Thank you ALL for looking and commenting on my latest obsessive activities ... LOL Yes Lisa, you're right, TGO! Bob painted the high part of the trim the first time around, but the color was too dark. So, he suggested that his TGO wife paint it the second time (and it was painted a third time which I didn't tell him). He did put the ladder up for me though while shaking his head .... :-) While I was up there I touched up the antiquing color on the big Roman faces plaque that's right under the peak even though nobody ever looks up there to see it..

I'm glad you posted this! Very often someone will mention a recipe here and next thing you know someone posts a recipe that they say they make and it's obvious its from an internet site. No mention of the original or credit given to them. A gal up the street from me put a recipe on her blog that came from the Food Network website. Innocent enough so she thought. She got an email from the network asking to see the permission she had to post it. Of course she didn't have it and they made her remove it. I think people just think if its on the internet its theirs for the taking and that's just not so.

I agree that what makes this feel over the top is the sheer number of things in such a short time. But I agree with a previous poster that, although I, too, think some of them are kind of silly, especially the gender reveal stuff, none of them is unprecedented or bizarre. Like, why do you put the word “registry” in quotation marks? Surely you have heard of bridal and baby registries before. Many people don’t like them, but they are not considered rude per se; it’s only pushing them on people who have not asked for them or expecting guests to buy only gifts that the recipients have chosen for themselves that is considered rude. You don’t have to send a gift at all, although it is certainly customary if you attend a shower or a wedding, and if you do send a gift, you do not need to limit yourself to registered items, cash, or gift cards. You can choose or make a gift that you want to give. In other words, if you don’t like the registry, just ignore it. I can’t help but notice that you complain both that you ARE invited to events and that you WEREN’T invited to an event. People send invitations not only us gift grabs, but also to show people that they consider them connected and want them to feel included. What is your own motive when you send an invitation or share news? I assume it is not just to get gifts. Well, these are people you don’t even know, but you are ascribing only the worst possible motives to their having sent you invitations and announcements. That said, I would be rolling my eyes at some of the stuff, too.

I hope you and your DH feel better soon. I think it’s a good idea to always keep a few staples handy for blah or no appetite times, such as: Chicken rice/or noodle soup Ginger Ale or your own frozen mix Cottage cheese plain yogurt, preserved or canned fruit in light syrup (pears, peaches); raisins, eggs. Frozen vegetables (store-bought) Apple juice parmesan, simple, cheddar, Swiss cheese A quick something if I feel blah is simple frozen or canned broth or soup like chicken rice and saltines. If just too tired, can just sleep. No one will be hurt by missing a few days of meals. If super starving hunger pains — almost anything will do. Quick, “lazy” low energy meals for me include: plain yogurt or w a fruit; frozen mixed veggies; soup; or a fast pasta dish is “poor man’s Alfredo” — cooked angel hair pasta, and any of these add-ins: bit of olive oil, or butter, bit of cottage cheese, milk or broth or water; dash parmesan cheese, whatever seasoning. A husband from northern Italy used to cook good meals, but had a penchant for graduate student quick comfort food. I acquired a taste for it too. For the student quick “Alfredo”, pasta, egg, info cream, a bit of cottage cheese, Parmesan, a bit of sausage if avail (cooked frozen patty, chopped up), and, the ultimate, no kidding, a small can of those Le Sueur peas. Don’t over mix. Granted, an acquired taste. If feeling really tired - just pasta, cottage cheese, bit of butter or EVOO and dash or Parmesan. If queasy, just Chix rice soup. If you’re not queasy, just starving, I can recommend poor man’s sushi — King Oscar double layer sardines packed in olive oil on saltines.