I slept in this morning, and did my treadmill routine and then some laundry and stuff around the house. I'm waiting for DS to call- when his meeting is finished we're going to go for lunch. I was supposed to have an estimator come by this afternoon, but he rescheduled for tomorrow. When I get home I'm going to make beef stew and bread, and I'll probably do some sewing.

I am recuperating today from a weekend trip to just sit and visit a realative. All that inactivity makes me more tired than my usual low key routine at home. I am getting a couple loads of laundry done with work on a jigsaw puzzle while waiting for load changes.

LOL about the urine sample from a short dog. Our Snuffy, a short Lhasa/ poodle mix, was diabetic, so we tested her urine daily. I am unable to squat or bend very far, so dh made a urine catcher out of a 3 ft dowel with a wire attached at one end that formed a frame to hold bathroom sized paper cups. Me and Snuff were very successful at getting our daily sample.

Got up at 8:30 a.m., got dressed and made the bed even before I left the bedroom. That is something I never do, usually just drag myself around for a few hours. Doing some laundry and maybe some ironing. We are going on a cruise on Sat. through the Panama Canal, so we are pretty excited. Hope I can resist the food, but that has never happened before.

Dex, I have been on lots of cruises, including a Transatlantic one, but haven't done the Panama Canal. Please give us a review when you get back. Hope your captain isn't Italian. If you're not a member of Cruise Critic, you need to check it out. Lots and lots of good info there. Friendly people, too. http://www.cruisecritic.com/

Nothing...for the first day in weeks, I have nowhere to go, nothing to do - except cook dinner.
I am reading and relaxing.

Right now I'm chuckling at the short dog/urine collection stories. Having boys, and thankfully I've never had to collect a sample, I hadn't thought of those problems.

Gazania, you're hubby is a jewel! And Marilyn; I'll never look at my soup ladle in the same light again! LOL

Out here on the wind-swept prairie, I'm planning (another) day of sorting/tossing/arranging in the sewing room.

I'll fire up an audiobook on the iPod and keep entertained and motivated that way. Right now I'm "reading" No Rest for the Dead.. It's excellent. One of the book's sites says "More than twenty New York Times bestselling authors team up to create a first-rate serial novel - a collaboration that combines the skills of AmericaâÂÂs greatest storytellers to produce a gripping, spellbinding mystery.

Ms. L layed the VERY LAST tile in the basement bedroom yesterday. The floor is so lovely. She will hopefully come tomorrow to do the grouting. Once that's dried and sealed I can start furnishing the room. For right now I'll be using the twin bed that's been in the sewing room, freeing up needed floor space in there, and one of the night tables from the sunporch.

I'm not planning anything else for today. If I make any visable improvements in the sewing room, I'll be delighted.

Here is a link that might be useful: More infor on multi-authored book

Not much, although I did clean out the refrigerator and got rid of all the old leftovers. Ick! Now I have room to fill it back up with this weeks leftovers. Sigh!

Harry isn't feeling well today, which is always a worry. He usually makes his own lunch, but I made it today. Cleaned up all the leftover containers and now I'm just going to be lazy. I haven't even made the bed--and maybe I won't!! :-)

Late to bed - late up.

Need potassium, due to taking diuretic pills, so had orange juice with toast, oatmeal and coffee.

Half-mild today: snow almost all gone ... so picked up a couple of cans en route to the library - in luck: beer cans (10 cents each): (pop cans, about 32 per lb., usually 50 - 70 cents).

Am waiting for update on an investment advisory, hasn't arrived. Sent some messages.

Now listening/talking to you people.

Have been having some tomato soup, adding baking soda to tomatoes stored half-cooked in yogurt tubs in the fridge in Sept - Oct., then salt, pepper, varying spices, heating separately in micro with about 1/4 cup milk ... but think that they're finished.

So prob. will finish potato, onion, hamburg stew begun last night. Pie from freezer?

I should have gone to cookie factory on way here (closes at 4) as I'm to provide snacks at ROMEO coffee group on Thurs. morn.

May drop in on friend who's knee-deep in lawsuit over a family member's estate at present to offer an ear and some emotional support.

Maybes: some kitchen clean-up is overdue; couple of shirts need some needle work.

ole joyfuelled ... with some help from home-made tomato soup, when available

Oh, the sample was collected, not by me this time and we are back from the vet's office with her senior citizen dogs. So far so good with them. I waited in the truck with the dogs and baby while she went into the consignment shop. I read on one of my books. I waited in the truck with the dogs while Amber chatted with a friend about the up coming one year birthday party for Alyssa and little friend from church who is 4 days older than she is. Should be lots of fun. Still cloudy and 32 outside.

Sue in Indiana

DH & I had lunch w/a friend at FOP , best steak hoagie in WV, in our opinion!

I am recuperating from grandsons (2and 5) and DDs visit. I tend to get up too early when they are here. So I rested for about an hour this afternoon, and now I am going to have a late lunch of some homemade split pea soup. DD gave me her left over ham bone with LOTS of ham on it, and DH says this is the best split pea I have made. I think it is all the ham she left for us. She was sure they would get tired of all their left over ham and just quit cutting it off the bone. Yummmm.

I had to work today, it was my 8 hour day and I actually got to go home at 4:00, very unusual. Bad thing when I left, though, they only had two nurses for tonight, so they had called everyone to find help. No one agreed to come in if they answered their phone. So someone probably had to stay till midnight from dayshift. That made their day a 16 hour day. I've done a few and they're horrible.

On the way home I had to go a different route because they were working on the railroad tracks and so the road I normally go home on was closed. Why they chose rush hour is beyond me to fix the stupid thing.

Got home, didn't feel like making anything so we went out to eat. While we were finishing up I realized it was Tuesday, which is four dollar movie night at the nearby theater. Too bad nothing good was playing.

We came home after going to the local video store and not finding any good movies. We then went to RedBox and found two movies. Lauren picked out Fern Gully, an old kid's movie we have (she thought it was a new version) and Straw Dogs.