Super quick post for me as things have been crazy busy at work since I walked in. The website is having issues and it's because half of our website is on one technology and the other half on the other (two different vendors/hosts) and normally this works seamlessly, but today the two halves aren't talking to each other, and this morning we have online webcast classes that our customers can't access...hence major crisis! I'm in the middle because there's nothing I can do in the code to fix it, so I've opened support tickets with both our vendors to get them to figure it out! But tempers and the stress level are both running high with the folks around here. I'm so looking forward to my workout tonight.

My back was bothering me last night, but I got myself to the gym and did 20 min. on the bike hoping it would loosen up...it didn't. I did my ab challenge right before bed.

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Shad - I love the idea of a digital photo frame!

Happy - I'm having similar sleeping issues...I'm tired and can barely keep my eyes open, but as soon as I lay down...I toss and turn.

Annie - So sorry to hear about C's foot! That sounds so painful! I hope he's resting, keeping it elevated and using ice to help the pain and swelling.

Ceejay - Good for you on the Abs challenge! I hope your headache goes away.

Gotta run....I'll try and get back later.

Much love,

Annie
Ouch on Curtis' foot. But I know he has 2 excellent nurses, you and Sassy.

Nothing much is happening except for the bad thunderstorm that moved through yesterday. Sounded like the clap of thunder/lightening strike was right above me. And put out the power. It tripped a breaker at one of the sub stations. I'd been watching the radar and had the tanks full and plant shut down.
Did day 3 of ab crunches last night. Also washed and dried one load of clothes and vacuum up some stuff on the living room floor. If I wasn't such a messy eater I would have to do that. My coffee table has become my eating table. Bad choice. I did eat my chef salad. So far no major consequences except for constipation. tmi I'm sure.

Not much going on around here. Gray, rainy day. Thank God Sam and Jacob are coming up and meeting me for lunch. Will check back later. Hugs

Morning everyone. Sorry I've been scarce around here. I really didn't want to post much while I was at my mom's. Her computer isn't set up, likely never will be, much less internet service. And I don't like typing on my phone much and didn't want to bother with the voice feature. And finally, I don't have an unlimited data plan/package for my cell phone, and I hit 65% of my allotted amount at my Mom's - and I still have 13 days left in this billing cycle.

My visit with my mother was pleasant enough. Or should I just come out and say she. drives. me. crazy. ?? Anyway, she's 80. Her knee was bothering her while I was there, but she insists on trying not to take anything for the pain. And then she might forget to take something when she decides she will. But she generally got around okay. However, the house is way too big for her, and she needs to move to a small apartment. I think she doesn't feel secure being alone, so being in a complex with other people would be better for her. She's been thinking about it, but in a "someday" kind of mindset, not "it's time". Have to move her along the timeline somehow.

Shad - Thanks so much for passing along our well-wishes for Mel to Jen. I'm still so sad over her diagnosis. But you're right, we need to buck up and act with all the spirit and strength Mel herself faces in her everyday life. I really like the digital photo frame idea. Safe travels home. Your work schedule doesn't sound quite as stressful, but it sure doesn't mean those training sessions weren't challenging! Sounds like you've got your ab challenge under control. Honestly, the situps are the worst because they take the longest. I have been doing the situps with my feet under a chair or sofa. Once the reps got larger, I limited the traditional situp reps I do to about 75% of the total and then substitute the remainder with another ab exercise, such as one that targets the obliques. It's all good.

Ceejay - Is the power back on now? Good luck in your ab challenge.

Michelle - I hope things have gotten fixed at work - bad to have the site not fully operational. Good luck on your ab challenge. I hope your back's feeling better today.

Annie - I'm so sorry to hear about C's foot injury!!! Ouch! And that's a good amount of stitches. I hope it's feeling better, healing well, and doesn't keep him from doing what he needs to do with work, etc. I'm happy to hear your foot/ankle are feeling better in new supportive sneakers and with the doc's regimen.

Happy - I saw the pics on FB - lovely fall color up there. I hope you get to enjoy it for a lot longer and that rain doesn't spoil the festivals going on up there. There really wasn't any color change in my mom's area, but back here at home, things are definitely changing, and the past two day's weather has been just gorgeous. Sorry you've been having trouble sleeping. I usually don't have issues, but did have some early wake-ups while at my mom's place. I think you asked - my mom wasn't keen on any shows in Branson, so we didn't do anything special while I was there. Meals out, a visit to the botanic garden (another gorgeous day), and we went to a dog festival at a local park where they featured dachshund races - very cute. Did you make any applesauce yet? Bf's mom just makes it in the microwave I believe, but doesn't season it at all. Rather bland. What's really peculiar about this woman is that she doesn't own a cookbook or follow a recipe for anything. Even people who can't or don't cook a lick might clip a recipe from a newspaper or magazine if it looks really tasty to them...odd. Anyway, good luck with your applesauce. I heard someone mention a recipea while back with ginger in it - yum.
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Yesterday morning I went to a WW meeting in my area. Of course I'd taken my WW record card out of my purse before my trip & had forgotten it, but the woman still let me weigh in and gave me a sticker to paste on my record - I don't want to miss any meetings and not get reimbursed by my employer for my fees. I was up .2 pounds. Not bad,given I wasn't doing any of my usual walking/cycling. I probably should have visited the restroom before stepping on the scale, lol.

Went out to lunch with bf - Thai food, yum. After that, stopped at Bath & Body for some liquid hand soaps. Then to Mariano's, the fancy grocery by our house that we rarely go to. Bought some salmon & green beans for dinner & a couple other things. We finally used the new carpet shampooer to do our living room area rug. Wow, it sure needed it!!

Late afternoon I took doggy for his walk, did my ab challenge and went to my barre class. I tell ya, that ab challenge has become quite time-consuming now that I'm at the bitter end - I've been doing it all in one go, but alternating sets of the situps and crunches. My abs are pretty strong now - I have to take advantage of that and get going on a push-up regimen. I swapped out day 27 (which was Tuesday, the day I flew home) with day 28, which is a rest day, which is fine because I was down to only three days after that. Now I'm on day 29 and so looking forward to finishing up tomorrow!!!

This morning I'm relaxing, reading a book. I prolly should go out and pick some tomatoes. Bf didn't water at all while I was gone, but claimed it had rained on Monday. I did see water in the saucers of my potted flowers, so I guess I believe him, LOL.

BF and I might go to a plumbing supply/showroom today to check out what we need for our half bathroom update. It's overcast and gloomy with rain in the forecast, so good day for that. And maybe just watching a movie at home. I have a taste for some hot buttered popcorn...oops, sorry for the food porn.

I also promised a letter of encouragement to the daughter of my neighbor - she's finally getting some help with her problems. I wrote up some notes over the weekend but need to put it together as a letter.

Okay, I'm off to make a mug of tea. I bought a tin of pumpkin spice rooibos tea bags yesterday at Trader Joe's. I hope I like it! TTFN!

Not much new here...just plugging along at work....I've been going to the gym after work despite not feeling like it. I force myself to do 1/2 hour on the bike and then go home. I'm just tired.

It doesn't help that my stepbrother somehow got a virus on his computer and then got a warning to call "Microsoft' to have them repair it. Well the company that claimed to be Microsoft is actually located in Mauritius...somewhere off the coast of Madagascar. After my stepbrother paid them $100 and allowed them to "fix" his computer, they downloaded all kinds of spyware, malware, etc. on the computer, including a program that would AUTOMATICALLY connect to this effin' company EVERY time he turned on his computer. I spent over an hour trying to remove all that crap and then kicked off a major virus scan of the entire system. That ran overnight and thankfully came up clean. This morning, I kicked off a spyware scan and it had already found over 25 instances of spyware in less than 5 minutes. I told my stepbrother and stepmother not to touch the computer until I get home as I have to see what the scan says so I can fix it. If I can't fix it, then I'll have to wipe his computer and start with a fresh install...which wouldn't be so bad except my stepbrother got this computer used and he doesn't have the Windows or Office disks. What a nightmare.

I told him he should call his credit card company and dispute the charges as fraudulent. I also told him NEVER to click on any link that says your computer has been infected or give anyone remote access to his computer without talking to me first. So I'll be tending to his computer when I get home...then it'll be off to the gym and then pick up Santa.

Much love to all,

Going home day.
All packed and ready for the last session this morning. Oh joy. Not that it has been a hard slog, but it's always somewhat stressful. Today's session probably won't make much sense to them until they actually get to do it for real. It's mostly setting up reports, planning and scheduling work and getting parts. Then we get to finish at lunchtime. I have to pack the training room and get to the airport before 2.00pm. It will be a running exercise.

Happy - you are welcome to the words 'splodgy fat'. In fact you are welcome to the splodgy fat if you haven't got enough of your own. Hope the applesaucing goes well. Since it freezes well you can have some well into the winter. Yum.
In the sleep department, I'm a bit like you, but for some reason, I have been falling asleep straight off and going to a deep sleep. Then about 3 hours later I am awake and I mean wide awake, not just potty run awake. So what can you do in a motel room at 1.00 or 2.00 or 3.00am when you gotta get up shortly after 4.00am anyway.

Annie - hope C's foot is healing well and he is able to work again. We don't realise how much we rely on arms and legs, hands and feet. Have a great lunch.

Laura - welcome back. Glad you had a good time with Mum even if she did drive you crazy from time to time. It's her time to p*ss people off. It's called eccentricity when you get old. It's just rude when the young ones do it. I've been sticking with the sit ups, and yes they take the longest and bring the most pain. But as I said, I do over half in the morning and the rest after work or before bed. The 70 second plank today was somewhat of a pain. Good luck with the letter of encouragement.

Michelle - hope you fixed the glitch between the clients. Nothing like a computer to stuff things right up. I'm surprised that people are falling for that computer scam still. People here lose their savings on things like that. Your stepbrother is lucky they didn't hack his bank account.

Ceejay - okay, back to the dining table for you. I was like that too. Always dropping food on the floor or over myself. Thought it was just me. Now I sit at the dining table and eat my food slowly to minimise the clothes washing and the floor wash. Just need to wipe down the table.

And that's about it from me. No word from Jen, but I will get that memory stick tonight and load on some pictures. Is someone volunteering to merge the sticks into one? And is someone volunteering to get the digital frame - Happy - was that you and what is the best way to send you some money. I'm out of here - got to get one the road.

Hi everyone -

I'd be happy to merge the photos off the USB flash drive onto one. That's what we're talking about right? Not memory cards? If we're talking memory cards...I don't know if I have anything that would read one or transfer from one to another. My digital camera is a cheapie. But if we all send the files on USB (thumb/flash) drives...I will gladly compile all the photos.

Since I live in Silicon Valley, I can pretty easily find a nice digital frame for around $45-$50.

Let me know.

Hugs,

Morning. I'm praying that L doesn't call and want me to finish out her work week. I'm exhausted.
Did day 4 of my ab crunches. My abs are a bit tender, sore but not as bad as I thought. Today is my rest day.
Don't think I'll be going to Paragould this week end. We're supposed to have a cold front move in Saturday with heavy rain fall and turn cool. I need to rest.
You know I just thought of something. I may go over to the fire dept and make a couple of pictures of a fire truck. We sure don't have any hunky guys, more short and chunky guys. and I'll try to get a uniformed police officer. We do have some good looking officers.

Laura
Know you are glad to be back home.

Michelle
Did you get your step brother's computer up and running? I don't even like to have the company such as Dell to go into my computer. Most of the time the techy is from another country and very hard to understand.

I got my step-brother's computer up and running. We'll see how long it lasts. He called the company that remotely installed the software...and he's convinced now that they are legitimate and wants them to put the software I removed back on his computer. I'm not convinced as to their legitimacy or whether this is a good idea. But if worse comes to worse, I can always reformat the hard drive and start from scratch...or he could use it as a paperweight.

Ceejay - I hope you don't have to work for your co-worker. You need to rest. Just take the weekend and relax.

Morning all,

Sorry I didn't get in here yesterday. I needed to bake up a bunch of dog treats for the Humane Society to sell at the festival this weekend and they had to be delivered before 3pm yesterday. Since each batch is over 4 hours of work, it's really time consuming. Been baking for 2 days. I was able to make 23 bags and was just 2 ounces short of a 24th bag - but they can use that for samples to visiting pups. I noticed a lot of people bring their dogs to the festivals and outings here. I wanted to make some cookies or something for the people bake sale for them but my oven was quite occupied and I just didn't have enough time. When we dropped off the treats we got to see the new cat room expansion area. It was really nice and big and bright - hard to believe they had all those cats in 2 small rooms. It's really nice now. And we got some tips from the cat manager on trying to groom Meadow who is acting more and more like she'd rather be a feral cat.

We are in for some cold and rainy weather which will put a real damper on the apple and cranberry festivals this weekend so on Wednesday when it was still sunny, warm and gorgeous we decided to take a ride north to Lake Superior and check out the apple orchards. 2 really cute quaint towns up that way - we stopped for lunch in an old restaurant that must be 100 years old. And we checked out 4 orchards. Got a bunch of apples as well as some baked goods, local honey, granola and some apple flavored mustard which sounds weird but actually would be good with sausage. It was really a nice outing - the weather was perfect, the trees are almost peaking their colors here and the area is quite pretty. I've been up that way before blueberry picking but DH has never been there.

Today I have laundry and more cooking to do - apple sauce, some Polish soup my cousin is jonesing for, a citrus tomato jam, salsa, a pork roast and maybe some cookies. House will sure smell good. We have really bad weather moving in from a snow storm out west - no snow for us thank goodness but plenty of rain. That will ruin the festivals tomorrow as well as an ATV outing DH was hoping to attend. Got our new shades yesterday - DH put up the first set - he was worried he'd have to grind the edges off to fit the window but don't know why he was thinking that because he checked again just as he was about to take them outside to grind them and they just snapped into place. We did have to take off the fancy wood trim we have on the top of the windows and it was an all day job for him - 1 set down, 2 sets to go!

Ceejay - I sure hope you don't have to work any more days than you already put in either. 6 days straight is a long enough time. No wonder you are tired. I think it would be cute to get pictures of the firetrucks and the hunky police guys.

Michelle - that would be great if you want to pick out a photo frame and merge things. I hate to sound like a dork but the more I looked at those frames and comments, the more I got confused about them I will send you money and pictures. The only things is... will you have enough time to do this??? You are quite the busy lady lately. Bummer on your step-brother's computer mess. Even though they give a bunch of warnings about hackers, I guess there are enough people who trust enough to get themselves into trouble and make things lucrative for the hackers. Glad you are still pushing to get to the gym even though you'd rather not, every little bit helps

Shad - I agree with you about waking up at the wrong time in a hotel room. Nothing to do and it always seems about 3 hours before you have to get up anyway. No coffee to be had and if you turn on the tv, it seems about 45 minutes before you need to get ready, the sleepies come back again. Hope you were able to get everything wrapped up and get yourself to the airport on time. I always thought that was the worst part of the vendors and trainers that I worked with. Business dictates that you have to serve the customers even in the back of your head you are hurrying off to catch your flight and run through the airport. Worse when you have to deal with unpredictable traffic too. Seems like they were always on the run. As for transferring money for the photo frame - can we send money to each other via PayPal accounts??? Again, I am showing my ignorance.

Annie - I am sorry to hear about C's foot. When I was making sauce and my Mom was here, she was hollering at me to put the can lids back into the bottom of the can and stuff a napkin in them so you wouldn't cut your hand digging through the garbage. I obliged to avoid a fight but since I'm not in the habit of digging through the garbage bin I thought that was overkill. However, her advise also makes sense considering what innocently happened to C. Ok, so Mom is right again (but shhhhh don't tell her because she gloats). Did you have a nice lunch with the kids? What did your doc have you do for your foot besides the new, supportive cushy shoes?

Laura - I never realized how cute weenie dog races are until we saw them at the festival here 2 weeks ago. Glad you had a good time with your Mom. Sounds like you and I could swap a lot of stories with Moms - good luck with that It will only get WORSE I tell you. I can't believe you guys are still getting hot weather - heard it was going to be in the 80's a few days over the weekend. You guys will never get tree color if this keeps up - things will just dry up and fall off! As for the applesauce I am going to try one small batch using just a mix of a couple of varieties of apples and see how that comes out. Then I have a nice looking recipe with some cinnamon, sugar, cloves and orange zest. If the first batch is too bland, I figure I can add some seasonings and cook it a bit to add more flavor. Everyone - including Shad says it's simple, fast and easy.

I do want to see that new movie Gravity. It's in town but only for 1 week so we'll have to make plans. I think DH really wants to go on this ATV run tomorrow but with a 70 percent chance of rain and only a high in the mid 50's - that's not really my thing. Can't imagine driving in the rain, we do have a windshield but no wipers and the UTV is open like a jeep would be so the body parts facing the outside of the vehicle would get quite wet. No fun going by yourself either, especially when you don't know anyone else on the run. Basically it goes from 10am to 6pm so it's a long day of riding (from bar to bar) in really junky conditions. We'll see.

Anyway I need to get cracking here. Have a good weekend everyone.

Just a quick check in to assure Happy and everyone that yes, I can make time to do this. I'll pick up the frame over the weekend, and people can send me the photos on a USB flash drive (aka "thumb" drive and sometimes called "memory sticks"). Please do not send SD cards, because then I'd have to purchase an SD card reader. The key here is to send me the photos on something that's USB or to upload the photos to a DropBox account that I created, and I sent you an invite to upload to a shared DropBox folder called "MelsPhotos". You will be getting the link to the shared DropBox folder via a Facebook message.

As for transferring money...yes, you can transfer money to my PayPal Account. I'll PM you all my email address that's linked to the PayPal Account.

So far so good. L came to get something out of her locker today and no mention of me working. Fingers are crossed that she doesn't wake me up at 6 a.m. in the morning.

Happy
Our temperatures are supposed to drop down in the 40's Saturday. We must be getting that same cold front.
I also want to see the movie Gravity.
You could always bake an apple pie. Mom used to bake an apple cake that was divine.
You mentioned that your mom was reminding you to put the lids in the can's then throw them away. Evidently my mom taught me to do that.

Michelle
I wish I had part of your knowledge on computers. I hope that your step brother doesn't screw up his computer again.

Shad
Hope you have had a safe flight home.

Annie
How is C doing?

Laura

Ladies -

I'm getting notifications that Shad is already posting photos in the DropBox, which is perfect because I created the DropBox account for her photos especially because I had no idea how long it would take a USB drive sent through the mail to arrive in California, and quite frankly patience has never been my strong suit and I'd like to get the digital frame shipped off to Mel by the end of next week if possible.

With the DropBox folder, I can get her photos (and yours once you upload them) instantaneously.

Also, I really like that Shad included some photos of herself. And I'm sure Mel will appreciate that too. We are her Worldly sisters after all. So even if we don't like how we look in photos (and I surely don't), please include at least one photo of yourself if you don't mind.

I'm so excited!

Some there of the family Michelle and a few of the garden. I have some wonderful NZ photos which I will send over in the next day or so.
Just be careful - those of you using the dropbox - that if you drag and drop, you lose the photos out of your own albums. Try copy and paste instead. Can't lose those precious photos.
Back later. Shower and dressing necessary to go get some food. Nothing in the fridge.

Good evening/morning everyone!

I purchased the digital picture frame on my way home from work. Including tax, it was a few pennies shy of $50.

Do you think y'all will be able to get the photos to me by a week from today? Either put them on a USB flash/thumb drive and mail that to me...or copy them to the DropBox folder as Shad has done. (You should've received a Facebook message with the Drop Box Info).

Shad, can you please share all the pertinent info with Ruth, Carla, Mary (Java Turtle) and whoever else knows Mel that might want to share some photos?

I did not want to go to the gym tonight...but I forced myself to and did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike followed by 10 minutes on the treadmill at a 6% incline. I'm practicing for when I can finally hike up some of the hills around here...of course I'd be happier if I could walk for more than 10 minutes. There aren't many hikes that only take 10 minutes round trip. LOL

I'm gonna relax with a good DVD or book.

Love to all,