OH I made this and it's so good words can't even do it justice!! You gotta make it. I did not make the full recipe; just made one box of spinach and added what I thought to be enough of all the rest of the ingredients; here's the recipe: SPINACH GRATIN 50 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, thawed 4 tablespoons butter 2 small onions, chopped, 5 ounces 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 3/4 cup heavy cream 2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Pinch nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon Spicy Seasoning Salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 2 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded, 1/2 cup 2 ounces freshly grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup In a medium skillet, sauté the onion in the butter 15 minutes. Blend in the cream cheese on medium-low heat. Gradually blend in the cream until smooth. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, the garlic powder and nutmeg. Squeeze all of the liquid from the spinach and place in a greased 11x7" baking pan. Pour in the sauce mixture and mix well (I found that using 2 forks to do the mixing worked well). Mix in the salt, seasoning salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Spread evenly in the pan, then top with the Swiss cheese and remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Bake at 425º 20-30 minutes until hot and bubbly. Makes 10-12 servings Can be frozen Per 1/10 recipe: 295 Calories; 25g Fat; 13g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs Per 1/12 recipe: 246 Calories; 20g Fat; 11g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

Bumblebeez- "I will admit that I hate the heat. 4 more months of this, yuck." You took the words right out of my mouth! It's a relief to know someone else feels that way! It seems almost unbelievable to most that there are people who don't really care for summer. I find summer to be neither lazy nor crazy, just kind of hazy! I like to go out early too--to do yard work, and run errands. Was out at 6:30 A.M. today to rake, water and tidy up. (Went out yesterday afternoon around 5:00 for an hour and almost passed out!) Got a solid hour of work done and really enjoyed being outside as the temp & humidity was fairly mild and low. Then all the "worms" came out...people walking (and talking!) I do enjoy talking to these people, and enjoy visiting with their dogs as well, but then I didn't get much done the remaining hour I was out. After 9:00, certainly 10:00, I can't work in the direct sun. I may try to go out again after 5:00. There's a finite period during which I can get things done outdoors during summer. Your idea of a trip to the beach in November sounds nice! People are expecting me at the neighborhood picnic this weekend. Eating outside in the noon-day sun when it's in the 90's is not my idea of a good time. I told one neighbor, "If they'd just have this thing in December, I'd love to go." She looked at me like I'd turned green and sprouted horns. I'm such a grouch. The "Grinch who stole summer!"

About 6 or 7 years ago Wal Mart had quite a variety of colors and Kellogg characters on men's dorm pants. I bought 6 different ones and sewed the opening in the front closed becaused it tended to gap open. I have worn them every night to sleep in with a matching t-shirt, either long sleeve or short sleeved, depending on the weather. Since I've retired there have been many days that I have kept them on til I have to leave the house. They have been washed so many times that they are now about 6 inches too short. I make up for that by wearing socks when the weather is cold. My tops and bottoms match, but the socks are whatever I happen to grab out of the drawer. I rarely wear make up, and there have been a few times when I wash my hair and just let it dry without doing anything else to it. I look more like a porcupine than a woman, but I don't care. I wear crocs around the house unless my feet hurt bad enough to have to wear my New Balance shoes with my inserts. I feel the same as Trin. I have earned this right of passage. Linda

Here are some photos of the deck. The long narrow piece is the walkway to the rear garage door and access to the back yard which is accessed often by the dogs and us. We were thinking of doing a sectional sofa in the corner where the hammock currently is that would fit 5-6 people, but then the majority of the sofa would have people facing the backside of the house (which isn't thrilling), instead of looking out into the nice landscape. However, if we put the furniture along the backside of the house facing outwards we'd be blocking the walkway from the kitchen to the back yard. We've also thought to do 2-4 recliners or a daybed for lounge seating, instead of a sectional sofa but the recliners would likely need to all in a line which isn't ideal for conversing. We just want something not too crampy that is comfortable and nice to lounge on with our feet up, i.e. chaise, recliners, long sofas, etc. Then put a 6 person dining table parallel with the back of the home and outside the walkway near where the grill is, maybe doing a bench on the side of the table that would be up against the deck rail. We're open to moving the grill that is currently in the corner (the other one got thrown away). We're not deadset on swivel chairs at the dining table. Thank you guys for all the insights.