Happy Friday chat!

kpwlee

We drink way too much coffee for a Keurig to make any sense. Now the muffin machine, oh yea that works!

Same here.  I can make coffee in my sleep and often do. lol  I'll take a muffin keurig though. :)

I was lucky enough to know a baby visla and watch her grow up. I don't know how I resisted stealing her she was so cute. lol  I can't think of a better mood lifter than a baby Rupey picture. :)

I got my new glasses yesterday.   

Belle has pulled a muscle or something during her insane play time yesterday.  :(   She's been especially crazy lately with her leaps and such and I'm hoping some rest will take care of things.  Poor girl is not going to be happy to be rested.

Jewlieee

I can't believe the student loans went up to 6%. I got out right before that hike so mine are at 3%. I want to fast pay off those stinking loans but it makes way more sense to put more money on the higher interest rate stuff, like the house

Mine are at 3% or thereabouts since I graduated the last year they allowed them to remain tied to interest rates as a whole.  DH then took 2 more years to finish his undergrad after that, and his first set of loans was the first year they fixed them.  Now, unsub loans are still 6.8 but the sub are a bit lower around 4 -- but they limit how much you can take subsidized.  It makes me ill to think about and I almost want to do a home equity loan to pay off his loans or something but the fees don't make that very worth while.  Essentially we used the car loan, though, to consolidate some of his loans -- instead of putting money down, we financed it all and already paid off one of his stupid loans.  Even our mortgage is less than his loans!

Oh, one irony about that whole thing -- the government did that in 2006 or so, to try to limit loan interest increases since the economy was booming and interest was skyrocketing. DH has one personal loan that isn't government backed, and now it's at 3.62 -- half of the governmental ones!  Thanks, government, for all your help. Really appreciate it.

Baby Rupert - looooves me those wrinkles!  Awwwwww.

Jackie, glad you got your new glasses!

Good Morning ladies!

We've got sunshine again today.  Cold, but, it IS December.  As long as the sun shines I won't fuss.  It's the gray dreary days that get me down.

I made amazing progress on the Christmas ornaments yesterday.  Guess decorating did get me in enough of the spirit to give me a good boot to the tush!  Thank goodness that the shoulder isn't acting up like it did last year.  Trying to make last years ornaments was such a pain.  Literally.  This year I'm actually able to enjoy it.

Have a ton of stuff to do today, and I think DS and I are going out to get more firewood.  We've only got maybe 3 cords and that won't be enough for the winter.  He got cold yesterday and started the woodstove and I was upstairs working in shorts!  Yet, when I was much heavier I was always cold.  Wierd.  And DS is skinnnny, so it's not that he's got extra layers for the heat to try to penetrate through.  He's just always cold.

Off to attack todays mountain!  Have a great day and see ya later at the Tiki bar!

Trying to be upbeat despite the lack of sleep. Coughing half the night and other things on my mind woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep until about a half hour before the alarm went off.

Student loan debt is unbelievable.  It makes me question if anyone can ever get a job after all that education that will allow a person to actually pay it off before retirement age.  Is it worth it?  Seems to cause a lot more stress.

Anyway, loved the baby Rupert picture!  Must get back to the grind now.

ETA: Glenda, body temperature has little to do with weight.  More often than not, it is a circulation issue.

 Poor Belle!!   Crate rest is the worst EVA!  Bugsy just played with Molly the crazy goldendoodle and gave me a scare. She has this habit of running full steam into the other dog hitting them right in front of their hind legs....well she went full steam into the side of his hind legs, the repaired one to be exact.  It was like watching a wide receiver get tackled from the side straight into their knees - the kind that shreds ACL's. I'll be keeping my eye on his gait today

As for student loans - heck even 6.8% isn't too bad - I was at college from '83 I believe the loans were at 13% and I had no choice.  I paid them off about 10 yrs ago by taking a bank loan at a lower rate to pay the student loans off in a lump sum.  That may work for some of you who have loans at 6.8%

Tina I am sorry to hear you didn't sleep well - I know all too well how that can effect you

I tried to take some Christmas photos yesterday - I will compile some outtakes and post them later - pure ridiculous

edit to fix spazzy typing

Today is National Fritter Day !!

Peach Fritters

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chopped peaches, fresh or canned
• whipped cream

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and beat thoroughly. Sift dry ingredients together and add the milk slowly. Fold in peaches, lemon juice and vanilla. Drop by teaspoonfuls into hot fat. Fry golden brown. Serve with whipped cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar.

And to go with them:

Peach Lassi Cocktail

That's my contribution for the day.

Deb W.

OMG!  Deb, that looks like my idea of the perfect breakfast!!

 Tina, sorry you didn't sleep well.  :(

Karen, I think I've seen more dogs hurt while playing than doing sporting stuff.  Hope B is ok.

Deb....send me some of those right now, I am so hungry

B and Belle you must be more careful, lol,  this cooler weather gets those furr babies a little friskier.  My boys have been running and jumpin and huntin alot this week.

Got a busy day ahead.  Gonna keep a Rupey photo handy so when those gripey customers call I will have something to smile at :)

 Deb what a lovely breakfast!!!

Gin Bugsy is crazy in the cool weather - he always wants to trot when we walk but on mornings like today (super crisp, blue sky, frosty and mid-20's) it is all I can do to keep him from sprinting

One of the peeps we see out walking said wow he looks bigger - he just gets very muscled and leaner in the cool weather from being active all.day.long.

OK I am surrounded by stuff to do - must get started

Super happy today because its the start of the weekend and I have cash to spend! It will also go to stores like Walmart and groceries, but I still get to shop which puts me in a great mood!

Photos with Santa on Sunday with Marley. Cheap-$5, better than the $20 and $25 I saw to go to the malls...ppfffttt!!

That is all....

Tina, I, too am sorry you got so little sleep.  Why is it sometimes our brains fixate on something totally non-sleep conducive?  Not good. 

Belle be careful!!  You aren't a puppy anymore!!  Jackie -- I'm really glad you got your glasses.  Didja ever think when you were 10 you'd be HAPPY to get glasses? 

Work has been insane this week, but the **good** news is that the gal that helps me is now "full time" (FIVE glorious days a week, and she is an absolute GEM!!!). That alone is worth celebrating for me.

Deb -- please just pass them this way.  you made my mouth water!!

Oh man, those fritters look yummy!!

I hope Belle and Bugsy are both okay. Sassy rarely gets a case of the zoomies anymore. She's the perfect couch potato these days.

DH called in sick for his shift today and tomorrow. That blew a hole in the plans I had for cleaning and cooking like a mad woman. I get so much done when he's working. Maybe I'll go out to Grace tomorrow.

I thought our winds were bad here but they don't come close to comparing to what So. Cal. got hit with. Yikes! It has kept the fog away and we're supposed to reach a high of 68 today - woohoo!!