Good Afternoon all!
Char: Happy new home!

CAPH: Med results sound good. What a blessing!

BuffaloGirl: What a rave, CAST IS OFF!

Seetheworld: Congratulations!!!!

Otto: How did you win this great trip?

JJ5: How is your sister's day?

P.M. What wonderful news! Congratulations to you and your DH

Rant: ncgrrl's deleted post

Rave: Husband, children, grandchildren and friends. I am so rich.

Have a great weekend everyone.

RAVE: It's really nice and cold in Raleigh, and feels like Christmas!!! (There have been years when we've gone through the season barely needing a windbreaker!) YES!

RAVE: Carolina Hurricanes, Carolina Panthers, UNC Tar Heels and NC State Wolf Pack!!! Let's keep rolling, guys!!! (Am I enough of a sports fan or what??? )

RAVE: Getting ready for my darling GD & her parents to arrive two weeks from today for Christmas. The first big project will be the Igloo Cake (do you know how hard it is to find blue and white rock candy???????? But Granny did! The little penquins? .... that may be impossible! )

RAVE: The tree is up, wreaths on the windows, starting to wrap packages ... still a little more shopping to do, and making the Borscht is still to come ... but things are going well!

RAVE: Brian Wilson's new Christmas album ... wonderful beachy, holiday music!

SeeTheWorld, BuffaloGirl, Otto, P_M, so happy for all your good news! STW, you have a fabulous, much deserved vacation! Congrats on your accomplishment!

BuffaloGirl, I know the relief that comes with getting out of that cast. When I broke my ankle, I was threatening to go after that itch with a meat fork if my doctor didn't take the ****** thing off when he did!

New Englanders, I just received pictures from my DIL, taken north of Boston, of her snowfall. Amazing .... and my son will be driving home from work in it. I won't relax until I know he's safe and sound! I'm thinking of you and your backs!!! Luckily, my son has a neighbor with a snow blower, and another one who has a snow plow!!!

CAPH52, I'm thinking of your husband and you, and those good results ... Have a wonderful holiday season together, with your daughter.

Mikemo,I know you're proud of your daughter ... kudos to her! (But you can keep your warm weather! I LOVE cold weather for the holidays! But I'm happy YOU'RE happy!)

Jorr, isn't the internet shopping great? I've done a lot of that ... In fact, I may be keeping American Girl in business!

RAVE: Christmas lunch with two of my siblings at a special restaurant next week. Who else loves The Village Tavern in Winston-Salem?

Have a wonderful weekend, Fodorites! Holiday hugs to you all ...

HUGE RAVE: a co-worker just asked me if I've lost weight. And this question hadn't come from a woman - women are usually the ones to pay attention to details - but from a middle-aged man!! WOO-HOO And yes, I keep losing... see, even loss can be positive

PM, what field are you and your husband in? I've been looking for a new job for too long. Maybe I should think about changing fields.

Glad the snow missed my area. I don't get snow days at work and don't like driving in the weather. Yes, I'm one of the people driving at 10 mph and I feel like that's speeding. I'm worried about stopping distances and don't like people riding my bumper to encourage me to speed up (I usually wave them to pass me). I'm a southerner, drive a compact car, and I have wrecked on ice before so I know cars can't break on ice.

RAVE: I had a SNOW day today--no school!!!
RAVE: I got to relax the whole day.
RANT: My dog's horrible in the snow.
RANT: I'm really tired.
RANT: Our Christmas Tree isn't up yet.
RAVE: It's only 16 days until Christmas!!!

Rave: I'm home. Horrible wind at 3:30. Power went out. Rain turned to snow. It was like a mini-huricane. Sign blew off roof..thought it would hit my car as it whipped around. Huge old trees all over the roads. I was scared!

Best wishes to all of you. May you have a wonderful weekend wether you get everything done or nothing

Rave: Snow. I live here in Hawaii, so when I went to Chicago this past weekend I walked for about an hour in the snow (7-10 degrees, I guess) and found it very invigorating. Most people think I'm nuts, but wouldn't YOU walk for an hour in the snow if you knew you were from Hawaii just for the weekend?

Rave: Had a mini GTG with Makai & Mr. Makai.

Rant: I'm sad that this board has gotten so deserted.

Rave: I hired someone to put the lights on my Christmas tree for me this year- should be all done when I get home tonight

Rant: Dont have anything else done in preparation for Christmas

A Travel Related Rave: The only thing better than doing ALL my Christmas shopping on the internet is getting airline mileage points for every internet Christmas purchase I have made at the 100 or so retailers on United's Mileage Plus shopping program. And some of them are having specials like 5 to 10 points per dollar spent. That is like double dipping.

Hey emd- I'm doing the same with my new Southwest Visa card. I've put everything on it lately and I've already earned a free trip to "you know where" with the sign up bonus points!

DH pays off the credit card bills monthly so we've never carried a balance so they keep upping the max, I guess hoping we overextend.

Rave for all the good news this week!!

STW--OWJ2 is planning to meet w/the guy who will hopefully hire him this weekend. Lots of details for them to iron out, but we're both feeling really good about this opportunity.

CAPH--Wonderful news! You will hear that beautiful word, "remission" soon

Buffalogirl--Doesn't it feel great to be free??

Otto--Winning a trip? That is so awesome! Have fun! When do you leave?

P-M--Good job karma is floating through your home. Woo Hoo Since the good luck is flowing, go out and buy a lottery ticket (once the ice melts, that is) Oh, and remember, I get half!

Scarlett--Happy Days!!

Bonnie--You're not the only one keeping Am Girl going. I'm doing more than my fair share.

Will post later. DH just walked in

Happy Friday, all! Stay warm and safe and dry.

amwosu, I use my Mileage Plus Visa to buy the presents from the retailers through United Mileage Plus site, so I get points from using the card AND points for purchasing through the Mileage Plus site for each purchase!! WooHoo!!
It's a little difficult to get the entire list of more than 100 retailers to come up, it takes some maneuvering, but they are all there...

Yes, I wanted to add my congratulations to Mikemo's daughter - what a wonderful accomplishment

Bonnie, I missed your post...an igloo cake - how much fun is that!!!

I'll keep everything crossed for your DH, OWJ.

Scarlett, what nice news

Thanks all, for your kind comments for DD's achievement - kind of an anticlimax after Pomona '99 and her writing career in pre-bust SFO.
M

Faina, weight is the only issue where it's good to be a loser. Congrats on a job well done, you loser, you!!

OWJ, great idea about the lotto ticket, I'll definitely send you half of my winnings. If history serves as a guide, your check for $2.50 will be in the mail soon.

ncgrrl, it was a strange coincidence that DH and I were put on layoff notice at the same time because we did not work in the same place or even the same industry. I was working as an oil and gas analyst, but my job was being moved to a city where I didn't want to go. DH's former company had a contract with the state to help find health insurance for underpriveledged children, but his company lost that contract this year so he was laid off. Now I am working in securities trading and DH will be working for a mortgage company.

Ani, you said your DH hates his job but isn't looking for another. That wasn't the case with me, but that was so true with my husband. I had been telling him for years that he should look elsewhere, but he just wouldn't do it because he said, "This is all I know how to do." When he found out he was being laid off, it was devastating. However, that was probably the best thing that could have happened because it forced him to find something better. I do NOT wish that on you or your DH, but I hope he will at least put some feelers out. There's got to be something better out there for him.

Rave: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is very good! The kids and I saw it this morning.

Rave: I know I'm getting at least one thing I want for Christmas because I ordered it for myself... Hurray for online shopping!

Rave: My 17yo and I went to our first holiday concert of the season last night and had a great time, though I must say "Carmina Burana" isn't the first piece which comes to mind when I think of holiday music.

Praying for all of you with injuries, illnesses, and facing life-changing events.

Lee Ann

LeeAnn, we saw it today too

I love Carmina Burana !

Hey! I used to play an instrument....and I've actually played Carmina Burana!

I need help quick! I have been thawing an 8.75 pound turkey in the frig for the past two days. I need to put in the oven tomarrow. How long do I need to cook it and what tempurature should I should I use? I don't have a thermometer. I plan to put it in a large aluminium disposable pan and putting another one on top of it as a cover to hold moisture in.

thanks, Jorr

Hi jorr,
Approximate Roasting Times for Stuffed Turkey
Turkey

Weight Hours
6 to 8 pounds 3 to 3-1/2 hours
8 to 12 pounds 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours
12 to 16 pounds 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours
16 to 20 pounds 5-1/2 to 6 hours
20 to 24 pounds 6 to 6-1/2 hours

For unstuffed

6 to 8 pounds 2-1/2 to 3 hours
8 to 12 pounds 3 to 4 hours
12 to 16 pounds 4 to 5 hours
16 to 20 pounds 5 to 5-1/2 hours
20 to 24 pounds 5-1/2 to 6 hours

Good luck!