices & sticks the shows on QVC2 so anyone killing the brand is QVC. All they want to sell anymore is Logo.

So anyway I just have not been on as I have nothing to say that you want to hear.

[Gail Norusis]

#104867

Hi Sue,
I am glad that you are okay. I hope that your weather improves. I knew Quacker had the towels and glasses and pictures and cell cases but I didn’t know about the baby stuff and the socks. Very cute. Maybe Adele and Colleen would like something for the new great grands. Thank you for mentioning it.
I know many people feel the way you do about Christmas. I think one of the things I like the best is the lights brightening the cold winter landscape. Thus I have things that light up all over my house. I also have always loved giving gifts and especially to the children-you only get to see Christmas through a child’s eyes for a short time and then they grow older and stop believing. But I also like to see if I can think of something that the other members of my family would really like and never get for themselves. I kind of consider it a treasure hunt. I like the music as it seems so happy and joyous and we could all use some happiness in our lives-and the old movies I could watch over and over-White Christmas, Elf, Christmas Vacation etc. etc. But not everyone feels that way and that’s understandable. We used to go to a beautiful children’s service on Christmas Eve and that always filled me with hope for the coming year. Now whether we go is kind of dependent on the weather. That’s what happens when you get older.
You are totally right. I did mean to mention that I don’t think QVC is buying Quacker like they did in the old days-and they are to blame for that but I wonder if Quacker sells like it used to. All the clothing prices are getting steep on the Q. I remember when you could get a Denim and Co. outfit top and bottom for under 40 dollars. Does anyone remember Fashion Formulas? That goes way back. And their Christmas programming has been very stale with the same products showing over and over.
Gail

[Anonymous]

#104869

I use to love decorating, shopping & wrapping gifts. But now there is no one to see the decorations and no one to buy for, no kids. I like Christmas music for a while but it gets old after a while too. There use to be a lot of Christmas music shows by different performers but not many anymore. I loved to go to candlelight service on Christmas eve & the church had the pretty tree & flowers. But I cannot go to that anymore. It seems like no one near here decorated this year. No kids on this street & older people some of us alone. I did love the lights. Just within reason. That show with all the lights on TV who has a million lights. That is just to over the top for me. Don’t they know less is more. What I would like more than anything is people stopping by for a chat but everyone is to busy.
I do remember fashion formulas. I owned some & they wore very well. I think they were supposed to be in with D & C but fell by the way side. All of QVC seems to be going downhill now. I wonder if Quacker Factory would sell on their website if QVC for some reason no longer carried them.

[Dianne Danielson]

#104871

Hi Ladies,
Just a quick note, I’m still addressing cards. This is the latest I’ve ever gone. I usually do them right after turkey day. Sue, I know how you’re feeling. I feel the same way. It doesn’t feel like Christmas. This is the slowest I’ve ever decorated. It’s taking me so much longer to do it. I’m thinking it just might be my last one decorating. I’ve loved decorating for all the holidays but it’s getting harder & harder all the time. I’m not getting rid of the decorations just yet. But I just can’t muster up the spirit this yr. Maybe it’s losing Jewell, lack of Christmas spirit, I don’t know. Even Charlie Brown can’t get me in the spirit. So you’re not alone. I’ll be glad when it’s all over & put away.
I see they’ve been having 6 easy pay on everything the past couple of weeks. I was able to pick up a few things. Harry London had a 3 box set of chocolates, that has 2 of my faves, dark chocolate lava cake, Mississippi Mud pie chocolates, they don’t have in other sets. I don;t know why they stopped
putting them n their TSV sets anymore.
We;re having a Christmas party tomorrow. An extravaganza it says. That should be fun.
I haven’t read all the posts yet so forgive me. I’ll get back to it eventually.
we’re staring a big rain storm starting tomorrow (Wed,) night, going thru the weekend. Thurs. & Friday will be the worst. It’s a pineapple express, coming up from the south Pacific. We’re supposed to get up to 4″ of rain. That’s alot for us at once. I got to the store today for supplies.
Take care all.
Love,
dd

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[Colleen]

#104884

Hi Gail,
The baby shower is going to be at Mandy’s house. There will not be that many people there. She wanted to keep it small because it is so close to Christmas. I wish they would have thought of that earlier.
I love my new refrigerator. It is so nice . We have two ice makers in it and that I am not sure that I liked that. Ron loves the ice makers and so it is what he wanted. I think that the freezer in the bottom is a lot bigger then the side by side. I am so glad that we got it.
I have a couple things that will not fit in the bags so will have to wrap them. I will order a lot more of them next year. I may order some this year if they have any left. I really like them they are handy. I am not good at wrapping.
Do any of your grand kids like that slime they have. Kaylee just loves that stuff. I went to Costco and found a big box of it . It has some sparkles in some of it and some is plain. She will probably like that a lot better then anything else she got.
You always have such good concerts that you can go to. I wish that they had some here. I could go with my grands my daughter won’t go. She is like her dad she does not like to go to places like that. I will never understand why they are like that. The other two girls will go but they neither one lives close to me.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Colleen]

#104886

Hi Adele,
That is not a bad weight for the baby. He will not weigh that much when he is born unless he gains a lot the last month. It is getting exciting now that it is getting closer to time. Brook has had the braxton hicks pains also. It seems to scare her when they have those.
Brook still talks to the dad and sees him. He never comes in the house are has met Mandy. Kylie has met him and says that he is nice. I told Brook that he was welcome to come here for Christmas. She said that she does not know if she will or not. I told her he was going to have to meet the family sooner or later. She is stubborn though. It will be so awkward if we do not meet him before the baby is born.
Your chop suey sounds really good. We had pot pies tonight. They were frozen so did not make anything special. Your dinner sounds really good. I have never made that. I think you gave us the recipe a long time ago but do not remember how you made it.
How is your gout? I hope you are feeling better and it is not giving you any more trouble. It will be nice when Melissa and her family get here. I see Mandy all the time. She is the one that lives close to us.
I hope you do not get a lot of freezing rain. It finally ended here but the roads are still bad. Well at least the side roads are. I guess the main roads are not bad they kept them clear,
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Colleen]

#104888

Hi DD,
I hope that you enjoy the party that they have at your place. That is really nice that they do that for all of you. Hopefully it will give you more of the Christmas spirit. I wish that there was something that we could say that would make you feel better about the holiday. Maybe you can pick up your new fur baby and give him a little hug and he will like it. I forgot his name.
You bought some really good treats from the q. They have been showing some really good food here lately and have it on easy pay. I have bought a few things from the q food wise. I bought David’s cookies and one of their cakes. The kids will like all of that.
Are you going to your friends for Christmas? I hope that you are. If not maybe you and Critt can have dinner together. Then the two will be together and not alone. If you lived closer you could come here. We always have room for more.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Colleen]

#104890

Gail,
Tell Piper that I said Happy Birthday.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104901

Hi Sue!
I am glad you came on, as I wanted to make sure you were ok. I get it- everything is holiday crazy.
We ahve been having the same weather. We had a snow/ice storm yesterday. Gary had to go to his doctor today, and fell twice- once in the driveway, and once trying to fix the crazy drunk nutcracker. My neighbor was driving by, and backed up to rescue him.
The whole sordid affair is on video from the security camera. But, I can’t save the recording. Ill have to call the cable company.
Now that I know nothing is wrong with him- accept some nasty bruises- the video should be on AFV.
Please be careful if you go out. It would be awful if you fell.
Hope the weather gets better for you too.
Have a good night. Tonight they have the All in the Family show on again- that is nto holiday related……
I did buy the socks and a onesie for the baby.
Love you Sue!!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104903

Sue and Gail….
When I ought the stuff today- socks and onesie- it was through Amazon when I checked out. There was no QVC option to pay.
Totally agree on all points- even the Halloween show was nto as good as in years past. We all love the camaraderie between the hosts, and the fun talk. It seems all business now,
Love you guys!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104905

Hey DD!!
I hope you have a great time at the holiday extravaganza tomorrow, and sit with some nice people to enjoy it.
I agree- the loss of your kitty has finished you off for holiday spirit this year. That’s ok. You have a right to grieve. You take as long as you want. It will get better, I promise you.
I am saying a prayer that new pretty kitty will come and sit on your lap and snuggle.
How is Crit? Is he going to the party too? I hope so.
Love you to pieces!! Watch the All in the Family show tonight- it will cheer you up.
Love, Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104907

Gail and Colleen….tell Piper Happy Birthday from me too. Where have my manners been????
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#104909

Hi Colleen
Marissa gets scared too when she has them.
I hope you have a great time at the shower. Smaller ones are more fun, because you can talk to everyone.
We got a lot of ice yesterday. Gary fell twice- once in the driveway, and once tying to fix drunk nutcracker. He got bruised but nothing is broken.
It is freezing up here tonight. It will get a little warmer, and then cold again.
The gout went away again. It is real weird that it has been reacting to storms. Very strange.
Dd you see the baby stuff Quacker is carrying? I got a onesie and a bib. Marissa is going to die laughing when she sees them. Are you going to get one too?
I am getting tired, so I better sign off for now….LOL
Hope you have a good night and watch the old Good Times show tonight.
Love you!
Adele

[Colleen]

#104918

Hi Adele,
That is just so sad that Barbara’s mother-in-law passed away today. Barbara is not feeling well either. I hope she gets to the doctor and has him check her out. She cannot put it off any longer. I just feel so sad for her and Jerry. It will be hard on the whole family.
It is going to be a little awkward because some of this guys family is going to be there and we do not know them. It should be interesting. This will be the first shower that I did not at least some of the boys family. I guess that we will meet at the shower. Oh well it will be interesting.
I am glad that the gout has gone away and hope that it does not come back.
I did not order any of the quacker baby clothes. I received an e-mail showing the items that they have. I am not sure when I will get them. Ron bought an outfit for the baby. It is a plaid shirt with brown pants. It is so cute. I put it in a seperate bag and put his name on the gift tag. It was funny that he picked it out for her.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#104941

Hey Colleen
It is terribly sad about Barbara’s MIL. I am so very worried for her. I am praying she will see her doctor or go to the ER.
I hope you enjoy the shower this weekend, and like the young man’s family. I am sure your granddaughter made a good choice for a baby Daddy. She sounds like a good kid, with a good head on her shoulders. She will be a great Mom.
That is funny how Ron picked out an outfit for the baby. Gary would never do that. He has no clue what to get for anyone, let alone an Itty Bitty….LOL I am dying to hear what your daughter and granddaughter say about his gift.
It is freezing up here today. It was 6 this am.
I hope all is good with all of you, and stays that way.
Have a good evening.
Adele

[Colleen]

#104959

Hi Adele,
I am worried about Barbra. She is not feeling right and she says that it is not normal. She needs to go to the doctor or to the emergency room. I am really worried about her. I guess we will have to keep praying for her.
Brook has a good head on her shoulders sometimes. I wonder about her. This was her first boyfriend and that is what worries me. I just hope that they are happy together.
Ron can really surprise me sometimes. He buys me purses every other Christmas and they are really cute. So when he picked out an outfit he just surprised me . This is the first time he has done this. I may order one of the quacker onsies for the baby but will wait until he is born.
It has been cold here also. Not as cold as where you are but it is supposed to warm up this week-end. They were saying that it is supposed to be in the upper 50’s on Christmas Day. That will be something.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Gail Norusis]

#104969

Hi Sue,
That is a good question if Quacker would sell on their website if they were asked to leave the Q. Maybe Tim would just want to wrap everything up and retire. He probably has made enough money to live in comfort for the rest of his life so there wouldn’t be much incentive there. Or maybe that’s why they are testing selling more things on the website right now.
Yes, I think the old days of the Q are long gone. Didn’t it seem it was much more relaxed and fun in the early days. I remember being excited to watch certain shows and now for the most part I could care less.
Another clothing line that I think Denim and co. was going to take over was Sports Savvy. I loved that line for my easy stay at home lifestyle.
Greg and I often think how awful that must be to live next to one of those brightly lit houses. Unless it was Clark Griswold’s. lol I do like the people that asked for donations for an animal shelter and for Saint Jude’s from the people who come to see the lights. I do like that trophy that the winners get though.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104971

Hi DD,
How was your party. Fun I hope. Don’t feel bad about being late-Greg and I are finally getting our trees up today.
I love the way Snowball is laying on the decorations like she is the one exhausted from decorating. If those are pictures of your decor you put up a lot of stuff so no wonder that you are tired. It all looks very pretty.
You are getting rain and we are getting a green Christmas which I don’t mind at all. It makes for safer travels for everyone.
it’s funny the time between Christmas and new years has always been one of my favorite times. Everyone still has their decorations up and feels festive but everything is much less hectic and more peaceful. We have a low key New Years Eve usually eating appetizers and watching old movies.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104973

Hi Colleen,
I never heard of a freezer with two icemakers. That’s a lot of ice. What does Ron do with it all? lol
Yes, our grands all like the slime and have had various slime making kits. I tried it with them and you have to get the proportions just right. Years ago when the kids were about 8 or 9 Greg’s company packaged the slime for the Ghostbusters toys and we were the most popular house in the neighborhood with all the kids because we got free slime and that’s when it just came out.
I wish you had some people to go to concerts with too. if we lived closer we would take you with us. It would be sad if Greg didn’t like going. I can take him to just about everything-the only place he probably wouldn’t go would be to see the Chippendale dancers. lol I doubt that I would be going to that anyway. lol
Maybe Brook’s boyfriend is shy about meeting her family-after all we have to remember that they are just teenagers-and he may feel embarrassed. At least he is sticking around-many times the boy will not want anything to do with the baby-although legally he is still responsible sometimes guys will shirk their duty in that respect. I know my friend was married to the father of her daughter and when they got divorced he never paid child support-never sent her a birthday Card or christmas presents or anything. It was awful. And to add insult to injury he remarried and adopted the children of the woman he married. Then he got older and ill and tried to reestablish a connection but they really didn’t want to have anything to do with him at that point.
I hope you get to meet him and his family at the shower.
That is so cute that Ron bought that little outfit. I remember Greg’s Dad bought a wicker rocking horse for Jenny because she was the only girl out of 6 grandsons at that time and he was so thrilled. it’s too bad both of the kids grandfathers died before they could get to know them. My Dad loved to fish and so does Brent and they never got the chance to do that together.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#104975

Hi Adele,
I can’t believe that you got the video of Gary falling down. Poor guy. I’m glad that he is not hurt.
Did you get the chance to do any baking this year or is the shoulder still too bad. Plus you guys have a revolving door of physical therapists too.
So are you going the paper plate route for Christmas dinner? I’m still not sure what i am making. I will have to decide soon as Greg will probably shop for me on Sunday.
Will you do the latkes for Hanukkah? I must be hungry as I keep talking about food. lol
tonight we are going over for Pip’s family birthday party and tomorrow we are going into the city to have our holiday get together with another couple. We will go out to dinner with them too. sometimes they cook and sometimes we go out.
I will tell Piper Happy birthday from you and Colleen. She is quite excited. I got her a hair blinger. I hope she will put a jewel in my hair. lol
Gail

[Colleen]

#104997

Hi Gail,
We have an ice maker in the door and in the freezer. We can turn one off and the other will still run. It will be nice to have when the kids are here. I just hope we do not regret getting this with the two ice makers.
I cannot believe that slime has been out for that long. It did not seem as popular when that movie was out. I guess the kids in our family did not pick up on it til later.
Brook’s boyfriend is in his 20’s. I am not sure what I think about him. Guess we will see.I think that I’m just missing my mom.This Christmas will be so sad. I can’t believe she will not be here.
It is uncommon for a dad to buy baby gifts. I do not know why they could pick things out just as well as the women can. I am really crabby tonight I should not be on here. So I guess I will get off here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Gail Norusis]

#105034

Hi Colleen,
How was the shower? I hope that you got to meet the boyfriend and his family. It’s getting close for you all and then you will be able to welcome a new little family member.
I know you miss your mother. I wish there was something I could say or do to make it better. All I can say , from experience, is that it does get better with time-that’s the only thing that lessens the pain. And if you need to cry just let it go-it’s better not to hold it in. And then think about the happy memories and ask her to watch over the new little baby that is coming into the family. Then enjoy the company of your daughter and her family and remember to have fun too. Were you able to put a basket together for the service man who is coming?
We went into the city yesterday to meet our friends for a Christmas get together. We had such a nice time together. We haven’t seen them as frequently this past year so it was nice to get together. Christmas is close and I still have all the presents to wrap and get the house cleaned up. it takes me two days as I do the second floor one day and the main floor the next.
I think Ricky is coming over for dinner on Christmas. So Jenny and the kids will come over earlier for appetizers and presents and he will come later for dinner-that way he can spend some time with his family if he wants. I still have to plan my dinner as Greg will shop for me today. Help! lol
Gail

[Anonymous]

#105043

Do any of you have a good recipe for candied sweet potatoes? My friend is looking for one & thought my mom made it but she never did & neither did I. If you have something easy I will pass it on to her. She did not ask for easy but at 99 years old I am sure she doesn’t want anything to complicated.

[Gail Norusis]

#105045

This is how I do it. I boil the yams until they are cooked through. After they are cool I slice them put lots of butter in a frying pan and fry them until they are a little brown but not real dark on the edges. When they are just about done I sprinkle brown sugar over them basically to taste and let some of the brown sugar drip into the pan drippings too. You can serve them right out of the pan like that or put them in a dish and warm up later in the oven-if I do the latter i pour the combined butter and brown sugar drippings from the pan over them to keep them moister when I reheat later. I suppose you could reheat them in the microwave too-I think my MIL did that and she made them the same way.

[Dianne Danielson]

#105047

Hi Sue,
The way my mom did it was take a can of yams & pour into a medium baking dish or cake pan. Take 3 tblsp of butter & place over the yams, then take brown sugar & top the yams with it. Then she’d pour just a little maple syrup over them then put the mini marshmallows on top. Heat in the oven till the marshmallows were golden brown. I forget the temp of the oven & for how long but they always turned out delish. I imagine the oven would be 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes, not long. I don’t have the recipe in writing, just memory cuz I helped do it. I hope that helps. It’s easy & simple.
You could find recipes on Google if this doesn’t help ya. Supermarket short cuts.
dd

[Anonymous]

#105049

Thanks ladies I knew you could help. I gave her one from an old church cookbook & I will give her these then she can chose which she wants to make. Thank you again Gail & DD.

[Dianne Danielson]

#105055

Hi Ladies,
Well I;m sitting here with no picture on my TV. I have audio but no pic!!! It was doing fine up until earlier today. I have no clue as to what’s causing it. I tried playing a vidio or DVD thinking they might bipass the issue. But no. I watched a Christmas movie, then poof nothing.
Sounds like everyone who is expecting little ones are getting excited about the blessed event. Isn’t there an old saying about losing a loved one, then a new one comes along. I don’t remember how it goes exactly. Colleen, the first yr of not having you mother is the absolute worst! Every holiday, special events, you always know she’s not there anymore. It took me a long time to “get used” to the idea of her being gone. And that’s if you really do. Go ahead & have a good cry if you need to. Don’t hold it in & don’t let anyone stop you. I did for a long time.
Adele, did Gary find his ring? Maybe Snoopy grabbed it or the drunk that’s out in the yard.
Well, I don’t know what I’m doing Christmas Eve, but I am going out to friend’s for Christmas dinner. Not Hallie but the family of a lady I lived with after I got done taking care of Arline. I probably talked about her, Virginia. She had the most beautiful kitty, Heidi. Her son has Heidi now, so I still get to pet her & visit with her. Funny thing she remembers me. As soon as she hears me she comes trotting up to me. Oh, she purrrrrrrrrs so loud. I used to chase her around Virginia;s home when I was living with her. Heidi would “stalk” me & then would run when I clapped my hands or gave chase. She was going 90 mph on a slick floor, going no where fast. We;d do that for hrs it seemed like & Virginia would get the biggest kick out or watching Heidi slide side ways turning a corner. Her hind qtrs would go out from under her as she tried turning into V’s bedroom.
I got sidetracked, sorry.
The rain has subsided now, we were getting water logged!! Local flooding in the lower lying areas around the area. I;m in no danger from that. It just makes it hard to get to the store, but I took care of that before hand.
I know what ya mean about it being more peaceful after Christmas, heading into the new year. My friend Diane, her b/day is Dec. 31st so we go out to dinner & she pays for mine, & our other friend pays of hers. We used to have to wait for another of their friends so we wouldn’t eat till after 8 or so. But she passed away 3 yrs or so ago so now we go before the crowds. Makes it nice to finish dinner at a normal time.
Well, I guess I better go get something to eat.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
dd

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[Gail Norusis]

#105072

You’re welcome Sue. I love that she is 99 years old and whats to try making something new.

[Gail Norusis]

#105074

Hi DD,
That’s terrible about the TV. Once again my favorite times to watch the old holiday movies on DVD is between Christmas and new years. I hope you figure out what your problem is soon. However, if one does need a new TV usually prices are low at Christmas.
I’m glad you will have a place to go on Christmas Day. It sounds like you will have fun seeing the cat too.
The picture that you posted of the cat looks like my friend’s Birman cat. They are so pretty.
I heard that Washington had a lot of rain but not Oregon too. They said on the Today show this morning that Portland had never had a white Christmas-is that true? Wow! that would be weird coming from where I do. We aren’t having a white Christmas but I don’t really mind as hopefully that will make for safer traveling for people. The grands were concerned that they wouldn’t have any snow to play in over break but that could change at any time too.
Gail

[Dianne Danielson]

#105101

HI Ladies,

I heard from Adele earlier & Marissa was rushed to the hospital when she started bleeding this morning. Adele is asking for prayers for Marissa. It;s also the anniversary of her father’s passing so she’s pretty upset. I tried to calm her down as best I could from this far away.
They did an ultrasound I guess, but no results as of this writing. Dr. was in surgery at the time. She also said the baby weighs about 6 lbs right now.
That’s all I know right now.
Sending prayers for Marissa.
dd

[Dianne Danielson]

#105103

HI Sue, & Gail,
You’re welcome for the recipe. I hope she’s able to pick one & make em for her dinner. It’s funny how you remember something from 50 yrs ago like that but I can’t remember what I did last week or the day before yesterday!!
Gail, that’s not exactly true we have never had a white Christmas. they showed on the news we’ve had 4 white Christmases; 2017(barely), 1935, I can’t remember the other yrs. We have about a 1% chance at having a white Christmas. We get it either before or more likely after Christmas. I remember New Years’ Day we were surprized by a storm that paralyzed Portland. the airport was shutdown for days as well as the rest of the the city. after the snow came the ice & we were prisoners in our homes for days!! I believe it was 2002, or 2003
We keep hoping.
dd

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[adele shanbar]

#105111

Hey Girls
It has been a long day. I am grateful to God it ended well. Today was the anniversary of my Dad’s death, and I usually ignore it. Well, not today. I got the call from Steph saying to get Heather dressed and ready in a minute as she was on her way to my house to give me the boys, and Marissa was being driven to the ER by her boss as she was bleeding. i immediately went on to ER mode, in other words a social worker Er mode, in full control. I yelled at Heather to get herself together, as she will not be any good to her girls if she did nto stop crying. Then started the family ER calls. Enzo was stuck in the tunnel coming back from Boston and was the last to get to the hospital due to all the traffic. Pina was in Revere, and immediately started being hysterical, as she is the MOST Italian of all of us. I grabbed Heather’s phone, and told Pina she had to get herself together, that Marissa was already at the hospital, and everyone needed to be calm. Off they all went.
Had a chat with Aizen as he was visibly shaken. I told him our biggest worry was that we did nto have a “Baby’s First Christmas” ornament for little Sonny D. Also told him babies come when they want, and we just have to be patient. He was concerned he woudl nto be able to see baby. Tld him as soon as baby was born, and all snuggle din a blankie, we would go to see him. That settled him down.
Then came the hysterical call from the hospital- the nurse called security on the crazy Italians in the waiting room. this is what happened….when they got there, Marissa’s boss said the nurse had a real attitude, and was not nice to anyone, including Marissa. That is all you have to say to Italians, that one one of your own is nto being treated with the best of care. So, Steph tires to open the door to go into the second area to see her. the nurse yells not to push the door, as they were locked. Steph stops, and asks to see her sister please. They open the doors, and tell her again to stop pushing the door- Steph says she is holding the door for her mother. Nurse still angry saying she is pushing door, and does she want her to call security. Steph says-if that is what you feel you need to do, then do it. Then they talk between themselves, in full hearing range of all of them, saying,”Do you see how many people are here, and they will probably send her home, Who do they think they are?”. Steph goes back to the nurse station, and tells them they hear them and “have they never seen a large family who care for each other before? We cant be the first large Italian family in this hospital”. She also gives them the “what for” for talking badly about Pina, who was loud and speaking in Italian, in the waiting room, because she was so scared. (Pina gets very animated when she is upset, after all she was raised in Italy)
So…..They are in with Marissa, and in comes security. Security is looking very embarrassed, as they are talking to a 99 pound 4 foot, 11 woman, whose hair weighs more than her. They apologize and explain why the doors are so secured. Steph tells them she has no problem with that, as she wants her sister safe in here. She is glad the doors are secured. She also told them she was not pushing the door, she was holding it for her mother. They leave.
So, when they called me I yelled again……do I have to come in there and babysit all of you? Seriously? Do-you want this family to be on the evening news, for God’s sake???
By the way, there were a total of 8 people there for Marissa….LOL Heather, Steph, Enzo, Pina, Benny, Talia, Julia, Bobby, and Carmela. Bobby went in after work, and Carmela was in the hospital doing dialysis on a patient- she is a nurse. Can you imagine? If we did not need to watch the boys, there would have been 3 more….LOL or, if we brought the boys, 6 more.
Meanwhile, they did an ultrasound and found out amniotic fluid was low, so they gave her IV fluids. They waited until 6pm and gave her another ultrasound. Sent her home, saying she had to come back Friday for another one. She is having a lot of back pain, and some small labor pains. I am betting baby will come early. Thank God Steph got a Christmas outfit for baby, just in case.
So, much later I text’d Steph and told her I was proud of her sticking up for her sister, and family, with the “calm and deadly tone” I am so proud of, that goes with “the look” That scared the be-Jesus out of my kids for years. Well done.

Now that being said…….Sue, I do nto have a recipe for that. I am glad the girls had some. I have a maple carrot or squash recipe…I think. Have not made it in a while. Glad you did nto get any damage form the rain and ice storms.
Colleen- we may end up with very different birthdays for the new babies. Ron is hysterical with the outfit for baby, and your new pocketbooks!
Did you have a good time at the shower?
I hope you all have a great time with your guest soldier and all your grands there!!
Barbara- we are all so worried about you. I bet you did a wonderful funeral and that one of you gave a beautiful memorial. In spite of how you feel, and your grief, I sincerely hope you have a decent Christmas. I am praying you will nto feel worst and that your results come in good form the doctor. I am hoping a minor adjustment needs to be made on medicines.
Gail- Hope the party with Piper was fabulous, and that you have good stories to tell. Also hope all the events you went to turned out great too. Did you ever get all the decorations up?
Yes, I did bake, but I had 2 more cookies to do today, and that did nto happen. Imagine- I only did 3 cookies???? Attaching two of them, as I forgot to take a pic of the third one. I hope I will remember tomorrow….LOL
DD- thank you for telling everyone and getting the prayer circle going for me today. You are a sweetie!! I love your pics, as they are always so beautiful. Also glad you have people to dine with on Christmas. Glad your Christmas party at your complex went well too. It is nice to celebrate with friends and neighbors!
Love you all….hope you will not be embarrassed to know my crazy Italian family……LOL LOL
Adele

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[Anonymous]

#105118

Merry Christmas Everyone. Thanks to those that sent me the pretty cards. DD is that a photo of the mansion with the lights you were talking about? Sure is pretty.

[adele shanbar]

#105120

Hey Sue, and everyone…

Merry Christmas to everyone. Please stay safe, and have a wonderful day!

Love all of you.
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#105122

Hello everyone……So, Marissa is saying becasue of all the commotion in the waiting room yesterday, she is not calling anyone when she goes into full blown labor, accept Enzo…..LOL LOL LOL

Love, Adele

[Colleen]

#105133

Hi Everyone,
I hope that you had a Merry Christmas! We have been having a great day and we really like the young man that came with Melissa and Stephen. My oldest daughter got me tickets to go see DWTS show when it comes to St. Louis in February. I am so excited.
Adele I am saying a lot of prayers for Marissa. I hope that she is doing well and they have fixed her problem. It will not be too bad just having to go and have an IV put in. They may induce labor and have her deliver early.
Well that is all from here have Great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#105154

Hey Colleen!
We had a good day too on Christmas Eve. Nobody returned for Christmas Day, so it was quieter here, and that was ok. Marissa stayed home to rest, as that was what she needed to do, and Steph and the family stayed home so the boys could play with their toys from Santa. Marissa and Enzo’s sisters came for 5 minutes to get some food from here for Marissa….LOL
All went well, and the kids liked their things. Marissa was hysterical over the Quacker baby clothes. I sent a pic to Angel, so she could see the reaction to the cute Quacker clothes.
Well, Marissa is still mad at everyone over the hospital incident. She said they kept coming in and out of her room, making her more nervous, and the security being called really made her mad. Sooooo, nobody will be called when she goes into labor, and nobody is allowed at the hospital until after the baby is born, only Enzo. I told her it is her baby, and she can have it any way she wants. It is what it is, as I say.
That is wonderful that you all loved the soldier. I bet he loved all of you too!
So glad you all had a good day.
I saw on on Facebook that Sue ended up with no water on Christmas. Her landlord needs to do a better job for his tenants. I bet he had water on Christmas.
Hope all is good with you today.
Adele

[Colleen]

#105193

Hi Adele,
We went to my oldest daughter’s for Christmas Eve because they were not coming here this year. So Christmas day we just had the two younger girls here with their families. Brook’s boyfriend did not show up. From what I hear it was good that he didn’t.
That is nice that she liked the baby clothes from Quacker. It is nice that she liked them as much as she did. I am glad that she came to your house for Christmas Eve. I miss the kids if they are not here Christmas day. I guess since we were little kids we always celebrated on Christmas day. So I guess that just is habit.
Poor Marissa. She must have been worried with all that was going on. Hopefully they will not come when she goes into labor. You are right she should have control over who is in the waiting room or her room when she has the baby.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#105230

Hey Colleen
Marissa is still home. No baby yet. She is so angry with everyone that she has nto told anyone what happened at the doctor’s yesterday. Can’t be bad, or we would have heard, I think…
We have the boys tonight. That should be fun. We just found out we have that Netflix thing free with our cable for a month. So, last night we watched that new movie The Irishman. Everyone who is good is in it- Al Pacino, Joe Pecce, Robert Dinero, Ray Romano, and many more. It was a movie about Jimmy Hoffa, and what they think happened to him. It is based on a book that was written to investigate his disappearance. It was long- 3 hours. We all watched it. They have the movie Klaus on too, and everyone was saying how good it was, so we will watch it with the boys tonight.
We are doing potato latkes tomorrow night for Hanukkah. I am not sure how my belly will tolerate those….LOL
Gary’s cough is finally gone. But, still have not found his wedding ring. I hope it turns up somewhere- put it out on Facebook too.
We are getting an awful ice, and sleet storm form Sunday night into Tuesday night. Yuck. I’m glad you got to see everyone between Christmas Eve and Christmas. What is up with Brook’s boyfriend? Hope it is repairable.
Did you hear about the awful murder suicide up here? A mother threw her 1 1/2 year old, and 4 year old little girls off a building, and then jumped. What posses people? How can you do that to your children? I just do understand how a mother can be that depressed to do that- twice. I cannot imagine how the police and EMT’s felt dealing with that scene. Horrile.
Hope you are having a good day!
Adele

[Colleen]

#105238

Hi Adele,
Well Marissa is holding or at least the baby is. It would be better if she delivered the baby closer to the due date. I think that she will call you and let you know when she goes into labor. She will not be able to keep it from you. My little Brook said that she is going to call me when she goes into labor. We will see. She may call the whole family.
That will be fun with the boys tonight. I have really enjoyed being with my daughter and her family. It is so much fun being with them. The kids are interesting to be around. I am learning a lot about the tablet and all the different things you can do on it. She gets on this site called Tick Tock. It is just kids on there and she is only allowed to have friends on there.
You will have fun watching the movies. I have been wanting to see Klaus but never have. We do not have Net Flix and probably never get to try it for free. Dish does not do thing things like that.
That is good news that Gary’s cough is gone now. When did he lose his wedding rings? I hope that you find them. Men lose things and they seem to be gone forever.
I cannot imagine anyone waiting to kill their children. The fear in their eyes would stop anyone you would think. I will never understand it. Leave your kids with someone if you want to kill yourself. Why punish them for your pain? That is just so sad. I am so glad that I do not have a job where you have to deal with that. I could not do it.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[adele shanbar]

#105257

Hey Colleen!
The sun is currently shining, but we will lose it soon, and not see it again until New Years Day. GAry took up the blow up decorations, so they will nto freeze to the ground.
I am so tired….LOL I think it is the combo of the boys activity, and the bad weather coming. LOL
Aizen did really enjoy ET, but, he fell asleep about half way through. I forgot how really cute it was. I loved when ET hid in the stuffed animals.
I hate hearing about that awful murder/suicide. It makes me sick to my stomach imagining how terrified those kids were.
I heard from Barbara. Still no answer on the tests they did Friday.The doctor did say something about the bottom of her lungs not sounding good. She still has the appointment with the heart doctor too. I think no news is good news, as they would have called her right away if something was bad in the tests. At least that is what I am hoping for.
I am watching ITKWD, and Dave is not there. Not very interesting things on today for the show. that means I either already own the gadgets, or not interested in them…..LOL
I hope your sundae is going well, and your weather is good so the old bones do not ache!!
Adele

[Colleen]

#105259

Hi Adele,
We have had a lot of rain. It has been cloudy so it is just depressing around here. To day was a foot ball day for our sil. I have never seen anyone watch as much foot ball as he does. He watches sports on his phone also Never saw anything like that.
ET was a really good movie. I can remember the kids watching it when they were little. They made a lot of cute movies when the kids were little. They had some cute cartoons also. Now they have Sponge Bob Square pants. That is such a weird show.
QVC is getting so boring. I wish that they would have more fun like they use to. It was not just about buying and not talking about things. I guess it will never be as much fun as it use to be. That is so sad.
The kids are going home tomorrow. I will miss them when they were gone. I do not know when I will see them again. They are moving to Maryville Tennessee. That is even farther away then they are now. They will be living closer to the Smoky Mountains so it will be cooler there we think. It will be interesting to see.
Well that is about all from here. Have a great night.
Colleen

[Dianne Danielson]

#105270

Hi Ladies,
Well we have just 2 days of 2019. Where did this yr go??? I hope everyone is doing fine. I’m not. I woke up with a raging sore throat this morning. Now my head is all stopped up. As the old saying goes, it’s all in my head. lol
So, anyway, I got my tree taken down, but it’s a slow process. Poor little marshmallow is so confused she doesn’t know quite what to do.
Oh, I did have a wonderful time with my friends Christmas Day. Had lots of food, & lots of fun. They always have a gift exchange & I came home with a lovely frame I’m gonna use for my pics of Jewell. It’s a big one, a collage type frame. When I got home a little white kitty was over joyed to see me.
My friends also gave me a TK framed trio of his paintings, in miniature, along with som TK Christmas cards. I may just frame some of them.
It sounds like it’s gonna be a very wet New Yrs Eve & New Yrs Day. Not cold enough to snow yet. In the higher elevations they’ll get snow. We need it up there tho.
I’m struggling to find things to write about, so I’m gonna close for now.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
DON’T party too much.
dd
PS: for those who got pics with their Christmas cards, yes that is the Mansion of a Million Lights. the one I talk about.

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[Gail Norusis]

#105288

Hi Everyone,
It sounds like everyone had a good Christmas-except for Sue not having any hot water. I hope that is all fixed now.
The guys are coming here Friday to put in the new wood burning stove into the fireplace. I’m glad Greg will be home when they do that as sometimes these workers tell me things and I have no idea what they are talking about.
DD-how nice to have Snowball waiting for you at the door when you got home on Christmas. I can’t believe you already have your tree down. Since I just finished up the weekend before Christmas I have no intentions of taking down decorations until the end of January. By that time the days should be feeling a bit longer.
Colleen, it sounds like you had a great visit with Melissa and Stephen and the kids. It sounds like Stephen is enjoying all the football games-right now there are the pros and all the bowl games too. When will they be moving? I hope the kids don’t mind starting a new school. I always thought that must be tough.
I’ll bet you are excited to see the DWTS show. That show did come to Rockford a couple of times but I never did get tickets for it but I thought about it. I think my sister went to one once. We’ve been having a lot of rain the last day or two also. The fall was so wet that the farmers were still out in the fields around Christmas trying to get things done-I don’t remember ever seeing them out so late in the year but they were taking advantage of that warm weather that we had around Christmas. We are supposed to get snow today and tomorrow. I have no idea how much. I’m kind of hoping that it will stay north of us.
Adele, I hope things have settled down for Marissa. I know Jenny had some amniotic fluid leaking with one of her pregnancies-I don’t remember exactly what they did except keep a close eye on it.
We had a nice day visiting our friends the weekend before Christmas. Nan and i went out shopping and didn’t even buy anything. lol
Then the Monday before Christmas we went to Christmas guitar night which was nice but a late night for a weeknight-poor Greg had been up early for rehab that morning and still had to work on Tuesday and it was after eleven when we got home-those darn guitar players don’t know when to quit.
Speaking of guitars Greg will start building his third one this winter. It’s really kind of amazing how he builds a guitar out of a bunch of pieces of wood.
Christmas was lots of fun. I love spoiling the kids and seeing their faces when they open their gifts. Some things were on their lists and others I went rogue with. lol It’s such a short period of time when they get excited about Christmas and believe so I like to enjoy every minute and every year as they grow up so quickly. Piper made something at school-even Jenny didn’t know what it was as she came home with it wrapped. So she could chose to give it to whomever she wished and she chose to give it to Gigi and Grandpa (GPa) for short over her Mom and Dad. Needless to say Greg and i were quite touched by that and she was so excited for us to open it. It was a snowman with her picture on it that you could hang on the tree for an ornament. We will treasure that forever!
The day after Christmas I was so tired and also felt a sore throat coming on so I lay down and took a four hour nap! But when i woke up I felt so much better and didn’t even feel sick anymore so I guess I was just overtired. I am enjoying the relatively quiet time between Christmas and New Years. We did baby sit last Friday. I should have taken pictures of Greg on the floor playing with Piper with her new LOL chalet. It was so cute!
I hope Gary finds his wedding ring soon-otherwise the women are going to start chasing him! lol I don’t think Greg’s could come off that easilyHow were the latkes? Why are they hard on your stomach? I love a good potato pancake. My grandmother made the best.
Anyone doing anything exciting for New Year’s Eve? Not us. We are staying home and watching old movies. We may be dog sitting. I’m not sure yet. I gave Greg the choice between a surf and turf dinner or appetizers and he chose the appetizers so here’s what’s on the menu chicken liver pate (homemade), cheese ball, (not homemade) crackers, deviled eggs, lobster roll sliders. shrimp cocktail and pigs in a blanket-Adele, I just realized you couldn’t eat half my stuff. I’m so glad that I don’t have a sea food allergy. I remember my mother used to make us eat this creamed herring for good luck. Yuck! We probably won’t even make it until midnight.
My wish for everyone is for a happy and healthy New Year. Remember also to smile and enjoy life.
Gail

[adele shanbar]

#105292

Hey Colleen
Will the kids be close to where Barbara is? Wouldn’t that be nice if they could have a cup of coffee with her someplace!
I bet it is real quiet there today. When the kids leave here, we become a ghost town. They have so much energy and laughter fills the house.
It has been pouring rain, and then sleeting all night and day long. It is gross out here.
I wonder if Sue is getting the same stuff we are. She is further south, so she may be all rain.
I have no idea what we will eat on New Years Eve. I don’t want to even try to do take out, as it will never get here, and be cold and gross. The restaurants have way too much to do on New years Eve. I am very undecided about it. I had an idea of getting the good corned beef from the Jewish store, and just have sandwiches. the store is right next to Panera, so they could get a nice loaf of bread too. What are you going to do?
Today is Aizen’s birthday, and I have not been able to reach Steph to sing to him. I even tried to skype him- no go.
I hope you have a good New Years Eve!! I also wish you a healthy New Year!
Love Adele

[adele shanbar]

#105294

Hi DD!
You always post such pretty pictures. You are our ambassador of Good Will. You always keep us smiling, even if we had a bad day.
That sounds like lovely gifts your friends gave you. they certainly know what you like, and took care to give you the right thing. just curious- what did they serve for Christmas dinner? I like to hear people’s food traditions. Gives you ides for different things to eat.
It is raining up here too, and then sleeting every once in a while. Gary took all the blow ups in yesterday,and Bobby took in the nutcrackers outside so they won’t get soaked before we put them in the attic. I packaged up the big Annalee dolls to go away. that is all I did so far.
Today is Aizen’s birthday, and I have not yet spoken to the little guy! Left messages for them and tried to skype them-no go.
I hope you have a good night- nothing good on TV lately. We have been watching movies.
Have a safe and healthy New Year!!
Love, Adele

[adele shanbar]

#105296

Well, Gailster…the menu is still not set up here for tomorrow night…..LOL
Gary loves the pigs in a blanket. i am betting he will stop at the store and pick those up, becasue his nasty wife forgot to put them on the list. We still have a lot of leftovers form the Swiss Colony company. We have a few cheese spreads, salamis and cheese blocks. So, those will be available. I had the idea of corned beef sandwiches. And….no, I would not be able to eat your goodies. I would have stood at the table and cried, as I love shrimp and lobster…..LOL
Marissa is still being watched carefully. No baby yet, and that is good.
Aizen could not use his cool toy from me, because Amazon never said you need a sim card for the dam thing. I think it is arriving today. They got a bad review for that. First time I ever did that, as a chikd who cannot play with his toy is the worst on Christmas. It was one of those kid smart phones. I was so pissed, I bought another one from The Sharper Image- theirs did nto need a sim card. that one is not here yet either…..LOL
We did not have the latkes. Nobody’s belly’s could have taken the oil….LOL Hey- maybe we will have them on New Years….LOL
It sound slike you had a great time over the holiday. I like to hear good stories, and especially Piper stories. How cool that she gave you the present! Our little Aizen bought us gifts at the school holiday store. He gave me a ice bag face mask, as he told his Mom Nana loves her ice bags. He bought Gary gloves, becasue his hands are always cold. How cute was he!! We all died laughing. I love the school store. They do not do it for the middle and high schoolers. We all give him money to buy his little presents. I get such a kick out of it.
How in the world did you and your friend not buy anything?? LOL LOL that is the funniest story ever.
Don’t forget to post a pic of the new guitar Greg makes.
I wish you a happy and healthy New Year!
Love Adele

[adele shanbar]

#105298

Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy New Year!!

Let us all pray we will have some good health news, and happy family and friend news too.

Love you guys!!
Adele

[Anonymous]

#105300

I just find it odd that restaurants are open in your areas as ours close early for New Years Eve. Only the bars are open. I know I wanted to get pizza on New Years Eve but none of the pizza places are open. So I bought a frozen one to bake. Will have pork & sauerkraut for New Years Day. I love it & its to bring good luck. Did you hear Mary on ITKWD say chicken is bad luck on New Years because chickens scratch backwards. I Had heard that before.

I got a surprise tonight. I had made scalloped potatoes & ham for my neighbors. So she brought my dish back tonight & had made me a small meatloaf. That was handy as I was just going to have eggs so instead I had that & cauliflower. She said they loved the scalloped potatoes & ham. She said hers don’t get right so now her family will want her to learn to make them. Hope she doesn’t ask for my recipe because I don’t have one. I learned from watching my mom.

We had rain all day yesterday & today but it has been mild. That is to change next week. We had a beautiful day Saturday The sun came out & it was in the 50’s. I really enjoyed that. It has been so rare to see the sun.

My water is fixed for now but I am afraid it won’t last. The plumber said he did all he could with it. He was calling the landlord because if it goes again it will probably need a new hat water heater. That seems odd as the landlord before this one had replaced it several years ago. You would think they would last longer than that. But I do need hot water so if it comes to that I hope he will replace it.

I wish you all a Happy Healthy New Year.

[Gail Norusis]

#105327

Sue,
I find it surprising that restaurants in your area close early. Around here all the restaurants are open as New Years Eve is a big going out to dinner night. Most have special menus and some even stay open until midnight to ring in the New Year.
That was nice of your neighbor to make you a meatloaf. You seem to have some nice neighbors.
We had some snow over night-not a lot but enough to cover everything. I hear that the roads are very icy as it was raining before it turned to snow so everything on the roads probably froze.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#105329

Hi Adele,
The corned beef sandwiches sound good for NYE. it’s a good thing Greg and I aren’t coming to your house though as neither of us really care for corned beef. We used to go to a Saint patty’s party every year and we ate it there but that was about it. It’s funny how years ago we had parties and attended parties and now not so much anymore. We’re more likely to meet someone for dinner.
I know sometimes our town has a shopping with Santa thing where the kids can go and buy little gifts for their parents. I think that’s so nice. I know once Kendall bought me a cookbook from that. It’s nice that your schools have a place where the kids can do that. I know they are so excited when they can pick something out and pay for it themselves.
What does the phone do that you got for Aizen. That would be bad to not be able to make it work right away. Thank goodness for Prime shipping though. That has saved me more than a few times. We were lucky this year and not a lot of the gifts required batteries-which i make sure i have on hand anyway around Christmas.
We had some snow last night. Just enough to cover everything. So no more 50 degree weather. It was nice while it lasted.
Gail

[Gail Norusis]

#105331

Hey Colleen,
I forgot to ask-did Brook’s boyfriend make it to the shower and did the rest of his family.
I hope all the pregnant ladies are doing good and all will have safe and speedy deliveries.
Are they both planning on getting a spinal? I can’t even imagine what that must be like. It’s funny how birthing options have changed from our mother’s times where they just took the woman to the hospital and knocked her out and when she woke up she had a baby-to the natural childbirth movement which is what i did-to the spinals that they use now where you’re awake but don’t feel the pain. I wonder what will be next?
I’ll bet your house is quiet with everyone gone but I’ll bet you’re tired too-but in a good way.
Gail

[adele shanbar]

#105340

Hi Sue
I love sauerkraut. Do you just heat it from the jar, or cook it like the German’s do? Tillie has a whole process she follows, with smoked meat added- a smoke kind of daisy ham ( get it at the German store), and a slab of smoked bacon. The Germans cook it after the New Year to get all the “poisons of the sugary stuff out of your system”. LOL
What a nice thing for your neighbor to do. Now you have a great dinner that you did not have to cook. How sweet of them. Also very nice of you to make that potato and ham dish for them too! Isn’t it great to share recipes? Now you have the dinner you bought to make tomorrow.
The restaurants have their biggest nights ever up here, and you wait for hours for a table, even if you made a reservation. A lot of the sub shops and fast food places close early. Panera Bread closes at 7 tonight- Gary got one of the last loaves of bread and could not get a sourdough one. Then he went to Lendy’s a Jewish deli to get the corned beef. get this….so he calls me to say what size container I wanted of the potato salad and cole slaw. I say the smaller container is fine. Well, he has the smallest container I have ever seen- it is about an inch high. I meant the small not large round container you get soup in to take home. So, each of us can have a spoon of cole slaw and potato salad….LOL Oh well, there will not be any leftovers for sure.
I hope you do not have another issue with the hot water heater.
We had the worst weather last night. We had rain, sleet, freezing rain and thunder and lightning. I have never heard sleet hit the windows that hard- it was coming down in buckets. It was really weird. Today was just overcast.
Have a great New years Eve….we will be watching a movie and then switch to watch the ball drop. Very exciting up here…..LOL
Love you!
Adele

[adele shanbar]

#105342

Hey Gailster!
Aizen’s is a wrist watch/smart watch for kids. It takes pics, can do a few games, and he can call his parents through their phone connection plan. It is so cute,and looks like the Apple watches, accpet it is blue. he loves electronics.
I have no idea if Marissa is going to have a spinal. I was put out and learned later what I had- girl or boy. It was the end of the generation that put the mothers out.
Well, Marissa and I had a talk today. I am afraid she has PTSD form the bleeding incident. She was so afraid the baby was going to diue,a nd still feels that way because her doctor does not know why she bled. she is afraid it will happen again, and that something will happen to the baby. She cried. I told her to google PTSD, and that she will see she has it. She has been staying to herself, and not calling anyone. She said she barely talks to Enzo, She just wants quiet and alone time. this is not good. I told her she needs to speak to us and not stay alone. I feel awful, but can understand how scared she is. I hope the baby does come a little early, so she can see he is fine. They are doing weekly ultrasounds to check him.
Please read my post to Sue for all the info of the day….LOL
Have a great New Years Eve…we will be watching a movie and then the ball drop.
Love Adele

[Gail Norusis]

#105344

I am starting a new discussion page for January. See you all there.

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