Sudokuaholics Anonymous 9A

I took the photo of the violet in my garden this morning. Cyn, Here's to your Auntie Vi, as you celebrate her long and interesting life.

Suzy, please wish your Mother a Happy Birthday. I guess we are of a similar age.
hubby is pretty good at fixing things around the house. And so am I. Sharon is our computer expert although hubby did do a course at Uni a few years ago. Only to have Sharon as his Lecturer!
Dinner almost ready. Not sure that we need 12 Yorkshire Puddings though!

Awww June - what a beautiful violet!

Oh, I'll have a Yorkshire pudding please.

TAMI, that tropical wave you are expecting at least did not upgrade to a storm as some forecasters were expecting yesterday. I am watching that one also, cause at the moment expected trajectory takes it across florida on a northward diagonal, across the gulf to make landfall again at the Florida panhandle, and continuing inland, right over my house! This one is a rain maker so far, dumping as much as 8-10 inches of rain. OH, The clean up ships at the leaky oil well will be moved, and all the boats with the clean up booms will also be sent to safer waters, wonder what this storm will do to all that oil out there?? Hope you stay safe this weekend.

SUZY, I had a laugh out loud at your farmville and the lawnmower horses comment. Then your thought triggered one of my own. I remembered reading about a case of child neglect, where parents were doing something similar, but to an extreme degree. KNOW you never would neglect those horses, sweetie, just how my brain is working this early morning.

Julie, I did get some 'gathering' done while out, but did not find 2 things I needed. One OTC med wal mart's shelf was empty, the other did not even make it to my list. OH WELL, must run up town to bank, can try the pharmacy there. Enjoy your breakfast club, what a nice thing to do. How often do you meet?

Heidi, I do also hope your sleeping is just catching up, and not a sign of another illness. so many of your recent ones started with you sleeping so much.

JUNE, glad you are treating yourself by cooking just for the 2 of you! It is hard sometimes, isn't it, to get inspired for "just us". Reminds me, I must cook today, we have made do 3 nights with a huge pot of beef and veg soup, and a big 'pone' of cornbread. I planned to cook ladt night, but was happy when Al had not eaten the last of the soup for lunch and said he would like that again, n0 need for me to cook. I am so lucky, he will eat anything except liver and chili with extra cinnamon hehehe.

Well, seems this is not an intermission, but an early rising today. I did sleep well last night, just not as long as i would have liked, but only Tylenol. I am so tired of pain meds, while also being so very thankful for their availability, very conflicted on that aren't I ( am I not?).

think I will go make coffee and read a bit, am loving my current book, COLD MOUNTAIN, same as the Movie a while back.

Tricia, I read Thirteen Moons a few weeks ago. His next book. I found it rather heavy going. I did finish it but it did take a couple of weeks.
I am feeling tired so will go to bed. 'Nite All.

Good Maen everyone. A beautiful morning (so far) here in Utah. We had some rain last night (mixed with a bit of hail). It cooled off for about an hour last night, then as I was getting dinner ready it went from 75 to 90! The a/c went back on till about 10 last night. Woke up to 65 this morning. Supposed to stay hot thru the end of the week YUCK!
I read this morning, but still working on the coffee...Will be back later this afternoon.
Loving thoguhts & prayers for those who need them: Gail, Nola, CynB. That's all I can remember for now. TTFN

I made zucchini muffins this morning. They would have been very good if I had put in the sweetener

No sweetener?

Yorkshire puddings freeze quite nicely.

I have been very extravagant today. I went to have my eyes tested. I needed new specs for computer use, but got myself some new distance specs too.
I was passing the o2 shop couldn't resist seeing if they had had a delivery of Iphone4 phones. They had a delivery only 30 minutes before, so now I am the proud owner of a new Iphone4. Can't wait for it to charge up so I can have a play with it.

That's not extravagance Brenda. It's a necessity for continuing mental health.

Afternoon all,

My cat Taz has passed away. He died in my arms without the necessity of being put down. It was kind of a peaceful way to go for both of us ... he didn't need to have needles and I held him until he passed. I will miss him terribly.

Theresa, so sorry to hear about Tazz, but I am happy he spared you the need to decide if he should be put down. I know you shall miss him. I will hug my kitty extra today, while thinking of you.

Rest in Peace, Taz.
I'm glad that Taz decided to make the decision instead of you, Theresa. It was his time. And it was good that he passed quietly in comfortable surroundings instead of at a strange place.

Heidi, thank you for the kind thoughts. Taz did pass away at the vet's office. I brought him there first thing this morning and they drew blood to see what was wrong. They called me a few hours later to explain he had kidney and liver damage, and at his age treatment was not recommended. I went to the vet's to be with him when they euthanized him, but it was obvious he was not long for the world so they left me in a room with him to hold him for as long as he had. He went quickly.

MizT, thanks.

For Teresa:

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Theresa there is a pet loss support group who light candles for their departed pet(s) on Monday nights, no religious affiliation, just a candle lighting ceremony to honor their memory. This happens at 10 pm eastern time every Monday night ( 9 central, 8 mountain, 7 Pacific daylight time) . I will light candles for you and Tazz Monday night.

ANOTHER thunderstorm!

Thanks MizT.

One of the reasons I loved Taz so much is because he was appropriately named. He reminded me of the Tasmanian Devil cartoons that used to be on TV, a whirlwind of activity. He was bossy with the other cats and sometimes just pure evil ... I couldn't help but have a soft spot for him. Every night when I would go to bed he would "exfoliate" my face with his rough little tongue and then snuggle beside my pillow. I still have more cats, but it just never gets easier.

On Saturday we have a family reunion to go to on hubby's side. As I mentioned my MIL is one of 15 kids, many of whom are now departed. The family decided to go ahead with the reunion even after one of the cousins passed away last weekend. They are always a large gathering. It promises to be a very long day. We are not that close with that side of the family, but my MIL wishes to go so we will be there to support her. It is being held outside, and so far they are calling for rain on Saturday.

Hi all.
Theresa, sorry to hear about Taz but he did go in peace. Taz probably knew that it was his time and that you were ok with it.
Tricia, the wave is now Tropical Storm Bonnie. There is an 87% chance of rain tomorrow. It is going to be fun entertaining 30+ 10/11 year olds when you can't go outside.

Marlins game was fun. Marlins won which made the kids, and me, happy. It was hot and a have a slight sunburn on about 6 inches of each of my thighs. I did put on sunscreen but it must have worn off eventually. Luckily I am not fair and don't burn easily.

Good morning all.
Theresa - sorry to hear about Taz but I'm, pleased you had the opportunity to hold him while he passed away.
Well, today's the day of Vi's 'send-off' (sounds better than funeral). It's not until 4pm and we are collecting Hayley after school as she wants to go. I'm taking a purple scarf for her - not sure that she's found purple clothes to wear. Will drop her back to her Dad before going on to the wake.

Tami, Bonnie is now forecast to go west of us, puts us in the eastern quarter of the storm, not the place you want to be. If it is far enough west, we will just have rain, but if closer to us, there will be tornado watches and warnings, north eastern quarter of the storm is where tornadoes are spawned. A lot could happen before it gets to us, though, but I am still watching it with you.

Do you have much space indoors? For more energetic games to let them burn off some of the energy? How about musical chairs? Hopscotch? Jump rope?

OH, have you ever seen the board game called Apples to Apples? Played it at my sister's house and loved it, you might like it for a family game with your boys, although it is best with 6-7 players. Here is a link describing it.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/74/apples-to-apples

Tricia, usually we have plenty of space as we use classrooms in the elementary school. Fridays, during summer, the school is closed so we use the rec center which has limited space. It is not a problem most days as we go to the pool on fridays. If it rains, no pool and all the kids crammed in a small area. We do have a gym that I get to use for 1 hour each day (have to share with 7 other groups). Only good part is I am friendly with other counselors so we might double up and compete against each other (camp groups)

Cyn, I will be thinking of you today as you celebrate the memory of your Aunt Vi.

I just had a battle royale with the site trying to sign back in. It didn't want to accept me and refused me a dozen times.

I had a short chat with Tami on Skype, then talked to an old friend who's found out about a litter of smooth collie pups for sale a few hours drive from me. I WANT a puppy!!!

Good Evening, Fellow Sudokuaholics!

Hi, Broni, June, CynB, MizT, Suzanne, Heidi, Brenda, Theresa, Tami, and lurkers and anyone I might have missed!

Broni - a light at the end of the tunnel for you? That's wonderful! I hope all is going well in your world!

June, hopefully you are fully on the mend now. Good news that the coughing is less frequent! Also, good news that you were inspired to cook a nice piece of beef for dinner - just because! Lovely violet from your garden!

CynB, thinking of you during Aunty Vi's celebration of life - and keeping the purple going!

MizT, thanks for mentioning the storm. I haven't seen or heard any news today. I hope both you and Tami are able to avoid this one! I hope your hand is doing well; that was quite a long post and with you being up early this morning! I'm sorry the sweetener decided not to join the rest of the ingredients in the zucchini muffins! After reading that, I thought immediately of Heidi and zucchini bread, so wasn't surprised that she popped in just then.

To change the subject, we try to have "Breakfast Club" once a month if schedules permit. This morning we had 4 of the 5 "girls" and 3 husbands (2 of whom recently retired). Quite fun!

Brenda, I hope you like your iPhone 4 as much as we like our (now old) iPhone 3s! We have found some fun apps for the grandies!

Theresa, I'm so sorry to hear about your cat Taz! How reassuring that he chose the time and place, and you didn't need to make a difficult decision! I'm so glad Miz T posted the Rainbow Bridge for you. I had not heard of the group that lights a candle for deceased pets each week. What a nice way to remember our four-legged family members! I also hope the family reunion goes well and isn't plagued by the rain that is forecast!

Tami, good for the Marlins and a good day with the campers! So sorry you got a sunburn, though slight! I hope Friday goes well and the rain avoids you! Otherwise, it could be a long day in a small space!

Tami and MizT - trying to keep up with information on Tropical Storm Bonnie! I hope you both escape her wrath!

Heidi, I'm glad you were finally able to get back into the site! Was it on the 13th try? Now I need to check in with Mr. Google about smooth collie pups! When will you decide? Will you go to see them first? Good luck!

Nearly 2 hours between Heidi's post and mine. Things are quiet here today!

Julie... That breeder doesn't have what I want. A Smooth Collie is the same breed as a Rough Collie. The only difference is the length of the coat. The Smooths have a short coat and the Rough has the long coat. Five of my Collies are Smooths. I wish they all were.

What I wanted was a show quality smooth female. They only have one Smooth female, and she's pet quality only.

All the rest of the puppies are male.

Heidi, would you train and show the female? I hope you can find the puppy you want! Will you look at other breeders? Good luck!

And now, I better head to bed, as tomorrow is another early morning. Hubby has his annual eye exam. He sees a specialist, as he had an injury-caused cataract (original surgery done in Cincinnati). The stitches on that let go a couple of years later, so had to be re-done. Since his eyes will need to be dilated for the exam, I will need to drive home (about a 45-minute drive).

Good Night, Friends! Please share the hugs and positive vibes I'm sending your way!

Julie, I've just got the new phone up and running so sorting out my apps. I have up graded from the Iphone3 and agree with you that they are fun phones. I actually use it which is more than I did with any other phone I have owned.
Thoughts have been with you Cyn, celebrating the life of a loved Aunt.

Intermission time again tonight in dreamland. Cannot get comfy after a trip to the necessary room. I hope to get back to sleep soon.

Heidi, the muffins were good split and spread with some Jam. Did you go to see the smooth collie pups or did you talk to breeder by phone?

Brenda and Julie, I do think the smart phones would be smarter than I am. I cannot even operate my simple one very well, we do not use it much. It has a camera and I have no idea how to access it and less how to download any photos I might take. Hubby lost the instruction book, I might could figure it out if I had that. If one of the daughters were here, they could click their way through menus and show me I am sure.

You could always try downloading the instruction manual off the net. That's what we do if we have misplaced manuals.
Not here BTW just taking a break after a quick dart into the shops for tonight's dindins. Hubby and I are calling this date night, considering he will be having a treatment night tomorrow night. Crumbed prawns tonight, yummy, but they wont crumb themselves!

Not crumbed prawns! Had those last night and nearly choked to death!!!

MizT, Brenda and Julie, all I ask of my phones is that they be easy to use. I don't care about fancy bits, I just want to push the fewest amount of buttons to get the quickest result. Of course that phone doesn't really exist...

Julie, I will be sending stay awake thoughts to you for your drive... maybe I should sing a loud song - that would keep anyone awake.

Broni, is the light still a speck in the distance, like a torch, headlights or a really big spotlight???

We're just home from seeing High School Spoof-ical at one of the local private schools. The new Pride girl was in it. One of the smaller parts, but she was very good. When she is with Pride she is shy and quiet, she was smiling and full of energy tonight!