Thanks for thinking of Patricia.  She was in surgery 4+ hours and is now in ICU. 

I walked and got some errands finished up.  I went over to Beall's but that store here in Port Isabel is small and it just seems so jumbled all the time.  I think they're trying to cram way too much "stuff in it. 

jane

Good morning Ladies, it is snowing here well it has stopped now, but it was when I took Freckles out at 4:50 AM. Our visits for today have been called off.  Not much else is new here, I baked a cake for Keith this morning, still need to frost it though. I am eating healthier this year, no cake for me,

Jane I hope Patricia is doing well in her recovery.  Brain surgery that is  not  a good thing, so I will pray for her.

Good morning, Buddies.  I woke up about 7:45, ate breakfast, read the paper which had an article about a tiff between Coach Saban and Lane Kiffin--who left early for his new job.  I think Saban kicked him out.  Interesting!

I've had my walk, showered, and dressed to go out after lunch to sub in a bridge club where I've subbed before.  I think it was the one that Lue started. 

No snow here, but lots of rain yesterday--my rain gauge only goes to 5 inches and it was overflowing.  I think closer to 8 or 9 inches.

Jane, have you heard any more about Patricia?  I hope/pray that recovery goes well.

Have a good day, Buddies.  I'll probably be back in the early evening when I get home.
Sue

Yes, Jane, we want to hear how Patricia is post surgery.

Have a good game, Sue.

I was up half the night so slept till 10:00 this morning and haven't accomplished much except getting breakfast and cleaned up.  The pain clinic called, said they were trying to improve the process for those wanting nerve stims.  I gave her quite an earful, nicely of course, on how long I have been trying to get some progress on mine.  She was very apologetic and said they had  heard similar stories from others. She said she would check into my specific case and get back to me on Friday.  I sure hope she does.

It is sort of sunny here today and in the high 50's but the cold front is due tomorrow with lots of below freezing temps and possible snow.

Marilyn, how much snow did you get that they cancelled everything?  Or is Oregon like the south and it only takes a few flurries for everyone to get spastic?  Good for you on eating healthier. I'm trying also.

Hi to all. Sharon

Patricia is in pain but is sitting up and they have her on jello and tea and were to move her to a private room on another floor.  The surgeon says she's doing fine.  She'll be there a few more days, I think...or that was the plan.  The surgeon had to move a vein, put in some padding and had to partially cut a bit of the nerve.  So, it was Plan C.  I guess that's why you go to Mayo and get a good neurosurgeon. He does what is best once he's in there and sees the situation.  Donal sent me a pic of her sitting up...quite a turban she has...almost covers her eyes. 

Mary...we went over to Weslaco to the Flea Market today...Ray got some golf balls and a couple other items.  It was a nice day to go...not too hot. 

Sue...I heard there was some continuing conflict between Kiffin and Sabin...and then Kiffin took the Florida Atlantic U job and was late to AL meetings, etc.  So...Sabin has the new guy taking over NOW and  Kiffin is "free" to work on his upcoming job!  That's the way the analysts I heard put it.

Nothing much else new here. We're going to try a new place for supper tonight and then the potluck is tomorrow night here in the bldg. 

I didn't get a walk in today as we went over to the Flea Market Maryz knows about.   

jane

jane, glad you had a good time at the flea market.  Our friends from here haven't gone yet - and I don't know if they'll get to go at all this year.  As I said earlier, he had a skin cancer on his head removed which required a skin graft.  That didn't take, and they're waiting to see if it will heal on its own - or enough so that the graft will be smaller.  In any case, they're in a "wait and see" mode. Glad you're getting some good weather.

Kiffin is definitely persona non grata with Univ. of TN fans.  He was really awful when he was here and left things in a mess.  So everybody around here cheers each time he screws up.  LOL

I went to the Y this morning, then had a mani/pedi (such luxury!).  Randy asked me to knit him a sweater vest, so I went looking for a pattern.  I was surprised at how hard it was to find one - looked first on line, then Walmart, then HobbyLobby - the easiest places for me.  No success.  So I headed to my local yarn store and, of course, they found a pattern for me.  I also bought the yarn there.  That won't take as long as the other project I have going, so I'll probably alternate between them.

Margaret and Jesse are in town, looking at flooring to replace her den floor (maybe bamboo), and will be shortly to pick me up to go out for Mexican food.  Always fun.

Stay warm, Buddies!  (except jane and CC)

Lue used to play in the club I subbed in today.  I sure miss her.  I had a good time, knew all except one of the members I'd never met.  I had good cards and not so good cards.  On my last round, my partner and I made 6,  but had stopped at 4 spades, so didn't get the bonus for making 6, just the points.  I didn't play the hand, but she did very well to get us to the 6 we needed.

It was pretty dark when I got home at not quite 5:00.  I'm watching the news now and will check out sports after it's over.  I'm pretty sure there are plenty of basketball games to watch.

Have a nice evening, Buddies.
Sue

I just got back from a 2 hour marathon at the grocery! Everybody and their brother was there! It was super double coupon day (everything up to 2$ doubled) + senior day + we're to get 3" of snow tomorrow night and Sat. & horrors if someone needed something when it snowed!!  I saved about $55, so I guess it was worth it.  But when I'm driving a motorized cart and it is so crowded, it's hard.  I went through all my coupons and picked out all those over $1 than I either needed or could stockpile. It does pay off.  Now, I'm beat though.

Butler beat #1 Villanova last night!!  They are ranked 13th but bet that will go up. Villanova was unbeaten.  It looks like a good NCAA year for Butler. IU hasn't been doing so well lately. Lost 2 games in a row.

It is in the 40's today and supposed to be in the 30's the next 3 days.  So crazy.  It was a high of 60 yesterday.

Mary, glad you found your pattern. Sounds like a nice change of pace.

Jane, it doesn't sound like you do much cooking in TX.  I love to go to flea mkts or thrift stores, but John would sooner die than go with me. I wish I had someone like you that likes to shop to go with me.  Of course right now, I'm not doing much shopping since I can't be on my feet long term.

Sue, glad you enjoyed your bridge yesterday. A small slam is always nice, even if it isn't bid.

Hi to everyone.  Sharon

Sharon...we eat in a lot more than we eat out, but we eat out more here than we do at home.  Part of the "Island Time" attitude, I think.       Ray does a lot of our cooking, and he cooks a lot of fish for himself....salmon, cod, flounder.  But, while I like fish, I can't eat it 4 times a week as he can.
We didn't go out last night...and ate "out of the fridge"....corned beef and sauerkraut for Ray and Potato Soup for me.

Today we went to the Library in Port Isabel, to the grocery and then stopped at an authentic Mexican place...lots of Spanish speaking workmen there, etc. and Ray got his tamales.  He said they were wonderful and authentic.  I had a Taco Salad...too many beans in it for me and so he helped me eat that and brought home 2 of his tamales.

I've also walked up to the local IGA to get water and a couple things we forgot on our big grocery run. 
Never fails.

On a happier note...our niece was released from the hospital in Rochester today and is on her way home!  Yep...she lost the turban wrap on her head this morning and they told her she was good to go.  Isn't that incredible!  Operated on Tuesday...in ICU...Tues and 1/2 of Wed. and dismissed at noon on Thursday!!

Tonight is the first Pot Luck downstairs.  There are a lot of people who moved in yesterday and today....we must be about full. 

The cold is coming tonight...so much so that they're saying a "wintry mix" as far south as Victoria, Tx! That's not too far north of Corpus Christi. 

jane

Wonderful news about your niece, jane.  It is amazing how fast they get us out of the hospital now.  I remember I stayed in the hospital for at least five days with the births of our girls.  Times do change.

Right now they're saying that we're not due to get any snow until tomorrow night, and then it won't be much here in the city.  It surely is cold, though.

Stay warm, Buddies!

Sharon, I hate grocery shopping, but going to Kroger now is an outing for me.  One of the Village Friends is coming by tomorrow morning at 9:00 to pick me up and take me there.  She has taken me there several times now and is a nice young woman.  She is German as is her husband.  I know he is working somewhere--maybe at the University, just can't remember.  However, I think she said she met him in Ireland.  They have a young daughter who goes to pre-school.

Jane, you've had a busy day.  I'm glad to hear the good news about your niece.  Going home is such a relief for her and she will be happy to be home.  Do they live in or near Rochester? 

Mary, I'm off to our Lady Tigers game at 6:00 this evening.  We are playing South Carolina which is always hard for me--I still love Carolina and think Coach Staley is a great coach.  If we play as we have been in our other home games, it should be a tight game.  I'll pull for our Tigers, though.  One of my neighbors is going with me and of course, driving.  It is NOT FUN to not be able to drive.

My Thursday bridge club played at Bonney's today.  I had fun, but not very many good hands, so no winner today.

It's chilly here this evening, too.  I think it looks like rain, though, so I'm going to wear my lighter-weight fleece jacket with my rain jacket over it.

My sister Anne is having her back surgery tomorrow morning early.  I'd appreciate thoughts/prayers for good results.  I called after I returned from bridge, but a neighbor was visiting with her.  I talked with Richard and may be able to talk to her before she goes to bed this evening.

Sue

Snow for us today. Not even out of my PJs.   Just relaxing.  Cooking a little. Fact just made my first of the year goofup. Making a favourite. Rice pudding. Found I put in a Pinch of Tumurac instead of Nutmeg.  Wondered why it was turning Yellow.
Going to let it back and see what it taste like.  At least Tumurac is a Healthy spice.
Added the nutmeg also.

It is amazing how fast now out of the hospital. Gov. suppose to be looking into that at Insurances are even complaining about people having to go back in after a few days of being released. 3 people I know recently had to return.

I remember my 2 girls births which was normal then.  In UK was 15 days for first.
2nd daughter was 6 days.  It really did drive me crazy.
So many now come out same day or day after.  My youngest daughter did.
But many I know have had female health problems. My doctors always told me they would have.  She did at the age of 38.

Sue...they live in a western 'burb of Minneapolis, so it's about 90 miles...all four lane or Interstate, so they were glad to get home before the worse of the "rush hour" traffic...which, around the cities, seems to be almost any time from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm, it seems.

Glad the bridge was fun, even if no good cards.

Mary....saw your "twin" today in the store.  She looked enough like you to be a sister...maybe even a twin!


Jeanne...ugh on the snow. Did you get the severe cold?  Neighbor emailed me they were to have -20.  Brrrr!

jane

Now I just tasted the Rice.  I think I like it. Can be used as a dessert which is what I was aiming for as I had put a few raisins in that I had. But now it can be used with my Chinese dishes, stir fry. lots of things with veg and chicken, pork. I do a lot of these. A good mistake. Will do it again.

Will not ever tell again that I made a mistake making rice. So good.

I am making Stir fry tonight with chicnk  in that  rice too. 

Freckles and I went one our regular hospital visiting this afternoon, we still have snow on the ground but it hasn't snowed since Tuesday night and yesterday morning. I did take her for a walk after we got back home.  I went to the gym as soon as I could safely  drive on the streets. The temp was like 25 last night and tonight will be the same. I am dressed in tights and sweat pants on the bottom, on the top I have a tank top, long sleeved thermal shirt,  tee shirt and sweat shirt. It is that cold here in the house the only heat turned on is here in the computer room and very  little in the dining room.  The bill is going to be ridiculous  for this month. Oh we turn the heat on low in the bedroom at night. and the rest is all turned off. Keith builds a fire in the mornings, I freeze. My hands get so awful cold. Sometime I turn on the heat na dhe will come along and either turn it down or off.  I hate being confined to one room so I turn it on other places without him knowing. Then he doesn't turn it down or off.

Stay warm Marlyin...Candy

jane, I've always heard that each of us has a twin somewhere - guess I have one in the Valley.  LOL  Even my sister and I didn't look that much alike.

One of those bad weather-changing nights...I've been up since 4:30 am, so watching the Morning Joe show. 

I think we're heading over to B'ville today.  I want to go to the larger Beall's there to see if they have any of the 3/4 sleeve length tees. I found one at the little Beall's in Port Isabel and would like another one or two.

jane

Good luck with your shopping, jane.  I have Morning Joe on, too - first time I've seen it.  I almost never turn the TV on in the morning (except for CBS Sunday Morning), but since I'm in ....

I'm staying in this morning, even though we haven't gotten snow yet.  It's supposed to start here late morning - but not much in our area.  It looks like Sharon is going to be in one of the hardest-hit areas.  It always seems funny when the snow line goes south of us.  And, of course, it paralyzes Atlanta.  I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere.

Marilyn, that would drive me nuts.  Maybe you could get a little space heater to take with you, room to room.

Jane, sorry you were up all night.  I've never watched Morning Joe.  I never turn on the TV till evening although John checks out Fox News 2 or 3 times during the day.  Hope you find your tee shirts. It's amazing that Patricia is home already. I hope it solved her problems.

Jeanne, I'm glad you like the tumeric in your rice.  I tried taking some tumeric capsules, but they give me diarrhea, even if I take them every other day.

Yes, Mary, we are supposed to get 4-6" of snow tonight into tomorrow morning.  It's nice to look out at, but I'm past the stage of wanting to go out in it.  I hope the roads are cleared by Sun morning so we can go to church, but other than that, we won't have to go out.

Sue, I hope Anne's surgery goes well today. She is in my prayers.

Hi Darlene. Are you cold in your part of TX or warm like Jane?

Hi Ginny.  Did you get the cold front and snow there?

Hi to everyone else.   Stay warm!  Sharon

1 p.m. local time - it just started snowing here.  It certainly does look cold out there.

Marilyn.  Not keeping your home in even Temp. wherever you are in it is not good. You will be paying more in Dr. Bills than in Utilities. I cant stand to be cold in the house. Just don't let it heat up the bedroom
You take charge of the Temp. gauge you have on the wall. Put one of the covers over it with a little key. He can't get to it to change then.. I remember when working we had them around the office as the men where always changing them. They sat around in there Heavy suits Long pants. We didn't wear slacks and legs would freeze.

It is still so cold here. Snow has stopped. I have to get out and pick up some furnace Filter today.  Car is buried but will go dig it out.  I think the snow pretty soft. Not suppose to warm up until Tuesday.

Hi everyone..Sharon it is 30 degrees right now..will drop to mid 20 tonight...windy...but by Monday be back to 70,,Texas weather...I cooked chicken this morning..made dumplings with some and veg soup with the other...freeze and eat later...Jane..happy to hear your niece is home..hospital don't keep one long anymore...Hi to Sue..Marylin..Ginny,,Jeanne,MaryZ..and any missed..candy

Hi Buddies.  I got up early (for me--7:30) so I could eat my breakfast, read the paper before 9:00.  My "village friend" Katrina (a young German woman whose husband is teaching soil science at AU this year--and maybe longer.  I think, though, he might be on Sabbatical) picked me up and took me to Kroger.  Her little girl goes to day care on Friday morning.  This is the third time she's volunteered to take me and when we both finished shopping and came home, she told me that I don't need to call for a Friday morning volunteer any more as she would be happy to continue picking me up.  So we've made the deal and I'll continue to set my alarm for 7:30 so that I can be ready by 9:00. 

It's been raining here all day and the current temperature is @34* and going down at least 10 more.  The roads will be like ice and I sure hope people stay home tonight.  Lots of folks who live here are new residents who moved here from Montgomery so that their kids can attend our outstanding public schools instead of the pricey private ones they had been using.  At least one of the parents of these families drives down to Montgomery and back daily to work there.  I'm afraid the 5:00-7:00 traffic will be very dangerous. 

Stay warm this evening, Buddies.  I haven't talked to Richard (Anne's husband) this evening.  He didn't answer when I called earlier this afternoon.  I'll try again about 9:00 in hopes he'll have come home.

Sue

Our snow didn't start till early this morning. There is still plenty of grass showing through. The forecasts have changed a bunch of times and I doubt we'll get even 2".  Cold though. 28 in Ft. Mill.  We're not going anywhere, so not concerned. I could hope that the roads will be clear tomorrow for church, but have doubts.  With the temps forecast to be below freezing for 3 days, we won't get our usual Carolina melt off for a while.

Darlene, sounds like TX weather is really changeable.  Your cooking sounds delicious.

Sue, glad you have a regular ride to the grocery now.

Mary, how much snow are you getting?

Jeanne, be careful getting out.   Those filters could wait until the roads are better and your car cleared.

Stay warm and safe, Gals.  Sharon

Windy, windy, windy here....30-35 mph winds. Temp is 35 and feels like 22. We're in for the day.  I think church will get a miss today...going over the causeway in these winds is not pleasant.

We've also delayed our dinner out with Ia friends. She has pulmonary hypertension, so it's almost impossible for her to breathe in these kinds of winds.  We have a lot of days we can meet for supper.

I love my IPAD and ebooks for this very reason - always something I can find to read or re-read. 

I think there are also football playoff games maybe today and that'll keep me happy. 

jane

We had a dusting of snow this morning - pretty much covered my deck, but no depth to it.  Although it's very cold (mid 20s) and windy,  the sun is shining.  The snow has gone where the sun is getting to it.  I'll still stay in today, though.  LOL  I guess it'll be a good day to watch some programs I have recorded.

For those who want to learn how to make  the ° symbol just hold down the alt key and type 0176. It is 43° here and raining. We haven't made the weekly Walmart run yet, been waiting for the rain to let up somewhat.

Thanks for that info, Marilyn.  You're certainly having some interesting weather, too. 

Mary we sure are, the weather has been crazy, at least the rain melted all the snow.