Dan, I say old pantyhose are indispensible! They make great filters for your washing machine. Catches all the fluffy lint that might clog your drain! LOL! I am going to have to pass on the Christmas in June Swap. I am booked solid with obligations. Ted is graduating, we have Communion Parties up the wazoo, plus the other swaps I have already signed on for. Happy Swapping you guys and Merry Christmas! LOL! Melissa, I forgot to tell you that I was searching diligently earlier to try to find the name of your iris this morning before pre-school drop off but I came up empty so far. I do believe it is a dwarf judging by the height of the blooms. I am still working on it. Did you perhaps get that in one of the Halloween swaps last fall? I seem to remember some really cool "black" german irises that some people received.

Our old (2005) but good (20K miles) Jaguar X-Type was broadsided in an intersection by a teen girl in October 2012. The driver's father's insurance, Chubb Group, paid to have the car towed to our Jaguar dealer and to a body shop, for body work and for a rental car. After I complained about lost trade-in value, they kicked in another $650 cash. My DH was driving and suffered only sore ribs. We have not paid for his check-up at the hospital ER on the day of the accident, and he had no lasting physical probems once the bruised ribs improved. Chubb has yet to settle the personal claim. Yes, we are happy no one was seriously injured, but...this has caused us DAYS of work with the back and forth of getting the car back and the general unsettling effect of the accident. What should we be expecting from Chubb on the personal injury side of this incident?

Hi all, Not sure what all to say since I've been away so long. At least you still remember me. :D Re the way of eating question. I've changed my way of eating at least several times in my life, this most recent being lower carb. I try to keep it under 75, but don't always succeed. If I go very low, my heart gets more irregular, which makes me concerned. I don't eat desserts or junk snacks and deny myself things I want, like muffins, but don't feel like I'm getting the results now that I should given my diligence. I've kept my calories lower than what I'm theoretically supposed to be eating for most of my life. I wish the whole thing worked for me like it's supposed to. My relationship with that guy I've talked about for the last three years is difficult for me now. I don't think anything really bad is happening, but the closeness we had has pretty much ended over this last year, so I'm going through a grieving process, facing that some things I thought would last, didn't. Lots of my old issues have come up and it's been harder than I expected. I've been working on my art still so that part is good. Still not over the top, though. My younger son is going to be doing seminars on open source tools for .NET, and his first one is tomorrow on NUnit. Still haven't heard from the older one for three years now, though I've sent things, called, and left messages. Heather is still good, and I just ordered her some kitty food from the net that is supposed to be a healthy mix that is close to what kitties eat in the wild. I'll post this and then read more. I've planted another garden with lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, zucchini, broccoli, green onions, cauliflower, and different types of flowers, including a purple hibiscus bush and a yellow one. It's a good time of year here. Does anyone know what the story is with Happyto? Haven't heard about her in some time. She was here when I first started and had lost 80 lbs, but then ended up gaining it back when she started eating carbs again. And I remember when her husband passed and she got involved in her church, but I don't know what happened after that. Amy

Raeanne - You are so right about having to sit down and have a good cry if that sauce fell!! Now I think I will be even MORE cautious carrying it downstairs! LOL Don't beat yourself up about the cheesecake. We have to allow ourselves treats. The trick is to take small amounts and stop when you are satisfied. I am finding that the longer I stay away from sweets, the easier it is to take only a small bite or two. The fear that I will become addicted again is too great! And the fear that my new pants won't fit is even greater! LOL Speaking of sweets, I am testing my willpower today and making pumpkin bread for a bake sale. I just put 6 mini loaves in the oven (and didn't lick the beaters or my fingers) and plan on giving 5 away and keeping one for DH and I. I will have my share for breakfast and when it is gone, there won't be anything else to tempt me. This is what I have been doing since July and it has been working so far. Then I am making a banana cake for my sewing club and I plan on having a small piece Tuesday night and giving away what ever is left. The ladies can each take a piece home, I will take some into work for the secretary and my cohorts, and DH could take some to work if there is any left after that. I still don't trust myself to have the leftovers sitting around for a week while I wait for DH to eat them. Laundry calls! I washed a Kleenex this morning in with a dark load and you know what that means. 1000s of little white flecks all over the place. I put the load in the dryer, but it didn't get rid of all the flecks, so I am running the load through the rinse cycle. Sheesh! Like I don't have enough to do. And I can't even blame the Kleenex on DD since she doesn't live here anymore! LOL Later, Marci