Oakleyok, sorry to be so late in expressing my sympathy about your brother's loss. From personal experience, I know how painful the loss of a sibling can be. In my case, I never expected to be an only child. I'm sure you didn't, either. Time heals the pain, though it can never completely erase the sense of loss. Talk about him with people who knew and loved him and encourage others to do the same. Refer to him by his name rather than "he". I believe a part of those who have passed remains in this world as long as they are spoken of. It's when no one ever mentions their names that truly cease to exist.

Thank you again everyone and thank you for the health tips on diabetes and the statins. Kiwi, my sister Marjorie can't take any statin drugs because of the muscle pains and swelling she experienced so she will watch Paul closely and ask him questions. Health Canada wants everyone who is diabetic now to be on a statin drug such as Lipitor which is why Paul was prescribed it. His cholesterol levels are good right now. Kiwi, I am sorry your Mom had so many side effects from the drug. Just for anyone who doesn't know in Canada our blood sugar measurements are different than in the US so blood sugar readings between 4 and 7 are considered in the normal range. Paul doesn't suffer from mental illness and isn't really depressed. He is great at handling stress and let me tell you he and his children have seen mental illness at its worse (his ex wife now deceased). Paul is actually handling his diagnosis better than I am. LOL Paul is on his way home from the Toronto area right now. He went to see his daughter and to pick up a china cabinet for himself and 8 banana boxes filled with stuff for me from my cousin who is moving. I am excited to see what she is sending me. Paul was happy to tell me his blood sugar level went down to 8 with the pills and he only had to get up to go to the bathroom once during the night. He said that is the best part, not being thirsty and not having to go to the bathroom all the time. LOL Paul should be meeting with the dietician one day this week and also the diabetic educator. His surgery is outpatient but the educator will probably come to see him while he is in the hospital. I just want him to be aware too that his blood sugar can drop and he needs to have something on hand or in his car to elevate his blood sugar if he has a reaction. My best friend has been a diabetic all her life and I have met with the diabetic educator because of my Mom so I am quite familiar with the disease. My Dad had type 2 diabetes as well. My blood sugar levels have always been on the low side. I think Paul is getting fed up with me bombarding him with information LOL so I will ease up a bit. He is a big boy. LOL Thank you again. Anne

They don't boil off. You pull it out and peel it off. Thus, no pot full of glue. It just softens it and when you pull the label off, the glue goes w/ the label rather than staying on the metal. I did have a handful that still had some residue. They were the p-touch bulletproof labels that I put on in the spring that sat in cooking sun all summer. I think they were the most cemented. I just used 70% alcohol to swipe away what was left. Easy.

Hmm. Dogs. We had a medium small poodle named Tappy growing up. Once while dining Sunday dinner, something came on the news in the other room. The 5 of us, for some reason, hurried in there to hear whatever. Came back to find Tappy on the table, actually standing on the roast chewing as fast as she could. We laughed so hard even the dog was confused. Me: You know those chocolate covered espresso beans? Well, about 25 (or more) years ago I decided it would be totally cool to have chocolate flavored espresso. I should have known it wouldn't be wise when the beans clogged up and stopped the blades in my little bean grinder. Nonetheless, I packed them happily into my little Krupp's espresso basket and fired 'er up. As I was doing dishes next to it, I noticed steam coming out of the top of the machine. "Hmmmm..." I thought again. I heard a noise out the window and turned to look out. At that moment, my espresso machine exploded, blowing the screw top up into the bottom of the overhead counter, and the grinds basket down through the carafe and the little espresso machine bottom to put a bull's eye slammed dent into the counter below. Cats ran everywhere and my heart about stopped. Minutes later, as I was wiping up the water and crap from the kitchen, picking glass shards out of my sweater, I was on the phone to BB&B to tell them I needed another machine because mine had just exploded. I left out the chocolate covered coffee bean part. Ironically, just this morning I was making espresso (you can tell I've been devoted for years) in the replacement machine, and I realized it was probably 25 or so years old. No planned obsolescence here! - - - - - - - - - - - -> Another good one is my former SIL. Speaking of Joy... Her DH didn't like soap bottles on the sink, for some reason. Fine. Everything else in the house was covered with ... stuff ... but he didn't like the soap bottles. She put the soap in some nice bottle thing by the sink. One day, she made her wonderful homemade bread. Warm and crusty, a perfect loaf came out. Her family, however, actually spit it out on their plates at dinner. Evidently she'd grabbed the soap bottle rather than the oil bottle and made bread with liquid dish soap. She bemoaned that it was the best loaf she'd ever made. She did, though, tell her DH he could stuff it and went back to safer plastic, labeled bottles for soap. He evidently did stuff it, because a few years later, after being together for 30+ years, he realized he was gay. Left her, their 2 adopted daughters, quit their church, moved to another state (nearby enough to commute) and lives with his boy toy. I wonder if he makes bread?