What are you up to today? This week?

[suej]

1 hour ago, havanaholly said:

My favorite Western author is Louis Lamour; Zane Gray is also suitable for young readers.  My friend Lucia's books are great reads but more mature content than your young readers might be ready for.

Holly!! I've read Ride the Wind, twice! Loved her writing style. I had forgotten she has other books. Do you know her?

[havanaholly]

7 hours ago, suej said:

Holly!! I've read Ride the Wind, twice! Loved her writing style. I had forgotten she has other books. Do you know her?

Lucia and I have been friends since third grade.

[Selkie]

Thanks for all the suggestions. My library can order some of them but does not stock paper versions but does offer e-versions. We don't have technology for that method. 

[suej]

16 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Lucia and I have been friends since third grade.

I can't even find an appropriate emoticon!

[KathieB]

Going to Lafayette on Sunday for Uncle Hubert's 91st birthday party. What to get for a present for a 91-year-old who often loses contact with Earth? I'm thinking a nice fruit arrangement with wrapped candy to add sparkle. He may enjoy the bright colors and we know he loves sweets. His daughter reports his appetite is robust.  

[havanaholly]

That sounds perfect!  Even if Uncle Hubert I off on another planet I'm sure it also has frit and candy.

Sue, eventually we drifted away on separate paths, but there is a core of four of us who met each other in third grade Brownies and when we get together it' as if no time has passed at all.

[Roxxie2]

I went out consignment, second hand shopping today and came home with this beautiful Native American doll!  She is 14 inches tall and in perfect condition.  It was too good a deal to resist!   Sometimes you just have to go for it!  I am not sure what tribe she is from, probably one of the plains tribes.  Excuse the photo my phone doesn't take a great picture.

 

 

[KathieB]

Roxy, she's gorgeous! 

[grazhina]

Pretty nice doll, Roxy. I'd have had a hard time passing her up myself.

Today I dragged a double bed box spring up to the attic by myself. Got a little nervous trying to get it around the corner in the hallway to get it up the stairs, but I managed. I'll need help from my son with the mattress on his next day off. Our superfirm king size mattress isn't as firm as it was 12 years ago, as a result my back started bothering me more and more often during the last couple years. A couple of months ago I got desperate and slept on a quilt on the floor of the guest room, but after 2 nights on the floor I remembered the air mattress and inflated it to firm. My back started getting better, but I got sick and tired of crawling onto the floor to get up in the morning, so I pulled the soft mattress off the guestroom bed and threw the air mattress on the box spring instead. One night last week I was awakened by a loud noise and a strong shove. Something in the air mattress had given way and it developed a big mound all along one side of the bed. A brand new highly rated superstrong air mattress arrived by UPS yesterday afternoon, good thing too, because last night I awoke to pop-pop-pop- and shove again. I got out of bed as fast as I could, totally disoriented. Somehow I wound up sliding off the foot of the bed instead of the side, for a moment I had no idea where I was stading or how I got there. Tonight I get to try out the new airbed. When we went on vacation last week I wound up spending most of the last night sleeping on the floor because my back and hip started aching again. The trip before that I spent 2 nights sleeping in a chair with an ottoman. I found it more comfortable than the bed. 

 

[Roxxie2]

The shop just called me and said they forgot to include a hand woven blanket that came with the doll and I am to pick it up when I can!     I use to have a nice doll collection and I lost everyone of them in a house fire.   I am slowly collecting a few nice ones when I see them.    I bought a couple of lovely Santa dolls at  Christmas.   I know how these things can get out of hand but I knew if I walked away I would regret it!  

[Roxxie2]

Oh no Grazhina!!!!!    I can completely sympathize.  I have had this hip SI Joint going on for over a year now and I haven't been able to get in to see the specialist yet!

[rodentraiser]

This sounds awful, but I was more comfortable sleeping in the back of my car than I am on this mattress here where I live now. In the car, I put down a 1" thick board and two foam mattresses from Walmart. At least the board stayed straight and didn't bend. Here, the mattress has curved and my back aches so bad some mornings. I wish I could get someone to (cheaply) just build me a bed frame and I'd go with the board and foam mattresses again. At least when I was doing that, I never woke up sore in the morning.

[havanaholly]

Our RV beds have thin foam mattresses on top of boards and sleep so comfortably!  We are still sleeping on the same ultra-firm mattress we bought 48 years ago.  Every six months we turn it end to end and every couple of years we flip it over, and it's still as comfy as when we first got it.  I dread thinking about having to replace it.

[Anna]

This morning there was a hint of rain, lastad for about halv an hour and now it is back to gorgeous again. Hubby is out on a bike ride so I took the IPad with me to thehotellobby and Heby presto the wi-fi actually works LOL.

checking emails, browsing the forumfora couple of minutes prior to go back to the bungalow area and continue with thefaux wicker while sitting outside on the patio... Life is gooood!

hugs

[havanaholly]

I take it you don't ride with your hubs.

Later this AM we're heading down to Lulu's Gulf Shores so DS and wife can pick up their packet for tomorrow's races; she's doing a half marathon and he's doing 10k and it's godawful early enough that his dad & I will be doing zzz's.  There is plenty of mischief and attractive nuisances on the way down and back, as well as there. 

[Deb]

Roxy, I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that your lovely new friend is a Navajo Kachina doll.   Her costume, feathers, and sun are at least very similar to the traditional designs used for Navajo dolls.  I'd love to see a picture of the blanket when you get it.   

[sparklepuppies]

Today I am making buckeyes. I started Monday making ng the "dough", then a couple nights this week I rolled some balls. Right now I'm waiting for the chocolate to melt, then I'll start dipping the 200 or so balls. Fun. I made some at Christmas, but we haven't got together with our friends at Christmas for 2 years now, and he asked me a few weeks ago to make him some for dinner tonight. I was going to make a half batch, but the rest of my family found out, and I have a few 'volunteers' to help eat them!

[KathieB]

Holly, we're going to Gulfport on Tuesday. For a moment I brightened up at your mention of Lulu's until I realized it is in Gulf Shores, not Gulfport. *sigh* 

Cousin Gloria has been pushing me to visit the clothing outlet shops in Gulfport with her. Both she and Lloyd have been nagging at me to get some new clothes. I've managed to lose 50+ pounds in the past year or so and my current wardrobe, while incredibly comfortable except for the slacks and jeans that tend to slide off my hips if I put anything more than a tissue in the pockets, is not exactly runway worthy.* My argument of "How will folks know what I've accomplished if I turn in my baggy clothes for some that fit?" has lost its impact. Since I have no shopping gene in my DNA helix**, I am dreading the adventure, but I guess it's about time I face reality.

*How do those young men who wear their jeans so loose that they sag below their butt and have to be held up manage to move around? 

**Yesterday I steeled myself and went into Ross and TJ Maxx as a sort of pre-shopping warm-up exercise. Tried on one pair of jeans 3 sizes smaller than the ones I had on. They fit well in the waist, but the hip and thigh area was so roomy that I'm pretty sure I could smuggle a couple of hams out of the grocery store if I'm ever of a mind to do so. Came out of the stores somewhat depressed. 

[Deb]

3 minutes ago, KathieB said:

 

*How do those young men who wear their jeans so loose that they sag below their butt and have to be held up manage to move around? 

 

 I have no clue but I suspect that there's going to be a whole generation with a totally new variety of back/hip pain later on in life.  LOL!  Kathie, when you start looking for jeans, avoid anything that says "relaxed fit".  That cut is a bit fuller thru the hips and thighs.  On the other hand, your idea of smuggling hams out of the store could really cut down on your grocery bill.  hehehehehehe  

[KathieB]

Deb, Relaxed Fit has nothing on Curvy Girl fit --- I brought home a pair of those a few weeks ago without noticing the designation on the label (I hate fitting rooms) and when I put them on it was apparent that they were designed for the ladies of traditional build who have extra large backsides -- the I-can-balance-a-coffee-mug-on-my-back-shelf kind of backsides. They flared out like jodhpurs. Could have smuggled a couple of whole pigs in those. Lloyd and I fell out laughing, and I chuckled all the way back to the store.

[Deb]

47 minutes ago, KathieB said:

Deb, Relaxed Fit has nothing on Curvy Girl fit --- 

<collapsing in a fit of giggles>   I didn't know there was such a designated fit as Curvy Girl.  I'll make sure to avoid them since that's not the area where all my curves congregate. Now if they made a Curvy Girl fit for tops that don't have necklines and armholes that hang down to my waist, we'd be in business.   BTW, congrats on your weight loss!  

[blueirishmoon]

Personally, I always wonder how women like that manage to sit. I always get this weird sort of visual, like that part of them will balloon up when they sit down and they'll wind up popping off the chair and wind up flat on their face. Suffice to say, my weight is not in my back end. It's pretty flat, just like my dad's.

[sparklepuppies]

Kathie, I'm so sorry you have to go clothes shopping, I hate that too. My clothes are so blah and boring, even my work clothes. Trouble I have is they are either way too long, or I can't fasten them. Or both!! I desperately need new clothes too, guess sometime in the next couple weeks I need to head out myself.

[grazhina]

Kathie, I don't enjoy clothes shopping either, which is one of the reasons I kept all those clothes that I got tired of and haven't worn in 4 years. I don't have to buy myself anything new unless I see something I really, really like. I'd ordered a new top for my vacation the other week and wound up liking it so much that when I saw it the other day for half off, I ordered it in 2 more colors. That's how I wound up with all those shirts I kept. They came in assorted colors and the online store kept putting them on sale with additional % off or free shipping. 

I finally finished clearing out all the closets and drawers on the 2nd floor. Now I have a huge pile of stuff at the bottom of the stairs in the front hall. I'll have to go through them again and decide what can go to Goodwill and what goes to trash. 

[jbnmini]

Currently on my last evening in Florida at my son's house.  Two days before we were to fly to Orlando, my mother called to tell me that my dad wasn't feeling well and they were considering taking him to the hospital (they are snowbirds).  My dad has congestive heart failure combined with a pair of long-damaged kidneys, which means that after his heart attack a year and a half ago he has spent an occasional week in the hospital to remove the build-up of fluid in his lungs.  Looks like this was to be another such trip.

I called my son, who lives in Orlando to drive down to Sarasota to make sure my dad gets to the hospital and to keep my mother as calm as possible.  She suffers from major anxiety that has never been diagnosed- or at least never medicated. Anywho- we left for Florida thinking that this time may be the last.  Upon arrival at the Sarasota hospital we discover that his FL docs have already done one test and a heart cath was scheduled for a day or so later.  Now he had been told by his docs back home in Pennsylvania that he was NOT a candidate for a heart cath because of the dye used in the procedure would damage his bad kidneys....and he was NOT a candidate for open-heart surgery or a mitral valve clip procedure because of his bad condition and the kidney issue.  Well, we agreed to the cath-which he came thru ok, but it told us nothing new.  We waiting til the end of the week for the docs to have a meeting to discuss his case---yup. they came to the same conclusion: he is not fit for any procedure.  My poor parents' spark of hope was dashed again.  I could rant for an hour about how they are in complete denial about this whole thing....but I will spare you.

So, my dad is now back at their FL home and we are planning to get him home by the end of the week.  Which means I will fly home tomorrow with my hubby, then fly back down with my daughter on Friday, pack them up and drive them back to PA hoping that he doesn't go into heart failure on the way home!  *sigh*

Now, in between all of this I had a great visit with my son and DIL!    Some time in Disney and a trip to Ron's in Orlando were the highlights.  Once I am home I will post a pic of the little treasures I bought!  Can't wait to show you all the wonderful little English porcelain gilded tea set! 

Sorry for the 'book'....it's been a week of fun and frustration!