It was so wonderful to see everyone, and to taste so many great tomatoes! As I speak, the sauce I am making from the leftover cut maters is simmering on the stove, reduced by two-thirds from its starting point. The yellow maters give it such a bright color! We'll have it tomorrow for lunch, with fresh tortellini from a local shop. Several people asked me to post the recipe for the fried-tomato dish I brought. It is a variant on a prize-winning recipe from last week's Washington Post -- I just can't leave well enough alone! Fried Mater Sammidges -- the Sequel 3 to 4 large tomatoes 1 large container Rondelay herbed soft cheese 4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and drained, then crumbled 3 eggs, well beaten flour Italian-seasoned bread crumbs olive oil for frying The original recipe says to slice three or four large ripe tomatoes into half-inch slices. I cut mine thinner -- maybe a third of an inch -- and used both green and ripe tomatoes (though not both in one sandwich). Layer the sliced tomatoes in paper towels to absorb the excess moisture while you are frying up the bacon. Match up slices into equal-sized pairs. Spread one face of one of the paired slices with a thick layer of the cheese, nearly 1/4", and add some crumbled bacon before closing the sandwich. I am thinking of adding a sprinkling of asiago or grated romano cheese and/or a basil leaf inside the sandwiches next time. Put the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs into separate flat bowls. Add some salt and pepper to the flour. Dredge the sandwiches first in the flour, then in the egg, then in the bread crumbs. Heat a thin layer of oil in a skillet. Fry first one side of the sandwiches, then the other (be careful to keep the heat low enough on the green tomatoes to cook them through before they get too dark). Drain on several layers of paper toweling. I refrigereated mine to set the cheese before attempting to cut the sammidges in to six wedges each for serving. Enjoy! Lynn

I have two friends who wanted to give me a shower for my third child. I insisted very strongly to them that I did not need a shower, nor did I want one. Where I come from this is just not done! I thanked them profusely for wanting to, but I insisted on them not giving me a shower. Well, they surprised me with a shower, a lovely little dinner out with about 10 people, neighbors and friends who weren't around when we had the first two, since we had lived in a different state then. I was overwhelmed with emotion. So grateful that I had friends who wanted to do this for me, who wanted to celebrate my third child in this way. They went to a lot of trouble for me and I will never forget it. Let them throw you the shower. Amy

Anele, use both a 5 pound & 10 pound weight to start out with, and just be mindful of any strain or difficulty. If you can only do a few reps with the 10, that's okay. The strength & endurance will come. Better to focus on technique at first anyway. 5 pounds will quickly become way too light very soon, whereas you can use a 10 pounder for quite a long time while you are mastering different moves. I vary between 18 to 25, just moved to a 35 for the first time, went on vacation & am back down to the lower weights (darn!). But I still use a 12 pound bell for some exercises I don't have the flexibility for, like windmills. Turkish get ups are excellent! It uses all your muscle groups and will get your heart rate up, up, up. I hate the TGU, but it is a great exercise! My instructor can do it with a 54 pound bell or two 25 pound bells. Amazing to see. I struggle mightily with an 18 pound bell. My kbell group is on our own now that our instructor is on vacation. We tried some kbell workouts from Lauren Brooks' book, "Kettlebells for Women,", and were really impressed. Short but thorough workouts. We were cooked after 20 minutes. Kettlebells for Women by Lauren Brooks Her beginner videos look very good too, except I see she does an overhead swing. Madame Kettlebells says absolutely do not do that -- too prone to shoulder injury. Here is a link that might be useful: technique demonstrations by Lauren Brooks This post was edited by awm03 on Tue, Jul 1, 14 at 18:36

i can't wait..ds2 and dil are expecting #2 and this one is a girl...she'll have plenty of hand me downs...we 6 dgds now, plus 2 boys... joey is a cutie!