It was some below zero F. around here this morning ... but is warming up a bit. Some snow, too ... coming down near horizontally, this afternoon: not nice weather in which to be out traipsing around. Glad I'm not dog-sitting, these days. Hi mush, Did you bundle the dog up, too? Or carry him/her in your backpack? Wouldn't want to get her/him too close to a fire, though, on your return: don't need a hot dog, just now. ole joyful ... hoping that the car works O.K. en route home

I avoided an argument by not giving my DH 1 of his gifts, how about that? We had always gone to Florida for about 6 weeks in the winter but DH feels, with having our cats, no one can take care of them like he can, and hasn't gone with me the last couple of years. We have a neighbor and family that live real close and have always taken over in an emergency...Well, I booked my flights and I also booked a flight for DH to come down for 9 days..On Christmas, we were all unwrapping gifts and I said, Dad has 1 more and he said, I've already gotten so many, keep it for my birthday, which is in Feb., right before his scheduled trip...He'll be upset, but I'll already be gone so I don't care...He loves Florida and I know he'll enjoy it....So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Gee meg, thanks for your concern ;-).I hope your ankle is at least working OK now. I totally understand how nasty ankle twists can be, my left ankle (the offending joint in this case) I not-so-fondly call my "rubber ankle". I damaged it very badly as a teenager, and probably should have had a surgical repair, but technology was not so good for that 20 years ago. Now I am very careful with it, and it "tricks" out on me at least a couple times a year, with rather painful consequences. On the upside, since there are no effective ligaments left in there, they can't tear anymore so the pain goes away in a couple days :-) I probably should re-consider surgical options before arthritis begins to set in. Argh. Anyhoo, you will all be pleased to know that I have successfully stayed out of trouble since my little trip on Saturday. Tomorrow is electrical rough-in day. (BZZZZZZT !)

Thanks, Vith! Actually.... when Urgent Care then sent me to the ER drs. & had an X-ray. It showed there were pieces of bone chips that eroded & were irritating the joint which did show some erosion of the joint bones. May have a procedure where the joint is 'vacuumed/flushed out' & ends of joint 'sand-papered' smooth to try & prevent more of those chips. Hopefully, this will prevent total knee replacement at this time! Not sure how long this procedure takes to heal as compared to the replacement but others with knee replacements say the knee replacement is much worse than their hip replacement! That was why two church members (one was 90!) had BOTH knees done at the same time .. their Drs. said if they did just one, they would never consent to having the second one done later!!! Hope to not have either of THOSE! Now to have to wait a month to get an appt. with an Ortho dr. to see me & this set up! I am an outdoor person, not much patience & now have to watch hubby take over my jobs as I limp around the house using my cane! Waiting to get a transport wheelchair so I can get to drs. appts. easier & now get a handicap parking sticker x MVD ... which I always had said I 'would never have' ! -Vieja