Coffee and... For Dec. 17, 2005

Here's the Daily!
Continued from:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/562750/

~julie~

wow first in since late tonight!!
Not Much time just popping in very tired!!

Wishing all a wonderful day and good cheer to all.

Anne!!!

101 you are still invited to breakfast. Will be homemade cinnamon rolls. Help yourself. I can't believe that I am up posting at this time of night/morning, well just had a good heart to heart with DS's girlfriend. Spent over 2 hours talking, family problems. Oh,well we all have them.. DS will be here about 9:00 tomorrow, so off to bed to dream the sleep of the innocent.

Woolfens, so glad you kept your cool, doesn't accomplish anything loosing your temper. Remember you are the better person.

Good night all.

Defoe, I'm on my way! LOL :)

Good morning. every one,
My computer was off most off the afternoon and last night till after midnight, discoverered the modem was not working at all. I called Comcast, he was just great in trying to help me but it was to no avail, they planned to bring a new on this morning. In the meantime I found one light I hardly ever use is not working, when I checked the bulb out it still would not go on with a new one. Started to follow all the wires, and there are tons of them, and found that light is connected to a auxiliary switch on the monitor and sure enough that switch was off, pushed it and, voila, the computer is working again. I also know that this was Samson's fault, he jumpes all over me and the computer too when he must have hit that switch.,naughty boy ;-)

Woke up again with sciatica but it is diminishing now as it does most of the time after I walk a bit. Read everyones post but I cannot answer all , so sorry, but love reading everything you all had to say.
I made cookies as I told you , a new recipe with hazelnuts I finally can send you some though cookies are not a great idea for breakfast, lol, but they are very good at any time.

Wait for me.... I don't feel like cooking this morning and cinnamon rolls sounds perfect. I have some fresh brewed coffee to put on the counter, so add whatever you like to it. There's a little vial of raspberry amaretto drops to flavor it up a bit if you like.

Did a magic shopping trick yesterday, hit Marshall Fields at about 3, which I calculated would be a lull between the mothers with kids who needed to get home to greet the school agers, and the after work shoppers. Got a parking spot right away close to the door I needed, zipped in, got what I was looking for, zipped back out and was home in record time. Not going near there again, I'm sure I've used up my luck for the year!!

Woofens, I don't know if there is anything you can do to persuade your mother to dump that loser, she doesn't sound strong enough to stand up for herself and would probably defend him if you try to change her attitude. I have a dear friend who has a situation like that, and cannot believe she has forgiven the creep. Having lived in an abusive relationship I know that eventually you get used to it, and it almost seems normal. Fortunately (for him!) he never used physical force against me, but it wears you down. I wish you well, but keep a good distance from him, that type never changes.

Received four boxes yesterday~ cake plate, two soups, two dinner plates, and a vegetable bowl~ All in good condition~ feels like Christmas came early, except for the big hole in my checking account!

Everyone is so busy! The odd and even Carols, the Ann(e)s, Kooger, Bbug, Darius, Dcat, Sarc, SuzieQ, Happy, Julie, the Boys,Carat, Maria, DR, dmcd, Happy, Sarv, IO1, here's wishing you get everything done this weekend that you want, and a calm will descend over all of us here in the garden until the Holidays are over.

Ann, the mental picture of your DH crawling over the ice to make the final steps into the house just made me shake my head! When it's that slick, it's probably the best way to navigate!! And I loved Woofen's chocolate covered twins photos! I have a picture of my DD at about a year and a half, covered with chocolate puddingand it reminded me. She's at a dog show in Chicago this weekend. And still has my spare reading glasses, darn it!

I'm wrapping gifts today. Sigh. I really detest wrapping gifts, Some people are so good at it, and so creative, and I'm just not. If I only have to do one, I'm fine. But give me a pile, and I just want to go put my head under a pillow and hide. LOL Oh well, naught to do but to do it.

Check up on y'all later.... (grabbing two of Maria's cookies on the way)

Maria- cookies are GOOD anytime - you know that - I'll take three please.

DH and I made it to the funeral home - man it was packed!! We were so glad we went...There was not a tear shed there that I could see (I even managed to hold it together) They are an awesome family - The man that died was a lay minister and his family/kids etc were celebrating his journey. They said they would miss him, but he had arrived and couldn't be happier for him. I know that is how you should feel, but I always get weepy thinking about the loss. Oh well....


Today I was going to watch DGS, but DIL called and said his dad didn't have to work, so my job was off. I was diappointed....whaaaaa I wanted him to help me make cookies! I could do it myself, but love his help.

Those twins sure are cute- I always wanted a pair myself! Mine were only 18 mo. apart, so it felt somewhat like set of twins! Gosh, I miss those times when they were small...Christmas was much more fun with all the toys!

Woke up this morning and it was 60 in the house. Brrr did that feel cold. I put some more wood in the fire, but there weren't many coals to work with, so I think I better sign off and go see if I can get it really going good!!

Pass me another cookie, please...

Everything looks yummy! Coffee sounds great i helped myself to a cup!

Woofensthe twins are adorable it was all worth it for them!


Naughty Samson LOL LOL!!!

Hi to everyone!!!

I have the community bonfire/caroling party her tonight for about 50 so trying to get lots finsished for that and baked gingerbread men all day for son's school party next week. I am class mom/ party Mom so my plan was to have them decorate them at their party for a christmas tree ornament! LOL

Exhausted but gotta keep going.

Great day to all !!

glad Darius made the trip safely thinking good things for all of you today!! Getting into the spirit of the holiday finally LOLmaybe seeing all those 45 gingerbread men LOL

Anne

meezer~ I do the same thing, shop between 2:30 and and 4 - all the moms are heading home to get kids of buses, and the first after-work shoppers haven't arrived! I've been doing great with that system, but if everyone else catches on, we're in trouble. And what is it about wrapping? I used to love to dress up a few packages, now it seems like such a chore...
Woofens~ glad you made it thru the party!

maria your plate of cookies looks so pretty! I don't drizzle chocolate very artistically. Maybe I should practice (can always eat the mistakes!!)

We have well over a foot of new snow. I got the tractor stuck, so I'd better go shovel

Good Morning All,

Glad to see everything worked out OK for you, Woofens.... You got a lot of sound advise from all above....but it's no use if your DM won't listen, and unfortunately, I sure she won't. Change is so hard, even when it's for the better.

Maria, I know about doggy invention on computers. When Archie was baby, he also would be under my feet and turned things off occasionally. But his forte was chewing on wires. Why he was not shocked, I have no idea. But I had to be a couple of new cable during this time. At least he did not chew on anything else. Oh, wait a minute.....yes he did. He started to chew on the corners of my kitchen island. Well, I put a good dose of Tabasco sauce on each and he stopped immediately. LOL Never touched another corner...Smart dog.

Sarv, it is so much fun having kids close....I know. When my oldest was 26 months, he was the eldest of 3. I just took care of one end or the other on them....what a circus....My ex was in school, so almost never home, and my mother was a hour and a half away, so I was on my own. It is a time of my life I would not want to go back to.....it was very hard..

Gotta get going....still have a couple of threads and coffee.

Thanks for the cookies, Maria.. Is that sandwich glass?

See ya all later..

Hap

Yes, Samson is very naughty at times but that last action of his really upset me! Just threw a dozen times balls with him, do they run far because of the ice, he is having fun but wants more but he aint getting it lol

devitt, if you melt good chocolate in the micro and have the cookies or cake on a cookie sheet take a teaspoon half fill it with the warm chocolate and slightly dip it then quickle wave the spoon back and forth from right to laft as you move along, very easy. start again make sure chocolate stays warm the faster you do it the thinner the stripes.

No new snow here, glad about that

The simplest way to wrape presents is tissue in a cheerfull bag

Any suggestions for wrapping these? LOL

Think I'll stick a bow on them and drag DH into the spare room!! They are very heavy. Unassembled bookcases.....

lol, M5, I don't think bags come that size

I think a bow would look just fine.....LOL

Good morning. It's still dark outside, another 0 degrees morning.

Maria, just keep walking! I'm glad you know what makes your back feel better. Oh, switched off modem, well, now you know that Samson is talented, like my cat who often walks across the keyboard and makes all kinds of little boxes pop up. Good thing you traced it down and avoided a service call. Almost like winning money. Are you still buying those lottery tickets?

Oh, speaking of lottery tickets, one of Oregon's winning tickets ($1 million) went unclaimed because the purchaser used a stolen credit card to buy it. So instead of becoming an instant millionaire, she got arrested! They check all sorts of things before they hand over the money! Love those dumb crook stories!

Woolfens, you handled the situation ok, I agree, just keep your distance and say nothing. Except, I think you should warn family members with kids that the creep might also be a pedophile. Your mom needs to dump him but probably won't, that's sad but there isn't much you can do about it.

M5, didn't those shelves come in a box? Men don't care about wrappings, just hide them somewhere and send him on a treasure hunt looking for them. We do that with bulky, hard to wrap things, hiding slips of paper under lamps and things in different rooms before sending him to the right location.

Hap, I remember those days when my kids were both in diapers. They are 13 1/2 months apart, oh my, you can tell I didn't plan very well, actually didn't plan at all.... I thought it would never end. Part of that time we didn't own a washing machine and the laundry was all done in the bathtub using the toilet plunger, wringing them out by hand and drying them on a wooden rack by the fire in the winter or out on the clothesline in the summer. As I said before, we didn't have much but I guess we were too happy to know how poor we were. I wished for diapers I could just throw away but that was before Pampers, long before. Somebody in the area did have a diaper service, but we barely had enough money to keep eating so I knew I couldn't afford that luxury.

Defoe, talking for hours about family problems doesn't sound like a good bedtime story. I hope you did get the "sleep of the innocent". Cinnamon rolls, yummy! I did mine the easy way, frozen dough balls placed in a pan, pour melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon over them, sprinkle on some chopped nuts, let them thaw and rise overnight and bake them. That's what I took to the office party. They were good but next time I want to make my own dough and roll it out, smear everything on, roll it up and cut them. I like the ones I can pull apart as I eat them.

Somebody at the party brought some peanut butter and chocolate bars, more like candy than cookies. I think I will ask her for the recipe. They were pretty too, sort of a marbled effect with the chocolate and the peanut butter. We didn't stay a long time, some others left so we felt like we could, and after all, I had to get home to feed the horses. Did that after the moon was up so I didn't even need a flashlight. After dinner we watched a movie called "Regarding Henry" a very good movie starring Harrison Ford. I hardly ever watch a movie but this is a good one, a very human story with a feel good ending.

I got the Christmas letter written and now need to find a disc before I can get the clip art onto the page. When I was in town I checked for Christmas stationery to put it on, but couldn't find anything except a very sad looking Santa which I found in 2 stores as all they had left. Then I happened to think last night that maybe my computer has a selection of stationery that I could use to just print my own as I print out the letter. Have to look into that. Where would I find it?

We are meeting the kids for breakfast so I need to get dressed and get my horses fed. Back later.

Morning
Just popping in a minute to say hello. I've got a hair appointment in an hour for a trim, so I won't try to speak to everyone right now. Will go and get the rest of my shopping done afterward. I have *really* enjoyed all y'alls delicious cinnamon rolls and cookies. If it hadn't been for what you have offered on the counter lately, I wouldn't have had any as I haven't baked a thing this year. I use to always bake fruit cake cookies and do a few other things, but they're too much of a temptation to me, and since there's no little ones around ... don't do it anymore.

Maria, you tell Samson to be a good boy ... that we misss hearing from you when he pulls his stunts. LOL

I'll check back in later. Hope everyone has a great day.

Hugs ... Elaine

Try googling for images, or MSN for stationery what am I doing back here,we have to go pay our taxes!!! Here's a neat one I found quickly....
http://thundercloud.net/stationery4/christmas5/index.htm

This message was edited Dec 17, 2005 9:22 AM

Hi Mary,

I too had "Surprise" children.. It took me three times to figure out what caused it....LOLOLOL Disposable diapers....way before my time. Even if they were available, I would not have have the money. Yes, I had all three in diapers and I did 4 loads of diapers each morning. I was blessed that my FIL and MIL gave me a dryer, for it was MIGHTY cold in Buffalo, NY in the winter.

Also, if you are using Word, there is "clip art" in the program. You can use it to make your stationery..

Well, got to get going, but have no energy to get started this am. I need a good kick in the butt... I'm sure if I told any one of my kids, they would say, "No Problem".....

Hap

Morning Gobs and 'Ettes!

I'm back, been fighting a cold and a flaky internet connection. Actually, I think it is more my 'puter, but either which way I couldn't get on the net.

Re: the height/weight issue, I'm 5 feet 1/4th inch. That 1/4 inch is very important to me, it keeps my 6 ft 4 inch dh from calling me "5 foot nothing" all the time! My weight? Well, let's just say I have plenty of it! I have the body of an athlete, unfortunately it happens to belong to Refridgerator Perry! Seriously, I look like an apple with toothpicks for legs. My doctor says I have to lose at least 60 lbs before my next round of surgeries. Oh joy. I used to wear a size 4.5N shoe, but my weight and the 2 foot surgeries have made me a size 6.5W now. At least I can buy grown up shoes now that don't come in Patent Leather! ROFL

Anyone else in the snowbelt have a weather man that says, "Snow flurries for tomorrow, total accumulation of less that 2 inches"? When you add up all those days of flurries and the 3 major snow storms we have had, I have 18 inches on the ground! I think I can say we will have a White Christmas this year, lol. We haven't had one for 3 years. And did you know all the snow we get before Dec 21 doesn't count in the "Winter snowfall total"???

Now I'm going to go back and read up on what I have missed, someone send a dogsled if you don't hear from me in a few days, lol.

mg

Wow, pass those cinn. rolls and cookies, Dcat and Maria.
I just love those!
I need to make cinn rolls for our Christmas morning meal yet.
M5, just put like the color Sunday funny paper from the newspaper on that very large package. Tho I like I01 idea on making a treasure hunt. Make a card and have him follow hints on to where it is hiding.
Magoobu, that bonfire sounds like fun at this time of the year tho. Have fun.
Mary, I just google clip art online and you can find lots of stuff there.

Well, I am off to another out of town wrestling tournament up north today. My older son now finally gets to see his brother wrestle. He has been away at college for the past 4 years and never has been home in time to see him. So that will be fun.
We both, my older son and I went back up to Portland, OR to talk to some of the people at the dental school yesterday. I even got to met the head dean at the school. That was kind of neat that he didn't mind his mommy meeting him. We had a nice lunch on the way home at Sweet Tomatoes.
So everyone, take care, enjoy the weekend with holiday fun.
Carol (DR)(even one)

Right after the war we had to do without refridge, stove, washer nor dryer, plus no car, had a hot plate for formula, boiled water on a wood stove, and also cooked on it, but soon we had all these things within a year, Had diaper service, but today would never use disposibles, kids don't know the difference between being wet or not, mine hated it when everything ran down there legs lol

Don't have time to read all the messages right now, but I saw M5's unassembled bookcases. Do you have a picture of them anywhere - maybe from a catalogue? You could put the picture in an envelope and book a large bow on the envelope and hide the actual bookcases until the envelope is opened.

Just a thought.

Ann

Thanks for the suggestions! The only place I can hide these monster packages is in the guest room behind the door. (a pox on these open-concept homes!!! Won't fit under the bed, closets are crammed, too heavy to haul down to the basement, too obvious in the garage, have to do like the Purloined Letter and leave them in plain sight. He's oblivious to most everything except the rearrangement of large furniture.

Saw an ad in the paper this morning for sealpoint siamese kittens, I could be tempted. I am tempted. Oh, I might as well admit it, I already called and left a message........

M5, that's a good sign....Glad for you.

Oh M5,

I hope you have a new friend for Christmas! Now we get to think up Holiday names!!!

Hmmm.....Boy names...
Noel
Nicky/Nicholas
Rudolf
Dasher
Dancer
Prancer
Comet
Cupid
Donner
Blitzen
Bumble

Girl's names are harder!
Noelle
Holly
Vixen
Tinsel
Clairese (Rudolf's girlfriend in the animated cartoon)

Ummmm........Help?

Lurker breezing in as the Dilly Seafood Quiche cools on the counter for SO1's birthday brunch... it should be ready for everyone to grab a fork in about 10 minutes.

How about "Tinker Angelpants"? I seem to recall that was M5's elf name in another thread... ;-)

*imagines hearing "C'mere, you lil Tinker" off in the distance*

Donna, in the cold and snowy Inland Northwest

MG,
I recently read, somewhere, that all Santa's reindeer were female.....something about the antlers or lack there-of. Besides, as it was pointed out, they had to be female, because males would never be able to find all the houses and would never stop for directions....lol

Hap

ROFL!!!

I forgot about that thread, I have to go back and read it again, lol!

mg

Yup Hap, that's true. The reindeer would have had to been female to have antlers in December, as the males shed theirs much earlier.

And your are right, the boys wouldn't have gotten the job done on time either!

mg

Gayle, the only "Holiday" girl's name I can come up with at the moment would be "Ditzen" (Ditzy for short)...and that's because it reminds me of *me*. LOL

Sheila! A new kitty! How wonderful! I hope you *do* get it...Sealpoints are SO gorgeous!

Little bit by little bit, I'm coming out from under the "Have to do" part of the "To-do" list and getting into a little of the "Want to do's". Today, in between the 'have tos' I'm retaping some garden shows from DVR over to VCR. We're changing satellite providers on Wednesday and I don't want to lose my 'Gardener's Diary' programs. I watch/listen them often when I go to bed. They make me feel like the gardening season is "out there" waiting for me.

Maria, I had to laugh when I read that Samson was the culprit in disconnecting your computer from the Internet. My cat has turned mine off more times than I care to remember. She loves to step on the switch for the power strips. :-)

Bad situations in families...now there's a new topic. LOL NOT! Let me tell ya about the "Ugly Stepmother" in my grandkid's lives. Better yet...nevermind...it's not worth talking about. Maybe I should tell you the story about my DH and his Christmas present to his mother. Nope! That one would make *everyone* mad.

How about I just say..."HI! everyone!" And leave it at that. LOL (May not be too interesting, but I can guarantee it's a lot safer! LOL & LOL)

Hope everyone is enjoying their day.

TTYL,
~julie~

Julie......What does TTYL stand for?

TTYL = Talk to you later
~julie~

AH.......................

Janis, I have relatives in bad situations also. I have tried many times to help but you can't help someone that doesn't want to be helped. Your mom is going to have to do this one on her own at first. Just let her know that your there when she is serious about leaving or getting rid of him.
Now, those two babies are adorable. I can see why you just couldn't bare to miss this party. I am sure they were well worth it.

Cookies, yummy. I want one if Sarv left me any. Just kidding.... No coffee for me though. Never have been able to stomach that stuff.

Maria, in Samson's defense it was his tail and he has no control over it.

Mary, my oldest two were also just over 13 months apart and were basically like twins. I would swear that at night they were staying planning on who was to go left and who would run to the right. They were such a pair together. Gosh, do I really miss that... Both of my son's are allergic to latex and polymer so neither could wear disposable diapers. Made life a bit more interesting. My MIL secretly paid for me to have diaper service for 8 months when my youngest was a baby. My DH and FIL still don't know about it. They both think it was my best friend. It would have started a huge fight with the two of them. A man thing....

MG, I am glad that you are recovering and checked in. I am even gladder (is that a word?) that the snow is there and not here. I only like snow when its the first snow and before everyone starts to get up and disturbing it, and only through the window from a warm room. Then it just gets black and icy and ugly.

Meezer, are you saying that the clear wrapper on those shelf's don't count as wrapped?? Boy am I in trouble this year. I haven't gotten the tree up, not a cookie baked, not a card, (but yours, LOL) sent out. I just would really prefer that the holidays skipped me this year...

Defoe, glad that you spent some time with DIL but wish the subject was of happier things.

DR, so happy you are spending sometime with your oldest and he is able to see his brother doing what he loves. My fingers are crossed that he loves the school he chooses, and secretly I am hoping for the one closest to you....


Meezer, if DH is going to get upset about the new kitty, tell him a DG friend sent it as a gift. LOL Since we all expect pictures you cant give it away. LOL

I am horrible with names. It took me my entire pregnancies to decide on each child's name. DH wants to name the property after I told him about the contest Badseed was having with the naming of her farm. He THINKs we should name it RC Homestead. I tease him that if he doesn't stop with that name I am going to get a sign made up that says RC Homestead **where the produce is fresh and the animals are skeered.**

Last night we loaded up our three kids and two extras and went out looking at the Christmas lights and displays. A few really nice ones but most are using the blow up figures from WM and such. Did see a beautiful nativity set up in the yard of one of the more prestigious homes here. I know that set up had to set them back a few thousand. It was stunning. Forgot the memory card for the camera in the printer so I couldn't take any pictures... Sorry.

Well I need to get started on the laundry and the housework. Hope all are having a wonderful day and staying warm.

Casey

Dishes done, beds made and time for a break!! You won't believe what just happened to me. I went to Park Seeds to order myself a Christmas gift from my son (talked to him this morning and he asked if I would do it= he was too busy - no comment...) Anyhow got the order going and they said my name was wrong. Long story, but I lost my credit card!!! I had a duplicate Dr. one and that's the one that was in my wallet. I spent a frantic hour looking in all my coat pockets, ran out to the car and checked in every crevice, went thru purses. Finally just called the credit card co and explained my problem. They issued me a new card. Now I wonder what in the world I did with it. I had been missing my Sam's card for a long time and I think the two are together somewhere!! At least no one had charged on my card (I checked that out!!) I usually am so careful about returning it to my wallet. Getting forgetful I think!!

Mary, that's the way I make cinnamon rolls too - I should try the kind from scrap some time tho. Those peanut butter things sound yummy. If you get the recipe, be sure to post it here.

Maria, I chuckle at that naughty Samson -be thankful he's not a chewer! Our cat is a scratcher and I have sprayed her with water, sprayed that stinky stuff on the furniture, but she still does it - often when I am not around to see her tho - smart Kitty. We should have done the claw remover stuff, but she was older when we got her and I just couldn't do it.

M5 - go for it girl!! A new little one is just the gift you need!

Just talked to my mom in Fla and she was in a crummy mood! Seems my brother called her and told her a zillion times that the internet service we get her is her xmas gift. She was ticked off at him and told me that next year so doesn't want the mail station. She'll get over it!! Stupid brother...he is stressed about their job situation. I told my mom that, but her feelings were hurt. This seems to happen every year... Another reason why the holidays sent me over the edge. I feel like the peace maker...over and over.

Julie= what's the story about DH and mother's gift??? Come on, make us laugh.


Pass me a cinammon roll please
Still haven't made any cookies!! I work better under pressure - will probably do it xmas eve day!!

Sarv...

I'd like your recipe for the cinnamon rolls that you mentioned above....hehehe The ones from scrap......Gotta be great....LOL

LOL Sarv...if you want to read *that* story, you'll have to read it at this link. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/560441/ There's no way I'm typing it again...way to maddening. :-D (It's funny now...but wasn't then.)

~julie~

Julie, I had to laugh at the pound of cheese. I would have found a way to make sure that she knew it was DH that bought only a pound of cheese for her. Thanks for that little giggle.

Well...Casey...you see it's this way, DH can make NO mistakes when his mother is concerned...it's *julie* who's the screw-off in this family. (You know, the wrong side of the tracks routine? Yeah...right! Little does she know that if it wasn't for 'julie' she wouldn't have gotten ANY presents (Christmas OR birthday) for the past 25 years. Does my little heart good to know what she doesn't know! hehehe)

~julie~

Hi everyone! and how's the birthday girl today?? Hope it's a wonderful day for u!!!