Mike, The cake sounds good, I'll have to try it. The recipe reminds me of Dump Cake, where you just dump all the stuff in the pan & bake it. I haven't made it in a long time. My family will get nothing for a while & then I make 4 different breads or desserts in one day. Then when the weather clears up, back to the garden. Feast or famine. Marian, You're supposed to cook when it's raining & you can't be outside. As in "I just HAD to try this recipe instead of cleaning." or Make it, eat one piece (& one for DH) & share the rest with friends, neighbors, or someone you don't care for who is on a diet. ;) Linda

Awwww, thanks for all your sweet wishes, they are MUCH appreciated! Yesterday was a tough day, but I took your advice and brewed myself a pot of tea, read lots of posts, saw many great decs here and then took a long nap. DH got back here early and we drove down to pick up my car. The new battery was a no-charge, but the brake job ~just on the front end~ was over $400! Living here in the mountains, I can't scrimp on good brakes, but good grief, that's a ridiculous amount! (Sigh) what's done is done and my car (actually, minivan) is in great shape once again. Afterwards, DH & I had dinner at a favorite restaurant in town to avoid the rush hour traffic and relax a bit. We had a glass of wine and played Gin Rummy for an hour when we got home, too. That was a lovely way to end a crummy day! With the rest, I'm doing as you advised and taking it one day at a time. All this will pass . . . eventually! Thanks! Yachter: I'm keeping you and your family in my prayers. Please know how much you're liked and appreciated here on this forum! We miss you when you're not around here with us! Lynn

I found my missing Fall bin! I had previously said if I (later on) found it in my Christmas storage, I'd scream loud enough for you to hear. Well I did find it with other Christmas bins....thankfully now instead of in Dec... but I almost screamed anyway! You see the "Gi-normous" blue bin? It is totally FULL of Fall. It feels like bricks are in there, I could barely drag from garage into family room! I didn't do anything so far but lift the lid to confirm it was Fall. The size and weight of this thing is REALLY scary! Especially as I unpacked 4 other Fall bins, the size of the green one, and you saw how much I've decorated. Holy Purple Cow! Maybe this one should have STAYED missing! Sheesh. It was in one of the places I'd looked THREE times already. Guess one should never stop looking, huh? I have a corner in the garage with Christmas bins, most all the size of the green one cause that is an easy size for me to lift and carry. Tho I do have some the next size up for garlands as I have so many of them. This blue one, needless to say, was on the bottom of the stack. And I was POSITIVE all my big Xmas garlands were stored in there. POSITIVE, I tell you! Of course if I had any working brain cells left, when I put it out there last year and had clearly written FALL on it in a big black marker, I'd have made sure the lettering faced the FRONT and not the garage wall. Arrrrrggghhhh. Anyway, this evening, out of frustration after previously checking all the green bins before... without having to move any of them... I moved all of them and looked in the blue one just to prove to myself it did hold the Xmas garland. Wish you'd seen my face when I saw what I saw. And glad I couldn't see the look of horror that it must have showed. Especially when I went to move it. (I swear there has to be bricks in there!!) I probably will have to drag it out on the back porch in the morning as I can't have it, or a mess of stuff, in my family-room cause company is coming over. The man who wrote Jason's book is coming back to go thru my photos, and the memorabilia (articles, magazines, etc) I've collected since he was burned. He'll probably be here around 2 hrs. The book is at the publisher waiting for photos. Will be ready to order soon hopefully. (Jas and Russ both will sign copies for any of you who want it by the way. Unfortunately I don't know the price yet) Well, my back is screaming at me for dragging that bin and moving all the others full of Xmas things, so I better go move around and treat myself to some Vicodin. If I was smart I'd throw them out and get some Vodka. LOL. Probably be cheaper and I'd probably be more fun to be around. hugs, Karen PS...Marlene, how neat you and I almost share the same anniversary day.

That reminds me of myself when I'm trying to open one of those Tear here to open packages. I always have to end up using the scissors. That gave me a good laugh. Thanks. Sue