Senior Golden Sneakers Club~~~Welcome~~~~~Dec.

Jake45

Right on Sandy, I need all the help I can get, after all I'm sensitive and don't suffer well.

barbiecat

:huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: :huh: I'm tired of using the same smileys all the time, so I'm using these:glasses: :glasses:
I weighed myself on my new scale this morning. I weighed more this morning than I did yesterday but I don't know if it's because of the high sodium on Wednesday or just that the new scale is different. I will give it some time before I have any sense of comfort with the new information. What really matters is that my size 6 jeans are starting to be a little looser than I like

:happy: Elli, we sometimes have reports of wild animals in our neighborhood so we keep our cats indoors for a few days----what a headache :frown: Bernie makes such a fuss about wanting to go out, then the dogs chase him, and then one of the adults hollers at the animals :laugh: I've seen deer and raccoons but none of the dangerous wildlife that our neighbors report. Your crock pot meal with beans and sweet potato sounds delicious.

:happy: Sandy, I'm glad you got your decorations up. I'll bet your house looks great.

The rest of the story about the new scale (it doesn't take much to entertain me :laugh: ) is that it will keep track of weight for four different people so I declared myself #1 and Jake is #2

We started practicing in earnest at line dance for our performances at the assisted living places. We'll do eight dances, some easier and some harder so dancers at all levels can participate. We'll do some of our familiar dances to Christmas music rather than the music we're used to so that will make it more challenging.

The dogs and I had a great time at the dog park. The city has temporarily fenced off half of each of the yards and are beginning to bring in some top soil with the plan of reseeding in the spring.

Now it's time to get busy on my chores. :smooched: :smooched: :smooched: hugs Barbie

weaklink109

Right on Sandy, I need all the help I can get, after all I'm sensitive and don't suffer well.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Poor Jake, you must have SUCH a rough life being married to Barbie!!!!.....:noway: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

When I saw your post last night I was going to make a bright remark about how you couldn't drive a golf club, but then I realized if you got a "driver" that wouldn't be true, it would just mean only one person could "drive" at a time.:laugh:

I hope you are enjoying the new car, no matter whose you think it is!!!!:flowerforyou: :drinker:

And Jeffery,

I took the doggies out on my walking trail yesterday and just for the heck of it, I started counting mole hills in the area I had mentioned previously. By the time I got to 30, I decided there were at least 50- 60 of them in total.:noway: They are busy as beavers I guess.

Barb

CALIECAT

WSe made it to the casino today. Had a lovely day. Jerry really enjoy his self. We didn't win anything,
I did real well on my low carb diet. We ate breakfast at Craker Barrell and they have 3 or 4 choice of low carb breakfast. I had one with 5 grams of carbs Which is my limit for breakfas Plus coffee, We ate lunch at casino buffet, I had Salad, boiled egga, Slice of pork roast Cottage cheese with Splenda. So no 5x5 carbs which is fine till I go into step 2. Then I will have to eat 11 grams of carbs every 4 hours. including doing the night. Thats where I can have fruits. Can hardly wait, Bring on the carbs!!!!!!! I am still in my 4th week of step 1, so I have 4 more weeks to go after this one.

Hey Barbie you got a fancy scales. It's nice to keep up in oz. too.

Hey Barbs and Jeffrey I don't think we have any moles down here. Plenty of skunks tho , won't me to send you guys some. We have plenty to share. Which remind me a story about my brother. He and a friend went hunting early one morning before school and ran across one and got squirted by one. they went on to school and the teacher sent them home.
real fast.


gayla, you were saying Hope you want have an issue with siezuire, I hope you are talking about your coughing siezuire you had with the flu.tell Dave Happy Birthday for me. He seems to be one heck of a nice guy. He will love your Beef stew.

sandy, Looking for snow tonight too? We did hae some snow Wed morning but did not stick to ground. Melted as fast as it fell. They say we may have some more tomrrow morning.

Birdie. You are simplely amazine.

I got a Pm off to ellen about her Birthday. But haven't heard from her yet.
I also try to fine Nancy Name to send her a PM but never did fine it. I forgot her posting name,
I need to get the new ones on my friend list.

Now it is time for me to go get me a carb.

Marie

Lafla

Hi everyone! We really enjoyed "little women" live theater production except that it was so warm I had a hard time keeping my eyes open for awhile. Once the heat was turned down it was very enjoyable.

Marie -- I have a seizure disorder and have been on medication for it for about 20 years. It is well over 10 years since I had a seizure but the neurologist has said that he would never take me off the drugs. It is pretty much a non-issue but I didn't like the flashing lights and did end up with a headache. It was likely from anxiety about the flashing lights and not the lights themselves. :laugh:

Any way, it is late and I have to pack Neil's bath bag for tomorrow morning. Dave will take him in and will be home all by myself. Sharing one car is not going so well right off the start. I think I will start looking for a car soon. We do have a 3/4 ton truck but it eats a lot of gas so it only gets used for hauling the boat or picking stuff up.

Off to bed, have a good Friday. Gayla

elli

oh brrrrrrrrrrrrrr - it's a chilly Friday morning here! We're supposed to get up around 30 - i sure hope so! It was down around 4 this morning i think. I'm sure glad i got heaters in the dogloos!

Oh Marie - i heard Houston was having snow today! I know you're north of there - is it pretty cold though? WOW - i BET they sent your brother home after being sprayed by a skunk! that's NASTY!!!!!!! When i lived in the mountains my dogs used to get sprayed, but more often than that they'd get into it with the porcupines. That was always bad........

Barb - i know - ya just HAVE to feel bad for Jake - married to that mean old Bariecat huh?:laugh:

Barbie - i figured out the calories on that black bean stuff - a serving, which i figured as a fourth of the pot i made is only around 250 calories if i figured right - so that's pretty good! It's kind of hearty too.

Tomorrow i'm going with friends (with a 16 month old and a 5 year old) x-mas tree cutting! I'm going to leave a crock pot going with white chile and i'll make a batch of cornbread to go with it. Should be a great day and i won't worry too much about calories 'cause we'll be trapsing around in deep snow.

It's Friday!!!!!!! yippeeeeeeee - everybody have a great one!

elli

ooops - i forgot,

Marie - Nancy's posting name is freedomdancer

Lafla

Hi folks! It is very quiet this morning. We are cold here, -17C (1.4F). We still only have a dusting of snow so I think it feels colder than it is. I went on a 'forced' walk yesterday and at a very fast pace. We couldn't find a place to park close to the theater so we had to park about 6 or 7 city blocks away and really boot it as we were running late. We got there just in time and enjoyed Little Women very much.

Elli -- Just wondering about the 'black bean stuff', did you puree the sweet potatoes or keep them in chunks. It sounds so good. I love making soup and would love if you posted the recipe. Your mention of cutting down your Christmas tree takes me back to another family story. I will try to be brief and feel free to skip on.

Just a few years after my Dad died my sisters boyfriend (now her husband) and a friend decided they would get my Mom a tree for Christmas. In our house Dad brought the exuberance to Christmas and there was a big hole without him. The boys thought they would cheer my Mom up. I digress. The friend's family had some farm land with a number of volunteer evergreen trees and his Dad said they could chop one down. Off they went and found a beautiful very large tree, more than beautiful, perfect. However, the tree was much larger than a house could hold so being 16 year old boys they chose to just cut off the top of the tree. They very proudly brought the tree home and set it in our living room. I was living in Edmonton so missed on the event. Again, I digress. They were happily decorating the tree when there was a knock on the door. To their surprise it was the RCMP (cops) asking about the tree. Apparently they had miscalculated the property line and took the tree from their neighbours wind barrier. The neighbour recognized the truck and reported the 'theft'. The police had to take the tree as evidence and charge the boys. They said the cop said he felt like Scrooge and indeed, from that day forward was called Scrooge. I am sure my Dad was laughing in heaven. Moral of the story -- make sure you know who the tree belongs to before chopping it down.

I think it is a def. sign of old age when things are always reminding you of stories from your past. I will try to restrain myself. Take care and keep smiling. Gayla

elli

hi Gayla! on the contrary! Please do NOT restrain yourself! I LOVE old stories from people's past and that one in particular was fabulous! I'm fortunate enough to still own mountain property (ond of the few really smart things i did in my early 20s lol) and that's where i've cut most of our x-mas trees. This year though, since either of my boys are in on it i'm going with my friends up to forest service ground where they always cut. Hopefully we'll be all right!

The black bean stuff i just kind of threw together. I cut the sweet potato into small chunks. So it was 1C black beans, soaked overnight - then just threw it all into the crockpot! Beans, 1 sweet potato, onions, celery, and i used soy sausage. Covered it with veg broth and a little extra water and cooked it on low all day. You could throw in any vegetables - i think the combination of the black beans and sweet potatos made it!

elli

CALIECAT

Gayla, Loves your stories. Keep "um" coming.

Ellie I type in Nancy username on search and all I got was your post telling me her userer name. Do anybody have any ideal how to get in torch with Nancy?



Marie

Lafla

Marie -- Click on the button at the top that says Find Members and then enter the name. It should take you to her home page. Perhaps she didn't find what she needed with our group. Not sure how that could happen but maybe. :noway: :noway:

Elli -- Thanks for the idea for the soup, I will make it my own.

Gayla

BirdieM

quote]
Right on Sandy, I need all the help I can get, after all I'm sensitive and don't suffer well.
[/quote]

Poor, poor Jake!!!! :sad: Are you on the COUCH suffering???:sad: :laugh: :laugh: Too funny!!:laugh: (Did YOU laugh....Barbie??:laugh: )

Barbie: The line dancing sounds like such great fun! :happy: I envy you!!! One of these days......!:bigsmile:

Gayla: My husband has Epilepsy, so I know exactly what you're talking about regarding the flashing lights! He, too, will be on medication for the rest of his life.:ohwell: He hates taking the meds but it's better than having a seizure!!!:noway: :noway: It happened on 3 different occasions and was no joke!:noway: Scared me half to death, as I didn't know when I married him (16 years ago) that he had the condition as a child:frown: The family didn't even think to tell me, as they said it was something he would grow out of as an adult! So when he had his first seizure, I thought he was dying, like my first husband:sad: Thank God for medication!!!:flowerforyou: And thank God I still have my Russell with me!!!
Also, I love the stories….and I love to digress…as you said. Yes the older I get, the more memories and stories I have too, and so often an event or circumstance will trigger that journey back in time. My mother always said (I paraphrase) that God gave us memories so we could smell the roses in winter!

Marie: We, too, have a problem with skunks :noway: in the late summer and fall!!! Sometimes the stink wakes me up!!! We have a lot of outside cats in our neighborhood and I think they like scaring the Skunks right under my bedroom window:noway: :noway: :laugh: :laugh:

Elli: Good luck with the tree!:flowerforyou:

Have a great day everybody!!!!

BirdieM

CALIECAT

Its me I have been trying to post a picture of our snow Wed morning but can't get it on

weaklink109

Good morning, or afternoon really I guess...

Marie---I just searched out freedomdancer's profile ( AKA Nancy) & since the new MFP version shows the last three posts, I noticed she has been off the message board since Nov 23rd. Maybe she is away on an extended Thanksgiving break??? Just a theory.
**************************************
They are threatening us with a little snow on Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning, but it won't amount to anything as there is very little moisture, but our HIGH is supposed to be 35 on Sunday. B-R-R-R-R!!! Around here the minute a flake of snow falls, all the tv stations go into "high alert" and have reporters running all over capturing people sliding into curbs, getting stuck on hills, cross country skiing to work. There is usually at least one die hard bicyclist who will attempt to ride in the snow, so they usually make it on tv as well.

There was a particularly comical video taken off the balcony of some condos that are located 1/2 way down a significant hill in SW Portland. It showed someone trying to navigate down the hill, losing control and sliding into a parked car in one corner of the intersection, bouncing sideways and hitting another on the opposite side of the street at the same corner, then sliding down and catch two more cars on the downhill side of the intersection. Kinda like automotive pinball.:noway: As you can imagine, it got LOTS of airplay.:laugh: :laugh:

Two of my canine "babies" had their teeth cleaned yesterday, and one of them, Bradley, had a tooth extracted. I was concerned about how comfortable he would be 'til it was time for oral pain meds, but he is doing great, actually went for a chew bone last night after dinner, and slept like a little rock, as usual. Mai Li, on the other hand, always has a tough time after a teeth cleaning. She must have very sensitive gums. She sits next to me and whines piteously, wants lots of attention, and finally crashed after a dose and a half of pain meds, then she woke me up twice. The second time, at 3:30a, I gave her another dose. Then I couldn't go back to sleep, so I got up at 5a. Yesterday, I ran across a new jar of almond butter, so I had a tablespoon of that on an Orowheat Sandwich Thin, and called it "breakfast." Then about 7:30a the nods kicked in, :yawn: so I went back to bed and didn't get up until about 11a!! Very unusual for me.

Now I am trying to get started on the day and it is already time for lunch!! I have leftovers from last night's dinner, so that won't require much thought.

Everyone keep warm and get ready to have a good weekend.

Barb

Sandydur

Lots of activity here today. :laugh: The "old" stories are wonderful, my problem is my memory is so bad I can't remember too many details from my past. There are times my memory gets jogged, but I think I block out a lot of memories, since some of them were sad. I used to love to listen to my FIL tell stories from when he lived in Italy. How he was around for the second world war and bombs were exploding all around his home. He came to the US when he was 17 and met his wife who was also from Italy but she came here at two. They were married for 62 years when he died. :brokenheart:

My son also lives in Portland and when he gets snow he laughs. He is from Chicago and knows how to deal with snow, but unfortunately the people from Portland do not. They practically close down the city he said.

Barb, glad you had your doggies teeth cleaned but sorry they are hurting. I try and brush Daisy teeth when I remember, but I do forget more than I remember. :laugh: My other dog Freeway never had his teeth cleaned. I brushed them often and every time we went to the vet, he would say his teeth are so white there is no reason for a cleaning.

Marie, you went to your profile page and hit edit to enter a new picture. You have to upload it to your pictures and it should be in your group of pictures. I know you will figure it out. Sorry you didn't win at the casino, I know that feeling well. :sad:

Don't most places warn you if there will be a strobe light during a performance? Isn't it true a strobe light can cause a seizure?

Elli, you must have a beautiful piece of property with acres and acres. We city folks don't have lots of land and envy those of you who do. :glasses:

Going to try and get my cards done now, so will catch up with you later.

Sandy

CALIECAT

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
Thanks Barbs for giving me her last posting [freedomdancer's profile ] I was able to go to her profile and sent a PM off to Nancy. I also sent Ellen a Pm to but have not heard a word from her yet.

Marie

barbiecat

:drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
Hello to all my great friends,
Jake saw his cardiologist today and all went well. He has some new short term medications and will go back in January. We have chilly weather here

---

freezing temperatures overnight and low 40's during the day. It looked like it might snow this afternoon, but it was a false alarm....once the sky stopped looking so black I took the dogs to the dog park.

:flowerforyou: Gayla, we have had several spells of having only one car and it has brought us closer together as well as driving us crazy.....we had only one car for 15 months before we bought the little red car, and then since I never drove the little red car, if Jake wanted the "real car" to go somewhere I was without transportation. so actually the "one car experiment" lasted over two years. I loved your Christmas tree story. It reminds me that when my parents died and we moved into their house, Jake decided that some of the huge Monterey pine trees near the house were too close and blocking the sunlight so he had two of them cut down and didn't find out until later when a nasty man came to the door that the trees weren't on our property. fortunately there weren't any legal repercussions, perhaps because the man hadn't said anything 20 years before when my dad planted the trees or over the years that my mother decorated one of them for the holidays :laugh: :laugh:

:flowerforyou: Elli, going out to cut a Christmas tree in cold weather with children sounds like a perfect winter/holiday outing. I hope it turns out great Thanks for sharing the bean and sweet potato recipe

:flowerforyou: Barb, I know how hard it is when your "babies" are suffering. You are such a good doggie mom. the last pet here to have teeth cleaned was Haifa, the teenage cat. I don't know if he had any pain, because cats just go off by themselves and sleep when there's a problem.

:flowerforyou: Marie, thanks for taking care of the birthday list......you're the greatest :bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: Sandy, I agree with you about the old stories. I love to hear them too.

Jake read something this morning that I want to share with you.........."God has left us lots of love notes"...........I think all of you are God's love notes.....thank you for being in my life.
hugs, Barbie

doodlesll

Marie Nov. 7.1930
Gayla Nov 20, 1949
Phoebe july 26
Jeffrey, September 25, 1953
Barbiecat March 25,1946
Barb/weaklink109): April 6, 1954
Beth 24 Feb 1971 (guess I dont qualify as a Senior but if you ask my 15 year old I am)
Sandy March 10, 1942
Birdie March 30, 1948
Elli May 16, 1952
Nancy
Ellen
Jake October 10, 1945

Doodlesll March 12, 1940

CALIECAT

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Good morning Doodlesll , Thanks for joing our list.

drop in and tell us some more about you. we are glad to have you here,
See you later
Marie [Calie]

CALIECAT

Marie Nov. 7.1930
Gayla Nov 20, 1949
Phoebe july 26
Jeffrey, September 25, 1953
Barbiecat March 25,1946
Barb/weaklink109): April 6, 1954
Beth 24 Feb 1971 (guess I dont qualify as a Senior but if you ask my 15 year old I am)
Sandy March 10, 1942
Birdie March 30, 1948
Elli May 16, 1952
Nancy
Ellen
Jake October 10, 1945
Doodlesll March 12m 2040

Doodlesll March 12, 1940

Sandydur

Marie Nov. 7.1930
Gayla Nov 20, 1949
Phoebe july 26
Jeffrey, September 25, 1953
Barbiecat March 25,1946
Barb/weaklink109): April 6, 1954
Beth 24 Feb 1971 (guess I dont qualify as a Senior but if you ask my 15 year old I am)
Sandy March 10, 1942
Birdie March 30, 1948
Elli May 16, 1952
Nancy
Ellen
Jake October 10, 1945
Doodlesll March 12m 2040

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

Sandydur

Welcome Doodles, you have joined a great group who support each other and listen to each other. Tell us a little bit about yourself and let us know if we can help in your journey. :flowerforyou:

Marie, I copied and paste the birthdays so we don't have the quotes following us. :laugh:

Back to school for Daisy, we haven't practiced so I hope she remembers what we were taught last time.

Will let you know after her class.

Sandy

CALIECAT

I type this up on my word pad so I could get to it. If I made any errors let me know. In the months that they are in.

---

Marie


Beth Feb 24, 1971
Doodesell---Marxh 12, 1940
Sandy---March 19, 1942
Barbiecat ---March 25, 1946
Birdie---March 30, 1948
Barbs----April 6, 1954
Elli---May 16, 1952
Phoebe---July 26
Jeffrey---Sept. 25, 1953
Jake---Oct., 10, 1945
Marie---Nov. 7, 1930
Gayla---Nov. 20, 1949
Ellen
Nancy

Sandydur

I type this up on my word pad so I could get to it. If I made any errors let me know. In the months that they are in.

---

Marie


Beth Feb 24, 1971
Doodesell---March 12, 1940
Sandy---March 10, 1942
Barbiecat ---March 25, 1946
Birdie---March 30, 1948
Barbs----April 6, 1954
Elli---May 16, 1952
Phoebe---July 26
Jeffrey---Sept. 25, 1953
Jake---Oct., 10, 1945
Marie---Nov. 7, 1930
Gayla---Nov. 20, 1949
Ellen
Nancy

weaklink109

I type this up on my word pad so I could get to it. If I made any errors let me know. In the months that they are in.

---

Marie


Beth Feb 24, 1971
Doodlesll---March 12, 1940
Sandy---March 10, 1942
Barbiecat ---March 25, 1946
Birdie---March 30, 1948
Barbs----April 6, 1954
Elli---May 16, 1952
Phoebe---July 26
Jeffrey---Sept. 25, 1953
Jake---Oct., 10, 1945
Marie---Nov. 7, 1930
Gayla---Nov. 20, 1949
Ellen
Nancy

I corrected the typo in our newest member's name. Welcome Doodlesll!! You have come to the right place!!!

Barb

CALIECAT

Barbs, I got Sandy birthday corrected. on my word pad was that the only typo I had? Wish I was a good typist. But you all are stuck with me. Just do the best you can about reading my post.

I am having fish for supper tonight. I haven't been eating enought of fish. Don't know what I will have to go with it. I may make some cole slaw.

Lafla

Hi everyone! It isn't even 5 pm and it is getting dark. That is one thing I don't like about winter. I could hardly get my nose out of my book long enough to go in for groceries. I picked up a nice prime rib roast for dinner tomorrow. Dave's favorite. My challenge is always cooking it to suit everyone. Dave likes meat well done but has come around a bit. My oldest and his wife like it rare, the rest like medium. I try to cook it to medium and hope for some well done outside pieces for Dave as it is his birthday we are celebrating after all!! I just can't bring myself to ruin an expensive piece of meat. I will turn the lights low and we will eat by candle light. He will never know. Neil and his buddy are in Christmas shopping. I hope he found a few things.

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone. Take care and keep smiling. Gayla

weaklink109

Barbs, I got Sandy birthday corrected. on my word pad was that the only typo I had? Wish I was a good typist. But you all are stuck with me. Just do the best you can about reading my post.

I am having fish for supper tonight. I haven't been eating enought of fish. Don't know what I will have to go with it. I may make some cole slaw.

Marie,

You also had an extra "e" in Doodlesll, between the s and the second "l" that I corrected.

Your fish sounds yummy...makes me rethink my dinner plans.

Barb

barbiecat

:flowerforyou: Welcome, Doodles, you've come to the right place. I look forward to getting to know you. This thread has been around longer than I've been on MFP and they made me feel very welcome when I got here.

:flowerforyou: Marie, thanks for taking care of the birthday list

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: Sandy and Barb, thanks for the proofreading........

we went shopping today for new shoes for Jake and new jeans in a smaller size for me. Jake found the shoes he wanted right away I'm looking for jeans in size 4 and they don't carry them in the stores I shop in. We went to a bigger town about 20 miles away and found jeans in the right size but they were all the kind the teenagers wear that look like they've been worn for month and are faded and /orhave torn spots. We looked in an outdoor apparel store and didn't find jeans but each of us found a great sweater for the upcoming colder months.

We had freezing temperatures overnight and it didn't get much over 40 degrees all day......I wear a ski jacket, wool scarf, wool hat, and gloves to the dog park and walk briskly while the dogs play so I'm able to stay warm. Right now we have the propane fireplace going and football on TV.

:flowerforyou: Gayla, Sundown here is at 4:20 PM so we have a lot of darkness, too. I think those of us who live in the north have a ton of gratitude when the days start to get longer because we've had so much darkness.

I made stuffed peppers for lunch (my first time ever) and they turned out great.
stay warm hugs, Barbie

weaklink109

..
we went shopping today for new shoes for Jake and new jeans in a smaller size for me. Jake found the shoes he wanted right away I'm looking for jeans in size 4 and they don't carry them in the stores I shop in. We went to a bigger town about 20 miles away and found jeans in the right size but they were all the kind the teenagers wear that look like they've been worn for month and are faded and /orhave torn spots. We looked in an outdoor apparel store and didn't find jeans but each of us found a great sweater for the upcoming colder months.

...
I made stuffed peppers for lunch (my first time ever) and they turned out great.
stay warm hugs, Barbie

Ok Barbie, it is official, you are fading away if you can't find clothes small enough to fit!!!!:laugh: :laugh: We should all have that problem. :drinker: :drinker:

Seriously, I know the shopping options are more limited where you live. Have you thought about ordering online? The christoper and banks website is having 40 % off thru Sunday, and they have proportioned lengths, so if you need a short, you should be able to get it. I am pretty sure they have size 4's. Another option might be Fashion Bug. I was there tonight and saw sizes down to "0." They have a website also. Good luck!!

I have had a terrible time buying jeans because I seem to be in between sizes, so I am going to put up with my floppy ones for another couple of weeks and try again.

Your stuffed peppers reminded me that I haven't made any in a while and I LOVE them so I will have to get with it.!!

Barb