Ellen
You snuck in on me. Your day's are busy also. Roast in the crock pot sounds good.

Good Morning Chicklets.....

Uneventful night again....starting putting things back on the walls. Painting has been done for over a week so thought I had best get at it.

This morning's ride to work was crazy. Had to stop twice to go potty. Then the traffic was awful. Found out that they are closing the bridge next Monday where I exit to come to work. Will have to find an alternate route. I will be able to get on the HW when I go home as the entrance ramp is before the bridge. Rather get home faster than get to work faster..lol Alternate routes will most likely add about 10 mins to my morning travel time. Blah..envious of Laura's train system. No busses this way either.

ELLEN....your sleeping habits sound like mine. I fall asleep pretty good, just cannot stay asleep. blah Usually end up on the couch watching I Love Lucy or some silly stuff. I love roast in the slow cooker...what time is dinner?

MELLIE...hope the tummy gets better. For a few days there I was living on Pepto Bismal. The older we get the more issues we have. Sheesh.

CEEG.......dentist was just a cleaning and all teeth are good to go. Probably won't here from the interview for a while...Humana is slow. Good for you on riding the bike....

PATTY...I feel for you on the dating stuff...just don't settle and wait for the perfect person for you.

Hope everyone is in a happy place today, feeling awesome, and good news comes your way. Hugs to all the sistas.

Morning all.

Annie - Haha, car keys in the freezer. So I'm not the only one not paying attention sometimes! Boo for the bridge work and the awful traffic. I'm pretty happy to not have to drive to my job, even though the time can be long. Well, at least I have about half the time to myself to relax during the commute. I too fall asleep easily, but if I wake up I sometimes have trouble getting back to sleep. Lately I seem to wake 30 - 60 min before the alarm.

Ceejay - Did you avoid the pizza last night? Bf and I ended up having it! Just sounded good. He suggested his favorite place in the next suburb over and wouldn't you know it, it was 2 for 1 night. We ordered two small pizzas and for half of one I chose mushroom and fresh tomato - yum. Tried to not eat too much and felt I was successful, but I also ate a few small pieces of the pepperoni and the sausage bf ordered. We brought home a LOT of pizza.

Ellen - Alright another couple people doing silly things when distracted! I'm definitely not alone. Mmm, roast. Sounds good. Having eaten pretty much anything I want for so many years, anything under 1600 calories/day sounds impossible. How do people do it??? I'm just too self-indulgent. How helpful are you - switching out water filters and cutting hair.

Patty - I had no idea there was anything like rapid transit in the Dallas area, and I have some family there! My train commute is pretty comfortable. It's a rare occasion when I don't get a seat, so I'm content. Sorry to hear about the breakup, but good for you not turning to food to get over it!!

Mel - Feel better soon!!

Hellos to Shad, Happy & Michelle!
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Bf's mom was under the weather, so we skipped the movie. As I told Ceejay, bf & I ended up going out for pizza. After that was the library. Bf dropped me off at home and he went to pick up my eye drop rx's. I fed doggy and watched the finale of DWTS. Such a close competition, I could have seen any of the three pairs winning it. I think the next season is going to be dwts all stars/favorites. Interested to see who will compete.

Woke up around 4:30 am with a sore throat. Dang, I sure don't need to get a cold! I took a zinc lozenge and will continue. I'll keep drinking tea and water for the soreness because I really don't want to take drops for that.

Nothing much else to report. The boss will be out on vacay starting Friday, but til then she's in crunch mode, which means all of us are, hahaha.

TTFN!

Happy Hump Day ladies -

I am taking Friday off (my company gives us Friday afternoon, and I'm taking the morning off). I have a face-to-face interview with a recruiting agency. Hopefully, I'll make a great impression and they'll have lots of positions that I'm well qualified for.

I learned that the company I applied for that is 5 minutes away (where my co-worker is married to the hiring manager) is looking for someone with more Team Lead/Supervisory experience than I have. Well, they have my resume and a great recommendation from my co-worker...so if something else comes up that doesn't require Team Lead experience, I'll have a good chance. I met with my career coach yesterday, and we reviewed my resume and discussed interviewing.

I've got to do something for my stress levels though. I am really being beyond snarky to DH and DMIL. They understand I'm under a lot of stress at work...but it's no excuse for being a total beotch.

DH is getting better, though he overdid it yesterday and was exhausted by the time I got home. I suggested he rest today.

This weekend I'll be finishing the weed whacking that I started last weekend, and hopefully I'll get some time to just relax outside in the nice weather. I also have housework to do (always). And of course, website work that I didn't get to last weekend, and job search stuff.

=====================

Shad - Pokolbin seems very nice and quaint. With all the wineries, it reminds me of Napa Valley in CA. Bummer about the TV in the cabin. I don't watch many reality shows. Though I have watched Dancing with the Stars this season since Green Bay Packer Donald Driver was on it - and he won!! He was very, very good...and he's truly a genuine and kind person. I met him once before a Packer game. Very nice man - and a pretty decent bod too!

Mel - How ridiculous that the architects measured your apartment, but didn't ask for your comments or suggestions!! Maybe it's just my IT background...but you ALWAYS get input from the users. Sorry that you woke up with tummy issues. I hope you feel better soon.

Happy - I'm glad to hear the family got there ok and that you're enjoying your visit with them!

Annie - I'm sure your Dad did not mean you were fat. It's just that some people, not saying you sista, don't look good when they're too skinny. Like some of those actresses (one of the Olsen twins for example) got way too skinny and looked like heck. Good for C for buying his route. Good for you for having a lazy Sunday. Sounds wonderful! Congrats on aceing the interview! I love how you mentioned a specific risk that you aced. And then asked the question..."what if anything would keep me from getting this position?" That question might take more guts to ask than I have...but it's a great question! Well done. And I love how you responded that they should take a risk with you! You're an inspiration to me, sis!

Laura - Sounds like you had a very nice long weekend, even if you did have to work remotely on Monday. I love "big breakfasts", and only enjoy them once every 2 or 3 months - more often when DMIL is visiting. My sympathies go out to your friend. It's so tough losing a parent...and I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to lose a spouse. The worst year I had was from Fall 2003 to Fall 2004 when I lost my dad, then my mom 3 months later, then my dear friend 8 months after that. That was a sucky year to say the least. The "scenery" of the Tom Selleck movie sounds wonderful!! Speaking of New England scenery though...I've gotten to watching Wicked Tuna (similar to Deadliest Catch, I guess). It's about tuna fishermen out of Gloucester, MA...and I lived there as a child. So I love to see the scenes around town. Too funny about finding the missing cheese stick in the hall closet! I've put the milk away in the cereal cabinet too. I'm not sure if we'll be seeing The Avengers. I do want to see Dark Shadows though. As for DWTS, I also felt like any of the three pairs could've won it. They were all really good. I hope the sore throat goes away quickly and doesn't turn into a cold.

Ceejay - So sorry to hear about your cousin and his wife. I hope they heal quickly. My DH's boss had to have carpal tunnel surgery in both wrists...one at a time though as she has a young son to care for. I'm glad they eventually found and fixed the leak without having to go on a boil order. We voted in our primary last earlier this month (or was it last month). A week from Tuesday, there's a vote in Wisconsin to recall our current governor. Have a wonderful weekend with your sister and bil.

Patty - I've been thinking a lot about you lately. I hope you're doing well. Sorry to hear the relationship with the guy didn't work out, but I'm so proud of you for not gaining! I was lucky that DH and DMIL planted all the flowers...and all I had to do were the veggies, which went in last weekend. Like you, I enjoy listening to the Aussie and NZ accents. My former boss in CA was from Christchurch, NZ...what a great accent.

Ellen - I agree with Laura. I don't know how you do it all. Bravo to you, my friend, for juggling work and all the kiddies. Good for you on the eating and walking. I think the resume writing went well this past weekend and my resume is good. I'm waiting for additional input from my career coach before I sent it out to too many places though. Bummer that you couldn't sleep last night. I hope you make it through the day ok. I love slow cooker dinners...slow cookers make life so much easier.

Okay, back to work for me.

Much love and many hugs,

Good morning, ladies!

I guess I'm the first one in today. I was woken up by job stress/anxiety at 3 am...and couldn't keep my mind from racing. So I decided to get up and I sent off 3 resumes/cover letters, which helped ease my anxiety. I then gave the dogs their meds and went back to sleep for an hour or so.

I'm hoping the day goes by quickly since it's my Friday! Then I've got a nice 4 day weekend to look forward to!

Last night, I hemmed a new pair of slacks for my meeting with a recruiting agency tomorrow, and tonight I'll complete their online documentation.

Here's to a great day and a wonderful weekend ahead!

Much love,
Michelle

GOOD MORNING CHICKS

TODAY BEGINS THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND FOR ME.
RIGHT AFTER THE MEETINGS THAT IS.
2 PEOPLE HAVE ALREADY TAKEN OFF!!!

I KNOW YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHEN I SAY I NEED A BREAK.
MY HEAD IS FULL TO OVERFLOWING RIGHT NOW.

SO I AM GOING ON A 5 DAY MENTAL "VACATION".
I'LL BE BACK ON TUESDAY.

SORRY I HAVEN'T READ ANY POSTS.
I'LL CATCH UP NEXT WEEK.

HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEKEND.

Mel
If anyone deserves a five day mental vacation it's you.

Michelle
Good luck today with the meeting of the recruiting agency. Something will be there for you. Sorry you are dealing with all this stress.

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Today begins my 4 day week end. Woke up at 5.30 p.m. I did want to get outside later but the farmers are spraying chemical from the air. More than likely the chemical that set off my last big allergy attack. We have numerous rice fields very close to the city limits.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow afternoon. My sis and her hubs will be here. Have a jillion and one things to do today.

Good Morning All Y'all...

Just to let you know...my computer at home took a major dump last night, so along with MELLIE take a 5 day mental break, I will be taking an unwanted 5 day computer break. Looking into a new puter but will probably not get it for a couple of weeks. All that said, I will only be posting from work. Today is my Friday also. I get lil man tonight thru Saturday morning. Sis and Chris are going to the 500 track for carb day on Friday. Neither will be in any condition to take care of the babe once they get home Friday evening.

HAPPY...hope your family visit has been a success this week.

CEEG....have fun with your family this weekend.

SHADDIE...come out, come out, whereever you are...lol

MELLIE....hope you get your mentals back in order.

CHELLE...good luck on the resumes out/recruiting fiirm/job search...you will be great~!

PATTY...hope all is well in your corner.

ELLEN...have a great weekend, be sure to find some YOU time.

LAURA...have a great weekend and relax some.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!! Remember our soldiers in your prayers...

Love, Hugs and Prayers....

Morning all.

Michelle - For job hunting today, I've always heard it's very much who you know, so getting an "in" with a company is great, and I hope it pans out. Good luck with your recruiting agency interview tomorrow! Good you made your bout of insomnia productive! Have a wonderful rest of your Friday off, and enjoy your long weekend.

Mel - I agree w/ Ceejay - if anyone deserves a break, it's you. Hope the meetings today go well - will elevator replacement be on the agenda?? Stay safe an enjoy your long weekend.

Ceejay - Hate to stay inside during the good weather, but it sounds like the best thing to do to ward off the allergies. It's going to be very windy today, so I'll probably limit my outdoor time too. Enjoy your long weekend.

Hellos to the rest of the gang! Anybody else have a long weekend - probably everyone but me. I have an off-site seminar on Tuesday, so that'll be a change of pace, but not like having an extra day off...
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Not much to report. I'll probably be entering full-blown self-pity mode sometime today. I woke up around 4:30 for a bathroom visit and the sore throat was still there. I did get manage to get back to sleep, which was nice. I'm having some congestion now, but I'm not yet in that sloppy runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing stage. I'm prepared - have the cold meds with me. And throat lozenges too. I have the zinc drops with me, but I think I'm done with them. How bad is it when you'd almost rather have the cold than suck on another one of those vile-tasting things??

Didn't exercise or do much of anything after work. Nothing planned for tonight. Bf and I were going to pick up a patio set tonight that we found on craigslist, but changed our mind about it - a lot of paint had chipped away and we decided we didn't want to try and do touchups on it. Good deal too...oh well, we'll keep looking.

Last day in the office for the boss. Tomorrow our office closes at 3:00 and there's a special 3:10 express train right to my stop. You know I'll be on it.

Weekend plans...nothing exciting. Bf wanted to have my friend and her sis over for a cookout, but they're traveling back to her deceased dad's hometown to spread ashes and take care of a few things. She invited us to go with, but neither of us are up for a long car trip. I'll probably buy some veggie plants and flowers. If I'm feeling up to it I'll till the veg patch and plant that. I also want to remove a few hosta from a spot near the patio and replace them with flowers. And there are 3-4 flower pots I want to plant.

Our hydrangeas are again bloomless. So what happened last year to make them bloom so wonderfully? That was the year we had the blizzard, and I'm thinking perhaps all that snow acted as insulation against the cold, and protected the buds. Or maybe it was all the moisture from all the melting snow... Might take this up with someone at the botanic garden or the university ag program extension service because if I only get blooms in extraordinary circumstances, I'll do away with them. The more I think about it, I'd rather have a fountain and flower plantings in that spot instead.

Okay, enough rambling. Work awaits.

Annie - Bummer about your computer!! They sure are a major PITA. Enjoy your time with the lil' guy.

Hello Ladies,

Yesterday I came home and had no internet. My router had gone out. My evening was soo long with it. What did we do before internet? Oh, ya I remember, go out side... Anyway it's back today. So ready for weekend. I'm taking a extra 2 days, so I'll have 5 days off.. whoo, hoo.. I'm hoping to clean out my spare room..

Michellez - wishing you luck on this interview. The one thing I learned when I was on a interview team was to be positive. If they ask you something you don't know. Tell them your a fast learner...

Oops.. someone at door.. neighbor.. BRB..

Good Morning everyone!!
Just a quick post, I keep trying to type and my 3 yr old keeps climbing on my lap to “play the typing game” It is pretty funny because if you watch her she is using both hands and looking at the screen…I think she types better than I do.
Nothing big is planned for this weekend. I have to work today, Saturday and Sunday, But I am off for the holiday. Whoo hoo!!! Doing better with the calories, just not motivated for exercise. The kids are out of school at the end of next week, so I am not motivated to get a new schedule to change it in a week.

Hope Everyone has a great Holiday!!

Morning all. TGIF!!!

Patty - Glad you got your internet back. I don't spend tons of time on it in the evenings/weekends, but it's sure inconvenient when you don't have it. Enjoy your 5-day weekend!!!

Ellen - Your 3 yo sounds so cute! I don't know about regular computer keyboards, but I sure know that everyone 20's and under is better at texting and other cell phone typing than me, LOL. Wow, end of the school year sure came fast! It must be a major adjustment for you to have the whole brood around the house for the summer. Do they have the same level of organized activities in the summer as during the school year?

Shad - You must be awfully busy this week since you've been scarce! Have you gone home for the weekend?? Hope you're having a good one.

Happy - Just saw a few of your blurbs on fb from this week - sounds like a good time is being had.

Michelle - Hope the interview goes well today. I'm sure your skills and attitude will reflect favorably on you!

Ceejay - Enjoy the time with your sis & BIL this weekend.

Hellos to the rest of the you! Hope everyone is getting a good start to their weekends - many of you with LOOOONG ones to enjoy. Stay safe and remember our soldiers on Memorial Day.
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Did a BE workout last night and that was about it. I had borrowed a fitness ball exercise dvd from the library but wasn't in the mood to try it out. Bf had the AC on since it had gotten warm yesterday, but he shut it off in anticipation of a cool front coming through in the evening. Well, later evening came and it was still quite warm so he turned the AC back on. That cold front must have come through later - today is cooler and it feels great.

The saga with my old Schwinn continues. Seems they liked to have proprietary/non-standard parts on their bikes and so the tune up of the gear shifter, including new cables, wasn't so straightforward. Fifty more $$ for the special gear/cable part from a specialty bike shop... now I wish I'd foreseen bf's tendency to do nothing halfway and pushed harder to just ditch the old Schwinn & buy a $100 brand new Walmart bike! I should think with those bikes, while not the highest quality, parts would be standard (i.e., easy to find!) and inexpensive. I was walking home from the train the other evening and a neighbor doing the same joined me and asked if I'm not riding the bike anymore, LOL.

One positive thing that may come out of this is that the guy at the bike shop gave bf the card of a man who restores old Schwinns and might take the two other decrepit Schwinns we own off our hands. One of the bikes, the older Schwinn Breeze, had odd-sized wheels, and so the tires bf bought for it are at least worth something, and apparently the original seats are also of some value.

Nothing much else to report. This cold is a PITA, but I'm slogging through. Slept well without any Nyquil last night.

A lot I can do this weekend as far as shopping and gardening chores. It's going to be hot, so I'll have to plan & time it accordingly.

Okay, just rambling away but there's work to be done here. At least we get out a little bit early today - office closing at 3 pm.

See ya 'round.

Morning all,
Been a bit flat tack round my way and 12 or 14 hour days are not unusual. But I am on a plane this morning to go home for the weekend. Back here again on Monday night. Not long but better than not at all. I have my greatnieces 3rd birthday party today and I might just get in for the end of it. DS2 and new girlfriend are going as family representation and should be as of now scouring the shops for a birthday present for the wee lass.

I had a great compliment yesterday. One of my old trainees came up to me during a break and asked me how old I was. I told him I just turned 63 and he tells me that I doing extremely well and don't look anywhere near my age. I like that bloke. McDuck is his name. Well it isn't but that is what he gets called.

I was complaining to a work colleague that one of the things I was hoping to see this year was some Autumn colour. Unfortunately they went just straight from summer to winter. However this morning I came down the valley on a different road and low and behold there are some trees at Cessnock and Kurri Kurri which are putting on a great display. Not many of them but great colours. So hopefully I will get some photos over the next few weeks to set your souls on fire.

You'll have to excuse no personals at this time. I'm getting paged for my flight. I'd better go and get on it before they go with out me.

Sick 12 yr old, sick 3yr old and work later. Happy Saturday!!