Laura, Happy & Annie ~ You make a pizza and then you make another pizza and put the pizza's on top of each other, Thats where the tower comes from.

Susie ~ I hope I didnt miss your birthday, Sorry if I did, Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woke up at 7:00 a.m. this morning. Its now almost 2 in the afternoon. An hour ago I was rearranging my and Scott's bed and box spring only to find out that no matter which way I put it it still blocks the vent. So I'm thinking when Scott gets home we can put the bed and boxspring on the other side of the room and then move my table and shelf to where the bed used to be and see if that makes a difference and if it doesnt then I give up. I got a good work out moving the mattress and box spring by myself though. I'm gonna work out again to my WATP's DVD later tonight though. I have my monthly doctor's appt. tomorrow. I hope I've lost weight since last month because if I havent my doctor's gonna stop prescriping my Phermine because it isnt working anymore but I dont think its not that its not working anymore, I just havent been working out or doing portion control lately so I'm gonna tell her that and then see what she wants to do. Besides going to the doctor this week I also have school Wed. and Thursday and then after course I have school on Wed. and Thursday for the next 2 weeks as well. On the 19th DA4A is having their yearly picnic at one of our parks here in Wichita. Scott and I are going, Its gonna be fun, Its fun every year. I just wish it hasnt so hot but oh well, Its summer now, We cant change the weather. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Laura - In answer to your question, my friends have basic cable. So I'm able to watch some of my favorite programs on TV. Mostly I've been binge watching the first season of the X-files since that's due back at the library Wednesday. I've only got 3 more episodes to go. I should be able to finish it by tonight or tomorrow evening.

Happy - That's sort of dark humor about the funeral home being converted to a comedy club, but at least they were able to resurrect the flameless candles.

Terra - The pizza tower sounds good but too much crust for me. Ever since surgery I have to have the thinnest possible crust and mostly protein and veg. The DA4A picnic sounds like it will be fun. I hope you and Scott can figure out a better place to move your bed so it doesn't block the vent.

Annie - I hope this week isn't as hellish as last week. Is the King's Island meetup still happening? When is that again?

Ceejay - Congrats to your friend. I hope she finds lasting happiness. Bummer you don't like your fitbit. I'm still trying to figure out which fitness tracker to get now that I actually am walking and running for exercise I'm not as limited as I was before. We'll see. I'm still doing research.

I need to email my aunt and uncle to ask if I can stay with them for a day or so before our family reunion in July. I could always stay with my sister....but I just visited them in April and my aunt and uncle are getting up in age and my uncle's health is declining. I've got to purchase the airline tickets soon.

Okay...I need to go get some lunch. Blood sugar is getting low.

Morning all,

Quick blast through. I'm at work early since there is fog again today and yesterday I sat in the queue at the traffic lights for six changes of lights before I got through. Wasn't doing that again. Anyway I made it to work safely and got through the lights with no trouble at all. Maybe I will have to start work before 7am more often. Or maybe not.

As usual some of the mob here at work have managed colds and flu. They don't always stay home unfortunately and I am working with one who is coughing and sneezing and sniffling. At yesterdays meeting, I told him to go sit in the corner and shout.

Annie, saw the pictures on face book. Looks like you were all having fun. Mostly family get togethers are great. Some have a bit of drama in them (nothing like having a drama king for an ex) . I normally have my trust SD card in the camera. Being a bit ditsy, I forgot I had taken it out and put it in the computer to add the photos to my photo file. It stayed home nice and warm while I went wandering this good earth. The camera will only take about 3 or 4 photos without the card. I am going to replace the camera shortly so I will get some more memory cards then.

Happy - those bears were there long before you were. I do agree with taking out the source of food. It is sensible not to encourage them with bird food or garbage stuff hanging around. Might have to shift the commune to NZ - no snakes, no crocodiles, no bears, smallish bugs, and the best food in the world. There are of course political animals who like to stuff things up for the general population, and the odd gunshot fired from time to time. It's not completely paradise.

Dee - thanks for the recipe. Hope you don't let the DH talk you into something you can't afford. Don't want to have to keep working until you are 80 just to live on the lakefront or sea shore and get flooded out from time to time.

Ceejay - retirement coming up in about 14 months. You will be counting the days soon. At least your friend won't be needy and relying on you for everything now that she has found her mate.

Michelle - glad to hear that the house and dog sitting is going okay. I thought of you when I was at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. There was a dog off leash area there. The dogs were playing happily and the owners seemed to be having a good catch up as well.

Laura - yeah, moving soil from one place to another - great exercise that. I can't wait to get back to it. Nice to have an uneventful weekend once in a while.

Susie - hope you had a great birthday and are enjoying your holiday.

Terra - the pizza tower sounds nice - not diet friendly I should imagine, but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

Okay - best get off here and indulge in some work - think that is what I am supposed to be here for.

PS: I sprinkle fresh bacon pieces on the top of EVERY soup I cook after I put it in a mug or bowl, unless I pour it onto a hot fresh biscuit. I got that soup recipe from a friend, she cooks soup & freezes it & sets it beside their ice cream to guilt herself & she also has a bad & a flattering swimsuit photo on her freezer door of herself to remind herself how she can look if she makes a effort.

Friday I tried a Gazpacho salad @ Kroger & it was delish so I gotta find that recipe online unless one of u has it & will pLease share it here So far I'm still in control of my ice cream habits w using the 1 serving size method. We use a charcoal grill w fruit wood for yummy flavor from our apple, pear & cherry tree's, & I grill pineapple, peaches, etc & put that on my ice cream/short bread or eat the fruit alone. I make my ice cream w a Cuisinart ice cream machine & whole milk instead of cream, has anyone ever used a nut milk to make ice cream?

Ceej... I'm sorry about the probs w your Fitbit. It's wonderful that your friend is engaged. Hmm, after u retire next year maybe u can come up north to visit w us & we can All have a wonderful annual group get together; I wish we All could
join Annie, Laura & Susie this month, hopefully next year we can begin a bigger reunion.

Michelle... I'm sorry your having temps +90° & possibly a 100°, that's just like being in a sauna that u can't walk out of. I know you're used to it, but it still sounds uncomfortable. I don't know how the pets cope with it, not getting heat stroke going on walks & potty outdoors. I like that u have a good plan for Santa & the other doggies.

Laura... TY for making me LOL about the website recipe prep time, I agree w u plus Dh makes me add 3 diced potatoes to basically every soup that has any veggies in it. What would happen to your body & u mentally if u didn't do any exercise classes for a week or 2, would it affect your asthma?

Annie... Yep it's great u like C fishing, do u have a favorite breading recipe, share it pLease. I think we've tried frying fish about every way imaginable; oven fried, grilled, poached, smoked, & crazy good batters: panko crumbs, crackers, corn meal, pancake mix, Jiffy mix, self-rising flour. I also like baking a fresh caught salmon or walleye fillet w olive oil & lemon slices & dill weed or other herbs. We fish: perch, bluegill, bass, walleye, trout, salmon & don't keep any pike because it's so bony.

Happy... Have u & Dh visited the Porcupine Mts. in the Upper Peninsula, or Lake of The Clouds? We camped up there about 10 years ago & the areas & views were beautiful, if u don't know what I'm talking about, Google it. What will u do w your bird food, if u keep it inside your garage or shed do u think your bears will smell it & break inside to get to it if they get hungry this summer? Many of our farm neighbors rented their fields to a potato company for crops, so the 4 foot cranes flew away & aren't ripping our lawn up looking for grubs Just moles tearing up the lawn now.

Shad... I wish we could all come share the gorgeous views u r blessed to live with My battery is blinking No, we aren't talking/arguing about moving. Because Dh makes much more $ than I do, he mostly gets his own way w our income. But I refuse to b bullied about getting into a unnecessary debt that could cause a Bankruptcy if he or I lost our income. I left my answer to him as: do u want me, a divorce or a lakefront home that is Not affordable unless we win the lottery that we spend $2 a week on a ticket.... His answer was we'll talk again later about it, my reply was let's rent a cottage for 2-4 weeks during the summer....

Good Morning Chickies....

Calm evening. Dinner, dishes and laundry topped the charts. The heavy rain we had the night before sure did wonders for my garden 3 of the 5 tomato plants have survived the lawn service. May get one more to come out it. The 5th one is nearly all dead now. Needless to say I am in no hurry to pay that bill. They can wait. bleh on them. Still have a lingering dry cough from the cold from two weeks ago. Just feels like a huge snot wad in my throat that won't come up. TMI...

DEE....I don't ever bread anything so I do not have a favorite recipe for that. I bake all my fish with a bit of melted butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice, if I have fresh parmesan on hand, I will lightly sprinkle a bit over it, not too much, don't want to overwhelm the flavor of the fish. I don't believe C has ever caught pike, at least since I have known him...

SHADDIE...I feel you on the traffic lights. They are doing some sewer work in one of the lanes as I get closer to downtown, so of course EVERYONE wants to wait till they get to the front of the line to get over. Depends on my mood if they get to get over in front of me. Wait like the rest of us, I say. We had NO drama this time at the retirement lunch for SIL. How nice. The guy sitting next to me is my brother Michael (cancer) the gal behind me is my SIL and the guy behind us is her hubby, my oldest brother, Eddie.

CHELLE...we moved King's Island to October, as it turned out there were too many things going on this month for all of us. Just as well, I am planning Sissy's shower for end of July, more to it then just say come. Food, cake, people, sheesh. Glad you are enjoying your time house sitting and the doggies.

TERRA....pizza towers, yeeeee, loaded with calories. I am like CHELLE, cannot take that much bread/dough..and probably loaded with calories. Rearranging furniture, to only end up where you started, I think LAURA did that to her sunroom.

Hello HAPPY, CEEG, SUSIE, LAURA...everyone make it a great day/evening.

Hugs of Hoosier land.

:A quick morning break for me

Annie, That's GREAT news about KI in October, maybe my schedule will let me come join everyone I'll know that for sure by the end of August. Which weekend in October is it?

Everyone check your schedules & maybe several of us can join Laura, Susie & Annie starting a new annual reunion

I gotta get back to work now.

Morning
Annie
Sounds like you and your brother had a good visit. I love the one on one times with my sister. Hope you can weed through the report.

Shad
I'm making more plans each day as to retirement. Since my birthday is in late August I'm gonna circle September 1, 2016 as my retirement day. I'm going Thursday to talk to the insurance person at work and then go sign up with Medicare. This is one thing that my sister was lecturing me about during our recent phone conversation-keep you health insurance. Dah sis I have a 3 thousand dollar deductible at least Medicare will pay for 80%. Yes, I know it's coming out of my pocket! Sorry so the vent.

Dee
Wish we could have a get together at some point. That would be really nice.

Laura
I'm hoping that my other fit bit will be at my uncles. I'm going to see if I can return this. I've kept my receipt. I'm wearing my old one. Kinda disappointing that it doesn't show as many calories burned as the fit bit. but mainly I'm going for steps.

Happy
Be careful around those bears.

Hello's to the rest.

Got to go get busy.












Michelle
Glad things are going well so far with house sitting arrangements.

Morning all.

Annie – Yay for a great weekend!! Looks like you had a good time at the SIL’s retirement party. Glad you enjoyed your meal at Pappadeaux. How nice to have something in your garden to remember your grandparents by. I need to follow your example with stress at work. We got a late start on one of our major projects and we’re up against a deadline. Between that and agreeing to host book club in July (why, oh why, did I do that?!?!), I’m not enjoying my summer just yet. Re the paddle boat – what came to mind is pedal boat, LOL. I don’t think that’s the kind C bought. Yeh, bf is in the dog house re the digging. The ribs turned out great on Friday, so he’s off the hook for that. Hahaha, no, a bear commune isn’t what I had in mind either for a serene Northwoods place for us Worldlies. Good news re your tomato plants. I still have the lingering effects of my very mild cold – “snot wad” sitting in the throat describes it very accurately, LOL. Oh, and bf caught my cold and it’s been pretty mild for him too, thankfully.

Michelle – Wow, it’s hot out by you! I hope you and the doggies are handling it okay. Coal has the condition with his tracheal nerve that makes him pant a lot in the warmer weather and/or when he’s excited – it’s hard to know if he’s really having a respiratory issue or not. Good thing he likes sitting by the fan. How’d the training session go yesterday?? Does your friend’s house have AC? Even when it’s hot, I find I do okay when I’m just sitting around not exerting myself. A fan and a cool beverage help. (So catching up on your tv watching sounds like a good way to keep cool.)

Terra – Re the pizza tower – I like pizza a LOT, but one layer is fine for me. I like very thin crust pizza and very little cheese – I like the sauce and toppings best. Did you get the bed arranged so that the vent isn’t blocked? That’s a lot of work moving that stuff around! Yeh, Annie was right, I rearranged the 3-season room and it didn’t work, and I ended up where I began after a lot of furniture moving. Oy! I hope your doctor’s appointment goes well today! The picnic sounds fun – hope the weather will be good for it.

Shad – Sitting at a light that long would drive me nuts! I’m mostly happy to take the train and not worry about car traffic. Pedestrian traffic is a whole ‘nother matter though. Haha, I like that you told your sick co-worker to sit in the corner and shout!! From the photos you post, NZ sounds like a wonderful place for the commune!

Dee – Had to do a quick google of gazpacho salad – looks yummy (Food Network recipe by the Neely’s), and it’s pretty much what I thought it would be. Grilled fruit on ice cream sounds divine. I’ve never used nut milk instead of regular milk for ice cream. That soup recipe sounds so flavorful, I think I’m gonna give it a try. And I like the idea of adding potatoes, just cuz I love them. I know they don’t add much nutritional value… Good to hear you’d take a stand on the unaffordable lakefront home. I think the cottage rental sounds like a great alternative – especially when you can go to a different place each year… That would be AWESOME if you could join us in KI in October! So far, the only thing on my schedule is a friend’s wedding on Oct. 24th.

Hi Ceejay, Hi Happy!
--
Nothing much to report. I got home from work last night and it looked like it was clearing up from earlier rain showers. I got my garden gloves and tool caddy out to do some weeding in the front garden bed and not 5 minutes into it, it started raining again. I took that as a sign to go inside and relax, LOL. Actually it stopped shortly thereafter, but I didn’t want to drag the stuff out again…

I watched a couple episodes of Mad Men. I’m almost done with season 6. I wish I’d paced myself – I now realize that Season 7, which just finished, won’t be out on Netflix for a while…Maybe I can still catch the Season 7 reruns on AMC.

Bf tried again to tighten the crank on my commuter bike, but it was no go. He did clean and lube the chain and derailleur and I noticed it seemed to ride smoother today. Nice. We were looking at Craigslist for another commuter bike for me, but I’m not really in a hurry – the bike is fine for my short home/station commute. A lot of the newer bikes don’t come with fenders and I definitely want them, so that would make the search a bit more challenging. I know the cruiser style bikes tend to have fenders, but those don’t have gears/multiple speeds and they are heavier bikes, so I don’t want one of those.

Okay, enough rambling. Back to earning the paycheck!! TTFN.

Ceejay - You were typing over my head! Countdown to 9/1/2016!!! How exciting for you Ceej!! Hopefully there won't be any more lectures from your sis now that she knows you've done the math re your insurance options!! Fingers you find the fitbit at your uncles. Re the calories - I think everyone's chemistry differs, so the calorie figures on these gadgets won't be all that accurate anyway...

Good morning everyone,

I got 2 huge fresh chickens at the farmers market yesterday - 5 pounds each. I can't imagine how big those chickens were in real life - probably almost as big as my turkeys. I went to the grocery store yesterday - stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables. The man who bagged my groceries is well past 70. He's been at the store since I've moved here and I thought he knew what he was doing. He threw heavy things like cantaloupe and honeydew melons on top of my berries. He smashed peaches and black plums with canned goods. I bought some fresh cod fish and salmon - instead of wrapping that in a plastic bag, he tossed it in the bag and the wet fish water dripped all over my asparagus. I am soaking it now but if it still stinks, I am going to get my money back. They just toss stuff in the bags - I have trouble with all but one guy who is slightly mentally challenged and is slow but does a wonderful job of bagging. I'm sure the checkers don't like him because he's slow but when you are paying hundreds of dollars for groceries, I'll take slow and protected. It's a good thing that I checked all the produce and didn't just leave it in bags because the smashed bits would have quickly rotted the other fruit. It's supposed to be rather warm today - I need to head to the thrift shop and take some pictures for Facebook. The skies are an interesting color - apparently there are really bad wildfires up north in Canada and the smoke is drifting all the way south to Chicago. Yesterday the sun was an unusual orange high in the sky and I've heard that it was pink this morning at sunrise.

Good luck finding a new place to move the commune - all in all, snow and bears - I still think this is a magical place and I would not be living most anywhere else.

Laura - I read your comments on bikes - gee I guess things have gotten rather complicated - no such thing as getting a standard one speed Schwinn just for tooling around town, eh? And why do you want fenders on the bike? To reflect rocks and such?

Ceejay - are you sure your sister is not nagging you about signing up for Medicare just because you need to apply (I think 3 months before you turn 65). You can defer it at the time but if you don't apply when you are supposed to, you can get penalized. Crazy system. If you are just counting steps, wouldn't a cheaper pedometer work just as well as a fitbit??

Annie - I'm with you on the fish recipes. If I do anything like a breading it would be a light panko butter lemon crumb top on baked fish. Up here they pickle pike - like pickled herring I guess. It's a taste and texture that grows on you. I'm glad you didn't lose all your tomato plants but I'd definitely comment to them about that. Not sure I'd want grass treatment on my eating foods either. :P

DH is sitting here slurping his cereal. Argh. I think a sign of getting old is slurping your food. It drives me nuts... yes ladies, one day your "hot fox" will turn into an old man.

Dee - thanks for the recommendation of the places. I will check them out but that is probably an overnight trip for us. The gazpacho salad sounds interesting will have to try that too. As for the ice cream, I don't think nut milks have enough fat in them to make ice cream. If you want to cut the fat, perhaps make a frozen fruit sorbet instead? Or a granita which I have only tried once made with maraschino cherry juice, amaretto and some other stuff. It was divine on a hot day ! As to your question, we moved the corn and seed to the far end of the garage, away from windows and doors. I already read that you can spray an ammonia solution by the doors to distract them from the smell. We have our seed in heavy duty plastic drums which also minimizes the smell.

Shad - ok, well the one place I might reconsider the commune is NZ. But it would be an ordeal getting there. I guess DH would be happy because I would have to leave most of my stuff behind... or wait - do I have to abandon DH too? Your description of the weather and traffic sound as close to being here in the states as ever. 6 changes of light to move. Argh. Don't miss those days. Work early if you can, you are an early bird anyway.

Terra - Did you get the room finally rearranged? I think they build bedrooms so that one vent is always blocked. Unless it's on the upper wall - then it's always blowing on you!

Michelle - that's rather hot weather for out your way. Glad you have at least basic tv at the house although it sounds like you don't spend much time indoors any more. Hopefully it's cool enough to get a good night's sleep. How is the new job working out? Any news on your boss' condition?

Hope you are having a good trip Susie.

I should get dressed and over to the thrift shop to take some pictures for Facebook. I also need to replace my cucumber plants. I looked at them yesterday and they definitely are croaking - need to get some replacements before they sell out as cucumbers like tomatoes are 2 things that are just so fresh tasting straight from the garden.

Have a good day everyone...

Michelle ~ Nope no matter which way we turned the bed, It still blocked the vent but Mom said the vent wasnt putting out much air anyway, The vents need clean or something.

Shad ~ Nope the pizza tower wasnt diet friendly you were right about that.

Annie ~ Yup I had hoped that moving the bed would fix the problem which was it was blocking the vent but it didnt, Oh well, I got a good work out out of it though.

Laura ~ Yeah I personally will never make the pizza tower at home but it was neat to see it get put together. It will be hot on the 19th but oh well I guess.

Happy ~ Yeah I think your right about when builders build homes they make them to where one vent is always blocked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Woke up at 6:30 a.m. and I was out the door to wait on the bus by 7:00 a.m. I got to my doctor's appt. 5 mins before my appt. time. I was done 15 mins later so again I scheduled my return time a whole hour when it only took 15 mins. Oh well I'll get better at it. My doctor did take me off of the med. even though I told the truth and told her that I havent been on top of my dieting or exercise but she still took me off of it cause she said it works best at first but after awhile it just doesnt work as well anymore so she didnt think I need to stay on it but that I can finish what I have if I want too which is what I'll do. I'll gonna work out at 1:30 this afternoon to my WATP's dvd cause its too just hot in the afternoon to walk outside anymore. I hope everyone has a nice Tuesday. Take Care Everybody.

Hi ladies,

Things are going well here. Work is going good and I've actually been assigned a project as well as some bug fixes, which should help me get up to speed faster. And doing this kind of stuff makes me feel much more productive than just doing tutorials. Of course two of the bug fixes...it's hard to find the actual bit of code that needs to be changed. No matter. I'll just focus on the project that in my boss' boss' view would have a higher priority.

My boss is still out on medical leave but he might come back to work on Monday. I'm not sure if it's his health (heart attack) that's keeping him out, or if his family is having health concerns too. I kind of overheard something that makes me think his family might be having health trouble.

I'm enjoying the fact that With my flex hours, the commute isn't too bad. It takes 1/2 hour in the morning and 45 minutes in the afternoon. I'm able to get to the gym to work out with my trainer in the group personal training by 5 pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and still pick up Santa by 6:15 or so (or in the case of my housesitting...I can get to the house and let the dogs out by 6:30).

It was way too hot to go to the park yesterday afternoon. When I got to the house, I wanted to keep the house opened up in hopes that it would cool off by bedtime. It was still pretty warm at 10 pm, but thankfully I was able to find a fan which provided a nice breeze so that the dogs and I could sleep.

I'm going to walk on my lunch hour today...if it's too hot outside, I'll walk inside. It got up over 100 here yesterday which is unusual for this time of year. Normally we don't have temps this hot until late July or August. On Sunday, I met up with some friends from the dog park and their dogs. We didn't go to the dog park though because there's not much shade there. We went to a park near the house where I'm staying. I may take the dogs there today if it's warm.

I'm doing a 5K this Saturday. It's called the Bubble Run. I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more walking than running. I'm looking forward to it as it looks like fun. http://www.bubblerun.com/upcoming-locations/san-jose/ You can click on Videos if you want to see a Bubble Run in action.

I've also signed up to do the Color Run at the end of August. Again, I'm sure I'll walk more than run, but it does look like a lot of fun. https://registermyrace.com/register/...k-san-jose/120

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

Happy -- I know it sounds sexist but women are much better baggers. Especially if they have lived on their own and can make sense of heavy stuff on the bottom. But as you said, he was a seasoned vet so he should know better.

Shad - One downside to starting work early is...I've found in most places, if you leave at 4 (like I prefer to) after you've already put in 8 or 9 hours, most people feel you're leaving early even though you came into work 3 hours before those who will leave at 5. Dog parks are such a nice place for dogs and humans to be social. New Zealand sounds like a lovely place for the commune. No bears or snakes. Minimal bugs...as for the gunshot, I'm sure there are fewer gunshots per year in all of NZ than in just San Jose, CA.

Dee - Where I'm housesitting there's a doggy door so the dogs can go outside to do their business and come inside where it might be a little cooler. Although they gave me a scare yesterday when no one barked as I unlocked and opened the door. Thankfully, the rest of this week and next will be a little cooler. When I'm living at my house, Santa is in an air-conditioned day care during the day and we go walking after the sun goes down.

Annie - I would love to meet up with you ladies at KI in October. I'll look into the airfares. What's the date of the KI get together?

Ceejay - So exciting that your retirement is just over a year away! Good for you for meeting with the insurance people.

Laura - A friend of mine had a dog that had a trachael nerve issue. With Santa I have to watch out for too much exertion because he has a heart murmur. He was ok yesterday...but I'm glad we didn't go for a walk or to the park.

Terra - I hope you're able to get the vents cleaned so you get better airflow.

Well, I've got to get off my butt and do some walking.

Doubt that you'd get to leave DH behind Happy. However he could be put at the observatory at the top of Mt John and he could see out his time photographing the night skies. We could lock the gates on the way down to keep him there.

Hi all,

Quick post for me today - about to run off to the monthly thrift shop meeting. I was in the shop yesterday. Got more than 2 earfuls from the crew. A lot of not so happy people. We all agreed that we need more comraderie and conversation - the difficult thing is how to achieve it. Will be interesting to see how the meeting goes this morning...

I did not get enough sleep. I must start making a sincere effort to go to bed earlier. I just don't notice it's getting that late or I head downstairs, take care of a few things like a last feed and water of the kitties and next thing I know, it's almost dawn.

Today after the meeting I have to get in the garden and finish planting. I picked up cucumbers to replace the plants which obviously now were damaged beyond salvation from the frost. No sign of the bear(s)yesterday. The wild turkeys are our bear alarm. When nothing's in the yard, it's a bet that he's lurking about. If the turkeys are pecking, coast is clear

Shad - DH laughed about getting locked up in the observatory for the night. With only one or a few roosters and a big flock of hens, he might choose to live on the fringes of the commune

Michelle - glad you are doing well at the new job. Hope the boss makes a quick recovery. 100 degrees is awfully hot. I have gotten used to the temperatures here - 70 is and always has been perfect for me. I get overly hot at 80 degrees here. We have warm days and cool nights - perfect for sleeping. I have noticed lately that the gentle breeze coming in the window - the smell of the air is so fresh. Love it. Don't think I could handle the heat in Florida. Or 100 degrees in California. Re: the Color Run - something you might want to think about which didn't occur to me until one of the volunteers mentioned it is that they toss the colored powders which is a fine powder. Might cause some asthmatic issues. Just a thought. But yay for you for running - even run / walk. You go girl.

Terra - will you be making more light summer meals in school now that the hot weather is here?

Hellos to the rest of the ladies, I have to run now. Not run like Michelle - just race around almost being late

Morning all. We’re actually getting summer weather now.

Happy – That bagger sounds like a real idiot. When I remember to, I try to lay my items out on the conveyor belt grouped together as to how I’d like them to be bagged, produce separate from meats separate from frozens separate from fragiles/squishables – bread, chips, etc. Not that it always works. But your guy putting the fish with the produce – what a clod. Re the bikes – I don’t need a 21-speed for my commuter bike, but I want a few speeds – say 3 or 5 – so I can make pedaling easier on the inclines and in the wind. I want fenders for when I might be riding in the rain or when the pavements is wet – otherwise the tires will spatter junk onto me. Sort of how tire flaps on trucks are supposed to keep the spatter off the vehicles behind them. Re counting steps – if I hadn’t asked for and gotten a Fitbit Flex for Christmas, I would still be happily using my pedometer. I carry around my Fitbit, but I think it has many flaws for how it arrives at actual activity. I hope you get your cukes planted today. The growing season is short enough as it is!

Terra – Regardless of that medication that you won’t be taking anymore, it’s all a matter of calories in and calories out, and always has been. Portion control and exercise. If you want to add more exercise and you’re not already doing some sort of strength training, you might want to do that. Increasing your muscle mass will boost your metabolism.

Michelle – Glad work is going well. Nice that you can work flexible hours. Are you driving or taking mass transit? And what did you find out about the shuttle bus?? Did you get out for a walk yesterday? It sure is hot there! It was warm here yesterday and it is today. When walking from the train this morning, I was debating if I should do a zig-zag route so I could alternate shady blocks (north-south streets) with sunny blocks (east-west streets). I just ended up walking the 3 sunny blocks and followed by the 3 shady. And then I turned on my little desk fan when I got to cube, LOL. Stay cool! It’s so great you’re doing those 5k’s. If your trainer keeps you going with the stamina training on the treadmill, I’m sure you'll run more than you think you would.

Hellos to the rest of you. Hope you’re all having a good week.
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Nothing much to report. Bf caught my cold and originally it seemed like it would be mild like mine, but it’s gotten more severe and he’s been sneezing and coughing like crazy. There’s nothing I can really do because he doesn’t like taking medicine, so my suggestions are generally not met with any receptiveness. So, yes, he’s being a typical baby the way guys can be when they’re sick.

My boss also has a rotten cold. I sure hope he’s better by Friday – he’s hosting a big meeting that day.

Well ladies, I made an appointment with the gastro doctor that my primary doctor recommended for a colonoscopy. It’s not ‘til next month – I already have one scheduled day off this month for a doctor appointment and unfortunately this gastro appointment couldn’t be made for the same day. I don’t want to schedule any more time off until after the work deadline for one of my current projects.

Speaking of time off, I still have a lot of vacation time to use up. I don’t have any vacation plans right now, but I will likely be visiting my mom sometime this year – more than once. She’s not cranking away on getting herself downsized (or at least not talking about it to me), so I may just go out there to get her going and be at her disposal for all the physical work.

Okay, enough rambling. I’ll get this posted.