I'm glad to hear you don't really have any complaints. I do have a co-worker who had her whole house recarpeted by Empire and also has no complaints. She said that they had tried to go local, but no one could compete with Empire's prices. Our sales guy was great! No hard sell at all. At the end he said that he had to call his manager and do the "sales" bit, but that he hated doing that kind of stuff. He wanted to know what we were willing to do to get a lower price - installation on a week day and/or a sign in our yard and or pay cash. We were fine with all of those and they knocked $1200 dollars off the total. We did let him know that we were going to get a couple other estimates before making a decision. I also told him that I had read some pretty crummy reviews about Empire in the Seattle area. He commented that you're going to find unhappy people with just about any company and that the installers in my area were awesome. Maybe I'm an idiot, but he just seemed like a normal, honest guy.

I just recently put out some old photos. My mom passed away last November and we found old pics that we had never seen before of my parents and us kids that had been packed away forever. Also, a cousin who we hadn't seen since 1972 brought a bunch of family pics from long ago and far away, including some of my mom as a child (we had never seen any childhood pics of her). I bought a couple of nice collage frames and put one together of pics of my mom and the second included pics of my dad and us kids with grandparents when we were all very young. I have some additional pics that I'd like to frame, so I'll be purchasing a couple more collage frames to hang. I've really enjoyed seeing these pics. I have them in our upstairs hallway so I see them every night before going to bed. :001_smile: I know it's silly, but seeing the pics of my mom is very comforting. It's taken me this long to look at her pics without crying (although I guess I still do sometimes).

Thanks for responding! That definitely worries me. I've been asking around for the last several months for local recommendations and have come up with only one guy who did some wood work for a co-worker and also does floors. I haven't contacted him yet. Everyone seems to do it themselves. We're just not up for doing that this time. If your dh can recommend someone on the Kitsap Peninsula in WA state, I'd love to hear.

We are SO ready to get rid of our carpet and replace it all with wood. We are having a heck of a time finding anyone local to do this. So, I had Empire Flooring come out tonight and give us an estimate on our main floor. We're considering going with them and was hoping to hear from anyone else who may have used them. Yes, I know we could do it ourselves, but I've finally given in to the fact that it's not going to happen. We bought laminate flooring for our kitchen 5 1/2 years ago and it is still sitting in the cartons. I kept hoping dh would take the initiative, but nope. I considered giving it a go, and chickened out. We can still use that laminate at some point in one of the bedrooms upstairs. I'm to the point that I just want the floors taken care of and I'm willing to pay a reasonable price. Anyone?

The sand fleas in WA are definitely jumpers.

I had put Wool, Shift and Dust in my Amazon cart earlier this week after reading this thread. But, I was at Costco today, and picked up Wool. I didn't see the other 2 books, though.

They're really not cute when they're jumping all over you and into any food or beverage you have. :rofl: My parents had waterfront property when I was growing up (they've since built a house on it) and we used to camp there. Sand fleas were yucky. No one liked them. The comments are cracking me up.

I use erythritol and stevia glycerite. There is a lot of great sweetener info on http://mariamindbodyhealth.com/

I've been happy with Costco, Target and Kohl's.

How funny! A co-worker introduced me to Duck Dynasty and the last episode had this same thing going on. The wife of "Willie" tried to make him think it was his idea to throw a wedding for his parents (they'd never had an actual "wedding"). She made a comment about how she uses that technique quite often.

This wasn't part of your list and it may sound silly, but it's been one of the bigger helps for me in the morning - Decide what you're going to wear the night before and get it out or your closet and ready to wear. I hang whatever I'm going to wear to work in the morning on the back of our bathroom door. That way, it's right there ready to put on after my shower. Otherwise, I end up standing in front of my closet forever being totally indecisive about what to wear.

I saw last weekend that Costco now has almond flour. I've been ordering it from Honeyville. Honeyville is having a 10% off sale through 8/20.

I don't know if I'm excited about a Shining sequel or not. I do have Doctor Sleep in my cart and just received Joe Hill's Horns. I think I'll read it next. I'm in the middle of Kate Atkinson's Life After Life right now. I also received House of Leaves, which I'll probably save for October. I didn't care for the miniseries Tommyknockers, either. I just don't think that most of King's works translate well to the screen. So much of his writing is what is going on in each character's heads. I saw Carrie in the theater when I was 18 with a friend. I had read the book, but for some reason the ending was such a HUGE surprise that we were both pretty shook up. Sometimes I get so involved in the movie that it really effects me, and that one sure did. I'm pretty positive that if I saw it again it would be a totally different experience. Is it sick that I :wub: Stephen King, or at least his writing? I'm getting pretty attached to Joe Hill's writing, too.

Our most favorite recipe for chicken salad was one that my sister-in-law made for us. No recipe was given, just a list of ingredients. It called for chopped chicken, dried cranberries, chopped cashews, finely minced onions, shredded cheddar (or whatever cheese you prefer) and then mayo to moisten. LOVE IT! I'm sure this would be great with Miracle Whip as it would just add to the sweetness of the cranberries. I used to make big batches of this and my dd loved to eat it warmed up.

I'm another one who made the switch to Fiesta and have all different colors. Love them! I even like to open up my cupboards and see all the colors.

I've been LCHF for 1 1/2 years now and I still like bacon AND eggs. I must not be eating as many eggs as other low carbers. Yesterday I was even thinking how much I love the food I'm eating. I have no desire to eat any of the carby stuff. One of the things that really helps me when I'm in a rut food-wise is to spend time on the lc blogs. I have a long list of blogs that I check at least once a week for new recipes. I copy and save anything I think I might want to try into MasterCook and then do a search in MC for a recipe for whatever it is I'm in the mood to eat. Hope your frustration passes soon!

I'm watching Broadchurch because of this thread, but I wasn't prepared for how emotional the first episode would be. I'm glad I'm home alone as I cried through most of it. :sad:

Oh, my gosh! Poor her, poor kids, and poor unaware (yet) other passengers. Will they let them on the plane with kids that ill?

Both!! I treasure all of my hard copy recipes and cookbooks. But, for the last 15 years I've used MasterCook and input just about every recipe I've made. I've created 6 volumes of hard copy cookbooks over the years that I've given as xmas gifts to family and friends from those recipes (as well as recipes from others). When I want to make a recipe, it goes into MC and I print it out and head to the kitchen. After I've made the recipe, I go back into MC and move the recipe into the current cookbook that I'm working on. I can add any notes or changes I made to the recipe. One of my favorite "hobbies" is to browse recipes online. I spend waaaaay too much time doing this,but I LOVE it. When I find a recipe I think I'll want to try at some point in the future (and I find a lot of them), I copy it into the appropriate MasterCook cookbook. Then I can go into MC when I'm ready to try something new and either I remember a specific recipe or I can search by title, ingredient, etc. This way, I don't have lots of paper floating around as I only print the recipe when I'm ready to make it.

I've had this for a couple of weeks but haven't read it yet. I thought I had decided which book I'm going to read next, but since you've mentioned this one, I'm going to have to rethink my plan. Glad to hear it's such a page-turner.

Me too. But, I spread the sausage on the bottom and up the sides of the muffins cups to make cups. I cook them a few minutes on their own before putting the egg in. I cook them until they are slightly underdone. Then, I reheat in the micro without over cooking them. I've eaten these every weekday morning for the last 3 weeks. I think I need a new breakfast idea...

I shouldn't even be reading this thread as I can't eat anything in it. I had to comment on your buckeyes. You are the first person I've come across who has the exact same recipe that i grew up with. My mom used to make these every Christmas and I continued the tradition up until last Christmas. She called them Peanut Butter Cookies, though, even though they are more candy-like. I never found out where she got the recipe, but they were huge favorite in my family. And, we only got them at Christmas. Once food processors were available, it sure made chopping the dates much easier.

I never ever thought I'd wear skinny jeans (pants), but that's what I'm wearing these days. I've always been fat and really liked pants with lots of room in the legs. But, I've lost weight and my legs look really weird in normal jeans. It's like there's just too much fabric. Last year I tried on all different sizes and brands, and my daughter finally suggested I try skinny jeans. I figured no way, but to humor her I tried on a pair. I love how they fit. They're not tight or too fitted, but just fit me much better than other jeans. Now, if I could just find some skinny pants for work for a short person! Oh, I'm short and still too curvy, but I think that the skinny jeans look much better on me than regular jeans. I've had tons of compliments since making the switch.

I mentioned earlier that I've spent the last year since diagnosis doing a LOT of reading. And, one thing that stands out is that diabetes isn't stagnant and it doesn't always fit the stereotype. Even when you think you've got it all figured out, or eat the exact same foods several days in a row, you end up with different results. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned allowing yourself time to grieve. That is really part of the initial process. It's hard to think of all you "have to give up". But, you do what you have to do and it all works out. You'll also find that diabetes isn't necessarily "caused" by anything. Yes, people who are not familiar with it will blame diet, weight, etc. But, there are many obese people who never develop diabetes and many thin diabetics. My dr says over and over that genetics is the big factor. A couple of months ago, I learned through a cousin who was working on our family geneaology, that 2 great grandparents had on their death certificates that death was caused by diabetes. So, I had diabetics way back in my family. I never did tell my mom as she was in a nursing home due to a stroke (she died last Nov). Her mind was still amazing, but her body wasn't working. Anyway, I didn't want to add to her stress. I didn't tell anyone in my family other than one sister until this year. I just didn't want the attention or having everything I ate analyzed. Tell people at your own speed. Let them think what they want, and you do whatever you decide is the best way to take care of yourself. Do the research, don't rely on doctors. Empower yourself to be in control.

So sorry you have to deal with this. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago and have spent a lot of time researching online. You can do this! I've found that LCHF is the best woe for me. There's tons of info out there. Once you get over the shock and the fear of eating anything (I had the same issues) and everything that goes with it, you'll figure it out.