IâÂÂm sorry for my text! I have 2 pipes elevating my wood off the floor w/o any breathing once that area is filled with ash/coals. The added expanded metal on the pipe has added breathing and separating of ash and coal. I also have 1 yr old Red Oak I feel this breathing will allow to burn with this cold front coming into North TX tomorrow. Wish Us Well On These Small Old Lots and large trees that are barely clean from the last front approx a week ago. The freezing moisture before leaves have fallen or thinning is a major issue. The wood is becoming plentiful but the hazards are the major issue. Our Live Oak needs more thinning since our 2010 Ice Storm. The Silver Leaf Maple 2 door away is not worth burning but it had to come down for the neighborâÂÂs safety. I did get some Pecan with more and Red Oak coming in a similar situation.

I have a seven month old cat who does the same thing. We've played hard (hide and seek, tag, fetch) since he was a bitty one and he's solid muscle now. Playing hard will make a cat pant as they need a way to quick process their elevated body heat. Take note of when that happens and if it's warm, don't play too hard. I know if most people were to run at top speed while jumping and twisting around, they'd quickly become hot and short of breath. Playing is hard work. Keep doing it with him though. It's good bonding.

Beverly, thanks for keeping this weekly challege going. Two days ago I put away my sewing machine and cleared off the dining room table of all fabric. Since the 8 months that I have gotten into quilting I have practically given up all physical exercise. I have put on 20 pounds. No, make that 25. All the while I continued to sit and sew, watching in horror what was happening with my weight. Last night I awoke at 1:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, for thinking about my weight gain. I decided to look on my bookshelves for an inspirational diet book, and I pulled out "The Choice is Yours, A Practical Guide to Take off and Keep off Pounds Sensibly," by TOPS. I joined TOPS about 12 weeks ago in a fit of desperation, but stopped going to the meetings as I continued to put on pounds (pretty sensible, right?). As I began to read through the book, I realized it was quite excellent and provides techniques that I have not heard of before. Sometime this week I will come back and share one of the techniques that I am going to try tonight at bedtime -- it has to do with imagery, and it makes great sense. Anyway, today, I brought out all the clothes from my closet and piled everything on the bed, and set aside all the clothes I can no longer get into (which was quite a hunk of clothes). I am putting them into vacuum bags to seal up until I get rid of 15 pounds. Then I will open them up and see how I am doing. I'm sad to say that I haven't been able to manage sewing and keeping physically fit at the same time. Having the machine out of easy access definitely helps, and in the last two days I've had much better energy, and the house and DH are the beneficiaries. I'm going to give myself a two week break from sewing and then go back to it a little at a time to see if I can maintain a balance. I like the closing the kitchen after dinner idea. I absolutely have a problem snacking after dinner. Good luck to everybody this week! Mel

Hi guys, thanks for asking! I'm waiting, too. I haven't a clue about the outcome of the test. Usually, if a test looks fine, the technician will at least give me a hint. But this one, who seemed to be in a rather irritated mood even before the test, said, "That's for your doctor to tell you. We're not allowed." So all I know is that I couldn't have done any better with it. During the treadmill part I focused on pleasant, relaxing thoughts to eliminate the possibility of tension skewing the results. (The author Norman Cousins taught me to do this many years ago.) The guy manning the treadmill and EKG readouts (or whatever they were) said, "You did awesome." Now I can only hope my doctor says the same thing. I appreciate you thinking of me! Susan