TGIF

Susie,

Sounds like a busy weekend for you. With DH being a teacher I get to go school clothes shopping for him for new shoes and dress pants each year, Rhiannon is in preschool again this year but she is just about ready to go, have the supplies, need to get some more clothes.

My mom came up yesterday and helped, I slept most of the day. The kids are all on one floor and when one wakes up they all do, so trying to get them to stay in their beds and not wake everyone up has been keeping me up. My mom took them home with her for my nephew's birthday tonight and our hometown's fun fest tomorrow.

As for me, I have 14 pounds of cukes soaking in the sink ready to be made into dill pickles and 5 half gallons of refrigerator pickles waiting for their brine. Also 32 pounds of peaches for freezing and making baby food puree for the baby to come. I know that we have ate almost one layer of peaches, I had 3 last night and 2 for breakfast, they are so ripe and juicy I can't help myself so will make one batch of baby food and eat the rest.

I also need to get laundry done and put away. After moving all the kids around and going through clothes and toys with my mom has kept us busy. Next week we have someone that is going to come in once a week and help me out with the kids and the house. My mom set it up and they are going to pay for it. I am looking foreward to one day a week help even just to let me get some rest.

I still have 3 months to go and have been asked if I was due any day since the middle of June. I have been sick with the flu on and off and tension and migraine headaches that are hormone related. Not much fun. DH is feeling much better, they had to adjust his meds but his blood sugar has been staying around 120 at each reading and at 100 as a fasting check. I go in 2 weeks for the glucose test and they will check dh's liver and keep up on his health. He has lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks so that is good for him, any weight he loses will help keep the diabetes under control.

Clinking my coke to you all,

Stacie
girlsingardens

Susie, sorry to hear that Wendy is gone, but she is at peace now.

Sounds like you have one helluva busy weekend planned!

Stacie, you're gonna be a cannin' fool this weekend, huh? Sounds like fun!

I hope to make it to the St. Paul Farmers Market this weekend. I need to get some tomatoes-having "salsa withdrawal! LOL

Other than that, just some gardening and relaxation. Weather is supposed to be perfect all weekend.

Linda

TGIF to ALL!

I'm having some of the same perfect weather that Linda mentioned. Sunny, highs in the low 80's, cooling into the 60's at night. Low humidity. Summer is about the only time we can brag about the weather around here. The lake temp is perfect for swimming also.
With all the talk about gas prices and worry about the economy, I'm really happy to report that our summer tourist season is doing great. Last Saturday was our highest sales day ever! Year to date we are slightly ahead of last year which was the best ever.

I work tomorrow then on Sunday I'm taking my DM home. After two weeks here she is ready and anxious to get back to her place. It's been almost six weeks since she went into the hospital....but doing very well.
I'm ready o try to get life back to normal and it's time to start canning.

Nancy

From laid off work to working everyday just that fast! I'm filling in on a small car product line so it is in panic mode. Frightening how stupid our managers get when the pressure is on. Mostly taking short cuts that sooner or later run into the big bad wolf. Glad this line is not my responsibility or I'd be in another fight. One of our new engineers seems to like me so it is good to have another supporter.

Had a serious senior moment yesterday and mixed up my medications. I never take my muscle relaxers because they make me so sleepy. So yesterday morning I took a pill without looking at the bottle... yup they were the muscle relaxers and not the pain med I always take. I fell asleep until just before work and then jumped out of bed and took another pill before heading off to work... it was another muscle relaxer. Wondered if I was going to die. I could hardly move. Not until this morning when I reached in the pill cabinet did I finally figure out what I'd done. Silly doctor wants me to take three of those muscle relaxers a day but the side affects are not worth it.

So I feel much better today. Still a bit messed up but the drugs should clear my system by tonight.

: )
lyra

Well, it's comforting that I'm not the only one who's crazy-busy! TGIF, all...

Susie, I just read about Wendy. We are in 'waiting mode' with Liana's college roomate's Rottweiler. Four years old and has lymphatic cancer. He guarded my child for four years. We understand your devastation.

Stacie, I don't know how you do it all!

Linda and Nancy, I am jealous of your weather....we are hitting triple digits this weekend.

Nancy, glad to hear your Mom's doing well. Six weeks! i think that was one of the last times I was here...reading about your mom. Wow the summer's going by fast!

All our spring rain has made for a good berry crop, so we've been out picking huckleberries nearly every day. We'd already hit the strawberry farm, and yesterday DH brought home a gallon of blueberries, so today is jam day. Cleaning the kitchen will the be first priority. We picked two grocery sacks full of basil and froze a bunch of pesto the other night....olive oil, bits of dried basil and pesto sludge everywhere.

If it's going to be 100F, the only thing I'm planning for the weekend is early morning weeding and afternoon margaritas. Then Monday it's off to work at the fair for two days. Not looking forward to sitting in a big metal building in this heat, that's for sure. (I'm not entering a thing this year....it feels strange!)

Have a good weekend everyone! Glad to have a few minutes to catch up....~clink!~

Bri's coming over to can!!
Tomorrow, 8am sharp. We'll pick blackberries, make jam or jelly, then whip up a batch of Annie's salsa.
I just know we're gonna have a ball. I'll try to get DH to take some pics!

Still sucking down coffee now, but will 'clink' ya later!
Deanna

Deanna, definitely take some pictures, and you and Bri will have a great time canning, I know.

Suzie, I can't believe Drew is getting so big. And all the time you're getting so small. LOL

Linda, have fun at the farmer's market. Take pictures!

Stacie, just take it easy, nothing else.

Michael/Lyra, be careful, not paying attention to what you're taking can cause some real problems.

Nancy, a big hug to your Mom. I'm so glad she's finally going to be able to go back to her own place. Not as happy as she is, I'm sure, but still. Elery and I were in Traverse City on Wednesday and we stopped at American Spoon Foods to see if I could steal any new ideas, LOL.

katie, have fun at the fair, in spite of the temps. I'm happy to say it's going to be "only" 85F here this weekend.

Me? I'm going to start cooking for the "reception", I think. A batch or two of homemade buns, probably one of Sol's honey rolls and another of Terri's honey wheat. I have a recipe for pulled pork marinated in Jack Daniels and Coke that I'm trying out and maybe even some cookies, we'll see.

Sunday is the farm, I know I'll have a lot of beans to pick, probably some tomatoes and cukes. Peaches should be ready any time. Ashley has her CPR class tomorrow, one of the requirements for her "professional" sequence at college, and it's all day, so I should be all alone and can cook undisturbed.

Annie

Dang, Deanna stole my thunder! We're going to have a great time tomorrow morning. I'm so excited to finally be canning something this season!

Sunday I'll pressure wash the house in preparation for painting in the next couple weeks. Of course, I still have to choose a color, so we'll see how that goes.

Clinking my diet coke with you all!

Bri

My plastic bottle of Diet Lipton White Tea -- Peach Papaya flavor -- doesn't "clink" but I'll toast anyone and everyone.

I'm off to the grocery store in a bit to make some special purchases. Gotta get some white asparagus, arugula, broccoli raab, fennel, criminis, fava beans, garbanzos, mortadella, pancetta, prosciutto, tuna in oil, bel paesa cheese, anchovies, peperoncini, and dried porcinis. And much much more.

I already have boxes and boxes of pasta, cheese graters, a meat pounder and other hardware.

Don't know what I'm going to cook with it but I gotta show it off to my students in a special lecture class tomorrow at Cal Poly, "Essentials of the Italian Kitchen".

Not a cooking class, per se, but an introduction to the basics of cucina Italiano.

I like Colavita Olive oil, by the way.

After class, I'll make something from it all for Andrea for dinner.

Joe