I just love these...everytime I they come around I have to laugh. i hope you enjoy them too.

They're Back! Those wonderful Church Bulletins! Thank God for church ladies with typewriters. These sentences (with all the BLOOPERS) actually appeared in church bulletins or were announced in church services:


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The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.
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The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the Water.' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'
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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.
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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.
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Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,' giving obvious pleasure to the congregation...
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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
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Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
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Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.
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A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
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At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be 'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.
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Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
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Please place your donation in the envelope along with the deceased person you want remembered.
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The church will host an evening of fine dining, super entertainment and gracious hostility.
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Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM -20prayer and medication to follow.
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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.
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This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
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Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B. S. Is done.
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The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.
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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.
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The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM. The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy..
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Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
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The Associate Minister unveile d the church's new campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.

Some days it is enough to just be. There is nothing more perfect than the first beautiful spring day unless it is being off on that day and being able to spend it soaking up the warmth of the sun.

After my little trip to Cincinnati this morning (which came out fine BTW) I came home and curled up on the patio in the sun with my current read. Other than taking some time to give Ab's a bath while it was nice and warm and she could dry in the sun, I spent the entire day there. I am now a little crispy around the edges but feeling better than I have in months. I needed the rest, the fresh air and the sun burn.

I finished my book over dinner (corned beef and cabbage of course)and I absolutely loved it. I was reading Sarah's Quilt by Nancy E. Turner. Sarah's Quilt is the second book in her Sarah Prine Series. I read the first book These is my Words a couple of years ago while I was at my mother's and somehow even though it was wonderful and stuck with me, I never got around to looking for the rest of the trilogy. In fact at the time I don't even know if I realized it was a triology. In anycase, I found books 2 and 3 at the library 2 weeks ago and snatched them both up. If you'd like to know more about them check out Nancy Turner's web site.

I am now sitting here watching The Curse of the Judas Chalice with #2 son. We both love these movies and it is a good way to end the day (assuming I can stay awake from my overdose of fresh air). Tomorrow is back to work and then I am off Thursday but have to be at the hospital at 7:00 for my pre-op stuff. After that I will have the rest of the day to myself I think. It is supposed to rain. I sense another perfect day to read coming on!

I decided I wanted to change the look of my blog last night and have been playing with it ever since. There are lots of neat looks out there and I am still looking and playing. I have found some templates that did not work at all and some that erased things like the blogger nav bar so as I said I am still messing around.

Right now I need to run, hubby is here stressing about my test this morning and telling me we need to get moving. I don't think we need an hour to get there but since we have to go to Cincinnati we might. Oh well, off I go. Hopefully we will be in and out quickly!

Thankfully it is Monday so I am off tomorrow. It won't have a great start since I have to go have a bladder scan first thing due to the kidney stone episode but that should not take long and then I can be home for the rest of what could/should be a beautiful spring day.

As I am sitting here I can hear the peepers singing in the pond. It isn't quite warm enough to open the windows tonight but at least the heat is off.

Well it is almost Tuesday so I guess I should call it a day and get some sleep. I am not really worried about the procedure tomorrow but I do wish it was over already. More tomorrow sometime I hope although I may be too busy sitting in the sun!

Christmas just would not be complete without certain items and I have been busy baking each of my days off. I thought I would take a minute and share some of my favorite Christmas goodies...

This first is Rugelach which is a traditional Jewish cookie. I love this because I am not a big "sweet" eater, I am not big on frosting etc. These are great no matter what you fill them with, they are flaky and delightful. This happens to be Dorie Greenspan's recipe. This year I have done 3 kinds with apricot preserves, cinnamon sugar and nuts and (oh boy) raspberry preserves and dark chocolate pieces.

For the Dough

4 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 4 pieces

1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped nuts (I prefer pecans, but you can use walnuts or almonds)

1/4 cup plump, moist dried currants

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, or 2/3 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

For the Glaze

1 large egg

1 teaspoon cold water

2 tablespoons sugar, preferably decorating (coarse) sugar

For the Filling

2/3 cup raspberry jam, apricot jam or marmalade

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Makes 32 cookies

TO MAKE THE DOUGH: Let the cream cheese and butter rest on the counter for 10 minutes — you want them to be slightly softened but still cool.

Put the flour and salt in a food processor, scatter over the chunks of cream cheese and butter and pulse the machine 6 to 10 times. Then process, scraping down the sides of the bowl often, just until the dough forms large curds — don't work it so long that it forms a ball on the blade.

Turn the dough out, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disk, wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 1 day. (Wrapped airtight, the dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.)

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Heat the jam in a saucepan over low heat, or do this in a microwave, until it liquefies. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together.

Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats. (Silicone baking mats are great for rugelach.)

TO SHAPE THE COOKIES: Pull one packet of dough from the refrigerator. If it is too firm to roll easily, either leave it on the counter for about 10 minutes or give it a few bashes with your rolling pin.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11- to 12-inch circle. Spoon (or brush) a thin gloss of jam over the dough, and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Scatter over half of the nuts, half of the currants and half of the chopped chocolate. Cover the filling with a piece of wax paper and gently press the filling into the dough, then remove the paper and save it for the next batch.

Using a pizza wheel or a sharp knife, cut the dough into 16 wedges, or triangles. (The easiest way to do this is to cut the dough into quarters, then to cut each quarter into 4 triangles.) Starting at the base of each triangle, roll the dough up so that each cookie becomes a little crescent. Arrange the roll-ups on one baking sheet, making sure the points are tucked under the cookies, and refrigerate. Repeat with the second packet of dough, and refrigerate the cookies for at least 30 minutes before baking. (The cookies can be covered and refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 months; don't defrost before baking, just add a couple of minutes to the baking time.)

GETTING READY TO BAKE: Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

TO GLAZE: Stir the egg and water together, and brush a bit of this glaze over each rugelach. Sprinkle the cookies with the sugar.

Bake the cookies for 20 to 25 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point, until they are puffed and golden. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

A new one for this year which is beyond decadent is Paula Dean's Symphony Brownies. She really needs an award for these.

45 min | 5 min prep

1 11x7 inch pan

1 (19 7/8 ounce) box Betty Crocker fudge brownie mix
2 large eggs
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 (7 ounce) hershey symphony milk chocolate candy bars
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, or 325 degrees for glass baking dish.
Lightly grease the bottom only of an 11 x 7 inch baking pan; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl prepare brownie mix according to directions on the package, using 2 eggs, 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup oil.
Stir until smooth.
Spread half the batter evenly into prepared pan.
Unwrap candy bars and place them on top of the batter.
Top with remaining brownie batter.
Bake 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it.
Remove pan from oven and let cool on wire rack before cutting into squares or other shapes.

I have friends that beg for my fudge every year. I found this recipe back in the late '90s and have been making batch after batch ever since... Usually I am still making it after New Years and I even make it in place of a birthday cake for a young friend of mine. I believe he is an addict. :-) This is Skaarups Fantasia Fudge and I am giving you the link because there are dozens of awesome variations, trust me you need to try at least a few. Skaarup Fudge

1/2 cup Butter
2 1/2 cup Sugar (extra-fine granulated preferred)
5 oz. Evaporated Milk (one small can)
12 oz Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Hersheys or Nestle)
6-7 oz. Marshmallow Creme/Fluff (1 Jar)

(may substitute 2 cups mini-marshmallows)

1 cup Walnuts (chopped) -or- 4 oz. bag (optional item)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract


Directions:
Line a 9” x 9” pan with aluminum foil and set aside. Place
chocolate chips, vanilla, and marshmallow cream into a 3-quart
saucepan (or Pyrex bowl) and set aside. Chop walnuts and set
aside (optional). Heat milk at Medium setting until warm then add
sugar. Bring to a rolling boil (Medium-High), stirring constantly with
a wooden spoon. Continue to boil for [8] full minutes -or- if using a
candy thermometer continue boiling until the boiling temperature
reaches 235°F but do not exceed 9 minutes rolling boiling total.
Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until dissolved (but no more
than 30 seconds).

Pour hot mixture over chocolates, vanilla, and marshmallow cream
without scraping the sides of the hot saucepan. Mix until the
chocolates are melted. Add walnuts if desired. Mix thoroughly and
cast into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature. Chill in
refrigerator prior to cutting. Remove from pan, remove foil, cut into squares

OK< It is off to work for me. When I get home, I have dough in the fridge chilling so it is just right to work with! Ciao or should I say Chow???

This came in my email today.

You think English is easy???

Read to the end . . . A new twist

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce .

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row ...
13) They were too close to the door to close it.

14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick' ?

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .
There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and
that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP...
When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP.
When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP!

When we stop to count our blessings this holiday week some of the most important people we have to be thankful for are those that protect our freedom and give us peace of mind. If you happen to run across someone in our military please take a moment to thank them. If you get a chance to participate in donating something for our troops this holiday, even if it just signing a card, please do. There are so many of them so far from home and their families and they NEED to know we are honored that they serve us.

The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient.

He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands.

He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away ' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great- grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.
Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so.


Prayer wheel for our military... please don't break it Please send this on after a short prayer.
Prayer Wheel


'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us.
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts
they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'


When you receive this, please stop for a moment
and say a prayer for our ground troops in Afghanistan, sailors on ships, and airmen in the air, and for those in Iraq .

Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Coastguardsman, Marine,
or Airman, prayer is the very best one.

I am so addicted to this blog Pioneer Woman Cooks Actually I am addicted to her entire blog but this particular part is just well beyond yum. Yesterday I bought everything to make her gingersnap, caramel, pecan, pumpkin cheesecake. Today I put a brisket in to marinade. I have never cooked a brisket but just reading the recipe and looking at her pictures made me drool so it is marinading as we speak. The cheese cake will be for Thanksgiving to take over to my MIL. I am not doing a big meal this year, at least I don't think I am. After dealing with everyones/turkey, oyster, ham needs for the last couple of weeks is making me think that I am not in the mood for any of it. I do have a ham to cook and will probably do some sweet potatoes to go with it. MIL is having Thanksgiving dinner at her community which we could have done but we didn't sign up thinking both Tom and Tommy would be working and of course as soon as the signup deadline passed they both found out they were off. Go figure. It's OK though.

I gave up one of my days off this week (today)and I am working in the bakery. I am glad to have a chance to go play with some friends other than my "meat" ones. Our bakery is jammin' for sure today. I guess no one makes their own stuff much anymore. That makes me sad when I think about how wonderful my mother's house smeel during the holidays growing up (this from the woman who just confessed she wasn't going all out for the holidays). My house will still smell good though with the ham and pumpkin cheesecake. I will let you know how it goes!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday if I don't get back before then.

not much stitching happened yesterday. I didn't have a piece of linen in the shade of green I was looking for. Then I found a piece of linen called french lace which is green but not exactly what I had in mind. I started stitching on it and remembered why I hadn't used it. It is absolutely miserable fabric. It is so stiff it wears down the thread and the threads are horrible. Yes I know it is linen but some of the threads are so thin it looks like I have stitched over one and some are so fat that they look like I am over 3. There is a ton of back stitching on this piece so it looked horrible. I went searching for another piece and found one but this one looks yellowish green so I don't think I like it. While I was contemplating and trying to figure out whether I should rip out what I did on one or the other my stitching lamp blew up! Yipes, it took 10 years off my life for sure. Since I was off yesterday and didn't have to go anywhere, I opted to really not go anywhere so that pretty much put the end to my stitching. That kind of worked out though since I was playing on facebook and set up a group page for my 30th class reunion and posted some very old pictures of some really young kids.

Today after work, I trekked over to Lowes and bought a new lamp and then when I stopped at the grocery, I treated myself to a new Just Cross Stitch magazine. Now I am set to go tomorrow...if I can figure out what fabric to use. *sigh* I wonder what is in hat magazine that is good... OK, I am going to go read now.

National Gingerbread Day is on Novermber 21. Who thinks these things up anyway? I guess it doesn't matter but I will celebrate that beacuase well, I just LOVE ginger in all it's incarnations. This recipe comes from one of my favorite authors, Susan Wittig Albert and her China Bayles series.

Gingerbread

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup boiling water



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mix together sugar, butter, molasses, spices, and flour. Add baking soda to boiling water, then add to mix. Turn into a square baking pan, and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

You can find more ideas to "spice up your life" here at China's Thyme for Tea page

I have the day off and am planning on doing some stitching. I actually have sitting right here next to me the newest JCS Christmas Ornament issue. I have run into a little block though since I don't know which ornament I would like to do first. I have narrowed it down a bit to:

1. Hands to Work - Joy Needle Roll
2. The Victoria Sampler- Merry Little House
3.Patricia Ann Designs- Winter Frost
4. Rosewood Manor- Peace
5. Loopy Lou Designs- Christmas Stars
6. Kitty and Me- Poinsettia Biscornu

So going to Random.org I plug in my numbers and get

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

6
Timestamp: 2008-11-18 15:37:48 UTC

So it looks like Kitty and Me have some stitching to do. OK folks, off to stitch and maybe back with a picture later! hmmm...I wonder if I can find a gingerbread recipe I can cook in my crockpot...

We had our first "snow" ofthe season today. so far it hasn't amounted to anything other than a dusting but it was pretty coming down. My fresh manager made us all go outside this morning and stand in it since she believes that it brings good luck. OK, that works for me. It was fun to do.

Things were a little slower today than yesterday thankfully and I had some extra help. Poor Beau was hung over from the game yesterday and Carlos was still experiencing some angst over Steve's cutting but all in all it was a fine day.

I am now curling up in my sweats watching my Monday night comedies and trying to stay awake until I have to pick Tommy up at 11. I get to sleep in tomorrow since I am off.

You know, I love Christmas music. I love the carols and I love wintery songs. I love the memories they bring back too. What I don't love is hearing them from Halloween on. It is getting totally ridiculous. Retailers keep lengthening and lengthening the season. Here is the thing. Hearing Christmas music now doesn't make me feel more like shopping. It makes me stressed. It makes me want to scream when I go to 4-5 stores and hear 5 versions of Winter Wonderland.

I have a friend who said everything stops come the end of October. that it has become one big holiday which he calls Hallow-thanks-mas Eve. We have lost the individuality of each of those holidays and to me, they have become less unique and less memorable.

I know I work in retail and I know I am dependant on people shopping to keep my job but good grief...can we do it without ruining the joy?

I am so hooked on Facebook. I am enjoying re-connecting with people that I knew from High school and playing around with people I know from work or wherever. I love that it is free. I get so many emails from places like Classmates that tell me people are looking for me or have signed my "guestbook" but I can't see the messages or know who thepeople are until I pay them a membership fee. WHY when there are all these free sites out there do we have to pay to see stuff. Lord knows there are enough places willing to pay for web advertising space that probably Classmates and others of their ilk could be making even more money offering their services for free and raking in advertising money from the thousands of hits they would be getting... That's one of my soapboxes.

Here is another. I used to "own" a cross stitch oriented BB. Had it for years. Got tired of the triviality and such so eventually I just let it go. Now I "lurk" at a couple of other boards. I don't post because I just don't want to be a part of the angst. One of the boards owned by a cross stitch shop has some really wonderful stitchers and I have found some really delightful patterns and other interesting information there but there is so much junk there that it becomes hard to even find the good stuff. It is a huge bunch of vicious bck biters. OMG, election time was horrible. There is no tolerance of anyone elses opinions and no matter what the topic, someone HAS to flame. Whatever happened to if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?

My last point isn't so much about a soap box as it is just about the questions that people can ask. I work in the meat department now nd I love it but sometimes you just have to shake your head... I had one woman ask me if we carried Angie's beef. I said to you mean Laura's Lean? That is only brand name grind that we carry AND frankly the only woman's name I have heard attached to meat. She replies "no it is Angie's..you know A-N-G-U-S" It was hard not to bust out laughing in her face. Yesterday I had a woman ask me if we carried round steak. " Yes we do, top round (london broil), bottom round and eye round. Which one do you need?" Her answer "the flat one" !!! Hello, they are STEAKS, they are all flat. Don't you wonder what her reference point is?? And lastly the man who asked "Do you have any turkeys so I can have one for Thanksgiving?" that's just how he asked it. I wanted to say we have them but you can't have one for Thanksgiving. Oh well. Like Gilda Radner said "it's always something!"

I always look forward to my days off because I want to do this or that and somehow I can never choose what I want to do first or I get sidetracked by something I didn't plan on doing or had to do (like laundry) and when I look up the day is gone. Oh well.

I guess I will put my roast in the oven and curl up and read until it is ready! LOL

It is cool and dreary (cloudy but not raining) here today so I guess if I was going to lose a day, today is a good one to lose!

I had hoped to be stitching today but by the time I gto finihsed playing on the computer,went to help my MIL shower, and ran some errands the day seemed to be about gone. I am at the point where I am thinking of a hot bath and PJ's.

I found something today that I would like to share. An Army of Women This is what is says on it's site.

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women.

Our revolutionary initiative has two key goals:

To recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.

To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.

Join us in this movement that will take us beyond a cure by creating new opportunities to study what causes breast cancer—and how to prevent it.

Its easy to join and you choose your level of participation. Check it out.

We took MIL to the doctor yesterday to have her post op and everything is going nicely. They put her in a nice neon pink fiberglass cast and she is moving along well. We are hoping that this is the answer to at least one of her problems.

I am off today and have some errands to run and calls to make but I want to stitch some too. The weather has turned cooler so I feel more like playing around. I purchased the Wendy KC designs Bee Collections 1 and 2 and they luckily found some cute Bee fabric so I may give that a go. I am also working on Emie Bishop's a Quilter's Garden which is a lovely hardanger piece. This is off her site. I have over half of the outlining done. It is a relaxing piece to work on right now but I am sure that will change once I have to start the cutting and wrapping!

I have been playing on facebook and connecting with old friends which is a lot of fun. It can really take up some time though when you get messing around! LOL

Ok, I guess I should get moving. Day light is wasting!!

We got to take our long awaited trip to Hilton Head. I thought we might not at the last minute when after a year of hemming and hawing, the doctor's finally decided that they needed to operate on MIL's foot immediately. We managed to get it scheduled for this week and get all the testing in so we got to go AND got to leave all our burdens here.

Hilton Head is an amazing place. It was great because the beach was a short walk across the parking lot, there was plenty for the boys to do when they weren't on the beach, it was not crowded at all and the sea food was amazing! We had fresh off the boat shrimp which has probably spoiled me forever. The she crab soup at the Crazy Crab at Harbor Town was amazing too. We had a restful week of exploring, playing and just plain old relaxing. Considering we didn't get our annual trip to New York this year, we really needed it.

We came home to MIL's health issues, job interviews for Tom, Tommy having drill and Mark getting sick... We are trying to hang on to the glow though!

I am still around but my life has taken on an uncontrollable momentum. I am now working full-time in the meat department. It's not bad. Lil is still trying to settle into her new home. We still don't have the house cleaned out so we can get it onj the market but with the current state of the economy, it probably doesn't matter much.

I haven't really been sewing, just haven't been in the mood but now that the weather is getting cooler, I will probably get back into it. I have been reading a lot and working on my family tree. I am trying to get everything put back ino it since I lost everything when I lost my computer. I am up to just over 4000 people and am not finished yet. That's 30 years of work that now is backed up 3 ways to Sunday!

Tom still hasn't found a job and I am beginning to gt a little uptight about that. We are both getting too old to be job hunting.

We had the remanents of Hurricane Ike visit Sunday with up to 90 mph winds the area suffered substancial damage. Fortunately, we only totally lost one tree but lost most of our one and only pear tree, half an apple tree and another huge portion of a maple that is WAY too cloes to the house. Our electricity was out for about 18 hours which was remarkably good considering a lot of people STILL don't have power.

Well I need to get another load of laundry going...

We got Tom's mother moved into the retirement community and I am hoping she does ok. She is so used to sitting around that it is hard to get her moving. I hope she finds some things that interest her and she begins to get a life rather than just existing.

I am still in the meat/deli department and like it a LOT better than what I was doing so that is a plus. Having to work all my weekends is a minus though. Life is about trade offs I guess.

I am on week 3 of Lexapro and I don't know if it is helping or not. I am on a very low dose and I haven't been on it very long yet so we will see. I think if I could get some stuff in my life under control it would be better... Well I made the job change and I got Lil moved. If she does OK there, that will be another load off.

I haven't been doing any crafting or sewing. Computer prblems have been plaguing me and frankly I just have not had any interest. That's not good but maybe on my days off if I don't have so much running, I will get back in gear.

I have been working in the meat department now for just over a week and the results are pretty remarkable. I still don't look forward to going to work, (that would have me worried!)but I don't dread it any more. I keep busy, the day goes quickly and I can see what I am accomplishing. I hope that I am really contributing to making that department run. I know it is a lot easier on our meat cutters for sure.

I was off yesterday as was Mark (since it was primary day here in KY) and we got quite a bit done and now have plans to do more. I have had hostas growing along side the house for 20 years but there wasn't any demarcated bed there. Yesterday Mark and I bought some nice brick edgers and enlarged the bed out, just about doubling it. We also bought a hand cultivator since it is way too close to the house with too many big plants in it to do the rota tiller and when we were done, I put in 3 dozen lily of the valley plants which are one of my favorites and something I have wanted for a long time. The bed primarily gets morning sun so they should do well there. This morning after examining our work again, we decided that we are getting more edgers and instead of making one large garden for tomatoes, peppers etc, we are going to break it up into several smaller ones with the edgers making the edges. I like the idea and want to leave for work earlier this morning so I can get more edgers. We are using a really common type so years from now we will still be able to replace them if necessary. Now I just have to decided what we want to plant. I want one bed just for herbs so I will probably start there. Again, it is really nice to be able to see the results of your work!