I'm here, Suzanne!!! It's very warm (mid-70's) here today, and I had to break down and turn on the a/c! One of my friends came over, and we had the best time playing with all the scrapbook equipment another friend loaned me. Viki giggled like a kid using the Cricut machine to make letters and all kinds of items. I finally learned how to use the Sizzix (fancy die-cut machine). She completed about 12 pages and I finished one birthday card to take for an 85th birthday party tomorrow. LOL But, I finally got all my scrapbook supplies organized to where I can see what I have, and I just enjoyed watching my friend create all her pages. I'm excited about the birthday card exchange now that I'm getting the tiniest bit better about making cards! Looking forward to seeing the list, Patti. Do you remember that I drive a red car? I don't buy into the psychology about driving more aggressively in a red car. I can't even see the hood of my car when I drive, so I just drive like a fairly normal person! BJ, too bad you can't get frequent-driver miles with all the traveling you have to do some times! Yikes, Jan, I never realized that about the OJ and the olive oil. Tonight, I grilled myself a veggie burger and had it on a SL whole wheat bun. I also grilled red pepper slices, and it was a really tasty burger. I didn't even miss the taste of meat because all the condiments were good. It was a pretty good WW meal, IMHO! Wishing everyone sweet dreams tonight and a speedy and calm Friday if you are at work! Hubby has a business dinner this evening - good thing, too, because all the scrapbook stuff is on the island and countertops and on my big kitchen table! Cards tomorrow night will be at another friend's home so that I don't have to break this stuff down yet. :-)

I, like many others, appreciate all of the advice on this forum. I love it when anyone responds to my postings. I sort through the advice and use what I can and keep in mind what I can't. I love being able to learn on this forum about the different climates, cultures, and how things are in different parts of the world. I find the differences in how the same rose grows in different environments, simply amazing. I also usually ask what zone people are in (as do many, many others) as even for those of us in "warm climates," those climates can vary as well. I know what works for me may not work for someone else. I live where temps get to be about the surface of the sun for months on end, doesn't cool off at night, (Wednesday we are back up to 109 degrees again) and in the winter time, it is cold, foggy with black ice, dark and dank. I generally get about two weeks to a month of spring and the same for fall. So, for me, Sam, your generalizations don't work so well. I garden organically, none of my roses are in raised beds and I continuously try to amend my soil to be the best it can be. My yard was one that was acknowledged by our University Extension, Master Gardeners and the local cities/county, to be "sustainable" for my area as I do garden organically, amend the soil, plant "like" plants together, for watering and other needs. I have "zones" where I can control, through my drip system, the amount of water my plants get, so our precious water here is not wasted. I type this not to brag, but to give an example that us folks in warm climates are also concerned about the environment, soil, our plant root systems, etc. If anything, when I first started gardening, I found most of the gardening literature to be for people in cold climates and it didn't make much sense for us in warm climates. It was difficult to find much of anything for people growing roses, organically, in hot climates, and not growing hybrid teas. I appreciate the knowledge of everyone here on the forum. Lord knows, I am still learning and the folks on this forum have so much more experience and knowledge than I. I am very thankful for that and appreciate the time, energy and knowledge they give to the people on this forum.

Khalid: I didn't see your message until I came back to this thread. Thank you for what you wrote: " I regularly use black tea with ginger and cinnamon. Honey (with black pepper if I have a source throat), cardamom (small and large), garlic (as part of all our curries), onions (an integral part of our curry), as well as a few more herbs, spices etc." All those have anti-viral and anti-bacterial .. I agree with using food as preventive medicine, rather than dangerous flu-shot (combining virus). Carol: Glad to hear that you are back on schedule .. I am delighted to hear of your progress & success. It feels SO GOOD to have looser pants, and I wish everyone have that experience with daily exercise. Sam: does your Achilles tendon hurt to wear shoes with heels? I don't like shoes with heels: one of my foot is shorter than the other. I actually do more exercise on the treadmill than outside ... I can wear my husband Walmart open-heel plastic clog, I insert a memory foam inside ... and wear that on the treadmill. I wear size 7 woman, but I need a BIG shoe to insert the thick $5 memory foam. The plastic clog has bigger toe-box than running shoe, plus no need for lacing.

Dawn, I've noticed similar post mentioning this phenomenon in other forums. Don't know if it's a Houzz glitch or if spammers are hitting threads, then being deleted?