another super quick post as I have to implement some new design recommendations that came from a meeting late yesterday afternoon, and I need the changes done by this afternoon, so my boss can show his boss.

Tonight, my step-mom and I are going to see Malala speak! I'm super excited. Such a brave young girl who nearly lost her life as she fought for the right for girls to be educated.

Morning all. Happy Friday.

Michelle - Enjoy Malala's speech tonight!

Dee - Glad to hear that you, DH and the grandkids are having a good time camping. It's great that your dh could fix the fuel pump himself and save all that money on labor. It's greating having a handy honey.

Happy - Estate sales & shopping yesterday, gardens, breakfast and festivals today - sounds like a lot of fun for you. Enjoy.

Terra - I hope you can find "One Day at a Time" at the library so you don't have to buy it. I almost never buy dvds, except for exercise dvds. Join the club - I have astigmatism in both eyes. It's great that Scott doesn't have to do the closing at his job anymore if he doesn't like doing it. Have a great rest of the day and a great weekend!

Annie - I think you'd like "Spy". Hope all is going well with the grandbabes today!!

Hellos to the rest of the gang. Everyone have a great weekend!

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Nothing much to report. I do have a bra injury though, lol. The other night in the movie theater I sort of noticed my bra was uncomfortable (no surprise with underwires), and once I left the movie, I noticed pain in the right side rib right where the underwire was apparently pressing against it. It hurt when I coughed. It's still sore there today, but less so. I've been wearing non-wired bras the past couple days. What a weird thing - never had that happen to me before. If I could get away without wearing underwire bras, I would ditch them entirely.

Nothing planned for the weekend except to make a visit to the Relay for Life event on Saturday.

Okay, off to lunch. TTFN.

Laura ~ Yeah I hope I can find the dvd's at the library. Yeah Scott and I are really happy about his schedule change.

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Woke up at 7:00 a.m. Its now almost noon and I'm about to start working out. I'm gonna take a shower after I work out and then I'll wash the dishes.

I'm in Paragould at the Holiday Inn. My sis and her dh are going to part of their class reunion tonight but I opted not to go. I got things to fix in the microwave and some simple snacks.
Had a very good discussion with the social security rep Thursday morning. Instead of waiting till I'm 66 to start drawing my benefits I'm going to start in January but still work till I turn 66. I signed up for Medicare also. This will start in August. I use my work insurance as my primary and Medicare as secondary. And I'm changing my retirement date to August 1st instead of September. Everything is falling into place and I'm super excited.
My sister wasn't to happy about me signing up for Medicare. Don't really understand why. From what I understand there is only a certain amount of time in which you can do this. until you are 65.
Went to the doctor Thursday because of a sinus infection which got down into my chest. And started coughing in the middle of the night. The dr. gave me a injection and 3 prescriptions. One is an inhaler which I"ve never used before. Still haven't used it as I don't know how.

Morning all,

I'm tired. Didn't get a good sleep at all. Now we have to head out to a festival I'd rather not go to. I want to but don't feel like it. DH will probably be glad if we do a short walk through. I have been buying a lot lately, need to trim back on that. I'll try and get back and post later. Have a good weekend.

Morning all,
Hope you are having a good Sunday. I have to bake dog treats today but first I am headed out to the garden to do a little weeding and picking before the storms hit in 2 hours. We went to the festival yesterday and walked the 3 blocks of the streets. It was hot. I got my small bag of mini donuts and DH got his fresh cut French fries. I bought a valance for the kitchen window with butterflies and a matching table runner and placemats for the dining room table. I hope they are cat hair resistant We also bought a pretty coffee table that pretty much matches the new furniture I bought earlier in the year. Now the living room is complete.

Ceejay - I don't know what your sister's issue is with Medicare. Yes you are right, you have a certain window in which you have to apply. You can always defer it but if you miss the initial sign up period you will miss out entirely or mess yourself up for later on. I can feel you getting excited about retirement! It's scary - we always worry about having enough money and if we are doing the right thing, but it's also very nice not to have to deal with the stress and aggravation. I think as long as you think things through ahead of time, that's the important thing.

Hi Terra - I guess One Day at a Time must be pretty popular. I didn't see much in the way of DVDs at the library. Only one season. I hope you can find what you are looking for.

Laura - I probably should but can't wear underwire bras for the exact problem you had. Not that it digs but it creates a painful spot on the ribs. Hope yours eased up. Saw some pictures you were tagged in FB - is that the famous BF you are with? Nice looking couple whoever you are Looks like you are in for another rainy weekend. My Mom said that June was the cloudiest month on record for Chicago. Geez it's summer, get with the program Mother Nature!

Michelle - did you enjoy the lecture yesterday?

Dee - sorry about the truck breakdown. I hope it did not take away too much from your camping fun as that sounded like it would be very enjoyable.

Annie - from your posts on FB, looks like you are having a grand time with the grand kidlettes. I know you are enjoying yourself. I know you will sleep good after a day of playing!

Shad - hope you enjoyed your weekend trip to Wellington. Isn't that where they had the devastating earthquakes a while back? It's good that they extended your contract. Seems like there is always work to be done.

Hi Susie, Amber and Danielle

Hello Everyone,

The rest of the week got away from me. I wasn't all the successful managing the OT this week other than I didn't stay at work late but came home and worked from there so that I didn't have a late commute.

Besides the long meeting we had on Tuesday last week, it is also the end of our fiscal. Every day I was working with Finance for an hour or two chasing down PO's that needed good receipted or accrued . We close the FY on June 30. Can't be soon enough for me!

I stayed the same at my weekly weigh-in at TOPS on Thursday.

Last night DH and I went to a free concert that the US Army Band put on at our local Murphy Theatre. It is an old opera house in our town and it is such a nice place to go see thinks like that. They played a lot of swing, jazz and big band music

If anyone wants to join me, Anne and Laura at KI on Oct 3. you are all welcome to!

Anne: Have fun with your grand-babies! I'm glad to hear that your son is doing pretty well. With my commute I can sympathize about the road rage. It's why I listen to K love on my commute..so I don't kill someone!

Laura: I have the same issue with under-wires. One day at work I had one that came up out the front. I had to go to the bathroom and take it off and pull it out with a pair of pliers that I keep at work!

Michelle: I might look into getting that book that your are reading. How did the lecture go? I have read some about her, she is very interesting.

Terra: When you found out you had to wear glasses all the time, did you get new frames? That is great news that Scott will get home earlier on Thursday's.

Ceejay: I hope you are feeling better. That is a lot of meds you got...good thing you went to the doctor.

Shad: I hope you had a great get-a-way!

Happy: It sounds like you had a great time at the festival. Most of the festivals in Ohio are late September and early October. We go to about 3 every year. I enjoy them but it is a lot of walking!

Dee: We have triple AAA too and it is a lifesaver. You are so blessed to have a DH that is mechanical. I hope you won't have to many emails to answer. I know that feeling. I have over 900 when I got back from vacation. It was overwhelming.

So Glad to be back to work today...NOT....this new report we have been trying to hammer out is giving me the A$$. Every time I think we have it, some up the chain changes the criteria and makes me nuts. Get it hammered out by Wednesday, distribute it and by Friday we have more changes and by Monday we start the process all over again. I know, I know, job security or someone's going to get a huge black eye. lol

The grands were perfect, no one got the sads, they played well together, including C. haha. Took the kiddos over to their cousin's for a BD party on Saturday afternoon. Kind of strange hanging with Sam's fiance's family without Sam and Chris being there. Good thing we all have partied together on several other occasions.

DEE...We belong to AAA also with the extra tow mileage. That is so we never have to be towed. I have used AAA twice this year and C has used them 2, so all and all it is a good thing to have whether you get to use it or not, it is certainly worth it. Glad you are having such fun on your camping trip with the babes.

HAPPY...see you need to slide a day of rest in your schedule for all you go out and do. We had a festival in the little small town by us but neither of us was in the mood to go. Plus we drove past the street it was on and it was wall to wall people.

Posting will be back, potty break.

SUSIE...free concerts are the best, especially if you that is something you really enjoy. I, myself, don't really like crowds or parking, which is why I don't do concerts. Congrats on staying the same at TOPS, anything is better than a gain.

CHELLE...did you get your new designs implemented and running? How are you doing on the sugar? Keeping it to a bare minimum?

CEEG...I am so happy for you upcoming retirement next year and good on you for chosing what you wanted on medical insurance.

TERRA...glad you and BF are happy with the schedule change.

SHADDIE...how was the mini-vacation?

LAURA...good on you for the relay of life run/walk. You are still my exercising inspiration. How is the cold coming along? I think C and I are both good to go now. I feel your pain on the underwires, I mean can't those things just be perky without support? lol.

Everyone have a marvelous Monday/night. Hugs to all!

Morning all,

Happy Monday. It is SOOO foggy outside you can barely see. I have to go into town shortly to drop off some doggy treats I made for one of the volunteers to take to the bars she sells them at. She is so funny - the guys drink, she makes them buy dog treats and if they swear they have to put money in a swear jar - all for the love of the Humane Society. I also have to hit the Farmer's Market. We ordered an extra thick porterhouse steak for a recipe we want to try. I will probably have to trade my car keys to pay for that. I am working the thrift shop tomorrow but hope to have the better part of the week to myself. July is going to fly by for me. Did a lot of work out in the garden yesterday. I had to stop as a thunderstorm was moving in but took a few moments while we were waiting for the rain to sit outside and enjoy some lemonade. Sure was nice and peaceful. I have lots of nice flowers scattered here and there also. Dragonflies all around, crickets chirping, birds singing. Momma deer brought her 2 new baby fawns around - they are pretty young. I think I live in Snow White land. Until I go into town and deal with the idiots from the neighboring state who more and more are doing distracted driving (at over the speed limit) while totally engaged ON THEIR CELL PHONES. This is why I did not want to see cell towers put up here. *sigh*

Annie - glad you had a nice weekend. I feel your pain on the darn report. People who have others do that stuff for them don't understand or care how much grief all those "little changes" can cause them. You will become an expert soon. LOL on perking up the girls. I am thinking a shelf, harness or duct tape I guess if you don't do concerts, you don't do fireworks shows either? But I get you on the crowds.

Susie - yarg. Is there anyone who LIKES year end? I hope you make it through unscathed and with a minimum of O.T. Glad you enjoyed the concert. DId you dance or just sit and tap your feet?

Ok, guess I will duck out while waiting for the rest of you to check in. Will stop back later.

HAPPY...you are right, I do not go to fireworks, there are so many around the area, I can see just about from any direction from my porch. Duct tape on the girls might be less noticable. Let me know how that works out for you. hahahahahahaha

Forgot to tell you all, after C and I dropped the grands off, he and I went to this nice park by us. Paved walking paths and also trails throughout the wooded area, which were too muddy so we just stayed on the paved paths. It is not a dog park but very dog friendly.

Good morning ladies,

I'm running on about 4 hours sleep. My friend that I house and dog sat for got two last minute and free tickets to a Grateful Dead concert, their final tour and they're only playing in the Bay Area and Chicago. She called me at roughly 1.5 hours before the concert started. Within about 15 minutes after she called, I brought Santa over to her house since he was comfortable hanging around her dogs, and we left. I'd never been to a Grateful Dead concert. While there were lots of "chemically altered" people at the concert, everyone was happy and got along...no negativity. The music was really good and the people watching was pretty fun too.

I didn't get home until nearly midnight and after showering and going to bed, it was hard to fall asleep.....which finally happened around 1 am. My plan is to skip my workout for tonight. I danced a bit at the concert.

So all in all, it was a very busy weekend...starting with seeing and listening to the incredibly courageous, wise and inspirational Malala Yousafzai on Friday. Saturday, Santa and I went to the beach for a doggie meetup with friends from the dog park - we were there about 6 hours. It was fun, crowded and the ocean was gorgeous. On the way home, we stopped by Bob's sister's place since Santa and I will be house and dog sitting for her from Thursday - Sunday this week. We had a relaxing evening Saturday until it was time to go pick up D from the airport. Sunday morning, I took Santa to daycare, went to OA, followed by going to my step-mom's (she lives near the meeting location), and then ran some errands. We were just getting ready to go to the dog park when my friend called about the concert. Lots of fun but I'm looking forward to a mostly relaxing long weekend ahead.

I might go to an OA meeting tonight if I'm not too tired, but I think I almost certainly will be pretty darn tired.

I'm doing pretty good with avoiding sugar...though I must confess I had some ice cream yesterday at the concert.

Work is going well, I've got a first draft of the design approved by my boss' boss. Now I have to make a few design tweaks and present it to at least one executive....which could happen later today or tomorrow at the latest depending on her schedule...so I'd better sign off and get cracking.

Much love to all,

Morning all. My weekend was good. It felt somewhat productive.

On Saturday I got outside for another weeding session, this time in both the front and back yards. It never ends! After a shower, I went to the hardware store and bought 10 bags of mulch for the backyard – caught a good sale for cypress mulch - $1.99/bag. I had a tarp in the trunk of our old car, but I still decided to vacuum out the trunk after I’d moved the mulch bags from the car into the garage. I’m kind of ticked that Home Depot’s sale on the mulch we like for our front garden beds is only 3 bags for $10 instead of 4 for $10. I’ll see if Lowe’s has a better sale.

After that I went to the library for some books and then to the Relay for Life event to hang out with my sister and in-laws and team members. Happy, bf didn’t come with me to that. The guy you saw with me in the FB photo was a very good friend of my oldest brother, who is one of three people in whose memory our RLF team was originally formed. There’s also a FB photo with my sister and me (she’s in pink and I’m in a baseball cap). I’m glad they had a nice weather day for the event, but it certainly seems like participation is dwindling. I wouldn’t be surprised if the event ends up being combined with another one in a neighboring suburb in the future. I think the event being cut off early due to bad weather the past couple years as well as changes in the event location have had an impact on participation.

On my way home I stopped at Costco to buy gas. It was my first time filling the tank of our newer car and I was surprised to find no gas cap when I opened the fuel door. I had to look at the manual…it’s a capless design. Just stick the pump hose in and that’s it.

Saturday night we used our Kohl’s cash, and another coupon and bought a new caddy for the shower.

On Sunday I decided to patch the spot on the wall in our entryway next to our mail cubby. This is where the dog’s claws had gradually dug into the wall when he used to go crazy when the mailman came. Coal would bark and jump right at the mail cubby where the mailman had placed our mail. Coal can’t jump much now (but still goes crazy, lol), so I think it’s safe to finally repair the wall. But first I ended up washing all of the walls in the entryway and then down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. I also patched a couple other spots. If it’s dry enough to sand it, I’ll do that tonight after work.
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Annie – Glad your weekend with the kiddies went well and everyone played nice. What a PITA with the report. I get that too – you give them what they wanted and then they want tweaks here and there that may or may not be easy to do. I didn’t walk much at the Relay for Life, though I did a couple laps around the track with my sister and others. Except for the guilt, I’m enjoying not exercising and doing more around the house. I have to try and fit it back in though because everything is getting flabby. Re my cold…the post-nasal drip seems like it’s less, and the coughing is less, but I still have some crud in my throat. But less is better, so it’s just taking its sweet time leaving.

Susie – The free concert sounded great. Our village has a bunch of free summer concerts – I have to make a point of getting to one or two this summer. Great you maintained last week! Yeh, I’ve had an underwire stab me a couple times, but this time the wire was just pressing on my rib on the right side. The tenderness is gone now, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to wear any of my underwire bras anytime soon! Do you have Friday off work for the holiday? If so, any special plans?

Happy – Your garden sounds wonderful – that new raised flower bed your dh built is so pretty, and the fountain sounds so pleasant. It’s making me want to get going on creating our new garden space near the patio once we remove all the hydrangeas crowded in there. Anyway, I’m glad you’ve got a peaceful spot – we need more of those. Our patio wasn’t that peaceful yesterday – bf was assembling the big patio storage box we bought a couple weeks ago. Those things never go together as easily as they should… but now it’s done and we were able to move the hammock and patio cushions out of the 3-season room and into that box – yay! Sounds like you had fun at the festival and had some nice finds. Our village’s festival starts Wednesday and goes through Sunday - always over the 4th of July weekend. We always go over there for the fireworks, but I need to check out the concert schedule.

Ceejay – Sounds like you’re all set with your retirement plans. Which is good because it sure is going to come up FAST!!! Are you feeling better now? I’m sure you could find out about using an inhaler on the internet. How was the time you spent with your sister and BIL? I felt a bit guilty about not participating with the fundraising team for the charity event this year, but it was nice seeing my sister and BIL on Saturday at the event. I also saw my SIL and her sister as well.

Terra – Did you get over to the library yet? Hope you had a good weekend.

Shad – Hope you enjoyed your time in Wellington this past weekend. What’s the plan for the coming weekend?

Michelle – Sounds like you had a great weekend, but I can understand you being tired today!!! Hope you catch up on your sleep tonight.
Hellos to Dee, Amber and Danielle!

Okay, better get this posted. Everyone have a great Monday/Tuesday.

Morning all,
I'm back, but awful busy. Will try to fit in a post tonight if I don't fall asleep over the keyboard.

Next weekend is moving day - I'm going to a different set of rooms owned by the same people. It was planned more or less.

Wellington was sunny, warm, windless (??!!) and beautiful.

Catch you later

Had yet another talk with the sibling Saturday and think I finally got through to her about my retirement plans. She said "they" approved of this. I'm almost sure they just wanted to make sure they weren't going to have me under their feet. No problem wasn't going there anyway. I told my aunt that I would be living in a cardboard box before I did that.
I'm beginning to feel better. I had planned a day off today to get my wind back from the week end.
I actually enjoyed my sister's high school reunion because I knew more people and some of the teachers that were their were some of my favorite.

I will be back later to comment. I'm having a lazy day.