[Mima]

Well-it's starting-the health care mess. Aspercreme?? Love that stuff.

We went to couples Bible study-so much fun. Even though we got home late. we slept late.
Going to look at a fancy campground today-still exploring our options.
I will just have to keep busy til we get the floors done. Brad ripped out the closet yesterday.
Cold-brrr-39. Mima

[Kate53]

Good morning all. A cloudy day here in FL and it looks like we may get some rain today. That's okay, we do need the moisture for all the lush green we are now getting. Hubby had to go into to work this morning so we will be powerwashing the patio tomorrow. I informed my neighbors on each side of me but not the obnoxious ones in the back (Hope they get up early on Sundays!!) We need to get this done....and we have some friends from back home stopping in for a visit sometime this week. He is a police captain on the force where we used to live and he and his wife are visiting her brother who lives here. Hopefully we will get together one evening. Getting a bit warmer here but we still have the house opened up. I'll be having the carpets shampooed next week in time for closing up and putting the A/C on for the season. It always takes me awhile to get used to being "closed up". I really do not enjoy the summers here but have no choice but to deal with it.
Worked for a friend in her pet supply shop for a few days last weekend so she could take some personal time. It was a nice change for me but left me feeling extremely sore!! Lifting 40 pound bags of dog food isn't easy when you are not used to it. Made some extra money that she will ultimately get back in the way of supplies for Queenie, I'm sure! Not having any luck with my pain management so I am going to have to get my butt to a chiropractor. We lost our fridge in the garage (which I rely on heavily for overflow!) and had to buy another one. Then we had to have 4 new tires put on the truck because the other ones were cracked all around the outside wall...and only had 35,000 miles on them! That's the FL sunshine for you... it destroys rubber! Now we are having the irrigation system re-vamped because my builder did not put the "shrub beds" on a seperate zone. The shrub beds are getting too much water so we have to have those beds seperated from the lawn zones. I'm becoming very depressed with all this money going out....but what can you do, right? Have to keep up the maintenance on your property, that's for sure. Well, off to run a couple of errands and wash the truck before it rains! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weather.

[Joanne D]

We got a nice soft rain most of the day..I know well about obnoxious neighbors. They are now moved on . It seemed that they were always fighting with family via the cell phone out in the yard. I kid you not they could be heard two blocks away.. Police there often. They had teenagers. They skipped school and the house was always full during the day. One neighbor told me they were selling pot/drugs. I am not surprised. a couple of them tried to get a dollar out of me . They blocked the sidewalk . I just told them I had no money which that didn't satisfy them. So I just let Christie take care of the problem.. She went for their ankles. The hubby felt that if I called the police they would do something worse. My daughter thought I should have called. I didn't tell my son as he may have gone over there and then there would have been trouble..
Yes the health care mess has started and looks to get worse. What happened to that promise of no more taxes? And all the other things promised that anyone with any brains would not believe.. All those checks that were given out! Well now it is going to be payback time..
Last night and today was not so good for me.. Constant pain in my shoulders..
Hope everyone is well...Joanne

[Mima]

Good morning-posted a post that disappeared, I think I touch somethind with my left hand,
I think I am depressed about all this situation. We are now planning on moving back upstairs, getting 2 rooms wallpapered, hopefully only washing other walls to get the smoke out, and tiling down here and possibly getting an agent to find a renter for downstairs,The thing about selling is that we have nowhere to go-the campgrounds around here are not someplace you want to love for 6 months, We could buy a mobile home but Brad doesn't want t0 do that-I would.
Suzanne was very upset yesterday-they went to visit her MIL who was holding the baby and the dog was jumping and scratched the baby's face. She also kept telling her that she wasn't feeding the baby enough-Suzanne says that if she gives her more than 2 and a half ounces, she throws up. The baby has a lot of gas-she does have an appt today,
One day at a time for me-Mima

[Kate53]

Good morning everyone. Mima, my sister had a very colic prone baby. It was brutal for her because the baby always seemed to be crying or throwing up! Poor Suzanne....she must have her hands full with a new baby and a pain in the a** MIL. Hope she learns to let things slide! You might want to get any heater ducts cleaned in your upstairs apartment as well.....cigarette smoke seems to cling to the inside of those ducts and can linger forever. Stanley Steemer does that kind of cleaning....but I don't know how much they charge.
Got our patio powerwashed yesterday even though it rained all day. Like Joanne, we had a steady light rain all day. I even washed all the sliders going out to the patio. Thursday I get the carpets shampooed. Found a great rug cleaning service here that does not use hot-water extraction...they use a commercial grade foam with a machine to work it into the rugs. Drying time is about 1 hour and carpets look brand new and smell fresh.
Those obnoxious neighbors renting the house behind us have been fairly quiet lately. They hang out in their garage smoking and drinking beer. I think they must feed their kids raw meat the way they scream and carry on! We'll be closing the house up and putting the A/C on soon so we won't hear them much. We go out to swim in the pool daily all summer but we put the waterfall on to mask any noise.
Mima, have you considered selling your place and looking for a condo? Some of the condos are really nice and built with noise reduction stuff. The yearly fees take care of all your misc. services so you don't have to worry about paying all those different companies. They also keep an eye on your condo when you go away for the winter, vacation, etc. Just a thought.
Off to get some work done. I have an irrigation guy coming today to revamp my system. He has to put all my "beds" on one zone and get them off the lawn ones. He's changing some of the heads to the new water efficient ones too. Doesn't seem to be any end to this maintenance stuff....guess it goes with being a homeowner. I think hubby and I will definitely look into a condo when we retire. Hope everyone enjoys the day!! Sunny and gorgeous here right now....maybe more rain later though. Bye for now.

[MemeToo]

Took a while but I read everyone's posts. Sounds like everybody is having the 'spring to summer' aches and pains. Every time the season changes I ache like the flu. Had a rough weekend (well, all week really) so I stayed in bed most of the day today. Told hubby last night I wasn't doing anything and that included customers ... and I didn't. His dad turned 92 last week so I very stupidly agreed to have his BD party here - 18 people. We grilled so had to clean inside and out; was a lot of work and now I'm paying for it.

Glad you're getting to enjoy the baby, Mima. and glad you got to enjoy dinner with Tim, Tammy. Seems like when we get older we don't get to spend enough time with our kids.

Yes, Anne, I guess I do too much for my age and condition but I'd rather stay active and have a life than to just go to bed and stop living. Now that the taxes are done and the house is 'fairly' clean, daughter and I have a yard sale planned for the 15th of May. Her whole neighborhood has a yard sale on that Sat. so I'm taking my things to her house. I'll be gathering things up and pricing them for that next. I dread it but I have a lot of stuff I need to get rid of.

Kate, you're getting ready to close your house up right when we are opening ours ... weird. It has turned cool this week but last week it was in the upper 70s and we were able to have the french door and a couple of window open. Felt good to let the fresh air in.

Joanne, your birds sound so pretty. I wouldn't tell anyone about them either. I wouldn't want people coming around. We have rattlers, black snakes, chicken snakes and a few copper heads but no cotton mouths close by. I thought they lived near water. I hate snakes almost as bad as I do spiders. Ugh.

[Mima]

Nice to hear from everyone. Sorry you are hurting Meme.
we are going to the funeral of Debbie's father today. I told Debbie we needed to separate the landlord stuff from our relationship with her,We really like her. And she always paid the rent .But.............................
The latest decision is to move back upstairs-get 2 rooms wallpapered, have someone clean the walls-and ducts??? And we also are going to try to sell our camper-don't need 3 places-can use the money from the camper to fix up this house. As far as the downstairs, it would only be rented through an agent.
Selling the house is for the future-but it will be a lot more sellable when we are done. Condo is probably out. We looked at campgrounds but not one was nice enough. We an live here for the price of the taxes which are 2800.
And we have no mortgage. And upstairs will be very nice and I can entertain again.
I feel much more hopeful. Mima

[Joanne D]

Mima- I hope this works for you. I agree that it is sometimes better to fix and stay . Down here I see where people who rent out do it sometimes to only retirees. They have few problems that way.
Meme- I live a block from a bayou.. my daughter has a swampy area on her property. That is where she found the snake. She tells me she doesn't walk that way anymore. It is not safe in that area and she runs a risk being back there with just a dog. With homeless and mexican workers about you never know the risk.
Have a good week everybody..Hubby calling for me to do something again!!!
Joanne

[MemeToo]

Had to laugh when you said hubby was calling you to do something. You sound so much like us. I have close to 2 yrs. (his plan) 'till mine will be home all the time and I dread that. He will call me to come find something for him that is right in front of his nose. Sugar was in 70s again this morning ... has been 72-75 every morning for 2 wks now. Dr. app. tomorrow morning. Maybe we'll figure it out ... I'm so tired all the time.

[Joanne D]

Meme- Mine has been home 27 years . How about those apples? And he is still alive.. I am always busy.. He can't find anything or surely doesn't try..More fun!!
now I will close and go for a walk with Christie. I can't walk as far these days.
It is in the 80's here now. Summer is here..

[Mima]

Living in a small space with husband home-not good.
We are having gorgeous weather.
Baby gained .8 in 2 weeks-she is doing well.
Hope the tenant finds a place to live-she did get her notice. Mima

[Happy Canuk]

Hi. Been busy with hubby the past week. Holidays - a whole week. He will take the other 4 weeks in May/June, when we have company from Denmark.

Mima - Glad you are moving upstairs again. Is it an old house, or does it just have probems?? Personally, I have NO desire to have a house again. Love condo living. Coming and going as we please, and no worries about the outside. Usually no worries about the inside either. Glad baby is doing well.

Meme - I hear you. Hubby can retire at the end of May, but I told him he had better find SOMETHING to do, other than bother me, and want to go out every 10 minutes. So, I think he will keep on working, but he will be able to collect his Canada Pension and his old age pension lol Sounds odd to me!! He won't get his company pension until he leaves the company, but he can keep paying into it until such time. He doesn't really have any hobbies, so he needs to keep busy. The time will come when we will both be home, but it isn't YET!!

Kate - glad you got some rain. It is quite warm here, more like summer temps than Spring. Up in the high 70's. Rain forcast for tomorrow, so it will cool down. As for opening and closing the house, I keep mine pretty much open all year. Even when it's -30 I have the windows opened for a bit. I love fresh air.

Joanne - Glad you can do some walking. Sorry you are still having pain. Hope it eases for you as the warmer weather comes along.

Tammy - hello, and where are you????

We were in Edmonton on the weekend. Sons birthday. March, April and May are such busy birthday months for us. Everybody has CAKE!!!

Well, enjoy the day.

[Kate53]

Hi all......a quick post as those friends I mentioned that were coming to visit will be here any minute now. Hope this is a short visit....don't know why but I am not that excited about seeing people from back home now. Must be the spring weather??? Anyhow, we got the powerwashing done, the yard cleaned up and the rugs will be shampooed tomorrow.....and I'm going to be working again for my pet supply shop friend again this weekend. Hey, every little bit helps in the income department right now! Glad to see everyone is holding up....and MIma, I do hope all this moving around works out for you. I think you will be happier in the upstairs apartment. Keep us posted on things and the new baby. Anne, I hate to admit that Canada is sounding better and better by the minute. With this new "healthcare" thing our guy has put together, we might be better off moving to your neck of the woods! Keep me posted on the weather...... Hope everyone is enjoying the spring-like weather!! I'll check back tomorrow.

[Mima]

All our bds are in March, April and May. Angela is having a party for her 3 kids May 2,
looking for wallpaper and a new quilt or spread, I LOVE to decorate. Then pick out a rug color. I always wanted to wallpaper that room. Will paint the den and i can have my sewing machine , painting supplies etc in that room.
When is the wedding Tammy. I lost track.
I was so happy this year when we didn't have company. I know how you feel Kate.
Bye for now Mima

[Tammy]

Joanne, did you ever get Christie used to the shock collar? Good for her for going after those ankles of those people!

Mima, how was that fancy camground you checked out? Sure hope you get your living situation figured out. I would have been upset about the dog scratching the baby's face. Hope she found something out at he doctor.

Kate, Yikes to lifting those 40 pound bags of dog food. OUCH! Glad you are getting so much done around your place.

Meme, hope you do well at the yard sale. Hope you get some good news at the doctor.

Anne, I'm with you on loving condo living! Also with you on the fresh air. I open up my windows during the winter too sometimes. I like cake.

Haven't been on here much again. haven't felt the best the past few weeks. Dizzy, shaking. Not sure what's up. Finally went to the doctor. EKG was normal. Just did bloodwork this morning, so I won't know those results probably till after the weekend. He is testing everything. Told him not to bother with a pregnancy test,. He laughed. I did my class at the Y on Monday, spilled water all over me from my water bottle because I was shaking so bad. They wouldn't let me do the next class. I dropped it and got a credit for another session.

He is sure part of this is nerves. Tim graduates on May 8, which is my birthday. The wedding is May 15. The doctor asked what Tim was planning for the following weekend to give me even more stress.