Monday December 29

[Cathie]

Good morning ladies  ~~~

I am off to work in a minute for a couple of hours.  Then the girls and I are going to Canada to go shopping with the exchange rate being so high for us our money definitely goes further there.  I am buying Sydney Hunter boots today - they were part of her Christmas present and they never came and the order was lost so amazon cancelled and gave us a full refund.  I am hoping to buy some wine and just enjoy my day with my girls.

Dinner tonight will be: pork and rice - some sort of veggie - perhaps just salad.

Have a great day everyone!!!

[Alice]

We are bracing for some big storms today that may include ice and wind. They are saying driving will be dangerous and power outages will be widespread. I'm not eager for that since we just got through one series of power outages during Christmas Eve and Christmas morning--a 31 hour outage during the holidays is not fun. It wasn't bad since the weather was warmer than normal and no snow. But this could be a whole lot different.

I'm at work though I originally was to have the week off. Some things are going on that I may end up being here at least part of week. My kids aren't little so they don't care.

I am thinking of doing some kind of Thai beef and noodles tonight. I am focusing on eating out of the freezer. We did that for Christmas dinner and then last night my daughter and I were looking for pepperoni (I could have sworn I had some in there) and couldn't find any but she was quite delighted at all the food stuff in there. She commented on why we buy stuff when the freezer is full. My response was that most freezer stuff is used to be part of a meal and that buying stuff are supplements to meals. We still need the other stuff. She's 19 years old and is finally "seeing" how the adult world looks like. She helped me make a homemade pizza and even without pepperoni she was involved in the entire process and claimed that it was quite easy to make a pizza and it tasted really good!  She might live in an apartment next year for school so maybe these "lessons" are quite timely!

Alice

[greyhoundgirl]

Just briefly on as we lost power about 9:30 last night and I am using phone data.  Got a second round of freezing rain last night and supposed to have snow today.   I made a coffee - like substance with hot tap water and a Via packet that came with Earl's textbooks, put on long undies and wool socks, and am on the couch with  a blanket, warm cat, and my camping headlamp.

Have a great day all!
Catherine

[Cheryl]

Good morning.

We are in for a rough day weather-wise.  Thunderstorms, straight line winds, possible tornadoes, and flooding.  I'll be so glad when it settles down.  When the weather is like this my nerves are on edge.  I can't relax until it passes.

Last night I sat down and worked on a meal plan for January.  I need to do this more in the new year.  I had gotten away from it but I'm going back to the basics.  I need to focus on some goals I would like to accomplish and get those posted.  I hope to be able to concentrate on those things today.

[Andrea G]

Good morning, everyone.

I haven't posted on here in ages, but I want to get back to doing so. I have missed "seeing"  you all and reading your posts.

It would seem that we are all experiencing winter now. I am praying for those of you who have to deal with tornadoes and nasty weather. Right now the sun is out here, but tonight and tomorrow we are in for snow and freezing rain. Yuck! We do have a woodstove, so if the power goes out we will be fine.

Today I will be cleaning and starting to organize. As much as I love Christmas I want things back to normal for the new year. Hubby and I will also be starting to make plans for the coming year, setting goals and such. Like Cheryl I also want to start meal planning again, I fell off that wagon a long time ago!

Dinner tonight will be chili, seems like a good day for it.

I hope everyone has a safe and blessed day!

[pamgonzo]

Good Morning Ladies!

Sounds like we are all bracing for some trying weather situations!  I am praying that everyone will come out of it rather unscathed.  As for me, I will probably be pacing most of the day.  Hubby is on the road taking oldest son to the airport in Detroit.  It is a 2 1/2 hour drive there.  His flight isn't until 4 p.m., but they left shortly before 7 this morning.  He is going to have to spend the day hanging out in the airport, which is a drag, but we are trying to get hubby home before the roads are too dangerous.  I was sad to have to send him back earlier than scheduled since we won't see him again until sometime in March.   But we are hoping to keep everyone safe.  He has friends who live in the Detroit area, so if his flight gets cancelled or anything, he can call them and they will take care of him.  I wish I would have thought of it yesterday, and had him spend the night with them last night.  As it is, we are doing what we can to be as safe as possible.
Hubby took a bag with him in case he has to stop somewhere along the way.

So, today, I have done laundry, washed dishes, sent the boys off with a good breakfast, and prayed a lot!
I think I will work on taking the tree down and getting things back to somewhat normal.  Maybe staying busy will keep my mind off the incoming storm.
I got a couple of adult coloring books for Christmas, so maybe some work on those might help as well.  It is touted to be "relaxing", so that might be how I spend some of my time!

Hope you all stay out of harms way, and that everyone who has power, keeps it, and those whose power is lost, gets it back quickly!

Maybe I will work on a menu too, sounds like a good idea friends!!
Pam

[RenKnitter]

Here in GA we have temps in the 70's and rain, rain, rain.  Many areas are flooding.  Our hometown, Cullman, AL had really bad flooding.  To Catherine, we have a plastic funnel-type doohickey that sits on top of a coffee cup.  You put one of those #2 cone paper filters in it, put in as much coffee as you want, then pour boiling water over slowly.  It makes a pretty good cup of coffee in a pinch.  We use it in emergencies, and I use it when I just want one cup.  http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Single-Coffee-Brewer/dp/B0014CVEH6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451313405&sr=8-4&keywords=coffee+drip+funnel

[Cheryl]

Here in GA we have temps in the 70's and rain, rain, rain.  Many areas are flooding.  Our hometown, Cullman, AL had really bad flooding.  To Catherine, we have a plastic funnel-type doohickey that sits on top of a coffee cup.  You put one of those #2 cone paper filters in it, put in as much coffee as you want, then pour boiling water over slowly.  It makes a pretty good cup of coffee in a pinch.  We use it in emergencies, and I use it when I just want one cup.  http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Single-Coffee-Brewer/dp/B0014CVEH6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451313405&sr=8-4&keywords=coffee+drip+funnel

I had no idea you were from Cullman! I live in Blount county.  Small world! 

[shedrinkzcoffee]

Good morning, ladies!

So good to see so many posting.    

Sounds like many of you are having some intense weather.  I will be praying for you all to stay warm and keep the power on (or to have it fixed in Catherine's case)

I am sitting here trying to stay occupied before we leave for the hospital and trying to not think about how much I would enjoy a cup of coffee.  Any other day I am fine but if I am not allowed any food or drink then I am suddenly starving and thirsty, lol.

So, that's my day.. sitting here, surgery, home and relaxing.

Dinner tonight... the hubs will probably pick up pizza and maybe some soup for me.  Not sure what I will feel like eating.

[Andrea G]

Erica, I am praying that all goes well for you today, and for a speedy recovery. 

[4kidsmom]

Good morning!

I hope all of you in storms' paths will be safe, warm and have power!

Christmas was lovely.  Christmas Eve the family (except me and Nathan) went to the in-laws for dinner and presents.  The plan was to act out the Nativity too.  Nathan was not feeling well so I stayed home with him and the others came back a little earlier so we could do our Christmas Eve pajama present opening before Nathan went to bed.  That night it started to snow and the next morning we woke up to about a half foot (at least!) of new snow, and it was still coming down!  It was so exciting to have a white Christmas!  We opened our presents, had our traditional Christmas breakfast of German pancakes, fruit, eggnog and sparkling apple cider, and spent the day just enjoying our presents.  I took advantage of the time while my family was at the in-laws to make some of the food for Christmas dinner, so I only had to spend a few hours in the afternoon preparing the rest of the food.  My brother Mike (he's single) came over for Christmas dinner.  We had fun with him.  Then we watched the live-action version of Cinderella with Lily James and Cate Blanchett.  We really enjoyed it.  Yesterday we went to church. 

Now that the hustle, bustle, planning, and preparing of Christmas is over, I am ready to tackle my house.  I'm going to leave the Christmas decorations up through this week.  I've got stuff to return to stores, stuff to take to the Deseret Industries (the LDS Church's thrift store), stuff to return to people, and general organizing to do.  My bedroom and office are in bad shape. 

I've also got bills to pay and need to balance the checkbook.

Starting this week, I will be planning menus using food in the freezer and pantry.  I need to clean out both.  It will help with saving money, and the freezer needs to be defrosted.  The buildup is getting so bad in places it's interfering with being able to pull out the boxes.  We've got quite a bit of chicken and beef so I'll be interested to see how long it lasts. 

Dinner tonight will be chicken fajitas and green chili rice.

Hope you all have a good day.  Stay safe and warm!  Hope your power stays on, and if it goes off, that you get it back quickly!

Merilee

[pamgonzo]

Erica: praying that your surgery goes well, and that you are quickly on the mend!!

Keep us posted on your progress!

Pam

[greyhoundgirl]

Here in GA we have temps in the 70's and rain, rain, rain.  Many areas are flooding.  Our hometown, Cullman, AL had really bad flooding.  To Catherine, we have a plastic funnel-type doohickey that sits on top of a coffee cup.  You put one of those #2 cone paper filters in it, put in as much coffee as you want, then pour boiling water over slowly.  It makes a pretty good cup of coffee in a pinch.  We use it in emergencies, and I use it when I just want one cup.  http://www.amazon.com/Melitta-Ready-Single-Coffee-Brewer/dp/B0014CVEH6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1451313405&sr=8-4&keywords=coffee+drip+funnel

Sounds like a nice gadget.   We have a French Press but no way to boil water.   Unless we get out the camp stove.  However, once Earl got the generator going we were able to use our one cup coffee maker briefly before plugging in the fridge.

[greyhoundgirl]

Erica,  hoping all goes smoothly today.

[fishermanwife]

Hope your electric comes back on soon Catherine. We have just received lots of rain atleast 7 inches and suppose to get more later. The docks on the lake were already under water before the rain and now many roads are too, hubby had to go way out of the way to get home due to flooding. Not much going on today just hanging out with the kids and cleaning a little it's been so nice having time off from work but I know after 2 weeks it's going to be so hard to drag myself out of bed lol. Stay warm and safe everyone.