Annie
Your dinner last night sounds yummy. Your mention of watermelon made me think of my cantaloupe in the fridge and had to have some. Have a safe trip.

Laura
Wow, BE work out tapes back to 1992! I agree that the older work out videos were more of a work out. I have a Firm tape that I used when I was younger. I'm going to work myself back into at least part of it. That is after I retire. I did go to the doctor today in Jonesboro for my b12 but I came back home.

Happy
I understand about the cleaning. I need to be just not in the mood. I will get that way hopefully after I take a short nap. I do my best cleaning after dark.

Susie
Did you find the Fitbit?

Michelle ad Shad
How is work?

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I had an appointment this morning in Jonesboro with the doctor. After I told the nurse about the upcoming D&C and the recent episode of diverticulosis. When the doctor came in my room he stood in front of me with arms crossed he looked me straight in the eye and said "NO MORE POPCORN, YOUNG LADY". Also asked him if there were any thing for allergies that did not raise your blood pressure. He wrote an rx for something, and need to go get that filled. He said it was over the counter. He said I want you back in 6 weeks to see how well that D&C has helped. I was pleased that I'd lost 4 pounds. I have a feeling that I will lose more after I have the D&C. I've gained 10 new pounds since the first of the year. Mostly from emotional eating -from making the final decision to move to Missouri. His nurse told me about a puffed pop corn like Cheetos and asked me to try that to see if that would satisfy my longing fro pop corn. I found it and tried it this afternoon. Found my new pop corn.
Think I'm going to lay down about an hour, then get up and clean and pack some things for moving. It is getting close to moving day!

Good Morning chicks
I'm back online to see you'all again My hand occupational therapy is over, I have limitations to live with forever because of my thumb joint-tendon-ligament. But with my jobs overusing my hand strength daily, I suppose I should've expected to have problems. I don't want anything artificial in my hand so I'll live with my pains & limitations. I'm going to try to learn to become left-handed

I'll be back to read last weeks posts & catch up with you'all & do personals this week.

Happy wishes, big hugs & my Luv to you'all, Dee

Hi Dee
Glad to see you back. Missed you.

It's Sunday and I'm at work. Was told this morning that L was griping already about me taking off. So be it. I told R that I was working with the boss and she would have to endure it. Maybe she wants some over time. I'm sure they would accommodate her if she asked.
I can only imagine the turmoil that will be started when I turn in my retirement notice. I'm talking to my boss first to get some input. I had two people at Walmart yesterday ask me when I was retiring. These were people from different departments of the city.
Talked to bff yesterday via text. I knew something would happen that she would not be able to go with me for the surgery. She fell on the sidewalk at her apartment Friday afternoon and banged herself up pretty good. She text me pictures of the bruises. Gave herself a black eye!

Talked to my Dallas sibling yesterday. I told her that in 4 years I would be 70 years old. This is not happening is it! but I guess time does not stand still. Then my sis said you know I will be 69 this year. My goodness where does time go.

Getting anxious/nervous for the D&C to be done.

Happy Sunday,

Yesterday some friends called and invited us to an evening pontoon boat ride out on the lake they live on. The mosquitoes are pretty bad (dragonflies are just starting to arrive and they are voracious mosquito eaters). But it wasn't so bad when we got out onto the water. We had wine and cheese on the boat and we ordered pizzas and docked to go get them. We ate the pizza as we were cruising along. There was a gorgeous full moon that was shining brightly on the water. We had a wonderfully relaxing time. They asked if we wanted to use the hot tub, but we will wait for ours. Hopefully we will be able to use it by next weekend. We came back to their house and had dessert - I made a homemade pound cake with a fresh raspberry and peach reduction. I was trying to strain the seeds from the raspberries as they are bitter and boy what a mess. You would have thought I got shot gangland style - I hope I did not ruin my shirt. The recipe made enough for 2 cakes. One was a slightly bigger pan and needed a bit more time to cook so I put it in the oven an extra 20 minutes to cook the wet center. I tried a piece today and realized it over baked and it's more like a bread than a cake. Just as well, I didn't need to eat a whole pound cake anyway!

DH ran up to Home Depot ( a 3 hour round trip ride but it is a gorgeous day out). Last night when we were talking, he noticed a giant waterspot on the ceiling. He replaced both tub faucets in the bathroom and apparently the one he put on his shower didn't seal very well. He was rather bummed about this - we are in a string of not great things right now. He has trouble dealing with it when a number of things pile up. I am going to take the time while he's gone to tackle the kitchen and living room to clean.

Just wanted to check in and say hello.

Ceejay - I am sure there will be chaos and alot of grumping when you officially announce your retirement. I guess I misunderstood - wasn't your sister supposed to come and help you when you have your surgery? Sorry to hear of your friend's fall. Yes, I agree with you about the time flying by. I can't believe I am 62 either. Ugh.

Dee - great to see you back again. Welcome to the aches and pains club - we have lots of members

Laura - hope you had fun at your parties this weekend. No, it's not bad to say that you resent your "me time". When you are working and 1/2 your weekend is spent catching up on house work, laundry and home stuff, it's ok to be choosy about wanting to keep your free time to yourself. Hopefully it was worth your time.

Hellos to the rest of the crew, I need to get off the computer. Enjoy your weekend - it appears that summer has finally come to town here.

So sorry that I haven't been around but I have been extremely busy and at times extremely annoyed. No sense in taking my anger out on anyone else. Anyway I'll be back tomorrow after I have figured out whether I am to stay here next month or go home end of May.

Good Morning Beautiful Chicks!

A very nice weekend. The wedding and reception was nice. Barn setting. Food at the reception was awesome. Fried chicken, mashed taters, ham, greenbeans, rolls, slaw, salad and of course cake and cupcakes. I will try to post the pic I posted on FB of Sis, me and the boys. Royce sure needs a hair cut. It is more about him throwing a fit about NOT participating in the cutting than Sis not wanting to cut it. He is such a little rebel. AND I LOVE IT! Got home yesterday around 3, C was at work and believe it or not I fell asleep and took a 1.5 hour nap and DURING THE DAY TOO! I can never sleep during the day. Plus I didn't want to get up this morning.

DEE...so glad you are back. We missed you. Hope you have better days ahead.

CEEG...Your decision for your retirement is just that YOUR decision. Don't worry about other's input.

SHADDIE...peace and patience coming your way.

LAURA...me time, what the heck is that? lol. I have the gbabes Thursday evening thru Sunday, race weekend.

HAPPY...I sympathize with DH. Too many things on my plate make me a nutbag. Your evening on the water sounded lovely. I love being on the water, near a beach or lake.

CHELLE...come out come out wherever you are!

Boss is in MN today and tomorrow, hope to get things done around here without interruptions.

Make it a great day/night. Hugs

SIs, the boys and me!

Morning all. Happy Monday. Lovely sunny day today, as was the weekend.

Annie – I’m glad you enjoyed the wedding and your weekend. Nice photo of you, S & the grand-babes. LOL re R's haircut woes – maybe it requires more than one person to get that done…. Yay for the nap! Enjoy your boss-less days this week.

Hi Shad – Well, this project doesn’t sound much different than many of the others – super busy and things that annoy. And the possibility of an extension. Fingers they make it worth your while.

Happy – A night out in a boat on the lake sounds wonderful. Full moon to boot (it was beautiful!). I’m surprised you passed up the invitation to soak in your host's hot tub. Hope you'll be soaking in your own hot tub very soon!

Ceejay – Yeh, I hope your boss starts getting his ducks in a row in view of your coming retirement. It sounds like it’s already bad enough when there’s the occasional shifting of schedules for time off. Yes indeed, where does the time go?!?!?! --- While I read your post about your doctor ordering no more popcorn, I was also thinking you should try the puff corn. I’m glad you’ve found a substitute for popcorn. ---Those Firm workouts are tough! I’ll have to work gradually to be able to do one all the way through. Smart of you to tackle that after your retirement – it’s hard to get through the muscle fatigue and soreness let alone focus on the job at hand. Of course, your move will be a major workout in itself!!

Hi Dee – Glad you came back to say hi. Hope you can adjust to the limitations of your injury. Maybe get a second opinion on the options for repairing it??

Hellos to Michelle & Susie!!

==

I had a nice weekend. The wedding & reception were fun, and it was nice have the evening open, though all I really did once we got back home was walk the dog.

On Sunday I bought a bunch of fruit at the market, went home and put it away, and then left the house again to go to Home Depot’s garden center. I knew it would be crazy crowded there since the weather is finally cooperating, but I wanted to get my veg garden planted! I bought three types of tomatoes (cherry, grape & Better Boy), two serrano peppers, and Thai basil. I also bought some impatiens for window box planters. I also bought some flowers for one of those plastic plant hanging bags. I’d found them at a garden show years ago and bought them for the women in the family. I came across the one I gave to my mom when we were going through the items in her garage last summer - unused, of course. She let me take it home with me, and so I’ll plant that with some impatiens in it.

Back at home, I turned the soil in the veg garden, added some mushroom compost (P U), laid down weed cloth, and planted my veggies. Put up the tomato cages and watered. I was tired out by then, so I didn’t install the little fence around it yet. And the flowers will have to wait for their planting too. Took a shower, walked doggy and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Sunday evening we went to dinner at the mom and pop pasta place, and then I watched a couple shows on Netflix. Bf took his final exam for one of his classes – the instructor let the class take the test from home this time (it's online). He’s done until the fall semester starts in August.

I’m a bit sore today from the garden work. I’m sure it’ll just intensify as the day wears on. Oh well. Have to get used to it because we have a lot of grass that’s grown into our garden borders and it’ll have to be dug out. Oh the fun.

I think bf’s orthodontist appointment is tomorrow, so I may be going to the movie tomorrow night just to make myself scarce, lol!

Okay, gonna stop rambling and get this posted. Have a good day everyone!

I'm one happy person right now. It came up in conversation this morning with my boss that I was retiring and wanted to know whether or not to hand in the letter before or after surgery. He said any time. I told him I was trying to abide by the rules. He talked to the HR department. Then came back to tell me the that they had changed the policy and I would have to work 10 more years. He was smiling. I just now received a phone call from my other boss and asked if the rumor was true. I said yes that I told B this morning. He told me congratulations and asked about my surgery for next week. The count down is on.
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Happy
My sis is coming for my surgery. She verified this Sunday. Will be here Monday afternoon.
Your outing sounded like fun and romantic at the same time especially with the full moo wine, cheese and pizza.

Annie
That is a very good picture. Glad you enjoyed the wedding.

Laura
I do like the puffed corn. It's a good substitute. I'd never seen it until the nurse mentioned it. I found some old Gilad video tapes. I used to could keep up with him but that was years ago. May pull him out again also.

Guess I'd better get off the computer and get some things done.

Hi all,

The work continues on the 3 season room. I would like to tell them that I am waiting on someone to tell me "well we'd normally charge $35,000 for this job but we'll only charge you $25,000 because while we try hard, we can only do the best we can which may not be how it should be..." The owner built the deck one foot short of what it should have been and now they are having to cut and adjust the 3 season room itself. I know DH is having a conniption but he is keeping it in check. Not much we can do until it's done and we have trouble with it. I fear for the hot tub that is sitting in the middle of the deck taking up alot of room (it will fill 2/3 of the room when done). They have to work around it as it is too big to fit in once they wall the structure in. One old guy went to shove it over and I thought he was going to topple it off the deck. My heart was in my mouth. I had to go inside before I lost it. This is very stressful. No wonder poor DH had the shingles. A girl just showed up - barely dressed in flip flops, shorty shorts and a skimpy tank top. Not sure who she is or why she's here. She certainly is not dressed for construction but she is asking alot of questions like she's the crew chief. I know she is not the owner's wife.

Ceejay - I can imagine it's a bit of a relief to let the cat out of the bag about retirement. They know you are a loyal worker and I'm sure there won't be any issues about surgery and your retirement date. You might be able to go back to work earlier than you thought anyway. Now you can focus on turning over the reigns. I like that puffed popcorn too but it's hard to find up this way.

Shad - it sure does sound like you are over and done with working and need to find a way to make retirement work for you.

Laura - I am not keen at all about appearing in a bathing suit under any circumstances and DH is less keen than me. We should have our hot tub set up by the end of the week so we were grateful just for the offer of the moonlight pontoon ride. Is Thai basil got a bit of a bite to it? I like the Sweet Italian basil. Glad you got your veggie garden in. The nurseries were overloaded this weekend with shoppers. It's still a hair early to safely plant here but I'm glad you got your garden in. That's always a good feeling to check off. Are you doing flowers too? What is BF studying?

Annie - what a great picture of you and the kids. LOL about Royce giving Mom grief on the haircut. Sounds like she got the yin and yang of kids

to the rest of the chicks. Back to work for me.

Hi Ladies,

I've been so busy at work and at life....There's just not time to do more than a quick FB post here and there.

I'm working through some stuff right now....poor coping mechanisms, disordered eating and other stuff that has contributed to a bit of a weight gain.

Also, I'm currently fostering 4 "bottle baby" kittens. They are almost 2 weeks old. I've had them for almost a week, and will likely have them until they go up for adoption at 7 weeks. Right now, they need to eat every 3 hours, so I bring them to work with me and I also wake up in the middle of the night to feed them. The middle of the night feedings should ease up in a few days, which will be nice. Most shelters don't take kittens that are unable to eat on their own because most shelters do not have the staff or volunteer resources to care for these little ones. Thankfully, we have enough people to care for these little sweeties. They are a lot of work....but so worth it.

Love and hugs to all,

Dee it is so nice to see you back!

Laura: it sounds like you had a nice time at the wedding. Did you end up wearing slacks or a dress? I haven't been on MFP much but I'm going to get back on this week and do more than just "try" to put my food in. I'm done trying, I 'm no moving to "doing". Trying isn't working for me. I'll look for you there.

Annie: I am glad you had a nice time at the wedding. It sounds like it was in a beautiful place and that food sounds good!

I love the picture of you with your daughter and your Gbabies. You daughter looks exactly like you....very pretty girl and very pretty mom!

We had sun today in Ohio and sure makes me feel a lot better. Did you get sun today in IN?

Happy: So much going on with all that construction! I agree it is very stressful and no wonder your DH is stressed and dealing with shingles. Do things look like they are improving with the meds they gave to him? Your trip on the pontoon sounds lovely. Whenever I hear the word "pontoon" all I can think of is that song by "Little Big Town" and I love it!

Shad: I hate to be annoyed especially when it is work that is annoying me. I hope you get it sorted out soon. Remember, put yourself first...it is easy to forget that...I know that so well!

Michelle: You do have a lot going on lady. How are the kittens coming? Continue the course to work through those issues.

Ceejay: I never thought to tell you about the air puff popcorn. My DH has diverticulosis that becomes diverticulitis when he eats things like popcorn, so he eats that air puff popcorn. It isn't to bad.

I haven't found my fitbit yet. I am so annoyed that I didn't know I was missing it until I realized it. I am going to really look hard for it over the holiday weekend as I'll be cleaning out a few areas but I think maybe it came off in the mall

It sounds like things are working out with the upcoming retirement. I would be a little anxious about the D&C too...I'm just built that way...I am a worrier but I know you are going to be fine.

It's great that you lost 4 lbs! The doctor has to be happy with that.

Thank you to all of you for reminding me to take time for me. I do need it. I might not be here every day to post for the next week until this dang Innovation Review (which I call our dog and pony show) is finished but I have told myself I will read the thread each day (I can to that while on my bike in the AM or while DH is driving to work) to stay motivated and up to date.

Morning
Not much to report. Had a brief power outage yesterday and the plant was in operation. I did get two out of three filters closed but one filter is hard for me to get to. Called the boss and told him and he told me to call for B. By that time the power had came back on. Luckily that filter did not completely drain but I had a floor full of water.

Didn't have to listen to a rant last night by a co-worker but I did. I've only told three other people. This co-worker and I have become good friends.

I had asked my nephew to play a song for me and last night he posted it on my time line on FB. I hope ya'll can see it.

__________

Susie
I bought a different pedometer that I like a bit better than the fitbit. To me it seems to be more accurate. It's from sportsline. I think it's a copy cat of fit bit.

Hello All. What a crazy world this is. I am a bit bummed with life and prayers not being answered how I want them to be. I know GOD has a plan, so far this sucks, let's move on to the good stuff...

Requesting prayers and/or good thoughts for:

Michael
Samantha and Chris with their marriage
My 2nd momma in life Betty, her hubby Jack passed on Sunday night.
Kyle a family friend was in a car accident, brain trauma, surgery in ICCU.
C that his work slows down a bit and he gets a day off
Me for strength and sanity through all of this
All you, my sisters

Amen

Good morning girls,

Work continues here. The electricians are running power to the 3 season room, the construction guys are here to finish up the room itself. It does look nice, we think it enhances the look of the house. There is a bit more room than I thought there would be, even with shorting us a foot of space from the original plans. There will be enough room for a chairs or a bench for the mudroom part. Need to figure out the part about hanging a coat. I need to figure out a boot and shoe tray set up to catch the sand/dirt/muck out in the yard so it's not tracked all over the floor. When they built the platform the room sits on, they ran a screen underneath the wood plank floor so that insects cannot crawl up between the board slats. So I don't want to be sweeping dirt across the floor and get it built up in the cracks. Boot trays will help contain some of the schmootz. I am just afraid that DH will put every shoe he owns in that room. He has had as many as 8 pairs of shoes in the kitchen entrance. And every coat he owns may wind up in there too. I want to come back in my next life as a man - they have it pretty easy. The cats are in hiding. Poor things are not happy about all this noise. I mostly worry about Meadow - with her diabetes she should be eating and drinking on a regular basis. I will try and put some food and water dishes under the bed.

There is drama at the shop again. I just don't have the energy to deal with it so I am not getting involved with it.

Annie - I am sorry you are in a swirl of bad things at the moments. Consider yourself and your intentions added to the prayer and good thought list. Life is a mix of good times and hard times, we just have to work to get through things and support others when they need a shoulder in life. In spite of all of this, I'm sure there are a few things that are still going right. Don't forget to remember those things, lest we get in too much of a funk. You are right - there is a mystery to life and it sure doesn't always go the way I think it should - in fact most times not. But I try to accept that "greater plan thing"...

Ceejay - saw your nephew's song - what a nice thing to do for you. Wait until the melancholy strikes - when you are in your last week or two of work and you realize that "this is the last time I'll be doing this". It's a mix of happy and sad. Get ready for some emotions.

Susie - yes, DH's face is improving, thanks for asking. I think it's really important when you get the shingles to get that Valtrex medicine as soon as possible. It really does serve to stem the outbreak. It's great that you are continuing your committment to a healthier lifestyle in spite of being over the top busy. We always seem to shortchange ourselves. Good luck with the Review - sounds like an awful lot of crazy busy work.

Michelle - that's great that you are fostering kittens. Not sure I could deal with the round the clock feedings. We have a power couple at the shelter when it comes to the cats and fostering. I heard they might be relocating for retirement, I hope not. They are an incredibly valuable resource. I am surprised at how much work goes into fostering the babies.

Hello Laura who is probably typing over my head.

I'm going to get something to sustain myself before I head off to my shift at the shop. Have a good one people.