Morning all.

Safe travels Michelle!

Annie – Wow, what a bargain your nephew got on his house! Congrats to him and his GF. I get you with the bloating. I’m feeling good after the colon screen, but I ate some salty foods for lunch and dinner that left me bloated yesterday. I’m trying to drink a lot of water today to flush out the fluids. The challenge was going fine until yesterday, when I just didn’t feel like doing it. Picking it back up again tonight. Aaargh re the rain – we’re having beautiful weather this week, but rain is forecast for Saturday. Not fair!

Susie – What a bummer that the balloon ride was cancelled. :( I hope you get your ride on the next date. I remember I was on a work assignment in the Phoenix area in March many, many years ago and seeing hot air balloons in the sky each morning of my commute to the location. The sky was blue and the balloons were colorful. I sure liked being in Arizona in March!!! Yeh, glasses are really expensive. Since I like to wear contacts most of the time, I don’t replace my glasses more often than once every 2 or 3 years. Sounds like you had a nice few days off. Good for you getting your exercise!!

Happy – Oh, decisions decisions re the colors of the roofing and siding, etc. Not too hard – you just have to look at your decisions every time you drive up to the house, LOL. :D Good luck with that. (Odd that the one shingle color isn’t available in your area…) Wow, sad news about the volunteer who died after shoulder surgery. So young. A man two doors down from us died suddenly in June – only 53 years old. Very active/athletic, and so devastating as he left behind a wife and two young kids. I think the wife/kids have gone off to stay with family – there’s been no one around lately. The wife has cerebral palsy, so it might be hard on her to raise the kids on her own. Sorry your garden isn’t doing so great. I determined I placed my plants too close to each other. The squash required more room, that’s for sure. :dunno: Bummer about the big scratch on the car – but aren’t you glad you’re not the one who was responsible for it?? :D We’ve already gotten a small ding on the hood of our “new” car – something hit it, probably from another vehicle while on the highway. Oh well…at least there’s no more waiting for the first damage anymore. Okay, next Wed. is the day – will keep you in my thoughts for smooth sailing during that surgery.

Hellos to the rest of you gals. :wave:
++
Bf went to a free outdoor concert yesterday. I slothed for a bit after work – fed doggy, etc, then decided to run over to Kohl’s. We get to wear jeans all summer (well, not when it’s too hot!), but not many of my work tops “go”, i.e., look right with jeans. So I bought a couple more woven cotton popover tops since they’re cool in hot weather and go well with casual bottoms like jeans and khakis.

That was about it for me last night. I blew off the challenge and relaxed a bit more. Nothing planned for tonight except to do the challenge.

Okay, off to post. TTFN.
:coffee2:

Annie - Great bargain your nephew and his gf got! Good for them. On the news the other day, they talked about how the median price for a house in San Jose is over $900K, and that even a highly paid engineer making over $125K wouldn't be able to qualify for that much of a mortgage. And I don't make a salary that high. Sigh. One of the reasons, I'm looking to purchasing a mobile home in Southern CA in the next 5 years or so.

Hi all,

We were supposed to go berry picking this morning. I got up at the gawd awful hour of 5:30 and then my cousin's wife who was going to go with us called and she had the most horrid summer cold. Said she felt a bit weird last night and woke up to Armageddon today. I said no thanks, trying to stay well for surgery next week. We will reschedule for another time although this is the peak and close to the end of raspberry season but we'll have blueberries for another month at least. DH said he didn't sleep well so we finished our coffees and both went back to bed for a while.

I went to the memorial service for my coworker yesterday. It was at a Wesleyan church - I am not familiar with that religion although they are always doing a ton of community service and outreach programs and are most generous in letting others use their facilities. The service was beautiful - very personalized with the pastor talking about her as well as moving tributes from some of her friends. I was raised Catholic - they tend to be very pomp and circumstance which I don't care for although everyone is raving about the new priest who just got assigned to the church. He plays air guitar at mass and is very down to earth - I may just check it out. One of the friends started her tribute with "what do you think YOUR funeral will look like?" sort of gives you pause to think. Mine will be attended by a bunch of hungry critters I think. :lol:

DH is getting frustrated with the house colors - not at me even though I said if we are spending this much money it will not look like a clown car. He it totally off on colors and thinks gray with a brown cast is very brown to him. :rolleyes: He is putting the ownness on the contractor to provide us exact samples of what materials he CAN get, rather than us going to the home improvement store and picking out stuff only to find he can't get it. I think I know exactly what I want - I just need to see the samples.

I touched base with the lady who is co-chairing the fund raiser with me. She is supposed to be calling people to sign up for volunteer slots. She said she is not having much luck. I am totally resisting the idea of stepping in :nono: - I don't have time to call and I did everything else related to this fundraiser which was plenty.

Thank you everyone who has offered prayers and good thoughts for my cataract surgery next Wednesday. I appreciate all good wishes of all sorts. Yes, it's routine surgery but you never know. No one thought V who had shoulder surgery last week would be having a funeral either. Not that I'm thinking that drastically but things happen sometimes. I hope I don't wind up with my eye screwed up. :shrug:

Susie - so sorry to hear the balloon ride got rescheduled. At least they have make up dates - hoping for good weather next time :crossed: I hear you on the glasses expense - with regular glasses, computer glasses and prescription sun glasses it was always over $1,000. I am looking forward to better eyes and less expensive glasses ;) It's especially frustrating like you say when the glasses are only 2 years old and you have to replace them. I second the "good for you" for keeping up with the exercise.

Laura - that is really sad about the neighbor who's wife has CP and left a widow. I hope she has a good support group in her family and friends. Yay on scoring some summer tops to go with jeans - now is the time for bargains and I know how much you detest clothes shopping :lol: I had the opposite problem yesterday - finding dress clothes for the funeral service. Dress pants felt funny as well as dress shoes which I never wear any more. I hope you get a decent weekend of weather. Been awfully hot and humid by you.

Annie - it's downright maddening how easy it is for guys to lose weight. All that muscle they have - even if they are not built, helps them to burn calories far more efficiently. DH started a prescribed diuretic this week to control his blood pressure and he announced he lost 10 pounds in 3 days. So last night he discovered the Minute Maid frozen juice bars I had in the freezer and decided he had to try all 3 flavors - grape, cherry and orange. While I slowly savored the ONE I had. I could have slapped him. :rolleyes: Congratulations on maintaining your 25 pound loss and sticking with the plan. I am so proud of you - you will make a gorgeous Mom of Bride.

Ceejay - are you sweltering in the summer heat?

Shad - who is freezing on the other side - are you still inundated with long days and more to get done than the schedule allows?

Hi Terra - any new cooking meals?

Have fun at your weekend Michelle.

Hi Dee :wave:

DH is outside mowing. It's really hot. I should go make him some cold lemonade and get some lunch in me. Later chicks. :wave:

Sorry to be MIA. Might be for a few more days (weeks) yet. Yep, only the nose is above water at the moment. I will be working six days a week for the foreseeable future which doesn't allow for much sight seeing or recreation or even exercise since I am here 12 hours a day.

Today I shift back to the beach house. I've enjoyed being up on the hill and it is far more peaceful than the beach with everyone coming and going, walking the dogs and shouting at the people in boats.

So .... time to go back to the grind. Got UAT training next week. No documentation ready yet. It's Friday. Only good thing coming up is that I get to go to Brisbane next weekend for a flying visit. Got to get my tax stuff ready for the accountant before the ATO decides I am rich enough to pay more. They are now asking for it in quarterly assessments (they make the assessment) and then I have to fight with them to get my deductions. Such is life. I'm mighty tired of them holding out their hands for more, maybe I should retire and hold out my hand for a pension.

Back when I can. But whatever, safe travels, good health, good diet and exercise and anything else that needs to be wished.

Shad - but what if the users don't accept the testing???? :shrug: oh wait - They DON'T get a choice, do they? :rofl: :lol3: ;) ;) ;)

Don't drive yourself nuts.

Happy ~ We had Ramsey's Special today, It has hamburger,potato o'brien and soy sauce, Its very good

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I went to school today, I stay home tomorrow though. I dont go back to school until Thursday. I cant believe there is only one week left of July. It went by so fast. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Whew this week is flying by! And where did today go.

Shad
Guess I shouldn't complain about working. I feel for you. Enjoy your quick trip to Brisbane.

Happy
Don't blame you for not wanting to call people to volunteer. My cousin want's me to go by their house in Paragould to check on the grapes, blueberries and blackberries. My mouth is watering for all of those. Not sure I will pick any blackberries though. Don't like the briars. I have another cousin who has fresh produce. Sure wish I could get some of that too. She's had a bumper crop this year.

Annie
Glad for your nephew and his gf. And congrats on those 25 pounds lost.

Terra
I like to watch Ramsey's cooking show. I bet that burger was good. Would have never thought to put potato in the burger itself.

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I've rested today and that's about it.

TGIF Whew, TGIF Whew, TGIF Whew!!!! Yeah!!

Last night was a quick dinner of frozen veggie pizza. Just wasn't in the mood. Two loads of laundry. Very boring.

I am taking a couple of hours PTO this afternoon so I can wrap up loose ends for Sissy's brunch bridal shower tomorrow. Picking up the cake and balloons, going to Bed Bath and Beyond to get her a gift, then home to make the food, wrap the prize gifts and load into the car with the items I can so not so much to do in the morning. I am hosting it and it will be at the church we attend. 9:00 am to start decorating and getting things together then the shower starts at 10:30, over at 1:00 and have to clean up and be out by 2pm.

BRB if I can

Ceejay52 ~ Ramsey Special isnt from Ramsey Gordon, Its from my cooking teacher's grand parents, They came up with it.

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Woke up at 5:00 a.m. Its now 9:23 a.m. Today I need to clean my mask and tube and fold and put away my clean clothes and organize the cupboard and work out for an hour and thats it

No time for personals, desk covered and I am leaving early.

Have a great weekend all ya'll!

Hugs

Morning all. TGIF. :dance:

Annie – You will be a busy beaver today and tomorrow, but it’s nice that it’ll all be over by the afternoon. I’m sure everything will be fabulous. I forgot how many guests you said you’re hosting. Enjoy!!

Ceejay – Sounds like you need to go to Paragould to get some good fresh produce from your cousins! I have a cantaloupe that’s been sitting on the counter for a week and I can tell it’s ripe by how it looks, but it has no scent, so I’m sure it’ll have no flavor. Bleh.

Terra – I’ve never heard of Ramsey’s special (just read your latest post - now I know why!) Is the dish like a casserole or a burger? It sounds tasty, but what’s not to like about beef and potatoes?? :D

Shad – No need to apologize for being MIA. It’s just too bad you’re not off doing something fun… I hope that being back at the beach house isn’t too unpeaceful – you need good rest after all your long workdays. Safe travels!

Happy – Re what your funeral will look like…bf met his mom for lunch yesterday and then went back to her place to look through her paperwork related to that to determine if it was all in order. She doesn’t have much in the way of assets, but it was the health care proxy and burial plans that were the concern. Bf didn’t like the way his sister handled their father’s final arrangements and he doesn’t want that to happen to his mother…I could go on forever about this, but I won't. You're welcome, LOL. Re the house colors, double-, triple-, and quadruple check the colors when you do choose them!! I had a friend who had a house built years ago that ended up with the wrong roof color all because the shingle sample was in the wrong slot of the book and the wrong color got ordered AND INSTALLED. Glad you’re not phoning for volunteers. You did plenty.

Michelle – Wow, housing is so expensive out there! Hard to achieve the “Great American Dream” out there... though home ownership isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, IMO. Safe travels today kiddo.

==

Nothing much to report. It’s quiet here – today both the admin and another department member are out of the office.

I didn’t do much of anything last night, except my challenge. I’m in a rut where I’m feeling rather housebound once I get home from work. I definitely need to get out more.

I’m looking forward to a party my friend is having tomorrow, a gals only kind of party, should be fun. I’ll be staying there overnight too. Bf will be going to a Ravinia concert tomorrow – Steely Dan. Heard him on the phone with a friend making plans and they are certainly making it more complicated than it needs to be, on top of the uncertainty of the friend's wife possibly being discharged from the hospital that day…oy.

Plenty to do around the house this weekend, but I won’t really have the time. Unfortunately, the !@#$% garden bed in front is weed-filled again. Why? Because we didn’t cover the bed with mulch. Why? Because the type of fancy edging we bought last year to edge all our garden beds is not appropriate for installing in this one bed because this bed already has concrete (driveway and path to house) bordering it. Sigh. I will perhaps try the type of edging that hammers straight down into the ground. I looked at a forum posting on Houzz with a situation similar to this, but one potential obstacle mentioned was that the edging might not be able to be hammered into the ground right next to the concrete because there might be excess concrete beneath the soil that gets in the way (because when concrete is poured, it sometimes oozes outside the barriers of the wooden forms). For Pete’s sake, all I want is something to keep the mulch from washing away when it rains!

Enough rambling. Everyone have a great weekend and stay safe!
:moo: :ink: :snail: :mouse: :chicken:

Howdy peeps,

Was supposed to rain today - it did rain in the morning but it's clear and sunny now. They are talking about heavy thunderstorms after 4pm - we'll see. This weekend we have the lumberjack (and jill) championships in town. It's an outdoor arena by the water so storms would NOT be good. DH and I were going to try a riverdeck restaurant for dinner last night - but we forgot that the place is next to the lumberjack place and therefore was mobbed. The contractor dropped off roofing shingle samples. After much deliberation I picked out a color scheme I could live with - only to have DH comment that he did not see that color offered in our area online at the GAF website. I told him I was going to STRANGLE the contractor if he provided samples of things he COULD NOT GET. :mad: We shall see. This is maddening already. I'm sure DH is frustrated but like you said Laura - we have to live with this and I can't see getting something that is going to be "off". It will drive me nuts. If choice 1 is not available, then choice 2 is VERY PRICEY. A red brown roof with shake cedar shingles and a red cedar deck. I know it's pricey - I can tell without even getting the quote. I am trying to work with the mid range stuff as I don't want to spend my retirement savings dressing up the house but WORK WITH ME GUYS. Tell me what I CAN get and I will pick something out. Lordy this is frustrating. Maybe we should just buy another house - if only we could see this one :lol: My surgery is on Wednesday and I still don't know when it is. :dizzy: I am going to call the office after lunch. They will probably tell me they will call the day before surgery which will peeve me. Sure, put my life on hold for them. Mostly I want to hear that I have one of the first surgeries of the day so I can get it over with and I can feel confident the doctor is not tired. I'm sure he does a whole mess on his surgical day. Probably most of us up this way are walking around with "new" eyes. ;) Today's YOUR day honey ;)

Laura - I have more trouble figuring out how to pick a cantaloupe than a watermelon. Both are hit or miss. Got a good watermelon this week. I have a cantaloupe that I'm ready to cut into also. I have had them where they smell great but are rock hard and tasteless even though they give a bit and should be ripe. Grapes too are very sweet one week and awful the next. :dizzy: Regarding the funeral, I delicately approached my Mom about it one day when I was there. I know what she wants to wear. She wants to have the service out of her home church, my sister said it's a real hassle to have it all the way in the city so Mom might be "moved". We are both thinking too that it's getting to the time where her first cousins and most of her siblings have passed before her. My first cousins are fractured - everyone seems to have gone their own way and I rarely hear from any of them anymore so I'm not sure if there's even enough people to have a service. The funeral I went to this week, they had a viewing which was not the casket but rather a memorial set up of photographs, some of her favorite books and scriptures with her personal notes and that was an hour prior to the funeral service. I'm not sure if she was buried or cremated. Not like the 2 days of viewing and funeral day that I was used to. Probably works out better. I hope you have fun at your friend's house over the weekend. A girl's over night sounds like fun. Drink wine and laugh alot :cheers: Bummer on the mulch retention problems. We had the same problem in AH for the stuff that bordered the concrete walk. The concrete spilled over jaggedly that prevented a clean install of the border. I think DH wound up digging a small trench and laying bricks in there. I agree with you about the weeds though - my garden is horrible. I suspected the Hyponex potting soil I used was not very "clean" but now I am wondering if it's just a lot of weed schumtz in the air. Seems worse than ever before.

Annie - I hope all goes well at the luncheon tomorrow. Sounds like it will be quick and efficient - as it should be. People can continue the party later if they want to. Hope she gets some nice stuff.

Terra - tell us more about the Ramsey special - sounds yummy.

Ceejay - yum - I would not pass a chance to go pick some grapes and berries if you can. Yes the brambles can be a pain but the sun warmed berries are so good :T Just bring a shade hat with you.

Shad - make the most of your quick trip back home.

Hellos to the rest of the chicks. Time to find something for lunch and get doing something productive.

oh happy day :dance: I FINALLY have the colors picked out for the house renovation. :yay: :yay:

Dee,

Report him to the moderators on this thread. Let them deal with him. They will possibly ban him from the site, or just give him a real dressing down. You don't have to deal with that.

Morning all,

Dee - your husband is welcome to come here and eat all my favorite foods. He'd be eating better than salami :D although he probably would not like it much since we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables in this house. Only about 25 percent of our meal plate is protein. Over the years I have steered DH away from the meat and potatoes typical man style. It's better for his overall health - mine too. I still eat way more vegetables than he does but we eat very little in the way of processed foods any more. And don't get me wrong, we eat bacon too - love us a good BLT occasionally - but I get our bacon from the farm, it's much better tasting than the store stuff - you can really tell a difference. Also I totally agree with Shad's response about the person who is bugging you. That's what the mods are there for. Play nice kids. :rollpin:

I'm so excited. I have a weekend to myself. :dance: Of course I have laundry and housecleaning to do BUT I am very happy not to have to go anywhere. The rollercoaster picks up again on Monday - something going each and every day. The contractor called - he assured us that he can get any color from the samples he gave us to look at and it was finally nice to get everything pinned down. He said they will start with the roof - probably on Thursday this week. Not sure when they will do the siding. I'm wondering how they can get in to do the siding with the old deck still up. And because of the storm we had last September, it has been a big boon to the contractors in the area - people are full up on home repairs. The guy who came out to look at our deck said he probably won't be able to do it until next spring. The guy doing our siding and roof also wants to do the deck but he is contracting with someone else for the job. We are leaning on waiting for the first guy - we think he will do a better job and DH is VERY particular about getting the job done right. I don't blame him.

Looks like we are going to hit the hottest week of the summer this week. Don't envy the guys up working on the roof but I guess they are used to it. The weatherman said after today the days tend to start tricking down in temperature. Awwww I am not ready to see the warm weather go yet. But by September there are definitely hints of autumn in the air. I hope my tomatoes are going to soak up as much sun and warmth as possible. I think I agree with DH that MAYBE I did plant them too close together but I won't give him the satisfaction of hearing it from me :lol:

The lumberjack championships are this weekend, but I don't feel like sitting out on bleachers in the heat with no shade either. Some day. It looks very interesting though.

Guess I will stop babbling and toss a load in the washer and go water the garden. Have a good weekend chicks.

Laura ~ Its a casserole

Happy ~ You brown hamburger, Cook your potatoes and then add Soy Sauce and stir it all together but when my family and I make it at home we add cheese to ours.

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Been awake since 9:30 a.m. I got up at 7:30 but I went back to sleep at 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. but I've been up since 9:30, Its now almost noon I still need to do the dishes,clean the bathroom and work out. I hope everyone having a fantastic Saturday.

I'm in Paragould at my uncles. Had a nice visit today at lunch. It is hot. but they got a small shower this afternoon.

Happy
Don't think the grapes are ripe yet but we will check on them tomorrow.

Terra
Think I will make that tomorrow. It sounds good.

As I was coming home today from Paragould I ran into a cloud burst. It was raining so hard I couldn't see to drive. This was before I got out of Paragould. I pulled over at one of their bank parking lots hoping that the rain would subside. It was already beginning to flash flood. I drove in the rain half way home. We didn't have any rain here.
Made a pot of veggie soup for this week for dinner. Still not sure what I will have for lunch.
Looks like I am the last out and the first in.

Hi Ladies. It was a busy weekend but I accomplished a lot. I even got my home office dusted, swept and mopped. :carrot: I also tossed some things our of the closet and a couple of file drawers.

Tomorrow is back to work . My managers are both out until Thursday. One comes back then and one of Friday.

Not only was the weekend full of cleaning and things but we did go out with some friends that we haven't seen in a while. We went to a little local restaurant in Mason, (as 30 min drive for us), called The Wildflower Café. It was such a nice time there. The food there is very different and I had this wonderful Zucchini Alfredo. This is was was in ti:

*gf zucchini spaghetti + baby greens + roasted vegetables + organic cherry tomato + housemade Alfredo + pickled onion + Parmigiano + fresh herbs-

I have never had anything like it, there was do pasta, the zucchini was like the pasta noodles would have been in the dish.

I did 25 min on the exercise bike today and some of my therapy exercise. I am finding that I have much more energy and I'm thinking clearer now that I'm back to workout 3-4 times a week.

I need to go and get clothes out of the dryer and then head to bed. I will be back tomorrow to post and do personals.

And we are off...it is Monday AGAIN!

The bridal shower was a HUGE success. Food was wonderful. My SIL brought the fruit in a cut out watermelon shaped into a basket with a handle. Watermelon, canteloupe, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, oh so yummy. I even broung a bit home with me. C and I ate it last night instead of dinner. Sissy got lovely gifts, many things she sorely needed and others replaced the stuff left over from the x-wife. She had all the old stuff in a box and ready for Amvet pick up by Saturday night. lol. I got her 4 of the 8 requested place settings (dinner plate, breakfast plate, cereal bowl and coffee cup). I will probably get the rest of them, if she does not get them for Christmas or something. She also got a total of $250 worth of Bed, Bath and Beyond gift cards as that is where she is registered. She and I and the babes went to BBB yesterday as she wanted to get a bathroom scales. She still has 210. left on gift cards. She wants to save it for when there is a need rather than a want. Of course who NEEDS a bathroom scales??? lol

Heard a rumor that the Moose lodge where the reception will be is going under, we may have to sprint for a new venue. Probably cost a lot more $$...Oh holy crap. Get the shower out of the way and now this venue issue filled the spaces emptied out of my brain cells from the shower worries. Bleh.

Church was extra good yesterday. Talked about heaven and how wonderful it will be once we get there as nothing on earth even compares. Pastor Kris said to think of the most wonderful place you have visited, top choice, beauty....that is way down on the pole at the bottom as you might imagine how wonderful heaven will be. One of those sermans that you want to keep going on and on, rather than hurry up and say what you are saying for the 5th time and get me out of here.

DEE...I agree with SHADDIE about that guy. Unfortunately if you do report him and you have deleted the message you may not have "proof" of his doings. I would say go ahead and report him then if he does it again, send the "evidence" to the moderators. That is completely unacceptable on this site.

HAPPY...so glad you got a color scheme you can live with. Hopefully it will turn out perfectly. On the bright side. You don't stand outside and just stare at your house and color schemes. Well most of us don't. lol. I am praying for a great surgery day on Wednesday and am anxiously awaiting your post of the great results.

SUSIE...YUM..the meal at the Wildflower Cafe' sounds so dang good. Everything on the plate sounds so good. Only thing not diet friendly on the plate was the alfredo sauce. All and all you made a great choice on your meal. Zucchini noodles for pasta is the best. I have not had them in years but do remember they are good. Kind of like I love spaghetti squash noodles too. Good job on exercising.

CEEG...yikes on the down pour. Glad you made it home safely. Driving in pelting rain is scary, not to mention the chances of hydro-planing. Scary stuff.

LAURA...how was your friend's party. Get out more? What? You are always doing something. I understand once you get home, like me, I don't want to go back out. I will do errands all evening long once I leave work, but go home first, forget it, not going back out. We ended up with 30 guests for the reception. We invited about 65 so the old, comtemplate half of those you invite, showing up. My flowers in the front, my half-alive veggie garden and around all my bushes and trees in the backyard need weeded. With all this rain, it is hard to get into the garden, plus with the little if any veggies coming out of the garden, I am not motivated.

CHELLE...sounds like your trip has been successful and enjoyable. Good for you sister.

Hello to the rest of you. Hugs

Ceejay52 ~ Great, Tell me what you think of it after you eat it.

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Good Morning Guys and Gals,

I have an appt. this morning and then I'm gonna come home and clean the whole inside of the house. Even though I'm gonna clean the inside of the house I'm still gonna work out for an hour tonight. I hope everyone has a great Monday.

Morning everyone,

Annie - glad to hear that the shower went well. Smart Sissy for saving the gift cards for things she needed. It's tempting I'm sure to walk into a place like BBB and not walk out with some "fun to haves". It's nice when you get the 20 percent off coupons to stretch the dollars too. They are doing some really fancy and cute carvings with the watermelon / fruit salad. Yum. Perfect summer treat. I tried frozen watermelon chunks recently - not as good as frozen grapes but nice for a super hot summer day. That's a bummer about the reception hall - I would be extra vigilant - don't want it to creep up to the wedding date and find you are having to switch the reception to your back yard! :yikes: Thank you for the prayers - I will take everything I can get. And yeah, you are right, I don't have to look at the outside of the house all the time, but I do every time we pull up and if the colors were off - like a mismatched shirt and pants - it would bug the heck out of me. ESPECIALLY with all the money this is costing - it's almost like rebuilding the house. We have had brick homes the last 2 houses so never had to deal with something as extensive as this.

Terra - sounds like you will have a busy and ambitious day.

Susie - your dinner sounds yummy. Was it those spiralized "noodles" or pasta made from zuchinni? I hope you have a quiet week with both bosses away most of the week.

Ceejay - how weird that it was raining cats and dogs in one part of town and nothing by you. Sounds like isolated pockets of storms. Glad you made it home ok.

Hellos to the rest, will catch up with you later.

We're about to head out and pick up more peaches. This is going to be a rather busy week. Lots to do before surgery. Must keep focused so I don't stray off course. Will touch back later. Have a good one.

Morning all.

Happy – Glad you got all your colors picked out. Too bad some of the work won’t be done for quite a while yet… Odd they can’t give you a surgery time until the day before… I think I saw on FB that you did get scheduled, and it's nice and early so you won't have to be anxious all day long, and the doc won't be tired out when he gets to you!! So are you going to persuade your mom to move her service or just do it after she’s gone? :D Good for you and dh getting away from the processed foods. Bf and I still eat frozen entrees once or twice a week, and we eat out way too much (and who knows what’s really in that food?!). We have to try and commit ourselves to better eating. Enjoy the peach picking. Oh wait, I reread what you wrote – you’re picking up more peaches, not picking them. It did cross my mind that there probably isn’t much peach production in the North Woods, LOL. :lol:

Dee – I think you must have removed your post as you said you’d do. I’d definitely report the guy so he can be booted off the site. Hope all’s well with you.

Terra – Happy cleaning today!

Ceejay – I’m glad you got home safely during that cloudburst! Odd how they can be so localized.

Susie – Sounds like a nice weekend. That zucchini alfredo dish sounds delicious! Good for you getting back into your exercise routine. :yay:

Annie – Glad the shower was a big success! I bet you’re relieved that it’s over and that it went so well. Smart that S is saving the BBB gift cards for needs. That place is a danger zone for me so I only try to go there when I NEED something, and even then I get sidetracked by all the cool stuff they have. Oh dear, I sure hope the Moose Lodge will hang in until the wedding has taken place and that you won’t have to scramble for a replacement venue.:( That would be so stressful! Re getting out more…the past couple months have been different for me because I haven’t been going to exercise classes. Bf has been asking me when I’m going back, hahaha, I think he wants some alone time.

Hi Shad – How was your whirlwind weekend at home?

Michelle – Hope you had a great weekend with the family.

Hellos to the rest of you!
--
I had a fun time at my friend’s house. She had a wine tasting of sorts in the afternoon/early evening – just a variety of different bottles in a tub of ice for us to sample. We also had pizza a bit later, and then there was a “surprise party”, which was an “adult toy” party. :o Never been to one of those, so it was rather interesting!!!

Saturday morning I bought some hammer-in edging for the one garden bed and got about two-thirds done on Saturday and the rest on Sunday. It looks alright, but more importantly, it’ll definitely retain the mulch better than nothing at all. Now I just have to get that bed weeded - AGAIN. A little bit of rain to moisten the soil wouldn’t be unwelcome - just a bit. I really want to get that weeding done, and then get the mulch spread so I can finally move on to the other projects.

I'm supposed to go to lunch today with a friend. That'll be nice, haven't seen her in a while.

That’s about it for me! TTFN.
:spin:

Laura
I usually check the radar before I leave my uncles but I didn't. That's what I get. The rain sure came down hard. I'm like you, I've never been to an adult toy party. Glad your week end good.

Annie
I'm also happy that the shower went well. I love BBB so I have to stay out of that store unless I need something.

I'll finish this tomorrow. It's bed time.

Coming up for a breath. You ought to see my calendar at work. Don't actually know when they expect me to get my own work done.
I think the boss is out looking for another computer for my feet to do work on.
I'm training every day for the next 2 weeks, then have a weeks break and then training everyday for the next 6 weeks. Yikes :yikes:

One day I will have time for friends again. Roll on Friday and Brisbane. Oh yeah, that's right. Friday is packed as well. So is Saturday and Sunday I come back.
Oh well.

Cya

Good morning everyone,

Geez Shad you make busy sound lazy compared to what's going on in your life. I would think you would sheer run out of gas on day and they'd have to scoop you off the floor. I loved your comment about the boss getting a computer for your feet - sad but I totally get that. I hope you don't run yourself ragged and run yourself down. That''s an awfully intense schedule. Take care of yourself and thanks for checking in. :hug:

Ceejay - I always said that I have never seen it rain as hard as it can in the south. Smart of you to pull over - it's like having a fire hose on full blast aimed right at the windshield and that's not saying anything about the mad rush of water on the streets. Summer is in full bloom. How was the vegetable soup?

Laura- too funny about the adult toy party. Some of those are cute, some are downright freaky. I would be glowing red if I tried to host one of those. :o Then again part of the red would also be from me bending over laughing myself silly. Did you have a good time? :lol: And you are right - no peach growing up this way other than peach martinis and one of the ladies here told me her MIL used to make a wicked peach frozen margarita. They grow cherries, blueberries, raspberries, cranberries and apples up this way. All good stuff. And wild rice. As to your question about Mom and her final service, I think she will take what arrangements we make and I hope she will like it. We will of course try to accommodate as much as she wanted as possible. Hope we don't have to think about that for a while yet. :^: So you finally got the edging done on the beds? Is it just me or do you also think the weeds were in major full bloom this year? You talk about eating processed foods - even though I miss it, I am sort of glad that we moved away from AH. That place is a mecca of convenience foods and grocery stores. So much more that even in Orland by my sister. I would be struggling with my weight even more if I was still there. Too many easy and yummy options right at your fingertips. Of course it's really nice having a produce store nearby in the winter. I will miss the farmers markets in a few months. How is your new casual wardrobe working out?

Annie - thank you for the most adorable card I got yesterday :hug: You are the best. Most appreciated :hug: :hug: Regarding your sermon - very glad that you have found a church you like and a good pastor too. I have heard many times that the true h-e-double hockey sticks - is right here on earth. We get through that life and we get our rewards afterwards. It's just getting more hockey sticks down here - wish people had more kindness in their hearts. I hope you win the fight with your annoying report today.

It's getting pretty dark outside. We are supposed to get heavy thunderstorms between 10 and noon which is just when I am going to get my hair done and should be getting back out. :( I have to stop at the thrift store to drop off a case of peaches I picked up for a friend and then it's back home to wrap up a few things before I get ready for surgery tomorrow. I am nervous about it but there are lots of prayers headed my way so I am confident. Or try to be. :^:

We made the 2 hour drive yesterday to get more peaches. DH is a real sweetie for doing this. I got some blueberries and more pecans too.. I think I will freeze some of the blueberries. Or maybe I can add them to the peaches I will can. The peaches are bigger than the first batch I had but these look a little more "beat up" - the first ones were picture perfect, these have some marks and spots but I am sure they will be just as good. I'm glad I am splitting a box with a friend instead of taking a whole box this time. We went to lunch afterwards at Applebees. I used to like that place but now everything is either slathered in bacon or spicy spices. I had a cheeseburger. It was ok. DH had some not very good 4 cheese mac and cheese and a half sandwich. He liked the sandwich. Then we went to Best Buy as we are looking at new computers. Wound up buying 2 Macs - one the "desk top" which has a huge monitor - very good for him and his photo editing. And I got a MacBook pro so that we have one laptop - not that we go many places to take the laptop. This will be a learning curve for both of us. But it will give me something to do when I am recouperating over the next month. We are both sort of excited about it. Then the contractor came over last night for us to sign papers. They will start on the roof tomorrow. The poor cats are going to freak out. I can't even put them in the garage again because they are going to work on 3 of the buildings so everything will be torn up. DH said they can hide in the basement. The contractor said we might want to leave for the day also as it will be unbelievably noisy. Oh well...

That's about it for me. I need to hop in the shower and get ready to get to the hair dresser. Supposedly they are going to fix my vision so I won't need glasses for distance - as hard as that is to believe since I have worn glasses since the age of 6. I will need cheaters for the computer and reading. I'm thinking without glasses, I might try a shorter haircut. At least for the last weeks of summer - I tend to do those things backwards and cut it short in winter and long in summer :dizzy: Anyway... have a great day everyone. And hellos to the rest of the chicks. :wave:

Happy Tuesday!!

Meeting went well with the Moose Lodge. Seems more rumors than not about the closing. They claimed they will definitely be open till the end of the year. We should be ok. Fingers crossed.

Got a 2nd degree burn on my arm from the dang crock pot. Go figure. I started to drop it and caught it with my arm. Arm burnt, crockpot not broken. Yee.

SHADDIE....whew girl, I will be as happy as you are when this job is finished. You are wearing me out. Take care of you first!!

LAURA...I haven't been to an adult toy party since about 1982. It was funny then and still makes me laugh. Did you buy anything exciting?? lol

HAPPY...hopefully your colors will work out to your liking, otherwise you will have to put blinders on when pulling into your drive. lol. mmmmmmmmmmm, peaches.

TERRA...did you get your cleaning and exercising done?

CEEG...hope you had a great night's sleep.

HELLO TO ALL.

HUGS

Happy posting over my head. Good luck tomorrow!!

Hi everyone -

I had a wonderful time visiting family and a few friends in Southern CA. This visit firmly cemented my plan to move to Southern CA within the next few years. Looking at my 401k balances, it looks like retirement is several years away, so I might as well be closer to family while I'm working to make frequent weekend visits and day trip visits possible. My relatives all said they were impressed with my 90 lb weight loss since the last time I saw them. I told them I'm just thrilled that I'm no longer diabetic, and able to walk and run, and feel SO much better.

I spent Friday with my aunt and uncle who live in San Diego and are in their 80s. Friday evening the entire San Diego family went out to dinner. Saturday morning was spent with a cousin and her grown daughter, their 3 dogs and kitten, Saturday afternoon, with another cousin and her two young kids (her husband stayed home because he had painful surgery the week before), and Saturday evening with my aunt and uncle. My aunt and uncle want me to come visit more often...and I plan to. Sunday was the reunion, and it was so much fun and wonderful to have pretty much everyone on my dad's side of the family together. My dad would've had a great time if he were there and I know he was smiling from heaven.

On Sunday evening, I got together for dinner with some friends I met in Wisconsin who moved to Southern CA a year ago. I stayed at their apartment on Sunday night, and met up with another long-time friend on Monday morning for breakfast before catching my flight back to San Jose.

While I was out of town I heard from a friend of mine who used to live in the Bay Area but moved to Georgia a year ago. She's in town, but only until very early Thursday morning. She and I are getting together for an early dinner tonight and then I'm going to pick up Santa from day care and go on my usual Tuesday evening walk with another friend of mine.

Busy busy...but it's always nice to spend time with special people. :D

We just did a system upgrade at work yesterday while I was out, so I'm a day behind on getting my development environment up to date. If I have time while my computer is updating I'll try and catch up with what's going on with everyone.

In the meantime, Happy I wish you all the best for your procedure! :hug:

Sending lots of love and big hugs to all,

HAPPY...We have sales people that cover WI, in particular Eau Claire, Madison and Milwaukee and Green Bay-Appleton area. Yes, they are part of my yucky report. lol. What time is your surgery tomorrow?

HI CHELLE, welcome back. Your trip sounds like a fun one for you and seeing lots of people. Good for you!

Afternoon all.

Ceejay – It’s nice we now have ways to check the radar when we need to. Bf checks the weather all the time – I think he’s kind of obsessed with it, lol.

Shad – Wow, you’re buried! Training for 6 weeks straight!!! If ever there was a time to clone yourself, this might be it. :comp: :comp:

Happy – Oh, yes, there was a lot of laughing going on at the adult toy party, especially as the toys got more “sophisticated”. I frequently say that my smart phone is smarter than me, and I think some of those toys were also too, LOL. :D Some of the names were very funny too…It was a fun time. Yes, the edging is done, but just on the one bed – the one I did. I overheard bf on the phone saying he was going to wait until everything was dead in the beds before dealing with them. Uh, yeah, like he’s going to be working out in the yard in November. NOT. I will have to be the nagging witch for this to get done, I just know it. Or I can try to tackle it myself…Re the weeds, yes I think they did much better this year because of all the rain we got. Weeds that typically don’t flourish well when the heat hits and spring rains are done just kept growing with all the cool/rainy weather we had early in the season.

Yes, there are now many great grocery options in our area. People are enthralled with the Mariano’s in AH (their prepared foods, deli, cheese, butcher, olive/salad/soup bars) and that place is like a nuthouse whenever we’re in there. There’s talk of another one opening a wee bit closer to us, on the Des Plaines/MP border, and that would be more convenient for us. Our old Dominick’s store is still vacant – sure wish a Trader Joe’s would go in there. No talk of it though. There is talk of redeveloping that entire strip mall… I’ve just got a few new tops, surely not the equivalent of a new wardrobe. Three of the four work well with jeans/casual bottoms and are nice cool woven cotton. The 4th I bought on a whim and looks good with black or gray. Not quite as versatile, though it does have elbow length sleeves and will span a few seasons. So you & DH are both newbies to Macs? That should be interesting for you! And by interesting, I mean challenging, LOL. Good luck. I’ve never used a Mac. And good luck to you with the roof work, and wishing you the best with the surgery tomorrow!!

Annie – Good news about the Moose Lodge. Hope it stays that way. Ouch re the burn! :( Yeh, I bought a couple toys (but not the ones smarter than me!). Unfortunately, they were not in the stock the party lady had brought with her, so I’m waiting for them to arrive in the mail…in plain brown wrapping, of course, hahaha. And no batteries included - apparently the sender gets in trouble from the USPS if packages start buzzing enroute, LOL.

Michelle – It sounds like you had a really great time in southern CA with your family and friends. Any idea of when you think you’d want to make the move down there? I don’t have a large or close-knit family, but my SIL is relocating back to my area this fall, and hopefully my mother will be here in the near future as will. Looking forward to both of them being back.

Hellos to Susie, Terra, and Dee! :wave:
--
I had an offsite meeting this morning, so I skipped the jeans. Unfortunately the top I chose needed a cami underneath. It’s a hot & humid day, so it would have been nice to not have to wear an extra layer!

Nothing much else to report. I didn’t like the transitions eyeglass lenses that darken in the sun, so I didn’t get them on my new glasses. So the sun is an issue. Or I should say, it was. I lucked out and found a sunglass clip almost exactly the same shape as my eyeglass frames at Walgreens last week. Only $15. Bf didn’t find one close enough to fit his frames, so he might get one he found on the internet. Especially made for his exact frame, so of course it's a lot more expensive. Bah.

No movie night tonight – our “leader” is out of town.

I still haven’t bought my group fitness punchcard. I did get an email from the recplex. The fitness center part of the recplex (area with weight machines, cardio equipment) is closed for about 3 weeks for cleanup. The circuit class I like to take is held in the fitness center. The Tues/Thurs classes are cancelled and the Saturday class has been moved to another park district facility in the area. I’m thinking of waiting until the fall session begins before I buy a punchcard – September. I dunno. I think part of me is just being lazy and wants to enjoy my “summer break”, lol. The other part of me would prefer to use the time to do the outdoor yard projects I have in mind. But that doesn’t stop me from taking weeknight classes, so I suppose I should get off my butt & do something.

Oh, it finally occurred to me to have the lawn treatment service spray the graveled area on the south side of our house for weeds. Duh. Not sure why I didn't think of it before. :doh: Anyway, they did a service yesterday and sprayed that area, which currently is filled with some very tall weeds. Wonder how long it'll take for them to die....

Okay, I’ll stop rambling now. Off to post. TTFN.

Wishing Happy a successful and painless surgery tomorrow. Hope to hear from you over the weekend. Don't push it too hard at the beginning

Hello to everyone else. Practising typing with my toes.

Hump Day, Yeah Man, used to be Mondays were my yuk report days however it got moved to Wednesdays. Bleh. I just hate once I hit send cause the emails start flying and the phone starts ringing. Beginning to wonder if I should answer my phone, "I am sorry, you have reached a disconnected number". lol

HAPPY...good thoughts and prayers flying your way.

SHADDIE...now known as the "Toe Typer". haha

LAURA...if you travel by plane and take your new toys, be sure to take the batteries out first so your luggage doesn't vibrate. lol Men make big promises on helping with yard work then I find C taking a nap. hmmmm. Truthfully it has been too hot and humid or just down pours of rain to even get out and do anything.

Hellos to the rest of ya's.

Hugs

Happy
Sending you good vibes. Hope things go well. I will be shopping for a new computer soon. I was waiting till the Window's 10 came out so I would not have to upgrade. I want one that I can play games on.

Annie
I have thought of the same thing when the phone starts to ring off the hook. Hope the new about the lodge will hold until after the reception.

Michelle
Sounds like you had a fun week visiting with family.

Terra
I will let you know about your recipe. Gonna make it this week end.

Laura
Depending on the weather you should see a difference in two or three days. My uncle uses Round UP and that's usually what will happen. Glad you found a clip on sunglasses that fit your regular glasses. I don't like the transitional sunglasses either. I wear some that fit over my glasses.

Nothing new or exciting for me. This week except Monday has been easy in which I'm grateful
It's 80 degree's starting out this morning and I have some things to do downstairs. Better get with it.

Happy - Sending you good vibes and prayers for a successful surgery and a quick and comfortable recovery!

Laura - I went to a "toy" party years ago. They can get pretty funny!

Annie - I hope today isn't as yucky as you predict. Sending you hugs.

I'm so sorry ladies...I don't have time to post much. Work is insanely busy. The upgrade went ok from a system perspective, but I can't seem to get my work into the new system so that the website looks the way I left it on Thursday. We need to be nearly done with it by this Friday, so I'd best get cracking. In the evenings, I've been working on a freelance website project that also has a quick deadline. :faint:

That being said, even though I think of you lot all the time I may only be able to check in sporadically. I will be looking for posts about Happy's surgery.

Much love to all,

Happy - Sending you good vibes for a successful surgery today!! :goodvibes:

Morning all. This week is crawling. Bleh.

Michelle – I hope you get your work into the new system and looking the way it should!

Ceejay – Glad your week’s been mostly easy. My week's been easy I guess, because I'm not as busy as I was. But that makes it go more slowly. I better get myself busy!!

Annie – Sorry the report day is so yucky. I’d be so tempted to just not answer those calls that come in about it, but to respond when I was ready. Our lawn needs mowing so badly right now, but it’s so darn hot and humid, I get why bf hasn’t done it yet. It’s been like a sauna outside.

Hellos to the rest of you. Hope you’re all having a good week.
--
I bought a fitness punchcard last night – a combo card. Five punches for spin classes and five for regular group fitness classes. I went to a spin class last night. It was called “Spin Triple Play” - 30 minutes spin, 15 minutes strength, 15 minutes core and stretching. It was fine. The instructor wasn’t very energetic, so that might have made it less good than it could have been. I think she alternates with another one, so I might try it again next week to see if there’s someone different. In the meantime, I will go to the circuit class on Thursday. If the weather's too humid for yard work on Saturday, I'll also go to a class on Saturday.

Tonight’s a hair appointment. Just a color touch-up. I haven’t had my hair cut since May and I’m thinking I’ll just keep letting it grow. I want it long enough so I can wear it in a long braid. I don’t know why, I just do. :D I suppose my stylist will ask how I like the Color Conserve shampoo and conditioner (Aveda) I bought at my last appointment. I like the shampoo, but not the conditioner. The conditioner doesn’t leave my hair easy to comb through. I keep using a bit more each time to see if that makes a difference, but not really… It’s too expensive to be “just okay”.

That’s it for me. Buh bye.

Happy ~ Yes it was a busy day

Laura ~ Thanks

Annie ~ Yes I did get my cleaning and exercise done

Ceejay52 ~ Okay I'll look forward to hearing what you thought of it after you eat it.

Good Grief, we walked to the City Market for lunch then on Wednesday's they have a Farmer's market out in the street and shut the street off to traffic. I bought sweet corn, tomatos, cucumbers and greenbeans. Very excited about that.

LAURA...glad you got your punchcard and back in the exercising mode. See I don't have to get back into the mode cause I never got into the mode in the first place. bahhahaha

CHELLE..don't get so busy that you forget to take time for YOU!

HI TERRA...

I made it through the surgery. Kind of hard to do anything with one eye. Going to the doctor's in the early morning. Will remove the patch and we'll see (pun intended) just what life looks like with this new eye and how cock-eyed I will be for the next 2 weeks. I'll be back later.