Morning all,
Quick one. Promise I will be longer and more wordy and more boring over the weekend.

My car is ready for pickup. I'm leaving work early to go get it. Good bye Astra, hello A3. That is of course as long as the money comes in to their bank account. Should do. Most get transferred in 24 hours and I have seen that it went out of mine at 0830 yesterday. So provided it is there, I will be taking DS2 and J out to dinner in style tonight.

Happy - sorry to hear about Nina. It's so hard for the furry kids when they can't tell you where it hurts and sometimes its a genetic thing - something we can't know about because we have no history of where they came from.

Annie - poor Sam. Bet this is the last one she will have.

Michelle - until you ask the question, you won't know the answer. It's sad that we can't always live together in harmony, but that's human nature. Last time DS2 shifted home, I couldn't wait for him to move out again. It was so hard living with someone else again. Your stepmother is probably used to being on her own.

Laura - I didn't realise until reading back in the posts that you were so close to goal weight. Well done you.
As for the boots, well as long as you are comfortable and dry who cares, but then again, it isn't the greatest look for the office.

Ceejay - People shouldn't assume that they can live together - see Michelles comment earlier. It never seems to work out all that well. You don't need slave status either.

That's it. Gotta move on. It's a bit like the Marie Celeste here today. People are a bit thin on the ground. Have to communicate via phone and e-mail. Aah well c'est la vie.

TGIF and Payday fo sho!!!

Sissy's appt went very well. Got to hear the tiny heartbeat again. 137 beats per minute. Lil man loved the doctor. Went up to him with his arms up so the doc picked him up and lil man read the letters off of a sign correctly to him. Doc was very impressed. Then they came to the house for dinner. Homemade pizza and bread stix.

So come to find the thermostat we got at Lowes that Curtis installed was bad. It cost us 140.00 to have a new thermostat installed. Bleh. You can bet I will take this 30.00 one back to get my money.

Will be back for personals as I need to reboot this silly computer.

Hugs

Morning all. TGIF!!

Annie – Glad dd’s exam went well, and how nice the li’l guy was so good for his exam as well. Yum, I’ve been jonesing for some pizza the past week and have avoided getting a slice at lunch in anticipation of ordering the better stuff from our local place. But I think half will have to be veggie – I need to get myself back on the losing track. Big bummer about the thermostat failure and having to pay for installation. On the bright side, that’s a lot less $$ than something going wrong with the furnace or AC units!!!

Shad – How exciting you’re finally getting your car – long anticipation time, that’s for sure. I’ll be on the lookout for a photo here or on fb. Re my weight loss goal, unfortunately, I feel like I’m getting further away from it because I’ve been faltering all summer. There’s a song with lyrics “so close and yet so far away”. How fitting. Re the boots, I definitely wouldn’t wear them around the office, in fact I have a whole collection of shoes in my workstation’s skinny closet. Each day I take off my sneakers and change into my “office shoes” (I also store my laundered trouser socks there too) and much the same for switching out a jacket for a cardigan. Sort of like Mr. Rogers, LOL. Did you get Mr. Rogers Neighborhood in Oz? BTW, I had to look up your reference to Mary Celeste. Wikipedia had quite a lengthy entry on that, I might have to go back and read some more.

Ceejay – Sorry you won’t get to see your friend this weekend. And thank goodness you’ve learned what a mistake it would be to live with that other friend! What’s YT?

Happy – Hope you got your garden pulled out before the chilly weather hits. It’s been so rainy here the past week, I doubt it will be dry enough to dig around this weekend. I will, however, get out and cut back the rest of the peony and daylily foliage. And pick more veggies. Just haven’t gotten to that this week!! Poor Nina.

Michelle – Sorry things are a bit tense with your stepmom. I hope you get a chance to clear the air with her. Maybe if you have a definitive move timeline it’ll make things easier than if your time there is open-ended.

Mellie - Hope this helps:
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Nothing much to report. I did my ab challenge last night. I did a 60-second plank!! Still hard to believe I will be able to do a 120-second plank on day 30 – we’ll see. After that I did one BE workout from my new dvd. Strange doing the workout without the music track! I might set up my cell phone to play some music in the background.

Tonight will be grocery shopping and bf agreed it would be nice to go on a bike ride on a trail this weekend. I also want to get out in the garden for some tidying, and maybe re-pot my two mums.

I forgot to report that I had a gain of 1 pound at my WW weigh-in this past Tuesday. Grrr. And the scale was up today. I really need to get back into the groove of things. I had lunch with a work buddy yesterday and she just started WW (not at work though) and is in the “newbie motivated phase” and I hope that rubs off on me!! She’s started brown-bagging her lunches, so it’ll be nice for us to smuggle our lunches into a food court and motivate each other.

Okay, conf. call coming up. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Good morning ladies -

Happy Freakin' Friday! I am so ready for the weekend. I really didn't want to get out of bed today. But since I don't get paid if take a day off, and since I looked at my budget over the next few months...well, I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!

I had a talk with my step-mom yesterday. She likes having me here. She is concerned that I'm spending too much money and not putting it towards bills, and that I rush around too much (and the last two weekends have been rather rushed). She'd like me to slow down and be more careful (as in when cleaning or doing stuff around the house). She's happy that I help her and didn't ask me to do more. But she did say that she was thinking about charging me a few hundred dollars for rent starting in November...which is fair...because I do increase the water and electric usage, and she does buy the groceries. All in all, a good talk.

Annie - So glad that Samantha's appointment went well! What an adorable story about your grandson! Bummer about the thermostat though.

Shad - How exciting that you FINALLY get your car!! Pictures please!

Happy - Did you get your garden pulled out? I was always so sad when that time came. Are you volunteering today or this weekend?

Laura - Any fun plans for the weekend?

Gotta get to it...have a great Friday everyone!

Much love,

Laura - you posted over my head. I hope you get back into the newbie motivated phase. My eating has been slacking off as well. I plan to get to the grocery store and get ingredients for some healthy breakfasts and lunches. Your weekend sounds really nice. Enjoy your trail ride. The gears on my bike need adjusting...would you suggest that I do that now...knowing I'll have to put the bike in storage for a few months due to the rainy season...or would you suggest "living with" the bike as it is now (I have about 6 gears out of 18) and getting a tune up in the spring?

Mellie - I'm sending you tons of healing energy and hugs.

Michelle - Glad you talked it out with your stepmom last night. I think paying rent is perfectly reasonable too.

Re your bike gears - if you don't have plans to do much cycling before the rainy season, I'd wait until afterwards. If the bike's in storage, being jostled may undo the adjustments? Besides, when you do get the gears looked at I'm assuming you might want to have a general tune up anyway, and that's another thing you'd want to do only if you had plans to be riding, not storing.

Hi all,

Was multitasking and shouldn't be as I closed the browser window with the big post I was working on.

Yesterday was a nice warm day but with predicted heavy storms as the cool front moved in. I did get out in the garden and took out the bean plants, cucumbers and trellis / fencing. Was working on the big tomato plants as DH went off in search of a piece of planking to install the new microwave. Thunder started rumbling in the distance and I worked faster to finish up at least pulling out the big tomato plants. Suddenly the skies opened and I was determined to finish up at least getting half the bed out. I do admit I did question the wisdom of working in an area with a high metal fence when it was lightning out but it's like running across the street in heavy traffic - you hope you won't be taken out or knocked flat on your butt. I finished up and walked into the house as wet as wet could be and noticed there was a message on the answering machine. Turned out DH had called 35 minutes earlier - he somehow managed to lock the car keys in the car and needed rescuing. Not only was I a drowned cat but it was raining so hard I could barely see out the windshield of the car. Thank goodness for caller ID as I was able to call to the store and speak with him and tell him I got his message and was on the way. I quickly changed and fortunately he was only about 20 minutes away. Got back and started searching the Internet for what to do with a large bin of green tomatoes. I don't like the hard texture of unripe tomatoes so green salsa was out. Surprisingly when you roast them they get sweet and there were lots of interesting recipes for green tomato bread (you can't tell it's got tomatoes in it according to the commenters), green tomato soup with beans and ham, and even a sweet hot dog relish perfect to use up the tons of small cherry tomatoes I have left. And apparently green tomatoes will keep in a dark bin and while not as tasty as vine ripened, they are still better than the store's chemically induced ripened ones. So when the rains let up in the afternoon I went and picked out more green tomatoes I had chucked in the compost bin. I also was determined to finish harvesting and removing the cherry tomato plants. Apparently if desired you can pull the tomato plants from the roots, hang them upside down in a warmer protected area and they fruits will continue to ripen on the vines. I could have done this in the boat shed but that is home to some pesky red pine squirrels who no doubt would have appreciated the feast by producing more offspring so nix on that idea. I did finish up and was reminded why we like winter better in these parts - the mosquitoes were having a feast on me as I hurried to finish up. Was hoping that the bat(s) would come out of the bat box and help me out here but no such luck. The cooler weather has arrived - it's gray and rainy today but the sun should come out later this week. We are in my favorite season - the rains we got should help the tree colors, I love this cooler time of year and the hearty soups, stews and breads and there is something comforting in a nice cozy sweater or soft cuddly blanket. And did I mention that it's the end of bug season

Tomorrow is the Fall Festival in our town - arts and crafts, street food and outdoor music. Next week it's in my cousin's town and the week after that starts apple and cranberry festivals in the surrounding areas. Yum and yum yum. Love me some homemade cranberry sauce with fresh orange.

So as soon as I get off the computer here I am going to cook a few things up as well as go through all the magazines I've been holding and select some recipes for the week's meals. I also have to go to the grocery store which is not my favorite thing but must be done.

Michelle - glad you had a talk with the stepmom although I don't understand what you are spending money on - not like you are talking about your new Christian Leboutin heels However, I'm realizing more and more that it's hard living with someone else (take note Ceejay) - saw that with my Mom's last visit and even the adjustment that DH and I are (still) making as we adjust to a new life in a different way than we did before. Best to make plans to get on your own as soon as you reasonably can. In the interim I agree with contributing to the household with some rent money to cover the additional costs as well as helping with cleaning and such. We said the same if my Mom came to live with us - we'd have to keep the heat a lot higher to make her comfortable so she could help with the propane costs. And would have to buy her own bakery items to fuel that raging sweet tooth of hers Would be nice to get on your bike again - didn't realize there is a rainy season - thought it "Never Rains in California" Thank you for the good vibes regarding Nina.

Laura - regarding the pizza - I'm starting to come around to realize that it might be better off to have one slice of pizza at a restaurant rather than getting a whole pie. I always feel like I have to finish the leftovers off even though I really don't like rewarmed pizza the next day. One piece if far less calories in the long run - kinda like getting one slice of pie at the pie shop. And if you can move away from the high calorie and fat meat pizzas and go more to the vegetable based pies, it's actually not that bad for you. I admit I like vegetable pizzas more and more. I had to smile at your shoe collection at the office - once I started wearing winter boots or sneakers for the commute to the train station, I too started keeping a shoe collection at my desk. Was far worse when I was wearing dresses and had to keep several pairs of high heels to go with various outfits. Pants shoes are far more generic! It does help if you can get a WW buddy to keep motivated. I had a friend and once a week she'd make lunch for me and then I'd make lunch for her. It did keep us motivated and I still love her green pea and pasta salad and her easy peasy mock minestrone soup. Moving in to the cooler weather I always found to be the biggest diet challenge of the year - more so than the holidays even. That warm comfort food ... ummm.

Annie - bummer on the thermostat mishap - was the extra money spent buying an upgrade or in repair costs because you thought something was wrong? Cute story about Lil Man. How old is he that he's already recognizing letters??? Sharp guy. Good to hear all is well with Sissy so far.

Ceejay - I'm sure you're like the rest of us - we change our eating habits, feel better about it and then the lure of the old items just creeps back in and before we know it we are promising ourselves to clean up the eating again. I know I've been doing that myself trying to use up things in the freezer and pantry which tends to steer away from the fresh fruits and veggies.

Shad - glad to hear that the new car has finally arrived. Now you will not only have to figure out a new phone, but new dials and options on the car as well. I guess we've come a long way when all we had to do was lift and put down the phone receiver as well as put the key in the car, shift into gear and go! I will have to look up the Marie Celeste reference later.

Mel to you - hope are resting comfortably. We eagerly await your return and miss you lots

The sun just came out shining brightly. I need to really get busy here as half the day is gone. Happy weekend ladies!

Michelle
Glad you had the talk with your stepmom. Always good to clear the air.

Happy
You were a trooper to go get the stranded dh. You did a lot of work in the garden before the rain started. I'd rushed inside when the rain started. I love the fall weather also. We got some much needed rain today. The slow kind that makes you sleepy.

Annie
When will Sissy have the ultrasound done? I'm anxious to find out whether it is a boy or girl.

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I dread going to work tomorrow, but I need the over time. i still have 84 vacation hours left to take off so I'm thinking ahead, a week off in November and one in December.
Picked up my pay check this morning and went to pay my utility bill then to pay for the cat scan at the hospital. I put the cat scan on my credit card. I got a 35% discount for paying it off in 30 day's.
I understand the concerns about having a room mate. I've managed onmy own for all these years. My sis will be working during the day, so this should help. If she happens to find a job more closer to home then I'll have to work out something else. I do like my privacy and having my own rules.

From Jen.

mom is holding her own but just barely. her potassium hit the floor.
that added more stomach pain and everything else.
our old dr is on vacation. we are going to call and see if he can make a house call next week when he returns.
there are just too many problems all at one time.
sorry I forgot about the emails. it just slipped my mind.
the office has been busy. mom's boss/friend has high BP and other problems.
she had an episode this week and almost ended up in the hospital.
she got a lot of meds. they are both down for the count.
I am trying not to get too involved with the office but I can see how her boss depends on her and why.
mom's friends put on the pressure more than the tenants.
the good times for them have come to an end. there is panic in the offices. ha!!
I will send you emails next week as soon as we know something.
love, jen



Back soon with the doings and maybe some photos

Crikey, no one here overnight. Good stuff as you should all be enjoying the weekends. They are not long enough as it is.

Flying to Mackay tomorrow - about 900Ks north of here. Got training on Tuesday through Friday and come home Friday night. Lot of work to do today to get ready for this.
So today I must mow the lawns and pick up the leaves from the Grevillea tree. Beautiful tree but messy and chucks off the leaves from late winter to early summer. Then the yellow flowers appear and the parrots flock in for the nectar.
Got to take the cat over to the DS2's place. Finish washing the floors, pack my stuff and get myself ready for tomorrows early start.

The new car is lovely. I will get some pictures soon, but have been a bit busy this weekend so far. It'll happen. Hopefully sooner than the power company working on my bill or the accountant with the trust fund papers. My taxes came through and my first pay went in. Sometimes, somethings just work.

Annie - sorry to hear about the arthritis. Hope you can find some sexy shoes that feel comfortable for your poor feet.

Laura - I've decided to try your ABs challenge as well. Haven't a hard time with the sit ups. But have worked out a method of getting them done. Now up to day 5.

Michelle - glad you had the chat with the stepmom. Maybe she sees something about the spending you are doing, although I think it is normal as you come out of your grief and stress period. However you will have to force yourself to save because otherwise there may not be much to live on at a later time.

Happy - poor DH. I've managed to lock myself out of the house a couple of times, it is a real pain. Lucky he had you close enough to come and get him.

Ceejay - Hi.

Gotta get off here. The day is getting away from me.

Evening ladies. It was a beautiful day here. I got out in the morning and cut back the remaining peony foliage and pulled some weeds and transplanted a couple stray sedum plants, adding them to the border on the north side of our property. I also picked a lot of cherry tomatoes, a few of the larger tomatoes, and 1 Fresno chili. The green beans seem to have completely died out and are kaput for the season. Later in the morning I did my abs challenge. It's getting pretty tough. But I am getting better with my planks. Today I did the 65 second plank for the day's challenge, which I did on my elbows. As usual.** But then I wanted to know if doing planks on my hands and toes like the regular pushup position would be easier so I did another 60 second plank after the 65 second one -* how about that?

Bf and I went to lunch and then the library. I borrowed 3 books, one of which I'll bring to my mom's when I visit on Friday. I also downloaded an ebook to my cell phone. Bf dug up his book light for me to take with me because the lamp in my moms guest room is very short and doesn't have a very big bulb in it and it's one of those funky CFL bulbs that's not very bright, so I'll have my book light to supplement it.. The last time I visited I dragged a large desk lamp that my mom uses in another room for sewing projects so I could have better light,* but it was a major PITA to do.

Since my department store sunglasses have recently deteriorated with the lens chipping and coming out of place as well as the 2 pairs of $ 1.99 sunglasses I bought on clearance at walgreens are not working out for me so I finally remembered to have b_f order the raybans that I found at sunglass hut back in July. However, he found them for much less money than sunglass Hut.* While he did that,** I took doggy for a walk by the creek. What a beautiful day. Tomorrow is supposed to the same. Bf has been non committal about going for a bike ride. He also mentioned he will mow the lawn tomorrow. I might go on a bike ride on my own tomorrow instead of waiting for him to decide if he wants to go. I still haven't decided what to buy my mother for her birthday. Bf suggested that she might enjoy seeing a show in Branson.* This was also a thought I had as well.* I will have to check online and see if anything jumps out at me.

Not doing much right now - watching some TV. The movie bridesmaids is on so I've been watching that. Guess I'll post this and get back to the movie. TTFN. Personals tomorrow!

Evening all,

Got up this morning - Nina made a big mess in the litter room so I had to spend about 45 minutes cleaning up. This after I spend 30 minutes cleaning up not more than 6 and a half hours earlier before I went to bed. DH was quite frustrated this morning. Then he wanted to hurry to get to the fall festival in town. Not sure what was the hurry as we had no other plans for the day so I hurried and got dressed and off we went. We were able to catch the start of the Weenie Dog (dachshund) races. However just as the race was starting some people pushed their way through the crowd to the front of the barrier - one girl said her mom was racing her dog, another woman said she was trying to take a photo for the local paper. It was really annoying as they blocked my view completely. There were also 2 young teenaged girls with really big knitted novelty hats (ie. view blocking also) who also tried to get to the front but people were not letting them through. As for the other 2, why couldn't they come 15 minutes early to secure a place? I didn't believe the woman who said she was taking a picture for the newspaper. So we watched one heat and walked away. I got a small accent lamp with a chickadee stencil on the shade, a small jar of tomato marmalade from a lady who makes the most delicious cherry amaretto jam and a bottle of all natural bug repellent that we have used before while riding the ATV. They had some really, really pretty jewelry with hand blown glass as well as polished rocks. I would have loved to get a few pieces but I just don't have any where to wear it here so I just admired it from afar as DH walked past the booths. Oh and I also got another kitchen towel that has a crocheted top that you can hang on a cabinet door. My Mom wanted some for Christmas and I got one for me and it actually is quite handy so I got another to switch off. We got some chicken wings for lunch but there were no empty tables to sit at so we just brought them home and ate them on the deck. It was a lovely day today. Talked to my Mom and sister on the phone and then made a quick supper, cleaned up the kitchen and did some laundry. I attempted to get at the pile of newspapers and magazines but DH was hungry so that will have to roll over to tomorrow's task. I was folding laundry and happened to turn on the TV and saw the movie Bridesmaids was on so like Laura, I watched it too. Now I can't get the song Hold On out of my head

Laura - yay for you on doing two 60 second planks! You are doing great on the challenge. Sounds like you did quite a bit of gardening too. My sister said she was thinking about taking out her garden but apparently it's going to warm back up again by you some time next week. You sure have had the heat - I'll take the warm sun but you can keep that humidity! I think taking your Mom on a girl's night dinner and show is a lovely idea for a birthday gift. Comes a point where what more can you buy someone that won't just lay around so a nice night out might be more enjoyable. Good idea on the book lamp also. I hate reading by those CFL bulbs. There's no such thing as too much light when it comes to reading.

Shad - I picture in my mind how colorful and lovely it must be down your way. But then again with the humidity comes the bugs too. We have baby stick bugs here that always remind me of Australia. However ours are only as long as my hand - tips to wrist so nothing like you see. But the idea of parrot flocking to flowers or the drunken birds on fermented sunflowers would be wondrous to see. I'm glad you are liking the new car. Does it have tech gadgets in it? I think they are moving towards the cars driving themselves. I think it's sad that they have a device that alerts you if you drift into the opposite lane of traffic - someone was thinking of the texters I'm sure. I have been meaning to ask and apologies if you explained but who are the wee ones in your avatar?

Poor Mel - your health speed bumps get larger each time. Wishing you a quick recovery and comfort

Ceejay - a 35 percent discount for paying early - who could argue with that! Still I'm sure the price was high. I think it's a good idea to schedule some time off in November and December - a de-stress time and make sure you have some fun. All work is not good - especially with the long shifts you pull.

I guess that's about it for me for now. Should try getting to bed maybe a bit earlier and rising a bit early too. Yep, I can't wait to get at that housework Later chicks.

Last one out, first one in again. It's a lovely sunny but cool day out there. I have lots to do inside though including doing something with all those tomatoes I picked the other day. I really don't feel like going to the grocery store but I have to. Wah wah wah

Hope you are all enjoying your Sunday.

Called my aunt this morning to let her know that I wasn't coming today. An hour over there and an hour back is taking up to much of my time. She'sstill huffy about my cousin moving back. There's no telling what she tells people about me. I don't really care.
Work yesterday was fairly quiet.
Text with my friend who moved to Jonesboro. She's coming back today for some people to pick up a lay-a-way. Maybe we can get together some time this afternoon.
Found my dvd of the biggest loser power sculpt and did that the last two nights. Believe it or not it's low impact. I've had to modify some of the moves but most of them I can do.

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Laura
Wow two 60 second planks. I'm impressed.

Happy
People can be rude. This may be the new norm for little miss Nina. Hope she can get straightenend out. I love the polished rocks, but like you I admire them from afar.

Shad
That's a long trip. Does it involve the new job.

Mel
Sending you healing vibes.
Helloto the rest

Hello everyone. Hope you've enjoyed your weekend. Today started off a bit chilly and a bit cloudy and it made me want to laze around with my tea instead of taking a bicycle ride.

I ended up going through my bin of newspapers to pull out the pieces I'd put aside for my mother - I'll bring those with me when I go Friday. Then I ended up sorting through all the newspaper sections I'd put aside for myself. I wish I didn't have that habit, but I feel better having sorted through them and pitching some in the recycle bin. But guess what - I didn't even get to today's paper, LOL.

After that, it was already afternoon, so I got busy and got my laundry sorted and a load going, then worked through my ab challenge. After that, a dog walk to the park, around the tennis courts and back home. It turned sunny so it was just the perfect first day of autumn.
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Ceejay - Good job with the workout. Nice you stayed home today and didn't have to drive two hours. I hope you got to see your friend while she was in town. Wonderful you got that big discount on the medical bill, even though I'm sure the remaining balance is still hefty.

Happy - Yeh, it was rude of those women to push to the front - nervy. Sounds like the fest was an otherwise nice time. Poor Nina! And poor you cleaning up the messes. Yep, we're getting a warmup this week, so I'm not getting rid of the veg garden anytime soon, though I could yank out the green bean plants. You had quite the time pulling your garden - I would've given up when the rain came!! Good you weren't too far away to come to dh's rescue in response to the locked up keys. I hope you're making some yummy stuff with the last of the garden harvest. Re pizza - love pizza, love the leftovers. We did end up ordering a half veggie/half sausage pizza the other night - when we do that, I always eat one square of the meat side just to satisfy my taste for sausage or pepperoni, but avoid some of the guilt by eating mostly veggie.

Shad - Thanks for passing along the latest Mel update. I sure hope they can get the doc to come for a house call. You sound busy as usual. I understand messy trees - the squirrels are busy as usual this time of year making a mess with the acorns from our oak tree. Glad you are enjoying the car. Looking forward to seeing a pic. Probably a lot of features to become acquainted with. Safe travels and hope you get off to a good start.

Hellos to Mel, Annie & Michelle!!
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It's taking bf a long time to mow the lawn - and he's still in the back! Certain parts of the lawn were really long, so he's having to empty the mower bag quite a bit. After he's done and showered, I imagine we'll go get some grub. In the meantime, I'm going to get my 2nd load of laundry out of the dryer and fold it.

I think I have everything I need to make a batch of curried lentil soup, think I'll put out all the ingredients and try to throw it together before or after we eat.

Off to the basement!