Good morning ladies,

Thanksgiving was fine - quiet with just the 2 of us. I spent ALL day cooking and cleaning the kitchen. By the end of the day I was almost too tired to eat. Did a little retail therapy on Black Friday. Thought about Christmas decorating and decided another day Yesterday we went to some friends for dinner and Mexican Train - I wasn't eager to go out but we had a nice time. Up early today - I have a finance committee meeting this morning. I told DH we are retired - WHY do I have to get up at 6am on a dark, cold, winter's morning to go out to a meeting???? Still trying to untangle from the volunteer stuff. Our friend's house yesterday was beautifully decorated for the holidays. I wish my house looked like that. I also noticed she had a distinct lack of "stuff" - ie personal clutter.

I have to get ready for my meeting, will log back on later.

Good Morning....Came into work this morning as I have one piece of business to finish for my boss. 9 business days left....then onto my non-working days.

Thanksgiving was nice. Lots to be thankful for. Movies, shopping, cooking and baking. I was completely worn out my Sunday.

We watched the Christmas Chronicles on Netflix yesterday. The made for Netflix movies with Kurt Russell. It was a fantastic movie.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Hugs to all.

The resort is a little piece of paradise.
went to the ocean this morning to do a simple yoga class that was taught by my nephews wife.
Then went to the finess
center and did a complete work out. There weight machines are very different from pf except the leg press machine. I'm already a bit sore but I'm going to do it again tomorrow. Food here is in abundance. I'm going to have to watch what I eat from now on.
Ready to go to bed. I'm tired so didn't sleep well. Had night sweats.
more later

Good morning all,

Glad you are having a great vacation Ceejay - and that you are liking the food. I've heard they can really put out the spreads at some of those resorts. Enjoy the warm weather and sunshine!

Annie - thanks for the movie recommendation - I will have to check that out. Are there other people cut in the offer too? Is that making for a somewhat somber mood or is it just a regular course of business now? I hope you can keep your spirits high and your hands busy.

Sounds like everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday and Shad is still blazing away down under.

I have to go to the senior center today to work the lunch thing. I was hoping when I agreed to help cover for another volunteer it would only be a few weeks. Wasn't planning on it lasting over 3 months. I am trying to wiggle out of it.

I need to get ready to head out. Figured I'd stick my head in here. Hope you are all doing ok.

Morning all. Back to work today. I did mostly a whole lot of nothing on my days off. Our Thanksgiving was nice. Bf and I took our moms out to eat at a nice restaurant. Two of us had turkey dinners and two had steaks. Dessert at bf's mom's place afterwards. The rest of my time off was lazy. Watched TV, did some reading. Saw a few movies - Crazy Rich Asians, Get Out, and The Lobster. First two were good, the last is a few years old and was strange...

We got a lot of snow on Sunday into Monday - heavy wet snow, over 8 inches. Unfortunately, bf hadn't gotten the broken blade on our snowblower fixed yet. Thankfully, he was able to borrow our neighbor's machine. So ultimately, I really only shoveled a bit to tidy up stuff left behind by the machine, and to clean off the one car we park outdoors on the driveway. But then I had to go back out about an hour later after the plow had been by again because it tossed a crapload of snow back onto the driveway and bf had gone to check on his mom. Oh well, good exercise.

Yesterday I went to the fitness center for a workout. Did some laundry. Also went to the home improvement store and got a few paint swatches for the half bathroom. Our fixtures (toilet and pedestal sink) are a bone color and I picked colors to match that. Of course, now I'm waffling on doing a straight match. But at least it won't clash with the fixtures like the current wall color does. And it's a lighter color than the current color. And if it's too monotone, we can get accent colors through the hand towels, window treatment, and whatever knick-knacks we get for the shelves.

Okay, gonna post this before I lose it and do a separate post for personals.

Back for personals...

Susie - Did you get your living room decorated for Christmas? I forgot to mention in my previous post that we decorated our outside on Saturday. I'm so glad I had a detailed diagram (done last year) with everything we display and where it went, including the electrical & timer hookups. It went pretty quickly once I finally got bf to just follow the diagram. -- What great birthday gifts for your niece!

Ceejay - Glad you're enjoying your vacation. I bet you're glad you missed the winter weather we had here!! -- Good you're keeping active - it'll counteract the abundance of food!

Happy - Mexican Train?? -- I'm glad you're trying to divest yourself of your volunteer obligations!

Hellos to Shad and Dee.



Annie - Countdown time. Are you working from home for your final workdays??

Good Evening from the resort.
I'm cutting back from my time with the gang. If they want to do whatever they can do it with out me. This gal is tires and can't handle the sun like she could when she was in her teens. I did lay out by the relaxation pool for an hour. The sun really felt good but I had enough so I came back to the room.
Sis did yoga and Pilates this morning and played in the ocean. I hadn't been in the water as yet. Don't really care to. No formal exercise either. I'm going to the fitness center tomorrow, if I have to go by myself.
Haven't really felt 100%. I have had a cyst forming on my back just under my bra. According to my sis it is coming to a head but not there yet. If it is still with me by the time I get back home I'm going to urgent care to see if they can lance it. Sis said I may have to go to a surgeon. Things are different in Missouri.

Happy
Hope you can detach yourself from some of the volunteering.

Laura
Your Thanksgiving sounded nice. Talked to sis about catering Thanksgiving next year.

ANNIE
I watched Christmas Chronicles yesterday on Netflix. Cute movie and watched part of Spirit today.We have a tv in the room but I can't understand Spanish. I am picking up a few words.

hellos to Susie and Shad

Hello chickies,


I just looked at the weather forecast - cold and gray for the next 10 days (at least). Everyone is going to be feeling blue and gloomy.


Ceejay - probably good to limit your time in the tropical sun. Especially since we are far enough removed from summer to have the skin tempered to heat and intense sun. Sounds like it's a gorgeous place. Too bad the tv in the room only plays Spanish programs!


Laura - I saw that you got dumped on with the snow this week. Good thing you got all the decorations up before that. That's a wonderful idea to lay things out the way you did. I remember many a night standing out in the cold and dark with strings of lights all over the grass trying to figure out the magic number of no more than 3 sets of lights strung end to end and how I'd place the extension cord in proximity to the light socket. You have that all figured out! I am trying to decide if we should put a prelit tree out on the deck. I'm not sure where it is in the garage and if DH tossed it as we haven't done much decorating here except the first year we moved in. No one sees the house but us. I thought about getting a real tree this year but we both agree that Bimmy is too curious and destructive and it would only be a GIANT MISTAKE Mexican Train is a variation on dominoes that is LOTS of fun. They started playing it at the Senior Center and it took off wildly in popularity. It's a skill game thrown in with just luck of picking the right tiles. I think you might be on to something with the monochrome bath colors and using lots of color accent pops in accessories and towels and such. Let us know how that works out.


Annie - hope you are doing well and getting organized for the next turn in life.


Susie - how is DH coming along in the healing process?


Shad - I envy your sun and warm weather right about now


I go to the oral surgeon for an evaluation next week. I'm hoping to get an answer quickly because this tooth is being sensitive all the time now. I am trying to hold off the volunteer things as much as possible. I have spent the entire morning sitting here in front of the computer on various things - personal and obligations both and now it's almost noon. That gives me about 3 hours before I have to get ready for bingo. I moved my computer to the kitchen island last year when I was having back issues - the counter has high stools / better chairs. I think this is a bad thing because we can't eat at the counter and it's too easy to get lost on the computer here. So time to move it I think.


I ordered a DVD I saw on an infomercial for pain relief. Now I just have to attempt to DO IT when it comes. So many plans, so little time! LOL


Anyway hello to you all. I think I'm going to get at least 2 productive hours in today. Have a good one everybody.

Hi Ladies. The week had flown by. I have been busy with work (but no overtime) and then in the evenings wrapping gifts as they arrive, keep the everyday clutter at bay and also tackling some clutter in my home office.

Actually the closet that is in there was my first thing to work on. I pulled out all the old cell phones and other electronics that I had in there and took them all to our local Verizon store to be recycled. I now have some space on the shelves.


What I havent been doing is my workouts. I have really slacked since DH has been back to work. In a month I have gained every week at TOPS.

So new resolve. .back to my daily workouts of 5 times a week and daily logging of my food. No more slacking. My goal is to loose 2 lbs weekly at TOPS weigh-in each weighin in December. It will take discipline but once I start I know that I can stick to it.

Ceejay: i am enjoying the pictures you are posting from the trip.

Laura: i wanted to see Crazy Rich Asians when it was out. I am putting that one on the list for us to watch when DH and I are both off work starting the week of Dec 17 until Jan 2

How are you doing with your workouts

Happy: I know that your volunteer work takes a lot of time but I do think you enjoy it and so I think you will always do it; which is nice because it gives you purpose and it also gives back and this world needs people who give back. You just need to establish a balance where it makes you feel productive and not overwhelmed.

I have faith you will find that for yourself.

Annie:I believe you will now be on the schedule of non working days? Does that mean you are getting paid from a severance package but dont go into work? Hang in the sister friend. Hugs to you.

Hi to Shad and Dee.

I must get in the shower and get ready for work. TGIF.

Good Morning....

Non working days are regular pay as if I am here working. Then severance kicks in. Sounds like everyone had a nice TG with the exception of SHAD who is smothering in heat at the moment. CEEGs vacation pics on FB are amazing. Enjoy girl! Good news is I have health insurance til March 30. HOPEFULLY I will have a new job by then. Please pray.

I am only in to clean up my cubicle of my stuff I need to take home. Not working from home. I have already sent out the email to all my peeps to start using the gal out of Texas that will do this region. Good luck. My work is done here.

Going to lunch with some girls at work today. Our normal "salad" day.

Bought our Christmas tree last night at Kroger. Not a bad price and really a beauty. Just the right size and shape but most importantly soft needles. I like that. We will decorate on Sunday as tomorrow is the Polar Express train ride with the gbabes.

Have a wonderful weekend all...Love youse all.

Morning all. Happy Friday. And happy payday to me.

Annie – Thought your last working day was the 7th, but today sounds better, since you’re still getting paid regardless. Praying you have a job by March 30th. I hope you enjoy the Polar Express train ride and the tree trimming!!

Susie – Yay for no OT! Good for you getting rid of all the clutter, including all the old electronic gadgets. I think I still have my old cell phone…bf has a LOT of old/obsolete electronic stuff. – I didn’t work out much last week, but I’m back to it this week. I’m happy if I can get in my fc workouts 3 times per week, but I wish I could also fit in one or two strength workouts at home – either weights in front of the TV or a BE video workout in the basement. I know you can get back to the workouts – make it a priority!!!

Happy – I like the idea of a lighted Christmas tree on your deck – something you can see from inside the house. About three blocks north of us, there are two blocks of houses in which almost all of the houses have a lighted Christmas tree in their front yard. I just drove that way last night on my way to the fc and I enjoyed seeing all those trees lit up differently. And the lights do lift one's spirits! -- Thanks for telling me about Mexican Train. I’ve never played dominoes! Just set them up to tumble in a chain reaction, lolol. In the movie Crazy Rich Asians there was a scene with the characters playing mah jong – never played that either! --- How was bingo last night?? == Hope the infomercial pain dvd helps. Like I told Susie – make that a priority!!!

Ceejay – Oh, loving those photos you’ve posted in fb – ocean sunsets, blue skies and palm trees. Enjoy the rest of your time there.

Shad – Stay cool.

Hi Dee. How’s it going?

==

Nothing much to report. Quiet here in the office. Well, maybe not so much in some ways. Sometimes the chatter from adjacent areas can be distracting. And the last couple days, the ice that accumulated on our building from the snow storm was melting and falling off. Quite a racket when it bangs against the windows as it falls…and DANGEROUS. Two streets adjacent to the building were closed off because of it.

The admin went off to the emergency room this morning. She hadn’t been feeling well the past day or two and she discovered what is likely an infection in her toe. She thinks she had a blister on her toe that started it all. This can be serious for her with her diabetes and transplanted kidney…please say a prayer for her.

This weekend I need to shop for a charity gift drive I’m participating in through work. Wish me luck in figuring out what kind of stuff to buy for a 4 year old. ANNIE – what kind of action figures would a 4 year old boy like??!! I sent a text to my family about bf and I hosting Christmas dinner, but only heard back from my one nephew. I’ll have to do a confirmation text tonight I guess. I already realized I sent it to my sister's old cell phone number and had to forward it to her current one.

And now that I’ve started thinking about it…since we sold our old dinette set that used to be in our 3-season room, we have two fewer chairs. But…we do have at least 2-3 folding chairs, and if need be, we can ask someone to bring one or two more or maybe borrow from the neighbors…

Okay, before I continue with this stream of consciousness, let me change topics. I have another vacation day on Monday. Woohoo!! I’m meeting my former work colleague - who is now retired - for lunch. Otherwise, I'll get going this weekend with shopping and list-making and my entertainment anxiety.

Time to post. TTFN folks. Have a great weekend.

LAURA....my last day of working days is the 7th, but like what are they going to get out of me? NOTHING. I may stop in a couple of times next week to be sure all ends are tied. My boys like Avengers action figures, spiderman, batman and anything transformers related. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the action figure advice Annie!!

My last night at the resort. I'm ready to go home. Sis and I rode the peddle boat. I do not do well in waves, but it was fun. Been in my room most of the day to rest for the trip home tomorrow. We check out of the hotel at noon. I will post more pictures when I get home

Morning,
I'm home in my easy chair. My niece is coming around 3 this afternoon to pick up Miley. Miley was certainly glad to see me. But I want my freedom.
Hope everyone is doing well.