Worldly Chicks Giving Thanks for Our Friendship
 

Ok missys - a new month has rolled around - rather quickly I must say. Was about to post and realized the clock has rolled over so figured I would just set up the new thread since it's November at the moment on my side of the pond. Perhaps Shad is busy looking for new places to live and still in search of the lost luggage.

So here we are. Thank you Michelle for the suggestion. I also like the idea of celebrating our long term friendships with one another. :grouphug:

Ceejay - well good for you for getting the HD enhancer set up on the tv. I do admit I shy away from that stuff. So you got lots of rain to discourage the Trick or Treaters? Hope you bought candy you don't like or contribute it to the candy bowl at work.

Annie - OMG on the ankle. Good heavens, no wonder you are in such pain. Be careful with the walking so as not to wind up hurting yourself more than helping. That's how I got all messed up. I was subconsciously adjusting for the hip pain and it messed up everything else. You'd be better off kicking your feet in a nice fountain instead :lol: I hope you didn't get the wretched weather they were predicting. Glad to hear that the coaching with your brother is going well. Since you asked, I am doing ok at the thrift shop - I sit when I can. My tailors bunion is acting up again - but that's the bursa sac too and it might be something with the hip sacs - I will have to see what irritates the little buggers. And Nina seems to be back to her well self :crossed: - thank you for asking. We are keeping her on the diet of prescribed dry food and giving her a small bit of wet canned food once a day - but poultry products only and we do not give her cat treats - we sneak them to her sister who loves them dearly. At one point after her antibiotics shot when she seemed to be fine, we went back to treats, canned food and got lax on the diet and she gassed up again so I believe she does have some food/cereal/filler type of allergies. Perhaps she is gluten intolerant :yikes: But with a controlled diet, she seems to do fine and is one crazy, crazy cat that constantly amuses DH.

Hi Susie! :wave:

Michelle - thank you for the thread suggestion this month. Good one! Bummer that you have to cover the help desk calls. :rolleyes: But I agree with you - some people don't even attempt to try and troubleshoot before they call. I remember one time we were having a devil of a time with someone and it turned out the cleaning people hit the off switch on the powerstrip without anyone knowing that had happened. That was a pretty lengthy slap your head type of call. Hope your eye is all healed up. How's Santa doing?

Laura - I'm surprised in this day and age that anyone would serve liquor at the office. If there was a party of that sort - we'd have it at a restaurant to avoid the potential of liability. That was nice though that they did recognize your volunteering efforts. Congrats on the pounds down - no doubt a kickstart to your recommitment. Always feels good to see that. Sorry that you have a bunion that bothers you - when you want a real horror story - I will tell you about bunion surgery. :yikes: The various party themes sound like it was a really fun event. I guess you could have gone in with your costume minus BF and billed yourself as a "good egg" :rofl: not that people would have "got it" as I think that's a pretty old saying. Pretzel necklaces sound rather interesting, have to remember that.

Shad - I wish I might, I wish I could come stay with you in your spare bedroom for a while. Would LOVE to see NZ and Australia, particularly with a tour guide as good as you. I am convinced I would also need an interpreter. :lol: Your description of the buildings is so picturesque and I really enjoyed your description of them. Such old history. We are woefully not used to it in the states here, unless you are in New England up by Mel or in parts of the west where the cowboys were. In any event, we are a new country and don't have quite the charm I think that exists in other countries. We are more scenic in nature I would say. We have been reading more about early logging and such in this area and are learning a great deal of fascinating facts. Isn't that horrid the prices on underwear? DH gets a large packet of tidy whitey's for practically what I pay for one of my garments - and I'm not talking Victoria's Secret fancy stuff. We both get Fruit of the Looms except I guess I get the pricer grapes :rofl: Still :crossed: that they find your stuff soon.

And I know what you mean about missing Mel's comments. Something we were talking about the other day reminded me of how she'd just run with it and it made me rather blue and missing her. :hug:

Now that we've rolled into the first of the month I will try Jen again. I would err on the side of caution and send anything to Jen's apartment only in case they have confiscated Mel's place (which is also a sad moment :( ) and not sure if they have moved her to long term care so I probably wouldn't send mail to the rehab place either. I wish Jen was more communicative too but some people - most of my friends in fact - are just not good about communicating. They are always glad to hear from me but most of the time if I didn't call them, I'd not hear from them and I gather that Jen did not use the computer for socializing as much as Mel did. Will let you know of course if I hear anything.

Today was my last day at the Thrift Shop for a while. I only work one afternoon before I leave for Mom's. One guy needs to have his knee replaced so he asked if I could cover his shift on Tuesday mornings. As much as I don't like to get up early, I said sure. My tailors bunion needs another shot of cortisone - the hip shot wasn't enough to calm all the swelling and I don't see the podiatrist before December. I am going to call my doctor and see if I can get booster shots in the hips - one was clearly not enough. If I sleep on my back my back hurts terribly in the morning - if I sleep on my side, my neck hurts. Enough of this baloney. I am trying to be super careful with my temporary crown - so far so good, although it is a bit of a challenge to come up with softer foods. I also need some fruit and vegetables. I can cook veggies to mush and got some bananas. I think if I slice apples and peel them I'll be ok too. I took a Pepcid because my tummy was bothering me, I hate taking that because it seems the acid reducer really makes me very sensitive to the most minute amount of fats or acid and I seem to get in a vicious circle having to take that daily which I don't like at all. Now that we are into November and I have nothing else to distract me except for physical therapy sessions, I really need to focus on some things I want to get done and lists of things not to forget before I leave. My sister said my Mom is very, very excited that I am coming to visit. I hope this flying thing works out ok so I can do that more often next year.

Our weather was cold and drizzly. We didn't have anyone stop in the store for Halloween treats except for a couple who brought their 2 dogs in - one had a superman / superdog costume and the other had some orange thing on - not sure if he was a pumpkin or a foot ball :lol: I gave them some treats. Our hours for trick or treat were from 4pm to 7pm so people were coming out on the street as I was closing up for the day. I did get to see 3 groups of young school kids marching up and down Main Street. Apparently the grade school did a sort of impromptu kiddie Halloween Parade which was nice but they just went for a walk and were not looking for treats. Too bad because I have a very large bag of candy that needs to get disposed of. It's all stuff I can't eat with my tooth right now so it's up to DH to resist ;)

We had a very slow day at the store today. Only 50 dollars in sales and half of that was my purchases. I do what I can :^:

Oh well - just looked at the time - there goes another resolution to get to bed earlier although I was watching some tv and managed to doze off without even realizing it. I think I must have slept at least an hour.

Happy November chicks - hope it's a good one for all of us :hug: Let's put all sickness, illness and misfortune behind us for a change.

TGIF and PF = Pay Friday! Yeah! Need to get some bills paid. You know how the auto insurance just pops in the mailbox and it is always a surprise because we pay 6 mos at a time. I know it is coming, then am surprised when it gets here. What a boob!

Tonite is trick or treat nite for the kiddos. Thank God they changed it as it came down like a monsoon. Thunder, lightening and high, high winds. My lil batman I am sure will be the talk of the neighborhood, especially because he is the only one that is little, everyone else is 5 or more.

HAPPY...thank you so much for starting the new thread. Too bad you didn't get any treaters at the Thrift shop. It is h*ll getting old with all these ailments and aches. I guess it beats the alternative and six feet under. I do hope the extra booster shot helps and your visit with momma isn't with pain. Ha ha glad you also not only work at the Thrift shop but support it too. Kind of like me working at CVS and buying all the mark down stuff. Defeats the purpose.

CHELLE...good idea on the thread title. I like it. How's the eye and how is Santa doing?

Hello to the rest of ya's cause I can't remember from last month's post and too lazy to go back.

Be safe, happy and healthy girls...let's make it a great month!

My front yard tree, so pretty
 

Gorgeous

Morning all!

Annie - Beautiful color on the that tree - is that in your back yard?? And a shadow shot of you, lol. Nice blue sky - was that taken today?? We still have gloom and rain here, but I, too, was enjoying the beautiful fall foliage on the trees during my walk from home to the train station this morning. Hope you get lots of cute kiddies in costume tonight. So your li'l guy is gonna be batman?? Photos please!!

Michelle - LOL re the help desk calls. I hope it at least makes you feel good that your not computer clueless like the rest of us poor saps, or at least speaking for myself. I've been putting off a call to the help desk to ask them for the short version of our new e-mail archiving system. It was changed a couple weeks back and I don't want to bother with reading the docs they sent. Okay, maybe I will take the time to do that this afternoon. How's your eye? Is Santa back in his regular daycare now?

Shad - Glad to hear your bag was found, whew. Too bad about the way too low airline reimbursement on the replacement items you bought while waiting. Wonder where your bag went off to... Good luck with the apartment hunt. So your assignment must be a good length for you to be getting one, as well as the house sitter back home. I do miss Mel too. Miss her posts and the pictures and her funny take on stuff. I hope Happy hears from Jen.

Happy - Yes, I think I would have trouble working in a shop and buying as much as I was selling (or more, LOL). Had to look up tailor's bunion - little toe thing, huh. No, don't want to hear about bunion surgery - I'm sure it's some horrible procedure that involves breaking and grinding. Glad to hear Nina is doing well now on her special diet and being the crazy happy kitty she is. :) Yup, so much to do, so little time. I might try to finish the zipper replacement project this weekend.

Ceejay - Gosh I don't even know what that thing you did to your tv is - does it make your tv smart??? :wizard: Are you enjoying your weekend yet? I'm so ready for Friday today!! The boss, who's used up all her vacation time, has now taken to having "doctor appointments" on a regular basis and leaving the office early. She just finished a major project yesterday so I'm not surprised she has one today, LOL.

Hi Susie! Did you get to see your nephews in costume yesterday?? By the time I got home (after 6:30), we didn't get a single trick-or-treater.

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Nothing much to report. I left work later than I intended and missed my usual train by a hair.

I'd toted home the 6-pack I won in the raffle, so I had bf pick me up from the train.

After that, did nothing special, just watched some telly in bed (bf was watching a football game with a friend). Bf made chili, so that was dinner.

BF reported that doggy was going nuts over the kids coming to the house earlier in the day, so bf put the bowl of candy outside. Not much left of the candy at all, and only the twizzlers. I like those, but it's not like having chocolate around... whew!

Another whew - so far nobody here at the office has brought in any of their leftover candy.

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Nothing planned for tonight. Tomorrow morning is a hair appointment followed by a dentist appointment.

No other plans except maybe to do a BE workout or two. House needs cleaning, as usual and Mt. Laundry awaits. Still have the bathroom work to do - might get over to that one plumbing supply joint - it's on the way back from the dentist.

Okay, time to get my Friday done with!!

:spin::spin::spin::spin::spin:

LAURA...The tree is in my front yard. I took the pix last weekend. I will try to get a pix of lil man, just depends on if he is cooperating. We take him tomorrow to get his 2 yr pix. I may set a bowl out for the treaters tonight since I will be at Sissy's house. Good idea. I am thinking fruit snacks. I will go to Costco at lunch to get them in the bulk. I am meeting Sissy at the doc for her 3D ultrasound. Excited!!! Have a marvy weekend sister.

Annie - You have a good weekend too! Good luck to sissy with the ultrasound today!

Morning all,

Annie - I would love to see Lil Man in his costume. Bribe him for pictures :rofl: Your tree is so pretty!!!! And by the shadow I can see you are taking the picture properly - with the sun to your back. We're so bare up here it's hard to believe that some of you are still enjoying the turning of the leaves so it's nice to see a colorful shot. I know what you mean about the shock of the car insurance bill - second only to the property taxes :lol: Are you getting busy at work with open enrollment?

Laura - bunion surgery is painful, requires a substantial recovery and the worst part I think is that you have to wear a boot for a while. And that boot is just enough to set your hips and back off kilter so if you do a lot of walking your back will start to complain very loudly. And the residual effect (which my current podiatrist confirmed) is that your little toe is brought closer to the next toe (leaning in a bit) so often I get the sensation that my little toe is "stuck" to it's neighbor which is weird. My biggest issue was that I had no idea what I was in for - had I known what to expect I would have handled it better. Put off the surgery until it's absolutely necessary - in the end it is worth putting an end to the crippling pain but I think bone surgery is much more painful than soft tissue surgery (ie gall bladder and such). Do you get your hair trimmed each time you go to the hairdresser or just get a touch up sometimes? I hope BF enjoys that beer after you lugged it all the way home :lol:

I'm going to shoot a quick note to Jen. I have some fresh mushrooms I need to use up so I'll send DH to work outside while I cook up some mushroom soup - he hates the stuff. I also have some round steak and need to put some steak and peppers on the stove to slow cook. Was watching an old show of Ina Garten where she made some crab cakes so I picked up some fresh crab for that - cholesterol tests be darned - at least for the moment ;) I have 2 lessons to work on for my writing class - one is a not so easy assignment I've been kicking around in my head the last 2 days. I guess I should also call the doctor and see if I can get in for another cortisone shot. Lots to do and it ain't getting done sitting here so ta ta ladies. Catch up with the rest of you later. Have a good weekend.

Morning ladies!

Another busy day here at work. First, I've got to analyze the Website traffic reports, summarize them in an understandable fashion, and then send them off to the managers. It's not as bad as it sounds...probably an hour or two at the most. Then it's on to other projects or crisis mitigation as needed.

I hope I didn't give y'all the impression I don't like "help desk". I know that some people I work with don't have as much computer experience as I do...nor do I expect them to. I just wish that some people would think a minute before they call. For example...if the laptop battery isn't charging....maybe the power cord isn't plugged in.

Today, I'm meeting with some clinical trial folks at Stanford Hospital. They are studying the effectiveness of combining pain medication with an anti-nausea med to helping with back pain. If I am selected for the trial, I get $500, and there's not much of a time commitment. That will help come Christmas shopping time, especially since my company is closing down from 12/23-1/1, so I'll be missing out of 8 days of pay. If you know anyone who needs a website built, let me know.

Tonight, I'm going to pick up Santa from day care and then go over to a co-worker's house. Her and her husband really decorate their yard for Halloween, and since they aren't taking the decorations down 'till the weekend, I told her I'd come by tonight to see it.

Tomorrow, I've got fasting labs (keeping my fingers crossed for a good A1C) in the morning. And Santa has a follow up visit with a vet for his kennel cough. He hasn't coughed at all in over a week, so I think he's fine.

Tomorrow night, D and I are going to do something. Not sure what. Maybe just watch TV at my house; maybe go to a movie (either Captain Phillips or Gravity).

My eye is doing much better. It's still itchy sometimes, but the swelling is nearly all gone. :-)

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Annie - Good luck to Sissy on the ultrasound. Beautiful tree in your front yard! I'd love to see more photos of the lil man!

Happy - I agree about bunion/toe surgery. I had surgery on my little toe several years ago, and I had to wear the boot for a long time. And even after that, I had to get a bigger size shoe for my right foot than my left. Two pairs of the same style shoes was a pain in the butt. Good luck on your writing assignments.

Laura - I could use a hair trim and color touch up. The gray hairs are starting to show again.

Gotta get back to my reports.

Much love to all,

Hi! I found the new thread.

You all have been on my heart this week. I just couldn't seem to get here. I bet you can all guess why...WORK!

DH went to the cardiologist on Wednesday and he is back in Afib, so he has to have another Cardioconversion. He will have it next Friday on November 8!

It is very frustrating to live with afib, as it is a heart issue but it isn't one that has to do with being overweight, or the way you eat or anything like that. It just happens...it is electrical and so it doesn't have to do with blockages or things like that. It's hard to fix but it can be managed, so that is where we are.

DH's blood work is exception according to his doctors and the labs and his heart tests say it is in good shape. They would like to see him loose 15-20 lbs but they don't say to much to him about it. They did tell him that being more active can help sometimes with afib as does sleeping well and getting enough sleep. They said it is just something that happens and you never know how it will happen too.

I wasn't expecting it that soon as last time he had to wait almost 3 weeks. Of course that week I am OOO two days, one for training and one for a meeting that I'm running, and then being out on that Friday, so I was scrambling with working extra hours to make sure that other things next week are in place. Also I was handed a new project to spear-head. I was told I got it because I'm seen as a top Admin and role model and they want my branding on it. :dizzy: So, I have to turn in a brief on how I plan to handle this project, along with timelines and resources I need so we can get those in place and it is due next Tuesday.

I told them I was honored but I would need to shift some of my daily work to the other Admin's in my group so that I wasn't killing myself. I have proposed what they will take on from now until Feb when this is delivered. My Director said he would get me some help.

We had a lot of rain last night but still had trick or treat..we only had 1/4 of what we usually have come by. I'm returning the left over candy to Walmart today! I don't need it in the house and having the $$ would be nice. I bought for what we usually have in case the weather turned out differently and it is a bit $$$. I don't mind it when I can give it out to the kids but it's not going to just sit around.

Annie: what a beautiful tree...we have some beautiful ones here in Ohio as well. I love seeing all those colors.

Happy: tell me about your writting class. I used to love to write and I try to journal..but don't get to it as much as I would like to.

Laura: I LOVE getting my hair done. It gives me a new perspective every time! :) My brother sent some pics on my nephews in their costumes that they wore to school that day. It rained to much for him to take them out.

diyana: good luck with those labs. I hope you get good results.

I've got to get back to work..I promise to see more of you all!

My goals for November are: a 6-8 lbs loss for the month, to get in 30 min of exercise at least 4-5 days a week and to post at least 3 times a week.

Swore I posted yesterday - and so I did, just on the old thread.

Nothing much going on here right now. Mind you it is only 7.15am on a Saturday. I have to go onto the website shortly and see if I can drum up some more apartments to go look at. Have one at 12.30 today and that is doubtful since they want a long term lease and I have only five months. So the chase is on AGAIN.
Yes my luggage arrived safe and sound from Melbourne of all places. Don't know where they found it or how but it is here all safe and sound. I must get a thank you card today to send to the lost luggage people at Wellington Airport. They have been great in diligence and giving out information good or bad. I appreciate that sort of service.

Something strange going on on this website so I think I better keep it short and sweet. My screen is moving. And the cursor is jumping around.

My niece is blossoming well and has only about 36 days to go until the birth of little peanut. She hasn't put on a lot of weight - only 6 Kilo so she tells me, which is around 14 pounds give or take and she is looking and feeling very well. It's really been a stress free pregnancy for her - and thank the powers that be that this is so. Probably the baby will turn out to be a little sh*t, since I had exactly the same sort of pregnancy with DS1 and he was a holy terror until he was around 9 months old with colic and hyperactivity and sheer freaking stubbornness. She is having a baby shower next weekend to which I am invited, but unless I resolve the situation with my sister, I may very well just go for a short time and then leave, or I might just get antsy and annoy the living daylights out of my sister who will probably not retaliate but will go into a blue funk and ruin the party. Such is life.

Anyway, this is getting too annoying. I will be back later with personals and maybe something to add to the storyline of the ongoing apartment hunt.

Shad
My cursor has been jumping around all over the place too but it's not just this sight. I've tried some different things but to no avail. Glad the luggage finally arrived and good luck on finding an apartment.

Happy
Thanks for setting up the new thread. I agree about mailing things to Jen instead of Mel right now. I need to get her another card in the mail. I have two t.v.s that have High Definition but one doesn't get a clear picture. I have cable hd on the other one. I bought this thing which enhances the HD. Browzing at Walmart and found it. It works well. If I can find another one I'm going to cancel the HD part on my cable bill. So far it is doing a good job.

Annie
My city was very lucky last night-reason storms. Didn't even know that there was a tornado warning out until I heard the sirens going off. And yes there were trick or treator's out but I didn't see any little one. When the siren went off there were two youn teen agers that were making a b line back home. Don't know how far they had to go. There was a small town that had some destruction and it was put on curfew last night. We had some power outages but nothing to severe. My area was notaffected. I love the fall foliage. The picture is beautiful.

Michelle
I felt like a help desk person yesterday. My neighbor brought over her new phone and said the phone wasn't charging. Dah the one she had didn't fit her phone. I had some extra's and luckily one fit it. She'd even called her provider and told them that it wouldn't charge. They are sending her a new phone. It's charged now but she had no idea as to make a phone call or do a text. Hope the lab results are good.

Susie
You do sound like a busy person. I'm glad that you told them that you could not do all the work by yourself. Hope the DH does well with his procedure.

Laura
I know from experience that a bunionectomy is not an easy experience, but when it gets to painful you will know that you are ready. I didn't have to have a boot but my mom did. I was on a walker for two weeks and couldn't put my foot down on the floor, basically all I could do was go to the table and potty. I could only take a sponge bath. I had to take the pain meds the doctor gave me cause when that started to knit back together I wanted to scream. I don't think it did my mom that way though. But that could have been from the hammer toe I had done at the same time.
I'd like to see both of those movies.

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I've had a busy day. Got up at 7 a.m. this morning to get the garbage to the curb then washed some bed clothes then went to the doctor. He takes walk ins. But today was Friday and they work till noon I got there at 9 and got back to a room but he was over run with patients with basically what I am havingsome was worse than me. So it was 10.30 before I got to see him. I have two rx's and got an injection He said no flu shot until this infection is gone. Come back in two weeks. I've had a sinus infection for awhile that will not go away (which started with harvest season) and been having fluid in my ears with headaches.
While in the doctor's office i'm reading all the notices on the wall and saw that they are recommending My Plate web sight. and one for a medical receptionist. I'm so tempted to put in my application for the medical receptionist. but it probably isnt' feasable for me to do this right now.
After that our department at work had lunch together at 11.a.m. We won the safety award this month for no work related injuries Found out the latest gossip about my bosses. The one over water sewer is going to become a grandpa, and my immediate boss and his girlfriend are having a baby.

Morning all,

All my plans for yesterday got set aside. My cousin called and asked if I wanted to go on a shopping trip - which around here involves a substantial drive. Oh yes I do! So...

Ceejay - I know it might be tempting at times to look at other things besides your current job but take a step back and consider what you'd be giving up - ie. service time, paid vacation, possibly an increase in pension benefits, etc. Also you'd more than likely take a cut in pay and benefits. You don't have that much longer, just try to hang in there - tempting as it may be otherwise. Besides - look what happened to your friend.

Shad - I hope this morning finds you with a decent place to live and reunited with your clothes and luggage. :D That's unfortunate about the rift with your sister - hope things can be mended - would be a pity for you to miss out on the shower of a niece you clearly enjoy over the pettiness of some sibling miscontent. :hug:

Susie - congrats on the new assignment - good for you for pushing back a bit and asking for some help with your regular duties now that you have this new assignment. It's always nice to hear that they see and appreciate that you are good at your work, they just need to remember that you are not superwoman as I imagine everyone is being asked to do more and more these days. Good luck with DH's cardioconversion. They told my DH that a CPAP would also help the afib but I'm with you - I think it's electrical in natural (the problem) and while other things help the heart health, the afib is an issue unto itself. Bummer that they scheduled it on an already busy week for you. :(

Michelle - wow that's a nice chunk of change for participating in the clinical trials. Hope it works out for you! I didn't take away from your comments that you don't like the help desk work - just that you wished people would do a little checking beforehand for the basics instead of just picking up the phone and that is a perfectly normal reaction. Although I have to admit (reluctantly) I am getting there myself. I took the cell phone with me yesterday and could not for the life of me figure out how to turn the darn thing on. :mad: I pressed every button on the back and the perimeter without success. In the end I just decided I'd order DH whatever sandwich I thought he'd like. I got home and he said the power button is in the front of the phone on the key pad in really teeny letters. Oh geez. But at least I tried first :lol: And I know a lot of people who are just giving up on Windows 8. I'm not sure I can adjust to a touchpad / no keyboard device either. :lol: Phone yes, computer no.

Anyway I have lots to do so I will get on with the day. Have a good weekend everyone.

Up early for fasting labs. Then home for breakfast and did laundry which is drying on the clothesline. Lots of walking (lab at hospital is a LONG walk from parking garage), and bending (picking up Santa's piles and hanging clothes). Back is sore. Head is foggy. I'm tired. Santa's appointment is in 1.5 hours, and I should do some writing. I feel like watching my DVRed Grey's Anatomy or napping. I think I'll compromise and at least get an invoice off to a client.

D is coming over around 5. And we'll either go to a movie or watch some DVDs that I checked out from the library.

Happy - don't feel bad about the phone...I rarely turn it off, and when I do, I usually forget how to turn it back on. Also...to show that I'm not a true techie...I still haven't gotten my e-books to my tablet so I can read them. LOL

I hope everyone's doing well. I'm glad I get an extra hour tomorrow (for sleep or writing or other fun).

Love to all,

Aftenoon
I've been to Paragould and back to eat with the uncles. One uncle and his wife didn't show and another aunt and cousin didn't show. Had a good visit anyway.

I've been updating my old computer. I've been using it for awhile with out the updates. Now I need to get busy on cleaning house. It is not bad but I want to give it a once over and pick up behind myself.

I'm tired too. Those steriod injections always keep me wide awake till wee hours of the morning. I'll sleep good tonight.

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Happy
I know I could not make a living at the doctor's office. That's just wishful thinking. But thanks for bringing into reality. I can manage two more years.

To the rest :wave:

Evening all,
Beautiful weather today. I have been down the waterfront and checked out the local produce markets. Good stuff. Then I went to look at an apartment and have taken it. It's more expensive than I wanted but it is big and will have every thing that I need in it. So I will have a place to stay from next Thursday. More money going out. But it should even out soon.

So it has been a busy day and all of it on foot. Up and down hills and steps and slopes. My feet hurt.

Ceejay - my sinus are bad as well. I've been drinking that stuff called Lemsip. It is supposed to clear congestion and ease the production of fluid, but much as I like the taste of it, it really isn't doing a lot. My nose is all stuffed up continuously.

Michelle - time to get some rest in by the sound of it. Make a list, do it in 15 minute spells. Eventually it will all get done.
I can turn my phone on and off, but I forget how to do a lot of the feature things and that stupid soft touch keyboard is the bane of my life.

Happy - baggage arrived - check. New place to live - check. Rang my sister - check. It seems peace may be been declared although she could have got hold of me through facebook if she really wanted to. But it seems I had to make the first move. Who cares anymore.

Susie - good on you for telling them you are not superwoman. Somedays it seems that they want you to do everything, get it in yesterday and for nothing extra either. Apparently it is expected. A polite thank you occasionally would be good.

Annie - nice tree. Love the colours - don't see much colour at home and it lasts such a short time too.

Laura - did I forget Laura? :wave:

Guess it might be time for bed. My feet would appreciate it anyway.
Manana amigas.

I forgot about the time change this morning. I still woke up at my usual time and set the clock back.
I'm still cleaning out closets today. Mainly to get rid of a bunch of stuff I don't need or haven't looked at in three years. It's collecting dust.
I'll text my friend later who is going to come stay after her surgery. It's being done on Monday but she has to stay in Jonesboro for a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. She'll be here on Tuesday night. Believe it or not she's having the skin on her neck stretched.
I'm scheduling a couple of day's off in November and then in December. I'm taking the 19 and 20th off in November. Not sure when in December. I'm using all vacation.

Shad
I'm glad things are getting resolved.

Morning all,

My favorite day of the year :D an extra hour in the day. And always on a weekend when you can enjoy it. The one time a year I get up "early" on my own as we set the clocks back an hour and have a 25 hour day today. Enjoy that extra hour folks.

Was feeling a bit scattered and unfocused so I made a list - 2 pages in length of things I need to get done. And it helps me to cross them off and accomplish something. I am also taking care of some things in advance of my trip as to not save everything for the last minute and then run around like a stressed out and short tempered maniac as I usually do. *deep breath*

I decided to call my hair stylist and make an appointment to recolor my hair. While this dark auburn is a nice color - particularly in the sun, inside where you can't see the subtle tones I think it really is too dark and harsh on me. Not sure if she will add light, more pronounced highlights or just give me a quick overall lighter color - she was not at the salon so I just explained my need and they gave me an appointment. We'll see. Tomorrow I go for my first physical therapy session which is good I suppose since my neck pain is travelling down my arm now. I tried to call the doctor yesterday to make an appointment for another shot but apparently the office is only open Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Best not get sick on the weekends or evenings ;) I will call again tomorrow in the morning.

Talked to my Mom yesterday who was telling me about one of my cousins. He is a retired police officer. He had been working his beat and was standing next to a car he had pulled over for a routine stop when out of the blue a crazy person in a rented truck literally took aim at him and hit him full on, tossing him up into the air. They never caught the driver and my cousin was messed up quite badly and still is having ramifications from the accident which was over 5 years ago. He needs to have a steel rod inserted into his spine because he is getting an extreme curvature in his neck which is pulling his head in a manner to touch ear to shoulder on one side. He is having the surgery next month and for 2 months will not be able to bend down, or twist in any manner. Can you even imagine that? Everyday activities like going to the loo, taking a shower, even turning when someone calls your name will be off limits or will require assistance. His wife is taking a leave of absence to take care of him - and she is recovering from breast cancer herself. My heart goes out to them both - he is in constant pain and isn't even 55 years old. All he can do is get worse. I don't know how someone finds the courage to get up every day and keep going when you are facing that sort of situation. Reminds me to be grateful for the blessings in my life.

Shad I am happy to hear that some things are being resolved. Hopefully you have some time in the evenings to enjoy the spaciousness of your home for the next few months, rather than coming in late and crashing into bed only to rise early and leave quickly the next morning. If you are going to be there for an extended time, might as well be comfortable. Glad to hear things are going better with the sister also. I have found more often than not, it is I who have to make the effort to contact people. As I told DH, I try not to let that bother me, you just have to ask yourself if it's worth maintaining that relationship even if you have to be the one to always initiate things. Sometimes the answer is yes, other times I just let things drift apart. Walking down to the waterfront and checking out the produce markets sounds like a wonderful way to spend the afternoon - hopefully you picked up some deliciously fresh things to stock your refrigerator! Sleep well...

Ceejay - gee your friend's surgery sure sounds like a different kind of procedure. It's nice that she can stay and recouperate with you. Hopefully it won't be much of an imposition and you can enjoy each other's company. Any special plans for your vacation days or just going to go with the flow and see what happens?

Michelle - what is it about the hospital campuses that they are such a long walk between parking and the buildings??? Perhaps because they are large hospital campuses? :rofl: I have noticed that with every place we've been at - even in Duluth. Except of course in my little town where we have more of a high end emergency room rather than a hospital of sorts. Glad you enjoyed the movie Gravity.

Well the sun is shining brightly and I have lots more on my to do list to tackle so let me be off and running with the day. Have a good Sunday all and hello to the rest of the Worldlies...

Evening all,
Just a short post tonight as it is late and I have just finished my dinner and I really ought to be in bed. Tomorrow will be another long day. I have decided that I will get up early and go in early to see if I can get home a bit earlier. This eating late in the day is a killer.

So if you don't see me around for a while, it is not that I have forgotten you, just that I am too busy or too tired to check things out. I'll be back.

Good Morning Chicklets....

Sad news from Indiana. My BFF since grade school, not the Missouri crowd, but another who just lives about 25 miles from me, her dad passed away late Friday afternoon after battling cancer for the past 5 years. I will be going to the funeral either on Thurs or Friday. Details are not set yet.

Didn't do a whole lot this weekend. T or T with lil man Friday night was so much fun. He thanked everyone at each house and also told them bye. Too cute. If it was a neighbor that he actually knew he would say Bye and then their name....i.e. Bye Joannie. Too stinkin cute. Saturday was picture day for lil man and Ainsley at JCPenney. They turned out pretty good. I had bought a groupon for 25$, that got us a whole slew of pictures. Nice. Felt like crap most of the day yesterday. Helped C with a couple of his stores, went to lunch at Olive Garden then collapsed the rest of the day. Slept through the Colts game last night except for the last 5 minutes. Good thing cause the first half was awful from what I hear.

I did get a couple of shots of lil man in his costume but they are kind of blurry. I took them with my cell phone, and he was very busy, hard to catch him still.

SHADDIE...Neice having a babe on the way. She sure has gained much weight. Sam is just over halfway there. She has gained 9 lbs so far. They did set her C-section for March 12. Chris's birthday.

CHELLE..sounds like you had a nice weekend lined up for you and D. Sometimes just staying home and gellin' is the way to go. Plus saves money.

HAPPY...Sad to hear of your cousin's horrible accident. I, too, was that crazy person that hit a cop standing by the highway giving a ticket. Only I fell asleep at the wheel and also stopped. Bet momma is getting excited for your visit. Bless her heart.

CEEG...sinus infections can be tricky to get rid of. They seem like they are gone then poof, they are back within days. Hope you are feeling better by now. I say my work environment causes our illnesses around here.

LAURA...I am sure you have been your usual busy self this weekend with exercising, walking the babe and shopping.

SUSIE...hello, sorry to hear your DH is have such a time with the Afib. How annoying and really kind of scary. I know when my heart races every now and then, it just freaks me out. lol. Good job on taking the halloween candy back to Walmart. That will detour absent minded eating. WTGG.

Missin our MELLIE this weekend. It was the start of Count Down to CHristmas on the Hallmark channel. Of course I watched it non-stop yesterday and thought of MELLIE all day long....

Bout it for me, should probably get to work since that is what they pay me for....haha.

Hugs are the way around.

Batman
 

Batman Jacob

Morning all. Just a quick pop in to say hello. I have a short volunteer gig this morning, so I'll be leaving the office in a few minutes. Be back later. TTFN. :wave:

Morning all,

Guess it's going to get rather quiet around here. :(

I am thinking of dumping Facebook. It reminds me of the route that e-mail eventually took. In the early days it seemed like a good idea for people to keep in touch. You could hammer out a few lines and avoid a 1 hour conversation on the phone. And then people started sending jokes, inspirational things and "pass this along" stuff. Eventually email became very little communication and mostly wading through lots of stuff I didn't care about all the while getting a bit miffed that people were passing my email address along without my permission. Didn't take long before the spam followed. I hardly ever use email any more. And more than one person has been peeved that I don't have texting capabilities but that's not my fault - take it up with the phone company's lack of service. Many people say they like FB because it allows them to keep in touch but I see less and less conversation and more and more ads and shares than real talking. I told my friend I was thinking of disabling my account and she asked me not to - said she really enjoys the pictures I post and my ramblings. I then asked her why she lurks from the shadows and never says anything - I found out I have several "friends" like that. My sister left FB for the very same reason and I coaxed her back as we often communicate via the message function. Just sad to me that people don't talk much any more. And that's my Monday blues theme :lol:

I started pulling apart cabinets this weekend. My kitchen is small and the cabinets are rather narrow or corner cabinets that are difficult to utilize. I have my cookware in the biggest cabinet, and dishes and cups and such in the upper cabinets. The odd narrow and corner cabinets have some food in them. Downstairs in the utility room in the basement I have a large area of shelving. Part of that is my pantry, part of it is storage of seasonal items and stuff I don't use on a regular basis. Turns out that somehow a mouse found it's way into this bounty. It ate an entire bag of orzo pasta and was working it's way through a cellophane bag of penne. It also chewed a roll of paper towels which I hope is not for nesting material :yikes: To this point we have kept the cats out of the room just because there are too many nooks and crannies but it's open season now. As we said, can't figure out how a mouse got in there as our house is exceptionally well sealed - DH thinks it might have crawled in through the now dry sump pump pipes. You can't help but get field mice in an area like this with all the woodlands but if they get a whiff of kitty that's about all it takes to send them back outside. Most of the pantry is cans and bottles but I went through and bagged up the boxed stuff. I need to figure out how to get some semblance of order in the cabinets. The biggest problem is the shape of the cabinets - things can get lost in there. It also gave me a good opportunity to purge some things that were getting old or I decided I would not really use. Seems like any time you pull something out, it takes twice as long to put things back in shape and sure does make a mess. But it's on my list and I will get it done. Today is physical therapy, a mammogram and my stylist just called and said this evening would work out better for her for re-coloring my hair. So my day is set for me. I have to figure out something to make for an easy dinner for DH as I will be running around back and forth - would be nice if I would get out and just go from one appointment to the next but I'm afraid I will have a 30 or 40 minute lull in between each - not enough to come back home but a substantial wait in between things.

Laura - have fun on your volunteer run today.

Annie - cute picture of Lil Man. I would just melt with him saying thank you to each house. How adorable and congrats on teaching him early manners. I used to HATE the brats who would push and shove at the door and then run off and never say thank you. I also laughed when you said all the photos were blurry because he was in constant motion. Can you bottle some of that energy for me? :rofl: Why is Sissy having a C-section? Was that how Lil Man came into the world? Glad things are going well for her.

Shad - sounds like each contract gets a bit more trying for you. Don't burn yourself out. Hope you can make order of things rather quickly.

I spoke to my BFF this weekend. She is a nurse at a busy clinic and said she has just gotten to the point where she is so tired. She has health issues - some of which she attributes to stress or believes that stress intensifies them. Said she just doesn't know if she can last the 6 more years until retirement. She and her husband are also looking to move away from the city but didn't know how or where to start looking for that special retirement spot. I shared some of my experiences with her and gave her a few tips to get started in a general direction. Anyway - enough of that. I think I can tidy up a counter and get some brunch in me before I head out for the day.

Have a good Monday and here's to hoping that Mel get's the Hallmark Channel where ever she is now. :hat:

HAPPY...SIssy went emergency C-section last time due to the 8 week early birth and toxemia. The doc left it up to her to either try VBAC(vaginal birth after C section) or go C Section. SHe chose C section. Beats me why, I try not to interfere with that kind of stuff as I usually end up on someone's crap list. lol Probably time to start the commune since your BFF is looking to moving up your way...Hope your day doesn't wear you out running around. Take it easy on your body lady. Hugs

LAURA...have a great day with volunteering today.

Happy - I really hope you don't leave FB. I enjoy seeing your photos and I try and comment, rather than lurk. Yes, I post A LOT of inspirational pictures/sayings...more than actual updates about me. But a lot of times the inspiration sayings reveal how I'm doing, how glad I am at where I'm at now versus where I was a year ago, and sometimes I just post them for my friends who are going through a rough patch.

Shad - I'm glad you got your luggage and a place to live. I hope things go okay with your sister.

Annie - thanks for sharing the photo of Jacob. What a sweetie! I love it when the kids say thank you.

Ceejay - So nice of you to let your friend recuperate at your place!

Laura - Have a good time volunteering.

I'm busy with work...and still a bit discombulated from the time change. I only completed roughly 1/2 the things I wanted to this weekend. I was just dragging. I didn't get the captions added to the photos for Mel, but I did pick up another Flash drive. Tonight, the Packers are on Monday night football, so maybe I can work on the photos while I watch/listen to the game. I didn't get any writing done, which frustrates me...but I just wasn't inspired to write. I need better time management.

speaking of...I should probably get some work done.

Much love,

Happy
I agree about FB. I'm not even sure that the people are sending that stuff. I think it's the advertisement attaching things.
That's frightening about your cousin being deliberately run down.

Annie
I think we are all missing Mel. I'm almost sure that it's the environment here with me working with the chemicals and such. This time I let my allergies go to long.

Michelle
Sometimes we have to stop and rest. You have been doing much more since you've moved to California.

Laura
At least no working in the office today.

----------
Was going to post last night but my old laptop crashed again. So I talked to my boss and he told me that I could either take back the monitor or try a HDMI cord so I'm going to try that tonight.
Pulled out 4 boxes of stuff from the closet in the spare bedroom/office to donate to GW.
I was thinking about buying a bed to go in that space but told myself no. If she wants to stay there she can buy her own bed. I'll have to move some things out of that room but so be it. I need to get rid of some things before I go to Missouri anyway. And most of that can be recycled or tossed.
It looks like we have some rain moving into the area. So I'll need to start watching that more closely.

Proud as a Peacock
 

It's definitely a boy!!

THe pix above is as tho he is sitting bottom on a copy machine, all legs to the left.

I’m back in the office. Today’s volunteer stint was about 90 min., about 30 min getting to/from the location. It’s a reading/writing program, and it was an interesting experience. A bit chaotic, not because it’s disorganized, but because the class is split into three groups that all work in the same room, so it gets to be quite noisy when we all get going. And the heat was blasting, so it was unbelievably hot in there…But working with the 2nd graders was fun – I’ve never done anything like that before. I’m scheduled to do this one more time, and if I want to do more, I’m sure they would be happy for that. They like to have the same people come back.

My weekend was sort of busy during the day, but relaxed at night. Friday night I had a longish conversation with my friend D, who is considering a job in an economically depressed city downstate. I thought she’d applied on a lark, but she’s since interviewed and is seriously considering accepting if she’s gets an offer. I’m glad she’s thinking it over very seriously, but I still think she should look in the Chicago metro area some more - why uproot your life with a big move like that if you can find good opportunities right here? UPDATE: After thinking hard about it, she’s no longer considering it. Can’t say I’m not happy to hear that, though I tried to be supportive.

Saturday I had a touch-up hair appointment and I talked some more w/ D about the possible job/relocation while the color was on my head. After that I picked up bf and we went to my dentist appointment. New hygienist seems really thorough, but she also uses some sort of ultrasonic tool with a pick and water in addition to the usual procedure. And she works with the patient lying completely flat, so it’s quite a change from the previous hygienist. But she said my teeth looked really good, keep up the brushing, and try to get up to flossing 2x/day. Okayyyyy. The bad thing is I have a bad spot in a molar that my dentist wants to check in 3 mos. If it’s at the point where he doesn’t want to let it go 6 months, I’m probably headed for a filling or at a minimum, some kind of filler he can use to stave off any further issues.

After the dentist, bf and I went out for a quick lunch and then got over to the bath showroom. They have some great stuff on display. But our purpose – retrofitting the recessed tp and soap dish holders – was not successful and it made us realize we’d be better off just filling in those openings in the walls and buying whatever fittings we wanted. The look would be more updated and a better investment in the end. This is a small job for someone with good drywalling skills, which unfortunately neither bf or I have. Heck, we’re not even very good with tiny nail hole patch jobs.
Sunday morning, a look at the sale flyers in the newspaper ended with bf and I spending a good part of the day in the garage deciding how to make more space and organize all the stuff in there and doing some of the changes. It was worth the time. Now we have to buy some racks that mount on the walls and hold different types of hooks so we can hang all the tools, etc.

I didn’t get to any exercise classes this weekend, but I did do my two dog walks. Plus some digging. I transplanted three large hosta alongside the garage to make way for some concrete patio blocks on which the garbage and recycling bins will now sit atop. (They were in the garage previously.) Anyway, that was good exercise.

Tonight’s the kickboxing class…wish it weren’t on Mondays. Mondays are hard, I usually just want to go home and chill out. I’ll see if I can talk myself into this class tonight.

I’ll catch up on personals tomorrow! Everyone have good evening/morning.

Happy - I'm saying prayers for your cousin and his wife.

Ha.
had half a post written and then went to have a look at Annies wee new grandchild. Lost the lot.

Can't think of much of what I wrote.

I know I was sorry about Happy's cousin. That is a terrible thing to happen to a man going about his job. What a rotten world we live in at times. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of the humans and just live with the animals - of the 4 legged kind (mostly).

I know I couldn't see what Annie was describing. I'd make a useless ultrasoundist. Is there a word for that.

Good onya Laura for volunteering. It would be interesting to be with the kids.

Ceejay - never heard of stretching the skin. Most of us are trying to tighten it up.

Okay - that's it. Now it is posting itself. I only have to press Enter and away it goes and posts. Done!

SHADDIE...the arrow is pointing to his winkie dink. It is as if he is sitting down on a copy machine, copying his bottom, winkie dink and the back of his legs.

Annie
I was hoping for a girl for some reason but another boy will be nice. A brother for the lil man. I know you are excited.

Laura
I guess it was nice to get out of the office even if it was for a little while.

Happy
When are you making plans to visit with your mom? I've forgotten.

Shad
If I can't tighten my skin with exercise then it will just be loose. I'm not that excited about going under a knife. I do hope things work out for her.

----------------
I thought it was yesterday that my friend was going to have her procedure but it's today. I told her to keep me informed. She's coming to my house on Wednesday.
Found a good exercise video on you tube for senior strength for 45 minutes. I could keep up with this too. And got a good work out. The seniors looked to be in their 70's - 80's. Yep did it in from if the camera too here at work.
I'm disappointed in the t.v. monitor. Going to take it back Thursday. And buy a new lap top which is what I wanted.
Every one have a good day.

Morning all,

I went to physical therapy yesterday. The muscles on my outer thighs are tight as bow strings. Come to find it's that super tightness (bad) which is contributing greatly to the bursa getting inflamed and causing the hip pain. They were going to work on my neck (which hurts really badly as well as my shoulder and arm) but decided instead to work on the lower half which might be the source of all problems. They rolled a foam roller on the outside of my legs and it was sooooo painful. I HATE deep tissue massages - I think they hurt like the dickens but they said that would help things. Did some recumbent stepper work as well as some exercises. I walked out of there feeling much worse than when I walked in. And I'm not feeling that great this morning either ;) but I do understand the need to stretch things out so I will continue with that. I go to therapy tomorrow and twice next week and will see how I feel when I get back and if more is needed. They suggested that water therapy / pool work would be good and apparently you can use the pools at some local hotels for 5 dollars or so a shot so I will look into that. My neck is really bad and I'm going to insist they do something about it tomorrow. They did give me some stretches but the doctor talked about some heat / ultrasound therapy too. After that I stopped for my mamagram. They now have a heated plate on the machine. Oh happy day! :carrot: The tech said they had been asking for years and when they got a new health director recently he said Sure. I asked if the director had breasts and she said "no but I'm sure his wife had an opinion on the subject" :rofl: The hospital is right across from my doctor's office so I stopped in there to see if I could get another cortisone shot. Soonest appointment I could get was next week Friday which is when I was to see the doctor next. I explained that I needed another shot so she talked to the nurse who talked to the p/a who said he could do it so I'll see him later this morning. I swear the doctor's get on their horses and ride from town to town. You really are stuck using the hospital emergency room for more than you should have to but I guess that's how it goes in a small town like this. :rolleyes: Then I went and got my hair re-colored. She put a lot of blond highlights in it so it's got a "frosted" look. It lightened it up considerably and I really like it. I made a chicken tortilla soup in the crockpot and it came out delicious. A few more spices and Annie would love it too. So easy and it made the house smell wonderfully. Mom called and we chatted for a bit. Watched some tv and flipped back to the big rivalry football game. I was very pleased at the outcome ;) ;) ;) Time's a ticking away and it's time to dig in and get busy as I will be leaving a week from Saturday. Mom is happy I am coming. I was talking to DH afterwards as she was making me crazy and I said that I have come to the conclusion that I am no longer going to offer her any suggestions whatsoever when she complains about something (like the high cost of her medications at the local pharmacy across the street. I offered that it would be much cheaper to get her maintenance drugs through a mail order option but she disagrees vehemently. Apparently a woman who has never done mail order knows more about it than her daughter who has been using mail order services for the last 25 years :shrug: ) Said I am just beating my head against the wall for nothing as she wants no part of any suggestion other than what she's fixed that she's going to do. So... I will just say nothing other than empathizing her situation. Even my sister told her last week (and my sister often choses to say nothing as she hates conflict) that she was also getting tired of constantly fighting with my Mom about everything. She told her that when I come to visit we will bang heads so bad that by the end of the week we won't be talking to each other. :boxing::snooty: So I'm trying to prepare myself... mostly I'm terrified that I'm headed down the same road one day :lol3: I guess I will know when DH either runs screaming down the road, moves into the mancave or goes to live with the wild turkeys in the trees ;)

Ceejay - sounds like you found a great workout video. Very nice!

Annie - I too had trouble seeing the picture but I guess when you are used to looking at inkblots like the techs do, things really "pop" into focus :rofl:

Shad - sorry you lost your post.

Laura - it's good that your friend gave some thought to things before she made such a life changing decision. Sometimes we get caught in the moment, some times we don't quite know what we are getting into. Life is certainly different out of the big city - one of which is less opportunities all the way around be it work, health care of just shopping. Hope you can find someone to help with the drywall patching - it is more than just slapping a coat of paint on.

Michelle - it's your FB page and you are certainly entitled to put whatever you want on it. I know other people who post nothing but religious things or others who just post recipes of tempting calorie bombs :lol: I was just commenting that I noticed as time goes on, people tend to communicate less. I know what you mean about bemoaning the writing time. When you sit down to work on it, it does take a fair chunk of time - not just a 30 minute thing. I totally understand about being inspired. It's hard to just sit right down and write on demand. Hope you can keep up with it, even if it's just a personal journal.

To all - thank you for the prayers and kind words for my cousins. I hope to get to see them when I'm out there.

Gotta run and got get ready for my doctor's appointment. Have a good day everyone. No word from Jen yet.

Morning all - yes still morning here! Just a quick pop in to say hi, then I'm off to my WW meeting. I already weighed and came in at +0.4 pounds. That's what I get for skipping the kickboxing class last night. But it's actually better for me to skip the movies tonight and go to the step plus abs class tonight since I haven't tried that one yet. So that's what I'll do.

Off now, but I'll try to get back in a bit. :wave:

Shad – Hope your bag and contents enoyed its time in Melbourne, LOL. Glad you found yourself an apartment spacious enough to last you five months. So is the different flora and fauna causing the sinus congestion or is it just typical for you this time of year? I find being outdoors doing yardwork in the fall gets my allergies going, and to a smaller extent, my asthma. Guess it’s the leaf mold, and people using their fire pits. Need to remember to use the inhaler when I’m going out to shovel and rake. Nice you and your sister will at least peacefully coexist at your niece’s shower this weekend…

Happy – Tragic story re your cousin. Dangerous line of work he was in, and so young! My bunion issue is at the ball of my foot/big toe. Sounds like yours was near your pinky toe? Yeh, the surgery is bad enough, the hassle of recovery doesn't sound like a party either. But like Ceejay said, I’ll know when/if the pain gets to be too much then it’s time to get it dealt with. Re my hair – I get it touched up every 4 weeks, and every 8 weeks I get it cut. Ha ha, too funny that you couldn’t figure out how to turn on the cell phone. But why be interrupted during a shopping trip with phone calls???!!! And your cousin probably had a cell phone with her, LOL. That’s a long to-do list you have - good luck!! I’d have a long one if I really got serious about drawing one up. Instead I’ve been doing the minimum, and had no clean workout pants to show for it yesterday. Eww regarding the mouse getting into the pantry goods. Get those kitties earning their keep I say!! Ouch re the PT, but I hope it ultimately helps you. The foam roller seems to be universally reviled.

Michelle – When will you know if you’ve been selected for the med trial? My fingers are :crossed: that you are – those $$S could come in handy. It’ll be nice to have the time off at the holidays. Not being paid is not a pleasant thing, but you have a few weeks to prepare for that, and if you do it might not be so painful. Glad you enjoyed Gravity – bf and I still need to get out to see it. Unfortunately, we didn’t want to go on a weekend night (because of the crowds). Maybe this coming weekend we can get to a matinee showing. Hey, how about that Bears-Packers game? Better matchup for the Bears with both teams having to use their backup QB, LOL. The defense is not good, but our backup qb is doing a pretty decent job. Hope Rodger's injury is nothing serious - that would be a shame.

Susie – Good luck to your dh with the conversion. I hope it does the trick. Good for you to get help with your usual duties while you work on the big project!! Hope you get the brief done today and get moving on this project.

Ceejay – Sorry you’ve been suffering a respiratory infection. I was on a conference call this morning and two people on it sounded just awful. It’s that time of year – people are indoors more and the germs are everywhere. Bah. You’ve definitely been busy with the computer-related tasks. Makes me feel guilty. We’ve been talking FOREVER about getting an external hard drive on which to save photos. I know if our machine crashed I’d feel horrible losing our photos. Nice you’re scheduling vacation time. I don’t have any scheduled this month, but am taking some days next month. I still have a few days left after that, but maybe I should just carry them over to 2014. Or take a day later this month. When the weeks drag like they have been for me lately, it’s a sign for me to take a day off!!! Good job on the exercise!!!

Annie – So you were right about the next baby being a boy. :D Such a cute photo of the li’l guy as Batman! :) That sounded so cute - him thanking everyone for his treats. Great deal on the photo package!! What a good grammy!!
+++
Nothing much to report. Didn’t do the kickboxing class last night because I discovered I had no clean workout pants to wear, and realized it would be even better to do tonight’s class (step) to see if I liked it. So I’m skipping the movie tonight to go to the exercise class. I did a couple loads of laundry last night - clean workout gear ready to go tonight! Might have to shop for some more so I have some buffer stock...

The fundraiser finale is today – as usual, it ends with a live auction and yet more raffles. I usually enjoy going to these events, but this year I just haven’t been that engaged in it. I might just skip it and enjoy the quiet of our floor while everyone is gone. The boss has yet another dentist appointment…

Okay, enough of the interruptions. Posting NOW and then back to it! TTFN!

Hi ladies -

I just found out that I didn't qualify for the research study. And while I could use the cash, it's probably for the best as it would mean taking a couple half days off work for the appointments, and I already have some doctors appointments on the calendar (follow up regarding blood tests this Friday, Mammo a week from Thursday, and colonscopy on Dec. 2).

My step-brother is moving to Belize. He has been planning this move, and talking about it for nearly a year. He wants a fresh start somewhere that the economy is better and where he can make a living wage relative to the cost of living. He's got a friend who lives there and loves it, and he's been researching it. He will be only be taking clothes and a few personal items, and he will be starting his drive down there on Dec. 27 or 28. He has asked if I'd like to go with him to help him on the long drive (roughly 3,300 miles). Upside: it would be a great adventure and I'd be able to see parts of Mexico and Belize, and I'm off work from Dec. 21-Jan. 1 anyway. Downside, it is a long drive; it's driving through Mexico which isn't always safe; there's the cost of the airfare back (my step-brother can't afford to pay for it, not sure if my step-mother would be willing to); and I'd have to board Santa for a minimum of 5 nights ($250). There's no way I'd take Santa with me...to many unknowns involved in traveling with a pet in less developed parts of foreign countries. I told my step-brother I'd think about it, and I am.

Tomorrow, my boss and the desktop/network admin will be providing support to an off-site Board of Directors meeting, so I'll be the only IT person here, and I don't have access to do much...but they said they'll be logged in remotely and should be able to reset passwords, etc. from there. :crossed:

I think of Mel so often, especially this morning when I heard on the news that New Jersey is having major elections today. I wonder who is handling all the election craziness in Mel's absence.

I'm going back to the gym tonight for the first time in a couple weeks. I've got to get back into a healthier routine.

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Happy - Bummer that the stretching and deep tissue massage hurt you, but it is necessary and helpful in the long run. The massages I used to get would sometimes make me cry...but they truly stretched and unknotted the muscles and helped. I have a similar problem with tight calves and hamstrings contributing to my back problems. This Friday when I see my doc, I'm going to request a referral to physical therapy and to a nutritionist. I'm glad you were able to get in sooner for your cortisone shot. I really hope you get some relief soon. Back and neck pain can be so debilitating. Sorry that your mom drives you crazy. I think some people don't listen to suggestions because they like things to complain about. Not sure if that's your mom or not. At some point, I gave up suggesting things to my mom and my DMIL because it seemed like they had the attitude..."don't confuse me with facts. I know what I know." At least my step-mom hasn't gotten there yet. I'd love to get your chicken tortilla soup recipe. I just purchased an inexpensive crock pot because my stepmom doesn't have one and mine is somewhere in my storage. I'd love to see pictures of your new hairdo/color. Post them to dropbox if you'd rather not share them on FB or here.

Laura - I hope the WW meeting was good. Don't fret the +0.4 lb gain. Good for you for going to the gym tonight for step and abs. I love step class. It was difficult for Packer fans to see their leader Aaron Rodgers go down with an injury. I heard on the news this morning that he has a small fracture in his collarbone, and he's getting an MRI this morning. As of now, the estimate is that he'll be out 3 weeks. Rumors are that the Packers GM called the former backup Matt Flynn who was just released by another team. Hopefully they get a good backup soon. I think that the backup QB did a fairly good job, especially since he hadn't any pre-season practice time with the Packers. Even though both teams had to use their backup QBs, I think it was obvious the Bears had the edge maybe because their backup had actually played with the team before. LOL

Ceejay - Good on ya for doing the workout! There's a chair workout with Dolvett Quince (from The Biggest Loser). I just love Dolvett's smile, not to mention his sculpted physique! So handsome! From what I've heard it's pretty intense...you don't sit in the chair, but rather you use it as a high step up, and for tricep dips, etc. I hope you get over the respiratory infection soon.

Susie - Hope you're doing well. :wave:

Shad - Don't work so hard on this new gig that you burn yourself out in the first couple weeks!

Speaking of work...I'd better get back to it!

Much love to all,

It's so quiet at work you could hear a pin drop. Two bosses are out and the others workers are hiding. The plant is down and I've turned the t.v. down too, so it will be quiet for a change. But I did have a bit of scare earlier today. Earlier in the day the guys told me that they were going to change out the empty chlorine cylinders. It hasn't happened in a long time but the chlorine gas leak alarm went on the control panel. I called the guy who is in charge for today and he didn't answer his cell phone. I dropped everything and flew downstairs to the chlorine room. They were both outside so they were okay. But they hadn't turned the alarm off downstairs.
The video I did yesterday was upper body and my bicep's are feeling it today.

Happy
Sounds like you had a busy day. Bet your hair is pretty. Been thinking about high lighting my gray areas. I can only imagine how those deep tissue messages can be. At least the doctor's office's are open on Friday. They close here at noon on Friday. The chicken tortilla soup sounds delicious.

Back later.

Quick question...who is posting photos on Dropbox right about now? The file names start with "Mel-", and I'd rather they start with the name of the person posting them so that I can include that in the caption. No worries for this batch, I can change the file names...just need to know whose name to use? Who is the mystery dropbox-er? :rofl:

Worldlies - Just a note to say that a couple weeks ago I went through some of the month's threads and pulled out some of the cute graphics Mel posted for us. Thought she might like those - she liked them enough to post them in the first place. I finally got around to uploading them to Dropbox - I named them with Mel's name in case you want to take a look.

Michelle - Hope there's room on the thumb drive to load those. Sorry you didn't qualify for the research study, but it would have made your schedule a bit crazier. Wow - Belize!! I have to admit, I'd be wary of driving through Mexico and beyond - I've heard traffic violations/incidents can be more serious in the legal sense. Many factors to consider, but what an exciting move for your stepbrother. Good luck handling the IT stuff nearly solo tomorrow! :goodluck:

Take it easy at the gym tonight!!