I have to admit that I was offended by Jen's comment myself. Pardon us for caring I suppose. And I had no intention of bothering Mel, was only trying to get some information about someone I cared about. Geez.

Annie - that's unfortunate that you didn't get to the covered bridge festival but you spent the day with C which as you said was the most important thing. I agree that 7 fish is a good catch unless they were all small catch and releasers I'm glad you get to spend Wednesday suppers with your son - it's nice that even with busy schedules you can manage to spend time together - we all have a tendency to drift off as we get tangled up in the day to day stuff of life. It might be a bit early on the ultrasound. I have a cousin who focuses on fetal ultrasound and she said on more than one occasion early on they've been "fooled" by a winkie that turned out to be part of the umbilical cord instead But what with the 3D ultrasounds, perhaps they can be more accurate or do they only do those of the face?

Laura - I see articles all the time about holding off on SS benefits. I have to be honest, while it makes sense with all this hoopla with the government, I'm probably going to start drawing mine before I hit 65 because quite frankly, I don't believe there will be much money left for me to start drawing the maximum if I wait until age 70. Just something to think about. We started saving for retirement in our mid 30's when we realized we probably would not have a family. Twice we have been massively hit due to the market - in one instance we lost 10 YEARS of our savings, never to be recouped. So there is good and bad to savings. We learned a lot about financials - namely no matter what anyone - E.F. Hutton, Fidelity, Schwaub etc says - no one cares about your money as much as you do. We have done much better on our investments since DH manages them and he is no expert. A lot of it involves being conservative, watching for and being prepared to move in market fluctuations and having a steady hand. I'm glad he's doing it and I'm the one who worked at the Options Exchange for 8 years Actually because if it - I was working there Black Friday when the market crashed - I am much more conservative than he is so I am glad he is handling it. So my advice is to save and keep a close eye on your money. It's good that you and BF are conservative spenders already. I think it's wise that you look to the future for career/work type options. A lot of it depends on where you decide to live in the future - even if you semi-retire. Where you are now is expensive to live, however work is plentiful. It's somewhat cheaper where I am now however I live in a play town - jobs are few and tend to be minimum wage jobs - and we have noticed that groceries and gas are a few cents higher here than in some of the surrounding towns. So we get gouged with higher prices the tourists will pay. That was a surprise to us. However I'm not up for driving an hour or more to save 5 dollars on my groceries or gas, so we deal with it. I think the biggest block to retirement (pre-65) is health care costs. I have several friends around my age who are stuck working or just scraping by because of that. We're the people I was hoping Obamacare would actually help out. Bottom line is that I don't think you have to work until 70, but you have to plan things out, be willing to give some things up and be realistic about it. Most of the friends and family I have in Chicago (with the exception of my Mom) are making plans to book out of the city eventually - because it's just too crowded but mostly too expensive to live there if you aren't working a career job any more. The big question is... where's the next move? Ok, I'll get off the soapbox again. With fresh cranberries coming into season right now, I'd be into making my own juice and cranberry products over the supplements. It's really very easy to make juice - I was shocked. And you can adjust the sugar to your taste. Cranberry and some orange zest is delicious. I loved the apple/cranberry/pear juice I made and the strained pulp made a wonderful sauce that I portioned out and froze. And I think the cranberries are full of anti-oxidants and good for you stuff too. You may be on to something also with cutting back the cherry tomatoes. They are quite acidic. My Mom went crazy eating bing cherries when they were in season. Eating something like 5 pounds in a little over 2 days and surprisingly or maybe not so - she actually had problems too. That's sort of why I tossed a bunch of my tomatoes out too - didn't want to be eating a pound a day even if they were low calorie.

I did sign up for another online class - this one is about writing for magazines. Thought it might be interesting, we'll see. God knows I have enough magazines here to read Guess I'd better get off here and get to work. Floors to wash, furniture to dust and some general tiding up to do.

Hellos to the rest of the Worldlies

I don't think Jen was trying to insult anyone with her comment. Don't forget she's probably pretty frazzled and distraught dealing with Mel's illness. She has no way of knowing who's been calling Mel, and I agree it's probably people from her building, but since Annie called the nursing home one day and then I called the building office the next I'm not surprised she suspected the Worldlies. The woman I spoke to at the office doesn't want to be bothered with multiple calls either, but she did say it was okay if I call again in a couple of weeks and I'll do so. And of course I'll pass on anything I learn at that time.

Gotta go. The brick workers fixing the building cladding have arrived at my level and the drilling is driving me nuts.

Back again.

Shad - I've written Mel a couple of letters. I too feel awkward around subjects like death/sympathy and terminal illness so I just opted for a chatty letter about what's going on - just like we'd post things. I hope it's enough, my intentions are sincere. Your dinner the other night sounded delicious. Did you make the honey mustard dressing yourself?

Ceejay - thanks for the biscuit review. Hope you have an enjoyable 10 days off.

Michelle - hope they can come up with a reasonable cost on the personal training. It is a good thing but as you say, pretty pricey.

Hi ladies -

Turns out, I'm going to be working from home today...and maybe tomorrow too. Santa got sent home from day care with a cough. The day care is affiliated with a vet office, and the vet there diagnosed him with a mild case of kennel cough. He's been vaccinating for it, but it turns out the vaccine while a good preventative measure is not always 100% guarantee that the dog won't get it.

So Santa is on antibiotics for the next two weeks. I'm hoping I'll be able to take him back to day care next week. I'm depressed that my baby is ill.

Do not read this post if you don't want to know the gender of the baby, however I cannot guarantee that I will not say something further down the line about it.




The new baby will be a BOY...and there was absolutely a little winkie dink, seen from various views.


I was not offended by Jen's message, just thought it kind of strange she said it to us. Oh well, her mind in probably in many places at the moment.

Awww, Annie, Congrats to you and to Sam and Chris!

THanks CHELLE...Sam is thrilled, as is Chris, she cried he grinned from ear to ear. Sam..Jacob, do you want a baby brother? Noooo hahahah

Annie
Congrats on the newest grandson. When my neice had her ultra sound done last year and sent me the picture I thought wow looks just her dad. And she still does. These new imaging devices are spectacular.

Michelle
Sorry Santa doesn't feel well but I know that hs will be taken well care of.

Laura
Yes, I think that high income bracket is for the "rich". I'm very conservative. I was also concerned about the 401K that we have at work. and if the stock market happened to take a dive. I've been tempted to pull out of it and put it into savings. But i will not do that yet. If it starts to lose then I will.

Happy
Let me know how you like those buscuits.

Shad Hope that Jen does set up a time to where she can call you.

--------------

Did a 25 minute cardio dvd with the BL and a 6 week ab for 30 minutes with Jillian. I was tired afterwards and thought I'd be sore this morning but thankfully just a bit stiff. I've cleaned the living room and bathroom, and ran the vacuum. and washed two loads of laundry. I really didn't need to do any of this but my friend is going to spend some time here. I told my aunt today that I'd be there to eat with them on Saturday but since B would be here I wouldn't stay.

Morning all,

Annie - good news. I am happy for you and your little family. Hopefully it will all come together and carry on as it should. Nice to have one of the kids dropping in for dinner once a week too. Nice that you and C spent the day together out on the water, even if the fish were not co-operating.

Michelle - hope Santa gets better soon. It's great that you can still work from home. Gotta love the technology. Working from home is the best. Also means that you can get over your tiredness somewhat as well.

Happy - the honey mustard sauce (according to the recipe and for 4 people) is as follows:

• 3 Tablespoons of salt reduced Chicken stock
• 3 Tablespoons of Honey mustard or seeded mustard
• 3 tablespoons of lite sour cream.

so that's the recipe but as you know they aren't always made to be followed. That particular recipe was from the CSIRO diet book. My take on it was that I didn't have any honey mustard, but I did have seeded mustard. So I put in 2 tablespoons of the mustard and 1 tablespoon of local honey that I picked up in the Northern Territory. It was nice. Not too mustardy and not too sweet. I hope you enjoy this new writing class. Did you get anything out of the other one you took?

Carla - I agree. Jen is just too wound up to be anything like a sensible person who thinks about how other people might take her words. At least we now have an idea about how things go with Mel and Jen. I'd love to just talk to Jen. However I don't think she has a phone apart from the ones she and Richie have inherited from Mel.

Laura - as far as the retirement fund goes, I think I will just stick to my original estimate. Work until 70 be dead by 74. Bah humbug. And I would predict that thanks to your stupid government not being able to come to terms with what would be good for the country rather than what's in it for me, we will have another dive on our superannuation accounts.
Hope that the cranberry and water intake will alleviate the symptoms. That can be painful.

Yesterday I went and had lunch with my niece and her daughter - my gorgeous great niece and introduced them to my new Princess. We had a nice couple of hours together. May there be many more of those. Also yesterday I had a chat with the accountant re this bloody trust fund. The lawyers have got hold of it and now it is nowhere near where I wanted it. It's a real pain. Think I might have to get in touch with him today to check out some new options. Freakin' heck.
Then I went out and watered the pots and now it has rained over night so I don't have to water the yard today. Which is good because I got my rates notice yesterday and the price of water is sky high. It just gets worse. Now as well as thinking about getting the guttering re-done, I have to think of ways to collect more water for the garden. I'll make some enquiries about recycling grey water as well. Something has to give. I want a vege patch!!!!

This weekend I am going to DB2's place to watch the last big footy game for the year, and to celebrate his birthday which is next week. The kids are providing dinner although I will take along something for dessert or a salad or something.

I've just finished breakfast this morning - recipe also from the CSIRO diet cookbook. I had Mexican eggs. It's basically a chunky tomato sauce with a bit of chili and a dose of cumin and you bake an egg in the sauce. I cut the recipe in half and have had it the last two days. It's actually quite nice. I am not a big chili fan, but I didn't put much in so it had a bite but wasn't overpowering. A real change from my usual cereal, fruit and yoghurt or toast and vegemite.

Right I had better get on with it. I've only got two days of Laura's abs challenge left and I sure won't be sorry to see it go. It is tough at the end. Have to go back to my walking challenge again for 30 days and see if I can still run a bit. Todays list is not big. Just a few things that I will get on with this morning so that I can have a rest and read this afternoon. It's cool and overcast today. Lovin' it.

TGIF yeah TGIG yeah!!! and PF-Pay Friday!!!

Colder than I like it this morning, however the moon was full and beautiful on the way into work. Almost stopped and took a picture of it with my phone, but didn't want to be late to work.

Am meeting up with some buddies from the prior job for lunch today. Have not seen them in almost two years. Yikes They probably won't recognize me as I have gained 35 lbs since seeing them last. Kind of embarrassed to even meet up with them...

Tomorrow is lil man's birthday and party. I am making a cheeseball, braunsweiger ball, deviled eggs and bringing tiny little weinies in sauce that you make with the grape jelly and chili sauce. Sam is having it at 4 pm so that C can be there as he works on Saturdays.

SHADDIE...Happy birthday to DB2!! Man your water prices are crazy. My plumber son fixed both of our toitie as they were double flushing every time. Our water bill cut in half this last time. Sometimes when I think about retirement and money for the future I get sick to my stomach. It is just ridiculous, I too, will work till 70 then die at 74. bleh

CEEG...have fun at the Aunts and visiting with your friend. Funny we clean our house like mad women when visitors are coming.

CHELLE....how is Santa feeling? My co-worker was saying her little doggie, a snauzer name Newman, had the poopies and was a mess when she got home from work the other day and had no idea what caused it. I haven't asked her this morning how he is doing yet.

HAPPY...Sam will have a mega ultrasound at 20 weeks that is the 3D thing, that will be the most positive result. Altho the one from yesterday there was no denying the winkie dink. lol Good luck with your new class, who knows some day you might be writing for Cosmo mag or something.

LAURA....sorry to hear you are still having issues with the UTI. THey can be tricky. My son had UTI when he was about 2 years old and both times he had it, it settled in his lungs and got pnuemonia. SHeesh, take good care of yourself, drink that cranberry juice and water. slurp slurp...

Make it a fabulous Friday ladies of the World!!

Hugs and Loves.

Morning all. TGIF!!

Annie – Congrats on the grandson to come! Now to get going on picking names! Enjoy your lunch with your former co-workers. I know the feeling of being self-conscious about weight gain when you’re seeing people you haven’t seen in a while…but then that’s over with shortly after saying hello and you can just enjoy each other’s company, unless weight gain/loss is a topic you always talk about when you get together, LOL.

Ceejay – Good job on the exercise. Enjoy the time w/ your family and your friend during you time off. Yeh, I suppose the figures they quote for retirement needs might be for wealthy people... But I just get nervous because even if there’s retirement savings, a pension, and perhaps social security and medicare, there’s still all kinds of expensive stuff to pay for – dental and vision care, new cars, etc. You’re much closer to your retirement, so you're probably smart in considering less risky investments, but I don’t think the puny interest rates on savings accounts are even keeping up with inflation these days!

Shad – Nice you got to spend time with your niece and the grand-nieces. Re water conservation – I’ve see a few people around the neighborhood with rain barrels hooked up to their downspouts. I’ve read too about people who recycle the “gray water” from their washing machines. Makes sense if the climate is getting dryer or droughts more frequent. You’re almost there with the abs challenge! I have to say, I was soooo ready for that to be finished by the last 10 days! I’m not usually one for highly flavored/spiced foods at breakfast, but those Mexican eggs sound yummy…for lunch or dinner, lol.

Happy – Hah, yeh, I suppose I’ll be lucky if there’s still any SS in existence by the time I get around to retiring – and who knows about my employer's pension plan. I’m not all that interested in doing any active management of investments other than doing the homework on allocations by class/type and keeping them balanced. I wouldn’t even try to do any timing of the markets - they're way to sensitive these days! Until I get much closer to retirement age, I’ll just roll with the ups and downs. I do agree that moving to a less expensive (and more beautiful) area is very desirable to me. I suppose living in a more remote area includes higher prices because the big chain stores aren’t there, but I didn’t think about the fact that you get seasonal tourists and even higher prices to go along with them. Foods/drinks using fresh cranberries which you make and know what’s in them certainly sound better in terms of taste and health, but the idea of swigging cranberry juice still doesn’t appeal to me, and I don’t know if adding it to seltzer or combining it with another juice limits its effectiveness. Supplements sound easier to me. However, the big thing is that the doc reported that they sent my sample out to be cultured and nothing grew – so I apparently don’t even have an infection. And I haven’t had one in many years, so I'm generally not prone to them. So I’m not sure this course of treatment is really right for me. I will try to keep guzzling water though.

Carla – I hope the drilling on your building is done now. That sounds like a real headache in the making.

Michelle – I hope Santa is coughing less now. Geez, I thought the vaccine would prevent that. Then again, I’m almost positive I had a flu shot last fall and ended up with the flu in January…Are you working from home again today?

Hi Susie!!
===
Nothing much to report. I walked between home & the train station both ways yesterday because it was rainy in the morning. I didn't ride my bike or walk today because I was running late, so bf dropped me off. Daylight savings time ends Nov. 3rd, so I have 2 more weeks of cycling to/from the station. Then it's back to walking.

Nothing going on tonight. Bf is going to the gym with a friend, so I might ride along with him and hit some of the stores in the big strip mall where the gym is. First there's Walmart where I can get the cranberry pills and whatever else I think of. Then there's a Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Aldi, Sally Beauty Supply, Petco, Famous Footware, etc. Or I could just sit around at home and be a couch potato.

Okay, with all the interruptions (it's that dang work again!), this has taken forever. Everyone have a good weekend!!

Happy - How cool that you're taking an online writing class. I'd love to hear more about it and maybe get the link from you so I could sign up. It's so good that you and Eric planned well for your retirement. Any fun plans for the weekend?

Ceejay - I hope you enjoy lunch tomorrow and have a good time with your friend while she's visiting.

Annie - I'd say that 7 fish is a good catch. There were many times when my ex and I would be on a lake all day and not get a nibble.

Shad - glad you had a nice time with your niece and great-niece. Hope you have a good time with your DB2.

Laura - Are you going to see Gravity this weekend? I've found that gym memberships are typically cheaper than purchasing punch cards of classes...but it all depends on where you feel comfortable and what you like doing.

My appointment with the trainer last night was good. I wish there was more time spent working out and less time trying to sell me a package of sessions that I can't afford right now. But I did learn some good exercises. We focused on conditioning and core. So we started with exercise ball squats (where you have an exercise ball between your back and the wall, and then you slide down into a squat. Then we did an exercise where I laid on my back with my knees bent, arms bent up in front of my chest. The trainer put a much smaller exercise ball on my tummy, and it was my job to curl up my upper and lower body and squeeze the ball as hard as I could between my elbows and knees as if I was trying to pop it. It doesn't look like much, but it's very difficult. Then he had me get on the treadmill and without turning it on, I had to move the belt as fast as I could by walking and really pushing it with my feet. That was hard too. Then he had me take a basketball put it high over my head and slam it on the ground as hard as I could. Another tough one. All in all a good workout...but I can't afford the $70/hr that the trainers charge.

Santa is home today with my step-mom and step-brother. He's coughing more last night and this morning. Poor little guy. I hope the antibiotics kick in soon. He and I are going to have a relaxing weekend. I'll do some cleaning, laundry and some writing. I wish I could work from home today...but my boss said that yesterday was a one-time thing and contractors aren't allowed to work from home. :-(

Annie - I know what you mean about being self-conscious about weight gain when seeing people you haven't seen in awhile. I was like that last December when I came to CA for a visit and I was at my heaviest weight ever. But Laura's right...after the initial hello, I was so enjoying myself that I forgot all about my size.

Laura - Yep, it's difficult to find any kind of savings that keeps up with inflation. That's why my dream is to become a best-selling writer so I can work from home (with Santa by my side) and earn enough to at least live modestly...like my fave author Tom Ryan. Definitely keep guzzling water. Also, do you have enough good bacteria in your gut? If not, you might try a probiotic like Kefir. Kudos on your ambition to do all those errands. The past week (especially the past day) has been so stressful, couch potato-ing sounds really good to me. Although after work and this weekend, I will either force myself to the gym (and leave Santa in the car if my step-mom or step-brother aren't available to watch him), or I'll do a Jillian Michaels DVD.

Shad - Water conservation is very important in CA, where there are way too many people and way too little water. A lot of the cities and counties around here use gray water to water street landscaping and parks. And in southern CA, which in many areas is practically a desert, a lot of people landscape with xeriscaping (drought tolerant plants). But vege gardens do need water. Rainwater would be okay...but is gray water okay to use for plants that will be consumed?

Much love to all,

Hi kids,

Michelle - check out ed2go dot com. They have a pretty big selection of classes - particularly writing classes done in affiliation with several universities. The classes are $99USD each - so I consider them affordable. Search on writing. There are a number of classes and it sounds as if we have similar interests so I'm sure you will find more than a class or two that you can find useful. Classes are 6 weeks long and they have several sessions going on so you can fit them around your schedule. What is the issue with Santa? Does he not like to be alone in the house that you have to put him in daycare? Did he just get used to having other pups or you or the ex in the house? I'm a little concerned with the cats too - DH would rather leave them in the house for a short weekend trip and I'm concerned the little one will go bonkers being left alone. Hope Santa's meds kick in soon - I didn't realize until we were talking to the vet that I guess animals are pretty sensitive being in a group environment like a shelter or daycare. Worse than preschoolers with runny noses - I guess they can easily pass things to one another Guess we need doggie and kitty masks and puppy paw sanitizer Wow 70 bucks an hour for a trainer??? Maybe you need to reconsider that writing career in favor of a gym I'm sure the gym gets a cut of that rate, I wonder if you could get a trainer on your own - the nice thing is that they push you harder and give you some options you might not have thought of but yikes that's a lot of money.

Laura - I think more companies are offering a (you pay for) extra service to the brokerage companies to monitor and manage your investments. My last company just came out with that option. It's good for people who don't want to deal with the financials - geez there are just TOO MANY options to pick from. As I said, I'm lucky DH will watch things, otherwise I might have considered something like that as I am too skittish to make any money since I tend to be ultra conservative which is not a good thing either. You can't make any money keeping your dollars in a pass book saving account or CD at .000000001 percent return. I guess the trick is to not have all your eggs in one basket and mix your investments a bit between growth (stocks), spreading the risk (mutual funds) and low risk products like bonds. Even if you aren't an active investor, it's key to watch your savings and rebalance the funds as needed. The market is doing pretty good for the most part right now let's hope it stays that way for a long time. Ugh - my least favorite time of the year - autumn daylight savings time. I can't see well driving at night and I hated chasing the waning daylight these last few months of the year. Good for you for walking back and forth between the train station and home. And then again to the train station and office too? That's a good hike for the day. Glad that you don't have an infection but how frustrating as to what's the underlying reason for your discomfort? Sorry about the cranberry juice suggestion - I forgot you don't like it. Not sure if you'd get the same results if you mixed it with apple and pear to cut the taste. Have fun shopping - shop for me as I have nothing here and must live vicariously through you

Annie - congrats on a baby grandson for Lil Man. Will he be LM2? At least Sissy can reuse some of the stuff she already has - especially the clothing they wear in the beginning - like maybe only once or twice before they grow out of it. Will be interesting to see how Lil Man takes to sharing the spotlight with his new baby brother. How cool will it be to see a 3D picture? Glad to hear that everyone is doing fine - that has to be a relief. I know what you mean about the moon looking so pretty. There's just something about the wee hours of the morning when the night skies are so clear and pretty. Although I hated getting up early, one of my jobs required me to be in the office at 7am so I enjoyed the pretty early morning skies on the way to work and the best part was watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan from my office. I loved the peace and quiet of the early morning - until that got broken by some executive calling me and ranting about how he couldn't figure out how to use his computer Funny your comment about writing for Cosmo - don't think so. I had to turn in my Cosmo card when arthritis prevented me from wearing high heels any more Now I'm more apt to write for AARP but that's ok - I'll take pay from anyone. I hope you have a fun lunch with your friends - I can understand your feelings about seeing them when you've gained a bit of weight but as the others have said - just focus on the pleasure of the company you will keep. You only get to feel self conscious if you are going to a try out for a bikini model for next year's Sports Illustrated magazine

Shad - thank you for the recipe. I am liking the grainy, seeded mustard - developing my taste for mustard which at one time I really hated. I would probably do the honey and mustard combo myself as I have purchased a few bottles of honey mustard and didn't like a lick of them. One thing I did love and of course once they caught wind of that they stopped making it - was cranberry mustard. I think that's what got me to starting to introduce mustard into my life - so yummy on turkey sandwiches. Glad to hear you had a good time with the niece and kidletts. Hope that continues - they grow so quickly and are adorable at a tiny age. Happy birthday to DB2 - hope your team wins and the eatins are good. Sounds like you are back on the CSIRO plan - I think we tend to drift to the plan that works best for us so I have given up on the gimmicky stuff. I'm not sure I'd like the chili with the eggs but I can certainly see and have actually had aigs with a Mexican salsa which I totally love. Eggs and tomato products go quite well. Now you've made me hungry. To your question about the writing class - yes, I actually picked up some pretty good tips and learned some stuff - what I like about these classes is that they give you practical information on not only crafting your writing, but also how to actively pursue trying to sell some of your work. This last class I took actually spurred me to this one - I just took a break over the summer from studies as I knew I would not have time to work on it. Which was good thinking because I did not know my Mom was coming for an extended visit. That really would have put a wrench in the works if I had a class going when she was here. That's a crime what you pay for utilities. Why is the water so high? I thought you went from draught to near flooding conditions the last few years? Is it because it's so erratic? I remember you talking about recycling your gray laundry water for your outside plants. That was really a surprise to me because I guess we take it for granted out this way although I have never made it a habit to be wasteful with water in any regard.

Ceejay -sounds like you have been a busy bee. Sometimes it's good to have company - gives us an extra boost to tidy the place up. Hope you have a good visit with your friend.

Hi Carla

I did make some headway on the paper trails I have here. Then I called my sister and while I was working while on the phone all I could do was sort. The actual review of the contents was too intensive to allow me to talk, read and think at the same time. We got off the phone to make supper then afterwards she tried to video call me on FB. That worked fine for video but we could not hear each other so we had to call back on the phone to hear each other And then a little while later she was on FB and I posted some old photos which she totally enjoyed. So I spend a good part of the day with my sister. I will continue more today - making headway - it's slow but I am making steady progress. I also have a new lesson today so that's about 2 hours of work. Not sure if / where we will be going to dinner tonight. I'm ok with the typical Friday fish fry. They are talking about the possibility of light snow tomorrow. Already???? Actually it's getting near that time like it or not. Time to go make some lunch. Have a good weekend everyone.