Another nasty rainy day here today - and supposed to turn much colder (at least for us).  Margaret was going to Knoxville to the Lady Vols' game, then head home through here to have dinner with me.  But she's having freezing rain, so decided she'd be smart and stay home.  Current plan is for her to come pick me up on Saturday, and then I'll stay until Tuesday.  She was going to come over here to the Lady Mocs/Notre Dame game on Tuesday, so that will save her a trip.  We're hoping that Kate, Wayne, and Jean will be able to come for Xmas Day, too.  That'll make for a fun time.  I'll have to reschedule one PT visit, but that shouldn't be a problem. 

jane, that's sad about your friends.  Dementia is such an awful thing.

I haven't done much (if any) decorating for many years, so nothing much around here.  Some friends sent me a lovely seasonal flower arrangement, and that's a nice touch for me.  We all do what works for us individually, don't we.  Sounds like everybody has some sort of plan - even for dealing with the weather. 

Just a reminder....our great niece, the Veterinarian and her husband, also a Veterinarian, posted this again on Facebook.  Don't be suckered into spending extra money for "hormone free" poultry.  It's  ALL hormone free by law!!
=============
Hormone Statement
Submitted by AAAP Drugs & Therapeutics Committee (November 2016)
Approved by AAAP Board of Directors (December 2016)
The modern poultry industry has never utilized hormones or steroids to raise
commercial broilers, turkeys or egg layers. In fact, no hormones or steroids are approved by the US Food
and Drug Administration for use in poultry, and doing so via the water, feed or injection is specifically
prohibited by law. Even though some poultry products may state they are “Raised without added
hormones” on the label, you can have confidence that all products, so labeled or not, are in fact raised
without added hormones. Should you have any concerns about how your poultry products are produced,
we encourage you to contact

https://aaap.memberclicks.net/assets/Positions/aaap_hormone_position_statement.pdf

Jane..where do you get your gift box of cheese from....I ordered some  which wasn't good...very cold in Texas today....but it will warm up. CC

My sister goes to the local cheese houses in our part of Ohio.  She used one my dad used to buy from when he had the grocery store. As a kid working at the store, I remember Bill Yaggi bringing Dad cheese from their cheese house.

http://www.yaggicheesehouse.com/

Sounds good...wish they showed photos of gift boxes. Candy

Candy, have you ever looked at Pittman & Davis (Harlingen, TX)?  They're mostly Valley fruit, but also have cheese boxes and cheese with their fruit.  I've ordered from them for probably 50 years, and have never been disappointed. 

https://www.pittmandavis.com/ 

Buddies:  The warm, sunny South is 32 degrees and COLD
this morning. Brrrrrrr 
Joy

23 degrees here..no wind..sun out..waiting for it to warm up so can walk...got to get my BP down...Hi to all this cool morning. Darlene

Joy, you're colder than we are. We are about 40 degrees and misty rain. Yuck, but you certainly are having unusual weather for BR!  How's your family doing that got  flooded out?  I hope they are making progress toward getting back to normal although I'm sure it is a long process.

Darlene, you and Sue are so good about your walking!  Hope it helps your BP.

I'm going to write down those cheese sources.  We've received gift boxes from Harry and David and been very happy with those. We also received one from someone else, maybe Pittman that we weren't as pleased with.

I just took a container of ham & bean soup and cornbread down to Ms Frances for her lunch.  I guess I will freeze up the rest of what I have left. John has had his fill.

I have another load in the washer and one more to do later, then I will be caught up for a bit.

Have a nice day everyone.  Sharon

We've had Harry and David boxes, too, and they were very nice.

Yep, cold down here and still very, very windy!

Being outside is like being sand blasted, so no outside walking for us today.  According to the morning shows, it's to warm up this week all across the US except the far north.

We may, instead, go down to the Fitness Center and use the treadmill, elliptical or bicycle. 

Stay warm and safe,

Jane

Cold here too at 38° right now. Going to the Chiropractor at 10, Freckles will be going with me.  I will be starting back at the gym next month when my medicare advantage policy kicks in, the silver and Fit program is only accepted at one gym in the area, it is a women's only gym.

Yesterday was the December potluck at church. I really don't like that I have gained a few lbs more than I find acceptable. I definitel.yh will be cutting out desserts and watching what I am eating and the caloric in take.

The cold weather blast is terrible for everyone isn't it?. I just hope the weather is good for my drive south., not that far south either the weather is the same there as here.

It's cold and damp here today.  I did get my walk in this morning about 9:30 and have been inside trying to write notes in Christmas Cards.  I'm not sending many this year, but trying to answer those who've written to me from other states--mostly Navy friends and neighbors long ago.

My sister, Anne, is having back surgery on the 27th.  I'm worried about this--she has spinal stenosis and I think the surgery is related to this.  Good thoughts and prayers would be welcome if you feel up to it.

I'm going to fix lunch and then get back to the cards.  I hope you are all having a good day and one with no hazardous weather.  I might be back later in the day if I can get more cards finished.  Tim is coming over about 4:00 to take me to see Dr. Gam, the clinical psychologist who has been giving me memory tests.

Sue

Grey and chilly here today, too (still in the 30s).  I've been to PT and will play duplicate tonight, but that's it for activities today.

Sue, good wishes to your sister on her upcoming surgery.  I hope all goes well.

Good to hear from you, Joy.  I hope all is well with your children and their recovery from the floods. 

Marilyn, hope you have a good visit with the chiropractor.

jane, stay warm.

Sharon, wish I could get some of your ham and bean soup - I love most soups, too.

Hugs, Buddies!

Sue I also have spinal stenosis. It is part of my trouble standing for awhile or walking any distance. My son calls it old agers back. Nice of him isn't it?

The little tree is up, but I haven't gotten out the village stuff yet. Not sure if my problem is age related or if it is depression.    Ray isn't all that big on Christmas stuff so I will be mostly doing it for myself.

Read all the messages, however no notes    so I will not comment any more tonight.

Sun is out. But still so cold for me. Saying it will go to 29 today. After 5 days for 7 deg days and 9 below nights. 29 sounds good enough to head out.  Spent all day yesterday getting my car jumped. $55. getting it over to where got the battery. As mine just a year old they put a new 5 year one in. Not tried it yet but it had better start.
  Glasses not back in yet. Lets hope these O.K after changing 3 times.I would never have gotten use to the way I had them first made.

Going to turn off all Tech stuff for a while to day. Get some other things done.  Need the Mall but it is a mad house there. They say cars lined up just to pull in from the Interstate
We had 40 accidents in my area in last 4 day of that Ice cold weather.  I don't Christmas shop and so can wait until next week.

SCFSue.  I moved this out of Photo's. Didn't realize we were posting there.


Sue.  But doesn't it seem like we had so much fun back in those days. I think that we handled them so well.  I also remember when snow would come down even here in Illinois same house. It would get up as high on the doors. I worked just a mile away and they would send the Maintenance man out with big equipment to did me out.  Most of other people at work would be getting the day off as they could not drive on the roads.  Of about 134 people at the place one day I remember just 5 of us got in. that was a full day. I had to be there because I took care of International areas and such as Australia, Japan etc and the Islands expect the phone answered. Could not believe the snow.
NOw I don't know if I could take all that mess now.   Even my car trouble last few days wasn't keeping me a happy person.  Things have to run smooth  for me
now. Went through the busted water pipes and wind damage twice. Did it now and I would be moving.  Don't know where though as every state seems to have something going wrong now.  We had 2 apartment building burn in my town here this past weekend making 18 families with no homes. I couldn't take it. Would just be taking insurance and heading away. That is one thing I make sure I have enough of.

As far as snow goes, it's only snowed twice that I remember since moving to Alabama in 1979 after Bob retired.  Once at the farm sometime in the '80s, just a light dusting that covered the ground and melted the next day.  And once here in Auburn.  All over town people made tiny snowmen about 8-10 inches high.  I got a kick out of that because on our first tour of duty in Maine (Bob had duty there twice), we went up to find a place to live about May 30th and the snow was still piled up to the picture window in the house we had to buy (no rentals available). 

That same year it started snowing in October.  In November or December the whole squadron deployed for 9 months (I can't remember where) and Bill was about 1 year and 2 months and we had a big storm.  Bill was standing on our little sofa and Murphy our beagle was up there on the top of the couch watching me shovel.  When I came inside, I saw Murphy on the couch and I yelled at him to get down and he knocked Bill off onto the sharp edge of the coffee table.  I had to drive to the emergency room holding the cut together with my right hand.  That was the first of many trips I made to a Naval base emergency room.  All 3 of our boys managed to get banged up from falls.  Bill and Tim especially were pretty active, Jonathan not so much.

I was called about 6:00 to go play bridge as someone canceled at the last minute.  My neighbor Brownie and her protégé (who was her secretary at AU when Brownie was still working) picked me up.  It was a nice group of older ladies.  I had pretty good cards and came home with first prize: $3!

Sleep well, Buddies.
Sue

Good morning!

We had dinner with our Iowa friends and Jim was his old self.  He doesn't know what happened those three days when he virtually slept around the clock....waking up for an hour or so, not hungry, and then back to sleep.  He lost 5 pounds those three days. 

Weather is slowly improving and warming up, and I'm off for a haircut in a few hours and a stop at WalMart for some items.

Jane

Quiet on the internet and around here.  There's some nice sunshine today, after an overnight/morning fog that had me scraping my windshield 8^( .  Our swim group had the annual post-class covered dish brunch this morning - such a great bunch of gals and such good food.  No lunch needed for me today.

I tried a trick that I learned on the internet this morning.  Someplace I saw the idea to keep a 2:1 mixture of rubbing alcohol & water in a spray bottle in your car.  Spritz this on your car's frosty windows, and it melts the ice very quickly.  Let it sit for a minute and maybe no scraping required.  It really works!  We were spoiled at the house with our carport, and no frost on the windshield on those cold mornings.  But my car is out in the open now, so every once in a while it gets frosty.

Neat trick, Mary!

Yes, Mary, that is a neat trick.  Glad you had a nice brunch with your pool buddies.

It was cold & frosty here this AM also, but sunny now and supposed to be mid 50's through the rest of the week.

Jane, so glad your friend is better although having had such an episode is not a good sign.

Jeanne, I don't envy you your location. At our ages, we need more moderate weather.

Sue, how is Anne?  Keep us posted.  Sounds like you're keeping busy in spite of not being able to drive.

I was up till 3:00 last night/morning. Yuck.  Slept till almost 10, but not a really restful sleep.  Not much planned today.  I could bake, but probably won't since John is on a diet.

Have a nice day. Hi to everyone. Sharon

MaryZ.  should have had you info on the Frost on Windows yesterday. Could not get the thick ice of. Kept scraping but didn't work. Even left the car running. I have a couple bottles of Rubbing Alcohol in the bathroom I think.  May made a bottle up. is that 1 water and 2 Alcohol?
Sun is out today and now 30 deg they say.  But we have some 0 weather coming back next week.  Bet you miss having a garage.  I haven't had one  for years. Had a big double at the house I had.

Yep, Jeanne - one water and two alcohol.

Just a heads up:  Today is  Joy's 88th birthday!



Sharon

I think it's Donna's birthday, too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS, JOY  & DONNA!!!

Happy Birthday to Joy and Donna..candy

Happy Birthday, Joy and Donna!  I hope you've both had a nice day and enjoyed family and friends.

Mary, we don't usually have bad frost on our cars here, but when we do, it's really hard to scrape off.  So I'm going to try your 2-1 rubbing alcohol and water.  Thanks for the tip.

Hi Darlene.  What's going on down your way?  I have the evening news on, but so far, no weather report--that comes later in the program.

Jeanne, how do you manage when the temps get down that low?  When the temperature outside gets down in the low 60s and lower still, my furnace runs way too much.  I always wear undershirts, turtle neck tops, and a sweat shirt with jeans if I'm not going anywhere--and am still chilly at times. 

Sharon, Anne called yesterday and her surgery which was to happen on the 27th has been put off until the second week of January.  I'm worried for her as I know she's anxious about it--and frankly I'm not sure that it will help.  I think the surgeon will open her back and clean out one or two of the affected bones.  I hope it gives her some relief.

Jane, it's good that your friend is feeling better--but has he talked to a doctor about it?  It sure sounds strange, especially the loss of 5 pounds.  I can't imagine sleeping that long.  I hope your haircut turned out well.

I'm off to check on other forums--and then it's news and probably another Hallmark Christmas program.

Sue

Sue. Your Furnace should not run much at 60 deg.  Right now mine still shuts off but quickly on again. My place well insulated and even those many big windows I have heavy lined drapes. Like to get rid of them but can't.
Going to have one heck of a Utility Bill this month but better to keep warm. Now I can't stand bedroom with heat in in. Turn off registers.
I have sweats on at the moment.

Hi Gals, I'm up and at 'em earlier than usual.  I had to call Ms Frances this AM to remind her that her daughter is coming in today and that she needed to get her hair done & tell her I would take her.  She was so confused last night, I wasn't sure how much she would remember.  Then after I had talked to her, she accidentally called 911, realized what she had done and hung up.  The next thing I knew the neighbors on her other side were at my door telling me the police were there and could I let them in! I was still in my robe, gown & slippers, but I traipsed down there and let them in, and find out it was a false alarm.  I'm sure the neighbors were amused if they saw me in my pink robe walking down there.  Anyway, glad it wasn't anything serious.

I will pick her up at 12:15 and take her to the beauty shop and then go get my grocery shopping done and then go back and pick her up. I hate the idea of shopping today. It will probably be a zoo!

Jeanne, we turn off our register in the bedroom too. I also have the thermostat set to turn back to 68 at night.

Sue, I can't believe your furnace runs that much at 60 degrees. I hope Anne's surgery goes well.  I had no problems with it. The unfortunate thing is that after a year or so, the pain came back. That's what I'm dealing with now.  I like the Hallmark movies too.

Jane, hope it is warm and sunny for you.

Hi to Marilyn, Ginny, Joy, Donna, Molly, and Mary Page.  Sharon