Good morning! Today is the deadline. Linda had to drop out and I received Camen's information so I only need box names for two participants. I sent them a reminder email. If I don't hear from them by 7:00pm EST, they will have to skip the guessing name and will be placed last and 2nd to last in the picking order based on when they joined the swap, so I hope they remember in time. It's more fun when everyone plays! A short time after 7:00 pm I will post a guessing game and everyone will have until 1:00 pm tomorrow to post their answer. You can guess anytime between those times. I will explain when I post the game how the winner(s) will be determined. Anyone who does not guess will be placed at the end based on the order they signed up for the swap in. If you have any questions, shoot me an email. I am at home today and will check back often. Have a good one! ALana Vina/flowergirl34 Shirley/sjc48 Rose/rosemctier Dan/dan_the_mailman Margo/smitties Shirley/brittneysgran Robin/Robin1962-2008 Wendy/Sassybutterfly_2008 Faye/nottougly need box name Beth/beth_b_kodiak Carmen/gardencraze Heidi/hdiperna Shelly/sred98 need box name Kelly/kellyk49 Alana/poisondartfrog

Another Oklahoman here. Familiar with Porter peaches, though I grow my own. In Bartlesville there's a little restaurant where people love to eat. It's nothing fancy. Last time I was there, the surfaces of the tables were worn looking and mine even had a hole in it. But people wait in line at noon to eat. What do they order? The Hot Hamburger. It's a hamburger, what can I say? The difference in the dish is that it comes with a huge plate of french-fries covered in brown gravy. Now, I never saw the charm of this dish because I don't like gravy on my fries. In Tulsa, there's a little cafe-style restaurant called "Claud's" that was written up several times in the local newspaper as making the "best burger in Tulsa". Claud is now deceased and his wife Wilma is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. But some of the kids run the place, and use the same methods and recipes. The favorite dish from there is an onion hamburger. They grind their own beef, pat it out thin, smear one patty with chopped onion and top with another patty. Throw it on the grill and fry it up. The grill is where you can watch, if you want. The NE section of Oklahoma is known for beef, peaches, pecans, all what David said (lakeguy). We have a lot of lakes and boy do I love that crappie! Biscuits and what "northerners" call "cream gravy" is standard breakfast fare in every restaurant. You also cannot have a meal that includes any kind of fried meat unless you also have gravy and mashed potatoes. Chicken fried steak is big here, though I don't really care for it. We like sour cream on lots of things. And we put cheese in and on almost everything. Yes, I too remember getting Frito chili pie at the concession stands during ballgames. Ever since, whenever I make chili I always want Fritos in mine instead of crackers. Does anybody remember the potato bars that were so popular in the '80's? We had a restaurant downtown that catered to the office workers there. Huge baked potato with your choice of all sorts of toppings. My favorite was bacon, sour cream, lettuce, shredded cheddar. Now we have a Starbuck's. I notice lots of cars in the parking lot.

What a good mommy you are! The new bedroom sounds dreamy enough for any little princess. How to stay motivated? It helps me to have some excitement about the final outcome. Do you have any inspiration pics to put up on the fridge to keep your spirits up and your motor running? There are a number of them in the Gallery in the post on kids rooms. There are also some in the bedrooms post, and even more in the Cottage Decor post. Close this thread and you'll find a link to the Gallery at the bottom of the page that lists all the threads. Also another link at the top right just above the list of posts. I second Dian's brilliant suggestion about audio books. I get audio book CDs from the library and listen to them in the kitchen, or wherever I have mindless work to do. I love them. I'll bet if you snoop the web you can order a ready-made slipcover for that chair for not too much money. You might start with eBay and amazon.com. On the sewing, all you're talking about is sewing straight lines. That isn't difficult. Seems to me you must have a gf who would be happy to come over and supervise you until your "rust" is off. That would be a lot less daunting than a class, to me at least. Your mom or mom-in-law might like to help. When our kids are grown and gone, we suddenly feel unwanted, useless. We are thrilled if we're asked to help. We feel valued, and if we're retired we have the time. Well, most of us, anyway. If yours don't live close they could at least sew a pillow or something. Just a thought that could improve family relations and lighten your load. Make a family party out of it. You supply the steaks, hot dogs, the barbee, and the paint, and invite them all. They can bring salad, dessert, etc, and extra paint brushes or whatever. I'm looking forward to helping with my granddaughter's bedroom makeover somewhere in the next few months. I'm really excited about it and I'm collecting ideas. One idea I ran across is these giant tissue paper flowers. They would be so darling hung from a little girl's ceiling. Do you like those? This URL shows you how to make them -- very easily and cheaply. It would be a good project to do with kids, depending on the age of the child. Here is a link that might be useful: How Make Tissue Paper Pom-Poms (scroll down)

I visit but rarely post.(maybe once last year) Live in Southwestern Ontario. Married for 18 years with 2 children age 8 and 6 plus 2 Maine Coon cats. I am a horticulturist and husband is a paramedic. Our kids are absolutely amazing. My oldest daughter has some serious health problems along with being vision and hearing impaired. She goes to a regular public school and despite her vision/hearing and frequent hospital visits she keeps up with her peers. Youngest daughter is the most easy going child and is best friends with her older sister. Most think they are twins. Love Gardenweb Canadian Seed exchange and visit frequently during winter months.