Soot is doing better but still isn't ready to join his flock outside. He picked at the scab on what's left of his toe and the infection isn't gone yet, so as of yesterday it is swollen up again.
He's eating and drinking very well so I'm encouraged that he will recover.

I'm taking it easy today. Spasms in the neck have been bad since yesterday. Took a double dose of Baclofen last night but it didn't touch it so didn't get much sleep. Will have a lay down in a bit to see if I get a few zzz's in.

With love, Erika

The snow is finally going to it us in south western Indiana. It's supposed to start in about an hour and we may get up to 12 inches. It will absolutely paralyze this city.

Your Tuesday Funny...LOL!!

Hi Everyone!

It's allergy season already!!!! I've been having to take my allergy meds and I hate doing that. I don't take them every day. I take them every other or every 3rd day. The pollen counts have been in the moderate to borderline high zone over the past few days. I'm so not ready for sping.

DD23 took me grocery shopping yesterday. Of course the baby came too. She had to get some groceries as well and it was easier for her to go at the same time. We both got different things and spent exactly the same amount right down to the cents. It was really weird. After the grocery store, we went to Trader Joe's (I know, it's a grocery store too.). I like to get my frozen foods there as they are less expensive. I also get my rice milk and coconut milk there as it is cheaper than in the grocery store.

I hope you all have a great night!

trish, which was more fun, grocery shopping with your DD or having to be with the baby??? I forget, how old is the baby?

Well we got our snow but it was only 6 inches. But my daughter who lives directly across from us outside of Lexington Ky got 12 inches and it's still going on. They are mostly a rural county and school board changed legislation for this school year that all home work and lessons will be on the computer. So when Walmart had their Thanksgiving sale, the had some RCA 7 inch tablets for $39 in store and $49 online. So they got tablets for Christmas. Granted they are poor quality tablets but it gets the job done for home work.

Trish, Allergy season has hit Texas too. I really hope I do not develop an allergy to cedar. A lot of people here get cedar fever and the problems last for months. I already take a zyrtec everyday.

The high temps have dropped into the mid 30s here for the past few days. Supposedly some snow flakes were even sighted. But the temps are supposed to be back up in the 60/70s by Thursday. I am enjoying Texas winter. I am not so sure I will be as happy about the weather once Summer arrives in April or May.

Going over to my sister's tonight for gumbo, muffuletta sandwiches, and king cake.

Hi Everyone!

Doydie - Seeing the baby is by far more fun than grocery shopping. He slept through most of the grocery shopping and only woke up when we stopped by my house to drop groceries off between the 2 stores. After shopping, DD23 took a shower over here and me and the baby had some grandma/grandson time. He's 2 1/2 months old now. And, you got a great deal on the tablets. I've been looking at them as I downloaded the Nook app on my phone but sometimes it's hard to read on it. I am sure the grands really appreciated the gift. It must be so hard when schools require kids to do their school work and home work on the computer and parents can't afford a computer. I'm so glad my girls were done with school before that trend took off.

Barb - Apparently, it's juniper that is high right now for us. I don't think we have much cedar. I hope you don't develop more allergies since moving to a different area with different plants and such. I'm sure a full summer season will be a shock for you. Like me, you will learn to go from a/c to a/c as quickly as you can. It's just too hot not to do that. I can't remember if you got a placard or handicap license plate when you moved. Those are really helpful in the summer months.

I spent some time last evening checking out more wedding sites and wedding stuff for DD24. I can't believe how expensive wedding are now. We looked at one venue a few weeks ago and it was $99 per person just for the food. If she were having a really small wedding that would be fine but family alone is about 90 people (of which about 40 are from our side and most live out of state and more than likely won't be attending). They say the average wedding now a days cost $30,000!!! She's trying to keep it under $10,000 and they have already started saving for it. Tradition has to go out the window as there is no way on SSDI that I could pay for her wedding and I'm not sure her dad is going to be willing to help out. I did tell her I will help with the dress and some decorations. Anyhow, last night I found a nice place in town that seems far less expensive than many of the others. Between food and room rental it will cost around $6,000. That does not include the bar and I strongly suggested to DD24 that they do a cash bar as that can add up quickly if they do an open bar. I told her she could do a 1 hour open bar or set a dollar limit and once the limit is hit it switches over to a cash bar.

We've been going through tons of pins on Pinterest and pinning ideas for decorations, dresses, flowers, etc. She and her fiance are both simple type people and both want an outdoor wedding/reception. I told DD24 that we can draw up and design the wedding invitations ourselves and then just get them printed at either a print shop or Fed Ex. (DD23 had Fed Ex print up her baby shower invitations and they did an awesome job. I was really impressed and the cost was less than if she bought invitations. She did buy the invite from a person on Etsy who customizes the invitation and e-mails the file to you to get printed.) There's so many decisions to make and I'm just the information gatherer.

I hope you all have a great day!!!!

Trish, I remember that when We started planning a wedding for my DD
and was getting weighted down by the costs, she bailed us out by going
to Vegas to be married. We then could afford to have a nice reception
for her. Her college cost so much, we were broke.

Trish, the tablets were from my daughter and hubbie. They were planning on buying just one tablet that they would have to share. I didn't think that was wise but I don't interfere with things like that. Like I said, it was a Thanksgiving day special and they were here at my house when SIL went to Walmart and bought one. It was a limit of 1 in store. So that evening after the kids went to bed we were all talking about it. SIL asks my daughter if they should buy one on line for the other child. They are sitting there weighing the pros and cons and I am keeping my mouth shut but then my daughter asks me my opinion. Well that gave me permission to speak. I told her that since one will be in high school next year and have far more home work than her 3rd grade sister that they both need to have on.

A lot of communities are providing students with either a lap top, net book or iPad, the student has to rent it. But their school corporation does not. It's up to the individual families but it is required of them to to keep up with the home work.

Supposed to have more snow tonight but then get really cold on Thursday, like wind chill close to -30.

Speaking of heat, I really, really enjoy my remote start on my car so I can start it in the house, store or wherever and it is warm or cool whichever you want. It was my Christmas present to myself one year. Husband doesn't believe in giving gifts so I buy myself nice ones!!! I have often told him it sure would be cheaper if he would buy me something. this last Christmas I bought myself a new lap top.

Morning all...record cold temps here in northern Illinois...

Trish, so sorry you've been ailing again A wedding is so exciting, but can really be so expensive. Have you thought of just having a luncheon reception instead? My DS34 & DIL had to pay for most of their own wedding and that's what they did. It was wonderful (although i did miss dancing).

Erika, so wonderful that you're looking out for the little bird...hope he's able to fly free soon...

The reconstruction is almost finished! The carpeting is being laid, and the last thing that the construction crew needs to do is seal the foyer tile and touch up the walls where things got dinged after the first coat.

DH needs to put all of the floor molding back in place, finish building the closets in the kids' old bedrooms, installing a barn door between our room and the master bathroom.

Then we need to purge and stage the house before putting it on the market. We have a vacation squeezed in there as well...exhausting! We've been busy moving furniture from room to room with the floors/carpeting being done; we don't know where anything is now... it'll be a fun time organizing the house and putting it back to it's normal state...

Have a great day, all