I have one more day of freedom before I go back to work. I need to get some things done here and make another run to Walmart. It's supposed to rain off and on today.

The fun has officially started as the neighbor's grandchildren are here for the summer. Hopefully they have matured enough to stay out of my way. he he.

Good morning ladies,

They found the leak in the hot tub. Someone somewhere when they were assembling the tub screwed the base of the plastic light in far too tight and it cracked under pressure. The good news is that they should be able to replace the part and not have to take the room apart to get the tub out, the bad news is that it will take a week for the part to arrive.

I worked an extra shift at the thrift shop yesterday with a new volunteer. She's a really sweet woman who just retired from our local candy shop after 19 years of working. The thing is, she came from Chicago after she retired from her first job and moved up here, got bored and went to work at the candy place. She is 82 and very sharp - helpful and confident with the cash register. She just doesn't want to have anything to do with closing and counting out money at the end of the night.

We made reservations at our favorite Italian restaurant since I knew I'd be getting finished about 6pm and that's too late to just walk in to any restaurant here and think you can sit right down. We had a delicious dinner - grilled swordfish for him, chicken picatta for me. Yum. It was a nice evening.

I fell asleep in the recliner some time after DH went off to bed. Woke up and turned the tv off but fell back asleep. Woke up again but not enough to crawl to bed. Woke up again and I was cold - it was 64 degrees in the house yesterday morning, I actually had to turn the heat on to take the chill out of the house. I finally woke up again at 5:30 and had the most horrid charlie horse type cramp in my leg which was ice cold (I had shortie pajamas on). I could not relieve the cramp so I got up, shut the lights off and crawled into bed. Now I just have some residual pain in my leg as I'm sure the muscle had cramped for a long time. DH had the most terrible stiff neck all day. When we got home I mixed up some essential oil I had called Muscle Relief into a carrier oil and rubbed his neck for a while. He said the pain was cut by more than half this morning so it helped alot. I said it was my "lovin' touch"

We are off shortly to the art store - DH is submitting a photograph for our next Humane Society fundraiser and we have to get it matted and framed. Then we will stop in to the thrift shop to give our friend a hard time as we do most Saturdays.

DH just said the bus is leaving and I need to go with him so I will post now and come back later.

Hello Worldlies,

Last one out, first one in. But it's usually quiet here on the weekends anyway.

Ceejay - hope you are enjoying your last day off before you return to work. Is it possible to work half days for a week before returning full time? Probably not as you have a small crew as I remember. You might find yourself tuckering out early. Hope there are no 12 workdays in your near future.

Shad - I had to "translate" for DH the meaning of piss up. Not our version. I said if you talked naturally as you do we would not be able to understand much, if anything you say. Hope things are better for you.

Annie - hearts and prayers to you right now. I know it's got to be awfully hard on you with all that is going on in your life right now. Be strong and don't fall apart yourself. Feel the love around you girl and draw on it.

Safe travels Laura. Hope you accomplish some things with your Mum or at least have a good visit.

Hello to the rest of the lurkers and our absent friends.

We've been getting alot of rain lately too. And it's been chilly - around 60s during the day but still 40's at night. I am hesitant to plant but I should get out to the garden center because things will be going fast I might go today before storms move in this afternoon. I'd like to get my sugar snap pea plants and hopefully some arugula which can handle the cooler weather. I'm not sure about tomatoes. All the early girl varieties that have a shorter cultivation time get snapped up fast. The rest come to fruit close to the end of August and by Labor Day - first week of September the sun gets low and the nights get colder and you wind up with alot of green fruit that is hard to ripen. I should probably get stuff in the middle of May when the garden centers open and keep it in the green house for a month. Right now with all the construction at our place, that was not possible and I don't want to put it next to the garden itself because we do have a bear roaming around here and I don't want to tempt him with anything.

There's alot of stuff going on, I need to pull all the little cards out of my wallet and mark stuff down on the calendar so I don't forget something - B12 shot appointments, some Humane Society upcoming fundraisers, bingo, etc. Saturday we are going to see a Rock and Roll comedy show at our local live performance theater which I hope should be fun. I can't imagine rock and roll and comedy rolled into one. Steve Martin and Wierd Al Yankovic come to mind...

Got an email last night from a friend of ours. He had his prostate removed 2 years ago - cancer I assume. He's been going for check ups and his numbers have been rising. I guess they didn't get everything the first time and there are a few rogue cancer cells that are growing in him. He is going to start treatment next week. I'm not sure who I am more sad for - him (although he is trying to stay upbeat) or his wife who has already buried 2 husbands already prematurely to cancer. She said when she met him that she could not bear to bury another husband so he'd better stay healthy. Just reminds me to cherish what you have in front of you.

And with that I'd better get going for the day. Have a good Sunday ladies.

Morning all. The flight to mom's was uneventful. Got to the airport about 15 minutes shy of the 2 hour mark as advised & of course, the security line was short & FAST. No taking off shoes or putting things in plastic bins. Yay for that. Had plenty of time for a bagel & tea before boarding time.

Did a few things around mom's house after we ran a couple errands.

Showered & ready for more now. Waiting on mom to let me know what's next. In the meantime it's a gorgeous sunny day out there.

Everyone have a great day.

Laura
Ah, This time next year I will be in Missouri. Hope your mom is still in that vicinity so maybe we can get together. Good that you didn't have a long wait at the airport. Didn't realize that you were going to visit with your mom this week.

Happy
I will have the 12 hour days until the day I retire. Ugh but that' s okay. I enjoyed my short time off this past week with my company who waited on me hand and foot. Sure do miss them. I am however, not going to push myself this week at work. So far I haven't been tired. And I woke up on time this morning. Called my co-worker last night to call me at 6.30 this morning just in case I went back to sleep. Think my body was ready to get back to normal. I've also been busy with the paper work that has piled up when I was gone. I'm still a bit sore but nothing like I was on Wednesday and Thursday.

-------
I did some laundry yesterday, my bed sheets and the spare bed sheets that I slept on. And I got the spare bedroom/office back to almost normal again. My sis did the sheets from my bed which they had slept on but I felt like they needed to be done again. Why I don't know. I took my time. I still need to vacuum and can't do that for another week. I will probably wait till I go back for the follow up appointment with the gyn.

Morning all,
Well that was the weekend to end all weekends, winds gusting over 100KM per hour, rain enough to flood the joint, cold - you name it, we had it. Power outages the lot. Poor emergency services were flat out.
So today I am on a train to Wollongong. We are doing training down there. Right now we have stopped in the middle of nowhere and I just hope the lines are okay as yesterday several train lines were washed out and there was flooding in Wollongong. Still there was no suggestion of cancellation (the rail must get through)

I am losing connection frequently here, so I had better save as I go I think.

Annie - thoughts are flowing out of Aus to you. Stand tall and be strong. You are not responsible for all the ills of this world. What's with DH? I saw that you were asking for prayers for him and your daughter.

Laura - safe travels to Mum's place and I hope she will let you help her dispose of some of the lifetime stuff this trip.

Susie - I haven't got a card out to you. Forgot is was your birthday in a couple of days - so sorry. Hope you have a great day and get spoiled rotten.

Ceejay - good that you are feeling better. Going back to work after time off is always tough so take it easy and don't do anything silly. Don't want to start back at where you were feeling bad again.

Happy - Such a tough time you are having with the tradesman - think I would be belting them about the ears by now. Did the front door ever get fixed to your satisfaction? Then the shortened room and deck (but I guess not shortening of the bill for the deck. And now the leak and the non functioning panel that requires attention. Geez, can't anyone get anything right over there. I might need to bring my team (and the dog) of expert renovators (and big muscles) to do some work for you.

I'm going to post now while I have the connection. I'm coming back with more shortly

Okay, got that bit in successfully.

Happy - sorry you had to translate the colloquials. Yes we have piss ups. Means a drinking party, involving lots of booze. We all have pissed off, which is a different thing entirely. And then there is piss around, take the piss and probably a few others that don't come to mind 7.50 am.

Getting close to Wollongong now so I will sign off and get ready to get off the train. Might take a couple of minutes to pack myself up.

Hello Everyone. It is Sunday night and I am excited as I still have two free days in front of me to enjoy being home with my hubby.

I didn't mention it in my post the other days but I had been dealing with a IC flare and or a Uti (they fill the same and since I had cipro on hand I just started it and all the other things that help me to feel better) since I woke up on Wednesday morning.

I started feeling better late yesterday afternoon. I have gotten slack about not following my IC friendly diet and now I am back to it, as well as taking my Elmiron like I should. I need to remember that health and feeling good are not something to be taken lightly.

Annie: I am so sorry that M and the rest of you have to suffer with this cancer. I pray for peace for all of you and that M will not continue to suffer this way. Thank the Lord for the promise of Heaven.

Thank you for the birthday card! How sweet of you to remember me that way with all you have going on.

Laura: it sounds like the flight and security went very smoothly. I am in awe that you didn't have to take off your shoes.
Enjoy the visit with your mom. I can't remember how long you will be there

Shad: is the contract for this project a long one? It seems to be messed up from the beginning. Good vibes for you to be able to get things going there in a good direction so that you can enjoy the work and get satisfaction back and enjoy the money you are earning. It seems that the last 2 projects have been awful for you.

Happy: I sure hope they found the true source of the hot tub leak and that it is easily fixed. Maybe, just maybe things will start turning th er corner on all the projects and start to be done right and without incident. Great job for going ahead and weighing in at WW.

Ceeyjay: 12 hour days are a lot to come back too. I was in awe when you were saying you were able to change sheets and things. I remember from some of my D&C's with the polyps that I had before finally having a hysterectomy, they told me to take it easy just making the bed and I wasn't allowed to run the vacuum as well for a time. I had to ask DH to do it. Take your time and heal well.

I am off to clean the kitchen. With the IC flare I have to go slowly on cleaning. So I have been doing it in stages and days. I have the bathroom to do tomorrow in the morning before we run some errands.

Hello all.....

Rough weekend. Up till 1 am Saturday night crying, talking to God. M is asleep the majority of the time. I felt very blessed that he woke up for 30 seconds while I was there yesterday afternoon. I told him that Miss Priss was here speaking to Mr. Prisster (our nicknames for each other), got a one sided lip mini-smile. Must of made him happy. My SIL, Pia is on FMLA so she can be with him. I try to go by every day for a bit. At church on Saturday evening, Pastor Kris said a special prayer for M. Thank you for all your love, prayers, thoughts and caring.

We went to Bunker Hill to visit with Cs parents yesterday. C and his 84 year old dad were out in the back yard playing baseball with Cs nephews (5 & 8). His dad is so spry. Nice visit, the boys did hot dogs on the fire pit, the girls opted for Subway. I no likie hotdogs.

LAURA...glad you had safe travels. Hug your momma extra!

SHADDIE...Let's just say C is not perfect and has caused me some heartache.

SUSIE...Take care of you sister friend.

HAPPY...you are not allowed any more major purchases, causes you too many headaches. The commune is as is!! LOL

HI CHELLE AND DEE.

Thanks for listening. Love ya's.

Good morning kids,

Cool and overcast out there today. With occasional rain. I'm sure the people who have outside booths at the flea and farmer's markets aren't the happiest today. But hopefully there are better days ahead. I can't fit another thing in my freezer so I need to stay away from the farmer's market. But I will have to check about eggs, I think I could use a dozen eggs. I try to get them local, from either the farm or the Mennonite store. I'd rather stay away from the factory farmed stuff as much as possible. I have some fresh berries to eat also. I do fine on Fridays - maybe because I am extra vigilant for weighing in and then I blow it on the weekend and have to use Monday - Wednesday to really push myself. Stupid me. Also I told myself that I need to change my habits and go to bed early and start getting up at 7. Waste too much of the day. Also make a list (which I did) of all the things I need to do and make sure to get from 3 to 5 of them scheduled for the day and COMPLETED. By the time I got done with stuff last night it was 2:30am before I got to bed but I did get up by 8am. I need to take some things to the post office and get them mailed out, drop the daily sales sheets for the thrift shop off at the accountant's place and maybe stop and get some eggs and then come back and do laundry and cleaning. I was scheduled for a class at the local junior college on Tuesday nights through the month of June. They cancelled it due to low attendance. I have mixed feelings about that - a bit of relief as Tuesday is a very long day anyway for me at the shop but the class seemed interesting - success and happiness but then again, that's not the kind of subject that people are drawn to up here. More arts and drinking and fishing - not necessarily personal improvement.

It's Monday. Still have not heard from the contractor who was supposed to start our siding and deck work last week. The guy was supposed to come back and finish the work on the 3 season room but we are putting him off just in case we have to disassemble the room if we have to take out the hot tub. Waiting on that part which will probably come in the end of the week. If we are lucky. And who knows what Home Depot is doing about this front door other than stalling us yet again. I hate to have to get an attorney to light a fire under them but it may come to that. I am almost terrified about the deck and siding although the guy doing it (when he is able to do it) has a really strong reputation for good work. Yesterday it was raining buckets and I wanted to gather some rain water to water my plants. I heard it sloshing outside and figured it was overflowing the gutters. Come to find that the downspout on the garage had been hit and moved off it's location and the water was pouring out. I fixed it and noticed a BIG dent in it. I'm sure the 3 season guy hit the gutter when he was assembling the deck. Because it's right opposite of the window screen they told us they ripped and broke. They fixed the screen but said nothing about the gutter. That's one of my peeves - they damage something and say nothing. When does it end. No wonder alot of people around here live the shanty life. But my troubles are nothing compared to some.

Susie - hope you are able to enjoy your time off with the hubby and have a fun and restful time for yourself.

Annie - sorry to hear that M is sleeping all the time, I guess that helps with the pain for him. Glad he at least gave you a bit of a smile. My heart stays with you Sorry that C is giving you some grief right now, not that you need it. But none of us are perfect and sometimes they just don't know how to act when things are not "normal". I think guys like a very consistent and small circle of routine. I know at least my DH does. He does not deal with with chaos and does not embrace variety, unlike me.

Shad - translating the colloquial's is part of the charm of knowing you! I actually love some of the phrases. Have a good session in Wollongong. Are the autumn rains starting already? Seems like it's always downpours or draughts with the water out your way. Did you find some warmer clothing that was semi-affordable?

Ceejay - glad your company took great care of you. Now that you have set your retirement date, I'm sure the days will quickly fly by. Missouri here I came! Well actually you, not me.

Laura - I'm glad you got through the security lines quickly at the airport. Probably had a bit more time than you'd like to hang around until your flight but I'd much rather do that than be standing in line nervously fretting that I'd miss my flight altogether! Have a good time, hope you have great weather for your visit.

Hellos to the rest of the chicks I have to try and get away with a quick call to my Mom and then get on with the day.

Morning all.

Susie - Happy birthday greetings to you!!! Hope you're feeling better & you enjoy the last day of your long birthday weekend.


Happy - Gosh you & dh sure are having trouble getting all these home projects done. I'm glad to hear the hot tub leak can be fixed without replacing it & dismantling the 3 season room. What a fiasco with the door. HD is a big company. I should think you could go higher up the chain to get action??--- Will you be helping out with the bingo every week? As if you're not busy enough already... ---Nice to hear the shop has a new volunteer that seems to be a keeper. ---I hope you can get a garden in this season. Must be frustrating when an already short growing season is shortened even more by cool weather.--Probably a good idea to shift your sleep schedule if the goal is to accomplish more during the day. It's the world we live in, not everything is 24/7 or ideal for night owls.

Ceejay - How are you feeling, recovering & back to your 12-hour workdays? At the rate we're going with my mom's downsizing, she may still be here next year and a meet-up with you may be possible!!

Annie - Such a tough, sad time for you. Hang in there and be good to yourself. I'm glad M is sleeping, and I hope the docs are keeping him out of pain.

Shad - I hope your travels have been safe. Scary to think of train tracks washing out, power outages, etc. This job takes the cake!

Hellos to Dee & Michelle. Everyone have a great rest of the week.

==

Nothing much to report on my end. Doing a fair amount at my mom's, but it still seems like a drop in the bucket. I have to try to keep in mind the difficulty for my mom in downsizing 20+ years (well a lifetime really) of accumulation to what will likely be a 1- bedroom home of some sort.

Of course it makes me want to go home & purge all the excess stuff that never gets used. That said, I'll be going home with a few small items...I'm pledging to get rid of at least that number of like items at home - hold me to this ladies !!!

Today's my last day here, hope to make it productive. Wish me luck.

Hi ladies,

Annie just called me. Her brother just passed away. She asked me to let everyone know.

Michelle,

Thank you for relaying the information about Annie's brother M. Very sad. Hearts and prayers to you Annie

Laura - hope you have a productive day with your Mom today. That visit went fast! My Mom says she is slowly getting rid of things at the house but she seems to talk about not having the ambition to do it more than actually purging! She had a flood in the basement twice - that really helped to get rid of alot of the oldest stuff. My BIL's aunt moved from her townhouse to an assisted living place "just waiting to die " It was very traumatic for her to get rid of alot of her treasures. She had some really nice things like china and silver and expensive decorations (dust collectors) - things that frankly, no one really wants any more. It added to her pain that no one wanted them and she could not even sell them. I can however relate to the idea of it being hard to part with a house and move into a studio apartment. We will hold you to doing some purging when you get home.

Happy birthday Susie. Hope you have a wonderful day all to just you and the hubby to have fun and play a bit.

Time for me to jump in the shower and head off to the shop. I really don't care for working the morning shift. Especially when I didn't get a very good sleep. DH has a new CPAP mask and either it is not fitting well (because he doesn't like the strap marks on his face so he does not tighten it enough) or he is sleeping with his mouth open. Every time he moves slightly, it's like listening to the rushing thunder of Niagra Falls with all the air pouring out of his mouth. Needless to say, I am tired today.

Later chicks.

Annie
Special prayers for you and family.


Michelle
Thanks for relaying the message about M.

Susie
Happy Birthday to you. May you have many, many more. And good for you in taking your health more seriously. I need to do the same thing. I hate to take meds but I'm getting better at it.

Laura
Did you see Battlefield on any of the road signs as you were coming into Nixa. I will be 15 minutes from Nixa. My nephew lives there also. He lives on Gretchen. I'm really getting excited about the move.

Happy
How are you going to get any rest if you go to bed at 2.30 a.m.? This week end, especially on Thursday and Friday I'm going to start purging some more things. I don't need all this stuff if it's been out of sight and mind for over 15 years.

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Yes, the cat is out of the bag about my retirement. I gave my boss the hand written letter yesterday morning. He said what is this? I started to say a love letter but didn't. He had called me earlier that morning to see how I was doing. I will tell L and N tomorrow about the retirement.
Had a bit of a scare last night. Had to get up several times to go pee but instead I passed huge clots. I contacted my doctor today and he said that was normal. I took pictures to show him on my follow up appointment on the 14th.
I need to calm down. I'm overly excited.