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Capt and Susan I know the cost of what I consider a good oven. I usually buy used for $50 to $150 for houses I have renovated but we are fortunate to live in an upscale neighborhood and the one I will be replacing is a jennaire. My usual dealer had a used one for $400 I was very tempted but it was white and that would not be right for resale. By nature I am a curb shopper but hubby raises his eyebrows when I drag something home to repurpose. one of my favorite hobbies.
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Haven't gotten any of the stuff done on my list of housework....been too busy working! Holiday weeks are big work weeks for me due to the nature of my work. Been on my butt in front of the computer for about 15-16 hours a day all week. I normally get the holiday decorating done the day after Thanksgiving, but that's going to have to be done over the weekend, hopefully. Today won't be terribly busy - all the parties and such I had to deal with were between Thurs and Fri this week, so MAYBE I can get some stuff done!

Told Mom this morning we need to get back on track with our eating - we went off the rails over Thanksgiving, but that's enough of that. Got up this morning and found she'd eaten almost an entire apple pie all by herself during the night. Said she only had "a couple of pieces" - they must have been huge pieces. When I went to bed, only 2 small slices had been taken out of the pie - now there's only one slice left.

I *did* get several pretty good deals online yesterday, and made ONE foray out to a small, local store for their sale. Our local five and dime is an old fashioned variety store, selling everything from Brach's candy in big glass display bins to the granny panties you can't find anywhere else - and everything in between. Fabrics, craft items, canning supplies, holiday decor, toys that you can't find in any big box store, etc. If you can't find it at WalMart, chances are good you'll find it there. :-) The store has been around for over 80 years, and it's never changed much. The old wood floors still look and sound the same (they're creaky, just adds to the charm of the place), and it smells of candies, chocolate, candles, etc. Wonderful place. I managed to snag the dark blue plastic table covers I wanted for the family Christmas party and a few other decor items on sale - oh, and a Snow Block maker as a gift for one of the kids!

So, it's off to the shower and then back to work for me - have a great day everyone!!
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this christmas i may go all out and buy a bag of lemons . i still havent resolved that hankerin for a lemon pie . might make a small crock of kraut . these brats would work well with kraut . or baked beans . done tried em with stewed tomatos . probly go good with apples . make no mistake , ive got the fn apples. ive evolved from chicken pumps , it just takes time .
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Veronica, not sure what kind of oven you're using, but a decent gas or electric stove/oven combo can be had for less than $500.
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veronica,
a good oven costs 2 k ? i had no idea . that used kitchen aid double oven upstairs in my house must have cost a fortune . i live in a dream world where i drag stuff out of peoples trash and repair it . dont wake me up im on a roll .. lol
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I avoided Black friday by taking the parents and Aunt to the casino. They were so excited the ladies had Dad up and at em by 9.. he was pretty grouchy all day, and sleeping on the machines...LOL we were out of there and home by 3. Than a friend I have not seen in a few months stopped by.. and dad woke up and was in full performance mode. Thinks he's 20, gonna kick someones a**,, asking friend to sit on his lap... :LOL. she knows the drill but we could not have a conversation.. it was like "who's on first".. Takes a pretty gal to get him going. Oh well.. gotta laugh. At least Mom has had a great visit with her sister!
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i was secretly hoping this 8 year and ongoing recession would teach people to appreciate lifes little blessings and draw families closer . dam shame . my best memories are my young family butchering a pig then spending 2 days hangin in the kitchen making sausage and of course the ongoing brine crock full of kraut . bluntmans earliest memories are being the only family member small enough to stomp grapes in the crock . these memories will come back to the boys as they age . these arent memories about being poor , these are memories of self sufficiency and actually wanting for nothing .
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You may like to know that Black Friday is catching on in the UK. This evening's news was full of excited journalists reporting on people in wheelchairs being pushed over and a lady getting her wrist broken over a flat screen tv.

And we don't even *have* Thanksgiving over here? I'm so confused...
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Hardly dare whine. I wrote a nice long one a couple of hours ago hit "enter' and the whole thing replaced with an add. That happens so often there must be a gremlin on this web site or i am not suffering enough yet.
Did my holiday shopping on line last week. Would not even get into a mall assuming i wanted to drive there. The walk from the parking lot would be too much.
i do have a handicap sticker but guess what all thos spots are always full so it's to the far end of the parking lot.
Hope everyone had a peaceful Thanksgiving. We had our nicest one in years shared with two old friends. Both men are given to "ranting" so we just left them together at the table. At least there was no yelling. They seemed to enjoy their discussion about the govt and law enfocement and security. At least they ate well and nothing got burnt but I need a new oven when I can put my hands on $2K. mine is about 25 years old and some of the controls don't work including the oven cleaner and timer.
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i dont have a thanksgiving mess to clean up but i still havent cleaned up my bratwurst canning mess . that was hard work , i dont feel bad about resting for a day afterwards .
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I'm doing online shopping, FF - I've *never* done the Black Friday sales at the stores - there's *nothing* out there worth getting trampled for. And you have that fine print exactly right - they limit supplies intentionally to create an artificial shortage. Wait for Cyber Monday - they'll miraculously have a fresh supply of that "limited stock" item!
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I don't think we could fit anything else in the house, ff. Maybe I can wedge a box of cards in one of the drawers after Christmas if I try really hard. It would take some muscle.
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What? No one is out grabbing up the deals of the century at Black Friday sales? Where ads show a stainless steel double door refrigerator or 60" flat screen TV for half price and in small print it says *2 per store*.

I remember decades ago when my Mom and I use to go to the day-after-Christmas half price sale at our local Hallmark store, got some really good deals and boxes of holiday cards to use for next year.... the store would open at regular time and maybe there were 6 people waiting for the store to open. We did that for many years.
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Jessie, I had to chuckle, no offense, when you wrote *poking me with a stick*. I haven't heard that phase in decades.... how true that is.

I am going to add that to my list along with *where is my helmet* [for wearing when banging head against the wall].
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So....I guess one of my purchases this weekend will be an extra trash can to hold all the trash for the next week, since our 2 existing cans are full...I'll do double duty on the housework and laundry, and as far as the cabin goes...I guess I'll just have to eat that one, because the owner isn't budging and neither is the insurance company.

It's all good. I can still smile. Now where's that wine.....
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Oh, and to top it off, I missed the trash pickup today because the trash guys came a full 3 hours earlier than their normal schedule....I have at least 2 loads of dishes to wash (no dishwasher, so hand-washing), despite attempts to keep up with them yesterday (sis helped, but left earlier than planned, so I have all the cleanup to do myself), about 5 loads of laundry to fold and 3 more yet to wash thanks to Mom's accidents, I'm trying to pick up a few good deals online for Christmas gifts, working a full schedule today for my clients and found out that I can NOT get a refund on the money I paid to rent a cabin for my trip to see my son, even though I purchased the travel insurance that is supposed to cover cancellations - because the "illness" or "medical emergency" did not involve me or someone directly related to me, I'm SOL on the refund of the money I paid. So given that financial hit, I'm not sure when I will be able to make the trip now...because I'll have to pay for the cabin or whatever I choose to stay in all over again. The owners do not offer refunds - they rely on the rental insurance to cover any cancellations - well, guess what - they don't cover EVERYTHING. And apparently this company has no consideration for extenuating circumstances like, oh...a kidney transplant that throws my son's father and his family's schedule to the wind, which DOES directly affect my travel? Guess not.

Not a great start to the day today. Is it too early for wine to go with my whine?
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Mom is back to her old tricks. Wait for me to sit down to work, then say she's hungry, so up I get to fix her a plate of leftovers. Pop it in the microwave for FOUR MINUTES, which should be long enough, back to the computer to dash off some quick work, grab the food and give it to her. Butter isn't melting on the potatoes fast enough for her, so it must not be hot enough, she says - she takes 2 bites, says ok, well, it's hot enough...so I sit back down. 2 bites later, she insists it's cold and wants it re-heated again. Back to the microwave it goes for 3 more minutes. 1.5 minutes into it, she says, "well it must be done by now"...so BACK UP I go again to get it. Now it's almost boiling in the damn plate. Hot enough for ya now, Mom??

Meanwhile, I've had exactly one cup of coffee all morning, no food, because I haven't had time to stop and put a coherent thought together, much less make myself something decent to eat.

The one good thing is that my sis was here yesterday and saw firsthand what Mom is like when she gets pouty and resistant - so at least that lends credence to what I tell her and my other siblings when they ask how mom is doing...the one that really *needs* to see it, never will, because she's never here long enough. Oh well.
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My mother is making me a nervous wreck. My brother is having us over to their house for Thanksgiving today. First she wasn't going to go. Now she is. She keeps coming in and out of my room, wanting me to check things with them, asking different questions about clothes and who will be there. And what time do we leave several times. Geesh! I don't like city interstate driving already. Like I really need someone poking me with a stick until we leave. I still have to do some cooking and now I feel like throwing up my hands and screaming off into the sunset.
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Email from my sister in law last night "mom is NOT happy". I called, and it transpired that mom had a bout of diarrhea yesterday " because they put something in my food". She wanted to know "if the family had been called". For years, I have explained to my mom and had doctors explain to her that a couple of loose stools is not an emergency. Her doctor told her once, in my presence, that if she had the runs for three days, then it was an emergency. She looked at him like he had tree heads.
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We had marvelous turkey dinner at my mom & dad's house. As we have done for the last 27 years, with siblings coming about....twice. In all that time...... They usually send flowers or at least a card. And make a phony phone call. None of that this year. They are mad at my folks for switching around their will, because they really love their church are going to leave some portion to their church. And I support that, but the other 4 more or less went ballistic and actually yelled at my folks ( I happened to be there for one of the angry calls, dad had to hold phone away from his ear and I heard my sister yell at my dad that he was "evil"....). So my "evil" dad is giving some of HIS money to HIS church, and the kids (not me....) call & yell at them. Go figure. I'm GLAD they didn't call, or send flowers. Its very apparent to me, who is in this for love, and who is in it for money.
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UGH!!! That agreeing then carrying on regardless thing gets on my nerves like nothing else! I really should know better by now than even to have the reasoned conversation

"… so another time you must call me, not try to do it yourself."
"oh yes I remember. I will now."
[thinks] No you won't.

Nuts to arguing about the bathroom, though. Run a basin of warm water for her to wash her hands (yeah right) and then jolly her in there willy-nilly. It's the only way I can get my mother into the bath - run the water and make like she'd agreed beforehand.
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Oh yeah, I know that 2 year old pouty face!! Along with those bright sparkly eyes that defy you from telling her anything, much less sit down before your darn legs explode! Stubborn took on a whole new level. wow.
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Today went relatively well. Mom made her cottage cheese salad and peeled apples for a pie. Older sis came over - she helped keep dishes done up and made the pumpkin pie...but forgot to put the eggs in, so that was kind of a flop, but we had apple pie anyway. Bonus - her a** of a husband stayed home - something all of us were happy about, including sis. She needed a break from him.

Mom, however, pulled her usual stunt of not wanting to go to the bathroom when told to, putting the pouty 2-year-old face/voice, and then going after both sis and I told her she needed to. She pulled it again with me tonight, refused to use the bathroom, saying she wanted to lay down but would be back up shortly and would go to the bathroom then. I was too tired to fight with her over it - and of course, she was back up in 5 minutes, peed on the bed and floor on the way to the bathroom. Told her when she got done changing ALL of her clothing and I changed ALL of her bedding and cleaned the floor that this has to stop. She agreed...but I know we'll go through all of this again tomorrow. I'll remind her, she'll resist it, I'll insist....ugh. So tired of the endless cycle.
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oh my gawd... I made it through the day unscathed and without arguing.

Mom, seriously, has not stopped pacing since yesterday. Yes, she was up ALL night long pacing... her legs are like giant tree stumps. She cannot stop though. This is so worrisome. None of her meds are slowing this down either.
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Yes, the pressure to observe a holiday with family.
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Well.... Grrrr
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i just dont celebrate holidays . never did really . the ex and kids would go see the inlaws on holidays and i would stay home and work on something . my helper , heather is broke as h*ll but she'll cook 80 bucks worth of food tomorrow . my friend betsy will bake a turkey and a ham and 80 % of it will sit in the fridge and be thrown out . i sometimes wonder what people use for brains . ill go work tomorrow and come home and chew on about 50 cents worth of brotchen rolls with butter on em . course im so cheap i cut my own hair . lol .
searching the world over to find a 5 lb bag of whole wheat flour cheap . its that time again and i dont wanna pay 5 . 50 for a bag of flour . oughtta buy some wheat from the feed mill and smash it with a brick hammer .
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Samara, I'm glad it's not just me who feels that parents can grow apart from their children. My sister is very correct about who needs to be included in invitations, greetings, presents and what-have-you. She has this phrase: "her actual children and grandchildren" by which she means blood relatives, as opposed to in-laws and step children and partners etc., and she firmly believes that my mother would rather spend time with the "proper" ones than with anyone else, and that the "real" children are more important to her.

Well, now. My mother lives with me and my ex-SO (it's tricky but we're coping), and he has done more for her and eaten with her and kept her company a hundred times more than either of her sons for more than five years. He's kind to her and she likes him. My SIL - ex-husband's sister - has come to visit and called and invited my mother to family events more than both of my brothers put together; and all of my ex-husband's family pay my mother more attention than most of her own do. But there's never any allowance for how much my mother might, herself, *like* particular relatives, it's always got to be done according to family order.

And I think that's hooey.

To be fair, I don't think it's hypocrisy, I think it's ignorance. My sister doesn't know what goes on in my mother's social life so perhaps she just doesn't know any better.

You don't think our brothers are blaming us for their no-shows, do you? Are we sitting there beaming disapproval at them and putting them off? Well. They're big boys. They can just handle it.
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I am bracing myself for Thanksgiving. Several siblings have not talked to me in months......they typically call only on holidays. So decrepit. Why do they think calling on holidays is going to make up for another 3-5 yrs of not BEING HERE.
But in the meantime, my parents have grown apart from these kids. I know there's parables about the prodigal child. But really. These days who has prodigal children? They have selfish children who could care less about visiting their own parents -- assuming the parents weren't abusive, I believe there is no reason to not visit parents at least once a year, and call once a week! Honestly! OK I'm done whining.
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Well well well, it does appear that the fairy has been sprinkling crazy dust once again, gee thanks.

My two oldest brothers stopped by unexpectedly and of course, unannounced. Yes, you heard me right, just appeared out of nowhere... both of them. Now, if you recall, one of them swore NEVER to come to this house again. Awh shucks.

They brought mom a lovely poinsettia. It being evening mom was in full blown sundowners which is very hard to witness. I almost feel empathy towards them... almost. They get to go home so my almost is a small almost at the very least.. or best, depends on my mood. Oh, the one brother whom swore never to come here again, ... well, we did not speak, at all. That is highly unusual for me as I am a people pleaser and normally would have went out of my way to make him happy and comfortable. Not this day.

Oldest brother mentioned to mom they were both stopping by again tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving Day with her ( I wasn't mentioned) (which is fine) ... I told oldest bro I wasn't cooking a Turkey, he said neither were any of them, surprise surprise since it's a known fact his wife doesn't cook and they normally end up here scarfing up food.... I did tell them I was making eggplant lasagna though... he said he'd bring pumpkin pie, ice cream and whip cream. Oh oh, I added the whip cream, he included it in his list. WOW!

hope, I am incredibly Thankful for your mama's bounce back... not only for her, but for you! Yes, let her sleep... she's been through a lot trying to battle that infection.

I agree. No frenzy allowed! Ha! We should all show up on Cap's doorstep and eat brats until we can't move! That, would be an awesome day :)
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