Hey Guys, Im been MIA for a few days, but super busy. I had a fair amount of catching up to do here! Lots happens around here is short amount of time! NHSuzanne~ FIRST------Happy belated B-day!!! Howd you celebrate? Sounds like you and DH are all set for winter now! I was wonderingdoes your tractor have an all-terrain mower? If so, what brand and which attachment do you use? I have a large uneven area I need to mow and was thinking of renting. Is your sis better? Does she live pretty close to you? Its nice you can see her and take care of her. I hope you get in a ride soon. I miss going to the barn so much! Bith my older DDs were riders---19 yr old DD was a Western rider and competing in games and 17 yr old was an English rider. 19 yr old DD REALLY misses it and wants to work at a barn next summer. Ill have to work on that! DeeMarie~ Congrats on your doc visit and weight loss! Everything in line? Your concert a week ago sounded fun. I love live performances of any kind. I am happy I got you as my Holiday buddy! I cant wait to ship off a Northwest themed package to you! BTW, Im all caught up on the laundry front today! WHERE ARE YOU CRUISING TO IN JANUARY? Milkdud: Your Thanksgiving sounded wonderful! When is your sis coming in December? Is she a natural decorator type or does she do it for a living? Hope you are getting settled inand decorated :-) Glad the Atkins induction went successfully! Sounds like youre staying motivated! And how fun you get to baby-sit! I love the little ones! BTW,you sound very motivated about organizing. A little every day really makes a difference, doesnt it? My GF is not organized and she is a hoarder---well, now she has to sell her house and move (due to divorce) and she cant seem to get rid of anything. She was supposed to have her house on the market the 2nd week in October and it still isnt on the marketbut her friends are helpless to help her---shes afraid well throw her stuff out! So, we sit, frustrated, and wonder what shell do. RaeanneGlad to hear your trip to CA was mah-velous! How did like that weather? As far as your colonoscopy goes, think about the day AFTER, not the day before! That reminds me that I have to have my mammogram done this December. Glad you got the Thanksgiving travle plans worked out and it all came toegther! DonnaSNJ! Congrats on the online program weight loss! WOW! Terrific! Jen! You too! Great job! How was the vacation in Hawaii? Did you and DH go alone or did you take the pumpkins with you? Maddie---Audit report---howd it go? Done yet? Thanks for doing the holiday exchange list! Its so much fun each year! Besh: Did you find out anything else about the job situation? I can look at your resume and brainstorm if you email it to me. DeeMaries offer sounds pretty darn good, though. Glad your DH is back to work and his knee is better. Too bad about DSs bronchitisis it the weather? Hope the result was ok on your colonoscopy. Patti: When is your Christmas trip, where are you going, and for how long? Glad you got to have a traditional meal for Thanksgiving! Amy!!!!!! So glad to "see" you again! Whats the holdup on the power chair? Your eating plan sounds VERY healthy! I dont watch much TV (an hour and a half a week at MOST: only Boston Legal and The Soup), so I didnt see the show with the green drinks. Have you REALLY been in Hawaii for 6 YEARS???? I remember when you moved! John, HI! Always like it when you check in. Hope you had a quiet day at work on Thnxgiving Tikanas: YAY! Glad you can join us! And congrats on the NEW home! ----------------------------------------------------------- Wellall the kids were her for Thanksgiving and we all ate way too much all weekend long! Sounds like everyone had a great holiday food fest! We passed our house inspection (last week) with flying colorsI was a nervous wreck about that. My interview was last week and DH and oldest DDs are on Tuesday. My youngest 3 DDs have their interviews for Wednesday. Im doubly nervous this week and Ill be glad when the application process is overwhatever the turn out! I gave up tracking food because I was getting discouraged about the small amount of weight I was losing for such a concentrated effort. When I read Marcis post about putting the scale away, I decided to try that---and get on a regular exercise plan. I have been seriously walking the track at the local "Y" several times a week. I am testing out an MP3 player at the same time! Love both the walking and the music. Its pretty neat just to have some TIME to think!---or to not think! Well see how it goes. In addition, I am skipping the neighborhood cookie bakes and holiday dinners this year. I dont need the calories and since I am moving next summer anyway, I am taking THAT end-of-the-year stress out of my life. For the WHOLE holiday season, we have one dinner planned with a friend from out of town and then were off to the island (on Dec. 21st) for the holiday and DHs mom and dad will come to the island for Christmas and the few days surrounding it. Make this week a great one!

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

I never saw yesterdays show and only saw todays because I was zipping through channels and saw that he was talking about the mom and babies. Did anyone else see in the audience, I am sure it was Kate from the Jon and Kate show, was it? I don't know what they talked about yesterday or who they had on the show. But todays they had this women who helps big 5 star people and where people talked about the hotel she moved into it, it wasn't, it was a rental because the mom and this lady was having death threats which they took seriously and she was only there with her other children for 3 days and they are back home now. The picture of this spacious living room that was shown in some magazine was a friend's house who let her have the pictures taken there. The house that her parents own and she lives in with the kids are only two bedrooms and its wall to wall cribs. Also they talked to the dad and he told Dr. Phil that he and her parents went to the doctor to tell him not to do it and he said he wouldn't but he sure did as 8 babies later, here they are. According to another doctor, Dr. Phil had on the show said that this doctor had two law suits against him, one was dropped. And Dr. Phil asked this doctor that does plastic surgery could he tell by looking at the pictures of this mom if she had it done and he said yes her nose, possibly chin, lips. Another one of the doctors said that when you are pregnant and have eclampsy,etc. that your body swells up so alot of the before picture could be the reason that the face shifted and looks different. He said yes, that is true but he looked at a picture of her high school picture and said she did have touches done. Dr. Phil said if she did have those done what would be the cost of them? $20,000.00. That means the money to used for her babies she has been using for her own good. Yes, I feel that those babies need protecting plus her other children and that someone else has to be in control of the money to only be used for their needs, not the mom's. She gets nothing and that is the way it should be. They also said that there will be tons of watching those babies and kids to make sure they are well looked after and not abused. Dr. Phil said the mom's church is rallying together people to help them out when the babies come home. Can you imagine two bedroom house and its already wall to wall cribs, where is it all going? More cribs, bottles, formula, diapers, all the things needed to care for babies. This lady said that they can get her help to rent a house,etc. as its cheaper for them to have her keep the kids then put them into foster homes. I hope they are there all the time watching this mom that she is caring for those babies. The big question was, was she caring for the kids she already has herself?

Oprah has given away a lot of money and done many things for others. I will remember setting my VCR for 4 pm as long as I live. She started out like Jerry Springer with lesbian nuns on (really.) The kind of stuff that is none of our business and I don't believe nuns would come forward and wish they wouldn't. But it got attention which she needed to compete with Phil Donahue. Then she had a revelation and cleaned up her act. She is a wonderful actress. A natural in great movies that tell real stories. Rosie is not a nice person in my opinion though she had that reputation for a while when she had her own show. Queen of nice. We all have seen her other side and I remember when she left The View she had a blog online and she looked skaggy and ranted everyday to people who agreed with her. Maybe she was off her medication but I doubt I will ever watch her again. She has never revealed why she acted so badly and I don't care. Oprah has a lot of thinking to do. I don't know what shows she could do that would appeal to me. I guess I have seen it all at this age. And with 8 commercials at a time (I thought that was illegal) then I fold. With all of the repeats and commercials it sounds like she is stalling and building money to finance her show in the future. Everybody is replaceable and I will probably let her go and watch the history shows as those are teaching me something.