Afternoon everyone!

Melody - thanks for letting me know your situation. Sounds like you're being kept busy, whether you want to or not :lol: . I can imagine trying to coral seniors is a bit like hording cats? But probably plenty of fun too ;).

Shad - very sorry to hear about your friend. I guess in that situation, humor (and a drink) is what helps you get through. Let me know where to send the supplies ;) .

Alright, trying to motivate myself to work on this presentation for tomorrow. I have a call-back interview and need to get my bum in gear. I don't know what it is, but procrastination is always an issue for me, no matter what needs to be done *sigh* . I suddenly find all kinds of other "important" things to do, but at least today I did something useful and went walking for 30 mins. Now I am (of course :lol: ) hungry, so I will need to have lunch first before starting the presentation.

Anyway, I hope you're all having a great day - will check in later!

:rofl: CIN....TOO FUNNY...YOU HAVE FOUND A GOOD PLACE TO BE THEN...PROCRASTINATION IS MY MIDDLE NAME...I WON'T SPEAK FOR MY OTHER WORLDLY SISTERS:lol3: GOOD LUCK WHEN YOU GIVE THE PRESENTATION. WILL SEND GOOD THOUGHTS YOUR WAY...I BETTER SEND THEM NOW SO THEY GET OVER THE "POND" ON TIME!!!!




:beach: I CAME BACK TO TAKE A BREAK FROM THE BEDROOM MAKEOVER. PULLED THE BED OUT AND HOOVERED BEHIND IT. CHANGED THE SHEETS AND GOT ONE OF THE NEWER QUILTS OUT. THE 2 NEW ONES NEED WASHING FIRST. I AM USING VINEGAR, WATER & SOME LEMONY-LAVENDAR OIL ECO-MIX. SMELLS GOOD BUT I HAD TO LEAVE ANYWAY...EVEN WITH WINDOW OPEN!

THINGS I LEARNED WHILE IN THE DEN OF DUST BUNNIES:
1. NEVER CARRY A DIRTY DUST RAG IN FRONT OF YOU WHILE DRIVING! :cry:

2. WHEN FLIPPING A MATTRESS OVER MAKE SURE YOU'RE IN THE TALLER WHEELCHAIR! HEIGHT IS EVERYTHING!

3. KEEP THE DUST RAG MOIST!! DUST BUNNIES HAVE LEARNED HOW TO FLY SINCE I LAST CLEANED!!

4. I NEVER REALIZED UNTIL TODAY THAT I WISH JUST ONE PERSON IN MY FAMILY IS NOT DISABLED :rofl: :rofl:

Cin
Have you been with 3fc long? Seems like I remember that name from somewhere, maybe the journals! Glad you are with this group.

A bit about myself. I turned 60 in August. Still working the same job for the past 19-20 years for the water treatment plant in our city. As with all jobs it has it's likes and dislikes.

Mel
We get our flu shot's on the 13th of this month. And they honestly reminded me!!!!!!

Shad
I love to go browsing for books. I don't know why. I very seldom read them.

Patty
Welcome home. We have missed you.

My on plan is similar to Shad's but here goes just to keep myself accountible.
O--Over eating restrictions stay with in 12-1400 calories
N--No eating after 8.00 p.m.
P--pedal for 20 minutes/10 minutes weight bearing exercises
L--Low stress life style.
A--Adequate sleep
N--Never give up.

I'm back to work this morning. September reports have been put in the bosses box. He can pick them up in the morning. I have class for the next couple of weeks to finish getting my hours for license renewal. I had to deal with the phone for a power outage.
It was 48 degree's on the bank's marquee this morning. I really didn't want to get out of my bed.

Mel
You flipped a matress by yourself. That job I hate. My new piloow top doesn't have to be flipped. The main reason I bought it.

Hi everyone -

I slept away nearly the whole day yesterday, except for running a couple errands. I've still got the weakness from the bronchitis. I've got a few more days of antibiotics and I took my last Prednisone today. Hopefully I don't need another round of it.

DH is replacing the transmission in his truck today, so please keep your fingers crossed for him.

I'm going to have to go to bed REALLY early tonight as I have to leave for work by 2:30 am. :yikes: We have some work that we do weekly (on a rotating basis) that has to be coordinated with our offshore team in India, and this is my week on the rotation. The only good thing about it is that I get to go home at noon (well, I get to go to PT at noon) and then home after that. I picked up a nice Thermos at WalMart so that I can bring plenty of coffee.

DMIL goes back to CA early Tuesday morning. I'm going to miss her lots, but hopefully she'll be back soon.


Cin - Welcome!! We're always happy to include another Worldly!

Patty - Welcome Back!! I don't like to talk about my weight/exercise on FB unless things are going well, and those two arenas are definitely not.

Shad - Hope you're having a wonderful time with Chris!! Hope you found what you were looking for at the bookstore.

Mel - Mattress flipping is bad enough. I can't even imagine how much of a pain in the arse it is to do it in a wheelchair. I've got a pillow top so we don't flip it. But I almost wish we could to even out the wear. It's an older mattress, and we just got a 4" Memory Foam Mattress Topper for it...which my back really, really loves! DH, DMIL and I all got our flu shots a few weeks ago at Walgreens (Sorry Annie, we don't have a CVS near us.)

A big :wave: to Laura, Happy and Annie!

Love and hugs to all,

Good morning ladies,

Welcome Cinci and Patty - always nice to have new folks around.

Been a busy weekend. We are plotting our escape out of this town. I think we finally have a plan that's do-able. DH has been busy looking at houses up north - I think it's too soon but at least we have an idea of prices and taxes and such. I don't want to look as I don't want to fall in love with something I can't have right away :rofl:

Today I desperately need to grocery shop - last time I went to the store before vacation was Sept 12. We are out of everything. My body is complaining about the pizza and sandwiches we used to fill in meals this week. Will be glad to get back to the good stuff. It's cooler now, looking forward to some nice soups and such.

Ceejay - when we moved here we bought new mattresses - a queen ultra plush pillow top and a set of twin pillowtops for the trundle bed set. I hate them. Would never buy them again. They take expensive sheets because the mattress is so big but the part I really hate is that you can't flip them. Therefore over time you lay in the same spot and it wears in the middle - the queen mattress - which was over $1,000 new needs to be replaced 5 years in. I think many people had this problem because when we went looking for a replacement mattress recently you don't seem too many of the ultra plush anymore. Just my opinion. Other than that, I like your plan for the month - alot of good fundamental things to stay on track. Last night I opened all the windows upstairs and it was rather cool this morning - great for sleeping!

Wow Mel- you can flip a mattress in the chair? That's pretty incredible. Of course I'm sure you learn to adapt as time goes on. I would think the lavender oil would bother your sniffer. Are you sensitive to all smells or do the flowery ones bother you more? I find I can take natural smells like vanilla, orange and lemon much easier than the flowery ones which are always too strong for me. I hope you chased all those dust bunnies down and out of the apartment :lol: Congrats on starting the month a pound down and keeping the weight off.

Shad - I was surprised to see you said we came here because of weight problems - I thought it was because we liked each other :rofl: I weigh alot more since I first started here - blaming the quit smoking on that one - although my gain finally stabilized and now I wrestle with getting it off. Sounds like you are having a good time with Chris. How long is she staying? I can't believe they are still getting aftershocks in NZ. I guess it's like us and tornadoes, you learn when that's your environment you get used to it.

Hello to the rest of the girls who are no doubt enjoying their weekend.

A little about me as an introduction. I am 56, been with my DH for 38 years, and married for most of them. We are just goofy enough to be good for each other ;). I have a cat who was a stray we adopted when she kept coming into our yard looking for food - we think someone dumped her off. She is a neurotic scaredy cat who is as stubborn as me and is a fussbudget to boot. We also take care of a feral cat who has been coming around here for the last 5 years. He began by sitting on the fence watching me as I drove off to work and soon learned we were good for an easy meal. He trusts us as much as a feral will and I'm sure regular food and a warm bed in winter have allowed him to survive at least 3 bad health problems - we can't get close enough to him to get medical care. DH thinks he's going blind now - he's a real trouper - has been through alot and our cat Boo hates him although he doesn't bother her at all. I was born and raised in Chicago and lived there until 2004 when my company got bought out by a bigger company based in Memphis, Tennessee. They were offering us jobs but we had to move down to Memphis. That was ok with my husband who is originally from the east coast but was a difficult move for me. I like the short winters here but otherwise hate this place with a passion for many, many reasons. The sooner I can get out of here the happier I will be. The reason we moved was that the economy was starting a downturn at that time and many companies had pulled out of Chicago. I actively looked for work - I am in Information Technology - and had a well versed background as a worker bee, customer support and management and should have been able to find a job but in 5 months of looking I only had one other lead that looked promising and then petered out. My husband was with IBM for a long time and we could see the writing on the wall as they divested themselves of their American workforce. We figured we could not afford for both of us to be out of work so I reluctantly accepted the position down here. I am disappointed because I thought things would have been different based on our initial trips down here when we were house hunting but my beliefs just don't fit with the southern culture. My husband was able to transfer and work from a home based office when we moved so that was fortunate but shortly after his 25th service anniversary, he was cut along with 5,000 other people in the 2nd of 3 large layoffs in 2009. He has not been able to find work since. He's had 3 back surgeries and has some health problems so a standing around job such as retail (which is about the only other option) is out for him. I am basically working for the medical insurance right now. It is our dream to be able to figure out a way to retire and live cheaply and get out of the city and all of its problems. I fear for what this country is turning into - people are polarized on their political views, crime is getting more violent and who knows what will happen to our financial nest eggs and savings. Living in cities all my life I am ready for a simpler life in a small town. Oh and I am very close to my sister and Mom who both live back in Chicago. My Mom is a fiesty soon to be 84 year old who has lost all her filters when it comes to speaking her mind :rofl: and my sister is my best friend and closest ally. Besides my DH of course. ;) And that's about me.

Sorry to ramble so much. That's a problem when you don't post every day. Now I need to get going here - we spent the morning discussing future plans and DH was avidly house hunting. There's shopping and cooking and laundry to be done and I need to hustle if I want to be able to sit down and watch my favorite show - The Amazing Race - tonight. Hope you are all having fun this Sunday, check back tomorrow.

Michelle - you are today's sneaker inner. :D 2:30 in the morning :yikes: That means you have to go to bed while the sun is still up! That's got to be hard but as you say if it's only once in a while... Not sure it's worth it even if you get out at noon. Are you comfortable with travelling by yourself at that hour of the morning? I know if it were me, DH would have to take me to work - with BOTH guns :lol: Be careful!

Happy - Traveling at that early hour doesn't bother me in terms of needing protection. I'm just nervous about falling asleep at the wheel. No cold medicine for me ALL DAY today. Are you still thinking about New Hampshire as a place to retire to? So glad that you have a plan that is feasible. Do you have a timeframe in mind for the move?

Happy
Okay,you have made up my mind for me as well. I'm definitely not staying in this town till I'm 65. My nephew said I could take a cut in Medicare and retire at 62. That's my goal for now. I'd like to work part time just to keep busy.

Michelle
Be very careful at that hour in the morning. Wonder why India couldn't synchronate to you schedule.

Morning all,

Suddenly it appears that we might have a nice day. We were just saying last night how we were right over this rain - there has been enough already and now can we please dry out somewhat before you send us some more.

Cin - Raphael is the secret lust is he? I saw him doing an interview on tv here last week. I'm a bit of a tennis fan myself. I like to watch the action. Went to the Hopman Cup in Perth a couple of years ago. Can't say I am filled with lust for any of them, but some are pretty easy on the eye so it's not a chore to look. DS2 plays the game at a friendly rivalry level 3 nights a week and enjoys it as well. Good luck with the job application, hope things go your way. Procrastination is a way of life here. I can dream up a dozen excuses not to go to gym between the train station and the car park (about 50 metres)

Ceejay - Retire at 62? Then what? Retirement needs to be carefully thought out. So be careful what you wish for here. How are you going to sit still for the next 20 odd years? Where are you planning to move to? Or should I be grammatical and ask - to where are you planning to move?

Happy - Good to hear that concrete plans are coming together for this move. As I said to Ceejay, it needs to be carefully planned. At least you two have each other. And yes we did come here for weight loss, just that at times we seem to get a bit distracted - there's that procrastination again. As for your Mum and her word filter, well maybe she caught it from her daughter?

Mel - should I send over some dust masks for you? That would help with the breathing I should think. Let me know what happens when you answer the door looking like Darth Vader.

Michelle - good to hear that you are on the road to recovery again. Yikes starting at 3.00am :yikes: For the life of me I don't understand why the 'support' people aren't doing the middle of the night stuff and that the people that pay them are the ones who are disadvantaged. Doesn't make too much sense to me. Doesn't work that way most other places that have been shortsighted enough to have offshore support.

Patty - great to see you back again. Let's hear it for exercise. I will if you will!

Okay - lets see where was I? Oh yes, sorry I was distracted, I saw a big yellow object in the sky and the sky appears to be blue. Strange happenings.
Short bio - I am a New Zealander (Kiwi) who along with a husband, 2 sons and a small box of furniture set off across the Tasman Sea about 20 years ago to raise the IQ in Australia.
The husband went home to NZ, DS1 moved to England, then NZ and now is in Adelaide in South Australia and DS2 went through a variety of jobs and girlfriends and now lives here in the house with me while owning 2 other houses which he rents out.
I am a Workplace Trainer. I travel a fair amount with my job because generally I train in mines and refineries which are in the remote (outback) parts of Australia. I train computer program such as SAP, Oracle, Peoplesoft and Microsoft to relcalcitrant miners and their equally reluctant engineers and accountants. At present I am on one of my longest stints at home for a long while while I put together information and documention for an energy company.
We (DS2 and I) have been renovating this house for what seems like forever and have now done the kitchen, living room, dining room, loo, bathroom and one bedroom and have 2 more bedrooms and the laundry room to go. Then we get to start on the outside. And probably by then the inside will need starting over again.
I've travelled about in UK and Ireland, US and Canada, Asia and Japan. Love to do it but getting somewhat older so need to plan even more carefully now. Thinking of another European and UK trip maybe next year or the year after. My travelling companion has retired from the job, so I need to see who suits to drag after me. Anyone who wishes to apply can send me their cv. Must be a nutcase.
So that's me. Single, 2 kids aged 34 and 36, one cat who owns the house and a whole pile of nails to hammer home and concrete and pavers to make and lay. Such is life.
Actually you could have skipped the above and just gone to the last paragraph. Says it all really.

Anyway, I need to go shower and dress and try to think where Chris and I might go today. I'm all shopped out and so is she I think so that's out. Maybe we will go to the coast or maybe Noosa and see how the other half live.
Have a good day on-plan

Happy Sunday all!

Wow, a lot of posts to catch up with. But I don't feel like reading them right now. I'll probably print them and read them later.

Welcome Cincimini! Add a pin in the map for Germany!

Weekend's been alright. Friday night was the mini-hs reunion. I'm estimating about 25-30 girls in attendance (did I tell you I went to an all-girls Catholic HS??). Nice time catching up. Late night, though, and then I stayed up too late and then couldn't get to sleep, and then I woke up early. Maybe 3 hours sleep at best. Grrr.

Saturday bf, his mom and I went to an apple fest in a small historic village NW of us (Happy, is was in Long Grove) . It was brutally windy and sort of chilly, so we were really surprised by the heavy turnout. We dressed warmly and even wore headbands, scarves and gloves, but we also saw some people in flip flops and no jackets - brrrr!! We checked out a few shops (oy, the crowds!), and were barely able to step in the doors of the 3-4 restaurants in the village (jam packed), and it was chilly and there was no way I was eating food outdoors (from the booths) on a day like yesterday - although hot cider was sounding appealing. So we left and ended up having Chinese food for lunch back at home.

I felt tired from so little sleep, but I didn't nap like I thought I might. Rest of the day was a dog walk, reading, and tv.

Today I spent the morning looking at the newspaper and some catalogs, then did some laundry, then spent some time in the yard cutting the phlox and peonies down to the ground. I ordered a fall coat w/ a zip-out liner online. I need a lot of stuff, but that's what's was on my mind at the moment. I have a short and a long rain coat, but neither are lined or rainproof actually, so I needed this. Lucky me - I have a 30% off coupon for Kohl's, so I need to get over there and see what they have.

Even though I didn't feel like reading, I obviously managed to type a lot, LOL. Okay, I'm ready for a late lunch or early dinner. Everyone enjoy the rest of their day. :) :)

Wow, too much babble to catch up on for this absent Worldlie....

Shad...so glad you and Chris are having some time to do things you enjoy.

Cincy...welcome to the Worldlies. We usually post once a day and me hardly on the weekend. I work a lot. Two jobs and watch out after my dad. Was also looking out after my momma however she passed away back April 27. (as these ladies know I am not dealing with it well on most days) You will find all these ladies extraordinarily wonderfully awesome and very supportive. I took 6 yrs of German-6th thru 11th grades. I can understand little and speak less, but could probably figure out the easy stuff.

MELLIE...hey girl, stay away from the dry dust bunnies. Choose wet firemen instead. lol....I got my entire house cleaned today but took me all day. Moving slow, will explain that later.

Chelle....remember deep breaths and hold them then breath out to stay awake while driving.....GO Packers! Great win. I had it on while cleaning. Colts are fighting for a win as I type. Good giggly wiggly get it already. Have a pain free sweet week chickie.

Laura...all girl Catholic school..you are probably like Virginia, who didn't give me quite enough information,....only the good die young...Billy Joel..hehehe. I too am of the Catholic sort. A little disgruntled but Catholic.

Ceejay...sounds like a fun time in Missouri...and the guys were oogling at you cause you are one hot worldlie chickie. Just smile a sweet thank you..

Happy...maybe DH can just surprise you with a place that you will love. Drive you there and park your bunz.

1 day patty...welcome back pookers.

Well H*ll Jaguars just made a field goal and whooped the Colts. SOAB*tch.

Friday, had knife stabbing pains in the belly from about 10am till about 8pm. Came home from work and took a nap then got up and went and got my nails done. Worked Sat at CVS from 9-5, no breaks or lunch. Also was pulling trash and pulled something in my lower back. Couldn't walk for about 10 minutes, seriously. Scared the P right out of me. Still tender but doing ok today. Sat night hobbled to watch my brothers band play, man o man are they good, so much better than the last time. They are called SIX FIGURES. Cute name, 6 peeps in the band, one girl, and who wouldn't like to make six figures. Today has been house cleaning and laundry and Hella (my Jack Russel 10 yr old dog name Elizabeth Roxanne, Belle for short..for Cincy sake) has been driving me batty. Under my feet. It has been a bit on the cool side today but made her stay out for the better part of the day while I cleaned. She scratched on the glass door most of the time. Now the football game is over, I am getting tired, gonna fold towels and go to bed soon.

Cincy...I turned 50 in June, of course, it is the new 30. Divorced 6 years. Live by myself in my house I bought about 3 years ago, with a possessed dog named Bella that I call Hella most of the time. My kids are my heartstrings. Samantha is 24, Jake (Tater) is 22. Neither married and no grandbabies. My BFF lives in St. Louis has two girls bout the same age as mine. Her oldest is my Goddaughter and has two beautiful children that call me GrandNanna. My youngest is her Godson. I try to date, but don't have much success at it. I am overly emotional and my heart hurts a lot cause I am such a sap. lol. I do have a ton of friends and the bestest Worldlie Sista's a girl could ever hope for.

That is about it...Have a marvelous Monday my sistas....

Much love and many hugs,

Oh and Cincy....I live in Indianapolis, INDY. If you ever make it back this way, you are more than welcome to camp out here as are the rest of the Worldlies....Guess that would make me Indy Annie....lol

Pix of Olivia and Dominic
 

Ms. O 2 yrs old, DOminic 3 mos.

Dominic
 

Dominc sporting his St. Louis Cards baseball gear and his Indy Colts football gear...and his nakedness.....