bk thanks, I well understand the traditional food culture. I was omnivorous until 2007, now I'm 46 years old (in june), the only regret I have is not having started earlier to be vegan. Change eating habits it is not so difficult, for me it was indeed an extraordinary experience. Ken, I prefer escargots alive and kicking, ...preferably not on my hostas hehehe ...anyway I don't use products to kill them. Gary assassin, you are a meat cutter? there are still people who eat meat? ;-) josy67, thanks for the compliments. My advice is to try the Honeybells, I'm sure you'll like it, my plantaginea was soft and very tasty. Jan and tj thanks, but for me all meats are inappropriate ;-)

Crazy, busy weekend here again due to many things. Thanks for all the cool and supportive responses. All of the troops need those no matter the country. Justin knows about all y'all and as always asked what's up with your foodie/cooking friends....way before his military thing. We were talking today at the lake and he thinks he was...yikes.. 13 or 14 when he first tried Sharon's pickles from a swap years ago. Man time flies! Thanks again everyone but this guy has to get to hit the hay so to speak. Justin and his group got the best of me at the lake today. OY! I'm starting to feel my age.....LOL! David

Thanks so much for all your kind words. I was both very happy and very sad all day long yesterday. Happy because my son is doing what he wants to be doing and enjoying it very much, and that he was alive and healthy; sad because I worry so incredibly much about him over there and was wishing selfishly that he was safe back home again . . . that they all were. But, his unexpected call (just as I was typing the last words of my post here) was fantastic! We actually had a nice long chat. It was so good to hear his voice and to know that he was OK. Afterwards, I headed down to Albuquerque so that I could meet up with his birthmom near to her office. We had a great lunch at a place called Brava Bistro and while we ate (gazpacho and bruschetta . . .yumm!), I filled her in on family , DS's call and passed along the message that he'd be calling her later that evening so that he could talk to his (half)sisters, too. It was a good seeing her again. I love that she and DS look so much alike. Same coloring, same beautiful pale blond hair, same features, same smile. She and her two young daughters (she's divorced) have become like family to us over the years and have even spent some holidays here with us. I both love and admire her very much . . . plus, she's a lot of fun to be with! As usual, we had someone take a couple of pics of us to send to our (hers and mine . . . we share him now) son. But, please don't think I'm some kind of saint about all of this, I'm not. If she had turned out to be some nutcase, I wouldn't have this kind of arrangement with her. But, she's a wonderful, down-to-earth, very good person (awesome, actually) and everyone of us has benefited hugely from this openness and sharing. Anyhoo, it was a fun lunch. Below is a (cropped) pic taken of us at the restaurant. It shows my special ring. I had them take one to show DS I was wearing it once again. Lynn And here's a pic I took of DS on his first birthday. I gave his birthmom a copy of it. he had a Cookie Monster birthday cake, hence the bright blue icing. Not the greatest idea for a birthday boy in a white outfit (LOL!):

Glenda, I'm 74 and I woud find it amusing if I overheard a conversation like that. We all know people that are 'old' at 60! They walk like an old person, they talk like an old person and they think like an old person. Age is a state of mind. Exercising and keeping active keeps you young. I'm still walking five miles a day or eighteen holes of golf and I know people a lot younger than me that cannot do that. You're doing water aerobics, weights, etc. You go girl. Just laugh it off. Don't you remember when you were a teenager and thinking that 35 was old?