[happy2bme]

Ok, I'm back. Made a few phone calls, did a few things and made a list of stuff that I need to do tomorrow.

Ceejay - sorry I could not help with your question on the text - I don't do texting - my phone is simple like me. I agree with what the others said about your friend staying at your place perhaps a bit too often and for too long. Time to finish up or make other arrangements. Congrats on the weight loss. I don't know insurance but I would think the colonoscopy counts towards preventive procedures so hopefully it does not go against your deductible. Make sure they put you under completely for the test and make sure you are schedule to be off work the day before for the awful prep - which is probably the worst of the test.

Michelle - glad to hear it's cooling off a bit but the 90's is still too warm to sleep comfortably at night. Sounds like you have 3 months worth of work to keep you busy with them changing the company name. And after it's all said and done, you'll still probably find a piece that got missed. At least it makes the day go by quickly. I'm glad you are happy with the job. As for cooling - we got a Lasko circular wind machine fan - it's a large floor fan, works much better than the square box fans. Since both of us get all achy from having the ceiling fan blow on us, we direct this one at the ceiling and let the air bounce over to us. Just enough circulation to keep the air cool and moving. And it's not so loud it will drown out your alarm http://www.walmart.com/ip/Lasko-20-W...-Gray/22614934

Laura - thanks for the info on the protein. I looked it up and I certainly agree if your kidneys are compromised I wouldn't use it. But for an occasional smoothie like we have, I guess we will be ok, especially since I can't do soy protein. But since bodybuilders use and people who have had gastric surgery, it's a good warning to heed. I don't like the freeze dried fruit either - the chips were in a trail mix we used to buy and they got tossed out. Nice crunch, terrible flavor. Yuck. That's a bummer that you have to pick up the extra work from the admin - wish they could hire Annie but that's too long of a commute for her. Hopefully they will find someone soon and Annie will meet a match also.

Shad - tis a pity that you are not officially invited to S's birthday party. But by now I'm sure you have figured out that you are just going to have to be grandma on your own terms. I hope the next one is not that complicated. Knowing you I can see where you'd rather leave early than sit there and get paid to do nothing. You are not a sitter. I hope they can come to a compromise. At least this time around you got to see some family - seems like it's been a long while since you were able to do so.

Hi Annie, Terra and Susie

It does feel good to get back to my own routine and take care of things. I ordered 2 books from the library and returned both of them having read only a few pages. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day but I have plans to work inside over the weekend. DH is building me a herb growing table for outside so that will be nice. I am debating about the garden - think I'm going to do a few tomatoes, a few cucumbers, some sugar snap peas and maybe some carrots since those came out good last year. And some arugula which I hope will grow back on it's own from last year. Not as expansive a garden this year. We have 2 hummingbirds now. So spring is springing along.

Guess I'd better go find some lunch. Have a good day all.

[Shad]

Afternoon all,
Quick drop in and out. I'm leaving work early today. The family are going to Otaki Beach for the weekend and I am invited. So I will have to get my A into G to get myself home shortly and packed and ready to go. The niece is to pick me up at 4 o'clock and I have to get to the bank and home and packed and ready to go on THE DOT. I will not be taking the computer with me so you'll not hear from me probably until Sunday afternoon.

Work is slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. Just like the dance. It's the contracting world equivalent of the army's 'hurry up and wait'. Still the weather is delightful today and the sun is streaming into the office and cooking my feet.

I'll be back after the weekend. Be good or be careful until then.

Annie - about time you poked your nose in again. Jump to it.

[ceejay52]

Happy
I agree that my friend was staying a bit to long. She was a bit in a tiff when I told her I needed my space. But so be it. She also brought the key back yesterday afternoon. I'm thankful for that. I was trimming the bushes and thanked her. She immediately got back in her Enclcave and left. I honestly think she was trying to move in on me.
I'm going to Verizon today in Blytheville to have them show me how to get the text printed off.
Re-colonoscopy. I'm thinking about taking three days off for the procedure.
I slept most of the day after on the last one. I was hoping they could make it on my days off but it's on a Tuesday.

Michelle
Are the wild fires in CA any where near you?

Shad
Sounds like you are going to have fun this week end.

Laura
May be they should have promoted you to administrator position.

Hello's to Annie, Terra and Susie. By the way where are you Susie?

---------------
Yesterday I mowed the lawn and as I put up the lawn mower it came a good shower. More rain today and tomorrow.
Not much else to report. Need to pick up my pay check in a few minutes.

[Terra1984]

Happy & Ceejay ~ HELLO

I already went on my morning walk and I'll walk again after dinner

[MyChoice2bfit]

Hi Everyone..I have come up for air! I hate to say it but I think that as long as I am supporting this Director, this is my new normal. Work, work, work...caught up for 24 hours..then working like crazy again. I'll just have to learn how to balance it all and when I need to just say, it will have to wait.

I make double what my DH makes and so I have to do a good job. At one time it wasn't like that but when the company he worked 17 years for had a fire 5 years ago, when the economy was going bad, the pay scale or him changed. I had the opportunity, working for this great company that I get to work for, to step up my game. I like my work, and I like the pay, I would like just a little more balance. I will figure it out. It helps to know that you all are here supporting me.

I have some good news with my foot..I actually had no pain or sensation in it this morning when I got up! I'm doing daily stretches and strenght buidling exercises that I found on the web for feet and it seems to be helping.

As for DH's ablation. He will have a loop recorder put in on June 3. That info will be checked on June 9 and then they will schedule the ablation and get the blood thinners started. Depending on his levels and also the surgeons schedule the procedure won't be until after July 29. That is how far out they are booked for "routine" ablations. It blows my mind they think of them as "routine".

Terra: Sorry that the scales didn't say what you thouht, but you had a loss and I'm sure all this walking is making you smaller. It's a good idea to do measurements as well as weigh-in. I bet you have lost a lot of inches and are building muscle (walking tones the entire body), and muscle weighs more than fat. So that is why the scales might not have shown more of a loss. So take measurements about every 6 weeks so you can see how your hard work is paying off..I bet you feel it in your clothes!

Happy: That is awful about the basement repairs. I would be in a panic...bu then, what good does that do right?

Thank you for the info on the scar tissue and having some issues afterwards until that scare tissue helped. I am going to talk this with the doctor so that we are prepared. I'm trying to get DH in the best possible frame of mind, and spirit and physical shape that we can before the procedure.

Laura: My bosses are out today too and I'm gettting so much done! I hope you are too!

Ceejay: I do the same thing that Laura told you to do when I want to send my text as a email. Let us know what you find out.

Shad: Enjoy that weekend beach trip!

Hi Annie and Jolly...and Patience--have you all been checking in? You are missed!

Ok..back to work for me. I'll be around some this weekend. We have friends of friends in from Missiouri this weekend and have dinner planned one night and a movie (Spiderman) planned another night. That with the regular weekend chores is going to make for a busy weekend.

TTYL!

[Laura705]

Morning all. TGIF! Another rainy, chilly day. Oh well, it’ll dry out eventually. In the meantime, the grass in our backyard is the longest I’ve ever seen it. I have no idea how bf will deal with that.

Michelle – Hope you enjoyed your get together with your HS friend. Glad you liked Divergent. I might have to give one of the books in that series or the Hunger Games series a try to see if it sparks my interest. Looks like it might “only” be in the 80’s in your area today? Hope so, those 90’s and 100’s sure would be hard to deal with long term.

Happy – Wow, that’s a lot of BIG home projects coming up! Is the guy who previously patched the slab gonna make good on his guarantee?? It’s a shame you have to replace the entire thing – concrete is so expensive! We’d like to replace a lot of our concrete, but have done nothing. Our tiny stoop at the front door is getting bad the past year or so and I sure wish bf had not attacked it so viciously with the ice chopper all those years ago…the sidewalk running alongside our garage is tilted to one side, the driveway is okay except for one long crack straight across it…I don’t think I’d have an issue with actually getting it all replaced at some point if I thought it would last. Honestly, I don’t know what materials they’re using in concrete these days, but it just doesn’t impress me at all. And I sure don’t recall it ever being so bright white, even when it was new. Gosh, the deck – they are so nice to have, but boy do they ever cause a lot of work in maintaining them. I hope you can find a way to stretch out all the expenses and ease the pain to your wallet. Re the weather – I agree with you. I would much prefer a cooler summer to a hotter one. Fingers Probably a silly question, but are the homegrown carrots a lot better tasting than the store’s?

Shad – Enjoy your weekend with the family!!!

Ceejay – I hope you get the help needed at Verizon. If this is the friend who moved out of town to work at another store…guess it’s not working out in the other town? That’s a shame, but it’s kind of crummy of her to try and worm her way into a spot in your home!! I’m glad you told her you needed your space!! People will only go as far as you let them!!! Not jealous of your upcoming colonoscopy. Thankfully I have a bit of time before having one of those. Re the admin position…I’m just a worker bee in my department, but my position is a higher paying one than the admin position, and I like my work a lot better!!

Hi Terra!!!

==

Quiet here at work today. The boss is out. No meetings – whoohoo!!
Last night I had my brows shaped, and the night before I had my hair color touched up. My salon person K is off on maternity leave – she’s not due til the 20th, but I guess being on her feet became too much for her (lots of swelling). I had someone else and she’s fine. She has K’s color formulas, so no problem. I think I’ll skip haircuts for a while – just try to hang on until K returns to work. Anyway…it’ll be good to just go home after work tonight and not have an appointment.

Tomorrow I’ll skip Jazzercise (again) because we’re driving out to a state park about 100 miles west of the Chicago area. We’ll spend the day and stay overnight with a group of people, one of whom likes to celebrate his birthday each year with little getaways like this. Some years i go with bf, some years I don't. I think this will be nice because bf and I will have our own little cabin on the grounds of the park and there are hiking trails right there. I hope the weather cooperates. Even if it doesn’t, I'll dress appropriately and enjoy getting out in nature.

That’s about it for me. Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!

[annie175]

Hello Ladies.

I am just not feeling chatty at all, must be the depression setting in. I did sign up with a temp agency this past Monday, but nothing yet. Since I don't want to work downtown, jobs are few in my salary range. We will see. C did let his extra help go, which means a bit more work for him, but really he can do it and while I am off I can help, that in itself will save us $760.00 a month. We shall see.

I was inducted into the Kiwanas this past Wednesday night. It was rather nice. It was a the headquarters for all nationwide kiwanas here in Indy. Who knew? I went to a grade school to help out with the K kids club which is the juniors of Kiwanas. Too cute.

Spending a lot of time with the grandbabes. I am so attached that going back to work will be hard on me. If that ever happens. Royce was two months old this week and weighs 12 lbs already. Growing like a weed as is Jacob. That kid at two waffles, container of yogurt, graham crackers, kid size ham and cheese sandwich and a couple of animal crackers, all before 1:00 pm today. Heck he didn't even get up until 9. Sheesh.

I did find a church that I like and have been going for about 8 weeks. C has even been going with me and he actually wants to go with me. I don't even have to ask or beg him to. lol

The garden is finally all in. Pretty much the same things as last year. Tomatos, cukes, zucchini and yellow squash, chives, red peppers, jalapenos, green peppers. That is about it. Was going to try potatos, not too late and may still put some out.

Well need to unload my aldi's groceries before that rot in the car. haha. It is only 48 and no sun here today. No worries. Oh, one more thing then dad's house will probably go on the market. I don't know what my bro and sil will do or where they will live.

Hope everyone is doing great. Thank you Chelle for the card. The cards do cheer me up and give me strength.

Love and Hugs.

[ceejay52]

Annie
You don't have to be chatty cathy. Just drop in. Sounds lie you will be having a good garden crop this year. And couldn't blame if you wanted to stay home the GB.

Susie
You have a lot of responsibility. Glad you like your job. and things will fall into place.

Laura
I did try your method of sending the text to email. But the text was too long. Verizon said they couldn't help. So I just deleted it. It was no big deal. She knew she overstayed her welcome. She just wasn't expecting a no.

-----
Starting my 60 hour week today. It's been drizzling rain. And more to come.

[Terra1984]

Susie ~ Okay I'll start measuring every 6 weeks but first I have to find my tape measure lol.

I walked already this morning and I'll walk again after dinner

[diyana]

Super quick post...

I'm at work today and may have to work a little tomorrow. I still haven't received all the content I was promised to have over a week ago, and yet....somehow...lack of preparation on their part DOES create an emergency on my part as it has to be on the website before Tuesday morning's launch.

Hopefully I'll get to check in later.

Have a great weekend.

Love and hugs,

[ceejay52]

Michelle
I'm at work too.

----------
Yesterday was fairly quiet. I had a few calls concerning the music fest. Not sure how the turn out was but I could hear the music at my house across town.
I was extremely tired last night. Went to bed early too. I'm still a bit tired but getting my strength back. Think this last ordeal with the friend took it's toll.
More later.

[happy2bme]

Morning all,

I went to the shop yesterday to help out a newer volunteer get through her shift with the new register and closing. The store is too big and there is too much going on for one person to be alone. I felt bad about another woman being by herself today but it is Sunday and it should be quiet and she is very confident so I just left my number in case she had questions. Our take this week was unusually high - I hope we have replaced the funds lost while the store was closed for 8 weeks - I think we did. I was in a tizzy yesterday - trying to take in donations and clean (the place sure did get dusty in one week), and price incoming stock and restock shelves and help with register questions. We could have used 4 more people. I was torn about going in today and the guilt of neglecting DH all week so DH won out. The weather is getting nice and sunny and warm and I will enjoy some outside time. The garden center is open but I think it still might be a bit early for planting the garden. The other night it got down to 35 degrees, even though the days are warming up.

Ceejay - hope you got a good rest last night. Must have been nice to hear the strains of the music down the road. Hope you can hold up with the long work schedule ahead. Not much time to do much more than eat and sleep and work.

Michelle - hope things go well at work and you get what you need SOON. I hate having to work under such tight deadlines. If you can identify what you need so when they finally get it to you, you can jump on it that might help a bit. Leaves no time for glitches and there's always glitches...

Hi Terra Good advice from the others on taking measurements to keep you motivated.

Thanks for checking in Annie. I'm sorry you are still waiting on hold. At least you get to spend time with the grandkids. Maybe you should open a daycare as you are so good at snuggling (although too much liability with today's tiger moms I think). And you are getting to help out C. I'm glad you found a church that you like. Take whatever strength you can get to see you through this wherever you can find it. I sure could use you up here to start my garden. Can't pay you much but I have lots of hugs and wine to go around

Shad - I hope you have a great weekend with the family. Sounds like fun. Get in as much time as you can, never sure if and when you get back again.

Susie - I'm happy to hear that your foot is feeling much better. Just keep in mind that if the exercises are contributing, you have to keep up with them to keep feeling ok. I tend to get neglectful once I am doing ok and then one morning - bam - I'm in pain again because I haven't been doing what I should. I totally get you with the all consuming job. Especially when you are the very responsible type. I am falling in the same trap with the thrift shop - DH is gently reminding me that it's not all up to ME to handle. I am just trying to be helpful and if I step in all the time, it's easy for other people to step away because someone else is handling it. The important thing as you say is that when your personal life is compromised - you HAVE to put the brakes on things. Tell DH the good thing about ablations being "routine" is that they have done so many that they have a lot of experience which is always a good thing. And believe it or not, it IS a very safe method considering what they are doing up inside there on a very important organ.

Laura - to your questions. I actually did NOT like the homegrown carrots believe it or not - I thought they had a bitter outside. However, DH said to him they tasted just like a carrot SHOULD taste and he really enjoyed them so I will grow them for him if I decide to do it again. As for the concrete, yes - the guy who originally did the patch said if it didn't hold, he'd apply what we paid for the patch job to the cost of digging up and relaying new concrete. Still cost us a lot but DH said he lost money on the job. However, he was the one who told us the patch would hold in the first place and that's his livelihood so we took his word for it. I was a bit concerned about how well a job would be done after the first go round, but DH is happy with how things look so far. We had problems with our back walk tilted in AH. We had one of those things where they pump up the concrete from underneath to stabilize the dirt shifting (and the sidewalk tilting). What a waste of money that was. Eventually the sidewalk tilted so badly that we just covered the whole thing over in dirt and put in a gravel path instead. There was just a lot of shifting going on with the ground, especially after the spring rains. I hope you have a nice time with your weekend getaway and that the weather cooperates for a weekend of outside time. We used to go to some cabins in the LaSalle Peru area for a quiet getaway and I just loved the break from the hustle bustle of city living. All you need is a campfire to sit around at night. Nice too to be outide before the bugs come. Ticks are already out and about here so be careful.

We have some glorious colorful birds this spring. We have our first black and orange Baltimore Oriole. DH made a feeder with a plank, a nail and half a fresh orange and he is really going to town on it. It's just that he's shy and if we open the door to snap a picture even though he's clear across the yard, he flies off. So pictures are limited to through the patio door right now.

It's nice to be over winter at last! Time for me to get ready - we might go for a drive today - it's really a nice day out there. Hope you all enjoy your Sunday.

[Shad]

Morning all,
I am back, full of fresh sea air and too much food. We went to Otaki -pronounced sort of a cross between o-tar-key and o-tack-e - and hired a house right on the beach. As beaches go, this is not the most exciting beach but there is lots of sand, bit of surf and long flat surfaces. There's a river delta at the north end, lots of seagulls, lots of flax plants and beautiful sunsets. The house was nice, had plenty of room and my nephew-in-laws family had it full to overflowing most of the time. I will put the photo's on dropbox if I have time tonight otherwise tomorrow.

So it is back to work for another week. This week we are mostly without bosses. The main one is working from Australia, the next one down is being transferred gradually to his new job once the project is done and is only here two or three days of the week - you pick which days - the next one down is one of us chickens and won't be in until later this morning as he goes home for the weekend and has to catch a plane back on Monday morning, however I have just remembered he is having Monday off and will be back Tuesday. So if I run out of work, it will be interesting this week. Still as Ceejay says, easy (if boring) money.

Weather has been wonderful this weekend. Hard to believe we are getting into the 'real' winter weather. Seasons are certainly changing somewhat.

Ceejay - good timing on the lawn mowing. Just get it cut and down comes the rain. It will be growing again fast as ever. Glad you have seen the last of the 'friend'. She needs to be taught never to assume that someone will be happy to have her move in. Asking is the normal thing to do. And I agree, it is very hard to have someone stay when you are used to being on your own.

Susie - Sometimes you have to be a bit brutal about the amount of work you have. I remember one job where I made a list of all the jobs I had to get done before the go-live date and the man hours required for them. Then when someone wanted me to do something for them, I told the to put it on the bottom of the list. I would get to it when I got to it. There is only so long that you can work between 12 and 14 hours a day before something gives.

Laura - SNAP, my hairdresser K has gone off on maternity leave. Her baby is due around middle of June and she has left all the different treatments with the other owner and another hairdresser as well. Unfortunately I will not be able to go 4 months without a haircut so I will have to trust. Since K & K (the other owner) went to the same hairdressing school and are both really popular with their clients, I reckon I will do okay.
Hope you are enjoying your weekend away as much as I did.

Annie - thanks for dropping in. It's good to hear from you. I'm glad that you can go and help C with his run. It's good just to get out of the house once in a while. Maybe you could volunteer at a local child care centre for a while. Won't pay anything but will help with the depression and the 'suburban neurosis' syndrome.

Michelle - I thought you would have realised by now that no matter how slack people are about giving you material to load on the web, or to write or whatever, you are supposed to pluck this out of their heads by osmosis or divine intervention or just good ol' guessing by psychic means and have it up on the web before they have even thought about it. It's what we who are in the writing/ learning/ website initiatives learn in 'The psychic mentality of projects 101'.

Happy - It's good to have an exciting interest and the means to be able to do it. It keeps us happy, involved, and keeps the brain ticking over. To a certain extent DH is right, you don't have to do it all on your own. And quite frankly since you are not being paid for this, you don't need to be there all the time. You could end up like one of those cranky old biddies who think that 'their stuff' should be in the front of the shop and you should be the one to take home the cash register at night. However I applaud your zeal.

And that's about it from me. I've drunk my coffee - don't really remember doing that, but it is gone. I'd best go check the news, eat breakfast and get on with the glories of manually replacing meter (technical installations in SAP) . Riveting stuff.

[diyana]

Good morning ladies,

No time for personals today. We launch the new website in less than 24 hours, so today we be dotting the i's and crossing the t's, and thanks to some procrastinating perfectionistic folks...adding NEW content. Oh well, I do love my job, and this is ALWAYS how it is right before a new website launches.

Shad - To answer your comment...yes, I do know there are always last-minute Larry's, and others that expect you to be psychic. And I always have to suppress laughter when content providers invariably ask me "what's the absolute deadline for me to get content to you for the website?". I usually give them a date of 7-10 days prior to launch...knowing that very few will abide by it. I always fantasize that this launch could be perfectly coordinated, deadlines would be adhered to, and there wouldn't be the last minute stress. Oh well, a girl can dream, can't she?

Love and hugs to all,

[happy2bme]

Good morning all,

Ahhh back to regular life again. You are right Shad, I tend to throw myself into projects like the Thrift Shop - perhaps because it's more fun than ripping out wet carpet and cleaning out boxes. Went out for a burger and a few drinks with DH and the cousins yesterday. Had a good time - DH struck up a conversation with some strangers and we wound up staying longer than we thought we would have. It was a nice night out. More on the money woes - I went to the dentist Friday because my front tooth has become ultra sensitive to hot stuff and it turns out I need yet another root canal. And yesterday when we were driving home the check engine light came on in the car as well as the lights for the vehicle skid control and traction system. And the car brakes are squeeking. Oh come on, I've just done a good deed, can't we catch a break here? Oh and younger kitty goes to the vet for her annual check up - with shots and such there goes a couple of hundred dollars. I hope this money pit ends soon. DH is going to be none too happy either as I clean out the refrigerator and have to toss a fair amount of food that went unused since I was out of the house and working long hours the last 2 weeks.

I am also recommitting to getting back on a diet plan again. My picture (with several others) was on the front page of our newspaper last week for the ribbon cutting ceremony. Just reminded me again of how I MUST lose some weight. I haven't been on MFP for almost a month. Got some new magazines - Cooking Light and Kraft Food and Family with some great lighter summer recipes. Food planning will be a must and now that it's nicer out, I need to incorporate some more exercise and walking. Just not in the grasses as the ticks are out in droves already. My bursitis is acting up in my right foot again so I will have to be mindful of not overextending the standing on my feet for 6 to 8 hours at a crack either. Despite this all I am in good spirits and looking forward to a nice summer.

Michelle - good luck with your new launch. I'm sure it must be frustrating for everyone to squeeze you to the wall when you already have set deadlines but at least you are prepared for it. I hope they don't mess you up too badly and that you are able to pull a miracle out the hat and catch everything that needs to be changed. Has it cooled off a bit so that you are able to get a good night's sleep at least?