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I will also be redirecting starrzz.com/blogstarr to this new domain.

Thanks for being a loyal friend, fan and reader!

• Dinner  Rolls
• Sweet Potato Pie
• Yummy peas

Everything should turn out nicely ~ at least in my head it will all turn out perfect! Looking for a great dinner roll recipe now. If I find a great one I will share. I think I am going to do a quick search on some of my favorite food blog sites!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day and give thanks to all that we have in this world!

I give many thanks for my family and friends!

Until next time!

Christine

The first is a diagonal box stitch blanket of which I am testing the pattern. Thank goodness I have another few days or even a week to finish. It’s the pink one.

The second is the Bernat CAL I have been working on since it started on September 22, 2010. We’re given weekly clues to crochet squares then by the end, which was today’s clue, we are given a diagram on how to put the squares together for an afghan. I WILL FINISH – before Christmas as I am making it for someone! Fingers Crossed!

Check em out! Hopefully I will have finished pictures in the near future. You can see all of my projects on Ravelry – finished and unfinished.

Until next time,

I am one of those people who is not so politically correct at Christmas. I say MERRY CHRISTMAS! It’s been Christmas time during December for as long as I can remember. If you know someone of another faith or someone who celebrates a different holiday, then please wish them a Happy Kwanzaa or Happy Chanukah or whatever they celebrate! But if I don’t know for sure, then you will hear Merry Christmas from me! It’s not out of disrespect for anyone, but it’s what I grew up with, therefore that is what I am going to say.

It’s a holly jolly time of year and I am trying to prepare myself! I have gifts to finish crocheting, lots of baking and cakes and of course gifts for my family. I also want my kids to remember what Christmas is truly about, and they do. I told Isabelle the other day it was time to go through her toys and share with the kids less fortunate than her. She seemed to understand that a bit more this year, now that she is the ripe old age of 4! She was also looking at a toy book from Walmart and picked out just about everything in the book to ask for from Santa. I asked her, Do you think Santa will bring you all of those toys? She said, no, he should only bring me one or two and make sure he has plenty for all the other kids! She wowed me with that answer!

It will be time to start decorating before you know it! I am ready to get it done now so I don’t have to worry about it later! The hubs won’t let me put anything out before Thanksgiving though! Guess I will wait until that weekend.

When do you start decorating? What kind of traditions to you do each year, if any? Are there any favorite recipes you like to cook?

Until next time,

Grooms Cake – chocolate/vanilla swirl cake with buttercream filling. Fondant covered with fondant decorations and buttercream border. Topper is made out of clay so the Bride and Groom could have a keepsake.

• My day will consist of finishing up a cake I am decorating for the monthly Church birthdays. (Picture later!)
• Working on my Bernat Mystery Afghan CAL! (more on that later!
• Getting the Boy his bi-monthly military haircut for ROTC.
• Working on our new eating and exercise habits for a healthy family!!

Hope y’all have a fab day and check out the Blog Hops going on today!

Last weeks Mystery CAL Clue:

Clue # 2 came out today! Will share that later when I finish it up!

Go Red For Women
Heart Disease is the #1 killer of Women!

Where to start?! This should have been scary years ago as I have personally had high blood pressure for about 10 years now. I have been on medication, still have borderline high BP at times, but for the most part my BP is controlled. I also have minor anxiety issues and I take medication to help control that too. What does this all mean? It means that I have been going to my doctor regularly for quite a long time! I love him and will keep driving the 40 miles into Atlanta to see him when its needed!

So what is so scary?

My husband, who NEVER goes to the doctor and hasn’t in the 8 years we’ve been together and thinks it’s probably been over 10 years since a physical, asks me Sunday to get my BP monitor. He says “my eyes have been bothering me off and on for a while” – which he has mentioned before – but it’s not an everyday thing. We take his pressure and it is off the charts! HE says to me – I need to go to the doctor and have this checked. In actuality, he should have been dead as high as his BP was that day and goodness knows how many days before that!

He stays home Monday from work which never happens, especially with the project from hell (he’s in construction) going on right now! I call the doctor my MIL recommends and they set an appointment for 2:15 pm. For him to stay home from work AND have me call the doctor means he is scared and really concerned! This is quite unusual for him!!

At the doctor’s office, they go through the usual routine. And of course his BP is high – quite high. We are very lucky he has not stroked or even had a heart attack – especially since he is a coffee drinking, 2 pack a day smoker and we don’t eat as healthy as we should!

So our SOP (standard operating procedure) now is:

• Blood pressure medicine to get the BP under control
• We have to start monitoring how much sodium he (all of us) get in a day. The max is 2000 mg for anyone!
• Begin cutting back on caffeine
• Begin cutting back on cigarettes
• Begin eating healthier
• Begin exercising regularly

But, this morning he gets a call from the doctor saying his blood work showed his sugar levels off the chart too! But it was not a fasting blood test. So, he has to fast after midnight and until he sees the doc in the morning for more blood to be drawn. We are hoping this is not the sign of anything more, but it has definitely been a wake up call for us both!

This lifestyle change will not be overnight. Nothing ever is. But we are and will be making a lot of changes around here.

Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted on what we find in research and how we are all doing as a family with the changes to be made!