Annie - Tater Tot is a perfect nickname! Reminds me of when we learned that our niece named her son Matteo Kai. DH was half-asleep when he first heard the name...so he said, "Why would she name her kid Potato Pie?" And his nickname has been Potato Pie ever since!
Mel - Hope you and Jen are bouncing back from the shot's effects. Don't work too hard today!!
Shad - Congrats to your boys winning the cup.. Sorry your co-workers are causing you grief. Maybe there's not enough women working at these mines to balance out the maleness?? Just keep looking at your beautiful photos and take a deap breath every so often so you get a break from that.
Happy - Congrats again, now that things are more official with the house sale. Yeh, it seems selling in this market requires a lot of hard work AND luck. Glad you had both going for you!! I think you'll catch up fine with the packing activities once you finish out this week at work... but I love Michelle's idea to have friends over to help you pack, or at least keep you company while doing it!
I agree, it's absolutely dumb to have the early meeting on a Monday morning - I would have preferred any other day. I'm lucky I even remembered it. But it was generally worthwhile. Re my weekend eating - I would probably get an F. Really need to work on my strategy because of the upcoming holiday season, as well as more social events coming up this weekend.
Ceejay - Nice to have the retirement option coming up, if you can swing it and truly want to. Good for you cleaning out the paperwork!! I went through some old receipts yesterday afternoon looking for one in particular and had no luck. And it also depressed me because I know I have this weird phobia that makes tossing certain paperwork very difficult for me. I think I would get past this if I could get my paperwork more organized - and that requires time. Just don't have enough of it. Maybe I need to start taking stuff on the train again, LOL. I hope your cousin's child is stablilized now and that her parents take the steps needed for her to live with her diabetic condition. It's very serious - bf has a friend that went through a kidney & pancreas organ transplant because of complications from his diabetes - which likely arose because he didn't take steps to control it. Lifestyle management is so important with diabetes!! My heart goes out to this girl.
Michelle - OMG, that wasp thing sounds like such a nightmare!! Thank goodness you got the bug guy out so quickly to deal with it!!! You got a great deal, which is nice because I know it must be worth 2 or 3 times as much to have the peace of mind that the problem has been dealt with. Has the point of entry been completely closed off?? Love the Potato Pie story!!!
Annie - Awww, Tater Tot - that's very cute.
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Nothing much else to report on my end - I got to my meeting okay this morning. Hate leaving the house when it's so dark.
Last night we had storms come through late in the evening. Doggy started getting anxious, so bf took him in the living room and got him to relax. Poor baby. I'd hoped we were past this for the season.
We're selling one of our vacuum cleaners and I had come across the receipt a while back, but now I can't recall where I put it (for safekeeping, of course, hahaha). So annoying. BF seems to think it'll help to have the receipt for selling it. I guess I agree, but it might have to be good enough to have all the manuals and attachments. This vacuum is good, but it's big, heavy, and awkward to use. We only have area rugs and no carpet, so we don't think we need such a heavy duty vacuum as that.
Baby Jake i.e. Tater Tot..is doing so well. They have upped his breast milk intake to 20 ml per feeding. He is off the CPat oxygen and now on Vapotherm oxygen, just a small tube prong thing stuck in his nose. I was there yesterday when Sissy got to hold him. So sweet. He made a funny sucking noise when the binky was in his mouth. I will try to upload new pix within a couple of days.
Made pinto bean soup in the crockpot yesterday, man were they good, or I was just very hungry for them. Cooked them with a couple hunks of ham, onion, garlic, pepper and green pepper. Then sliced up smoked sausage, browned it on the stove then flung it in the beans. Made sweet cornbread to go with...YUM YUM!
Laura...I have an Oreck vacuum which I just love. It only weighs 7 lbs. It sucks up crap like crazy. Even does tiled/linoleum floors. I broom the kitchen into a pile then get the Oreck and suck up the pile, makes for a better clean up than a dust pan.
Shaddie....know how you feel about those stinking Monday morning meetings...we have our staff meeting EVERY Monday from 9-11:30 and you can tell no one really cares about what is going on. Heck mostly we are all still asleep. Loved the pictures, you do such a great job with pix....
Chelle...Yellow jackets in the house...yikes....and building a nest in the wall. That just sounds spooky, maybe a halloween thing...lol. Glad it all got taken care of, would of been bad if you were sleeping and they stung you, automatically would of thought of a spider bite instead.
Happy...you sold the house..YEAH!! It is all good. One day you will look back at all this chaos and laugh...maybe one day far off when we are all retired to the commune. I am so glad things are falling into place and you can move on to the better things in life. Hugs sista.
MELLIE....are you ready for the meetings yet? Blah! Extra check in December, yeah, just in time for the C word season. Mmmm pasta...chef Richie is in da house..yeah! Is he anything like Sven or Ricardo? lol Loved the balloon bouquet.
Ceejay..hmmm, retiring at 62, the way things are going for me, I will have to work til I die. Hope you can work things out and do what your heart desires.
Work is crazy busy getting slicks put together in booklet form for the companies purchasing Humana Insurance. We order it all through the system and it is put together at a warehouse and shipped directly to the companies, so that part is good.
Not much else going on...today's high is 75, then tomorrow the rain and cooler temps fall into place.....Not looking forward to winter, I say bypass that part.
WOW....YESTERDAY LASTED FOREVER AND I AM TIORED TODAY.
NOTHING NEW HERE SO THIS IS SHORT.
I'VE ALREADY BEEN DOWNSTAIRS AND GOT THE ONE MAN STARTED.
THE OTHER KNOWS WHAT TO DO.
THE BOSS IS OUT WITH HER PULLED BACK.
SHOULD BE AN INTERESTING DAY
HAVE A GREAT DAY. GOTTA RUN FOR NOW
SHAD....YES I JUST SAW THE PART WHEN THEY BEGAN TO GET ON TO THE STAGE TO RECEIVE THE AWARD.
I ACTUALLY STARTED TO CRY WHEN I THINK A TEAM MEMBER HAD TEARS IN HIS EYES.
TO ME, A CLOSE SCORE MAKES THE WIN ALL THE SWEETER AND MORE EXCITING!!
SORRY THE LADS ARE GIVING YOU FITS OVER THERE.
IT MUST BE IN THEIR NATURE. HOPE THEY REALIZE WHO THEY ARE DEALING WITH BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE
HAPPY.....YOUR NEWS IS SOOOO WONDERFUL!!!! CONGRATULATIONS ON THE SALE.
I AM SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU
LAURA....GLAD THE PARTY WAS FUN AND HOPE THE MEETING WENT WELL.
ALSO GLAD BF FOUND SOMEONE FOR THE DOGGIE. GOOD LUCK SELLING THE VACUUM....
I GAVE THE HEAVY ONE TO JEN!! RICHIE CAN USE IT!!!
CEEJAY....I ALWAYS WONDERED WHY FUTON MATTRESSES ARE SO HEAVY.
HOPE YOU FIND ONE THAT YOU CAN MOVE AROUND. GOOD LUCK LOOKING INTO THE RETIREMENT STUFF.
MAYBE FIND THE GOLDEN GOOSE!!!
MICHELLE....SO GLAD YOU FOUND A MAN TO COME AND GET THOSE BEES OUT OF THERE. YILES!!! SCARY STUFF.
GLAD NO ONE GOT ATTACKED BY 40 BEES EITHER!!!
ANNIE.....SO GLAD TO HEAR JAKE IS DOING WELL AND WILL BE HOME SOON. JEN HAD TO STAY A WEEK WHEN SHE WAS BORN.
I MISSED THE GOING HOME PART. SENDING SISSY A BIG HUG
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
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Good morning ladies,
Just running through with a cup of coffee saluting you all. I left the kitchen in a bit of dis-aray last night - opted for some extra sleep getting to bed early and it took me longer to straighten up this morning than I had planned. Also am meeting a good friend for our "last lunch" today - wanted to write her a personal note for her card and that always seems to use up a good time chunk.
Got up this morning to feed Mr. Feral and noticed the sign fairy came in the middle of the night (because it wasn't there at 11pm) and now we have a SOLD sign in the yard. I'm sure the neighbors will be surprised. I tried to explain what that meant to Mr. Feral but he only wanted to know if I included cat treats in his dish this morning
Hope you all have a good Tuesday - sounds like things are going well in everyone's world. May it stay that way...
Annie
I'm from the old school but when I read the name Tater Tot I immediately thought of Tater in the Snuffy Smith cartoon's--usually in Sunday morning paper here. Glad he is doing well and growing.
Retiring is wishful thinking for me.
Happy
Things are winding down here in the South for you. I need to write a thank you card to my neice for when we went to Silver Dollar City.
Annie - So happy that little Jake is doing well! Yum, the soup and cornbread sounds so good. We still have the vacuum we had before the heavy one, and that one is lighter and does a pretty good job. We'll probably use that one until we decide if we want an even lighter one like an Oreck.
Mel - Hope you get to relax today.
Happy - Seeing that "sold" sign must have made you smile this morning.
Ceejay - There's gonna be a lot of people working to full retirement age and beyond...you won't be alone. But we can still dream...and live vicariously through Happy, LOL.
Hi Michelle!! Hi Shad!!
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Nuttin' going on. Bad food day yesterday, and today's not starting out too well either. Habits are sure hard to change.
Didn't do much of anything after work. Went through some more paperwork last night, but still didn't come across that receipt. At least I got some more paper sorted. Bf said it doesn't really matter re the receipt, what's good is that we have the manual. I will urge him to get photos taken and post an ad craigslist on Friday. That's the day when everyone really looks for what they're "shopping" for.
I tried to upload my vacation photos to the computer, but no luck. Bf determined that our card reader doesn't accept the newer memory card we bought while we were on vacation. We will need to buy a new card reader. Bf's newer laptop had a built-in card reader, but I don't want to store those photos on his laptop. Oh, this technology stuff is a real PITA, isn't it?
Tonight's movie night. I think I'm gonna skip it, given I already have something going on Friday and Saturday night this weekend.
On the way home last night, my head got so congested and I started having a major sneezing fit. Something must be going on in the farms/woods that I pass by on my way home! Then I was still having sinus/head congestion even in the house. I took an allergy pill AND a Nyquil...so needless to say I fell asleep very early. I was still a bit stuffy this morning, and my throat's sore from the sneezing and post-nasal junk...but I'm feeling much better than last night.
Oh, and this morning, there was a male/worker yellow jacket flying in the kitchen. Since this is the first one we've seen...I'm sure he's just a straggler that was hiding elsewhere in the house and didn't make it back to the poisoned nest. If we see any more, we'll be calling the exterminator back out.
Just got invited to a meeting....I'll check in later or tomorrow.
Morning all,
Another day, another dollar as they say. I'm looking forward to going home on Friday, however they have asked me to come back next week to help out in the coal handling plant - these are the guys who chattered, giggled and fooled their way through training and now are having problems with coming to grips with the new system. Since I have had to cancel my trip to NZ anyway, I have said okay. But I am returning with the cattle prod and the broom and my witches hat so they had better watch out.
How I am supposed to prepare for the second rollout I have no idea, but I will do it eventually, if I have to develop the asset structure all by myself. It's too soon and no one is ready anyway so why they persist in going ahead I do not know.
Mel - That bloke who had the tears in his eyes was our big bad guy. He is about 6' 6" and he was just about the oldest man in the tournament at 37. This was his last outing with the All Blacks and he will see out his career in Japan over the next two years. I think I might have converted Happy's DH to my type of footy. He seems to have enjoyed the game. Not sure how he sat through 80 minutes of it because it was a real test match - hard, punishing rugby and not very fancy.
Hope Jen gets better soon
Ceejay - retirement for me anyway is only feasible if there is enough in the kitty to retire gracefully and be able to do the things we love to do now. It's a balancing act. If I can work hard for another couple of years, I might be able to retire on those terms. It won't be easy.
Laura - when you finish that paperwork at your place, come and do mine. It's horrendous and I haven't been home to do any. It's going to be a case of 15 minutes at a time every day to get through it. Such a bore.
Michelle - hope you get over the sneezes and that the wasps just go away and leave you in peace. 'Invited' to a meeting. There's a new one.
Happy - Good on the 'Sold Sign Fairy'. Poor Mr Feral. He is going to miss you people. Only a few more days at work and then only a few more weeks to moving, then only a few more weeks to peace and retirement. Hope you have plenty to occupy yourself with after the neighbours have been met, and the rellies have been reaquainted and the furniture is in place.
Annie - so many changes in your life this month. Hope you are looking after yourself. Soup and cornbread sounds good to me. I will be right there. Have you heard when little Jake is coming home?
Okay - better go throw myself in the shower and get ready for Wednesday at the mine. I keep trying to get home early, but 9.00pm is just about the earliest I can leave these days. There are a few issues out there but my biggest is about to come on Thursday when the one person who doesn't get ANYTHING returns to shift. Still my problem will be solved eventually I guess. Gotta go.
WHATEVER HAVE WE DONE WITH OCTOBER??
IT SEEMS TO BE RAPIDLY DISAPPEARING ON ME!!
TOMORROW ARE THE MEETINGS AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE GOING.
TOO BAD MELLIE ....GOTTA GO.
CHATTED WITH JOHN, JEN & THE BOSSLADY.
JOHN IS SO CALM NOW BUT I THINK MISSES WORK A LITTLE.
JEN FEELS BETTER BUT NOT HER USUAL SELF.
THE BOSS'S BACK IS KILLING HER.
AND MEL....SHE JUST KEEPS ROLLING ALONG LIKE AN OLD GOODYEAR!!!
NOTHING ELSE NEW. HAPPY WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY CHICKS
HAPPY....SO GLAD YOU GOT THE SOLD SIGN OUT!!
GOOD TO SHOCK THE NEIGHBORS!! ROFLMAO
MAYBE NEXT TIME THEY'LL TREAT THEIR NEIGHBORS BETTER.
HOPE MR FERAL FINDS A FRIEND IN THE NEW BUYERS
CEEJAY.....I FORGOT ALL ABOUT TATER IN THE SNUFFY CARTOONS. I JUST HAVE A VAGUE MEMORY.
THINK I SPENT MORE TIME READING BLONDIE!!!
LAURA.....TECHIE STUFF DRIVES ME NUTS!! BUT AT LEAST YOU SOUND
LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!!
L;ING TIME AGO I GAVE IT A SHOT WITH WEBSHOTS THANKS TO SHAD.
HOPE THE VAC SELLS FAST!!!
MICHELLE.....HOPE THE MEETING WENT OK AND THE BEES ARE FINALLY GONE!!!!
GOOD LUCK WITH BOTH!!! FEEL BETTER SOON. EVERYONE I KNOW HAS PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW.
SHAD......LORDY KIDDO....WHAT'S WITH THESE PEOPLE THAT AREN'T GETTING IT OR PAYING ATTENTION??
DON'T THEY REALIZE WHEN YOU GO HOME THEY ARE ON THEIR OWN??
HOPE THEY LISTEN INTENTLY AND FIGURE IT ALL OUT NEXT WEEK.....
AND THE ONE WHO COMES BACK TO SHIFT THURS!!! GOOD LUCK
I GUESS TOO THAT THE FOOTY GUY WILL BE VERY SAD TO LEAVE.
I AM GLAD HE LEFT WITH A WINNING TEAM THOUGH.
MUST BE A BITTERSWEET MEMORY FOR HIM.
I SAW 2 HUGE GUYS....ONE WHITE AND ONE BLACK....BOTH HAD ME TEARING UP.
BUT THEN I CRY WITH ANONE'S NATIONAL ANTHEM OR HALLMARK COMMERCIALS!!!!
Was feeling under the weather still when I got home yesterday, so I took a Nyquil and went to sleep. I got up for an hour or two when DH got home from work, then back to sleep. I think it was just what the doc ordered as I'm feeling better today. My head congestion has eased up a lot.
Tonight when I get home, I should do some work for a website client...hopefully I'll be feeling up to it by the end of the day. DH is going to have another injection in his back to help with his knee pain. The first injection seemed to help a lot, and he needs at least two more for the treatment to be complete. I have an appointment next week with the back doctor to see about scheduling another radio frequency ablation treatment on my back sometime in November or December (hopefully over Thanksgiving or Christmas weeks).
*******************
Happy - I'm sure it must be a thrill each time you see the "SOLD" sign!! Each day you get closer and closer to retirement and to your move! I hope your last few days at work are good. Any more crochet lessons scheduled? Is your DH making progress on the packing while you're at work? Too bad you can't take Mr. Feral with you.
Shad - It's good you get to go home for the weekend...but too bad you have to come back because the trainees couldn't be bothered to pay attention. I hope the rest of your week goes better, including Thursday when the clueless person returns. When the Packers won the Super Bowl earlier this year, some of our older players had tears in their eyes. They'd worked so hard in their career, but had never made it to the championship game, much less won it. My DH and I enjoy watching rugby. I don't always understand it, but we both enjoy good sports competitions. As for being "invited" to a meeting...I guess the word I should've used is "summoned".
Annie - My DH and I will likely be working 'till we die too. I hope baby Jake is doing better today and remembering to breathe. Sending lots of love, hugs and prayers to Jake, Sam, you and the whole family. 145 days until Spring? I'll take it!
Ceejay - I'm a long ways off from retiring in terms of $$. DH and I are enjoying life now even if we do have to work into our 60s and 70s. So many people work like crazy and never make it to retirement. A co-worker's father just passed away suddenly of a heart attack at age 55.
Laura - Any fun Halloween weekend plans? A co-worker of mine went to the Pumpkin Festival in Highwood, IL. She posted a photo of just ONE of the huge walls of carved pumpkins! Apparently 30,900 pumpkins were carved and lit! Have you ever been to that festival? I think DH and I will try and go next year.
Mel - I'm glad Jen is feeling a little better today. I hope the bosslady feels better soon too. Back pain sucks. I wish October would slow down...I'm not ready for November or December yet. And I'm sure not ready for snow.
I'd better get back to it...lots of research and doco work to do.
Michelle
Feel better soon. I smelled hay the other day while at my uncles. It usually doesn't bother me. but I stuffed up immediately. Are things slowing down at work?
Mel
Glad you talked to John. I'm sure he misses some aspects of work. Mainly the people. I know I would. The futon is heavy to move because it's on a steel frame.
Laura
I'm thinking that I'm going green with all this paper work.
Morning Happy.
I'm making plans on going back over to Jonesboro to help my friend move on Friday. She and another of our friend's will be sharing a house together. And yes it has a third bedroom for me. Yippee. I'm working for L tomorrow.
Shad – Those are long hours you’re working these days. It’ll be good for you to have a weekend back home at least before going back. At least round two with the guys should be more focused. And your "props" will certainly help!!
Mel – Yeh, where did October go??!! The end of the year is rapidly approaching!! I hope the meetings tomorrow aren’t too long and tiresome.
Michelle – Glad you’re feeling better - it sounds like the allergies were kicking your butt the past couple days. I hope you don’t see any more wasps/bees in the house anymore. The only Halloween plans are that I’m taking a half day of vacation on Monday to keep the dog distracted while the trick-or-treaters come to the door. I read a blurb over the weekend about a town lighting 31,000 jack-o-lanterns to break a Guinness World Record – but I couldn’t remember where, though I figured it was local if it was in our paper. That sounds like a sight to see!
Ceejay - I've read about people who scan their paperwork and save it to the computer, but that sounds like a lot of work and maybe even less pleasant than just filing it away. It seems like the bank is always bugging me to go to paperless statements, and it's tempting, but I have a feeling I'd still be printing them out for some purpose or other. I'm not sure what the solution is.
Hellos to Happy & Annie.
=
Nothing much to report. I skipped the movie last night and didn’t do much of anything at home. Well, I did do a BE workout, so that’s something.
Feeling sort of grumpy this week and I’m not sure why. It might be the shorter days. Dunno.
Tonight I’ll take an exercise class if the car is available, otherwise I’ll do another BE workout. Tomorrow I’m baking a snack for Friday’s book club – probably a cranberry-orange quick bread. Friday evening is book club. Saturday night we’re going to dinner with friends and then to a bar that has karaoke.
What else? I plugged my iron into another outlet last night and it heated right up, so I ironed a shirt this morning that I haven’t worn for a while, no problem. So I’m just not sure what the iron’s problem is when it sometimes won’t heat up. Is it a problem with the outlet I normally use, or is it the iron’s electrical cord being temperamental?? I’ll ask bf to check the outlet – he has a tool to test that. As for the cord – I considered dismantling the iron to see if anything seemed amiss, but it looks like it would be a real PITA to do.
Well, that’s all of my exciting news and thoughts for now. Have a great day everyone.
I guess we have to think up something nasty for Novembers thread. Nothing November or something just to keep the mojo happy.
My flight for Friday has just been cancelled due to industrial action by baggage handlers, pilots, customs and immigration officers and just about any one else involved in the airline. Don't exactly know what I will be doing at this point. Need to know soon so I can cancel a couple of appointments I have.
Not feel inspired by much today. Yesterday the HR chick came and asked if I would give a SAP demonstration regarding what and how we do to some prospective employees - after they have sat for a personality test. A what............? Whatever happened to employers actually talking with the person long enough to establish whether or not they might fit in a team or are solo flyers? Anyone can learn a computer system, it is not that difficult. Bah humbug.
Michelle - Interesting photo of the wall of pumpkins. What do they do with all the insides of the pumpkins? Do they eat it or throw it out?
Mel - so you cry for Hallmark commercials. Suck it up Princess. It's only an ad. The guys do very well out of going to play in some of the minor Rugby nations. 2 years up there should set him up for life - and that's not counting the commercial aspect and exposure. Then when he comes back, he will probably get minor work commentating on games and advertising here as well. Cry not for him old girl, spend the tears on the lost opportunities - such as you didn't turn out to be an overpaid, underworked, idolised sports MAN.
Ceejay - you and me will both be working on others jobs for the next few days. We are such nice people!!!!!
Laura - Sometimes it is easier to chuck the iron out and buy a new one, but these days they are so expensive. Trying to find a repairer is like panning for gold in the Brisbane River - theres never anything there.
Happy - hope no one made off with the Sold sign over night and that the packing is progressing steadily. Not long to go now. Yeehah. Oh and I had and invite from your DH to visit and sit on a log in your new backyard as well. Just thought I would tell you in case he hadn't!!!
Better go. People to see, processes to write, idiots to knock about.
Yeh, it seems selling in this market requires a lot of hard work AND luck. Glad you had both going for you!! I think you'll catch up fine with the packing activities once you finish out this week at work... but I love Michelle's idea to have friends over to help you pack, or at least keep you company while doing it! 
Really need to work on my strategy because of the upcoming holiday season, as well as more social events coming up this weekend. 
Thank goodness you got the bug guy out so quickly to deal with it!!! You got a great deal, which is nice because I know it must be worth 2 or 3 times as much to have the peace of mind that the problem has been dealt with. Has the point of entry been completely closed off?? Love the Potato Pie story!!! 
I left the kitchen in a bit of dis-aray last night - opted for some extra sleep getting to bed early and it took me longer to straighten up this morning than I had planned. Also am meeting a good friend for our "last lunch" 
We still have the vacuum we had before the heavy one, and that one is lighter and does a pretty good job. We'll probably use that one until we decide if we want an even lighter one like an Oreck.
I was still a bit stuffy this morning, and my throat's sore from the sneezing and post-nasal junk...but I'm feeling much better than last night. 
The only Halloween plans are that I’m taking a half day of vacation on Monday to keep the dog distracted while the trick-or-treaters come to the door. I read a blurb over the weekend about a town lighting 31,000 jack-o-lanterns to break a Guinness World Record – but I couldn’t remember where, though I figured it was local if it was in our paper. That sounds like a sight to see! 
