Shad - Hope you got the patience you needed. Thanks for the Mellie graphic. And thanks for the update from Jen. Will take note of the new apt. number effective Jan. She sounds very busy. Must be so hard for her to go through all of her mom's belongings.

Susie - Glad you had a nice holiday and the sweet potatoes turned out well. Good for you getting the shopping and decorating started/done. I'm finding that the weekends are filling up quickly, so I better find time for all that very soon!!

Michelle - I hope you get the job you really want - but it's good you have some income in the meantime. How's Santa doing?

Annie - Enjoy the real tree - sap, needles, etc. Other than that, they're nice - the scent is awesome. Re real books vs. e-books, yeh, I'm still partial to the paper & ink ones. But it's convenient to have e-books on my phone - I know I'll have at least a couple loaded when I go on my cruise in Feb. Re being busy - I don't seem to plan much for my weekends/time off, yet the days just fly by...don't get it.

Renae - I seem to recall a few posts here and there by you when I first joined this thread a few years ago. Hope you'll stop by every once in a while to say hi.

==
Yesterday morning I'd decided I'd get out in the yard and do some leaf-raking. I even put on my "yard work" clothes. But then I decided that since the temps were mild, I should complete my zipper replacement project so I could wear that jacket to do the raking - perfect weight for that. Had to fill a new bobbin for the bottom thread color, and then I did the 4 rows of stitching. Happily, no problems like I'd feared, and so that project is finally complete. Since I was already at the sewing machine, I re-hemmed two pairs of bf's sport pants.

By the time I was done with the sewing, it had clouded over and I didn't want to be outside doing yard work. And it was lunch time...went out to lunch. (With all the leftovers in the house, why go out? but we did.) Back home and out for doggy's walk. After that was a lot of slothing - on the sofa watching bits and pieces of hallmark movies and hgtv shows, doing online browsing, etc. No exercise class or nuttin'.

For movie night tonight, they selected the movie Catching Fire, which is the new Hunger Games movie. Not interested, going to skip that one. And since I skipped exercise yesterday, I will go to an exercise class tonight.

WW meeting and weigh-in today. Scale at home this morning was down a pound, so I expect a loss at ww, but we'll see. I know I did alright over the long weekend with the exception of Thanksgiving when I ate too much of the cheese/sausage/cracker tray my friends brought over for the appetizer.

That's about it for me. Have a good day everyone!

Laura
I wish I had your skills in sewing. I didn't have and still don't have the patience for it.
You can't tell I've cleaned off the yard this week end. The leaves are not as deep but they are covering the ground.

Susie
Thanks for mentioning the Christmas program. I'm going to watch that also.

Shad
Hang in there.

Happy
Be careful while out and about. Will the DH take you in the ATV?

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Work is going well today. Hope it continues. We're supposed to get that cold air Happy is experiencing today but if anything we'll probably get the ice instead of the snow. I'm dreading it.
I've been going back and reading some of the threads from the past.

Hi Ladies -

I'm exhausted today. I didn't sleep well last night. Santa is getting used to the cone of shame, though he still doesn't like it. He's not putting any weight on his sore paw, but the swelling is coming down a little I think.

Today, I learned that I am being offered a job in San Francisco as a long-term contractor with the Federal Government. It's a good job, except for the commute...but the pay and benefits are good. I'd still prefer the job in San Jose...and I've got a second interview for that position on Friday.

Tomorrow, I'm interviewing for a short-term contract job with Apple. The pay isn't great...but it might be a way to get in the door with Apple.

Laura - I saw Catching Fire on Sunday. It was very good. But then, I really enjoyed the Hunger Games book trilogy, and the first movie. You really are good at sewing. I can sew crafty things...but I'd never try making clothes or replacing a zipper.

Happy - That's a lot of snow. Be careful, okay?

Annie - I'm saying prayers for C (and for you sista).

I'm going to try and get my Christmas cards out this week. I just sent out a PM to most of you to make sure I had your correct mailing address. Laura, I sent yours by FB message.

Gotta go for now...gotta help get dinner ready.

Much love,

Evening all,
Feeling a bit depressed. I went to have a look at two 'apartments' today. They were dark, dreary and depressing. One was so tiny that you had to wonder why they put two bedrooms in it. And it was supposed to be one of the 'better' places in town. Guess I will have to think about forking out a bit more money.

Not much else to report. Run out of work until some queries can get sorted. But they tell me they will be on to it tomorrow and have plenty of work lined up.

Feeling tired and not too well so I might call it quits for tonight.



This is one of Mels Christmas graphics that Laura put on the dropbox.

Annie
Sending good vibes and prayers for C.

Michelle
I pm'd my address to you. I need to get out Christmas cards myself this week end.

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OOhhhh I'm not liking our weather forecast. They are predicting very low temperatures and an ice storm to boot. I'll be off work until Sunday but another round is supposed to be here that day. Guess I need to take a whole med for panic attacks for this week end.
I got the living room semi decorated. I am glad I chose the smaller fiber optic tree's. I made a small village using them. Don't know why but they relax me.
My friend called me last night stating that she was sick, and asked if I could bring her a coke. I took her a coke and a sprite. Sprite's do me more good when I sick. Of all things I forgot to put my phone in my purse. She was going to call me to let me know how she was feeling this morning. ughh. And I can't remember her phone number. I'm used to texting and scroll down to find her number.

Morning all.

Ceejay - I'm not liking our upcoming forecast either, and we never did rake the leaves in back. And I still haveflowerpots on the patio with dead flowers in them. After work I'll try to remember to dump the contents and put the empty pots in the basement slop sink for washing. I hope you don't get an ice storm!!!

Shad - Sorry your current apartment and your apartment hunt aren't going well. Hope that changes soon. Thanks for posting the Mellie graphic.

Michelle - I responded to your message on FB. And I deleted some of my 3fc pm's here - I keep too much! Re sewing - I don't do much with sewing as to clothing anymore - I'm not as good of a sewer as I'd like. But stuff like crafts and home dec items are fine. My next projects will be fleece boot socks for my rubber wellies and a pair of flannel pajama pants. Glad Santa's paw is on the mend.

Happy - How did the podiatrist appt go??

Hellos to Susie & Annie.

~~~~~~~~~
I went to the "Body Works + Abs" class last night at the gym. I felt like I eased up a bit during this class so I could avoid the soreness in my quads like I had last time. There were still a ton of lunges and squats, but I made sure to use the lighter weights for those, and switched to the heavier ones for the non-leg moves (upper body). However... walking to the office after my train commute this morning, I can tell the soreness is starting up. Just hope it isn't too severe this time.

I had a loss of 1.2 pounds at my ww weigh-in yesterday. No gain after a long weekend that included a holiday meal and a party - whoo!

Nothing much else to report. Aside from emptying my flowerpots tonight, i also need to go through my mail basket. BF knocked it over while cleaning last week and everything's a mess.

Okay, that's about it for me. The work won't do itself, so I'm back to it. TTFN!

Morning all,

Mel Moment For the Day -

In regards to decorating for her most favorite holiday in her most favorite month of the year...

...Nothing is safe when I started to decorate in the past. I have toned down quite a bit. Jen and I used to share this tiny apartment and one year we decided to use everything we had collected over the years all at once. That year there was a surprise inspection from the State Authorities for Housing. 2 young fellas. 1 came in, ran out and called to the other one....You gotta come in here and see this. It looks like F*cking Macy's in here. They should put up a rope and charge admission." The 2 of them were in such awe that the inspection came to an end and they stayed here till they left. We had a great time while they pointed out things to each other. I must admit it was a tad over the top and we never did it again... but it was a great year to remember! Have fun with it. We only go through life once!

Happy - What a great memory! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Well we have quite the winter wonderland out my windows this morning. At least 6 inches of snow yesterday. It's snowing quite heavily now - 2 to 4 more inches expected and if it keeps up like this we'll get more than that. I'm hoping it keeps to all snow because they were predicting freezing drizzle or rain all afternoon long and that would make it darn treacherous out there. We're supposed to get the cold blast starting tomorrow which will send us into the bottom of the deep freezer. Time to haul out the longer towels to block the draft at the bottom of the doors.

I cancelled my physical therapy appointment this morning in anticipation of the bad weather. Supposed to work the thrift shop tomorrow afternoon but if it's going to be icy out, I'm not leaving the house. The lady who I gave up my usual Tuesday afternoon volunteer slot for was grousing yesterday afternoon that the shop should not be open in bad weather - it's dangerous for customers and the volunteers. Considering I had a good run of customers yesterday morning and only made $35 - $11 of which was my shopping I'd have to agree with her.

Monday's podiatrist appointment was a bust. I got there and as usual the doctor was running behind. DH drove me there and was sitting in the waiting room as he was going to help me with the grocery shopping afterwards. I sat in the waiting room for over 45 minutes - they kept coming in and telling me it would be 10 minutes more. I finally got up and walked out. I told the receptionist I was leaving and she went to check with the doctor who was not done with the previous patient and would have been there even longer. Which meant I would have waited over an hour before I even got a chance to see her. I am debating about going back - my foot was bothering me but the cortisone injections for my hip helped the foot somewhat. I am disappointed that the expensive custom fit orthotics I purchased don't seem to be doing anything to help the feet and I wear them regularly now. So I guess I will keep my appointment for next week after all. I am also disappointed in that I felt pretty good with my back and neck sleeping at my sister's and now the pain is starting again. I'm thinking it's partially due to the bed, my sleeping position and bad posture at the computer desk so I will have to be mindful of that.

I bought a new shower curtain and thought the pattern looked familiar. Turns out it matches a set of towels I purchased in town last year on closeout. I loved the trim on the towels. So even though this color scheme is quite similar to what I have right now, with the towels (which I stole back from DH's bathroom ), will give my bath a fresh updated look.

I am wanting to decorate for Christmas this year. Would love to have a real tree - not sure how Nina who thinks everything is her personal toy to play with will deal with it. She has little fur mice and especially likes a black one. Every night she trots in with it in her mouth and drops it at DH's feet. They then have to engage in a game of toss and fetch for about 20 throws before she gets tired and snuggles into his arms for a while. She had to get her teeth cleaned. Apparently Siamese mixes like her have issues with teeth as the vet said genetics are against her. She does not like having her teeth brushed but the doc said it's crucial as she will get rotted teeth, gingivitis and oral infections. This poor bow legged, crossed eyed, snaggled toothed mess sure got the bottom of the gene pool. But on the other hand she is love in a fur bag and is so affectionate, full of energy and cute that you can't help but love her. I just wish she would not chase her older sister all over the house. DH is spending a lot of time with Meadow and she is slowly coming around. She even came to me last night and allowed me to scratch her head. That girl has some thick fur on her. But she is a shedding machine.

Other than that I have a house to clean and still stuff to put away from my trip as well as Mt. Washmore to tackle. Good day to stay inside and keep busy. After that I have to review the next raping ... um increase in health care for next year's sign up and work on finishing up my class. I told the president of the Humane Society I would be willing to write articles for the weekly local paper column as well as for the quarterly newsletter which will help me to hone my skills on writing "tight" ie. less wordy.

Laura - your comment about the flowerpots reminded me that before I left I put a few pots of herbs that managed to make it through the cooler nights out on the deck. Didn't have time to transplant them indoors before I left and now they are flash frozen I have to agree with the others that you are quite the masterful sewer. I made most of my clothes freshman year of high school but didn't do much more after that. I see your work with jacket zippers, throw covers and other such ambitious projects and you are quite the seamstress! Congrats on maintaining a weight loss over the Thanksgiving weekend! That's wonderful. Hope you are not feeling too sore this morning. I can say that the stretches they gave me for PT are really helping with the soreness in the upper thighs so you might want to consider a few if you are feeling tight.

Ceejay - you poor thing - I see that they are predicting ice down your way. Particularly in your area. I sure do hope you don't have to get out and go to work in it. Seems like it will hit on Friday AND Sunday to really mess things up. Ice storms really knock things out down your way, including a lot of wires for power and telephone. I hope you will be ok. To your question about the ATV - we cannot drive it on certain county roads - many of which intersect our area and we can't drive ATVs or snowmobiles into town for "commuting" purposes. That is probably a good thing as there are lots of bars in town and drunks on snowmobiles are a bad enough issue on the less traveled trails. But we have a 4Runner and the 4 wheel drive works well except on ice - for that I need a tank with treads or one of those rover machines they use for driving out on the lake for ice fishing

Shad - I am sorry the apartment hunt is turning into such a bust for you. Hotels here have long term furnished living suites with small kitchenettes, a small living area, bed and bath and since they are designed for staying for weeks or months on end they are priced competitively to a furnished flat. I realize that every dollar spent on living quarters cuts into the pay profit so I hope you can find something reasonable soon. Thank you for the Jenn update.

Michelle - I am a bit confused with the jobs - I know you are applying to many. So you are starting a job tomorrow? And the job you said you were perfect for - is that in San Jose? Yikes I would not want to have to commute into the city SF over those bridges each day with all that traffic or could you take BART? Good luck, keep at it, something will come through soon. Are you moving in with D sooner now that you have the time off or waiting to see what comes about? What happened to Santa's paw? I missed that post.

Annie - I hope all works out well for C today. Is he still having bleeding issues despite the crackdown on his eating? Sending good thoughts and healing prayers to both of you. I think sending Jen a book of stamps is a wonderful idea. That will certainly help cut costs with some of the correspondence she is doing. Sad that she is sending out sympathy notes instead of Christmas cards.

Susie - I see DH is having an ablation. Mine had one earlier this year and except for the night of the procedure in which he was in a lot of pain - due to the nature of what they are doing, he did great and things are in steady rhythm as they should be. We are both relieved as he was not responding to the usual medications. So I hope all goes well for you both. Just a busy time of year for that sort of thing but the recouperation is quick - he just won't be able to lift much for a bit.

Nae - was good to hear from you again. When I get up in the morning and the house is cold and I look out on the snow covered trees in the yard, I think of you as it reminds me of what you have described in your posts. I can see why you love it so much now. Hope you are doing well. How is Toby the dog?

Yikes - looks like the snow has eased up - I hope this doesn't mean the frozen drizzle has moved in. DH was enjoying his morning coffee - if stuff is going to glaze over we both have to get out and shovel/plow/sweep before it freezes into chunks. Just when I had other plans....

Have a good one ladies.

Morning all,
Feeling somewhat better this morning, but am getting hacked off with this post nasal drip and the morning episodes that make me think I have a rotten cold. I suspect a sinus infection. However the darned thing has probably been there that long it will take a mammoth effort to get rid of it.

I have a list of apartments to ring up about today. Fingers crossed that one of them works. There is one I would love to have, but I'd better get on the phone asap this morning as I suspect there will be a few after it. My downfall will be not that I can't pay for it, but that I only want it for a small space of time. They have fixed ideas here that you should sign a six month lease. My time span is 5 at the most. Of course I don't have to tell them that, but I like to be upfront and as honest as possible. It generally pays dividends with the New Zealanders.

Raining this morning, but not blowing at all. I don't mind the rain, and I don't mind the wind, but I hate both of them together.

Happy - lovely memory of Mel this morning. I can just imagine that tiny apartment with every inch decked out in Christmas stuff. Jen seems to be coping reasonably well. Sure she is not happy but ........... what can she do about it.
I am starting to look at Hotel apartments. The one I saw yesterday was just dreadful. But it was cheap. I am now thinking that I have to go upmarket to get something I can live with. Not that 400+ per week is exactly cheap, but you know what I mean.
Having a real Christmas tree brings back memories of Shad the dog. He loved them. He used to sit by the tree waiting for us to decorate. As soon as the box of decorations came out, he was in there looking for his favorite decoration. We had a bunch of red shiny apples (not real) and one year we came into the lounge room and there was Shad next to the tree with a guilty expression on his face and red foam drool dripping from his mouth. We rushed him off to the vet, but halfway there, he sat up in the car and spat out an apple - still with the guilty expression. He was fine. Took him back home, gave him lots to drink and he tried to get into the apples again. Maybe the red shiny stuff tasted good. Nina will have a fine time batting the decorations around so make sure the lower ones are well stuck on.

Laura - I am sure your sewing skills are great. They sound good anyway. I used to make all my own clothes however these days I don't really have the time or maybe it is the inclination really. However the way these stupid Chinese clothes are fitting, I may very well have to either find a dressmaker or start making things again. Bet my sewing machine (hidden in the back of a wardrobe) has seized up and doesn't work anymore.

Annie - hope C is okay. Sometimes it is just haemorroids and polyps but whatever, he should get them seen to. Please let us know how it goes.

Michelle - good luck with all these jobs. Hope you get a good one. Are you actually starting one today??

Ceejay - seems strange that the South of USA would get snow and ice. Let's hope they miss you completely. Drive safe if you are driving.
I forget my phone frequently. Maybe that's because I hate it.

Better go sort out some work for myself. And start ringing these people. Today will be a good day I am sure.

Shad
I hope you can find an apartment soon. I don't mind the snow. It's the ice that's a pain for me. No control over the car whatsoever.

Happy
Don't think you should go to the Thrift store. Most people will/should be indoors unless it's to get out to by groceries.

Laura
You can find more fitness classes. I've never heard of Body Works+abs.. I hate squats but I'm learning to do them correctly and it doesn't hurt my knees as bad.

Susie

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What is so odd is that the temperature is almost 68 degree's outside and the wind is blowing like March. But then again we're under a winter weather advisory. I sure hope they are wrong.
I came in to see in Annie posted results about C.

Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers for Curtis. He has diverticulosis (thepockets that bulge out on the intestine), not diverticulitis (when the pockets get infected). He goes to a gasternologist January 8.

Here comes the crappy weather for Indiana. Starts tonight then will make a mess of things thru noon tomorrow. Rain, freezing rain, then snow. Lovely. My drive into work will be awful in the morning.

Will do personals later. Got too much on my desk right now.

For some reason

For some reason my key board is not working. I'm using the keyboard on the tablet.

--------
Annie
I'm glad u have a diagnosis for C. I've had both. We are supposed to get the same thing tonight. Need to get some errands run before all this starts. At least I don't have to get out till Sunday, but that's when the second round comes through.

Think I could get used to not having the key board even though its easier to use


More later.

Morning all. Cold and windy today and more to come, but I don't think any snow/precip is forecast here until Sunday. Time to really bundle up!

Ceejay - We had very mild temps yesterday as well, but today is quite the opposite. Bf bought a case for our tablet that has a small keyboard with it so he doesn't have to use the touch screen.

Annie - I didn't know about C's er visit until getting on FB later yesterday - glad there's a diagnosis and he will be seeing the doc to address its treatment.

Shad - I hope you just have a cold and not an infection, but if it's lingering with no decrease/change in the symptoms...might be the latter. Boo. Funny story about Shad the dog with those apple ornaments, since he was fine. Not so funny if it were otherwise. Coal shows mild interest in the ornaments. I make sure to put the unbreakable ornaments on the lower branches of our tree. Hope you have some luck in the apt hunt!!

Happy - Bet it's very pretty outside your house. Just love the serene look of snow-covered ground, trees, etc. And it muffles sound, and that's nice too. Well, until the salt melts the snow and the the traffic noise is increased. Definitely stay off the roads if you get the frozen stuff - totally not worth the hazard. How very maddening when these doctors overbook themselves and you have a long wait. And even worse they keep saying it'll only be 10 minutes!! Sometimes it's tempting to call ahead to ask if they are running on time, but you know they'll tell you yes just so you'll be the one waiting, otherwise they'd likely just take you in the order you arrive. Grrr. Greedy jerks. It's a good thing they don't allow ATV's and snowmobiles on the town roads - that would just add a whole 'nother layer of chaos to winter driving.

Michelle - Good luck to you on your first day of work and more good luck on the more preferred job prospects. How long of a commute is it to SF?

Hi Susie!!
===
Thanks for your comments re my sewing skills. I suppose I could do just as good a job as (or better than) the cheap stuff you see in some of the stores, but I think my issue is having the patience to go back and rip out seams and re-do it when it isn't "just so". Also, at a certain point you see the need to customize patterns to fit you better (and isn't that part of the point of sewing your own clothing?) and that's yet another skill to learn. I suppose the decision to deliberately move to more complicated patterns and enhance my skills is one I don't have the time or inclination to pursue at this time, so for now I stick with the simple projects. My SIL's mother was a seamstress and I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to have the skills to tailor existing clothing and make custom pieces so well you can make a living at it!!

I got the chance to wear my old jacket/new zipper last night when I went out in the yard to empty all my flowerpots of dead flowers and soil, as well as pull the dead flowers out of the small bed adjacent to the patio. Glad I got that done. I also covered the wheelbarrow with a new tarp and used twine to secure it since we are now storing it alongside the house. While I did that, bf pulled out my shephard's hook and also bagged some leaves.

That was about it for me yesterday. Oh, I had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in over a year and it was nice catching up. But...I had a huge burger and curly fries, and the rest of the day's eating wasn't so great either. Back to lighter eating today.

Will probably go to the gym tonight for a class, or maybe to finally do some strength training on the machines. My quads are still sore, but not nearly as bad as last time.

Okay, back to the grind.