Hump Day YEAH! C even had the trash to the curb when I got home last night. What a man.

Still at 10 lbs down. I know what the issue is, walk more and eat less of those d*mn white soda crackers. I have been craving them lately and eat them like they are nothing. Well they do add up, quickly. I will have a loss next week if I have to cut my ears off. lol

Last night C and I went to Longhorn Steakhouse. He had the steak and grilled shrimp. I ordered the grilled shrimp with broccoli and salad. It was VERY tasty, nothing beats good grilled shrimp. We came home and I wrapped the fishing poles for his nephews 4 & 7 years, bundled up some of the homemade goodies, put 10 scratch offs in a card and that was his sister, niece (with the two kiddos) Christmas. C is driving up there today on his day off to deliver and spend some time with them. Me, I am overjoyed that I do not have to go. I have too many other things going on to waste a Sunday afternoon tracking up there. They NEVER come down here, EVER. We always have to make the trip. Anyway......

Tonight I have to meet a friend, who also got booted at Humana, she is now working for another company, selling auto, home, and the like. She has both producer license to sell auto, home, health, double certified. Anyway with changing insurance on home and auto, she will save us over 600 bucks a year. Plus we learned that if you rent a home out, you have to have a different type of insurance coverage for a rental. Meaning, if something were to happen with Cs house we rent out, the policy we currently have probably would not have covered it. And to think, I have had this agent and agency since I was 16 years old. I love my agent, I will probably have anxiety separation from him. As you all know how I cry and emotional I am. Better take two anti-depressants the day I tell him, which is soon. lol. I keep telling do what is right for me and my family, first.

Today after I got to work, I walked over to Starbucks for a treat. (1 & 1/2 city blocks at 22 degrees out) Rarely do I have Starbucks, but today I got me a trenta unsweet black iced tea, a chia tea latte with an extra shot for my boss as yesterday was his birthday, and on my way out I asked the security at the reception desk if she would like something, my treat. Surprised me, she said yes, just a black coffee. I also got me a small/tall eggnog latte with an extra shot to start this busy day off. So I did my Christmas random act of kindness. I should say so, $15 less in my wallet. haha.

Stopped by Sissy's house to pick up Sassy from Sissy's Doggie Care. Her dog was not in the room and I asked her where Bruno was (the boxer, great dane, blue heeler mix that weighs 40 labs at 3 mos). She said in the bedroom in time out. I about fell out laughing. Evidently he would not leave Sassy alone, he likes to play and Sass likes to sleep. So Bruno got time out. Just like the babysitting kiddos.

That is about it for me, personals tomorrow, big day of work ahead. Got a closing, anniversary loan cards to get out, meeting at 10 with the BDOs (salesmen), and a report to finish. Who knows what else will come down the pike.

Make it a great hump day, or hump night for you SHADDIE, oh that sounds like fun for you SHADDIE...hahah.

Hugs.

Where ever you are, God put you there for a reason. Bloom whre you are planted!

Good morning ladies,

Going to be a slow couple of days here at work. Pretty much everyone is wrapping things up before the 2 week holiday closure.

I wanted to check my email last night, but it wasn't in webmail, and it wasn't available on my work computer either. Turns out the vacation autoresponder I set up had a setting where it deleted things that came in. :yikes: Talk about panic. Thankfully, the IT guy said he should be able to retrieve everything from backups. And after speaking with my boss this morning, she didn't send me anything so I'm pretty sure that at least 99% of the mail I would've received would be spam.

This Friday is going to be the company Christmas luncheon, which is at an Indian restaurant, and after lunch people will be leaving for the day. I looked at the menu and there's really nothing I can eat...so I'm going to be off that day, which is fine. I can visit Bob in the hospital and take care of a few things I need to get done.

We're having lots of rain here today, which has been the case for most of the past week. We really need the rain, but sadly some people are experiencing flooding and mudslides.

I'm wishing the pounds would come off as quickly as the sizes. I've dropped 20 lbs in the 4 weeks since surgery...and I know so many other post-ops drop weight much faster. On the positive side, I'm down from a Womens 3X in tops to a Misses L/XL. And I'm now in Misses Size 14 pants, down from a 18/20. I can't believe how fast the inches are coming off.

====================================
Shad - That does sound like a scary plane ride. I hate flying through storms. Have you decided what to get for Miss S in addition to the gold chain? I love giving kids books to encourage reading. 5 minutes of plank!! That's crazy!! Even at my fittest I couldn't do more than 90 seconds. I was amazed I could do 45 second planks yesterday. As for kooks, yes all countries have them. Sadly, it is (in my opinion) too easy for crazies to get guns in this country. They aren't always flagged in the background check, and some buy them illegally.

Happy - Good for you for doing so well with the radio auction! The relish/salsa dip sounds really delicious...I love Tostitos Scoops when the dip/salsa is especially yummy! Sounds like the Humane Society president's party was fun. Bummer about the lack of chairs. My back can now tolerate about 1/2 hour of standing (as opposed to 5 minutes a couple months ago), but after that, I have to lean against a wall or sit on the floor. I don't mind the food porn. The relish/salsa sounds like something I could definitely eat once I graduate to "regular" food. And I'd like the garlic chicken recipe if you have time to post it. You're right, I should've been picking up clothes in smaller sizes...I just didn't know how fast I'd drop sizes. I will check the thrift stores. Interesting question you had about whether I have interest in food. I see the commercials and photos on FB, and I hear people talk about food, right now...I know that I haven't received the ok from the doc to eat regular food...and since I can still only eat at most 1/2 cup of food at a sitting, most of which has to be protein, I don't have much interest in food. I'm just eating because I need to. I was around plenty of food temptations this past weekend (homemade scones, homemade chocolate biscotti, homemade chocolate torte). Down the road in a year or two, I might be able to have a very small bite of some of that stuff...but not right now. Some post-op people don't "dump" when they eat sweets. I keep telling myself that I will and I have no desire to "test it out". Dumping happens when someone who has had gastric bypass eats sweets (and maybe alcohol - not sure). Essentially you can feel light-headed, dizzy, cold sweats, nauseous, and like you HAVE to lie down for awhile. It happens because the sugar hits the intestines way too fast. It's not pleasant at all. Alcohol may also cause dumping...but I know for sure that it hits bariatric patients faster...like 2 sips can get a post-op person drunk. Like you, I tend to listen to Pandora or the cable TV music stations for holiday music. I'm glad M finally gave you a good training session. Bummer about the machine pinching your boobs. What a fiasco about getting your access card.

Annie - Thanks for the continued suggestions, support, encouragement and words of wisdom! I've only felt nauseous once, but haven't vomited. I'm a little nervous about graduating to "real" "regular" food, but I'll just take it as it comes. Some people at my support groups say that they can eat 1 to 1.5 cups of food at a meal. Right now, I'm at 1/3 to 1/2 cup of food. And since I'm not hungry, I don't mind eating so little. I got a great laugh at Curtis' honey buns calamity! Your Christmas cookie and candy making with your DD, Chris and the kids sounds like so much fun! That's great that your friend can save you money on insurance. Want to hear something crazy? The office of my insurance agent from Wisconsin keeps calling me to see if I want to keep the homeowner's insurance policy. Every time they call, I explain...I'm no longer married to my ex-husband, and I no longer own or live in the house...not even in the same state, and they need to contact him to see if he still needs homeowner's insurance. Wow! Your daughter's dog is 40 lbs at 3 months?! That's twice as big as Santa!

Ceejay - I hope your diverticulitis is doign better. Bummer that the cookie dough you bought is causing it to flare up so bad. I'm so proud of you and Terra doing the chair exercises! I agree with Donna, keep up the workout at the level you're doing for a week or so, and then add either intensity or time.

Laura - The storm last week (and the ones happening this week) are causing minor flooding of roads in a few areas...so some lanes are closed, but the rest of the lanes are open. I've heard of Dulera. I hope it's helping you. I keep forgetting to upload the photos of me and Santa. I'll get them posted in the next few days. You had me drooling at the crock pot meatballs. I just love those. I'd love to see a photo of your decorations! Speaking of walking the dog in the rain, Santa just despises the rain (and baths too for that matter). Yesterday evening, I knew that Santa was about due for a #2, so unlike when he just has to pee which is an especially short and quick walk when it's raining, this walk was all the way around the block. Poor little guy got drenched, but he did his business, so I guess that was good. I had a jacket and hat on so it didn't bother me too much.

Terra - Too bad you can't return the shoes that bother your feet. Good suggestions from the others for next time. I hadn't thought of wearing new shoes only around the house. I can't even imagine getting up as early as you do. I consider myself a morning person...but by that I mean I do my best thinking and brain work before noon...whereas in the late afternoon and in the evening, I do things that don't require a lot of thought.

Susie - It's a busy time for all of us! Heck, I don't even want to think about what I wouldn't have been able to accomplish if I'd had to work these past few weeks. I just have a few more gifts to wrap (the ones that don't need to be shipped). To answer your question...I'm feeling better than ever. I still get tired by 5 or 6 pm, but overall I feel fantastic! As for exercise...your 20 minute walk is enough during this hectic time...good for you for being consistent about it.

Dee - So nice that you and your dress got so many compliments at the party! Your friend C does sound like someone who could bring people down. I'm glad you were finally able to get away from her and visit with your other friends.


Now that I've written a novel and probably bored you all to tears...

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

With much love and many hugs,

Annie
I hear you on the soda crackers. To cute about Bruno being put in time out.I need to put that verse to heart.

Michelle
I'm ready for this stuff to subside. I've decided that I'm going to the doctor tomorrow if things don't clear up completely over night. I would love to lose inches. That means the fat is turning into muscle. I'd like to be a size 14 when my nephew gets married in March. Our Christmas meal at work is Monday.

Terra
I have a bad habit of throwing my receipts away. I need to do like my aunt and keep them in a shoe box.

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Not a lot going on. The weather men are predicting sleet for tonight. UGH.

Hello! The week is flying by. I have been busy at work (as usual) but not working in the evening at home..it's such a nice break!

I have been working on a Russia visa request for my AD and finally got it completed and sent to the Consulate in Washington DC. Fingers crossed the grant it. Usually they do but one time she was denied a multiple entry visa into China and they gave her only a double entry one. We couldn't figure out why as we did it the exact same way we always do them. (She usually goes every year at least once and has gone as many times as 6 times in a year). We were told that the reason could be that someone at the consulate was just not in a good mood and you don't question them.....that sure is frustrating to me!

Last night my friends twin girls (they have 4 and we call them our nieces) had a belt test for karate and they are now to their yellow belt. Their dad is their instructor and all the girls have been in karate since they were two yrs old. The two older girls (13 & 11) both have their black belts.

The twins wanted us to come to the "test" and so we did--it was cute to watch them and they were so excited.

Laura: Sounds like you have been busy with workouts, shopping and baking. I have no idea where you get your energy from and I wish I could bottle it!

Happy: I was sitting here giggling over the ab machine workout. :D I know you will learn the machines in no time but maybe your trainer can write the names of the machines down (and what body party it works on) and how many reps you do on each with the amount of weight you put on it.

That front desk at the gym sounds like they could use some good training! ;)

Shad: Did you get your Christmas letter written?

Annie: What a nice thing you did for the security person!

Terra: You are so faithful in your workouts--I am proud of you! How is your foot?

Michelle: YIKES about those emails! at least you figured it out that none were from your boss and the IT guy was able to help.

I think that you are doing so well with eating your protein and working out that you are gaining muscle and losing fat and that makes it so you loose inches which is a good thing! How is your friend Bob doing?

Ceejay: I hope you don't have sleet....that is scary to drive in. Are you feeling better? I think if you are not, that maybe you should see the doctor and get some meds. Have you had the diverticulitis checked out lately? You can't do it if it is acting up but maybe after it settles down...just to see what is going on.

Hi Dee--I hope to see you post soon..I miss you and wonder what you are up to! Love ya!

My dinner is ready so I must go. I need to wrap a few presents tonight. I can only do it for about an hour and then my shoulders kill me!

Just flying through. Next time you hear from me, I will be in Brisbane. The airline called to say they had cancelled my flight and to ring the hotline, so I did. My flight plane had engine problems. Yes thankyou I would rather not fly on that one. I'll take an earlier one. So there we are, now leaving at 4.05 and not 5.05. Bonus - home early she said hopefully.

So I will catch up with your doings tonight along with a stack of other things that must be done. It appears that the gutters have been fixed. This I have to see.

Good Morning/evening all............

Well, I started off my morning in the loo. Thankfully I got it under control to get to work on time. I tell you it is never ending. C was in the other loo that same time I was so I guess that is togetherness. lol.

Met with my new insurance agent. We were at Starbucks for 3 hours just catching up on things, oh and also getting the paper work done on the new insurance. It was nice, then stopped by my brother's house on the way home and stayed there for 1.5 hours. DIdn't get home until almost 9 pm. Got to bed around 11 so now I am dragging. Woke up at 5 and thought I was running late, thank goodness for the extra time since I had loo probs.

CHELLE...you are doing great. NEVER compare yourself (WL) to the other people. You don't know what kind of troubles they are having which may answer why they are losing faster. FYI...sometimes dumping involves vomiting. I tell you, you do not want to do it, it is very ugly and will wear you out. All you want to do after is lay down and sleep. Bleh.

SHADDIE...I agree, no engine problems on my plane either. Hopefully you gained some time and got in earlier.

SUSIE...I remember working on visas when I worked at RCE/GE/Thomson. Mostly Mexican visas, but what a PIA. Some upper management had to get other visas, which was just as fun. NOT. Little kiddos are great especially when they are not your own, hence..grandbabies. YEAH!!

CEEG...we had flurries which ended up in light blowing snow last night on the way home from my brother's house. Nothing to write home about, which I am thankful.

HELLO to all ya'll. Make is a terrific Thursday!

Hugs

Morning all.
*
Terra – Are you asking if I think you have odd sleep hours, or are you asking me why your sleep hours are odd?* Guess I’ll answer both – yeh, think your hrs are odd :)– you seem to wake up in the middle of the night or REALLY early on a regular basis.* I would be like a zombie if that happened to me all the time, LOL.* As to why your sleep hours are strange – do you have a regular bedtime and wake-up time? The range you mentioned to Shad is rather wide... Do you take naps during the day?** I think those can cause an interruption to your regular sleep routine.* Sleep’s important – make sure you get yours!!* Too bad your new shoes can’t be returned.* I agree with Happy’s suggestion – maybe a new insole will help.*

Happy – I guess it would be quicker with one person serving up bowls of chili and plates of salad rather than 50 individual people trying to do it!* I enjoy cooking to a point, but I agree with you – I’d never want to be a caterer!* Yeh, the website for the gift exchange is a good idea, but there are definitely some improvements to be made on this one we’re using, which was among the most popular and highly rated.* For instance, it really doesn’t work right when I try to do anything with it through my cell phone (Android).* And not the most intuitive, if you ask me.* But it was better than whatever the alternative would have been – a lot of e-mails, phone calls and texts.* Did you decide to do any decorating?* It is a good reason to clean!* Wow, you want some large Christmas gifts on your list this year!* Glad you got a good session with the gym guy, but they sure need to work on the organization as to clerical stuff.

Ceejay – I meant to buy a poinsettia or two for our hearth this year, but I never got around to it.* I’ll have to see if Home Depot or Lowes still have any.* Another chilly time with your bff – brrrr.* And then she wants you to do all kinds of work for her!* I dunno, that’s not the way I’d want to spend my precious time off work!* I think it also highlights being able to be strong and healthy and independent.* And by independent, I mean financially and physically and mentally – i.e., having the smarts and motivation to be able do things on your own.* Having help is great, but if you can’t get it, you’re in a bad spot.* I like to think I’m independent, but my bf does a lot of the stuff I hate – dealing with the utilities, cell phone, cable tv, and the computer – both the bills/customer service and the techy stuff.* And he does all the handyman stuff.* What would I do without him?? Definitely see your doc if you're not feeling better.

Shad – How’s the Melbourne job going?* It’ll be nice to have 2 weeks off over Christmas – or will that just put you further behind?* Terrible thing about that hostage situation in Sydney.* And 140 dead in the attack on the school in Pakistan.* These extremists are something else.*That plank challenge sounds like the one i did. I made it to maybe one or two days of the finish at Day 30 - so i was doing 4.5 minute planks. That was quite the challenge!!

Susie – I won’t be doing many cards this year – I’m just behind on everything, and the amount I send each year is dwindling anyhow.* I'll try to write a letter to one friend with whom I go way back (summer camp!).* We corresponded by snail mail for years and years!* Re the jeans fundraiser – during the fundraiser period itself, jeans days were sold as one type of raising money, along with raffles, etc.* Now that the fundraiser period is over, they compared the overall results with the goal (which was to raise 20% more than the previous year!).* We actually achieved that, so as a reward, our CEO granted us jeans days all the way through August!* (Usually he rewards us with jeans through the first calendar quarter of the year.)* I like jeans, so I’ll probably be wearing them a lot.* Especially since my wardrobe of dress pants is getting old and ratty and needs to be purged and replacements purchased.* It’s wonderful that you’ll be able to work from home between Christmas and New Year’s!!* That’ll make it easier for you to get your exercise in, won’t it? :D. My exercise has actually been minimal beyond that one Jazzercise class per week. I've even been stuck in long meetings at work that keep me from the short stair climb sessions. Let's try to make a point of getting ourselves out of our chairs & getting some movement! Unless we're doing a chair workout, lol.

Posting before this goes poof! Be back later.

Back again.

Annie – The shrimp you had the other night sounded so tasty! The cookie baking afternoon you did this past Sunday sounded so fun! Good idea to put down the plastic tablecloth – I do that when I dye Easter eggs at the table. The FB photo looks like you have a nice big counter/island in your kitchen – nice. I don’t want or need a bigger house, but more counter space would sure be handy!! LOL re Sassy under that tablecloth, being a little troublemaker for C. :D Difficult thing to “fire” your insurance agent after all this time, but change is good, and you need to be protected from your potential liabilities as a landlord. And you’re saving a lot of money!!! How nice of you to treat some peeps at work to Starbucks!! I’ll have a chai non-fat latte please, easy on the syrup. :D :coffee2:

Happy – Sounds like the pig you ordered is not enough “separation” in terms of the “where my food comes from” topic.

Dee – Sounds like the big Christmas party was mostly fun, except for your downer friend. You two need to agree to leave each other alone about your life choices (though I do agree with you – I’ve never NOT worked). I bet you looked great in your dress. Oh, and of course we want you to keep coming back to post. ;)

Michelle – Loved those photos with Santa you posted on FB. Sooo cute! You sound like you’re doing great these days. Don’t worry so much about the pounds – your back pain has lessened, you’re working out, and you’re wearing smaller sizes. Sounds like you’re not having too many problems with the food plan either. Awesome. I was wondering – in your support group, how many years post-op are some of the other members?? Glad work is slow for you this week – this is actually your last day in the office, isn’t it? I’m glad your IT group could sort out the e-mail situation and I hope most of them end up being spam and nothing urgent. Poor Santa’s not liking this rain, huh? Coal is just fine with it, though it’s too funny when he’s actually tried to dry himself off by rolling around in the grass – lol, like the grass isn’t wet too! As long as I’m dressed for the rain and the wind isn’t blowing it sideways at me, I’m okay with it.

Terra – Bummer you lost the bus passes. I have a monthly pass for the train and I always keep it in the same spot in my purse so I can keep track of it. Same for the key card I use to get into my employer’s offices.

Susie – Must have been cute to see your nieces taking their belt tests.

Shad – Hope the gutters are as they should be.

--
Yesterday was another busy day at work. A couple meetings ate up my entire afternoon. No meetings today. Good, I can catch up on everything that accumulates during all those meetings.

I did some Christmas cards last night – did that with the tv on in the background. Still so much to do! Gonna run some errands at lunch today. I’ve only got part of a gift for my mom. I'd asked her what she wanted and she proceeded to tell me what she was going to buy for herself, and then strayed off the topic and that was that. Since the idea is for her to get rid of a bunch of stuff and get her house ready to sell, I’m not sending anything material. So consumables and gift cards it is.

This afternoon is our office holiday party. It starts at 3 and is at a nearby restaurant. I’ll go, but won’t stay for very long. Not my thing.

Okay, off I go. TTFN!

LAURA...weird but good thing here at WF. They do not celebrate anything around here. I am used to places with pitch ins, birthday treats and holiday parties. None of that here. Nobody recognizes anyone for anything and no parties. Just as well, one less thing to hassle with at this busy time of year. Good idea on the gift cards etc for momma. In the past of cleaning out houses of my aunts, grandmas, and dad's house for selling, it is not fun, and what to do with all the C R A P!! I think I have gotten all my cards out for now and if I missed some people, well so be it, not going to worry the small stuff. Yes the cooking baking with the kiddos was a lot of fun. Jacob seemed to rub his nose between cookies, so I am sure not to eat those. lol. I went on amazon and got the movie ELF for all the adult kiddos. Good price too! It is hard to think of gifts for my big kids (Sam, Chris, Jacob, Kristin), so the ELF movie it was, plus a cash settlement..lol. Have a great afternoon.

Okay, so I realized that MS Office 2013 does not come with the Picture Manager. Bah, humbug! (I'm currently reading Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, LOL)

I ended up using MS Powerpoint to resize a photo of our outdoor Christmas decorations. It's attached, but it's small. (I didn't want to insert it full size and bog down our thread.)

Anyway, this is part of the front of our house, and we have a lighted "Merry Christmas" and a lighted snowflake (only see partial in this photo) hung on the house; three colored spotlights throwing red and green onto the house; Santa and a penguin on the ground; and not in the photo is a reindeer on the other side of the door. Oh, we also put colored bulbs in our carriage light post and the light by the door. Speaking of the door, looks who's there - my guy Coal. :)

Michelle ~ Yeah next time I buy something expensive I'll be sure to save the receipt. It sure is a bummer that I cant return my shoes but oh well I guess.

Ceejay ~ Yeah I'm usually good at saving my receipts when I buy something expensive.

Susie ~ Thanks for being proud of me for getting my works out in. My foot is all healed now.

Laura ~ Yeah I didnt know taking naps during the day can throw off your sleep routine or whatever you called it so I'll try not to naps anymore during the day. I try to get at least 8 hours a night but with Clyde sleeping in my room now because of the Christmas Tree, He wakes me up several times during the night and I know its not his fault cause He cant help he has to go to the bathroom but it does disturb my sleep. Yeah I think I'm gonna try to get those insole's and see how they are.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up at 6 a.m. Its now 10:36 a.m. and I'm about to do my morning Chair Exercises. I'm gonna do my walking dvd at 1 p.m. and then I'll do my evening Chair Exercises at 7 p.m. tonight. I need to clean the bathroom as well, I've been putting it off for too many days.

Hello, hello

Should be a witch on a broom with all the flying around I feel I've been doing lately. Yoga was good yesterday - we have a month's break now until the next session. Will have to rely on my DVDs. Got a new gym bag where you are supposed to be able to attach your yoga mat underneath but it's very flimsy and not big enough. Shame on you Gaiam :nono: Got my blue leather boots - they are a weird greenish color with jeans so I exchanged them for standard brown ones (at a better price too). Check out the Cobb Hill line of shoes and boots - made by New Balance. Really comfy boots. Everyone who has tried them really likes them. Meadow is sleeping on the bed in the next room and snoring. They are talking about another winter storm hitting next week - sure will mess up travel plans for everyone. Sort of glad we didn't plan on driving back to Chicago although I do miss being with family on the holidays.

Terra - good to hear your foot healed up and that you are taking your time getting back into walking again. Don't want to reinjure it.

Laura - Picture manager? I'm not familiar with that. How pretty and festive your house looks - I really like Coal looking through the front door. It just really adds to the picture :D I agree with your comment - don't need a bigger house BUT I wouldn't say no to a kitchen twice as big as I have now (I do miss my TN kitchen) or a big spa bathroom. I smiled at your discussion of getting a gift for your Mom. I talked to my sister today and she is going to run out and get a slow close toilet seat for my Mom :lol: All kidding aside, Mom was impressed with the ones at Sis' house and we are at such a loss of gift ideas for things for her that she'd ACTUALLY USE, Sis said she'd jump on the toilet seat if that's what it would take.

Annie- kind of a bummer they don't do anything in the way of office festivities - even a pot luck lunch but like you said - I suppose it makes one less hassle but I always enjoyed trying other people's recipes. Loved your term "cash settlement" :rofl: good one! Regarding the insurance thing - I was loyal to State Farm for most of my married life and with a house, motorcycle, various cars and extra stuff they got a heck of a lot of money out of me. Seems in the last few years tho that service is not what it once was and we are reconsidering our loyalty. What have you don't for us lately? So I applaud you for finding an agent that has your interests at hand.

Dee - feel free to rant, we are here with soft shoulders and good ears :D Glad you had a nice time at your holiday party. Too bad DH didn't win anything but there are many people (like me) with no luck at all. At least DS won something. I totally get you wanting to keep busy at home - some people are happy being Donna Reed, some people are Mary Tyler Moore, some Martha Stewart and some of us are in between.

Michelle - sounds like you are doing very well post surgery. I know it would be wonderful if you dropped 10 pounds each time you got on the scale but patience grasshopper. Better slow and steady so there isn't too much stress on the body and I would think that a slower loss gives your body a chance to adjust nicely. Some people who lose too fast look deflated. Being healthy is the primary goal. Congrats on planking for such a long period - I am impressed! Enjoy your time off for the next 2 weeks. How is your friend doing in his recovery?

To all you still working office people - they keep talking about sitting being a bad thing and the trend is stand up desks (which I would totally hate). Anybody moving towards that or is that a 20 something thing?

Shad - living the busy life in airports. Nice that you'll have a bit of time off to catch up although as they said - time off always comes with a price.

Ceejay - I agree that poinsettias make it festive but I have 2 cats who like to chew and they are poisonous so I have to take a pass on that. They had 2 really pretty baskets of fake ones that someone donated to the thrift shop. I have been eyeing them for 2 weeks now - they are really pretty and only 4 bucks.

Susie - yes they have a sheet at the gym with each machine number, the weights to be used and the adjustment settings. I like to take some extra notes on how to position the body or the way you place yourself to work all the extra muscles. Like yoga, I agree that over time you will pick up on stuff. How fun to watch the "nieces" take their test and cheer them on! Glad you were able to take some time away from the job to be involved. You sound very supportive of your friends children.

DH went off on a field trip up north to check out a bog. I hope he gets some really good wildlife shots. He is on the hunt for an owl. I was going to go too but I have so much to do here and I can get it done 4 times as fast if I am home alone. I started a few things in between computer sessions but now it's time to put the pedal to the metal and get going before he gets back and things look just like they did when he left (and he will think I just didn't want to go with him... ) Anyway. Have a good one!

HAPPY....I guess we all just need to be loyal to ourselves and take care of ourselves first rather than to someone else (ins. agent) and besides that the gal that found us such a great deal was my salesgal at Humana that I worked one on one with, she too got canned when I did. So not only did she find us a deal but also with a reputable company and I know she will take care of us. We found out Humana laid off another 800 people across the US back in October. What a bummer of a place to work. I still say they did me a favor. At least I don't dread getting up or coming to work anymore nor do I get the Sunday afternoon blues anymore. Your hubby sure finds the greatest wild life to take pictures of, almost like they are not real, they are so good. Love that you post them on FB. What kind of meat is the cheapest right now?? Dear balls, they are just under a buck. HILARIOUS GIRL!! I need to get up and take a walk around the floor to wake up, didn't sleep well and I am not very motivated at the moment. Bleh

Happy Thursday ladies,

I expected to be fatigued yesterday with my first day back at work. I did great in terms of energy all day, then on the drive home, I had to stop at the library to return some books, and the exhaustion hit me like a freight train. I mean Day-yam! One minute I was fine, 5 minutes later, all I wanted to do was lie down. I picked Santa up at day care and went home. I had some canned tuna in light mayo for dinner, then took a shower and got into my jammies. I watched a bit of TV, but was asleep before 9. This morning I was still tired, but much less tired than yesterday afternoon. Even so, after work, I'm going to pick Santa up from day care and go straight home.

since before I went on medical leave for surgery I was off on Fridays, I'm off work tomorrow. At first, I was a little upset because I wouldn't be working 4 days this week (as in pre-surgery weeks) and I could use the money, but I decided it's not worth raising a stink about - especially since I can take care of a few things tomorrow or visit Bob in the hospital.

My company is going out to Christmas lunch tomorrow and since I'm off, I'll be missing it. But that's ok...they're going to an Indian restaurant and I'm not a huge fan of Indian food, plus, I checked the menu online and there's not much they have that I can eat. I'm going to see if a friend of mine wants to get together for lunch instead.

=================================

Ceejay - I hope you're feeling better today. And I hope that you're able to find things to eat at Monday's Christmas party that don't make your diverticulitis flare up.

Susie - How fun to watch your "nieces" take their karate belt tests and advance to yellow belts! Very impressive that the two older girls are black belts!

Shad - Yes, better to not fly on a plane with engine problems! And getting home earlier is a bonus! So you're home for the next two weeks, then? I've been back at work less than days, but I'm already glad about a 2 week break! :rofl:

Annie - Bummer about your loo issues. Glad you got it under control. Thank you so much for telling me not to compare my weight loss to others. Thanks for the reinforcement that dumping can involve actually being sick and that I need to avoid it at all costs. Glad you didn't get much snow while you were driving home from your brother's. Weird that WF doesn't have any parties. I love the movie Elf!

Laura - 4.5 minute planks?! That's craziness! I hope you're able to find nice looking poinsettias. I'm looking for those and Christmas cactuses. To answer your question...how many years post-op are some of the people in the support group. In most of the groups I attend, most of the post-ops are 2-3 years out from surgery, but there are a few people who are over 5 years post-op and the leader is 11 years post-op. Too funny about Coal drying himself by rolling in the wet grass. When Santa is out in the rain, he frequently shakes - to shake off the water - only to realize it didn't help because it's pouring out. We're in for more rain tonight and tomorrow, but just cloudy this weekend. I usually just wear my jacket and a baseball hat when out in the rain. I don't think I could manage an umbrella and Santa (not with the way he pulls). Plus, the wind can take an umbrella right away or inside out. PITA I hope you have a lovely time at your office Christmas party. I love the photo of your outdoor decorations! So festive! I think Coal is looking for Santa Claus! LOL

Happy - Like Annie, I really liked your deer balls joke! Since you aren't going to be able to see your Chicago family over the holidays are you getting together with your cousin? Thanks for asking about my friend Bob. He's improving. He has another surgery on his "stump" tomorrow (hopefully it will be his last). Physical therapy has been working with him daily to help him stand using a walker and work his way to a wheelchair. So far, he's doing pretty well with that, though he can't sit up for very long before it really starts to hurt bad. Though I haven't heard for sure when, they will eventually transfer him to a rehab/convalescent hospital. I plan to visit him every other day while I'm off work. I was feeling a little down about the scale not moving much, but then last night I remembered that several people in support groups talked about the dreaded 3 week stall, that many people face when they are between 3 and 4 weeks post-op. I didn't exercise beyond walking Santa yesterday, and might not today (depending on how exhausted I am after work), but I will go to the gym tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday. :D

Dee - Hope you're having a good day!

Gotta get back to it.

Lots of love and big hugs,

Happy ~ Yeah I'm glad my foot healed and I dont want my foot to get injured again but I'm looking forward to getting back into my walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clyde is now in heaven with my grandma, His first owner. Before he was given the shot the vet said he could tell because of his spine that he was in pain so I'm glad he isnt any pain anymore.

I'm sorry about Clyde Terra but if he was in pain you did the right thing. Hopefully he ran up to Grandma in heaven and is giving her a good snuggle. :hug:

Terra - I'm so sorry to read that Clyde is no longer with you. It must have been difficult, but you must be glad he's no longer in pain. Nice to think of him up there with your grandma. :hug:

Terra
:hug: So sad that Clyde is in heaven. But that's much better than being in constant pain. I know you will miss him. Glad your foot has healed.

Laura
Love that Coal is watching through the door. The decorations are pretty. I haven't been in much of a holiday spirit this year. I'm amazed at the 4.5 minute plank.

Annie
We've never exchanged gifts and in years past I don't remember our department doing anything for Christmas. This year we are having lunch tomorrow. It was planned for Monday but the boss decided on tomorrow. Okay by me.

Happy
I have plastic Poinsettia's and candle's. I bought a pair of angels last year that twinkle. They run on batteries. I loved the picture on fb with all the male deer.

Michelle
Wow, you are back to work already! Thanks for the picture.

Susie and Shad :wave:

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I'm on a sodium over load today and I hate this feeling. I woke up with my eyes feeling like someone had poured salt in them. Both were stinging. Ouch, I'm still swollen. No more sodium binges for me.
L called me this morning but didn't hear the phone in time to answer it so she texted me stating that our boss told her to call me to tell me that our lunch for Monday had been changed for tomorrow. That's okay by me.
I've started L. on doing the survey's for soil conservation for both well and high service pumps. I've learned that she is one who can not comprehend written instruction. She did try. But I guess what is simple to me may not be to some one else.
Nothing else exciting going on.

Happy,Laura & Ceejay ~ Thanks Ladies, I'm doing okay so far, I know he is looking down from heaven on me now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got up at 3:30 a.m. cause my back was hurting. Its now 7:03 a.m. and I'm thinking about going back to sleep for a couple of hours and then I'll get back up for the rest of the day. Today my plans are to do my 40 min. Chair Exercise at 11 a.m. and then at 1 p.m. I'll do my 30 mile walk dvd and then at 7 p.m. I'll do my 40 min. Chair Exercise again and thats it. I cleaned the bathroom yesterday so thats all done now. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday.

Good morning. I am working from home today because I will be the stand in grandparent at my "niece" Cailyn's school Christmas Concert which is at 1:15 today.

I am taking advantage of the time at home and cleaning up electronic files...and doing a bit of wrapping too! ;)


Terra: I am so sorry to hear about Clyde. :hug: I know you will miss him a lot. He loved you and you took good care of him. Now he is at Rainbow Bridge and running and playing and with your Grandma.

Laura: I did my Christmas cards on Wedensday night while watching the Michael Buble Christmas show. Your Christmas decorations are beautiful!

Annie: When I read your post and all the things you had to say about "God doing your a favor", I was smiling from ear to ear....it is so hard to lose a job but God had better things planned for you and it needed to happen so he could give you the next blessing. Easy to say when it is in the past (I know..I have been there) but He is faithful!

At PG we have had options of having Humana, Anthem or United Health Care as our health care providers. They are all the same benefits just different companies handling the paper work. For 2015 PG decided that we will just have United Health Care. They were my choice anyway.

Michelle: You will get your daily stamina back..it just takes a while.

Ceejay: I have to watch my sodium too. I hope you feel better soon.

Happy: I have a Gaiam bag that might work for you. It's not big but you could put your clothes in it and it has that yoga mat holder on on the bottom. I won it at a TOPS thing about two years ago and have used it maybe two times. I don't take yoga anymore and so I would be happy to send it to you if you think you might be interested in it. If you don't use it, you can dontate it to the shop!

You were asking about the stand up-desks. I have one at work and I love it! it is adjustable so I can sit down when I want to or need too. I usually stand for about 45 min 2-3 times out of my day and work.

We just got in two walking treadmill desks. I'm going to try them out after the first of the year.

Hi Dee and Shad!

TERRA...so very sorry to hear about Clyde. That is one of the hardest things to do in life. Hugs How long did you have him?

CEEG...some days I wonder what the heck I did to myself when I wake up and my body is swollen from sodium. Especially my fingers. Look like sausages.

SUSIE...so glad PG did not settle for Humana. Humana is awful on payments and their contracting rates with hospitals and physicians are awful. I hear United Health Care is pretty good. WF west cost uses them. Us east coasters have Anthem BCBS, which so far I am liking. Stand in Gma is better than not being a Gma at all. I could use you in a few instances, come on over. Like when I am feeding Royce and Jacob say Nanna could I hold you, which mean hold him.

CHELLE...be sure to get you B12 shots or vits, cause that helps with energy. Keep you B12 up to where it is supposed to be. Is you doc taking blood work to see where you levels are on everything?

Having dinner with my baby boy tonight. He called me last night and said it was him not his DS that was the issue on not getting preggers. He has sluggish sp*rm and a couple of other levels are a bit high, but he didn't remember what they were, great I would like to know so I could investigate it. Anyway he is going to an urologist Jan 7. Awful young to be having issues. 26. Kind of scary with my brother having prostate cancer and all.

Tomorrow night the band plays and I have reserved a table for 30, hope that is enough, lol. I have lots of family and friends coming. Yeah!!

Hello to all, have a great weekend.

Love and hugs

Afternoon all. TGIF!!

The office’s holiday party was nice enough, but it was loud and quite warm in the restaurant, so I just had a glass of wine and left after an hour. I skipped the finger food because I'd had a big lunch and wasn’t hungry in the least. I had a nice chat with a colleague who helps us with our department's software.

After work, I stopped at a shop right by my train station to pick up a gift that’s part of my family’s Secret Santa gift exchange. Nice and convenient, and I feel good supporting a local business.

I got home, but decided to go to Walmart to pick up a few things. I really just wanted to get out of the house, lol. Even though I’d told bf that the secret santa app we’re using doesn’t work very well on the cell phone, he proceeded to try to do what he needed to do via his cell phone instead of our desktop computer. Then he got all upset because the site was making him set up an account so he could create a wish list. I don’t know why the site let him initially set up the whole exchange for my family without doing that (and maybe he forgot he did it already), but honestly, why rail against it – just do what they want you to do!! I was annoyed with him. Then I got a bit more annoyed when I got in the car and found the gas gauge buried well below E. Grrrr. I ended up buying a few buck’s worth at a gas station near the Walmart, but at about 19 cents a gallon higher than it goes for at Costco. Whatever, I just didn’t want to run out of gas on the way home – it’s only a grand total of 1.5 miles round trip, but who knows how much gas was left in the tank?? Okay, end of rant. Me and my first world problems. :D

I got my mom’s gift shipped out this morning – my office is kitty corner from the Sears/Willis tower, and there’s a post office in the “bowels” of that giant building – rather convenient for me. I must say, I’ve really lucked out at the post office. I went there two times this week, and my timing was such that I arrived to reasonably short lines, and when I finished my transactions, there’d be a loooong line as I left. Yes!

Well, we have another party to attend tonight and I’m just not up for it. This is a party being held by a long-time friend of my bf, and I know he’ll want to stay there late. The problem is I will not. So I think I’m going to skip it. I doubt bf will be too upset about this because he won’t have me start pestering him about leaving at a time I think is reasonable. If we were a two-car household, I suppose we might go in separate cars so I could leave when I wanted, but that’s not the case.

I think my boss is taking a half day of vacation today. The admin is off today, so that’ll make it that much more quiet around here. Good. I’d like to do some file and desk cleanup this afternoon.

This weekend we have to crank away on getting the house ready for family coming on Christmas Eve. And yes, that includes getting the half bath finally finished!!! I'll likely skip my Jazzercise and jump right into some cleaning. I also want to do some more baking. I don’t know what to do with those disappointing cookies I made the other night. I might sneak them into our office’s lunchroom area just to get rid of them. :p

Enough of my rambling, on with personals.

--
Susie – Thanks for complimenting my decorations! Enjoy your “niece’s” Christmas concert this afternoon. While I was doing my Christmas cards the other night, I was watching a PBS special I’d dvr’d. It was about yoga, and it was with instructor Peggy Cappy. I’ve heard of those treadmill desks – let us know how you like it after your trial-run.

Terra – I hope your back feels better soon. I think the exercise will help definitely help it! Re naps – I think if you get too much sleep during a nap, your body doesn’t need as much at bedtime, hence the problems of sleeping through the entire night.

Ceejay – I like that Coal’s in my photo too! I couldn’t quite remember where I ended up with that plank challenge and so I searched the thread (April) and it looks like I finished up through Day 28, which was 4 minutes. Which was very long and super challenging. I have a plank workout I’d like to try – just haven’t gotten around to it yet. It doesn’t have long plank times, but it has a lot of variations on the basic plank. Oh, I mentioned to Susie that I watched a PBS special about yoga that had instructor Peggy Cappy in it. Is it you that has one of her DVD’s? Which one is it? Do you like it? Have you gotten all the sodium washed out of your system? I usually don’t have an issue with that – maybe my body’s accustomed to it!

Annie – Sort of odd that there aren’t any type of social events at WF. Before our office moved, we had a cafeteria and there’d be a holiday luncheon. When we moved and had no cafeteria, they tried a holiday potluck for a couple years. Now it’s just the party. On the floor where I work, there’s not much going on at all. I guess our fundraiser is really the time of the year when a lot of fun activities take place, and I’m perfectly happy with that. LOL re Jacob’s cookies – always have to watch out for the kids! Great idea to give the dvd Elf to the big kids – that’s a really fun movie. I also like A Christmas Story. I think we might’ve gotten that as a gift one year, but I have a feeling it was so long ago, it might have been on VHS! :lol: I hope the potential fertility issues with DS can be addressed successfully. Is it your brother’s band that you’re seeing tomorrow night? Enjoy yourself!!!

Happy – Sorry the yoga bag isn’t working for you. Maybe by the time the next session of classes starts you’ll have found a replacement. Maybe Susie’s?? (unless it’s the same one you already have, haha.) I think I meant to say “photo manager”. It was part of the MS Office Suite of software, at least the previous version we had at work, which I believe was Office 2010. It was a simple program that did resizing, cropping, etc. Imagine my surprise that Office 2013 didn’t have it, or something like it. I did a quick Google and found others disappointed by this as well. And I’m certainly not going to download a 3rd party software on my work computer…guess I’ll have to figure out how to do all that on my cell phone, or just do it on my home computer. LOL re the toilet seat as a gift for your mom! Heck, if she liked it and she’ll actually use it, all the better. We all grasp at straws re gift ideas for that certain someone. I guess we need to let our frustration go and be thankful that this someone either has everything laready and/or wants for nothing. Re standup desks – our office has done a trial, and I believe there are a few folks who now have standup desks, including our receptionist. They're adjustable, so you could sit or stand when you want. Eric’s photo of the owl on FB is just stunning!

Michelle – I should think that now is not the right time to eat out a lot or venture out into types of food you’ve never tried. You just don’t can’t know exactly how the food has been prepared! Better safe than sorry! I hope Bob’s next surgery goes well. I don’t have enough hands to take an umbrella on dog walks, LOL. I make do with a raincoat and rubber boots!

Dee – You must be busy! We're missing you here. I meant to go back to the post where you asked us what we wanted for Christmas, but now I don’t see the post. :?: Hope you’re not working too hard and wearing yourself out! How’s your foot doing??

Shad - So now you're home for 2 weeks? Nice. Enjoy the down time, though I doubt you'll really be taking it easy... How's the plank challenge going?

Okay, I think that’s it. Everyone have a great weekend!
:):):)

Susie ~ Thanks for commenting on Clyde's passing

Annie ~ I had him for 15 years

Laura ~ Yeah my back feels better now. Thanks for telling me about sleeping too much during a nap makes it harder to sleep at night...Is that what you meant?

Morning all,

Better day today, much cooler and therefore I feel somewhat more energetic. I'm still having some tummy troubles and so am having a very light eating and much water drinking day today. I've also starting taking some vitamins since my eating in Melbourne is not good. No kitchen in my unit so can't cook for myself and I don't like going out to eat every night.
So today, I have mowed and swept and laundered and changed the bed linen and washed that as well. I still have a fair list of things to do so can't stay here too long.
Got a haircut yesterday, so I am good to go for another 6 weeks. Then I will need to have it coloured again as well. Bah humbug.

Terra - sorry to hear that Clyde has gone to the Rainbow Bridge. It's a very hard decision to make. You will miss him.
Laura is right. If you force yourself to go to bed in enough time to have 8.00 hours sleep, then you should manage to sleep for that time. Having naps in the middle of the day doesn't help the cause.

Michelle - I echo the others saying that you need to do whatever works for you and not what is happening to other people. It can only do good if you can't each much as long as you are picking up your protein and vitamins.

I have only 2 Christmas presents to get now. I have no idea what to get either of them. It's a pain.
DS2 and DP and I should be going out to dinner this weekend since we won't see each other until they get back from Turkey Beach. And I had better ring the other DS and tell him my plans as well. But for now I need a drink and to summon up the energy to go out and clip the hedge or sweep the path or wrap some presents or clean the microwave or annoy the cat.

Have a good day.

Annie - good to know that you have been getting the insurance ducks in a row. Always good to have a bit of a financial win. Amazes me that companies don't give a damn about their existing customers unless they whinge. Getting the new customer seems to be all they worry about.
Hope DS is okay. Seems to be a great many young men around these days with low sperm counts etc. Wonder what's causing this.
Oh yes. Last night I went around to DS2's place to pick up the cat. He gave me an envelope which had somehow got caught up with his papers (probably in that mess he calls a car) and it turned out to be a birthday card from you to me. So I am so sorry I didn't thank you for your best wishes at the time. I didn't know about them. A belated thank you - and apologies from my son.

Laura - the challenge is one I found on facebook. It ends with a five minute plank. But they are all the same plank. No moving around here. I'm up to the one minute plank.
I like the photo of the Christmas decorations at your place. They look good.
So the new MS Office doesn't come with a photo manager. Damn.

Happy - or should I say witch on a broomstick. Nice photos from the DH. on facebook. Hope you are enjoying the gym. Such a gym bunny.

Hi all, sorry to be MIA. We have been running around town looking at furniture. Found a chair for me - going back to order it. Will be back in the afternoon to catch up.

Ok, let me try and catch up here. Kitty is really hugging the computer and I am literally wrestling her to get at the left side of my laptop. Santa brought me new furniture for Christmas :D A comfy reading chair that rocks and reclines, a new coffee table and matching side table, a nice floor lamp with lots of light AND a bookcase to match the coffee and side tables. Wowie!!! I am so excited. As my sister said - "a place I could totally get into for month's on end and only come up for occasional food and potty breaks" :lol: And the chair will be next to the fireplace which I also love. What a cozy place to spend the winter months once the holidays pass. And I will get new glasses in January so reading will be easier too. I can't wait. Yay Santa who smiled wryly and pulled out his credit card! :hohoho::clause: Actually the coffee table top opens and slides up and out like a table. Totally a man feature - I could care less but it sold him on it so at least he figures he got in on part of the deal.

We are going to have to get rid of my monster plant. I will take a picture and post it shortly. This was a small plant I was given by a friend when I lived down south. It grew out of each pot I replanted it in. I swear last year when it saw my real Christmas tree all of a sudden it shot up straight in the air and grew 3 feet in a month! it's way out of control now and I need the space it's sitting in. So it needs a big haircut or to be given away to a good home. Not sure one can even move the thing without breaking pieces of it off. My Mum was hinting around ( to everyone BUT me ) that she was hoping Santa would bring her some goodies from the Northwoods. Stopped at the chocolate shop today and dropped nearly 50 dollars on 3 boxes of stuff. I hope she will be happy. DH's eyes bugged out of his head when the shopkeeper told me the total. Stuff don't come cheap for sure!

Shad - being as hot as it is by you no small wonder the tummy is rumbly. So sorry to hear that you don't have kitchen availability in Melbourne. That can really become cumbersome not to mention as you say detrimental to the pocketbook and the waistline. I would not be a happy bunny at all. Can you store a bit at a refrigerator at the office? One of the things that frustrates me with gift giving is not knowing what to get. Hopefully you will come up with something. Are you home now until after the New Year?

Terra - that's what they say - taking a daytime nap - other than 20 minutes for a power nap, really disrupts your sleep at night. So try to reserve naps for when you are very sick or had a really bad night occasionally. You had Clyde a very long time!

Laura - oh man I HATE HATE HATE when DH used to leave the car with the gas on E. Yes, I know they know down to the last number of feet how far the car will drive "on fumes" and I never go below a 1/4 of a tank! When we were dating sometimes DH and I would swap cars and a few times he left me high and dry. I told him I wouldn't marry him if he kept that up :rofl: As you are aware, guys just think in a whole different class. :rolleyes: Well that's nice where your office is - not such a bad commute from the train station, but a good enough walk at that. Yay for scoring short lines at the post office. THANK YOU for mentioning MS Picture Manager - I had no idea. that will come in handy for me!!! That certainly would work out better for you if you could skip BF's friend's party - I know they want us to be with them but ... if you have lots to do your time is better spent at home and let him have fun with the buddies. I used to hate it when we'd go to my family's for the holidays and DH did not feel like staying long and would want to leave 2 hours after we got there. I went home angry more than once. Too far to me to hitch a ride from someone else. I can't even imagine a 5 minute plank BUT it gives one something to strive for, doesn't it? Also I am the one who talked about Peggy Cappy I think. I have her Easy Yoga for arthritis. It's not intense Bikram hot yoga BUT I can say that though the moves are on the gentle side - they do serve to lubricate the joints and do a body good. So worthwhile to incorporate into your workout trio of cardio, weight bearing and flexibility modalities.

Annie - I have been warned about Anthem here in WI - terrible on payments, drags their feet - my doctor's office stop accepting them they are so bad. We had them in TN and I was happy with them. I guess it's regional as I'm told. Hope you had a nice dinner with DS. I think that young people today are showing more medical issues than ever and I personally feel it's got a lot to do with exposure to hormones in our food, additives and the likes of that. So many people have food allergies now and illnesses and such. Time to grow a huge garden out back. I am getting more fresh food and organics where I can get them. And frequenting local farms and markets when possible. I hope he will not have issues going forward. I hope you have a great time tonight dancing the night away and laughing (and maybe a little singing in the crowd? :rofl: ) Good to get out and have some fun.

Susie - how kind of you to offer the gym bag! Yes I will gladly accept it - will PM you my address but I have to clean up my mailbox first. That's really cool that your office is offering ergonomic alternatives to the standard office furniture. I can't imagine a stand up desk but I guess it's just adjusting and getting used to it. I think I would fall over and scrape my face on the treadmill desk - please tell us how that works out and yay for you for being a good sport to try it out! We switched to UHC when we moved up here - been very happy with them (and interestingly enough people in TN hated their service - so much for the regional thing I guess). The only complaint DH has is with CVS for our prescription drugs. He is always having a problem with them.

Ceejay I hope you got over the sodium overload by now. Those twinkling angels sound very pretty. It's amazing what just a few small decorations will do for the house - don't need it looking like the Grizwold's (Christmas Vacation) to do up the holiday!

Thank you all for your comments on DH's pictures - he was put down a lot as a child by his mean dad and I think he is basking in the compliments on his photography. He really does take some nice pictures and I think it makes him feel really good when he gets nice feedback.

Michelle - got your card today - thank you - mine will be late as I kept misplacing your new address. What a great picture! Nice comparison for next year too! Are you going to the step Mom's for Christmas or spending it with D?

Hi Dee! :wave:

Ok, I am literally in a physical fight with Nina who insists on turning my caps lock on, pushing hard on my hand - she is laying on it and then starts licking it with the rough cat tongue. And DH went to run some errands, I was hoping to get a bit more cleaning done and this took longer than I thought so I have about 45 minutes before he gets back. Best get busy. Enjoy your weekend ladies.

Evening ladies
The house is almost clean so I can start the new year in a good spirit. The office/spare bedroom needs to be cleaned but it will not take long.
I hate going to work on Sunday but tomorrow it's my turn. I could really get used to this down time.
I put the rest of my steak from yesterday in the crock pot this morning to get it more tender. Think it was better than yesterday.
Just when I think my tummy problems are gone and getting better they return with vengeance. I'll have this checked out after the first of the year. It may be related to the diverticulitis but usually the symptoms don't last this long.
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Happy
Wow on all that new furniture. What a nice chair to have to sit by the fireplace! Your mom will love all the goodies.

Susie
What fun it would be to be stand in grand parent.

Shad
Hope your tummy problems have eased up.

Hello's to the rest. Need to clean up the kitchen and get ready for tomorrow.

:hohoho: Merry Christmas :wreath: Girls
We're having a lazy weekend & finish Christmas shopping on dh's extra day off on Tuesday. Yesterday on his way home from work dh decided to give me the night-off from making dinner. Crazy guy, he stopped & got food for us: Kentucky Fried chicken, Subway 6" subs, Taco Bell burritos & Pizza Corner 3-cheese crazy breadsticks & a 2 litter of soda :p Dh decided it would b a picnic supper, ending his 40's yrs. He spent $40 & we could've had a nice take-out dinner for that $ last night. Tonight we went out for a nice fish dinner for his b-day. Today dh turned 50 yr & he still looks 40 yr, why do females look older almost every yr & our guys only change their looks about every 10 yrs :rolleyes: I worked constantly to finish up my job orders by Wednesday for pick-up, a big variety as always @ holiday time. Many gifts, & home décor in Christmas theme for parties, some apparel items & some men's nightshirts for gifts & for themselves choosing their own flannel/fleece fabrics (men like staying cozy & hiding their belly/waistline in the nightshirts), which r getting more popular (dh asked for 1 out of curiosity & he likes it) not many kids gifts this Christmas. If I didn't have my employee & college apprentice I couldn't have finished on time w my fractured foot, after re-breaking it dancing @ dh's work party. I made them both leather handbags for their Christmas gift from me, they chose their colors.

Shad, Sorry to hear about your tummy, do u ever take a Probiotic pill? I can tell a diff when I run out of them. Please get Well Soon! Do u think it could b water related? Is it possible to have any 'small' kitchen appliances where u r staying? The morning before I got my foot hurt/stress fracture I got my hair cut, the stylist found some 'gray hairs' :o booo.... When I get lots more I guess I'll start coloring my hair too.

Happy, Congrat's on the fabulous gifts from Santa :santa: they r wonderful pieces, it's so nice to feel pampered in your own home; the most Special place we can b. I've been a Interior Designer for +20 yr. if there's a piece I need, I get it wholesale, & Textiles/sewing is the major focus of my Interior Design business & Tailoring/Fashion clothing for clients is my other business. My major Investment tools r my 2 computers & my 5 sewing machines (1 embroidery, 1 for leather, 2 general purpose & 1 portable to take w me/finalizing @ the jobsite) & 3 over-lock/serger machines. I have 1 employee & 1 college intern working for me. I have more wood tools for my Interior Design business orders, than my dh owns, LOL. My only down side to my career is my income varies monthly. I love hearing that your dh is a nature photographer, he'd enjoy our 30 acres of woods. Yes we can hear/see the owls & we enjoy seeing/hearing everything except the coyotes; because they bother our neighbors; sheep, goats, horses, alpacas, chickens, pigs, cattle & wildlife. Our DNR allows coyote hunting in Michigan.

Terra, If talking about your special memories w Clyde will help u to heal from his loss, please share them here w us. All of your posts here Always included Clyde, so my wishes for u are that someday in 2015 u have the same connection & Love w another pet, because u have such a beautiful heart w soo much to share & your new pet will b Blessed to have u as it's new mommy :hug:

Laura, I hope u enjoyed your party Saturday night, sometimes we gotta go when we don't want to, because our men will do that themselves for us, to make us happy too :cool: Yep the best gifts r sometimes the ones we'd chose to get for ourselves. I liked seeing your Christmas pic & your 'body guard' Coal watching u from the front door! Re: jeans days; u r so lucky having that w this weather, so many colors of corduroys, diff textures & wearing comfy booties or Ugg types & soft sweaters to match & b riding the train. I hope all the Christmas plans u made for your family dinner r a big Hit w everyone & they feel your holiday spirit :gift2:


ceeJay, I hope all the swelling from the sodium left u quickly. I've never had any swelling from sodium; if u drank lots more water would that still happen when u have lots of salt? I eat 2 bags of Lays potato chips w a 24 oz. carton of nonfat plain yogurt for dip as my weekly binge & I've never had probs, but pizza makes my mouth tender from the sodium in all the cheeses. Re: survey's for soil conservation.. That sounds interesting, I think u have a nice job & helpful to our planet earth (I'm a tree hugger). About your Christmas decorations, I'm trying to purge everything that uses lots of storage space like u r :) Because I sew, I found that u can make a home special for the holidays w fabric; pillow slipcovers, tablecloths, sofa throws, etc. that don't use much space & I use the space-bags that vacuum out the air & compact; then I toss those full bags into a Rubbermaid tub, magically my big pile is small :wizard: I put a strip of masking tape on the seal to secure it. Your 'twinkling angels' sound very beautiful, simple is always very precious. Yumm, I agree about your steak in the crock pot. I'm sorry about your tummy pains & I hope your doc can figure it out w/o doing lots of tests. Please get Well Soon!


Michelle, I gotta ask u, does Santa notice a difference w u? You r doing great for being post-op, but I don't know anything about weight loss surgery. I occasionally see my ex-sister-in-law & she had a surgery 14 yrs ago & went from about 250 lbs. to a size small & the last 5 yrs she said she wears a size medium, she looks wonderful, but she also had body-lift plastic surgery for her excess skin hanging/rubbing & her BC/BS insurance paid for it as a medical condition. Dh & I daily continue to pray for Bob & his family & U & I've cried for him a few times for the loss of his body. But Bob will make it through this difficult journey, because 'he has a purpose to b here' that's why the cancer did not end his life. At dh's party I re-broke my foot (stress fracture) while dancing the doc said on Monday; but Bob has been in my thoughts. And Bob IS my role model now & I won't feel bad about my ouches/pains, because I have my body limbs. Bob is not a stranger to me, Please tell him that he is my new friend. We r all Blessed to know u Michelle, because not all friends r as committed to their friends as u are to Bob, u are an angel. Bob lives daily & nightly w Courage & Faith that I know he draws from the Love that you Michelle & his Precious Family give to him. May God Bless You today & Forever for your Compassionate Heart :hug:

Annie, What fun party w dancing to your brother's band. I hope your table was big enough for everyone, sounds like a Great night! Re: (Jacob seemed to rub his nose between cookies, so I am sure not to eat those. lol.) I LOL so hard my side hurt :rofl: TY for that one! U r very thoughtful taking time to post here everyday & a smart chickie about life :sunny:

Susie, I like Michael Buble' too, I would've enjoyed his Christmas show also.
TY about the info about liking your stand up-desk @ work; I am soo proud of u for standing 45 min 2-3 times daily using it :cheer2: I'm always too busy w my businesses to do any workouts, so that would b a + for building muscle in my legs, maybe that's something I'd invest in for my business office depending on the cost. How about asking your doc before u try the 'walking treadmill desks' if u still have any knee/ankle probs going on or if u get shin-splints. I don't want u getting injured again. Do u get the week of Christmas off from work, I imagine your bosses will b home. Please tell the girls from our old thread 'Merry Christmas' from me, I did have Tori & Carri's FB info to friend them last year.
Dh's ex-wife still snoops in our life, so dh still refuses to go on FB knowing that his son & daughter will backstab him as they have a habit of doing to him & they'll give his ex-w :dizzy: access to our pages. But I miss out on so much w everyone I know, just because his ex-w is a trouble maker. I once thought about using my mom's last name on FB but then nobody would know me from my contact list or anywhere else. If I used the name Dee MiniDoodles I could @ least stay updated w pics w you'all here... Hmm give me your thoughts on this girls.

Have a Wonderful weekend girls :candy:

Happy ~ Oh okay well thanks for telling about me about just having a 20 min. power nap but to save my daytime naps for when I'm very sick or when I have a bad night of sleep. Yes I was Clyde's owner for a long time

Dee ~ Thanks, I will be able to share my memories of Clyde here. Thanks for also saying my new pet will be blessed to have me as his new mommy.

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I found my bus passes last night, They were on my bedroom floor. I'm just so glad I found them. Anyway I woke up at 1:30 a.m. this morning when Scott got into bed. Its now almost 3 a.m. My alarm was set for 5 a.m. anyway so its not a big deal that I'm up at this time. I cant believe there is just 3 days until Christmas, I cant wait, I love Christmas, Its my favorite holiday.

Hi Everyone. It is a busy Sunday at home for us. We went to church this morning, it was a lovely service with a lot of singing and the preaching was good too.

DH is baking cookies to take to his co-workers tomorrow for Christmas presents. My DH loves to bake and his treats are always tasty and his co-workers are always requesting his cookies.

I'm paying bills, getting caught up on my personal email and trolling Facebook.

I don't know if I told you that my fitbit flex and broke a few weeks back. So, today I decided I was going to look into the manufactures warranty to see if it covered that. I could chat with an agent on line and so I asked and they are sending me a free replacement! I was very happy with that.

If anyone wants to friend me on Facebook and you are friends with Annie, Laura or Michelle, I'm sure you can find me on their friends list. I'm under Susie McCoy Chaney.

Dee: So glad to see you here! How does your DH feel about turning 50? I will do that in 2015 and it doesn't bother me, it's just that I can't figure out where the years went!

I'm sorry to hear that you re-fractured your foot. I did that last spring and having "the boot" to wear was a big help.

I will be working this week on Monday and Tuesday and then from home on Friday for 4 hours (that is how much time I had left for the year) and then I will work Monday and Tuesday the following week but I might do one or both days from home.

My bosses are out so it would be nice to catch up on getting some files cleaned out and my desk organized.

Thanks for being concerned with my knee. Where I get in trouble with it is if I pound on it to much and that happens by walking to fast (and wearing high heels kill me! but wearing wedge shoes do not--yeah! ) The doctor told me that when use a tread mill not to go above 3 miles an hour. The tread-desks only go up to 2.8 so I will be ok. I also ice my knee after I use a treadmill or a walking dvd or take a walk.

I think Dee MiniDoodles is a great name for your facebook. I talked to Tory a couple weeks back. I did hear from Carrie from time to time and I was going to send her a message but her page is gone. I asked Tory if she heard anything from her and she was surprised that her page was gone too.

What a lovely gift that you gave to your employees! What colors did they pick?

Happy: New furniture from Santa!!! how nice! It all sounds so lovely.
I will be happy to send the bag to you whenever you send me your address.

Ceejay: I like to have my house in good shape before the New Year too. It makes me feel better! It won't be that way until after Christmas when I get the decorations put away and do a through cleaning instead of sweeping the paths in the room and dusting with the Swiffer. The weekend after Christmas we will put things away and then move the furniture and mop the floors with Murphy's oil soap and dust the base boards and move things off the top of furniture and dust that.

I hope you have gotten the sodium issue under control and that they tummy issues will be under control soon.

Shad: I found you on Annie's FB page and sent you a friend request.
From your post it seems that you are home until after the holiday?

Did I miss the info about the gutters? Did they get done?

Annie: I saw your photo with your son....he looks so handsome in his uniform. How did the night with the band go? Next time that happens, if you have a few days notice, let me know DH and I might make the trip to Indy. (if you would want us too) I love to listen to live music and we will be looking to get away on a mini trip sometime soon.

Laura: It seems that you are getting the shopping finished by picking it up here and there at local places..those are always the best gifts!

About the gas tank on empty....I wouldn't have been to pleased with that and I can tell you that my DH did that only a few times....I can be quite a handful to handle if I am upset! ;)

Terra: I am happy to hear that you found your bus passes. I love Christmas too! Did you ask for anything special this year?

I am going to end now and balance the checkbook and pay bills. I think that in December we shouldn't have to pay bills! Wouldn't that be a nice gift?! :D

Morning all,
Seems I have come down with a summer cold. Bah. Huge headache, sore throat, runny nose. Oh bliss. Still panadol, lozenges, and lemsip seem to be doing the trick so far.

Last night went out with the family to dinner at the local pub. Not a bad meal but my fish was slightly overdone. It was good to see so many of the clan there.

Today I have had a load of stones delivered, now I just have to find the energy to wheelbarrow them around the back. Since the next door neighbour does not seem to be able to keep her lawn and weeds in check, I decided to put down bidim - sort of weed mat made of some sort of felt stuff and then put gravel down there. I will put some pots on the gravel later. Meantime I have to barrow in the stuff. I should have been more organised and got the watering system organised first but I didn't, so when that happens, I will have to move some of the gravel again.

Susie - I accepted your invitation to Facebook. It was interesting to see that your surname is Chaney. My Mums family are Chaneys as well from a huge family that comes from Kent in England. They seem to have travelled across the world in large numbers. Your DH and I may be related. I will have to dig into the family papers to see what is what.
Yes the gutters are done. Now I have to paint the house since the nice new shiny gutters are showing up the old paintwork. Nothing like something new in or on the house to show up the old.

Terra - glad you found the bus passes. Its a pain when we lose important things like that.

Dee - sorry to hear that you have re fractured that foot. Are you taking calcium? Hard to work with a limb out of action. No it is not possible to have any appliances in the motel. They have a dining room, but I get a bit cross at the prices. I can eat stuff in the room if I bring it in, and there is room service, but I am one of those who likes to make their own.

Ceejay - good on you for doing all the cleaning in the house. I will get much of mine out of the way this week so it is all go for the new year. Of course having the cat shedding fur everywhere doesn't exactly help.

Happy - we can and I do store stuff in the fridge at work. I go shopping once in a while and pick up some pre-cooked meals. There is one brand that is not frozen and they have some good meals so I get some of those for the nights I am there. We usually go out for a meal once a week or so. There is some good Lebanese, Italian pizza, and kebab places around the area. But although they are reasonably priced they are not always diet friendly. DH deserves praise for his photography he has such patience to get his subject just right and he knows what looks good through the lens.

Okay, so I had better go look like I want to shift this gravel. I'd like to get it all in today, but that might be a long shot. It'll be even longer if I don't get started.

Found this flowering in the garden this morning. Have no idea what it's name is and obviously neither did the original grower since the tag has got a name of one of the parents on it, but the actual plant is called unknown.

Shad
Sorry to hear that you have a cold. Take care of yourself. Hope you feel like moving around all those rocks. The flower is pretty but I have no idea what it is.

Susie
I'm impressed that your DH is baking cookies for his co-workers. I will look you up on FB. Always nice to have another friend.

Dee
So sorry to hear about the fracture on your foot. Try to take it easy.

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I want to rearrange some of our files at work but need to get an okay from the boss. Of all things, L wants a file cabinet to lock up her purse in. We have two that she could use and tomorrow I'm going to see if B has those key's. I could use an extra filing cabinet.
I'm getting better. I just have to remember to take the "purple pill".

Shad ~ Thanks for the advice on not sleeping during the day. Yeah it was a pain losing my bus passes especially because they are not cheap.

Susie ~ Yeah I'm glad I found my bus passes too. Thats great that you love Christmas too. I made another Christmas list this year so we'll see. My brother got me one of the items on my Christmas list, He got me the Ultimate Garth Brooks 3 disc Set for Christmas. We opened presents with my younger brother and his family on the 20th cause they wont be here for Christmas this year, They are going to AZ for Christmas.

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I woke up at 12:30 a.m. after going to sleep at almost 7:00 p.m. I'm up for the day. My plans for today are to do my 40 min. chair exercise later this morning and again at 7:00 p.m. tonight and those are all of my plans for now.

Good Monday Morning....

This should be an easy week....M, T full days, Wed about 6 hours off Thurs, Friday. YEAH!!! And I mean off Thurs & Friday. I am not having Christmas with the family until Saturday the 27th, that way no one has to rush off to someone else's or other family Christmas time. They are allllll mine! LOL

Don't know if I told you all or not but I made amends with my brother in Illinois at Thanksgiving time. I feel better about that. Anyway, he and his wife made it over (still don't care for her at all and we did not speak or even say hi to each other), Chuck and I chatted a bit, then when he was leaving, he made sure to search me out and tell me bye. They will not be coming for Christmas due to some work issues or something that is why they came over this past weekend.

The band rocked the house down. We filled up our tables and then some. It was more classic, jamming rock not really dancing music. All fun and I drank water the entire night, so did C. Good thing cause my son and DIL road with us and they got their drunk on. LOL

Yesterday was spent wrapping presents. Got them all done, praise the Lord. I had sissy stop by while she was out to pick up a couple of gifts for Jacob and her as I didn't realize how many I had gotten them and didn't want the others to feel cheated. Jacob was thrilled to get a couple of early presents. OH THANK YOU NANNA....I about choked with laughter.

Colts tried to play yesterday, OMGoodness they sucked. They didn't even show up to the game. Dallas Cowboys beat them by about 40 points. It was good that Dallas won, now they get to be in their playoffs and so will the Colts.

LAURA...you and BF go to more parties in a months than I go in a year. I, too take separate cars or not go at all when my xdh and I would go places. He always got his drunk on and never wanted to leave. One night he actually through hisself down on the ground and through a fit cause I was "making" him leave. He was drunk and it was 2 am, plus the kids were with us. Don't miss that at all. Hope the half bath turns out the way you want it to and BF gets it done in time. I would hate to have to come up there and whip him. lol Funny, I have had the best luck at the post office myself. I walked right in there on Thursday around 4:30 and no one was in line. The post office by my house stays open till 6:30pm during the week. Ah the Christmas Story movie, is a huge laugh at our house. When xdh, the kids and I used to go to his sister's house for Christmas, they alway had it playing on the 24 hour marathon channel. Meaning that channel play it 24 hours straight on CHristmas day. We all began to not like the movie after several years of watching it for hours. lol..

SHADDIE, what a crappy time of year to get a cold, well I guess anytime is a crappy time to get a cold. Probably the change in the weather and the air that circulates or does not circulate in the plane that has given you the cold germ. Bleh. Casualty of flying! Hope you get all your gravel spread, I must say you are more energetic than I. I would probably try to pay someone to mess with that. The older I get the less I want to do. Hmmm, kind of scary for me to go dormant.

HAPPY....love love love the description of your new furniture. It sounds lovely and right up your alley. A place to read and be comfy. Don't get too comfy and become inactive like me. lol I really love the pictures that DH takes and you post. I especially love the owl photo. Could you send that to my email. I will PM you my email addy. Think I will get it framed and hang it. It is so awesome. I have a monster plant from dad's funeral that I cannot rummage up the heart to get rid of it or give it away. You know the sentimental, emotional person that I am. Sheesh.

CEEG...glad you got the house all clean and can enjoy the holiday and relax. mmmmm crockpot food is the best, everything is so tender. I believe you could put a rug in there and it would come out tender enough to eat. lol You and Curtis are two of a kind, just when he gets all straightened out, his issue arise again. Right now he is having awful stomach, instestine problems. Poor guy.

DEE...all the sewing and machines you have my DIL would love to spend time at your house. She is just getting into all of that. My son got her a sewing machine for her birthday. She wants to start her own business doing bowties and bows for babies. She seems very excited about doing it. Hope it goes well, didn't have the heart to tell her there are a zillion of those businesses out there like that. WOW DH sure got a lot of food for two people. Must of cost him a fortune unless he bought from the dollar menu everywhere. hahahah. I bet that was fun.

SUSIE...I sure will let you know when my brother's band plays again. They are not doing a lot at the moment and this was a fluke that they even played Saturday. Mostly they just get together and jam. Life seems to get in the way for everyone to schedule a venue. All of them have "real" jobs so it is quite tough. However, we would love to have you and gives us a reason to move our spare bedroom into the other spare bedroom, to make it more comfortable for our company.

TERRA...why don't you go to bed a bit later in the evening then you won't be up so early in the night. Hope you get all your exercises in. Are you ready for Christmas?

CHELLE...are you feeling better and better physically as you lose weight. That was one of my greatest feelings. Especially tying shoes, putting on socks, etc. haha...Stick with what you know about your eating plan, it all works out. Drink your water first, the rest is not as important. Take some biotin tabs, it helps to keep the hair from falling out. Hugs.

That is about it for me, boss is on his way to Chicago for a meeting today. I am happy about that so I can get some work and files ready for next year without interruptions.

Make it a great day/night.

Hugs

Morning all. As usual I was MIA all weekend. All is quiet here right now, so I’ll see how much of a post I can get done.

Friday I came home from work to learn that the revolving tree stand was not the right size to accommodate the trunk of our new Christmas tree. So much for us asking if the stand worked with the tree at the time we were shopping. (The salesperson responded that the tree stand was good for up to 1,000 lights, but trunk size vs stand size wasn’t mentioned.) Our tree is designed such that the lights get plugged into the trunk, and the power goes through the trunk, and then there’s one plug at the bottom that goes into a power outlet. The trunk size must be non-standard.) BF was on the phone with the store trying to determine if the other (more expensive, naturally) revolving stand would work. So I dug out the receipt for bf. A trip back to this store, which is not close to the house, would be necessary over the weekend. Bleh.

So I did stay home from the party on Friday night while bf went to it alone. I made two batches of cookie dough. One was peanut butter dough for the dog cookies. The other was for thumbprints (butter cookies with indentations filled with jam). I stayed up later than I should have, bad Laura. I woke up around 5 am, had a bit of trouble falling back asleep, so I read for a short bit and eventually went back to sleep until 8-ish.

Saturday morning I made another two batches of cookie dough – one for almond crescents and one for the crust of mini cranberry tarts. Now if I actually get a chance to roll/cut/shape and bake all these cookies – before Christmas Eve – that would be a miracle. Other than that I spent time cleaning house.

I really wasn’t feeling up to par either day, which puzzled me. But now I know I was fighting off a cold –and I wasn’t successful. I dozed restlessly before the alarm this morning, with a slight sore throat and was hoping it was just sore from being dry. Nope. I’ve got watery eyes and a runny nose. I hope this will be a mild cold.

Back to Saturday – after a late lunch, I went off to walk the dog and bf was supposed to be returning the stand to the store. Except he couldn’t find the receipt. When I got back from the dogwalk, he was ranting that he’d looked everywhere and it was gone, just disappeared, yada yada yada. After more looking and a lot of bickering, I finally decided to look in the box for the stand and ‘lo and behold, there it was. Bf said it was the first place he’d checked, but apparently not very well. Sigh.

So bf exchanges the stand for the more expensive one, which has adapters for three different trunk sizes. Guess what? None work with our tree! Grrr. By this time, I don’t care about a revolving tree stand anymore. We end up using the stand that came with the tree. That night we assembled the tree and spent some time fluffing up the branches and shaping the tree, but still have no ornaments on it. Trip #3 to the store to return stand #2 will have to happen. Hopefully bf can make the trip double duty and also meet a friend of his who lives out that way for lunch.

Yesterday morning I had a quick spot of tea before heading off to the mall for the 9 am opening to buy the other gift for my secret Santa recipient. I got the last one, and based on the wish list posting, I’m not even positive what color she even wanted, but having checked three other stores without success, I ended up back at the original store to buy that one. At least it’s a nice neutral color. I felt tired and out of sorts and I was only in the mall for an hour! (Now I know I can chalk it up to this cold coming on.) At least I got some exercise walking from one end of the mall and back to check those other stores. BTW, “she” is my SIL and “it” is a scarf. Shhh, don’t tell anyone! :sssh: :ziplip:

Yesterday afternoon was the Christmas gathering for bf’s side of the family. It was at his sister’s house, which thankfully isn’t too far from home. But like Thanksgiving, there was a good-sized crowd which included a couple young kids, so it was a noisy, chaotic time. I enjoy seeing everyone, but I just can’t tolerate too much of that atmosphere for very long. And I’ve come to appreciate good lighting. At bf’s sister’s, there’s a dining room fixture with 3 bulbs, very high wattage and NO dimmer. It was unbelievably bright and warm there! I could have used sunglasses, hahaha. And other areas had very little lighting.

However, we had a fun time. I learned only on Saturday that there was to be a while elephant gift exchange but, thankfully, I immediately knew what we’d bring. A couple years ago I’d won a very rustic clock in a raffle being held by a home furnishings shop up in the WI Dells. If we’d had a cabin in the woods, it would have been perfect - but we don’t, and it’s not the right style for our house so it sat in the basement..until Saturday. So that’s what we wrapped and brought for the white elephant yesterday. The person who ended up with it apparently liked it enough to want to keep and made a point of holding it in her lap and doing her best to hide it so it wouldn’t be “stolen” by the other participants in the game. BF and I ended up with a mini Rival crockpot (Li’l Dipper). We already had one that came with our crockpot when we bought it all those years ago, but this new one actually goes better with our décor because it’s stainless steel and matches our other appliances. I don’t have a fancy thermal gravy boat, so maybe we’ll actually use one or both of our mini-crockpots on Christmas Eve to keep the gravy warm, LOL.

By the time we got home it was after 8 pm and I was wiped out. No tree decorating was done. That’ll have to be tonight I guess.

Enough rambling. :blah: :blah: :blah:

Gonna post this now and get to personals later, time permitting. TTFN.

Terra – I think Happy and Shad already answered your question, but yes, sleeping too much during a nap makes it harder to sleep at night. Unless you’re trying to make up for a poor night’s sleep, or you’re sick. Yay for finding the bus passes!! :yay: You must be relieved.

Shad – Sorry you’ve been having tummy troubles, but I’m not surprised if you’ve been forced to eat out a lot on the job. I know how it is to be living in a hotel (but the max for me was usually 3 weeks) and not want to have to eat out all the time. I remember on one assignment in a town with slim pickin’s in the restaurant department. We tired of the same place, so we began stopping at the supermarket after leaving the office and picking up bits and pieces to make up a meal – sandwiches, fruit, etc. – to bring back to our rooms. Bummer about the cold. I’m in the same boat, but hoping this runs its course quickly. Once again you’re making me weary just reading your post – wheelbarrowing stones!! Now wouldn’t it be interesting to find out if you’re related to Susie’s DH??!! Pretty flower – that’s not an orchid? Oh, I guess you’d want to know precisely what kind…never mind. ;)


Happy – Ooh, new furniture. Sounds nice. You’ll be able to settle in for some nice reading sessions now. :) Looking forward to seeing the monster plant. I’d brought my houseplants back into the house from the 3-season room a while back. I feel bad for them because we’ve had no sun for quite a while now. But I still open the blinds for them… And I think at least one of them needs repotting. Your mom will enjoy the goodies you bought her! My mom’s always trying to watch what she eats, but I know she enjoys the treats Heck, she’s 81 – she can enjoy the occasional treat. Re the car running on fumes – I let the car go low occasionally, but not buried on E! Yeh, my work commute once I’m downtown isn’t bad at all (even with crossing the river and Wacker Drive!). My first job out of college, my office was all the way at Michigan Ave. Thankfully, I was usually working offsite either more conveniently located, or I could drive there instead of bus-train-bus. Re Peggy Cappy – my library had 3 of her dvds. I’ve got one on hold for myself.

Ceejay – I’m cleaning up the house for company coming on Christmas Eve, so I will go into the new year with a reasonably clean house. And I intend to get my donations organized for dropping off before Dec. 31 so I can take a tax deduction! :yes: I’m so sorry your tummy’s still having problems. Glad it’s getting better – keep up with those purple pills!! The purse storage issue should be no problem if the keys are found!

Dee – Well, I suppose the picnic supper was made up for by the fish dinner the following night, lol. Happy belated 50th to your dh! I turned the big 5-0 this past July and of course sagging jowls have “suddenly” appeared, LOL. Yet there are other friends and acquaintances that don’t seem to age one bit! Oh well, as long as I feel good… You sound really busy with your holiday work. Interesting that nightshirts are becoming more popular with your clients. I’ve never been a fan of nightgowns myself. What a bummer that you re-broke your foot! Wow, that’s a lot of sewing machines, and you aren’t even considering your sergers to be sewing machines! But your business definitely warrants all that equipment. I bet the variety of your work makes it so interesting. Re jeans, yeh, it’ll be nice to be a bit more casual. I do need some booties – I’ve got one ancient pair and that’s it. Otherwise I’ve just got heeled boots and snow boots. Re FB, my first page was using an “alias” because I only opened it to interact with my “internet” friends. At some point I created a “real life” page, and earlier this year I combined friends on the two into the real page and finally eliminated my “alias” FB page, lol. All that fuss and I rarely post anything, lol. But I do keep up with people that way. Dee, I can see in your case why you’d want to have an account without your real name. It stinks you refrain from it when you’d really like to keep up with people you know. :(

Susie – How nice DH bakes treats for his co-workers! What kind of cookies does he bake? I’m glad you’re getting your fitbit replaced under warranty. Yes, no bills to pay in December would definitely be a great gift!! :yes:

Annie – Glad you enjoyed your brother’s band the other night. Yay for easy workweeks! Nice you made amends with your IL bro. The SIL, well, just co-existing in the same space for short periods will have to do, huh? LOL re the extra presents. Oy, the parties this year! I’m such a homebody, I’d really rather stay home most of the time. I’m happy to say that our gathering on Christmas Eve will be very quiet compared to the Thanksgiving and yesterday’s gatherings. Saturday’s party will be stress free because it isn’t family, haha. Re the movie marathon of just ONE movie – no thanks! For me, it’s more special to see a move I love just every once in a while. And for some reason I enjoy it more when I catch them as they’re being broadcast on tv. But I did make a point of DVR’g “Christmas In Connecticut” and “Holiday Inn” because I’d hate to miss those two.

Michelle – So now you’re off work until after New Year’s? Nice. Any special plans?

Well, I think that’s about it for now. Today is it for me working this week!! And the day is half over!! :carrot: Looking forward to six days of no work. After work tonight will be decorating the tree and maybe baking a batch of cookies. Tomorrow will be grocery shopping and more cleaning, and hopefully some baking!!

Back to it! :wave:
:wreath: :wreath: :wreath:

Evening all,
Been a productive day and I am somewhat worn out. Shifted 13 barrow loads of stones yesterday and 10 today. I've clean the majority of the house and for some reason, the family figured that today would be a good day to ring me to wish me happy Christmas and to chat. So I've been fairly busy. And now I am tired enough to sleep. As long as this stupid cough will let me of course. My nose started to run while I was chatting to my sister. Front and back so I was blowing and coughing altogether. Sorry if that is too much information. However I will have a spoonful of honey shortly and then some more Advil and off to bed. Hopefully this stupid cold is on its way out.
Can't think who put a thing on facebook about getting rid of a stuffy nose - was it you Happy? Anyway I tried it out and it works - for about 30 seconds, maybe a bit longer. Still it is nice while it lasts and while it lasts you need to be standing or sitting upright. Doesn't work if you lie down afterwards.

Been warm out there today. So I have mostly worked inside, still can find plenty to do either inside or out - outside - I can lay a block wall, spread stones, garden (always weeds here) fix a gate latch which doesn't seem to want to stay fixed, and paint the house. Inside - I can clean, prepare the laundry for a reno, prepare the bathroom for a reno, sweep and wash and also clear out the spare room. The attic space needs some work as well. Always something in a house.

So I will take myself off to bed and come back for personals tomorrow.

HAPPY TUESDAY...woke in a good mood today and down another pound. Minus 11, finally broke that 10 lb mark. Not bad. It has been 43 days since I start this embargo. I have to say CHELLE has been a huge inspiration. I have the same tools she has to lose this weight, I just need to follow the rules, which I have been, hence the loss. I don't want her looking so good and leaving me behind. lol.

Last night was pretty calm. Stopped by my brother's house for a bit. My nephew was there also. Nice visit. He also paid me for some things I picked up that he requested while I was out and about. Nice to get that extra 50 spot, just in time for Christmas.

C has a slipped hiatal hernia. Meaning his intestine and gut start rumbling then pain shoots up his mid section past his belly button into his sternam area, then has heart palpitations. What a scare that was until we found out what the cause was. So now he is on a very restricted diet, takes prilosec daily and has to wait 3 hours after a meal to lie down. I told him he better not die cause I would kill him if he did. lol

SHADDIE...man looks like you could use my help these days around the homestead. Yikes with all the work you have planned. You must have muscles in your arms and legs like crazy all that hauling you do. I am very impressed with your activities. However, you are on your own on the painting, I HATE painting, all the other stuff, I am game as long as I can do it. SHADDIE, try some Nyquil at night and give yourself plenty of time to sleep it off. Works like magic, no coughing. For the cough, Hauls cough drops lemon/honey are the best. Just sayin'

LAURA, LAURA, LAURA...you always have something going on. Girl you do more than I would ever like to do. I really don't like people enough to be in crowds or at a party. I am very cordial and can babble with the rest of them, you would never know I would rather be home watching Hallmark with MELLIE. Bummer about the rotating tree stand, as much frustration with it that I would of endured, it would have been rotating anyway. lol. Gald you finally got the tree up, like you I don't have enough ornaments and doesn't look like I am going to put the effort into buying any this year. That whole making cookie dough and cutting out cookies is for the birds. It was fun making cookies with the kiddos, however glad it only comes once a year. We did try some of the Pilsbury sugar cookie dough. It worked just fine and tasted great. Add a little flour and roll it out, perfect. Just be sure to leave the rolled dough a little thick, otherwise the cookies get too done and crispy around the edges. Live and learn, I guess. Good snag on the little crockpot gift. I have one and just love it. Perfect for cheese dip, sauces, gravies, taco meat, stuff like that. I think I would rather have more small crockers than the two large ones I have.

Hellos to the rest of ya's.

Make it a great Tuesday/nite.

Hugs.