Shad
I loved the picture. Looks like the seal was trying to steal the show. Good for you in taking a week off before the next job starts. How nice that they gave you the nano IPod.

Mel
Take the week end off. I hate buying groceries here in town. Everything is higher. That's why I go to Blytheville to the Super Walmart. Like the graphic.

Laura
Yes, she's forever trying to manipulate things. She tried to stir up something when they made the announcement that B was our new Supervisor. I had to nip that in the bud also. Enjoy your weekend and try to stay cool.

Went to visit a friend today for a couple of hours. Then came home to take a nap. I'd misplaced my cell phone but found it in the car. My neighbor used her phone to call my cell phone. I'd called myself looking in the car.

sorry ladies internet was down what a PIA. worked today all day tomorrow and Sunday...been too slow at work...would rather be busy and make the time fly will catch up this weekend.

Luv and hugs!

HAPPY SATURDAY CHICKIES.
I SLEPT LIKE A LOG AND BARELY REMEMBER TURNING OVER.
IT'S A BALMY 71 DEGREES BUT A TINY BIT MUGGY SO I AM OFF TO GET MY 15 MINUTES OF SUN EARLY.
THEN IT'S GOING TO BE TV AND BREAKFAST. JUST CAN'T EAT YET THIS MORNING.
HAVE A SUPER DAY





CEEJAY.....GOING TO BE A MELIDAY THIS WEEKEND IF ALARMS DON'T RING FIRST
NEXT TIME YOU GO TO BLYTHEVILLE....TAKE ME WITH YOU I'LL MEET YOU HALF WAY!!
GLAD YOU FOUND THE PHONE. I HATE FORGETTING WHERE I PUT THEM!! NOW I HANG IT ON THE WHEELCHAIR...
I KEPT LAYING IT DOWN SOMEPLACE STAY COOL AT WORK THIS WEEK




HELLO MISS BUSY ELLEN.

http://simplyrecipes.com/

I WENT TO LOOK FOR AN SUMMER ORZO SALAD RECIPE FOR THE KIDS AND FOUND THIS SITE. NOT SURE IF I EVER POSTED IT BEFORE.

Slept a little later this morning and still tired.

Mel
I'm going to Blytheville this morning so be ready by 8.30 a.m. I've got enough room in the back to put your wheel chair. The orzo salad sounds good.

Okay, I get it now. Orzo is what we call Risoni - roughly translated as 'big rice'. I have some in the cupboard, I might just have a go at this next weekend when R arrives for a visit. Might as well go all the way and be a peasant since it will be a come down for her to leave the Palazzo Versace and come to casa mia.

Went grocery shopping yesterday. Man are prices skyrocketing for the basic staples!!!! and banana is still not on the menu since they are over $10 a kilo now. And the cold weather is not helping. Still I would prefer what we have now to allowing the supermarkets to import bananas cheaply since we need to support our farmers through their crisis and we would never get rid of an inferior product and they would not stay cheap. I will only buy bananas when it becomes too much not to have one. I hate this new development of labelling the food as a mixture of local and imported ingredients. Why?
a: because there is probably only 1 local ingredient in the bin and because it is labelled local & imported, they will ask a higher price for the item and
b: we are loosing our local suppliers to cheap inferior imports. We risk losing our farmers and producers.
Somewhere along the line we must take a stand or we will be joining the third world countries when all along Aus and NZ produce some of the best food in the world and should be self sufficient in feeding our own populations at a reasonable cost.
Money is the root of much of the evil in this world - greed, lack of enough to satisfy, trying to keep up with how the other half live, obsession with trying to 'balance the books' instead of balancing the lifestyle, refusing to acknowledge that any other species has as much right on this earth as we have. It's become unhealthy. Anyway - better get off the and get on with the day.

Lots to do today. Some cleaning, some gardening, some pulling of unwanted rubbish and some down time. Hope I can manage to fit it all in to the day.

Mel - I'll call you Tuesday morning my time around 4.00pm your time. We can check out the world and shoot a few people.

Ceejay - drive carefully and shop well. Remember to buy American where possible. Our economies need a boost too.

Ellen - don't work too hard.

See ya

JUST CALL ME SNEEZY. I WOKE UP AND BEGAN SNEEZING MY HEAD OFF. EVEN IN THE LOO!
QUIET WEEKEND. JUST A LOT OF SMOKE ALARMS KEPT ME RUNNING BACK AND FORTH.
A HEAT WAVE BEGAN YESTERDAY AND THE HUMIDITY IS THE PITS.
I DID NOT STAY OUTSIDE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. EVEN THE SENIORS CAME BACK INSIDE WITH ME.
I DECIDED I CAN REST AND GET SUN RIGHT BY MY AIR-CONDITIONED WINDOW!! :beach

HAPPY SUNDAY/MONDAY



SHAD....I WILL PLUG THE PHONE IN BEFORE 4PM MY TIME MONDAY.
HOPE YOU HAVE A "CURE" FOR ME
YOU ARE SO RIGHT ABOUT THE GROCERY PRICES & GREED.
THE WORLD NEEDS TO GET BACK TO BASICS BEFORE MAN RUINS IT ALTOGETHER.




CEEJAY..........THE ORZO TOMATO SALAD DID SOUND GOOD AND EASY.
I'M GOING TO TELL JEN & RICHIE ABOUT THAT SITE. HE LIKES TO COOK TOO.
DID WE HAVE A GOOD TIME IN BLYTHEVILLE?? I HOPE SO CAUSE I COULD USE
SOME LAUGHS RIGHT ABOUT NOW IN MY LIFE
I SLEPT IN THIS MORNING

Hi everyone -

I've had a fun and productive weekend so far. Yesterday, DH, DMIL and I got up early to go to an Antique Tractor and Farm Machinery show. It was being held at a local historical site that had 20 or 25 buildings originally built in the 1800s from various parts of WI and moved to this "museum" type site. So we toured through the buildings to see how the pioneers/early Wisconsinites lived, and we also enjoyed looking at all the old equipment. Nearly all the tractors still ran, even though some were 75 or 80 years old. We went early in the day to beat the heat/humidity...which was good because when we left (at approximately noon), the muggy heat was really bad. We spent the afternoon at home inside...I worked on websites, DH rested his legs and watched tv, and DMIL read. For whatever reason, my back has been bothering me since Friday at lunch time when I went to the Super WalMart to get insulin for Doppler and also some groceries. I'm hoping to move around a bit today (where in this heat?? I don't know) to get/keep things loose.

My sinuses are really bugging me...lots of pressure and pain...but no rest for the weary...there's website work to be done and I want to find something fun today to do with DMIL. Not sure if I'll find anything since it's going to be much hotter and even more humid today, with heat indexes in the 100s. Ugh. DH was called into work late last night because the file server that contains EVERYTHING for the company went down. He started fixing it last night, and then ran diagnostics (which would take 6 or 7 hours), so he came home to sleep for a few hours. He had to go back into work early this morning. So I'm trying to figure out something for DMIL and I to do. I would like to go see Harry Potter, but with her bad hearing, and all the English accents....it's easier if she sees it on a video where she can rewind it if she misses something. We might go to a mall or something. We'll see.

I lost 2 lbs this week (the 2 lbs I gained last week)...so I'm back to a total of 12 lbs. down. I'm going to keep up the healthy eating of fruits and veg, try and limit sodium, and keep up the exercising.

*********************

Laura - Good for you for getting the FreeMotion Circuit in. I really like the FreeMotion machines. Great ideas about long-term care insurance. Did you have fun at game night?

Shad - Nice of them to give you parting gifts and flowers! That's great you found a new job so quickly. I'm glad you opted to take a week off before starting. You deserve a little break! You're retirement plan sounds kind of like mine and DH's. We'll be working past 70 and will have to die shortly thereafter. So nice that your friend is coming for a visit! $10 a kilo for bananas? Wow! Last time I checked they were 50 cents a pound. Here in Wisconsin, almost all our produce is brought in from other areas of the country or other countries. We mostly grow soybeans, corn, cabbage, and cranberries here. I agree with you that greed, power, etc...are truly the root of all evil in the world. Pretty much agreed with the entire soapbox speech. I hope you and Mel can set things right in the world on Tuesday.


Mel - I wish you hadn't worked so hard on Friday...but I understand...sometimes it's hard to walk away. Of course, given you're still recuperating...you probably should have walked away. I hope you're doing okay in terms of pain. I hope the sneezes ease up too. Sometimes coughing and sneezing are enough to throw your back out! That's awful that the prices from your nearby store have gone up so much! I guess prices are going up everywhere, but still. DMIL's party is next Saturday (7/23). I would definitely like to see you and I BOTH stronger and celebrating jubilantly by the end of the month.

Ceejay - Glad you had a nice visit with your friend, and that you found your cell phone. I hate it when I misplace mine.

Ellen - Bummer about the internet being down. I hope work went well this weekend.


Annie - I hope everything's going okay with you. Still putting out fires?

Happy - I'm sure you're super busy with more packing and cleaning.


It's back to website work for me.

Lots of love and hugs,

Sorry I haven't posted much. Found out earlier this week my job is being eliminated. Long story that I don't care to talk about here but it involves a trusted person violating a confidence and some underhanded behaviors. I do have some options none of which are financial or mentally that great. DH and I are running numbers and trying to decide on what the best course of action for us would be. I have alot of feelings right now - most of them negative so I am trying to work them out by applying it to getting things taken care of on the home front instead of saying things that might be used against me or I may regret later.

I don't have any time to post personals right now, for that I apologize. Just taking a 2 minute break and figured I would let you know what is going on.

Awww, h*ll, Happy. That SUCKS! I can totally understand your not wanting to "talk" and all the feelings you must be feeling. How long do you have left in your job and will they be giving you severence? Maybe in the long run this will be a good thing allowing you to get the house on the market sooner and get the heck outta there.

Sending you lots of : and :hugs: and lots of love.

Happy - I'm so sorry your job is being eliminated. I hope this doesn't have to change your future plans too much! Horrible that a confidence wasn't kept.

Michelle - Hope your back is feeling better. Yay for the 2 lb loss!! The farm/village sounds so interesting. Did you find something fun (and COOL) to do with your dmil today?

Ceejay - glad you found your cell phone. I just hate when something falls between the car's center console and the seat!

Mel - Did you figure out what made you sneeze? I hope it stopped!! The orzo salad sounds good. I like pasta salad. Hope the building is keeping quiet and you're keeping cool.

Shad - Sounds like you had a nice final day on the job - flowers and gadget. Wow, that's a lot of money for bananas!! Not being in a mild climate, we get tons of produce from other parts of the nation and world. I can imagine if it could be grown locally, it would be cheaper, of course. But what a crime pricing local and import at the higher price. Funny photo!! Risoni - makes sense to me. Good name for pasta that looks like rice.

Ellen - Sorry work dragged for you. Especially w/ the internet being down!!

Hello to Annie.

Had Friday night to myself and just vegged and watched tv.

Saturday morning it was cloudy, so I got out and trimmed all the shrubs in one front flower bed, and also pruned the purpleleaf plum. So much better! Even though it was cloudy, I sure sweated up a storm. Did a load of laundry, went out for lunch w/ bf. Stopped at an Indian market on the way home for some spiced tea (chai). Not sure why I never thought of doing that before. Had some this morning and it's pretty close to what I like. It'll do.

I didn't go to game night - just wasn't in the mood, plus I had no idea what snack to bring either. After walking doggy, bf and I got involved in the early evening for several hours determining our itinerary & finding/booking our lodging for our September trip to Washington/Vancouver. All of our lodging is small by owner accomodations - some nice comments on the sites, crossing my fingers they turn out to be as nice as reported. Heck, hotel rooms can be the same way! It's such a relief to have that part done!!

After that we watched some tv & ate dinner. Watched "Storage Wars" about people who bid in storage unit auctions hoping to make a profit on the contents. Ended up watching several episodes just to see what kind of stuff they found in the storage lockers!

This morning I went to a Zumba toning class. The toning part is light hand weights with a morocca-type rattle in them. Since this was a new instructor for me, there were different routines than the class I went to last week, so I mostly skipped the weights and focused on the moves. Got a good sweat going, but not as good as with the other instructor, who's a better instructor and dancer (IMO).

Did some more laundry today and puttering around the house. Talked to mom, read my book/newspaper. Out to lunch, then grocery shopping (lots of fruit!). Waiting til the sun is lower to take out doggy. I'm sure it'll be a short walk anyway - heat index is over 100 degrees!

Okay, gonna post this and get back to the laundry.

Morning all,

Well past time to get up and get at it. Didn't have the greatest nights sleep and so slept in this morning and her it is 9.00am and nothing achieved.

I spent most of yesterday in the garden and now have Rocket, Spinach, Carrots, Lettuce, Potatoes, and bean in the ground and still have some tomatoes to plant. Not sure where they will go, but I will find a place.
Speaking of tomatoes, my breakfast this morning is avocado and homegrown tomato on toast. So yummy.

Mel - better set an alarm for tomorrow otherwise I might sleep right through again.

Happy - so sorry to hear about the job but then again, you were going to leave anyway right. Sometimes it takes a little push in on direction or another to set us on a different path. It could very well be a good thing. Now you don't have to be on time every day and you can leave early once in a while and what's going to happen? They can't sack you. Get the house sold and then go to the next one and decide on distance and direction. It's time to live a little in a different dimension.

Michelle - The museum sounds great. I love to look at those old things and marvel about how they did things back in the good ol' days. While I was in Japan, my friend took me to a place called Meiji Mura. Meiji is the period of time of one of the Emperors, but the park wasn't only of that time. They had brought in old historical buildings and bridges and the such and furnished them of the time. It was an amazing place. That's where I developed a love of Noritake ceramics. Wish I could afford more.

Laura - Sounds like you had a busy and productive day. Good for you. Isn't it funny how we have problems adjusting to different instructors for classes. I'm exactly the same.

Time to get on with life as an unemployed bum.

Happy
I've learned the hard way don't discuss things with a co-worker. They will betray you. I'd take Shad's advice and focus on the move. Can you draw unemployement?

Michelle
I like historical museums.

Mel
The sunlight though the window sounds good to me. Sorry you had to deal with the alarms.

Shad
Yikes, 10 dollars for banana's. I'd have ato boycott those for sure.

Laura
Good for you in getting to an exerise class. I really need to go back to the gym.

----
Enjoyed the rest of the weekend with my aunt and uncle. Went to church this morning. Now it's time to get ready for my work week.

Good Morning Chicks

Got Woken Up Early. The Plumber Is Here 2 Hrs
Ahead Of Schedule And John Might Be Still Too Sick To Come In.
He'll See How He Feels In An Hour Or So.
So I Got The Plumber Started And Came Back To Say Good Morning.
New Water Tank Here We Go!! Yay!!!
I'll Come Back Later. Have A Great Day.

Good morning ladies,

Somewhere I have to find the ambition to get through the day on the job. I'm hoping I left it in my purse somewhere

Busy weekend just doing stuff. Still more stuff to do. Didn't get a chance to go in the pool but I did christen the new bathroom. I didn't have time to take a soaker bath but did try out the shower. It's nice and bright and the new showerhead is a wide spray and just like a gentle rain. Very nice. However the workmen did a crappy job of construction, even my untrained eyes can see that. My co-worker is trying to get a retention wall torn down and rebuilt - she is having the same issues with contractors. After not showing up when promised for 3 days straight - they then showed up WITHOUT tools! Just ridiculous We got a bit of a break with the humidty yesterday but it's back to being ugly again.

Mel - I hope you can get the workers organized and in place with minimal effort on your part. Did you stop sneezing?

Ceejay - I guess you are right about the co-workers. Sad that it is. I'm glad you stood your ground and didn't cut your vacation short for her schedule. I think I remember this isn't the first time she tried to mess with your time off.

Shad - the homegrown tomato sandwich sounds so yummy I can almost taste it. In fact I have one precious tomato left my co-worker gave me. Might have it for lunch. Yes, it is true that we planned on leaving anyway, but that was AFTER we sold the house, not before. This does place a financial stress on us that we don't need. That is the issue. And yes, I could collect unemployment but it is not enough to pay the mortgage or the exhorbitant costs of health insurance on your own. But we will plug through this. We are also worried about what is going to happen to the financial markets given this impass in government about settling the spending deficit. Like everyone else we cannot afford to be plunged into a recession and lose our savings. I do hope you enjoy your week as an "unemployed bum". You certainly have earned a rest. The penguin photo was cute too.

Laura - sounds like you had a nice weekend with a mix of work and some relaxation. I saw that storage wars program too. Gotta be careful, it DOES suck you in just to see what people bought when they won the locker. I'm not so sure I'd default on locker fees if I had a million in cash stowed away, you know what I mean?

Michelle - thanks for the hugs and CONGRATS on losing 12 pounds you rock girlfriend. I think Michelle has found her groove and is back again. Hope you were able to get away from the workbench long enough to enjoy a little time with the DMIL before she leaves again.

Annie - are you dragging along? I can't imagine having to work almost a month straight without a day off. DH was exhausted literally yesterday - I had to push him to take one day off. A person can only drive so hard before they fall over. You take care of yourself too woman.

Hi Ellen

I gotta hop in the shower and get out of here. Need to pick up a few groceries, might run out at lunch time. Talk later chicks.