Evening all, had another weekend off, although I should really have gone into work today to prepare for the week ahead. Instead I went to the Bot. Gardens and then to do some shopping, which was a bust as I didn't get anything that I wanted.

Should be back more regularly next week as we have worked out a new roster and I should have some free time again.

be good

Good morning all,

Chilly morning today - 42 degrees. Furnace is on, coffee is hot. Today we are going over to the thrift shop for part 2 of the "face lift". DH is going to be power washing the one side of the building which we are going to paint tomorrow. It's a hassle not having our truck, supposed to get it "for sure and right" tomorrow. I did a lot of stuff yesterday puttering around the house, a lot but not enough. DH went to Duluth hoping to get pictures of a hot air balloon festival but it was too windy and they didn't even inflate the balloons. He got some other pictures along the way but nothing spectacular. It is going to be another full week even though I have "scaled back" :lol: Today and tomorrow at the shop painting, then I need to work in making something to bring for lunch on Monday for the crew. Also Monday is the 2nd to last summer farmers market :( after this they go indoors to once a month - probably the only thing I will get then is my meat and eggs, although at the moment my freezer is quite stocked up. Tuesday is my regular morning shift at the shop. Wednesday might be mine so far. Thursday and Friday need to prepare for a sidewalk sale we are having. Saturday is our fall festival - I will work at the shop most of the day helping out cashiering but I also want to sneak out and check out the fair. Most of the craft booths are the same people as always although we did buy a nice hand crafted wood coffee table the last time. Still it's fun to look around.

We have 2 bucks in the yard now, as well as 2 new does. It's my least favorite time of the year - hunting season begins. :( It bothers me (a lot) that even though they are only supposed to be shooting males, there are a lot of "who cares about your stinking rules" rednecks up this way who shoot does too. At this point many of them can be pregnant as they give birth in the spring. Actually there is no good time to shoot them - they are either pregnant or if they are new moms, they need to take care of their fawns. Anyway, that's another subject entirely.

Shad - saw your pictures on Facebook - lovely garden. You made a wise choice to take some time out for relaxation. Hope your week's workload is more manageable.

Laura - cute picture of Coal just resting his chin. :lol: I had heard mixed reactions about pine needles for mulch. In the end I decided to try it - we don't have any deciduous trees which are easy to get to so pine is my best mulch option at the moment. And considering the intensity of the weed growth, I have to do something. We are starting to head into the cooler, rainy season, I will be taking the garden out for sure by next week. We will just toss the tomato plants out in the back - I hope some critters would like some green tomatoes. And one of my cucumber plants turned out to be yellow squash - I thought those looked more like squash blossoms than cucumber - but the squash never really developed. Did you get hit with bad storms the other day? I was surprised to see the tornado warnings down south but I guess you guys got a lot of rain too? Been a wet, humid summer for you.

Hello to the rest of the chicks :wave: Although I don't have to shower this morning - what's the point if I'm getting dirty anyway? I still have to get ready. Have a good Sunday everyone. Enjoy the other half of the weekend.

Happy ~ Yeah I'm excited to try out the Zumba Beginner DVD. I hope I can keep up with it too but if its for beginners you would think it would be easy to follow but maybe I'm wrong. We'll see. I'm sorry to hear you werent able to keep up with it.

Susie ~ Yeah, I STILL cant believe I'm back to where I was a year ago but I'm definitely not giving up, The numbers on the scale will start going down, I'll make sure of it.

Laura,Ceejay ~ Hi Ladies, I hope you both are doing great.

Annie & Happy ~ Yeah I need to make it a habit to check in on this thread and the 300+ Chat thread everyday cause I believe this chat thread and 300+ are both really helpful in my weight loss journey.

Hello to all of the other Worldly's (Might be miss-spelled)

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

Hi Everybody,

Sorry I havent been on the forum for awhile, I need to start checking in alot more often, Checking in with 3FC is really helpful. Woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning, We were out of the house by 7:00 a.m. We went to both Dillions and Walmart. I havent done much of anything today, Its been a lazy day since we came home from Walmart and Dillions, There is dishes I need to do, I need to work out and fold and put away my clean clothes, I will get all of that stuff done before I go to bed tonight. Yesterday I went to lunch at the Chinese Buffet with one of my friends so when I got home I deep cleaned the house for 2 hours to burn off what I ate. Hope everyone is having a great Sunday. Take Care.

Hello Chickies.....

What a busy weekend. Saturday was another wedding. It was out in the sticks where I used to live for one of my friend's son. It was nice, not as nice as Sissy's wedding. It rained most of the day before the wedding so the skies were very gray and almost looked as tho it could open up during the entire outdoor wedding. The reception was ok. Frankly, it looked very tacky. Now she is 31 and her hubby is 31. They had leopard print table clothes and cake. Her wedding favors were from an idea about 10 years ago. Kisses in tulle and a note attached that said kisses from the Mr. and Mrs. I know, "shut up", of course Sam's was better. lol. Anyway, C had to work, Chris had a golf event, and my DSs wife had to work. So it was kind of nice, just me, DS and DD and the babes. We enjoyed ourselves. Didn't get home until about 10 pm. Was worn out.

Yesterday C had to finish up his paper work and take it into the hub as he is on vacation this week, which means no check next week. bleh. I went to church, the message was about forgiveness of others and us to others. Nice message, made think of my brother in IL, altho we have made up and are in a good place at the moment. Cannot say that about his wife, she didn't even say hi or acknowledge me at Sam's wedding. I tried to say Hi, she just turned her head, what a beeeaaach. C and I took a walk around the entire little neighborhood, then went to the local little pub to split a tenderloin. I didn't eat much of it cause C ordered it with everything and it had ketch up and mustard, I don't care for either and was rather grossed out. The only mustard I like is spicy or hot. Bummer.

C and his daughter are going to his parents house today, spending the night and coming back tomorrow afternoon. So I am batching it tonight. Yeah, nice to have an evening to myself, just me and Sass. Probably will eat a little larger lunch, more than a salad and not fix dinner tonight.

HAPPY...wow, even your "cut back" week sounds busier than ever. Where in the heck to you get all your spunk and energy? Send it my way please. Oh my, you turned the furnace on...don't say that. It means it is coming our way. We are having great weather this week. Highs in the 70s and lows in the mid-50s at night. Probably should clear out my garden also. I am with you on the deer thing. Just follow the rules people.

LAURA...poor Coal, he is probably too hot when he lays in the bed completely. He just look uncomfortable. Ya gotta love him, he looks so sweet. OW on the temp tooth. For some reason she left a point on the inside of the temp tooth and it has poked my tongue ever since. I talk like I am half drunk cause my tongue hurts. I have to wear this til October 2nd.

TERRA...have you received your Zumba dvd yet? Or are you still waiting to get it. If you have it, get going on it girl.

DEE....hope you are getting your rest and feeling a bit better. Hugs sister.

CEEG...yes get your cataracts taken care of now rather than after you retire, probably better coverage now.

CHELLE...the concert sounded marvelous. Glad you had so much fun. Ugh on Mt. Washmore.

SHADDIE....may the powers be with you. How many weeks or days left on that assignment?

Hi Susie hope you have a great week.

Hello to all,

Hugs.

Good morning ladies,

This past weekend was SO fun! A friend of mine and I saw one of my fave comedians, Will Durst, on Friday. He was one of 4 comedians performing at a dinner theater, so we had an awesome meal followed by great entertainment. We both laughed to the point of tears!

On Saturday, I took Santa to the groomers and then my friend Mark and I did a training "run" of the 10K course that we're going to do this coming Sunday. "Run" is in quotes because we walked, not ran, nearly the entire 6 miles. We'll do better this Sunday.

After the training, I picked Santa up from the groomer and we went to a doggie festival called "Bark in the Park". Lots of people and dogs and fun demos to watch (agility, herding, costume contest) and lots of vendor booths for vets, daycare/boarding, dog clothes, treats, etc. Santa and I met up with several dog park friends and had a good time.

Saturday night, I went with another friend to a great concert to see 3 Classic Rock bands from the 80s - Tesla, Styx and Def Leppard. I like a couple of Tesla's songs...and some of Def Leppard's....but I love nearly every song EVER performed by Styx. On Saturday, Tesla played for about 1/2 hour, Styx for 45 minutes to an hour and then Def Leppard took the stage. I was tired from a late night Friday and a busy day Saturday, and my friend wasn't that into Def Leppard....so we opted to leave early.

Yesterday, I did the usual laundry, grocery shopping and dog park. I watched some football during the day, and of course watched the Packer game last night. :cheer:

This coming weekend I'm going to the Renaissance Faire on Saturday and the 10K is Sunday.

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

Annie - Glad you had a good weekend. Though your friend's son's wedding does sound kind of "retro" except not the cool kind of "retro". At least you had a nice day with your kids and grandkids.

Laura - I love seeing pictures of Coal....he's so sweet.

Happy - Wow...temps in the 40s! Yikes! Fall has definitely arrived in the midwest. I hope you find some cool stuff at the fall festival.


Gotta get ready for a meeting.

Sending big hugs to everyone!

Much love,

Morning all.

I had a nice weekend. Really enjoying this weather!

Saturday morning I got a load of laundry going and then did a BE workout. BF and I went out to D’s in the afternoon. We visited a bit, picked up lunch and brought it back to her house. It was a nice afternoon.

Sunday morning I went to the farmers market and bought some corn and some nectarines. I got out in the yard and cut the peony foliage down to the ground. The phlox are almost done, so I suppose I’ll be cutting those back next weekend. At least the sedum are blooming. As for the veg garden, my sweet 100 cherry tomatoes are still doing great. The little yellow “pear” tomatoes are producing like crazy, but about 99% of them are split. :mad: What a waste. Next year I’ll plant the sweet 100’s as usual and also some roma/plum tomatoes.

After being out in the yard, I went in, got another load of laundry going and did another BE workout. Now I have two more older BE workouts from an old VHS tape that are now recorded on the DVR. :cp:

When I was out in the yard with doggy this morning, I sprayed in the hydrangeas with the bee killer spray to try and kill the rest of whatever bees are nesting in there. Of course I always forget that the can says to only shake it twice, and I overshook it. So the spray came out foamy and it seemed to me that it didn’t spray quite as far. Sigh. Please tell me who picks up an aerosol spray can and only shakes it twice??!!

Tonight’s Pilates. My muscles are a bit tired today, but I’ll get through it.
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Hi Dee. Like that new avatar! :)

Shad – I bet taking the weekend off was more beneficial for you than prepping for this week’s work. Love the fb photos – what a beautiful garden. :flow1:

Happy – Brrr! Season’s are a-changing! Yup, Annie’s right – you still sound busy as heck, even though you scaled back... I guess re the mulch – you use what you have on hand. I'll be spreading leaves on top of the icky clay soil I spread in the back (from the sewer line repair dirt hump in the front yard). I hope the leaves does that soil some good. According to bf, the day they had a tornado warning to the south, we had a good amount of rain up in our area - and bf and doggy walked in it. Yeh, I guess we had a wet beginning of the season, and a good amount of rain these past couple weeks. Surprisingly, the mosquitos weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. Makes up for the noise of the cicadas I guess. :rolleyes:

Terra – Hope you enjoy the Zumba dvd.

Annie – Glad you & sis enjoyed the wedding. I hope C enjoys his week off work. :carrot: Enjoy your “me time” tonight! Yeh, Coal’s bed is one of those fancy memory foam ones, so it does get warm for him. He definitely doesn’t use it as much during the summer as during the winter. Sorry your temp tooth is bugging you – I’d go crazy dealing with that.

Michelle – What a weekend! I’m glad you enjoyed the comedians – bf and I like to watch them on Netflix. As for your concerts - I used to love Styx! I saw Dennis DeYoung at a local fest on July 3rd – wow, really brought back the memories.

Hi Susie!! Hi Ceejay!!

Have a great week everyone!!
:comp:

Sam and Chris
 

I do!!!

I've upgraded the work computer to Window's 10. Now I'm going to have to get used to all the stuff I use that is in different places.
Had a good week end. Decided for the umpteenth time that this time I'm staying in Arkansas. The move to Missouri is going to be a huge lifestyle change and their are some things going on up there that I do not need to be involved in. I got cold feet while I was in Missouri and I tested my sister on some things to see how she would react.
I'll come back to do personal's. The plant is down and I need to refill the chemical's. More later.

Annie, Your Samantha is simply 'Radiant' :val2: in her photo. 'Thank you' for sharing her Special day with us.

I have a full week & am trying to work part-time w my normal schedule & work through the fatigue from the pain RX. I referred out my Interior D. clients to a few other businesses, but told them I'm available for a 2nd opinion consultations after retiring my business. My energy is holding enough for my home duties & some private sewing jobs part-time this week. But I'm concerned I'm eating too many carbs to get rid of the fatigue & increase my energy, if I gain +3 lbs., I'll know why.

Today when I put my Ziggy avatar up, I saw in my photo folder a Christmas pic of me & Dh @ my deceased brother's home in 2000 he took of us. I put it up on my profile page, hard to see us with only the Christmas decoration lights on. That was 15 yrs ago when I was 46 yr. wearing a size 6, size small clothes looking young/cute & weighed 125#, & Dh was 36 yr then, he still wears size 32" waist jeans, his same weight within 10# & he looks mostly the same. Seeing that pic hit me with reality, I wish I had known about eating 1 serving size/portion control & staying active weekly & made it my lifestyle routine; then I would look younger/pretty & still be small now. Stupid me, I took my body for granted because I was always about 125# except during pregnancy, until my weight gain w Dh's cancer stress. The only ppl I've made happy gaining weight is Lays Potato chip company, because I never stop @ 1 serving, or eating out @ restaurants for meals w their salty, oversized servings. My go-to stress eating foods r, potato chips, chocolate chip cookies & Spumoni ice cream :p

As of today I'm done making excuses for myself, 'my weight, my fatigue or being sick'... God is here with me always, no matter what's happening. As long as I'm breathing & not vomiting or having a migraine... then it's a wonderful day :sunny: I can't wait for my body to adjust & feel normal again.

I'm looking forwards to next year when most of us can meet for a girls weekend together somewhere. I like your ideas of not doing it during the 'hot-humid-sweaty' months of July-August. Laura what would u chose for us to do in Chicago, I've wanted to go eat @ a Rick Bayless Mexican restaurant etc. or maybe a concert in someone's state. Annie, no Nascar please, I'll watch it on TV but I don't like going to races anymore. What do u like to do in Indiana? Michigan has the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village & Mackinaw Island, but that's pricey & Indian Casino's r everywhere. Everyone think of some places in your own state that would b fun to visit. Susie has the Columbus Zoo & Kings Island & ? Happy, Shad, Ceej & Michelle live way far away for driving unless we carpooled. Some things to ponder during our cold winter months.

Ceej, If u have close relatives in your state I wouldn't move either if your sis's family is somewhat a prob to b around, drama is a PITA that nobody needs. When u retire there will b many things u can do with your time, even explore your state, places that you've not had time to visit or try hobbies. If u change your mind later & want to move then do it when that moment suits you. Florida isn't far from u, that would b nice to go w some friends/family & take a vacation from the cold/ice in Jan.-Feb. There r soo many options for u to try & enjoy your life. I hope when we have our girls weekend next year that u can join everyone.

Dh wants his supper, I think tonight he's getting 2, Hot Pockets :D 4 minutes in the microwave & I'm done :cool:

:cheer: Have a awesome week girls...

ps: I'm back watching DWTS, Dh refused the Hot Pockets & he drove to Burger King.

Good Morning Ladies...

I babysat last night while the kiddos went to the Colts game. Needless to say I am beat this morning. So tired I could crawl under my desk and sleep for a couple of hours. Yeeee. The babes were wired last night and full of life. I laughed so hard at both of them being crazy energetic. Nanna this, Nanna that, finally got Royce (1 yr old) to say I love you to me in his little mumbling way. lol

DEE...thank you for the sweet mention of my DDs picture. Good attitude you have, keep that train of thought going. No worries about Nascar races, I don't attend either, too hot and wrong month. We could do downtown Indy, so much to see and do or we could go to Brown County, Indiana. Google it.

CHELLE...you are to "on the go" for me. You wear me out with all your doings. Glad you are enjoying life!

Hello to all...

Good morning ladies,

I am beat and wiped out this morning. Scraping and painting the thrift shop on Sunday and then all day yesterday. The place looks really nice. DH of course did most of the work. I was on my feet all day and wore some old New Balance shoes that I didn't mind getting paint on. At the end of the day I realized that I should throw them away - they are past their prime. Although not uncomfortable at the time, when I took them off I realized my back and knees and feet hurt terribly because they are no longer supportive in a good way. I was pretty crippled up last night. Today I have to work at the shop but there are 2 others signed up for cashiering so I can concentrate on pulling together stuff for the weekend sidewalk sale we are having. Tomorrow is yoga. Thursday I think is a day to myself. Friday get stuff ready for the sale and Saturday I will spend cashiering and helping out. I am supposed to be working on that software evaluation too. :rolleyes: It looks like we will have a beautiful weekend for the fall festival on Saturday - going to sneak some time to go see some of the booths myself. Next week DH and I will have to make some time for an ATV ride and some color shots of the trees. We are still about 20 percent color right now but they will pop quickly so we have to keep an eye on things.

Annie - Sam looked gorgeous in her outfit - cute shoes too. That is a really nice picture of her and Chris - I hope they got some good pictures to look back on over time. Poor you today - I bet you just want to crawl under your desk and take a brief nap. Glad you are loving the kiddies and how sweet that you got Royce to say I love you. I love baby babble :D Well of course Sam's wedding was better than the other one, you put so much work into it. I'm glad I don't have to deal with a wedding - either my own or a daughters now a days. Would break the bank!

Dee - would love to meet up but I don't do long distance driving and if I do come to Chicago, I don't have a car. But that's not to say that some day, some way we can't make it happen. I laughed about your hubby's dinner of Hot Pockets. :lol: Yesterday we had a repeat of lunch - sandwiches and the rest of the pasta fagioli soup I made for the crew. Some nights are no fuss. ;) I understand your comment about once being tiny and now time and hormones have rearranged our bodies - not to mention the occasional wine/sugar treat/vice of choice. I wish I had buckled down more when I was in my 40's and the weight started to creep up. I know I will never see a size 3 again - right now I am more concerned about doing as much as I can to feel better and be healthy. Considering what you are going through, perhaps that's what you need to focus on also. Don't beat yourself up.

Ceejay - you are probably wise to avoid the drama of the family. Part of the reason we moved here was to be near 2 sets of cousins and at least have some folks we knew. Well within a year, thanks to the drama mamas, jealousy started and I have not talked to 3 of the 4 of them for over a year now. The funny thing is, the one I am still friends with is the wife of a cousin and the 3 I don't talk to are blood cousins. So much for family ties :rolleyes: So my new family is the folks I met volunteering and hopefully one day my sister will move up this way too. So my advice would be to make people a lower priority and look for a place that has things that make you happy - money and expenses, things to do, access to shopping (like food).

Laura - that's interesting that one set of tomatoes is doing fine and the other split. Usually they split because they had a growth spurt due to a sudden increase in rain or favorable temperatures. You'd think that one would do the same as the other. My round cherry tomatoes are more tasty than the grape tomatoes this year. And the roma's are ok for cooking but not as flavorful as beefsteaks. I will have to get out in the garden either later today or tomorrow depending on when it will rain and do some end of season picking. Bummer with the glitch with the bug spray. You're right - no one shakes a can only twice. That is crazy. I take it you have wasps in there rather than honey bees? How are the "commuter" bees - those small annoying yellow bees that love commuter's coffee cups and are responsible for many a "bee dance" at the train station? I'm sure they must be in full on annoyment around this time.

Michelle - sounds like you had a great weekend. I would have picked Def Leppard over the other 2 bands but it's been so long since I have listened to their music I might not recognize half of it anyway. I have always been fascinated by the drummer who lost his arm in a car accident. Also kind of disconcerting to see people I remember as young, aged now. Like watching a band made up of their dads. :lol: They had Duran Duran on Jimmy Fallon recently - didn't even recognize them. I'm glad you were not affected by the HP layoffs. That had to be difficult.

Terra - how's the Zumba going?

Hello to the rest of the chicks :wave: I should Zumba myself into the shower. Would rather go back to sleep - it's a pretty gray day out there but supposed to get sunny later on.

Have a good Tuesday all.

Oh and this morning I got on the scales and it only said "LO", well I was excited till I realized it meant the batteries and not my weight. hahahahha

Told my sis last night that I was staying in Arkansas. Think she was a bit shocked but I can always go visit. I need to do some major errands this week end that deals with my retirement.
Woke up with a sore foot this morning. Don't remember hurting it.
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Michelle
Wow, you are a busy person. So proud of your walking etc.

Annie
I can fully understand about being tired after taking care of the grand children. I was not used to my sister's grandchildren and they wore me out too.

Terra,
The Zumba DVD that I had was fun but I was exhausted afterwards. All the continuous movement. Been thinking about getting that one back out and doing it this week end.

Dee
Good for you to have a good attitude toward your illness. Don't let it get you down.

Changed my avatar in honor of our MELLIE. As much as she liked firefighters...lol

Morning all. The boss just came over by the admin and me and asked who gave him the heart attack and moved a very large set of folders on our network drive into another folder so it looked like the one folder (and all the subfolders and files) was GONE. I haven’t been in those folders since last week at the most recent, so I knew it wasn’t me, and it wasn’t the admin. Of course it was the other department member, who still, after working here over 1.5 years, remains totally clueless about our department’s network drive. In fact, we just learned that she saves everything to her laptop hard drive because she doesn’t know where anything should go in our network drive. God forbid her laptop is lost, stolen or the hard drive crashes. Sigh. This is one person we work around vs. work with.

Ceejay –Since you’re a planner, you’re probably relieved to have come to a decision re MO vs. AR. Now you can move on to other retirement planning matters since a move isn’t in your immediate future. And of course you can always change your mind down the line... :yes:

Annie – LOL re the “LO” on the scale. I’d have taken that as a reprieve - I’ve been avoiding the scale a lot lately. Hope you’re getting through the day in spite of being worn out by the kiddies. Lucky you weren't in my shoes today - we had an all-employee meeting this morning that was on the calendar for an hour but went TWO hours. Didn’t anyone think before they kept adding to the agenda??!! What a great photo of S&C. That one’s gonna go in a frame on display for sure. I like your avatar. Mellie’s up in heaven enjoying the company of firefighters, I’m sure of it! :D

Happy – Sorry you’re achey after a day on your feet. Sometimes the life of a shoe can be extended using an over-the-counter orthotic or insole. I think the bees I’m dealing with are those small yellow bees you called “commuter bees”.

Dee – That’s a nice photo of you and your hubby in your profile. You are certainly not alone in wishing we knew how difficult it would be to lose the excess weight once we gain it – before we gained it! Don’t be so hard on yourself. And don’t think of your fatigue/pain as an “excuse” as if it isn’t a valid reason for not being able to keep to your old schedule – that’s not fair to yourself. That said, I certainly hope you find a way to cope with it and be able to get back to some (if not all of) your usual activities. :hug: As for Chicago – there’s so much to see and do – all the touristy stuff including parks, museums and Navy Pier. I think boat tours are fun – there are skyline tours along the lakeshore, and architecture tours along the river. Restaurants galore, and the zoos.

Hellos to the rest of you!
==
Nothing much to report. Last night’s Pilates class was good. Already a bit sore in the core, expect it to increase as the day goes on.

The boss will be out tomorrow through Friday. That’s always a nice thing. :D

Nothing planned for tonight. I think we’ll be grilling our dinner, including the farmers market corn on the cob.

That’s all for now, so I’ll get this posted.