Annie
Hugs, good thoughts and prayers are coming your way. Reach out and call one of us if you need to.

Happy
How was bingo?

Laura
I'm dreading next week as colder temps are coming this way. My shoulder is much better today but it still bothers me when I lift something or move the wrong way. I still take anti inflammatory drugs if needed I just don't double up on them like I was doing.


Hi Shad and Susie

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Decided that I was in the Christmas spirit and put some decorations on the tree and some on the mantle. I like having the fire place for decorations.
I had to move the toys for the little ones to the office. Our 3 year old has been asking where the toy room was. This will make it easier on me cleaning up behind them. They are getting to the point that they would rather watch a video.
I just learned on the news that city utilities kiosk has been hacked. Thankfully I don't use that but the app has also been hacked. I do have them take out my payment from my checking account so I've gone in and changed the password to that account and to the bank account.

Should be getting on with some of the chores, but can't be bothered today. I have cooked up the veges for the dogs dinners and the rice. It's a matter of blending all the bits together now but I don't want todo that until night falls otherwise I will have flies in the house. I did get out fairly early and do some digging and some poisoning along fencelines. And I did the stumps of the old fence again because that is not yet dead.
It's hot and humid. We are supposed to get rain today and tomorrow but looking at the weather forecast that doesn't seem too likely just now. Darn weather. Think I will come back as a meteorologist because they get paid to get it wrong.

I have one of the great nieces coming to be with me this coming week. Her mum will be at work and her dad away on shift so she will stay with me during the day. She loves art and crafty things so I think there will be some baking going on and cake icing. I might see if I can introduce her to things like crochet and knitting - between the neighbour and I, I think we can get her to make something interesting in the coming week.

I found some strange fruit growing on my potato plants last week so I asked around the garden club and the answer came back that they were potato seed pods but were useless for the home gardener and added to that they were poisonous in their current state. So today I cut the fruit off and being a bit impatient dug up one of the smaller roots to see what the potatoes were like. I'll attach the photo at the end of the post. It's far to difficult to use Photobucket now. Nothing works as it used to.

Ceejay - Nice to know that someone is in the Christmas Spirit. This little black duck couldn't care less. Good that you took precautions with the hacking of the utilities account. Bloody hackers.

Laura - I often found that meatloaf was pretty bland when I made it. I haven't made it for a while. I used lots of herbs and some stock powder in it towards the end of making it because it was to my way of thinking pretty awful. Sad that beef has so little flavour these days.
Hope your sister is okay. Enjoy your shopping with your Mum.

Annie - get up, get dressed and get off the struggle bus. You can do this.

Happy - glad you enjoyed that writing class. Poor teacher. I do like Laura's idea of meeting them at a coffee shop occasionally. Laughter is always a good medicine.
I laughed at the thought of men going through a balleenogram. I once went to a Quota group meeting which was raising money for breast cancer. There was a politician (female) there. She was the State minister for health. She was giving us some details of the incidents of breast cancer deaths falling because of the free mammograms for all women over 40. She said that with the declining use of the mammogram plates, they were considering using them (with adaptations) for checking on mens testicular and prostate cancer. There were few men in the audience but the groans and gulps were very loud.

Hi Susie - guess you are back into long hours, hundreds of e-mails and death by power point again. Good thing you like your job.

Okay so I am off. I might do some more sanding in the laundry or maybe in the spare room, or I might just slope off and go somewhere. Oh right can't do that. The dog will arrive soon. DS2 starts work at 5.00am tomorrow so dog will come here tonight. Better get on with some food for him then. Geez wish the rain would come and cool down the place a bit.

Hi Everyone. I hope you haven't forgotten about me. I feel like I have been gone forever.

It took me all week to feel better. Today I feel like me.

Work was brutal this week. Not feeling well didnt help.

I made it to Friday and was told on Friday I got 5.6 percent raise and retained my 1 rating. My Director told me that I took on a lot this past year and I never missed a beat. I was so shocked to hear him say it. So the week ended on a good note.

Update with Layna's sewing project. She has worked with the lady who is teaching her the past two Saturday's for 4 hrs each time. The first time they layed out the pattern, and cut out the pieces for the underpinning and pinned it together.

Today they sewed it together and then made alterations where needed and matched up the pattern to those alterations. They plan to cut the material for the dress the next time. Which is in two weeks. She is making good progress and learning a lot. She is so happy and in awe as to what all it takes to make a garment to wear. This is a good experience and life skill for her.

I will come back tomorrow and do personals. I read through them all so I know wjat everyone as been up to.

I missed you all!!

Posting from my phone. Tomorrow is the hanging of the greens at church. Not looking forward to next week but need to help out sis and neice.
My shoulder is feeling better.
Shad
Sounds like you have your hands full. Sometimes i just want to sit all day.

Susie
Congrats on the raise. Glad you are feeling better.

Time to work on some personals.

Ceejay: Your picture of your Christmas decorations look so nice. It sounds like today you will be decorating as well. I would love to see pictures.

Laura:the one expense that can get me anxious is car repairs. It seems your BF has a plan in place so for now, it is on the back burner.

I am proud of you for getting back to exercise and I see you are logging on MFP. Keep it up.

I am starting back to exercise today now that I am feeling better. I will need to ease back into it. I really havent exercised in 3 weeks...and of course the scales show it.

I am glad your jeans fit. I always wash jeans only with jeans too.

Shad: did you mamage to find the cat and make it to the appointment?

Happy: it sounds like you are learning how to use your convention oven and it is going well for you.

I understand what you were writing about getting paperwork organized. I tend to get behind on it very easily too.

It sounds like you really connected with the ladies in your writing class. Maybe some of you will be together in the next one? I like Laura's idea that maybe you and the other ladies get together once a month or something.

Anne: I hate to hear that Sam sprained her ankle but glad to hear that was all to it.

I saw you posted you were having a rough moment...I am praying for you. You are smart to reach out when things start to get to you.

It is time for me to hit the shower so I can get to church. Havent been there in two weeks....and I so need to be there.

I did get my tree up last night and decorated the fire place. Today I will put the ornments on.

Good morning fine ladies,

I am sorry I have not been active - many things has disrupted my usual morning peace and quiet. For example, yesterday my email box was loaded with documents from the president of the Humane Society - about a dozen documents for the upcoming board meeting on Wednesday. So had to sort them and print them out and look over them ahead of time. As usual our agenda is packed with 3 times the amount of stuff we have time to cover and after 2 hours everyone is tired and bored and wants to leave if they haven't already so I don't know why she keeps cramming so much in. We really need to meet quarterly but most of the people whine about meeting twice a year so we'd never get them to show up 4 times. I clearly don't understand people signing up for something and then giving a minimal effort

Another morning I received a bunch of surveys they are putting together at the senior center in order to gather feedback and information that is critical to continued funding. I read through them as usual and found some typos that no one else caught. So sent back feedback on that.

And it was the end of the month so I had my paperwork for the Thrift Shop. People are making LOTS of errors. And then before I know it the morning is done with and I have to get off the computer to run errands or get something useful done.

So that being said... My foot has really been all out hurting me since last Thursday. I told D that I needed to sit all through bingo so I did the money collecting and paperwork tasks. I have been trying to stay off it as much as possible but I had about 10 loads of backed up laundry to take care of and I was running out of essentials so Friday and Saturday I did alot of laundry and still have 2 more loads since I don't like to do more than 3 a day with the septic system. Fortunately it's been very dry here so I could probably get away with 4 loads per day. Monday is supposed to bring driving rains with a cold front behind it turning the evening weather to snow We do need the moisture - it's been very dry and windy the past week - that is bad for wildfire danger which scares me to no end. Then come Wednesday our mild weather sweeps to the east and that cold blast settles in with temps only in the teens during the day and single digits at night. brrrrrrrr. I did buy a package of toe warmers (chemical warming packs that hunters use) on the recommendation of one of our favorite waitresses who said she initially used them when walking her dog but uses them all winter now as we were talking about hands and feet being like icicles.

Monday I go to the doctor and he better have a plan to fix this foot because I am over and done with this once and for all. I'm supposed to start working Monday afternoons at the Thrift Shop - should I need surgery to fix this tear, that will put a kink on things but it is what it is. I hate to do it over Christmas but I am not super Christmasy anyway so it won't much matter. I would like to get the expense into the current year where I have already satisfied my deductible. Anyway I get ahead of myself...

Friday we tried a new place just down the road from us. It's a small resort on the lake with a small bar and restaurant. We went for fish fry Friday. The food was really good - we will be back again. The owner came and sat and talked with us since we were the only ones there. Turns out she grew up a couple of miles south of me in Chicago. We reminisced a lot about growing up there and all the wonderful things that sadly are gone and how the city is not the place we'd want to be anymore which is why we are where we are They recently bought the place and are trying to build up a local clientele to hold them over the winter months. I know we are getting cold soon but the long range outlook so far is more dry than snowy and that's really bad for the bar and restaurant business as it keeps away the weekend snowmobilers and such. Last winter was a tough one for them too. I would say about half the locals I know don't go out to eat much which really hurts the local businesses. I do what I can to support them

On the political front I am so angry at the way Congress ramrodded that tax revision plan through in the most devious way. This is not a good sign for us little guys. I looked it up and my representatives are Democrats so they did not sign this travesty of a tax plan. I want to fling wet gooey mudpies at the idiot grinning faces of these government officials. Been in the corporate world long enough to know exactly who this piece of crap is going to benefit and it ain't us for sure.

Annie - hope you are doing ok girl. Please come back and let us know you are around. How is Sam doing?

Susie - I always figure that if you are not posting it's because you are buried under the avalanche of work. Especially when you had a lovely week off for vacation - sorry you spend it under the weather for the most part. Congratulations on the wonderful review and raise - that is a super increase now a days!!!! I am glad that they recognise just how valuable you are and the superhuman level of effort you put forth to keep all those balls you juggle in perfect rotation - well deserved!!! It would be a nice thing to meet with the writing class ladies but one comes from 90 minutes away, another one is an hour's drive and one lady is headed to California for her winter retreat so it's not likely that we will see each other again - particularly as the winter snows and bad driving may be just around the corner for the next 5 months.

All you ladies with your Christmas decorating are starting to make me feel guilty. Ok, wait... I'm over it. Yesterday we passed by 2 places that had real Christmas trees out for sale and there was a tiny bit of me that thought about getting one except I have a goofy set up in my main level and there is no real place to put one. Not even a small one. Except if I put it upstairs in my loft area and since that is the open space to 2 levels in the house, the heat rises up there which is not good for a real tree, especially coupled with the extreme dryness in our house. It would be better on the main level near the rather chilly big windows in the dining or living room space.

I'm glad that Layna is having such a good time with her sewing projects. Do the same Shad with your great niece. I have encountered many ladies who were taught some great skills like this as young children and grew up doing this. Consequently they do the most incredible work after years and years of experience. Layna - especially in this era of cheaply made clothing will be able to see for herself just how they cut corners and if she can alter things to fit herself, her own clothing will look 10 times better than the off the rack stuff. The lady I took the one crochet class from made the most amazing items - she has an online presence and I was awed at what she did - self taught too! So it's great that you are giving these young girls exposure to these things!!!

Ceejay - I'm glad your shoulder is feeling better. We had a big fireplace mantle in our home in Memphis and that was my favorite place to decorate also. I could put up a few things, it looked festive and cheery but didn't require 2 days worth of work to put it up and take it down. I saw your picture on FB and it looks very pretty!

Shad - I have not heard of poisonous potato buds but it makes sense. I know some light skinned potatoes turn green if exposed to the light - not poisonous but can make you uncomfortable if you eat them in that state. I hope you have fun with the great niece. Nice that you can enjoy time with her and it's not like she will wear you out like chasing around a toddler with abundant energy! I have noticed a distinct difference between store bought beef and that which I get from the farm. Much more flavor - the farm stuff I only use salt and pepper as a seasoning - good meat flavor. What do you mean declining use of mamogram plates? Do you have a different sort of test? I just had mine last week and they are still squishing them. I think they do use the newer 3D that is supposed to be more accurate than a person reading the films. And yes, no man will EVER allow his "junk" to be squished in between 2 plates and I certainly don't want to be the technician trying that You were perhaps talking about baking a cake with the great niece - do you want to turn the oven on when it's warm and humid?

Laura - I myself never liked oats in meatloaf - thought it was a bland filler although I wonder if you toasted them in a dry pan for a few minutes, perhaps it would improve their flavor. I use panko in meatloaf all the time but the best ever breadcrumbs I had were home made. I didn't have any stale bread so I popped a few slices in the toasted and then put them in the food processor to make the crumbs. OMG - it was the flavor of fresh toast. Heck with the meatloaf, I just wanted to eat the breadcrumbs Or maybe that's what I did when I needed breadcrumbs to top a mac and cheese casserole. In any regard, they were fabulous. How did you sister's knee surgery go? Most important things are to stretch that leg out and push the knee down to get her to straighten the leg out AND Ice, Ice baby. They are not kidding when they say to ice every hour for 18 hours or more. The ice reduces the swelling which is the worst part of the surgery in my mind because everything is tight and sore and pulling because of all the excess fluid. They also want you to start physical rehab as soon as possible after surgery so that things don't tighten up. Good luck to her Did you get your new jeans washed?

Bingo was ok. We had a decent - not big but a decent crowd. Everyone showed up to work so I was able to sit most of the time. I suggested to my partner that we should move the desk across the room because we can't see anyone coming in from outside and they could (unpleasantly) surprise us one day. He said I am paranoid and he doesn't want to move the desk. Said he is comfortable because he has his gun with him except it's in his man purse on the table and on top of that he keeps it in a zip lock baggie so that it doesn't get scratched with his other stuff in there. So I'm sure the shooter will politely wait while D finds his purse, unzips it, pulls it out of the baggie and then proceeds to (his words) BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM - fire off 4 quick rounds that will probably take out me, the wall and some innocent party because he can't hit the broad side of a barn although he is practicing and getting better. I have decided I need to write down this story before I forget because it's an amusing one... Oh the people you meet volunteering.

So, that's it for me. I have to reload the software on the dying computer at the Thrift Shop - the hard drive is failing again and I can't get the people I need to to agree to purchase a new one. DH ran a repair utility which reset the computer back to default and the anti-virus and Microsoft Office need to be reinstalled. Today would be a good day to do that because the shop is closed but I have other things I'd rather do. I think I will just do that tomorrow when I am working in the afternoon. There will be another cashier there - the person I am taking over for so I should have time to work on that.

Hope you are all having a nice Sunday.

Twas a pleasant sort of weekend. Saturday was go go go. Meeting at 9:00 am, Wanamaker (lil dinky town next to me) had a festival. Got home from that around noon and headed to the funeral home of my sponsor's mom. Her mom was born on Nov 29 and died on Nov 29, she was 87. Then home again. Samantha and I went and got the Christmas tree. 16.95 for a soft pine. Cute and very pretty. I had a 7.19 coupon off so pretty much 10 bucks for the tree. WHAT A BARGAIN. Got it in the stand and let it fall out the limbs over night. Church on Sunday morning then got a text from the boy's dad that Jacob had been up barfing all night. Went and picked him up. He seemed to be doing better the rest of the day so we decorated the tree with the boys. Video on FB. Then low and behold Jacob got up this morning before I left for work barfing again. Poor lil guy, my heart is breaking for him. Sam is keeping him home from school and doctoring him. Not much you can do for the stomach flu but let it run it course. Hope it doesn't go through the rest of the family. My immune system is down a bit as I am fighting a chest cold. Hack hack hack.

Had a bathroom issue just as I got to work on Friday and had to go home. Therefore I worked from home the remainder of the day. Of course I had to re-shower and do the laundry I wore to work. Life is never dull for me.

C has been "re-diagnosed". He is not bi-polar as suspected but has a personality disorder which according to his therapist is harder to treat and get past. Wonderful, just what I didn't want to hear. He is working very hard on himself and it does show. Frankly with me feeling like h*ll this past week I am just tired of everything. Sometimes I think I just should of stayed single, lived by myself and moved on. Never happy, always wanting the opposite of what one has, I guess if things were better I wouldn't feel that way.

HAPPY....there you go volunteering at the shelter again. May the force be with you. The weather is changing for us also. Today's high is 64 tomorrow 34. No wonder people cannot get healthy. Hope the doc has a plan for your foot. Always a battle of the body parts. I am right there with you. I, like you, am also disgusted with the gov't. I fear for our nation.

SUSIE..hope work slows down, you feel better and can get back to "YOU". Congrats on the nice raise and rating. Rock on....you deserve way more than that.

LAURA...meatloaf...hmmm. Used to make it with soda crackers or oats, but have switched it up since going keto. Now I use crushed pork rinds for the dry part and add another egg or two as the pork rinds can make it a little too solid and dry. It has taken some tweaking but I think I finally got it. My meatloaf ingredients differ from time to time depending on what is on hand. 1 lb beef, 1 lb sausage, usually maple sausage, onion, green pepper, sometimes carrot, ketchup, one tiny squirt of mustard, eggs, salt, pepper, sometimes a smidge of garlic powder, pork rinds or crushed soda crackers, mix, shape, put ketchup on top, bake in pan with a bit of water in pan, cover with foil, bake 375 for 50 minutes. Take foil off bake another 20-25 minutes. Til top is set, loaf is browned.

SHADDIE...I must say your potatos look yummy, wish I could eat them. Have fun with Rudger the dog. You know you love his entertainment, especially when he runs through the mud and jumps in the lake. Girls mostly like baking so that shall be fun for your niece.

CEEG....the church pics you posted on FB looked lovely. Nice job. Glad you shoulder is feeling better.

Make it a great week/night. Hugs

good morning all,

Very quick post for me as I have to hop in the shower and shave my legs before the doctor visit. I don't want him to think I have moldy fur growing on my legs Then going to pick up take out lunch at senior center and DH will drop me at the Thrift Shop for my afternoon shift - he's my Uber Man today as we are supposed to get bad weather this afternoon and it's now getting too dark for me to drive past 4pm-ish.

Annie - good to hear from you. God love you and prayers with C. That certainly sounds like a tough situation and something (forgive me if I'm being sexist) that would probably be harder to deal with on the guy side than if it was happening to you. Prayers that you see a clear path on what's best for you and strength to get through it. Certainly is a challenge... Your description of the Christmas tree almost makes me want one. Almost. I'm sure the boys are delighted. Your meatloaf recipe sounds yummy and flavorful.

Ceejay - I saw your church pics on FB - very lovely!!!

And I meant to say that your potatoes look so fresh and delicious too Shad. Love the red potatoes I do.

Ok, time to run - I wish I was home today to do things around here that need doing but that's for tomorrow.

Have a good Monday kids.

Morning, will try again. I wonder about this site or it may be my computer.
Niece and sis had a huge fight yesterday. Both are upset. Bil was caught in the middle and all this makes me wish I'd stayed in Arkansas. All in all my experience here has out weighed the bad so I'm not going to up and run back to Arkansas. I may go home tomorrow. I will stay and see if sis needs me to go get her vehicle. It's supposed to be ready today. Niece is still in her room. Not sure if she has taken out the dog or not!
Now her mom is texting me and so is brother in law I hate being caught in the middle.

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Annie
Sounds like you are keeping busy with events. How is S's ankle?

Happy
You are still a busy woman. I've been thinking about getting a part time job or volunteering. Think I have finally got rested but I enjoy being by myself.


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I've been released from my duty so I'm going to wake up my niece and ask her if she is going to her appointment. I'm home

Afternoon all. We had our weekly department meeting this morning and the topic turned to our office relocation. The timing of the move coincides with our department’s busiest time, so we need to get serious about doing move stuff now, during our less busy time. I hope the boss doesn't procrastinate with decisions that need to be made about this.

My weekend was fine. I did one BE workout early Saturday morning before I took mom grocery shopping. We went to both Aldi and Walmart. I made a point to not comment on all the stuff she bought, but there was a LOT to haul up to her unit when we were finally done. And the little grocery cart she bought for this purpose doesn’t hold all that much. And it’s awkward to have to park in the fire lane, unload everything, haul it into the building lobby, and then run back out to get the car out of the fire lane and park it in a proper space. So the next time we shop, I’ll definitely be watching on how much she buys because I don’t want to have a million bags to schlep.

So the shopping wiped out half the day. The rest of the day was uneventful.

Oh, my sister’s knee surgery went well. She wasn’t looking forward to the nerve block wearing off though…

Sunday bf got out to do what will likely be the last lawn mowing of the year. Before he started, he pulled the outside Christmas decorations down from the attic space over the garage while I held the ladder steady for him. Then he left me to do all the decorating. Which was fine, except I’d never dealt with the electrical connection part of the decorating. And I’d never even watch bf do it in the past because his method was mostly a frustrated trial and error one, with much cursing and usually a hardware run to buy yet another extension cord. At some point I would leave him to his madness and do the things I could do – hang velvet bows on the gates and post light pole, etc.

Anyway, this year it was all me and I took a different approach. I sat in the sun on the front stoop with pen and paper and sketching out everything that needed electricity and figuring out on paper how the extension cords, timers, and other items needed to be configured. And I’m happy to report that no extra cords were needed this year, lol. Though it did help that bf had already purchased a new extension cord that had multiple outlets in-line that eliminated the need for several individual extension cords. So it’s all done and the bonus is that I have those sketches for next year and it should be a no-brainer. Oh, Annie – saw your fb post with the star shower lights on inside your house. We have a couple of those (bf bought them on clearance last year) and we set them up outside this year. I like how the lights look indoors when we have our window blinds open. Maybe we need to buy one of those for inside the house too…

I haven’t done any decorating indoors yet, though I did buy a poinsettia on Saturday while we were out shopping.

==
Ceejay – I’m also not looking forward to the cold weather that’s coming this week – we’ve been so spoiled by the mild temperatures! == Good you moved the toys to a single room. I can only imagine toys spread all over the place and presenting a trip/fall risk. == Oh dear, sorry you’re caught in the middle with the niece/sis/bil issues. I’d definitely stay home alone rather than get caught up in their problems. It might be a good idea to have a job - paying or volunteer – to keep you busy and limit your exposure to family problems that don’t concern you.

Shad – I hope you enjoy the time with your great niece. It’s good that she’s into baking and crafts type activities, and it’ll be fun to teach her something new. == Odd with the potato fruit, though I’ve heard something that the eyes of the potato can be poisonous too. == Re the mammograms – are they now done with scans of some sort? I’ve had traditional mammograms and also the 3D type, but both are the smooshing type. I’m sure a man invented that. Same for the stupid high heeled shoes. == LOL, death by Power point.

Susie – Big congrats on the nice raise and the good performance rating. I’m sure that was very welcome news after having a brutal week and feeling so awful to boot. I hope you have a better week at work! == Good that you’re getting back to exercise. Even after I felt better after being sick, it took me a long time to get back to it.

Happy – I’m so sorry your foot is still so painful for you. I hope you can get some relief, but I do wonder if surgery to repair the tendon is what's required to ultimately resolve it. == LOL re your bingo partner’s security plan. Unless he comes around to wearing a holster, it might be too little, too late when someone comes in with the intent of stealing the bingo cash… As for his accuracy – he needs to keep practicing or the whole idea of carrying a gun is pointless and could have tragic consequences. So I say, make him move the desk!! == If you decide not to have a tree, I think it'll be nice to have other Christmas decorations around the house. Especially lights. I might start putting out things little by little, though it's a hassle to have to bring them down from the attic multiple times.

Annie – What a great deal for your Christmas tree! I bet is smells wonderful!! == Poor J, I hope he feels after a day of doctoring from his mom. Are you taking your zinc? You sure don’t need to catch the flu! == How’s S’s ankle feeling? == Sorry to hear about C’s re-diagnosis. Can’t say I understand what a personality disorder is – I take it that it's still something that’s medically treated? I hope the docs can help. == I think it’s completely understandable not to question your decisions, i.e., all the “what-ifs”, including if staying single and living alone would have been better… I don’t think there’s anyone out there who hasn’t thought that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I hope you have another therapy session coming up soon so that the counselor can help you with strategies when your mind goes to these places. == I like the meatloaf seasoning ideas. We usually use the ground beef/ground pork combo. I do think maybe another egg could have helped.

==

Nothing much going on this week, except on Thursday and Friday when the CTA holiday train is running on the line that goes in the direction of where I live. They still haven't posted the times it'll be running those days, so I'll have to keep checking back with the site this week to see which day works better for me.

Well, that's about it for me, so I'll finally get this posted.

Another day in paradise.

Jacob is all better and going to school today. Back to fighting with Royce and eating. Good sign he is better. lol. Altho both of the boys are fighting runny noses (colds) and hacking their heads off. Same as me...hack hack hack. Vicks on the bottom of my feet then socks is helping tremendously. The boys too. At least I got some sleep last night.

As I was about to leave for work, I noticed Sam sitting in the chair moaning and groaning, holding her gut. My thought was the stomach flu. Of course I dropped my stuff and went to her, she said the pain is the same as the ovarian cyst. Immediately, do I need to stay home and take you to the hospital? No mom, the pain is not bad enough. WHAT?!? So I am on call today. Thank God her ankle is much better, she is out of the air cast and moving along nicely. I suppose I will make and ER run at some point today or tomorrow.

LAURA...Does mom even need all that much groceries in the house? The elderly think they need to hoard. I know my g-ma and mom did. Awesome job on the decorations and setting up your blueprint prior to decorating. Proud moment indeed. Yes, I am still taking my zinc but think maybe I need to up it a bit. I will have to google the daily dose necessary. My zinc is 50 mg a tablet and I only take one a day. Glad you sister's knee surgery went well, hope she has much success without pain. Personality disorder is mostly controlled by the person (meds can help sometimes) and we both know how well C sticks to anything other than fishing.

CEEG...Ss ankle is mostly healed or healing. Out of the air cast anyway. Just stay neutral and don't comment on anything going on with Sis's family. It may come back to haunt you.

HAPPY...how did the doc appt go? Does he have a plan? Hmm, I think I would move the desk myself and tell Mr. Security that you don't carry a gun and don't trust he can save you. I don't blame you for not decorating. I didn't for a few years when I was single living alone. Why bother and make more work for myself. Agreed on Cs issues. A woman would probably deal with it better. Like I said to LAURA, we all know how C sticks to things. Hopefully he will get a grip on this and do better. And being diagnosed with a personality disorder, very meanly, Sam and I call him Sybill (The move about the girl with multiple personalities) but not in front of him. I am bad.

Hi to all, hugs.

Morning all,

Snowy one for us. Woke up to about 5 inches of the white stuff. Hello winter. Yesterday it was 53 degrees when I went out - had my down coat on and and sweater and I was too hot but we were advised that there was a cold front behind the rain and when it hit temps would drop like a rock and quickly. Those who were walking around in just a light fleece jacket were worried that they would get broadsided with the cold so I was better off with what I had on. DH bought a new cordless snowblower for the deck - would have come in handy today but I don't think it's working all that great -- nope, he is hauling it off the deck now after only using it about 10 feet and was constantly stopping and checking it even during that short bout... And here he comes with a regular shovel... He bought the snowblower a few weeks ago - hope he kept the packaging...

In other news - went to the doctor yesterday. Waited about 45 minutes to see him for literally 3 minutes - enough for him to say "any difference? (with wearing the immobilization boot)" Me - No. Pain is the same, can't stand more than 30 minutes and certainly can't stand for extended periods without the boot. Him - hmmm - that's a shame, I hoped that would help. I think you need to see an orthopedic doctor. So I have been dealing with this for 3 months now. Part of me is glad that they were not aggressive - ie. let's cut right away but the other part of me is frustrated that this took so long. For example I was supposed to see the podiatrist a week after my last appointment but it was the holidays and he was out of town and only comes to my town on Mondays so I basically waited 3 weeks for nothing. Now I have to wait for the referral to call for an ortho appointment up in Duluth (90 minutes away) and with the holidays who knows how long that will take. So that means at least 6 more weeks of suffering. This is really compromising my ability to stand and do much of anything and I am tired of it. Plus my new knee is hurting now as well as the other more arthritic knee because my whole body is out of whack. Health care really sucks. In retrospect I should have gone to my regular doctor who would have probably referred me to an ortho guy right off the bat and maybe by this time I'd be feeling better. bah!!!

I went to the Thrift Store after picking up lunch. Spent most of the time rebuilding the computer. The hard drive is starting to die again (we replaced it last year). There was an error, had to use a repair utility and that wiped the machine back to factory defaults. Had to reload Microsoft Office 365 as well as Norton Anti Virus and set up a shortcut for the email the coordinator uses because he does not know how to type in a web address to get the thrift shop email The lady I was working with and will be taking over her shift for the winter while she's in warm Arizona - is a nice woman but my God, she talks 10 times more than I do - which is A LOT!!! She's the kind of person who talks and talks and talks doesn't listen to anything you have to say talks over you if you try to say something or just turns to someone else and starts talking I was trying to focus on rebuilding the computer and she was showing me pictures on her phone, oblivious to the fact that I was trying to do something... In the end I got it all rebuilt but it took most of the afternoon.

Ugh - the temperatures are dropping. DH woke me up at 5:30 this morning - I was very dry and was snoring apparently. I couldn't get back to sleep and got out of bed at around 6:15. He said he wanted to get outside and clean as much snow off before it hardened up. It was 28 when we got up and it's down to 21 now and will continue to drop to about 11 degrees. I'm sure when he's done he will be tuckered out and ready for a nap. I left him my apple turnover from yesterday's lunch dessert - he ate it for breakfast today - it's a really good turnover - told him he could have the extra sugar for energy.

I have kept my Weight Watchers online subscription because I like to waste money on things I don't use Saw the new plan. They always tweak their plan around January to capitalize on people recommitting to weight loss. My opinion is that it's a program that works for some but again not me. I do believe I have a sensitivity to sugar so keto like plan will work better for me - fat is not my enemy - sugar is. WW relies alot on sugar free foods and I can't do any sort of sugar free stuff. At all. Nuttin. Period. I decided I am going to try a subscription to Hello Fresh - one of those meal delivery plans when they ship the fresh ingredients to you. Figured I'd try it for 3 weeks in December with 4 meals a week. If nothing else, it's portion control. I will have to tweak it a bit because while I would eat everything on the plan - DH will not eat mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, sweet potatoes - many vegetables. I will just substitute bell peppers, broccoli or sugar snap peas for him. It's pricy because of the quick shipping of the fresh food but I can tell you that going to the grocery store would cost me alot more because unlike DH, when I go into the store I pick up extra things I intend to eat but often times wind up not (seemed like a good idea at the time) - so perhaps over the long run this will work out. I intend to use this as my main meal of the day and eat a light breakfast and lunch. DH wants to lose weight too so we'll see how it goes.

Today I am home which is good - lots to do here. I have a how to make sushi class at 6pm - not sure if that will still be held. The schools and senior center and library are all closed due to the weather - not sure if the night college (sushi class) will be cancelled too. I will call later in the afternoon. Because the senior center is closed that means no meals on wheels delivery for the homebound. I wonder what they do although I'm sure up here people plan for that. The other aspect of things being closed is that it is also hard for the volunteers who deliver the meals to get to the clients houses for delivery - many rural roads out here need to be plowed by individuals so that would make many a house snowed in. Fortunately I have plenty of food here to cook. Once I get off here I am going to look for a pot of soup to put on the stove.

Annie - thank you for another delightful surprise yesterday DH just had to check it out That was really sweet of you - thanks a million!!! I'm sorry the kids are all sniffly - that has to be par for the course going forward with all the germs at school. Maybe with the weather cooling off it will kill some of the schmutz. How is Sam doing - that has to be awful with the cysts. Apparently this is something that will happen again and again? My best friend had ovarian cysts - she was in terrible pain when they would act up. Sam sure is getting more than her share of woes lately. I hear you tongue in cheek about C sticking to anything other than fishing. There is that thing about him eating bad, feeling bad, eating clean for 2 days and then going right back to the cycle again. I can relate myself to caught in the bad cycle of life, vowing to change and stuck in that rut. I hope he will find the motivation to do better. Until then - strength to you to deal with it all. As to your other comment about wondering if you should have done things differently - I think we all have moments where we reflect on life and wonder if we should have or what would have happened if we made different choices. It's a mystery - should I have had kids, what if I met DH at 28 instead of 18, what if I had married my first love (that one I know - I'd have been divorced wife number one of a string of 3 failed marriages from someone who should never marry - thank you Lord for dodging THAT bullet ) - all sorts of things we wonder about. I guess the point is to do as much as you can to be content with the moment right now because that's about all we can influence. Notice I do not say control because I'm not sure we always have control.

Laura - ugh - having to move offices at your most busy time. Good to plan ahead, you know the boss won't be doing the same or at the pace it needs to be done so work around him as much as possible. Glad your sister's surgery went well. Take whatever pain meds they give you as directed and DON'T WAIT until you are hurting as you can never catch up once things act up. Especially the first week after surgery. That is really clever of you to sketch out the Christmas decorations! We had a strategic electrical outlet (well it was the only outdoor one) in AH and I had to plan the lights very carefully so they ran in parallel to each other. Found out quickly that when they say no more than 3 sets strung end to end, they mean it! I'm glad you got it all worked out. Don't gloat too much at BF

Hellos to the rest of the chicks. I am getting a bit sleepy from getting up too early. But I am going to get a few things done around the house here while DH is cleaning up outside. Then we can both take an afternoon nap and I will have the sense of accomplishment I need to feel.

Stay warm !!!

Afternoon
I'm just not in a good mood today. I need to be cleaning house and have the I don't want too's. dealing with this past week end has stressed me out a bunch. Nephew is back from Jamaica so his voice last night and this morning sounded good to me. I hope he and his brother can help out their sister. I could probably keep the kitten but the dog to me should be an outside dog. He's part German Shepard and Beagle. He has the height of the GS and short legs of the Beagle. Very smart and loving and protective dog. Both of them shed like crazy and I was sneezing a lot last this past week end.
I need to go to the grocery store and get snacks and food. All I have in the fridge is salad and I'm not in the mood for that I need something sweet, donuts would hit the spot.
I'm about to get the bursitis in my shoulder calmed down. I can now reach for something without crying out in pain.


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Happy
My computer came up with a couple of errors on it and a utilities reg program came up. But I don't want to buy it. I didn't want to. Ugh 5 inches of snow. We may have flurries by this week end. I might as well get ready for the cold weather.

Annie
I may have to try the Vicks on the bottom of my feet. Hope S is feeling better. And hope that the little guys are feeling better also.

Laura
Good for you in making the design on paper before you put up the decorations. One of my neighbors has gone all out decorating his lawn and house this year.

Hi
Susie and Shad.

Time for me to get off the computer and go to the grocery store.

Afternoon all. Super windy again today and in the 30's. Hello winter. Bleh.

Annie – Glad J is feeling better. Ugh re the colds and coughs. I’m taking my Sambucol (elderberry syrup) and hope it boosts my immune system so I can battle the germs. == Oh poor Sam – how’s she doing? Sounds painful. == NO, mom doesn’t need all those groceries in the house. Yes, she’s a bit (or more) of a hoarder.

Happy – Ugh on all that snow. What a shame the new snow blower doesn’t work well. == I hope an orthopedic can help you with your foot. I’ve had three different podiatrists over the years and haven’t been completely happy with any of them. They’ve been hit or miss with both the cortisone shots and the orthotics. == Sounds like your time at the thrift store was frustrating. You need to stay away from there!! == Interested in hearing how Hello Fresh works out for you.

Ceejay – Sorry the allergies are bothering you. Confused – does this mean the niece and/or her animals are living in the house with you? Hope everything works out – you don’t need the stress or the allergic reaction.

Hellos to Shad and Susie.
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I sent the boss something to review a couple hours ago and included the network directory path to the supporting documents, but he just came over to my desk and asked me for them. Why?? Luckily, I'd already printed them out for myself and I just handed them over to him to get rid of him. Whatever.

We had tacos for dinner last night, yum.

I had lunch with a work buddy today. She lost her dog (14 y.o.) in late October (cancer) and is now all by herself. She’s very unhappy these days. I told her for anything to change, she has to make it happen. Food for thought.

Tonight I’ll do a workout, or maybe just a stretching routine.

That’s it for me, so I’ll get this posted. Grrr, something funky going on with the text or my mouse. Hope this posts alright.

Hi Ladies,
Monday got in the way yesterday but I made it here today. My Director is traveling and I’m trying to get a lot done (things we call “project work” since I don’t have to pay attention to his daily calendar and be sure he is making meetings on time and such.

I don’t know if you saw my FB post today, but I’m going back to the dermatologist tomorrow. That red spot I had is flared back up and I just don’t like the way it looks. I want her to take another look and I want her to biopsy it this time to be sure it isn’t anything scary. I will not lie, I am terrified. I should not Google things.

Speaking of that, I was at my regular doctor last Thursday for my 3 month check up. I went 2 days early and did the blood work so that it could be back and we could discuss it when I went back. Everything looked good, other than the thyroid is still in the overactive range and my parathyroid levels are still elevated. That is all for the Endocrinologist to figure out when I see him on December 12.

Anyway, she had a cold & sinus infection too, like I had and she had Bells Palsy with it. She was very upset and anxious about it that it wasn’t going to go away. She said she had been reading a lot of things on Google and in Med Journals. I couldn’t believe she said that….I said, I do that too..and she laughed. She said, really, we shouldn’t do that, especially her when she is the patient.

Anyway, I would like your prayers for the appointment on Wednesday (it is at 2:15 p.m.) and then on December 12.

Annie: I hope Sam doesn’t have an ovarian cyst. Those are very painful for sure. As for C….it is good that he is going to his doctor and his doctor is serious about trying to help C. It takes a lot of work and patience too. Hang in there sister friend……and keep praying for that man of yours….I’m praying for him too and for you dealing with it all.

Ceejay: I had had the “I don’t want to’s” before…I find a nap usually helps me.

Shad: Your red potatoes look good…I think I might need to make some this weekend..well…DH needs to make them. He does most of the cooking.

Happy: That is a lot of snow! They are saying we will get some snow on Saturday. That stinks about the foot and having to know deal with finding an orthopedist; and with the holiday’s and such it will take a bit I imagine. 

Laura: How smart of you to draw out the light plan. I’m impressed! I have thought about getting one of those lights that projects the lights onto the house. I think I’ll look for them on sale after the holiday and have them for next year. I’m thinking that maybe I need two of them. How many do you have?

As for the office move, that will be a lot of work no matter when it is but especially if you have to move during a busy time. We have one more year at our site and then we move to a new site. Moving 1200 people….we will go in phases but I know it will be a lot of work and the transition will be hard on people as well…change usually is.