Morning all. It’s a hot one and going to be even hotter and more humid the next couple days. I get very warm in the morning after riding my bike to the train, and then there’s no shade at all on or near the train platform. I might have to hunt down one of those little mini fans to take with me on my commute. We have a couple spray water bottles that have the fan on them and can be combined with a mist from the water bottle, but I wouldn’t take that on the train – too bulky.
Annie – Are you getting decent sleep? With S & the grands (and another dog) in the house, maybe you’re not getting a good night’s rest. But perhaps you are depressed – this has been such a tough time for you and the family. Be good to yourself. Let S and the kiddies help out around the house (even more than they already are). And not a bad idea to avoid the news – none of it’s good anyway. As for FB, I’m generally a lurker and rarely a poster, and I find myself just scanning it lately because it’s not real socializing - just a bunch of memes and recipe videos. I only like the cute cat and dog videos, LOL. I’m glad you like my ticker – looking forward to seeing what you create!
Happy – How did the ortho appointment go?
Ceejay – Getting closer to your trip this weekend. It’s nice to get away. Have you had any troubles with the neighbor’s grandkids this summer? Hope not, but even so, it’s nice knowing that before too long you won’t have to deal with that anymore.
Dee – How did garage sale #2 go last weekend? Will you sell your house then go house hunting, or try to do it while your house is still on the market?
Susie – Hope you’re not having too busy of a week.
Shad – Hope all is well – when does this job end for you?
==
I had another decent food day yesterday. I’ll try for another today because tomorrow is my weigh-in day for this challenge and it would be nice to show a loss!
I dragged myself out of bed for a BE workout this morning.
I didn’t have time for breakfast at home so I stopped at CVS on the way to the office and bought a Quaker oatmeal cup – apples and cranberries. It reminded me why I don’t like the instant stuff – this one had 12 grams of sugar and had that icky gummy texture I dislike. Yuck. Maybe I can keep some plain quick oats in my desk drawer at work and add what I want.
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Ok guys, I hope this sticks. I had alot of trouble getting on here - was not accepting my logon and in one instance I got spammed into a site that wanted me to download a new Flash player. The web address was VERY suspicious - I exited my browser and tried again.
Lots going on - will try to abbreviate it because I get too wordy.
Went to the ortho guy yesterday. They did an ultrasound of my leg because they were concerned about the sudden swelling and calf pain. Thank goodness no clot / DVT. It was as I surmised when I looked it up myself on the internet - something called a Bakers Cyst burst. It's the (knee) joint leaking fluid and the cyst burst and apparently it's alot of fluid because it sure swelled up my foot, ankle and knee. After almost 2 weeks the swelling is finally subsiding. He said to keep the foot elevated but not too high as the fluid could move the other way and swell up my thigh - DON'T NEED THAT! The body will eventually absorb the excess fluid and hopefully the tear that leaked the fluid will close up on it's own and it could come back again - in fact I think this happened once before. He checked my MRI. The intense pain I have on the inside facing part of each knee is caused by bone swelling from arthritis. Yes, bones swell (news to me). This pain and swelling will never go away because once you have arthritis, it never goes away. He also said on the outward facing side (tender but not as bad as the inside) I show signs of osteoporosis in the knee. They are finding a relationship between low Vitamin D and and acceleration of osteoporosis. He said he could go in and scrape my knees but I am not having the classic "lock and stiffness - inability to bend my knee" that arthroscopy would fix so that's not something that would work for me. And my BMI is in the obese range. There are more and more studies that people who are a certain number of pounds / bmi overweight have as much as a 50 percent increase in surgical complications and post surgical healing. Plus of course, the extra weight puts extra stress on the joints. So he said there is nothing he can do for me right now. NOTHING. No pills, no procedures, no options other than to just deal with this sometimes crippling pain I have. For now. I would have to have total knee replacement and I need to lose at a minimum 60 pounds before they will even consider me for surgery. So I spent the entire day at the hospital/clinic and drove 3 hours for basically nothing. I left there so down, all I wanted to do was cry and it took everything I had in me not to cry in the car. I would have if I was alone. DH was trying to be positive but I wasn't having any of it.
But this is the way I process things. First I cry and feel sorry for myself and then I get angry and then I finally get clear headed and work out a plan.
One of the things that crossed my mind was to get another opinion. My buddy at the thrift shop had knee surgery last year from another doctor in the town 1 hour from here. (I was in Duluth yesterday). His doctor is in my plan and B is and was rather overweight when they did his surgery. He is fine but has the same problems with his ankle that Anne does and can't get over the idea of being off his feet completely for an extended period of time so he won't get himself fixed up. Anyway - it's an option I am tossing about. The thing is, I agree with everything the Duluth doctor said. I am wondering if I get a second opinion and this one says he will operate - is that the best thing for me? I am not really interested in long term medication although if it could get me through the hump of my current pain, I'd take just about anything.
So I gave it alot of thought overnight and I have come to the decision that there are things I can do. I need to make an effort to periodically get off my feet and not run around so much. I need to facilitate getting the swelling out of my leg but elevating it regularly. I need to take my Motrin pain reliever every day on a regular basis to keep the inflammation and pain down. I need to get really SERIOUS about developing a food plan and sticking with it. I am not keen on the WW plan, I think I will cancel that subscription and do MFP and calorie counting. I have my bingo committment and could not regularly attend meetings anyway and got nothing out of them so that was a waste of money. The doctor said they have a good weight management program at the hospital and will have someone call me but I am not going to Duluth on a regular basis. He said he doesn't want me to go it alone - less a chance of success. But I have you guys and your timely challenge and pain will be my primary motivator. As for exercise I can do the bike, yoga on DVD for the summer until my class starts again, Pilates, some weight stuff and use my pool pass at the hotel even though the pool may be crowded with tourists right now. I can also do 5 minute laps around the house throughout the day. Just will avoid stairs as that's hard. Outside too with uneven surfaces (and 4 baby bear cubs with a HUMONGOUS sized mom) are a bit of a deterrent. Ice packs and the hot tub have also been beneficial. So I have a plan. Just need to make a food list and a food plan because my biggest problem is not planning and getting hungry and blowing things because I am ravenous. And the worst of all is I am going to have to struggle and finally kick my Coca Cola habit (diet soda is NOT an option for me). It's a strong addiction and will be like kicking cigarettes. But I can do this. I also told the doctor that I am against any sort of gastric surgery for me. Not to take away from any one who has had it, it's just not for me personally.
Posting this - I have to reboot - something is sucking up all the resources on my computer.
Happy
Yes, take care of your self. The incident with the spammer happened with me also.
Annie
Sounds like Sissy is a big help with the house hold chores. I've been thinking about staying off FB myself. Texting has become my thing.
------
I was going to close out my account with my bank this morning and decided to stay with this bank. I'm going to see if I can re route my SS check to come back to this account. Then close out the account I had opened in MO.
I need to be cleaning house and packing for my trip tomorrow.
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Let's try this again,
I clicked on what I thought was a reasonable FB link about a meteor shower and I think it grabbed my computer and started doing who knows what to it.
I think I agree with you about FB Anne. I am certainly with you about being over the top tired of all the ranting and name calling and the political garbage being strewn about. Especially by people I thought were above that sort of thing. I'm sorry that you are in an extended stay at Funkyland. There certainly have been alot of negative things happening in your life. Including rewriting that @#(%&*(@# Wednesday report Kinda makes you want to screw up the entire thing and then smugly say - hey it wasn't so bad in the first place, was it? Ugh. You have to dig deep and find things in your life that put you in a happier frame of mind - church, meetings, playing with the kids, a funny movie, drawing Frankenstein bolts and scars on pictures of people you don't like??? Got to find something - like your trip to Shiloh. Believe me, I know it's not always easy. I wish you had the means of taking a vacation in Florida for a week. Something to look forward to and who doesn't like to lay on the sand and do nothing?I would invite you to my house to go fishing but it's getting more and more difficult to get into my house as DH takes apart more of the deck in anticipation of the contractor showing up. I think the problem is as one of my co-workers said "got NOTHING to look forward to". I have noticed a whole lot of license plates from Indiana up here lately - perhaps you could hitch a ride with someone Loved your picture of poor Bruno. He's a big one, but a cutie. Maybe you need to go to the animal shelter and let a bunch of puppies crawl all over you - always good for a smile. Like me, I'm sure you are not up for walking dogs at this point so playing with them is an option. Teach them to fetch and bring back. Your mushroom burgers sounded very good. Is that portobella mushroom burgers or beef with lots of mushrooms in them? We are in for the hottest days of the year this week so I'm looking for cool alternatives to meals.
Laura - good for you for keeping with the challenge and doing your workout. I hope you are rewarded for your good efforts at weigh in time. I agree with you on the oatmeal cup stuff. I am really starting to notice how bad the packaged stuff tastes. Even the WW convenience stuff they are pushing at the meetings. I bought some red pepper hummus and chips from them. The chips were not bad but the hummus was terrible. There are not many great options for the grab and go. I would love a place that had a breakfast bar, salad bar and healthy options for picking up something quick. Maybe we can open that as a side business for the commune but of course there is not as much demand up here as there would be in the city. With the recent heat and high humidity, riding your bike, even at a comfortable pace to the train has got to be a bear. Glad you found the MIL and that she is anxious and eager to move on - that in and of itself is motivation to do what she needs to in order to get discharged. Will she be ok on her own or will BF have to look in on her for a while?
Ceejay - glad to hear things are going well with the new trainee. Help them as much as possible, especially if they are eager to learn. It's good to learn from a "pro" and people don't get much training any more. Of course, nothing beats the years of experience but you can help them get off to a good start. And then no more phone calls asking "how do I do this... " Are you familiar with the place you will be moving to or will this be a new town to explore? Always interesting finding your way around town and where the good spots are.
Shad - glad to hear the party for Miss S went well. I think kids have too much in the way of everything myself. Sometimes doing without fuels the creative mind in a good way. And I also think periodic culling at an early age - give some toys to the less fortunate children supports a charitable attitude and keeps the kid from being a clutter rat like me How is the winter weather where you are? Mild or just right? You don't talk about having to find a new jumper so I imagine you are making do. Did you find some more comfortable shoes for standing?
Susie - what a great thing to do with the pool party! I loved how you were secretive AND you didn't let work distract you in any means from your fun mission. Need more things like that - small gatherings of friends. Good for the soul.
Dee - hope the garage sales are going well and you are strong enough to pack up what you need to.
Just got a call from Home Depot. They are replacing our door yet again. This time with permanent sidelights - sorry to lose my beautiful ones that open but they simply cannot get them right and I can't afford to have air leaking into the house during the winter. Of course they are coming tomorrow - the hottest day we have had all year to let in the miserable heat and all the bugs that come with it but HOPEFULLY that ordeal will be done and over with. We are STILL waiting on the deck and siding guy. He told DH last week he needed one more day of dry weather to finish his last job. There were 2 good days last week at the end of the week. Then he told DH the very same thing on Monday when they met to order the materials. All 3 days this week have been dry and sunny - still no contractor. This is sooooo maddening. They are going to have a miserable time if they start tomorrow with the heat - maybe they can work on the shady side of the house.
Anyway - I need to go ice my leg and elevate it. I made a shrimp marinade earlier. I might make the fruit salsa to go with it now so the flavors can marry up a bit. DH is out mowing the lawn poor guy.
Hi Ladies! So this week has been one of THOSE weeks..at home, at work, no downtime anywhere and I'm just about fed up with it all!!
I have not done one good thing for myself this week. No exercise, no logging food, no sleep and you will be surprised..but no working over. So why am I so tired and fed up? Because I'm being pulled in 4 different directions every day at work, the old director needs me, the new director needs me, the AD is a pain in the ***, she needs me but doesn't want to talk to me when I have a question about what she needs. The Section Heads and their people need me as they have no Admin.
I have a list of things I need to get done this week and I have checked off two. I have two more days to made headway. I have also been keeping a list of all the new demands since I made the list on Monday...and I will keep that list as I work through the weekend some and come next week when I meet with my new Director, he gets a copy of that list. And I'm going to keep up this new practice until we see the work get under control and they get me help!
I have also tracked the items I have tried to hand off to the other Admin in our Org, and she says she doesn't have time. She doesn't report to me so I can't "influence her"...but I bet when the Director sees this list and what she didn't have time for, that might change.
Thanks for letting me rant!
I read all the posts and I'm sorry to not address everyone personally this time...I just have no thought process to do it tonight.
I do want to thank those who replied to the ticker question and I will try ticker factory....if you see it at the bottom of my posts, you will know I was successful.
Again, thanks for understanding and don't give up on me...I need you gals and want to be here for you all as well.
Awww SUSIE...we are always here for you, you are always here for us too. A person can only do so much and many have to understand that at work. The other admin that is pushing back just does not want the added responsibility, nor want to learn her new job. People get set in their ways (me) and just wish things could roll along, however we all have to do things we don't want to do, so this other admin should buck up. I did a new ticker also from ticker factory. It was really quite easy to do. Yours says you lost 10lbs so far, is that correct? Just curious. Hugs and prayers sweet sister.
HAPPY...sure glad it is getting closer to opening the commune. Only 8 years and 10 months. lol Oh Lord let this door install go well. Has it happened yet? Did the hot tub deck dude show up yet? What a stinkin' mess. Was DH cutting the grass in this dead heat? OMGoodness, I feel for him too. Today's heat index here is 110, I am feeling really badly for C. He is wiped out when he gets home. Thank God his truck has air, but like you mentioned before, by the time it is cooled down he has to jump out and it gets all hot again. I really don't know how he does it. I could not. Hope your leg is better today. Your knee diagnosis sounds horrid. I do feel you pain, literally. The burgers where beef with a bunch of mushrooms in them then also sauteed mushrooms and added them to the sauce also.
CEEG...what made you change your mind about banks? A few short weeks till freedom.
LAURA...I am with you, anything you add water to in a cup is far from being tasty and is usually too salty. Bleh. Can you attach a fan on your bike somehow, like to your handle bars that blows at you while riding, or would that just be hot air? Kudos to another good food day!
Evening was ok. C and I watched the movie with Tina Fey, Whisky, Tango, Foxtrot. Didn't know it was based on a true story. It was not a bad movie. Not the best, but would watch it again.
Morning all. Train problems today, so I'm sitting here on the train and it's been crawling because if a track problem & getting hung up behind other trains. Bleh. At least I got a ride to the station & stayed cooler than if I'd rode my bike.
Susie - Sorry you're having such a bad week. How terrible you're being pulled in so many directions. The big buck earners should be ashamed of the situation they've put you in. I hope things get better with the new director. Hang in there! ---Glad you were able to set up a ticker!
Annie - Poor C - how hard to have a physically demanding job in the heat & humidity! --- Re the bike, the air coming at me is fan enough, it's just the exertion that makes me hot and sweaty, and no way too cool off at the train station - the depot building is not on the platform I use & there's not much time for that anyway. Oh well, that's just the way it is.
Gonna post this and finish up later as we're almost here.
Annie - Oh yes, I occasionally get train rage and pedestrian rage, lol. Meant to tell you that I like your ticker!
Happy - So sorry to hear that the Baker's cyst can be recurring, and also that nothing much can be done to help your knees, short of replacements that aren't an option in the short-term. I highly agree with the thought to get a 2nd opinion. I also agree with your action plan, especially since it gets you to kick back a bit and relax more. (Just reading your posts sometimes tires me out!) I know you can get yourself out of the daily Coke habit. I've managed to do that with diet sodas. I still have certain foods/meals that I automatically like to have with soda, but there are only a few, so I'm okay with it. Otherwise I stick with water, tea (iced/hot), Arnold Palmers, and flavored seltzer. I agree that planning is really at the heart of healthy eating - being at the mercy of a tight schedule and restaurant menus and processed convenience foods doesn't work. I hope Annie's challenge gets you jump-started! We don't want you to be in pain. === Yeh, the processed convenience foods are such junk. It's odd they have to mess with it so much. Do people really add that much sugar to their oatmeal??!! And I don't know how the WW foods fit into their plans - don't the point programs try to point you toward healthier stuff - fruits, veges, whole grains, etc.? Their foods are not better or worse than other brands of junk out there. They just come in portion-controlled packaging. Huh. === As for your question about bf's mom - bf is worried that even after rehab, she may no longer be able to live independently, and the worst part is that she has no financial means to afford that. There will be a lot of education needed to see what assistance is available for her, and likely a difficult attempt to get bf's siblings to be part of the assistance to a higher level than what's currently being done.
Ceejay - With everything online these days, I'm sure you'll manage fine keeping your old bank. What made you want to ditch the new bank?
Hellos to Shad, Dee and Michelle.
==
Nothing much to report. I did another BE workout this morning. I'm down a pound at the scale today. Now to stay the course.
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Oh me oh my, it's almost 2:30pm where did the day go? Seems like I am running faster more behind every day. Which is amazing since I can barely walk, much less run.
Got woken up this morning to a 4:30am call from emergency services. There was a humongous rainstorm setting in on us. Crazy lightning like a strobe light. Torrential rains. Hail predicted. I went up to the computer to look at the radar and the storm was closing in on us. I fell asleep praying that the power would not go out as the sump pump is still pushing out water every 90 seconds from the last storm. We would have flooded quickly even with a battery back up. I also realized that now we have built a deck platform and room over the window that we would run the electrical cord IF we had to plug in the generator to keep the sump pump alive. Now we will have to make a plan B and put the generator on the other side of the house and run a long extention cord from one side of the house to the other.
Today is the hottest day of the year so far - in the 90's. And they are removing and replacing my front door. Goodbye air conditioning. They are also finally here to tear out my deck and siding. The construction guy said 2 of his crew were suffering from heat stroke. I hope he makes sure they have water and Gatorade today. I was going to run to the store and get ice and sports drinks but DH said that is up to them to take care of. Personally I have found that offering them or not offering drinks makes no difference in the quality of the job. If they are good people, they will do a good job none the less. If they are bad people they will take your cold drinks and then throw the empty bottles in your attic for you to find and clean up later. Yes, true story when we had our roof replaced on a hot summer's day. DH is drinking lots of water and offered the door guys water too. Good thing the water fairy (me) came along and put more water in the refrigerator to chill. (our refrigerator is not hooked up to ice and water because it's across the room from the water line so we have bottled water).
I was supposed to go for a B12 shot today but it's so hard to get out of my house that I will go tomorrow after they finish the door. They are going to do the decking around 2 sides of the house and when we can get in from the back side of the house, they will tear out our main entrance. I'm glad as this means I don't have to climb a ladder to get into the house.
The swelling in my foot was going down but it's back today. I'm thinking the heat might have something to do with it. I will elevate it after the door guys have finished up. I got a call from the hospital today about setting up an appointment with the weight management doctor. First available appointment for new patients is September 8!!!! And that's a webcam via the internet - not a face to face in person meeting. I would have to drive 3 and a half hours north - almost to the Canadian border folks - to meet with him in person at his office. Gives me time to work on things on my own. I am not sure why it takes so long to get appointments - my friends in the city world say they also have to wait a long time to see doctors. I'm figuring the way things are going, I am a year away from being able to consider surgery. I got on my knees to look under the bed for the missing cat (she HATES strange things going on and there's plenty of noise and strange things today). I almost passed out and it was difficult to get up. I am hoping that if I go back to the therapy exercises to strengthen the knees, it will help diminish some of this knee bone pain. I am grateful to be able to stay home these last few days although I got a call from my friend asking me to fill in for him at the shop on Saturday because his wife had foot surgery and he has to stay home to help her out. I have lots of stuff to get done on the computer but I don't seem to be making a whole lot of progress here. It's difficult working on the fundraiser because my partner does not have email and most of my conversations tend to take a track far from what I am calling about.
Gotta reboot - my Norton Antivirus needs to run an update. Back in a minute.
I am happy to report a 1.4 lbs loss at TOPS tonight. I will have to update my ticker and from the question that Annie asked I need to see what I did wring as I haven't lost 10 lbs already since we started the contest.
I am posting for my phone so it will be short tonight.
Happy, just reading about your knees makes mine ache!!
Laura, good for you for that lb loss!. Does the hot weather affect the train?
Ceejay, I believe you are in Branson? Have a nice and fun trip.
Annie: thanks for the pep talk, I needed it!. My DHeart doesn't work in air conditioning at all and he is worn out when he gets home.
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Ok ladies,
Back again. The new door is installed, will it pass muster? Only time will tell. The construction guys took off at 3pm - it was just too blinking hot and we don't need people passing out on us even if the hospital is only 2 miles away. DH said they made a mess of the gravel driveway hauling things in and out yet they smoothed everything out when they were on their way out so that was good.
Laura - what are Arnold Palmers? I agree with you about WW pushing to more nutritious foods but I think they are reacting to those who want convenience foods - and there's a long line of WW prepared foods, snack items and even cocktail mixes. Ok if you like that stuff I guess. I sure do hope that there can be something worked out with BF's Mom so that she doesn't have to move in with someone. Next to outliving your savings, that's a number one concern among people. And from what my sister says of the assisted living facility her hubby's aunt is in, that can be a pretty depressing place as most of them are near 90 and as you can imagine, there are alot of deaths. Old age is scary! Thanks for your comments on my knees. Giving them a bit of a rest seems to help as does plugging away at the Motrin but I worry about taking that twice a day for an extended period. We'll see what my regular doctor has to say when I see her in 2 weeks. How is Coal doing? Does the heat wear him out quicker or is he a bit more limber than in the winter. Of course walking around with a black fur coat in the heat and humidity has to be awful no matter what. Does he have / like a doggie pool? Would it help to have one of those cooling scarfs for your bike commute?
Susie my dear I think the time has come to stand up for yourself. You can't be pulled in so many directions. As for the admin who won't take over the work, simply tell the director you have turned it over to her and when she is late - let him deal with it. I think it's great you are keeping lists of what goes on. This is a new director, right? He may not care about the others - just get the stuff I need done. Use it as leverage. Please remember that you MUST make yourself a priority. Helping extra for a trade show or budgets is one thing but you keep getting pulled back into being the do all for everyone. Only you can make your health and well being your biggest priority. Congrats on the weight loss for the week.
Now that you all have cute updated tickers, I may have to get one too. But first I need to re-lose 3 pounds I gained over the last few weeks with company and eating at restaurants.
Annie - cripes if it's going to take you almost 9 years to get to the commune, you might wind up having to take care of me instead of relaxing and having fun! We need to find a way to cut that time down. We told the hot tub guy about the cracked light and he said it will not pose a problem (ie electrocute me) and said when we drain the tub the next time, give him a heads up and he will replace the light. Hey if you like mushrooms so much (I am a big fan but DH is not), then you will have to go morel hunting in April here. We have several growing in the yard, I always forget to look for them. Fortunately it's rather easy to tell the real ones from the fake ones. Poor C - that has to be miserable running in and out in this heat carrying things. Especially in the hot weather, in a coolish truck, in a cool store, back out in the heat again. That's enough to make one sick AND exhausted. We are lucky we can be in a train or car even if we do get stuck once in a while. Thanks for the movie review. I borrowed the first season of Grace and Frankie (Netflix series) from the library. It was interesting but no Downton Abbey to grab my attention. Don't think it's worth 10 bucks a month to sign up to Netflix to see season 2.
Ceejay - have a great time in Branson. Saw that you arrived ok.
Hellos to Shad and Dee. I'm off to dream land. I should go clean out the refrigerator (garbage day tomorrow) but I'm really tired. Maybe just a quick glance! Good night all.
Location: A beautiful and peaceful place in the woods
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Height: Fun Size
Good morning ladies,
Last out, first in today.
Hard to sleep when they are tearing the siding off your house. And we have a brick / pavement stone wall about 5 feet high they are also demolishing. Wish we could have saved the bricks but for some reason when they first built the wall they glued every single brick in place - no real need to do that actually and that would be horrendously expensive to take each brick apart individually. So it got bulldozed and sledgehammered. Additional noise of them throwing the bricks into a metal dumpster. I told DH yesterday after all the work is done, we've spent about 2/3 what it would have cost for a new house. And that's just the outside work! Next year I hope we can get it professionally landscaped - I heard DH saying that to one of the workers yesterday so maybe one suggestion of mine actually stuck in his head. I hope it will look nice when it's done and of course increase the value of the home. I am curious as to whether the new siding will look bluish or greyish. We will know shortly. For some reason he chose not to replace the soffit and facia when the roof and siding were done. It was once white, now is dirty with black streaks. He claims it can be power washed - not sure how you can do that on the second floor gutters but hey ... I think at the time he was overwhelmed (and rightly so) by how much money we were putting out between the sun room, the hot tub, the front door, the deck, the roof and the siding. He said if it looks really terrible we can think about replacing the gutters next year.
When the guy finished installing the front entry door for the 5th time he told us he was expected to collect the balance of the door cost. This door with the fixed sidelights was less expensive than our original door. The sales guy was supposed to call DH twice already with the adjusted price. Never did and of course the balance due reflects the higher door price. DH also wants a discount for all the hassle we have been having since last December with this door. The installer is a 3rd party contractor and he did a great job - the best of the lot so far according to DH. He said he totally understood where we were coming from and would do the same himself. Needless to say, he left without a check. Not only did Home Depot drag their feet responding to us multiple times, but we also had problems with each door replacement over time and we want to make sure this (hopefully last) replacement actually holds up. The installer said like anything today, entry doors are not made to last more than 10 years. I said baloney - then they should not charge 5, 10 or 15 thousand for a door. We lived in our house in Chicago for 22 years - replaced the door once. We replaced the door in Memphis and I'm sure that will hold up for another 20 years.
On the food front yesterday was a messed up day so we got Chinese for dinner. DH loves their steak and peppers. I searched the menu 5 times over for something that was more healthy. Settled on shrimp in lobster sauce (more like an egg drop soup than any sort of seafood sauce) and it was thin and pretty bad. I ate the few shrimp that were in there (not fried) and just a bit of rice and "sauce". I am on day 4 of cutting back to only one soda a day and doing ok with it. I am drinking ice water alot. I want to make some raspberry iced tea but need DH to finish the lemonade I made for him so I can have both the pitcher back and the room in the refrigerator. Yesterday I hard boiled some eggs and I'm thinking a tuna salad for lunch with a tomato I got from a roadside stand. I need to go out and get my B12 shot, count the number of collection buckets we have for our fundraising event - I have the sneaking suspicion that my co-chair opened up more collection points than we have buckets for even though I warned her about that... I am not looking forward to subbing at the shop tomorrow. My leg is getting better - the swelling is going down alot but the knees are still pretty achey and a half day on my feet is going to kill me. Maybe I'll drink tomorrow night
Let's post this and see if any of you have checked in.
Susie – Congrats on the TOPS loss!!! Yes, the trains have to run slower in extreme heat because of the stress on the tracks, switches, and signals. They sent a notice out warning of minor train delays due to running slower. In fact, on Wednesday after work, my regular train was delayed by a switch failure. It’s always something with Metra.
Happy – Your house has been abuzz with all sorts of activity! I hope the door installation is finally done properly and is a done deal. As for payment, if HD is being consistent, you won’t have to pay up for a while, and you can probably hold up payment for a good long time while negotiating the discount for all the hassles during this ordeal. Start listing all the snafus and I’m sure you’ll have a large discount to start the ball rolling. Oh, and yes that’s baloney that these doors would only be made to last 10 years! === I hope the siding is the color you thought you were getting! == This wouldn’t be nice because then you’d be like some of the thrift shop diva volunteers, but maybe you should tell them you can only do whatever task it is that will let you sit down during your shift.=== Arnold Palmers are half iced tea and half lemonade. They are named after the pro golfer. I never did look up the story behind that… However, he does have a beverage on the market in tall cans, and I’ve had the Lite version, but of course they are not all that great compared to ones made with fresh brewed iced tea. I prefer mine with more tea and less lemonade, and that’s the way bf & I order them in a restaurant – Arnie Palmer, easy on the lemonade. You have lemonade – you should make one for yourself. I forget – do you eat stuff made with lemons? === Re assisted living for bf’s mom – I suspect the government option is some dismal nursing home that Medicaid pays for. Naturally we’ll be trying to find better solutions for her. Bf’s aunt’s place is a nice one, but yes, it’s full of very old people. What I’ve seen of lives of the elderly is depressing. Maybe there’s something to a Benjamin Buttons type of life – starting off old and getting younger as the years pass. === Coal’s doing alright. We’ve been very careful lately and he hasn’t had any stumbling issues for about a week, so that’s good. Coal’s favorite spot is in front of our oscillating fan, which is also adjacent to the HVAC vent in the living room. He’s pretty comfortable indoors, though we’re a bit worried because he didn’t eat his kibble right away this morning. Only after bf added a bit more water to it and encouraged him. Could be the heat… His outdoor time, including walks, has been very short lately due to the heat/humidity.
Hellos to the rest of you. Have a great weekend.
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Nothing much for me to report. I slept like a log and kept hitting the snooze button this morning. But I had no excuse/plan to take a day off and had no desire to sit around inside all day, so I dragged myself to work. The boss is apparently trying to catch up after being away half the week, so contact with him has been limited. Today we’re having an ice cream social at work, and not the one usually hosted by building management. Just our company, in our office space. I'll have to be careful in my choices.
No plans for this weekend, but I’m sure we’ll be visiting bf’s mom at least once. I’m wanting a day off, so I might take Monday off, regardless of whatever type of weather is forecast.
I did make it to Branson. I took a more scenic route which was extremely curvy, hairpin and snake curves. I could not ooh or aw but for a second. It was beautiful country.
I also got the utilities turned on so I am happy about that. Today we are going to the house to work in the yard. My sis and I stopped there yesterday to do a couple of things. I already had two pieces of mail.
I will admit that google maps are not always accurate. I will be using my phone gps from now on.
Will post more later.
I get very warm in the morning after riding my bike to the train, and then there’s no shade at all on or near the train platform. 
I might have to hunt down one of those little mini fans to take with me on my commute. We have a couple spray water bottles that have the fan on them and can be combined with a mist from the water bottle, but I wouldn’t take that on the train – too bulky. 
Be good to yourself. 
Let S and the kiddies help out around the house (even more than they already are). And not a bad idea to avoid the news – none of it’s good anyway. As for FB, I’m generally a lurker and rarely a poster, and I find myself just scanning it lately because it’s not real socializing - just a bunch of memes and recipe videos. I only like the cute cat and dog videos, LOL. I’m glad you like my ticker – looking forward to seeing what you create!
He also said on the outward facing side (tender but not as bad as the inside) I show signs of osteoporosis in the knee. They are finding a relationship between low Vitamin D and and acceleration of osteoporosis. 
Kinda makes you want to screw up the entire thing and then smugly say - hey it wasn't so bad in the first place, was it? 
Ugh. You have to dig deep and find things in your life that put you in a happier frame of mind - church, meetings, playing with the kids, a funny movie, drawing Frankenstein bolts and scars on pictures of people you don't like??? Got to find something - like your trip to Shiloh. Believe me, I know it's not always easy. I wish you had the means of taking a vacation in Florida for a week. Something to look forward to and who doesn't like to lay on the sand and do nothing?I would invite you to my house to go fishing but it's getting more and more difficult to get into my house as DH takes apart more of the deck in anticipation of the contractor showing up. I think the problem is as one of my co-workers said "got NOTHING to look forward to". I have noticed a whole lot of license plates from Indiana up here lately - perhaps you could hitch a ride with someone 
" Are you familiar with the place you will be moving to or will this be a new town to explore? Always interesting finding your way around town and where the good spots are. 
How is the winter weather where you are? Mild or just right? You don't talk about having to find a new jumper so I imagine you are making do. Did you find some more comfortable shoes for standing? 
--- Re the bike, the air coming at me is fan enough, it's just the exertion that makes me hot and sweaty, and no way too cool off at the train station - the depot building is not on the platform I use & there's not much time for that anyway. Oh well, that's just the way it is. 
I also agree with your action plan, especially since it gets you to kick back a bit and relax more. (Just reading your posts sometimes tires me out!) 
I know you can get yourself out of the daily Coke habit. I've managed to do that with diet sodas. I still have certain foods/meals that I automatically like to have with soda, but there are only a few, so I'm okay with it. Otherwise I stick with water, tea (iced/hot), Arnold Palmers, and flavored seltzer. I agree that planning is really at the heart of healthy eating - being at the mercy of a tight schedule and restaurant menus and processed convenience foods doesn't work. I hope Annie's challenge gets you jump-started! We don't want you to be in pain. 
=== Yeh, the processed convenience foods are such junk. It's odd they have to mess with it so much. Do people really add that much sugar to their oatmeal??!! And I don't know how the WW foods fit into their plans - don't the point programs try to point you toward healthier stuff - fruits, veges, whole grains, etc.? Their foods are not better or worse than other brands of junk out there. They just come in portion-controlled packaging. Huh. === As for your question about bf's mom - bf is worried that even after rehab, she may no longer be able to live independently, and the worst part is that she has no financial means to afford that. There will be a lot of education needed to see what assistance is available for her, and likely a difficult attempt to get bf's siblings to be part of the assistance to a higher level than what's currently being done. 
he told us he was expected to collect the balance of the door cost. This door with the fixed sidelights was less expensive than our original door. The sales guy was supposed to call DH twice already with the adjusted price. Never did and of course the balance due reflects the higher door price. DH also wants a discount for all the hassle we have been having since last December with this door. The installer is a 3rd party contractor and he did a great job - the best of the lot so far according to DH. He said he totally understood where we were coming from and would do the same himself. Needless to say, he left without a check. Not only did Home Depot drag their feet responding to us multiple times, but we also had problems with each door replacement over time and we want to make sure this (hopefully last) replacement actually holds up. The installer said like anything today, entry doors are not made to last more than 10 years. I said baloney - then they should not charge 5, 10 or 15 thousand for a door. We lived in our house in Chicago for 22 years - replaced the door once. We replaced the door in Memphis and I'm sure that will hold up for another 20 years. 
Yes, the trains have to run slower in extreme heat because of the stress on the tracks, switches, and signals. They sent a notice out warning of minor train delays due to running slower. In fact, on Wednesday after work, my regular train was delayed by a switch failure. It’s always something with Metra. 
As for payment, if HD is being consistent, you won’t have to pay up for a while, and you can probably hold up payment for a good long time while negotiating the discount for all the hassles during this ordeal. Start listing all the snafus and I’m sure you’ll have a large discount to start the ball rolling. Oh, and yes that’s baloney that these doors would only be made to last 10 years! 
