Shapeez Unbelievabra and Shortee, these just might work…

Okay, ladies, let’s be honest here, how many of you have bought all different kinds of body shapers, from torturous one piece garments that must have been designed by a man, so hideously uncomfortable that you can barely stand to wear them, not to mention that they are designed so that’s it’s almost impossible to pee, to Spanx, which are a pain in the patootie to try and get on, and let’s not forget the minimizer bra’s that don’t really “minimize.”   We’ve all done it, trying to get a smooth line, without ripping the spandex because its so gawd awful tight, forcing our out of shape bodies into these horrible instruments of torture, and still ending up with rolls and muffin tops…

This afternoon, I got a text from Linds, who was looking at something new in Redbook Magazine.  She was looking at a Shortiee, from Shapeez, and I’m thinking, hmmm, not bad, it goes well under the bra line and dips all the way to the waist in the back, and when I went to their website and saw their Unbelievabra, I’m thinking hot damn, this might just work.  It goes all the way down to the hip bones, doesn’t roll, and the back is fully enclosed, like a tank top, so the straps won’t fall off your shoulders.  It’s not that pricey either, $85, and if it works, it’s definitely worth the money…

Click here for a  review, with a link to before and after pictures, give it a look, tell me what you think?  Thanks Dilly, this looks really promising…

~ jan

On a more positive note….

My friend, Jean, the most amazing photographer I know, has posted Birds on Ice to her Picasa Web Album, so of course I snagged it for The Dish.  Look in the left sidebar, scroll down a bit, click on the picture of the bird for a slideshow of some absolutely amazing pictures that she took this week.  The clarity of her photographs is just unbelievable.  Great job, Jean!

Can’t get my groove back…

This has been a wasted day.  I have so much to do, but just can’t get thoughts organized to do much of anything.  I have a tri-state boomer, the M&M’s have been restless and needy all day, right now Maggie is standing on the computer desk blocking the screen, Mollie is in my lap, fidgeting, life just isn’t flowing smoothly…

I don’t handle not being able to get out and about well.  I can stay home for days at a time, but I know I can leave if I want to.  Ice is not my friend, however, it’s just not smart for me to go out, so I don’t.  And I fuss about it, when I should be grateful that I have electricity.  Shame, shame, shame on me!  Twenty-four hours ago I was sitting in the dark.

Tomorrow will be a better day,  Scarlett will put a smile on her face and get on with what needs to be done…

We have electricity!

I was sitting in bed last night reading an ebook on my computer, constantly looking at my  battery life. I was down to 23 minutes before mycomputer, too, went dark, and I looked up and there was a light on in the hall bathroom!  It was about 8:30pm, hubby was already asleep, of course I woke him up, absolutely ecstatic that the lights were on.  I feel so sorry for the thousands who are still without power, my son and his wife included.  News reports say that some homes won’t have power restored until mid February.

You know what the worst part of the outage was for me?  Not the obvious, no computer, television, ability to cook, etc.  It was the quiet.  The total, complete, quiet.  LC was working, the M&M’s and I were home alone, and there was no noise, at all.  It was unnerving, unnatural, surreal. 

It was dark, hubby wasn’t home from work yet, I was sitting in the living room with candles lit, the fireplace was on and I was warm, and Mollie was sleeping quietly by my side in the chair.   Maggie, however was totally befuzzled.  She kept jumping on my chair arm, tilting her little head to one side and making little mewing doggie noises.  It was obvious that she was trying to communicate with me, she was trying to figure out what was going on.  I felt sorry for her, you could tell she just didn’t understand.

We still have 50,000 people without power in Heavensville, they are now asking for volunteers to go door to door and check on people.  I saw on the news last night that Kentucky has 605,000 people without power, Ryan and Lindsay included in those statistics.  I talked with Ryan a few minutes ago.  It was 50 degrees in their house, and he said the novelty has now worn off.  Poor Ry, I told them to get in the car and drive here, but he doesn’t want to leave Versailles, he feels he needs to stay there.

Hopefully, our power will stay on now, and life can get back to normal, whatever that is.  We’re lucky the outage didn’t last for days like some people are experiencing…

Blogging from my Blackberry...

I've've been without power since late morning. It's dark now, fireplace is on so I'm warm, candles are lit, hubby is working. Mollie is taking this all in stride, snoozing beside me. Maggie, however is confused as to why we're sitting here in the dark and keeps jumping on the arm of the chair, tilting her little head sideways and talking to m in her own little doggie language. I wish I could explain to her what's going on. I'm hideously bored, this is not fun sitting in the dark!

Ice, ice, ice…

We’ve been housebound since Monday, going stir crazy, and after talking to several people late morning, they told us the roads weren’t that bad, and it wasn’t that cold and it was a bright sunshiny day, so hubby decided we should get out and he would stop by Kelly’s for a haircut.

So we venture out, the side roads were pretty hideous, trees everywhere were bent to the ground, many of them snapped by the weight of the ice, but it was a winter wonderland with the sun filtering thru the thick ice on the trees.  Once we got on the expressway it wasn’t that bad, we have four wheel drive, and just took it really slow.

We wanted to find somewhere to eat, everything was closed, we were having no luck at all, but finally as we got to the other side of the city, we actually found a Captain D’s that was open.  That was pretty much it, nothing else, no chinese, no mexican, nada.  Naturally the whole city was there since it was the only place open, and after standing in line for thirty minutes, their credit card machine went belly up, and since hubby only had three dollars on him, we were sh*t outta luck.  So we get back in the car, and finally find a Hardee’s that was open.

If it wasn’t for the fact that we were starved, we would have passed, but we didn’t, and after once again standing in line for thirty minutes we ate the WORST fast food meal in the history of the world.  Never again will I EVER go to Hardee’s, EVER!!!!

As we approach the area where Kelly lives, the tree limbs were everywhere.  Streets were blocked, cars were stuck, it was a total mess.  And in front of her house sat…. a fire truck.  Oh yeah, lights flashing and everything. So I’m on my cell calling her to find out what was going on and she said she didn’t have any power, that there was a fire on the power line, and that LC would have to walk in, but she didn’t need power to cut his hair.  So he’s trekking down the street, and all of a sudden there is this huge BOOM, that absolutely scared the beejus right out of me, apparently a transformer blew.

He had parked me away from the trees, but I’m sitting there waiting on him to come back to the car, and all of a sudden there is this huge cracking noise, and a whole half of a tree falls in the yard of the street across from me.

In other words, it was NOT smart to be out, even if the roads were passable.  We hotfooted it for home, where I will stay until this friggin ice melts, probably about the first of March! 

It’s really bad here, we’re just hoping our power stays on.  Ry and Lindsay in Kentucky have no power, haven’t had any since this morning, their only heat source comes from their gas fireplace, so of course I’m worried about them.  However, John didn’t have any problems at all.  Nashville seems to be far enough south that they always miss the bad stuff.

Mother always said that the worst winter weather is always the last week of January.  Well Ma, you were right again!

Ice storm in Heavensville…

75.000 people without power, trees bent to the ground and broken, we lost power last night, but have it today, internet connection extremely spotty, more when situation stabilizes.  Stay warm!

~ jan

What’s going on in Heavensville…

All the forecasted snow didn’t happen, instead we have ice, with more ice forecasted tonight.  The M&M’s are having a heck of a time going outside for potty breaks.  It’s not that they are slipping and sliding, it’s that all their familiar doggie smells are buried under a layer of ice.

So they walk around and around, desperately sniffing every branch and tree trunk on the patio, trying to find the scent.

I always have the fireplace ready for them, they come running back in, head directly for the living room and just drop in front of it to warm up.

I made bean soup this morning, the 15 bean kind, total of 55 minutes in the pressure cooker, no presoaking, and it was wonderful.

That’s it from here.  Since discovering ebooks, I’ve now realized that I can download them directly to my computer FREE from my local library.  So can you!  All you need is your library card number, then you download Adobe Digital Reader, browse your local library’s ebook catalog online, and download your books.  I can download a total of 7 books in a two week period.  After the two weeks are up, poof, they are gone, I can’t access them any longer, but I can redownload them.

It’s a wonderful things, ebooks, why didn’t I know this before now?  I don’t have to go to the library, I don’t have to RETURN any books, no FINES, and it’s all FREE!  It’s perfect!

Try it, you’ll like it….

~ jan

80 year old salsa dancer, amazing…

Wait til she strips off the clothes and really starts dancing – this is awesome!  Sound quality isn’t the greatest, but one’s definitely worth watching.  Thanks Carlene…

Oh dear, we’re having WEATHER….

We’ve dodged the snow bullet all winter long in Heavensville, but it’s coming to an end. 

WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL NOON WEDNESDAY
Tonight: Winter Storm Warning. 2-3” of snow and ice overnight. Low 24.
Tuesday: Another round of snow in the afternoon and evening. Total accumulations for both days 5-10”.

Hubby is not working for a few days, we trekked to the grocery store early this morning, I have projects on the computer to work on, eBooks to read, and hopefully he will cook!  Now if we can just survive the next few days, being housebound, without killing each other life will be good….

This is really bad….

But I have to admit, I just sat here giggling, then I showed it to LC, he was laughing, too, you just have to see this…

Thanks, Carlene, this was a hoot...

Wicks Sugar Cream Pie….

It was on the news today that they are passing legislation to make sugar cream pie the official state pie of Indiana.

Hubby saw this and he was absolutely estatic, and immediately began calling the kids to tell them. 

We’ve eaten sugar cream pie, specifically a frozen one called Wicks Sugar Cream Pie, for as long as I can remember.  The entire family is wild for them, but nobody more so than LC.

If you’ve never had one, you are in for a treat if you like rich, decadent desserts.  The taste is hard to describe, it’s buttery and creamy and has a depth of flavor that only comes from using artery clogging ingredients.  They are sublime, warm from the oven, and equally as good cold from the fridge.

There are recipes for sugar cream pie online, but you just can’t beat the frozen one from Wicks.  This family run business, located in the town of Winchester, in Eastern Indiana, wrote the book when they started selling these pies.

If you can’t locate them in your grocer’s freezer, you can order online from Wicks.  Here’s the click.  They are an amazing thing, sugar cream pies….

It’s a tease….

It’s sunny and 52 degrees right now in Heavensville.  The birds are singing outside my sunroom window.  Spring is on the way, NOT!!!

It’s back into the deep freeze tonight. I hate January!

Marti sent me this, it’s a goodie…

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine... and those who don't.

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom,
                                   in beer there is freedom,
                                   in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 litre of water each day, at the end of the year we would have ingested more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria  found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run the same risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
                                  Remember:
                                 Water = Poop,
                                 Wine = Health.
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I'm doing it as a public service

If you browse with FireFox

 

Jean sent me a link to download this Valentines Day Theme.  Just click on the link, install it as a FireFox add-on and when it restarts FireFox it will be your theme.  It will ask you to change your default search engine to Yahoo, you have to do this, but it’s no biggie, you can switch it back to Google later.  Aftr you download it, it puts a Valentine’s Day Toolbar up at the top, I didn’t want that, but it was easy to get rid of – just go to your dropdown menu, choose VIEW, then TOOLBARS, then uncheck Valentine’s Day Toolbar, and poof, it’s gone. ;0)

Here’s the click if you want to use it – it’s pretty cute!

How four pounds runs the show….

Here I sit, tucked in by the fire, Mollie asleep by my side, Maggie standing on the ottoman, throwing an absolutely hissy fit.  She’s ready to go to bed.  And she wants me to go with her.  She does, she’s relentless, she’s just making these little mewing noises and growling at me over and over.  This has been going on for the past fifteen minutes, despite my repeatedly telling her “NO!”  Nothing works, I’ve tried talking hubby into going to bed with her, but he’s interested in some Tivoed program in the den, so that didn’t work, and she won’t shut up.

I’ll cave, I know I will.  I’ll give up my nice fireside seat and go to bed just to shut her up.  I tried putting her in bed by herself, that worked for all of five minutes before she jumped down and came back in here, and started whining again.  I know I should be more forceful, but I just can’t.  Don’t want to put a damper on her spunkiness….

A sucker is born every minute…. This sucker is giving up, I’m going to give in just to shut her up!  This reminds me of what  I did with the boys when they were growing up, let them have their way - I was never much of a disciplinarian…  It’s easier just to go with the flow.  Know what I mean, Vern???

Any Knotts Landing fans out there?

This Today clip is wonderful.  Oh, that was a great soap, always my fave, but just look at them years later… 

 

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Yorkies are the 2nd most popular breed in the United States, second only to the Labrador Retriever….

Am I surprised by this?  Actually I am.  Also very pleased that the  breed is surging in popularity.  And why not, they’re adorable, non-shedding, portable, don’t need exercise, and can be trained to a piddle pad if you don’t want to venture outdoors.  Let’s face it, they don’t come much cuter than this.  Yeah, I know I’m prejudiced, but my two are pretty darned special! Veronica gave me the heads-up on this info earlier today. 

Top dogs of 2008
The Labrador retriever is the most popular purebred dog in the United States for the 18th consecutive year, according to the American Kennel Club.

The Yorkshire terrier came in second place, followed by the German shepherd, the golden retriever, the beagle, the boxer and the dachshund.

 General

With its silky-haired good looks, larger-than-life personality and energetic nature, the Yorkshire Terrier is a perennial favorite among dog lovers worldwide. A member of the Toy group, the Yorkie - as it is affectionately known - is small and frail in size and physicality, yet brave and energetic.. According to the most recent American Kennel Club registration statistics it is the second most popular breed in the United States after the Labrador Retriever.

History

The Yorkshire Terrier was first bred in the north of England county  which gave it its name. During the 19th century the original Yorkies were used as ratcatchers at textile mills. For this reason, they were originally a working man's dog, favorites with the weavers and factory workers. By the end of the 19th century, however, the little dogs had gone up in the world and had become popular companions for members of the European aristocracy. 

Physical Characteristics
Yorkies tend to have long, luxurious dark, steely blue and tan coats. They are, on average, seven inches (17cms) or so tall and weigh between four and seven pounds (1.7kgs to 2.5kgs).

Health & Medical

Yorkshire Terriers are prone to a number of health issues, many of them relating to their skin and coats. They can, for instance, suffer from alopecia and a range of allergic skin reactions. They can also suffer localised hair loss as a result of injections. Other conditions known to afflict Yorkshire Terriers include bronchitis, lymphangiectasia, Portosystemic shunt, cataracts and keratitis sicca. They are also prone go congenital heart problems.
Yorkies are regarded as having a relatively weak digestive system and can suffer vomiting and diarrhea as a result of over-eating or being given unusual foods.
Despite this, the average Yorkie's lifespan is 12.8 years.

Suitability as a Pet
Yorkshire Terriers make excellent household pets. They have great personalities and are regarded as highly adaptable dogs. They also travel well. As small dogs, they require a limited amount of exercise although they do need to interact with humans on a daily basis. Their long coats require regular grooming. 

Popularity as a Pet
The Yorkshire Terrier is the second most popular dog breed in the United States according to the most recent American Kennel Club registration statistics.

Its popularity has shown a marked increase in the past six years during which time it has overtaken breeds such as the German Shepherd, Golden Retriever and Beagle as a family favorite in the US, According to the Kennel Club registration statistics.

George Bush said yesterday about his wife…

"She filled the White House with warmth and my life with joy," Bush said. "History will show that she was a fabulous first lady."

This waivering democrat couldn’t agree more.  I so admired her, she is a wonderful woman and was a great first lady.  What a class act Laura Bush is…

~ jan

Why you should not…..

Take three Excedrin, followed by a large coffee, followed by a large Mountain Dew, followed by an Advil Cold and Sinus in a desperate attempt to rid yourself of a horrid sinus headache.  Because, if you do all of the above, you will not only be nauseated beyond belief, but you will also feel like you are jumping out of your skin!!!!  And that was my day….