Sudokuaholics Anonymous 9A

June, good thoughts and {{{hugs}}} going out to you and your friends. I hope things get better. At least your friend is responding to the chemo.
Heidi, glad dinner went well and the chestnuts came out good. Don't think I have ever had a chestnut.
Had a mom's night out. Mitchell is going to Hebrew high school once a week with 2 of his friends so the moms went out for dessert. It was nice having some girl talk.

Don't remember most of what I have read. Have a little work to do on the pooter and then I am going to sleep. See you all in the morning.

Heidi, I'm glad the dinner went well. Sorry the chestnuts were a bit overcooked. It may be a function of how fresh they are. Would you recommend that we try roasted chestnuts if the opportunity ever presents itself? Do they taste like any other nut?

Suzanne, I enjoyed reading about your Uncle Tony. No wonder you enjoyed being with him and your Aunt Sandra! Good luck to her on the sale of her townhouse!. Also, good luck to you and Darrell when you put your house up for sale! You'll have a few busy months coming up!

Tami, the mom's night out sounds like a great idea! You need to take some time for you! I never thought about it before, but it must be tough being in a household of males. You need the opportunity to bond with other females. (In our family, hubby is the only male. All of our pets have been females.)

Sorry I missed you, Suzanne and Tami! Good Night!

It's nearly midnight! I assume Heidi has fed the dogs or will soon. I'm heading off to bed, so Good Night, Everyone! Enjoy what's left of your day!

Hello my friends, had a wonderful day with my Brother yesterday. Heidi the radar was not working too well yesterday and saw a lot more of Cockatoo than I planned but made it there and back again.
RIP Tip Tap.
June, my thoughts are with you and your friends/family.
We will be celebrating Beth's 21st tonight at Chez Cockatoo and all the family will be here, Gail is cooking Thai Red Beef Curry and it smells yummy already! What wonderful people I am staying with.

Sleepless in Canada .... sigh.

Broni, glad you are having a good time and that Gail is a wonderful host.
Julie, my original dog was a male as was the bird that we had. We also had 5 fish which my sons claimed were all boys. I was really the only girl. When we adopted a 2nd dog, I made sure it was a girl.
Theresa, hope you were finally able to get some sleep. It is awful when you can't sleep.

My family are fully nuts! Broni fit in perfectly...

Happy 21st Birthday Betty Boo (Beth)

We've had a fun dinner tonight, and a barby on Sunday for her friends.

I'm up early 'cause I promised to haul 6 rolls of hay to cousin Don's this morning. I went to bed early last night knowing I had to get up early.

Since people asked, the chestnuts are sweet and unlike anything I've ever tasted. The reason they were overcooked (hence too hard) was that the directions I followed gave a 20 to 30 minute cooking time, and I left them in nearly 30 minutes. I should have taken them out after 20 minutes. They would have been a lot softer. Fortunately, I only cooked a dozen of them out of the 42 chestnuts I collected, so there are plenty more to experiment with. I'll probably save them for the stuffing in the Thanksgiving bird. That's a traditional way to serve chestnuts. That and "♫Chestnuts roasting♪on an open fire♬". Oh, I miss Mel Torme. That's one of my favorite Christmas carols.

I remember buying roasted chestnuts from a street vendor in London many years ago, they were delicious.

Good Maen everyone! Heidi: LOVE the coffee cup avatar. I feel that way this morning. Slept terribly last night, feel like I was hit by a train!
Hello also to Brenda, Gail, TTT, Theresa, Broni, Julie & whoever else pops by.
Darrell just got up, so I will sign off for now. TTFN everyone

Good Morning Sudokuland! I slept in this morning, since Heidi could not hehehe. I woke middle of the night assured I had been hit by a train. A look at the weather and there was a front through, bringing humidity and rain to some areas. OK, If I must hurt, I want the rain, by gosh and by gum!! A hot shower and some tiny bit of pain meds and I got back to sleep. Just a bit foggy brained this morning, but who can tell???

Heidi, how large are chestnuts? Was this your first harvest? Perhaps get more next year?

Morning Suzanne, Hope your day gets better, with it's not so good start.

HI Brenda, I think you join the minority who have tasted chestnuts. I have not.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH, glad the evening was successful.

TAMI, you deserve having a female dog. I am not sure how mothers of boys cope. I was lucky, I had girls. I did not get along with my brother growing up, vision bickering and fighting, and my father kept saying I was going to have 4 redheaded snot-nosed boys as my punishment. I was really fearful I would!

Broni, sightseeing, unplanned version, is all fine as long as you have plenty of gasoline in the auto! You cannot be lost as long as you have more than 1/4 tank of gas!! Family Rule.

Need my coffee and some breakfast, then to sort through the mail, it has piled up on my table while we have been out and about so much. Yes the real paper mail, the kind that contains sllib

HUGS TO ALL, with extras!

(Just barely, as it's currently 12:14 as I begin to type.) I hope everyone is well!

Hi, Broni, Theresa, Tami, Gail, Heidi, Brenda, Suzanne and MizTricia!

Broni, I'm so glad you had a great visit with your brother! A bit of misdirection on the way (or the way back) does not constitute being lost! Beth's birthday dinner sounds yummy!

Theresa, I'm so sorry you couldn't find sleep last night! I hope you were able to sleep in a bit this morning and didn't need to help your granddaughters get ready for school. Otherwise, a nap would be in order! I hope you are currently more rested!

Tami, I hope you are having a great day at school. I fully understand why you would insist on a female dog with all the males around the house! When a friend was expecting a third child (first two were girls and she had no brothers), there were many discussions about how different things would be if the baby were a boy. Nope, she had another girl.

Gail, please wish Beth a very Happy 21st Birthday! (Did she choose a birthday cake - or a Pavlova?)

Heidi, so sorry you had to be up early and start with hauling hay! I hope you are able to get some other errands done as well! The chestnuts sound yummy. I guess if I ever have the opportunity (must have seen street vendors in Chicago once upon a time), I should give them a try! Brenda, thanks for seconding the recommendation to try roasted chestnuts! (Heidi, I miss Mel Torme and his songs as well!)

MizT, sorry your night's sleep was interrupted! I'm glad a warm shower helped! Good luck getting through all of your snail mail. And, oh, the dreaded sllib! I think I better get caught up here, too. There are just too many interruptions during the day!

Food flinging time, so I'm off for a bit!

Beautiful sunny fall day here, but a bit windy.

Julie, I did grab a nap this morning for about 2 hours. I get the grandies up and ready for school every morning except Thursdays. I will also be putting them to bed at least 3 nights a week starting next week. My SIL's job now requires that he work shift work - he is not a happy camper. Every 2nd week he'll be working 11:00 to 11:00 three days in that week. Their office is not unionized, so they don't have a choice.

Yeah, got other stuff done today. Robert and I fixed the fence again, then his weed whacker bit the dust, so we had to go out and get him a new one. The reason the cows keep going through that one fence is that it is overloaded with weeds, which is pulling down the charge. So Robert is cleaning the fence rows.

Morning all,
Gail, a 21 year old! That makes you really old! Please pass on my good wishes to Beth.

Julie, it's amazing that you were here at lunch time!

Theresa, no compassion in your SILs shifts either. Definitely not taking family circumstances into account. :(

MizT, I'm sorry about your pain and interrupted sleep. How ironic that the thing you want also causes you pain!

Broni, you weren't lost, you were sight seeing.. hehe

I am back everyone.
Suzy, sorry to hear about Ebobs nose and TipTap.
Hope you are coping well with all that is happening.
There is just so much to comment on that I am sure to leave things out,but I am happy "friend" is doing better, holidays were/are great, and that mostly all are OK.

I am home 1 day earlier than expected from Rockhampton.It was sooo stressful sitting in exams that after the Anatomy & Physiology one, that I went outside and had a cry.
Half an hour later, we all (9 of us)found out that we had all PASSED.What a relief.
Went out for dinner that night to celebrate before the Medication exam the next day.I wasn't too worried about it until the paper was put in front of us.I kept taking deep breaths, holding it for 5,let out slowly.Rechecked the calculations many times and got 100%.
I haven't been this happy for a long time.
The next hurdle is having Greg's brain cyst fixed.
Still no word on when he will go to Brisbane, so it mustn't be too urgent as they take the emergency patients 1st.
Thanks for all your support and welcoming me back even after I haven't been around in ages.Your the best.

Nola, congratulations on all your exam results. Quite an achievement. Hope Greg gets things fixed up soon.
Busy day AGAIN! Hair at 10.30am and dentist at 11.30am. Then to centrelink as they declined to give us a medical card until we returned from our trip. See MIL in hospital and babysit Laura at her home tonight.
Will catch up with you all sometime.

Must say Happy 21st. Birthday to Beth.

Nola.... What wonderful exam results!!!

Busy day ahead for you June.Have a great day.

Congratulations on the exams, Nola! Hope Greg's problems are fixed sooner rather than later. Waiting is so hard to do!

June, is there any day in the foreseeable future that you aren't going to be run ragged?

I always thought that when I got to be my age I'd be comfortable and be able to take things easier. Boy, was I wrong! Life is a challenge!

Remember people: Practice safe eating - always use condiments.

Nola, congratulations on your exam results. We all knew you would do it. Hope Greg gets sorted soon even if it isn't urgent to others it is to you and him.

Good morning all
Nola - congratulations on the results, and I hope they help you to have more confidence next time. Also, what is so great about SA is that you can be away for days/weeks and always be welcomed back by good friends!
Heidi - all the time you were talking about chestnuts, I was thinking of that song.
Theresa - that's no good about your SIL's shift changes. Does that mean you will have to look after the grandies and cook dinner on those nights? Oh dear, I feel for you. Just having a few full-on days with mine earlier this week wore me out. But what else can you do?

MizT - I have been meaning to ask if you had heard that, finally, the Qld government and the Alabama authorities have come to an agreement and Gabe Watson will be extradited home to face charges (if the Grand Jury agree on Sat) in Alabama when he is released from prison here in November. Let's hope he gets a stiffer sentence there than the measly 18 months for manslaughter here.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/gabe-watson-murder-charges-set-to-be-considered -by-alabama-grand-jury/story-e6freoof-1225941375479

Hi all.
Nola, you did awesome on your exams as we all knew you would. Even if you don't visit for a while, we are still your friends and will always welcome you with open arms. Glad you could stop in and share your good news. I will be keeping Greg in my thoughts.
Beth. Hope you enjoyed your celebrations and always know that your cyber aunts wish you the best.

Hi everyone!

Beth, I'm sure the celebrations have been wonderful. Enjoy the BBQ with friends on the weekend.

Suzy, I'm sorry to hear about Tip Tap.

June, just keep hanging in there. You are so busy all the time. If that's retired life I think I might keep working.

Nola, Congratulations on the excellent results. We all knew you'd do well. Here's hoping for speedy news regarding Greg's surgery.

#1 son has gone away for the weekend. He is visiting his cousin and her partner in Maryborough. He left at 6am this morning and he's going to have lunch with my brother today.

I think hubby and I might go out for dinner tonight. He is working on the weekend but has tomorrow off - of course, he will be going to visit his mother.

I got some sad news earlier. My sister-in-law, who is 7 months pregnant, had a miscarriage. She is in her 40's and has not had an easy time with pregnancies. She had 2 miscarriages before her first daughter was born and this should have been number 2. Please keep her in your thoughts. Haven't told the boys yet that they won't be having a new cousin soon. Don't know how to tell them. She was due on Mitchell's birthday.

Good maEn everyone!
TTT: sorry about your SIL...very sad, I wouldn't want to break it to the boys either. Sending loving thoughts & prayers to her & her family.
I posted my Park City photos the other day. They were taken on the side of the road. I hope you enjoy.
Hello to MizT, Julie, Theresa, Heidi, Suzy, Nola, June, CynB & Victoria. Hope I didn't miss anyone, if I did, my apologies!!! That's all for tonite, tired. Going shopping in Provo tomorrow. TTFN.

Oh, no, Tami. How sad.

Tami, I'm very sorry to hear the news about your SIL. It's difficult to tell children about death but just get them together in a quiet spot and let them know. Be ready for tears but answer all their questions honestly - it's easier in the long run.
Telling my boys about their much loved Pa was very difficult and James was particularly upset as he and Pa were very close. He still has a picture of the 2 of them on his bedside table 8 years later.

Just had a wonderful lunch with Dino and Gail, two beautiful women.

Just the thought of sharing time with sweet people like my Sudoku friends fills me with joy. I'm glad you had a great time, Broni.

Yes Heidi, it is a wonderful feeling to know you have friends you have never met yet.

Tami, your family are in my thoughts.
The boys are old enough to be able to handle it, tell them truthfully and kindly ♥

*blushes*

Congratulations Nola, had no doubts you would pass with flying colours.
Tami thinking of your SIL and family.