Annie ~ Yeah my friend and I had a nice time a Red Lobster and at the movies.

Laura ~ Yeah I've had alot of seafood lately but its okay cause I love seafood, Its one of my favorite types of food.

Happy ~ Yeah Strawberry Cheesecake Salad is really good. We make it every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yeah the crawfish was good.

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I woke up at 8 a.m. and got ready for school and when I was already, Mom called and said she thought I should stay home because we're getting a really bad storm today and she didnt want me on the bus when there was a storm so I stayed home today even though it sucked that I had to stay home but if I would of went mom would of been worried about me the whole time but I really wish I could of went to school today. We had Lunch and Bingo today so I missed out but oh well. I hope there arent storms tomorrow too cause I have cooking class tomorrow but we'll see I guess. Sorry for rambling on. I'm gonna do my 30 min. walking dvd today here pretty soon.

Terra
Bummer on not getting to go to school because of the storm. Don't blame your mom though for not wanting you to be out and about in it. I don't like them either.

Laura
Yes, I'm really tired. I'm so glad that I don't have any plans made for travel.

Happy
Safe travels.

Shad
Are you going to take some time off after this stent of work?
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We're supposed to get severe storms tomorrow and tomorrow night. Glad I'm not scheduled to work. Don't think my nerves could handle it.
Need to make some phone calls tomorrow. The main thing I'm going to d is rest.

April showers today the spring air & everything beginning to go green is beautiful. My dark purple lilac bushes r full of buds & the pink lilac bush in front of my kitchen bay window is where our hummingbirds build their spring nests.

Susie my prayers r with you tomorrow that everything is fine.

Ceej ~ driving in bad weather is dangerous, I'm glad u don't have to do it tomorrow. How long is your drive to work, it only takes pulling out of the driveway onto a slick street to have a wreck no matter the distance.

Happy ~ I'm sure your happy to b back home w your dh & pets again. There's no place like home

R is waiting for me, we're going to get banana splits @ our local ice cream shop.

Everyone have a fun Thursday

Dee
I have a bout a 5 to 7 minute drive to work. If it's icy or there's to much snow I have them come to get me.

Susie
Sending you good vibes and prayers your way tomorrow.

Wow the saying is true about April showers. We had major thunder boomers yesterday, even a tornado south of us. Today is more of the same only a little more serious. If we make it though today and tonight, the next 3 days are supposed to be dandy. 65-70, sunny! I will take it.

We went to Bonnie and Clydes Hide Out for dinner last night. It is a restaurant on one side and pub on the other. C got Bonnie's burger and I got a patty melt. It is jailhouse Bonnie & Clyde themed. We split a house salad and onion rings. I brought half my patty melt and a lot of onion rings home. I supposed C will eat them tonight for dinner. We got out of there for 18 bucks. Of course we drank water.

SUSIE...mucho prayers your scan comes out great. Do update us as soon as possible.

CEEG...you need to rest after all you have been through the past week or so.

TERRA...too bad about school, maybe today you can make it.

DEE...banana split...do you share one or get one for yourself? I could never finish one plus not fond of chocolate topping.

HAPPY...great picture posted on FB of you all. You look a lot like your momma. All that beauty in one picture. WOW.

SHADDIE...home again, home again, jiggity jig. Nice to get away from all that crapola. Focus on you and home for a bit.

LAURA...your admin sounds lucky to even be able to work. That is a monumental mess of health issues. Poor thing.

Hello to the rest of ya's. Better close, my salesman will be here shortly to pick up the closing docs I put together yesterday.

Make it a great day/night all!

Hugs

Afternoon all. Just a quick post for now. It was raining cats and dogs this morning and I got drenched from the knees down walking to the train station today. It was still raining at lunch so I grabbed a sandwich from the lobby restaurant. My socks and shoes are still soaking wet, so I suppose I’ll be wearing home a pair of shoes from my stock at work. Unless it’s still raining…then I’ll just put on the wet shoes and socks. Even though my rubber boots are uncomfortable for walking, I guess I should have worn them today...

Last night we had a sub instructor for the yogalaties class. This one did much more challenging moves than the usual one. Some were really difficult, like pushups in the down dog position! Gosh, we go from one extreme to another. I can’t say I’ll be sad when this class finally ends in mid-May. Five more classes!

Today’s my Friday. Just wish it were closer to quitting time today!

At work, I have to get my 2015 performance goals entered into HR’s system. Bleh, I'd be surprised if there's anyone who actually enjoys doing this.

While my boss was out this week, we were supposed to be checking references provided in conjunction with a project. The department member who was supposed to set up the references dragged her feet about it (claiming she’s been soooo busy) and is now finally scheduling the calls today. She’s trying to cram them into two days, so I’ll miss the ones set for tomorrow. The boss will not be too happy if most aren’t done this week – we, or rather SHE, had a whole week to do it.

Tomorrow morning is my annual gyne appointment and later bf and I will go out and test drive the two models of cars he’s interested in to make sure I'm interested in them too.

Okay, gotta run. TTFN.

Annie
I thought about you yesterday during with all the thunder storms and tornadoes around you. Our storms are suppose to hit tonight and tomorrow.

Laura
I don't like getting soaking wet from rain especially when at work. That's a good idea to keep extra things at work,

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I weighed in this morning to show a .7 pounds loss. I will take it. This week I'm going to work at it more. I'm only using my calories burned from my fit bit and I'm eating at my calorie limit of 1700 per day. This week I've lowered calories down to 1500. Still haven't managed to get my whole 10,000 steps in per day. This morning I bought myself a 32 ounce water bottle at Wal-mart. Maybe I can get more water in this way. I have been cutting way back on my Coke's.

Hello all,

Happy early Friday. I spent Thursday gathering some photos as well as art supplies for an all day class I am taking on Monday. I hope it will be good Had to go through a lot of pictures to find some that will be workable in the class. And my PC did a scan that said my hard drive is having problems so I hope they will open a ticket and send me a new hard drive before it blows - too much to lose on this laptop. I am partially unpacked. Really glad we came back on Wednesday as like Ceejay and Laura said - storms were blowing through town including some tornado like weather. I was talking to my cousin's wife on FB - the ones that live up this way and they drove down today to Chicago for a grandson's party. Said the weather was awful. I have to say we had a great drive up and back - thanks for favors granted

DH sat and read today. It was a crummy, cold day. Towards sunset it started snowing again but it's supposed to get to 50 degrees tomorrow so it won't last long. This is erratic spring for us. It's just the snows we get now are wet and heavy so it's good if they melt before we have to shovel them. We are supposed to have a nice weekend, I told DH to pick something to do on one of the days. I ordered a trial of HBO and Showtime on cable again - mostly so I could watch a documentary on Scientology on HBO. VERY INTERSTING is all I can say. And while there are some good movies on HBO (including Best Ever Marigold Hotel and Fault in Our Stars), I have to say there is NOTHING on Showtime. That's ok, confirms why we cancelled them in the first place. I figure if we watch 3 movies a month, we have equaled the money we'd spend to rent them On Demand. Actually I would have paid to rent the documentary, but the slick ones figured that out and you can only view it with an HBO subscription.

Ceejay - congrats on seeing a drop on the scale. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep up the good work. You can drop the calories but don't drop them too much or you will stall your efforts. If you monitor your intake you will be able to tell. Good for you for cutting back on the soda- empty calories. I hope you didn't get bad storms last night.

Laura - ugh sitting in the wet socks and shoes. Those are the times I wished we had those air dryers in the rest rooms so we could blow things out. I was looking at a girl at Walmart yesterday who had on rain boots. It was pretty obvious there is no support at all in those things. Bummer that there is inconsistency in the yogalaties class. I know you want a good workout but... Pushups with downward dog? How is that yoga OR pilates? That's good that BF is taking you along to test drive cars - especially since you are a one car family! I hope everything goes well for you at the doctor's and that you really like his choices. That is really sad about the admin with the diabetes. It really brings things home just how devastating the disease can be when it attacks your blood vessels. They said it's like ground glass tearing at them. Yes, we did have a spiral sliced ham - it came out nice and tender and moist in the crock pot gently warming it. My sister said that Cook's is a great brand if you are going to do your own but they enjoy the honey baked and not a thing goes to waste she said.

Annie - wow - 18 bucks for dinner for 2 (actually 3 meals) is quite the bargain even if you did just drink water! Sounds like a fun place. Hope you enjoyed your meals. Thank you for the comment on our picture. I had my camera with me and every time I wanted to snap a picture - people were complaining that they were messy looking - especially Mom. So that picture was snapped at the mall before we all said goodbye - don't care how messy you look I remember when my Mom started to have the softness in the face like my grandmother - when the elasticity goes. Now I see it in me and it's a bit sad. However my Mom is a spitfire at 88 so I hope we all get a bit of that fire as we go forward.

Dee - the hummingbirds are making their way up north. You should be seeing them soon. How nice that they nest nearby in the bushes.

Terra - did you get back to school yesterday?

Are you wrapping things up Shad? I think by now you should be done and packing to go home. Let us know how it went.

Hi Susie and Michelle

I am tired so I think I am going to head off to bed and try and keep this trend of earlier to bed I started at my sister's house. Good night all.

TGIF and Good Friday (pay day)....

My boss has been out since Wednesday and I have been busier than when he is here. I have packaged 3 deals for my BDO (salesman). Each deal takes around 3 hours to sometimes type in missing information, print, organize, tag for signing. I have one to do today, plus two reports. No rest for the wicked. Probably should be working now instead of posting. I just know I will not be able to get back in here later with all that is on my plate.

Last night's storms were loud, didn't really matter since I woke up at 1:30 for the day. Couldn't get back to sleep to save my arse. Heard a tornado touched down about 70 miles west of LAURA. That must of been scary for all. The entire town was completely demolished, one death so far. It was only a F1 tornado too.

LAURA...hope you all are safe and Coal didn't freak out too much with the storms that came your way. We got what you had except no tornados. It has moved out of Indiana and we are supposed to have 3 or 4 wonderful days ahead. 70 on Sunday, I believe. Might even do the first grass cutting as Sassy Land is getting a little high. Downward dog pushups, yikes, now I know I do not like exercising. haha Today is your Saturday? or something like that, enjoy your days off, but not so much the doc appt.

HAPPY...glad you made it back safely. You, like I, sound like the little tormentor in the family. Isn't it fun? My oldest brother is so easy to torment, he believes anything. I am going to get my hummingbird feeders out this weekend. Sissy put hers out yesterday. I don't know how she had time as Thursdays are her full load of kiddos day. Have fun at the art class, those are usually fun. You told DH to pick something to do, with or without you. Or are you going to marathon HBO while he is away? We are getting something free this weekend on our cable but cannot remember what, if it is HBO or what. Hope so, I would also like to catch that scientology documentary. Just because I am so curious and nosey about it.

CEEG...great job on the loss. Yes, any loss is a plus, so to speak. Yes, drop the sodas and drink water. You know better than that Curtis...I mean CEEG. Neither one of you should be drinking soda in any form.

SUSIE...any info on the scan? Do let us know.

CHELLE...still pounding the pavement for a job. Good vibes coming your way.

SHADDIE...you must really be resting now that you are home. Mentally and physically.

Hello to the rest of you lovely ladies.

Hugs.

Morning all.

Terra – Sorry you didn’t get to go to school the other day. Did you get to go yesterday? If so, what did you cook in class?

Ceejay – Hope you didn’t get the bad storms we did yesterday. Are you getting some rest? Good job on the loss! I agree with cutting out the sodas. I drink diet soda, but i still want to cut back to only a couple a week. I've been drinking a lot of water this past week since i got my new water bottles! And I've also ordered iced tea several times.

Dee - Can't wait until my lilac bushes are ready to bloom! Noticed yesterday that our korean spice viburnum is budding. That smells heavenly when it blooms. How did the scan go?

Susie - I hope your scan went well yesterday & that your results come in good!

Annie – I’m glad you didn't get the tornados like the areas west/nw of Chicago did. The town of Fairdale (by Rockford ) really suffered. Very tragic. In our area we had the thunder early yesterday morning & not too much or too loud, so my Coalie did okay. Boy, the grass got green & grew & bf will be having to get the mower going soon. I suppose he'll want to put the snowblower away first!! Your dinner out sounded tasty & fun. Great to have leftovers. Bf & i went to lou malnati's last night & ordered a small pan pizza - 4 slices- & took half home. Two women at the booth behind us had a large & i sure hope they were taking a LOT home to their families, lol. Don't work too hard today!

Happy – Wow what's late if nearly 1 am is early??!! . So you'll be drawing something based on a photo? Have you ever taken an art class? I hope you enjoy it. I didn't wear the wet shoes and socks home. It was actually nice when i left work, but sort of rainy when i got off the train at home. Hope the snow melted & your weather turns milder today.

Shad – Hope you're safely at home now enjoying a cuddle with your kitty.

Michelle – How's it going, stranger? Hope the job hunt is going well for you.
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My doc appt was fine today. My urine sample had blood cells in it so they are sending it out for a culture. I could have an infection or who knows. Hope i don't end up having to go to a urologist. Oh, and she brought up my weight. Okay, so it could have been better....

At lose ends for the moment. Think I'll watch some Mad Men before we go do the test drives & get lunch.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Morning all,

Happy Friday. No payday for me - probably EVER again. So to those who get one, enjoy that paycheck you worked so very hard for. Shooo-whee as Annie would say - I am soooo glad we left on Wednesday when I see the devastation of those storms. My heart always goes out to tornado victims - everything you have - gone in a minute - spread across 3 counties. Your most personal things - laying in a tree 50 miles away. That was a whopper of a tornado too. Always makes me scared when you get bad storms at night although it was still a bit light at the time. Better to see something coming.

Our new Keurig brewer came today - we'll see if it's better than the Kitchen-aide we are replacing. It's the same model that my sister has and they have had theirs for a long time and are happy with it.

Anne - the documentary is called Going Clear. As I said it is VERY interesting and while they don't come out with straight up explanations, I think I finally understand about the mysterious circumstances of the divorce of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and maybe even some of what's going on in Travolta's world too. It definitely is a cult. Yes, I am A teaser - but THE teaser title by far Teaser AND Tormentor most definitely belonged to my late brother. I like to shake Mom up a little bit once in a while, especially since she really puts Sis and me through our paces. I got such a laugh from your comment to Laura about now you REALLY don't like exercise (downward dog push ups) - LOL And speaking of exercise, this time of year my head and sinuses really bother me and yes, the yoga is getting to me also. I am still dealing with the vertigo - I could not remember the exact sequence of the reset procedure so I just dealt with it at my sister's. It was really bad when I had to do a full bend over to pick up something on the floor or scoot down to look at things on a lower shelf. I might try the decongestant route you ladies talked about - they used to not bother me when I took them every day but since I've been away from them, they now make me tired. But still... if it clears the head. My poor sister has this residual drippy, choking cough. I felt badly for her.

Got a big list of things to do today - pick up photo prints for my art class - DH does take some nice pictures, I must admit. Got to get supplies if I don't already have them, I have some books at the library waiting for pick up and I need to do a little grocery shopping. We got snow overnight but thanks to Mother Nature and some warm sunshine - it's all gone and just wet right now. Thank you !!! We might go out for a drive tomorrow - supposed to be a nice day, the only thing is that it's still quite muddy out. DH took a ride out last week and had to hike about 1/2 mile to the falls - said it was a bit slippery in places, so still not the best of conditions.

I have to start making an effort to walk more. I could do our road but this time of year one has to be mighty careful of roaming bears that are waking up and hungry. They generally wouldn't bother you unless they had cubs BUT I don't want to take that chance. The problem walking with DH is that he wants to go FAST and I can not comfortably keep up with him. I am also retiring the idea of losing weight. It seems to me that when I specifically focus on watching my calories, that's when the scale holds stubborn. It makes me extra frustrated because if I am trying hard, I EXPECT results. I am glad I didn't gain at my sister's which is surprising only because we did a heckova lotta sitting around at her place since she wasn't feeling well. I didn't overeat, the candies had no interest for me so I ate fairly clean. But she likes to do things her way and her water is very expensive so she will not let you do dishes or laundry or just about anything more than set the table. No wonder my Mom is so spoiled. Sweet stuff just doesn't taste that good to me which I am grateful for - I wish though I felt the same way about soda. In time, I guess... anyway I will continue to eat clean and make an effort to get some sort of exercise in each and every day. I really, REALLY want to, NEED to knock off some of this weight.

Hope you all have a good weekend, I will check back in later.

My aunt called me wanting me to come over today to help them do some things for my cousin. She's getting her mom's house ready to sell. She's having to put her mom in a nursing home. I really feel for my cousin right now but I'm really tired. Told them I would be there by 2. I need to eat lunch and get a few things together for an over night stay.

More later.

Ah Laura,

Again we are typing over one another. Yay for you for putting those new water bottles to good use and getting in lots of water!!!

To your questions, no I have not taken an art class since high school And yes, we will be doing exercises based on photos we bring to class. I kind of hope we get to draw something and not abstract exercises As for going to bed - I sort of lose track of time between midnight and 2am. I see it's 2 and go downstairs. By the time I clean off the counter (if needed), refresh water and cat food, go down and scoop litter for the night, wash up and get ready for bed, it's close to 3am. And when I have those nights that I'm tired and frustrated that when my head hits the pillow and I can't get comfortable to fall asleep - I have been awake close to 4am. But I always get up by 9 unless I have taken a Benedryl or Zzzzquil and am in a coma. The first night I arrived at my sister's I developed a big headache and just didn't feel well so I went to bed at 9:30 which is crazy early for me. I slept through until 6:30 and then had to lay in bed quietly so as not to wake up the rest of the house. My nephew and Mom were in open areas in the house so I didn't want to disturb anyone. I generally went to bed around 11:30 at her place and was up early as well. Less distractions than at my house

You intrigued me with the Korean Spice bush. I have seen them before. That looks wonderful although I think with a planting zone 3 that we are in it won't work for us. Also it needs to be in the sun and away from cold winds and dry conditions which is smack dab where it would be at the front of the house. Bummer. I am fascinated by the smell reminiscent of a "spice cake" as opposed to more traditional sweet flowers. DH wants to plant some cone flowers this year to attract butterflies.

Argh on the urine results. Hopefully it's nothing that can't be quickly fixed. I think we are all going to get the from the doc on that darn scale number. Just look sheepish YES, I will work on it. Frustrating with the power exercising you do AND the commute walk/bike 5 days a week.

Hope you enjoy the test drives and your long weekend!

Poor Ceejay - you never do seem to get some time to yourself, do you? It is nice of you to help your cousin. It's an emotional thing to have to move someone out of their home and into a rest home facility. You are a good cousin to help out.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I've been away. I've been so swamped with job hunting. I've submitted countless resumes (tweaking each one, along with the cover letter, trying to get a better match for the job description). I've talked to dozens of recruiters at placement agencies. I've had a few phone interviews and an in person interview. I'm feeling very positive because at least there's interest.

Today, I'm taking the afternoon off from the job search as a friend of mine I met in Wisconsin but who now lives in Washington State is in the area visiting her family. She and I are going to the beach this afternoon. It's too cold to swim, but we can at least enjoy a nice walk along the shore.

Tomorrow, I've got to help my step-mom and step-brother with some computer woes they are having, and of course submit more resumes.

Dee, I'm not sure if you received the PM I sent regarding the medicine I take for my back. But basically I take Nortriptyline, and that's helped a lot. I also take a muscle relaxer occasionally. And if I'm really in bad shape, I take a Vicodin.

I hope you all are doing well. Sorry I've been absent.

Much love to all,