TGIF everyone!!! I am clinking with some Irish breakfast tea....ICED!!! Oh is so good to make ICED TEA!!! I decided that I needed a Susie Day-you know a day to do whatever I want. Its been a bad week. I didn't mention it earlier cuz I feel like such a debby downer but DS had yet another gran maul at school the other day. Same class too...that teacher must be beside himself! I was home so I met him at the hospital. Poor kid had the ambulance ride by himself this time. I don't want to dwell on it...I know you guys wish him/us well....I can feel the good vibes as well as the prayers. WE'll be fine. SO I went to the gym and did a full workout! I never have time for that!! Then I went and picked out some bimbo nail polish and gave myself a pedicure. Gotta be sandle ready!! Then I picked up the phone and called an old pal and we talked for over an hour! Great to just have time to catch up! This afternoon I will drive over to NJ to go to the Vanity Fair outlet. I lost weight so I need some new togs!! Plus the gas is SO much cheaper in NJ!! LOL!! Tonight after a quick stop to visit DB, Frank and I are gonna try "chipolte" which just opened near the nursing home. I don't know much about it other than its a lot like Baja Fresh which we enjoy. Tomorrow will be my garden day...supposed to get cooler so I may or may not get some flowers. Sunday I am going to AC!! Hey Shaun...have a good time camping...sounds like fun!! Linda...gosh that earthquake must have been scary!! I only felt a tremor and it just about scared the bejesus out of me!! Sharon...we'll compare blisters and backaches by Sunday!! Enjoy your BBQ!! Nancy...paint the garage door is on my list too...prob get Drew to do it!! Heidi...this was an adult talking about a child?? Whoa...thats not good!! Hope DD has a wonderful time! Katie...doesn't every workplace have a problem child?? Glad you got yours resolved. Sorry about the snow piles!! DG...happy gabbing!! Hows the room planning coming along?? Happy Weekend and to my Jewish brothers and sisters...Much happiness and peace to each of you as you gather with loved ones for passover! PEACE! Susie

Happy Friday to you too Susie! Sounds like a great start to the weekend - friends, happy hour and shopping - that is a trifecta if I've ever heard of one. Good luck chari shopping there is a lot of carp out there in the stores. We have a comparatively quiet weekend. We are getting together with a couple of friends for a pot luck happy hour - everyone brings an app and a bottle of wine and we all share. The kids all get along really well so they will probably be shooting baskets, playing football or generally running amuck. Add in the 2 Labs that belong to one of the guys and it becomes quite the crowd. Tomorrow I am going to do a little garden cleanup. Not a lot to do, but I want to bring in a few sedum and hydrangea flower heads for fall/winter arrangements. I think the menfolk will be splitting and stacking some firewood. We only got 1 cord this year since we had a bit leftover from last year. Sunday I may try mixing up some cookie dough for the freezer and finally make a fruit cake. I can't believe I haven't gotten to that yet. We have settled on a cherry pecan bourbon deal that is just fantastic. Have a happy and safe weekend... clinking with a cup of coffee for now and something much more interesting later! Alexa

It's been so very warm here and the humidity is up to 79% so I was really sweating it out at my Pilates class this morning. There were just two of us and one instructor there today so she had us working out a little easier because of the heat. No AC in the gym. Came home and after cooling down made a salmon lunch and after dishes I had a long snooze. We're starting on a new tiny patio in a sunny corner of the garden that has a perfect view of the volcano and early this morning our gardener was busy digging up a small tree which has been growing where we want to pave. It will be just a small suntrap corner surrounded by walls of the house on 2 sides. So I'll be off perhaps tomorrow looking for some sale priced garden recliner chairs and a little table. Would also love one of those swinging setees but I don't think there's room for that. Even though we have sunny winters, this corner always gets the late afternoon sun at a time when the rest of the garden is shaded.....just the right place for sitting with a coffee and a book as the sun goes down. Other than that I have to get my Christmas shopping done for mailing to my family in Canada. Parcels will have to be sent airmail as it's already too late to send seamail (needs 2 1/2 months). I'll probably take the car downtown and shop only in air conditioned places if this heat keeps up. Have a good weekend everyone! SharonCb

TGIF indeed, I'm clinking with a cup of peppermint tea. Johnliu, I really like turkey, although I'm not a fan of stuffing. In fact, we had smoked turkey for supper and will have turkey again next week. Are you having visitors, or only the family? I say make whatever they like best and they'll be thankful! Rob, that IS exciting, mostly the visitor, I'll be watching to see who it is. I had to smile at the thought of The Boy, dropping parachutes off the deck. Ashley climbed up onto the roof and dropped eggs, her project was to make something that would protect the egg from breaking when dropped from varying heights. Yeah. Bubble wrap worked really well when I sent that dozen farm eggs to dishesdone in New York, and it worked pretty well for the project, but she eventually made a foam rubber "nerf" type container. What will that contribute to her knowledge as an adult? Darned if I know, LOL. Dedtired, good luck on those walks. Of course, walking in snow up to your armpits does burn a lot more calories. (grin) Lars, I'd definitely go for the free fish. I thought my herbs were finished here, we've had snow a couple of times. I knew the sage would grow through the snow and I'll have rosemary for some time, but parsley and thyme are both green and growing too, I didn't realize they were that cold tolerant. Diane, the second week of deer camp is the most wonderful time of year. (With a big nod to Da Yoopers, LOL) It's cold here and we're supposed to get anything from an inch to 9 inches of snow this weekend. A woodstove would feel good. Alexa is probably partying right now, I live a boring life... Today we raked the yard and cleaned the house well, we have our first potential buyer looking at the house tomorrow. I have all my fingers and pretty much everything else crossed. So, we're going to the farm to check on the calves in the barn that are being weaned and we'll insulate the pump house before it gets too cold. I'm hoping to negate the problem of the pump freezing if it gets more than 20 below zero without running a drop light out there. I don't know if it will work, but if nothing else the insulation will help the light keep it a bit warmer. It's completely underground, it'd make an awesome root cellar if I didn't have a well in there. Tomorrow we are projected to have a high of 24 and a low of 18, plus snow. I guess it's time to break out the hats and gloves... Annie