Hello from Madison! Just hanging out before dinner. TTFN.

HAPPY SUNDAY CHICKS.
THE TOWN IS COMING TO DOG OUR THE PARKINGLOT AROND THE CARS.
THE KIDS ARE VOLUNTEERING TO MOVE THE CARS FOR THE SENIORS.
HOPE THIS GOES FAST CAUSE I AM TIRED STILL! LOL
I HAVE TO COLLECT THE KEYS AND GET INTO THE OFFICE. GOT ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO TILL THEY GET HERE.
I'LL READ POSTS LATER ON TONITE AFTER THE KIDS & i HAVE DINNER.
NOT DOING PERSONALS RIGHT NOW.
HOPE EVERYONE IS OK BUT I SEE THE POST ABOVE ME....

SHAD...PRAYING THE PAINKILLERS DID THEIR MAGIC.
GET WELL SOON. CAN YOU FLY BACK TO DARWIN LIKE THAT????:hug:

OK GALS SEE YA LATER.

Mel
Hold down the fort. I'm working with you today.

Laura
So glad to here that you are in Madison enjoy your week end.
-------
The southern half or Orco is almost here.
The phone woke me at 6 this morning. My boss told me to work. Think I'm getting ready to find out what my retirement account looks like.
Also read in the paper this morning that there was a pellet gun shooting going on on my street Saturday night. One lady was hit in the head. i was home but didn't hear anything. May run the camera's back to see if any thing out of the ordinary can be seen. After this I'm thinking it's time to leave.

Mel - glad to hear that you, Jen and Richie made it through the storm, and that the town is going to help dig you out. Stay safe, warm and dry.

Ceejay - I'm sorry you had to work today. I hope you're feeling better. Did you go to urgent care yesterday? Sending you get well hugs.

Shad - I'm so sorry to hear about your back pain. That is no fun. I hope the painkillers kick in soon.

Happy - I saw that your area is getting more snow today...Are you getting the blizzard that MN is getting or just the snow that NE Wisconsin is getting? Anyway hopefully all the snow will be good for the tourism economy and the Berkie.

Annie - I hope you make it through the weekend without a headache.

Laura - Today is the day to head back from Madison. Sure hope you had a good time. Safe travels.

As for me, I'm procrastinating...I have boxes to unpack and repack, and bills to sort out...and I'm trying to decide if I should withdraw some of my 401(k) to pay off my credit cards and medical bills. Having less debt would make it easier for me to afford a place in CA. *sigh* :dunno: I know that a lot of you would advocate for me leaving my retirement account alone....but sometimes I think with less debt I could contribute more to my retirement after I move.

Michelle
commenting on the withdrawal of your retirement account. Remember that there is a penalty for doing so if your under the age of 59.5 years. And believe me it's huge. No, I didn't go to urgent care. I found some cipro 500mg so I started taking that, plus the steriod injection would have made my bp run up to high. I want to find something otc that will work for me too.

Shad
How is you back feeling today? As my doctor keeps repeating to me,"you are in your 60's things will happen more easliy." Take care of yourself.

Afternoon ladies.

Ceejay - hope you're feeling better today. Crummy to have to work when you're under the weather. I suppose you're a pro packing for all those overnight trips to Paragould. If I did something like that regularly , I'd keep a second set of toiletries packed and ready too.

Michelle- yeh the penalty for the 401k loans is Steep if u can't pay it off before leaving your job. Good day to be inside going thru boxes. We had to drive home through the rain & wind gusts, but at least it wasn't ice or sleet. I'm in the train for the rest of my trip now.

Shad - Sorry you hurt your back ! Hope the pain is under control now. :hug:

Mel - glad you didn't lose power. Good luck digging out!! Don't you or Jen or Richie overdo it!!

Annie - How did the rest of the bro's move-in go?? :crossed: no headache this weekend.

Happy - Nice casino outing! Hope you're snug as a bug in a rug during the crummy weather. I'll be happy to get home and have a cuppa - that kind of day. But...doggy's gonna want his walk. Ugh. Such is life.

===
Madison was enjoyable. Dinner last night was alright. The whirlpool & pool afterward was nice, and catching up w/ my friends. The hotel air was so dry my skin & nasal passages felt it immediately. i have a feeling D's house was dry too... So, nice little getaway, but I'll be glad to get home.

Ok, gonna read my book now. Enjoy what's left (if anything) of your weekend. ;)

http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/s.../0dM1P027W.gif

MORNING KIDDOS.

I KNOW I SAID I WOULD READ POSTS BUT I DIDN'T.
SORRY ABOUT THAT. EYES WERE TOO TIRED TO DO IT YESTERDAY.
IT'S ALL THIS SALT & CHEMICAL CRAP FLOATING ON THE WIND.
I'LL CHECK OUT THE POSTS TODAY. MAYBE WITH SOME COFFEE:coffee:
OUTSIDE LOOKS NOTHING LIKE IT DID SATURDAY.
WE'RE ALL PLOWED OUT DOWN TO THE BLACKTOP.
TONS OF SNOW MELTING. WE'RE ALMOST BACK TO NORMAL.
NOTHING ELSE NEW HERE. SEE YOU GALS AFTER I READ AND CATCH UP.
HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and I am sure they helped.
Cause the last thing I wanted to do was FIND NEMO!!!
What kind of name is that for a storm?? :rofl:
I had tonsd of food & batteries. The chairs were finally charged.
Funny thing is the night I went to charge up the bigger chair,
the charger went dead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:faint:
I freaked out for a second and then got a spare out of the closet.
Thank God I don't throw these things out when new ones arrive!
Now I have no spare till I get the new chair....whenever that is:cry:
Jen kept the phone & keys every night since Friday.
I had 3 good sleeps as a result.
Never realized it's like waiting for a child to cry by having the phone with me.
HAPPY MONDAY/TUESDAY:moped:





HAPPY.....HOPE YOU GOT ENOUGH SNOW FOR THE RACE.
DOES IT BRING IN GOOD MONEY FOR THE AREA I GUESS?
GOOD IDEA WITH THE BLUES CD FOR DH'S BD:gift:
THE GUITAR IS GOOD FOR THE INNER SOUL.
KEEP HIM CALMER. GET THE SNOWBLOOWER!!
IT'S WORTH IT JUST TO HAVE HIM LESS STRAINED WHILE SHOVELING.
ONE WINTER WOULD SAVE HIM TONS OF WORK.
HOW WAS THE YOGA TAPE??? AND IS IT EASY???
GLAD YOU WON BACK THE ALLOTTMENT MONEY :rofl:
THIS WILL TEACH YOU TO BET IT ALLLLLLL!!!
SIGN ME UP FOR THE FROZEN MOTORCYCLE RACES:sacooter:






SHAD...SORRY BOUT THE WEEKEND.
IT WAS GODAWFUL ENDING TO A CRAPPY WEEK.
THE HIGHLIGHT WAS EMAILING YOU!!:rofl:
HOW'S THE BACK. ANOTHER CRAPPY THING TO DO.
HOPE YOU CAN MOVE BETTER:hug:
ALSO HOPE YOU FOUND THE TRAINING MATERIALS.
DO THEY HIDE IT ON PURPOSE:lol3:
MAYBE THEY WANT YOU TO STAY!!!!






CEEJAY....SORRY YOU HAD TO CALL IN SICK.
THIS SINUS STUFF WE ALL HAVE HAS TO GO.
THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY.
HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER THIS WEEK :hug:
SO GLAD YOU TOLD THE CO-WORKER NO.
YOU NEEDED TO GET BETTER FIRST.
A PELLET GUN SHOOTING??? GEEZ. NO ONE IS SAFE ANYMORE.
SO GLAD YOU GOT THAT SECURITY SET UP:hug:
IT WAS ALL SO VERY WORTH IT!!





LAURA........ I JUST TRIED THE SIMPSONS THE OTHER NIGHT.
FOR SOME REASON I JUST CAN'T GET INTO IT.
BUT I HAVEN'T GIVEN UP YET. WILL TRY AGAIN ANOTHER TIME.
HOW IS THE COLD & WW DOING???
BELATED BD TO THE "MIL" :hb:
A GETAWAY WITH THE FRIEND????? VERY NICE!!! :dancer:
HOTEL, WHIRLPOOLS & UMBRELLA DRINKS???
SO GLAD THE REVIEW WENT WELL.
BUT THEN YOU'RE A GOOD EMPLOYEE!!
SORRY THE BOSS DID A BAD JOB OF DOCUMENTATION. GEEZ!!!
SOUNDS LIKE THIS PLACE!!!





ANNIE.....SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE NEW BP MED. MEDITATE!!! :yoga:
THE ALTERNATIVE TO GETTING OLD IS NOT APPEALING TO ME.
BESIDES, I WOULD MISS YOU:cry: :rofl:
HOW ARE THE HEADACHES????
I GET MINE WHEN I'VE BEEN TO THE OFFICE OR DEAL WITH THE MAINT. MEN.
BUT MINE HAVE ALMOST GONE COMPLETELY. MEDITATE!!! :yoga:
HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER SOON & THE MEDS SIDE EFFECTS DON'T HAPPEN!!
Oh and by the way...did I say......MEDITATE??? :yoga:




MICHELLE...FUNNY BUT ALL RECORDED BOOKS PUT ME TO SLEEP.
I HAD A LAUGH ONE WAS KEEPING YOU AWAKE.
MAYBE I SHOULD TRY THAT ONE:rofl:
As for the 401k....can you put some back in if you pay the bills with a portion of it??
Less debt would also mean less stress too.
But don't do it like we did here......
took retirement money & then made new debt after the old one was paid :faint:
We never learned a lesson the first time.
Good luck with your decision:hug:

Monday Morning...winds at 38 mph. Sassy is not liking the wind. She tries to hide under things in the back yard. Too cute.

Yesterday, C and I went through HIS room and decluttered, tossed and have another load for Goodwill. I will take that to GW on this Saturday. We also stopped by Cs house and set another load out for the trashman. Two more loads and the garage will be clear of his daughter.

Then we went to Cs work. I loaded 965 boxes (of 18 cakes ea) of Tasty Cakes into trays for him to deliver today. Moved empty tray via a dolly to another area of the warehouse. It took about 3 hours to get it all done, but will save C that much time today. It was sorta, and I say sorta, fun as we were the only ones there and we were laughing and cutting up. Then we went to eat at Blueberry Hill Pancake House, man do they have great food.

No headaches since Thursday. I think the BP med is helping. I have also lost 3 lbs. Now if I could just keep going.

MELLIE...hmmmm, something tells me I need to meditate. Don't know where that thought came from but maybe meditation is in order. Glad you guys are all ok from the storm...eek!

LAURA...glad your weekend was fun, however you are right, it is great to get home.

Will be back to post more, gotta go!

Loves

Super quick post...as person testing my code found a fairly major bug that I have to fix today. :faint:

Mel - You rest today as much as you can. It's no wonder your eyes and body are tired after all the stress of the storm. And the salt/chemicals they put on the road, while necessary, can cause troubles with all kinds of things.

Annie - So nice that you helped C get a head start for the week. :) And that you got loads over to Goodwill. I need to do that with the stuff I'm weeding out of my boxes.

I'd better get back to it...this bug in the code isn't going to fix itself.

Much love and many hugs to all,

Morning all.

Annie - Busy weekend as usual for you. Aren't you wondering by now how much more you can get rid of, LOL. But I guess when you have 3 houses to consider, it can be a LOT. I always feel a wee bit better about our house when I watch what some of those American Pickers locations have! Nice of you to help C get ready for today - hey, if it gives you more time together, it's well worth it. Yes, I was glad to get back home to my two guys! I didn't like the wind today either!!! But I have more weight to hold me to the ground than Sassy!!! :lol: Maybe you should have a leash on her whenever she goes outside today, haha.

Michelle - Hope you find the bug and eradicate it!!! :yes:

Mel - Glad things are returning to normal in your area. Yes, definitely take a rest day today to get the snowblower/plow exhaust fumes and salt out of your system! I"m glad Jen covered for you!!! :) I didn't have any umbrella drinks this weekend, but I did have a sangria with my lunch Saturday. :cheers: Close enough. :D BTW, love your new avatar and today's door graphic!

Ceejay, Shad - How are you two feeling? Better I hope.

:wave: Happy, Ellen and Patty
==
Nothing much to report since yesterday. Thankfully, it wasn't raining when I got off the train at my stop. Back at home, I unpacked and relaxed for a bit, then took doggy for his walk, It still wasn't raining, but it was a bit windy, and boy, were the sidewalks a puddly and icy mess!!! Luckily I only took on a week bit of water in one boot.

I went to the library to pick up Downton season 3. Stopped to buy some raffle tickets for the chocolate baskets drawing and by the time I finished filling in my contact info and choosing which baskets I want to win (surprise - it wasn't all of them, lol), I almost forgot to pick up the dvd, hehe. When I came out, the rain had started. Ick. Came home, brewed a cup of tea and watched some Downton.

Back to work today. At least I can look forward to the holiday and no work next Monday! The boss will be out of the office starting Wed., so that's nice too.

Okay, have to make like I work here. TTFN!

Mel - LOL re the prayer!!!!

*sigh*....fixed one bug...and found another one. Such is the life of a programmer. :rofl:

At least this morning's phone call to the insurance company was successful and they agreed to pay the bills they had questions about. I'm hopeful the insurance company will pay the full amount of the bills. :crossed:

Hi ladies,

Well we got quite a bit of snow yesterday and into this morning. The tree branches are bending under the weight of it. I imagine we will find some broken pine boughs eventually. We've probably gotten about 12 inches in the last week - same as Mel, just took longer to get here. My sister called yesterday and said she is missing snow, can we send her some? I told her she needed to take a drive up here, we have plenty to share. I'm sure the snowmobiliers and skiers are delighted. Our new snowblower is enroute and is in Denver Colorado now. We should get it by next week. Wish it didn't take that long to ship but the stores only carry the too small ones and the great big giant versions. Guess I'll be doing some shoveling today. My plans including hanging around here doing stuff anyway.

Laura - glad you had a nice visit with your friends. I'd love a sit in a hot tub right about now :cloud9: Poor Coal having to walk in icy water. I heard you got some snow the other day and then heavy rains to boot had to make for a mess. Good luck on the raffle - hope you win a basket (or two).

Michelle - would definitely advise against pulling money out of your 401K for a number of reasons. 1) that's income so it would be added to your pay and possibly boost you into a higher tax bracket. Then there's the 10 percent early withdrawal penalty on top of that. So you could be throwing out 35 percent of your money right off the bat. I know it's tempting to tap into that cash but it would not be prudent to do so. I would save that money for a true emergency if you are looking for something to tap into. I'm sure you are eager to move back west but maybe that has to wait a little longer until there's more money to do so. In the end it's your decision but seeing what I have over the last few years in a number of situations with different people, it would be better not to touch that.

My PC is acting really wonky and I'm not sure if the Internet connection is having issues too. I don't want to lose my post and it also looks like DH is about to go out and shovel so I'd best go help him. I'll be back later.