Expecting the maintenance man here shortly. Problems with a filter that went to manual. I had to go down and close the valve manually. That's getting a bit much on this 65 year old.
Work yesterday was quiet.
More later.

Evening all. Just a quick hello. Yesterday I got the last two hydrangeas dug out. Very stubborn they were. My hands were once again very sore afterwards. So glad that job is done. That was it for yesterday other than the usual.

Today we brought home bf's mom from the hospital. Glad she's home now. She'll be on warfarin for a while.

Doing some laundry. Doggie & I had a nice walk. It's been a nice weekend for weather.

That's it for now. I'll get to personals tomorrow.

Good Morning All....

Lovely weekend. Errands and laundry on Saturday. Yesterday was quite nice. Sis and all 3 of the babes and I went to get their pix taken then off to O'Charley's for LINNER, as it was about 3:30 when we ate. Took chicken home to C. He stayed home to wait on the cable guy (not Larry, lol). It ended up being the transducer on the the dish plus when they installed the pole for the dish, it was not cemented in which made the dish go out of sync with the satellite. All good now and back in Hallmark channel business.

SUSIE...Lucas Oil Stadium is 15 minutes from my house and 7 minutes from work. Let's hook up at some point, even if just for a few minutes. I can break away from work, come after work, or even meet you at the exit off of I74 to Cincy right by my house for a quick cup of Joe on your way home. There is a Mcds and Wendy's at that exit, possibly a Taco Bell<--they are building it now, looks almost ready to open. Not sure of the opening date.

LAURA...my hands always hurts after digging in the yard too. Wonder if that is what arthritis feels like for those who have it in their hands? Glad MIL is home and doing better. She needs to be careful not to cut herself with being on blood thinner. They told me not to even use a razor to shave and get an electric one.

DEE...didn't know your doggie was going to have another litter. How often do you breed her? Seems like it would be hard on her after several times of litters. I know I wouldn't want to do that again! Lol.

CEEG...glad the window is replaced and it didn't cost you a dime, only sanity. Scary on the BP. At least the bottom number is good. Relax a bit, stay clear of salt and WE all know, lose some weight. Bleh, huh? Hugs sister!

HAPPY...I don't believe I have ever had swordfish. Have you? Is it tasty or a taste that has to be acquired? The Shark vacuum intrigues me, however as C pointed out to me, the collection of the dirt container that you have to empty puts more crap back into the air. So he won't let me get one. Yes, I believe you and I are very much alike in ways like we are fixers and helpers, which gets us into more work and time consuming things not of choice.

SHADDIE...even when you come home, you are busier than I would like to be. Woman, slow down and take 10 for yourself.

CHELLE...have you caught up on your rest and sleep from that very busy week at work?

TERRA...any news on the job front?

Bout it for me, have a great Monday/night. Hugs all the way around.

Still waiting for the filter to be fixed. Ugh, Started taking the new blood pressure pill yesterday. I made many trips to the bathroom. Wanted the maintenance man to fix the switch on another filter that opens the rewash valve. Didn't think about going down stairs to do it by opening he valve manually. I shouldn't have to do that. But they are dealing with a sewer main that's backed up to the police department. Guess we know who gets priority around here. Do we see why my blood pressure is high. I'm secretly hoping that the doctor will tell me I need to retire due to the stress at work. One can hope.

Laura
Glad your bf's mom is back home.

Hello's to the rest. Be back later for personals.

Morning all,

Happy Monday. I was supposed to go with DH today to get the radio replaced in the new car but I woke up at 4am with a tummy ache and it carried through the morning. Is the result of eating out / not making sure I am getting in the fruits and vegetables like I should be. Re: the radio - we noticed when we first got the car that the satellite radio seemed to "skip" in spots. We though it might be crappy Sirius XM radio and we opted not to renew it. Then we noticed the regular radio also skipped - we chalked that up to the trees in the area and interference. Then something else happened and DH decided to have them check it when he took the car in last and low and behold, the radio is defective. I am hoping that the navigation system is part of that whole unit because that sucks too. Anyway he is gone and I have to play telephone central here. We were supposed to go and have the initial meeting to start our estate planning with the attorney. I made the appointment 2 weeks ago. DH forgot to mark on the calendar that he had a doctor's appointment at the same time. So when he got the reminder call Friday about the doctor's appt, he was well I can't change it. I was well ... why wasn't it on the calendar???? He made an attempt to change the doctor's appt but they have a stupid system and he has no patience. So I will have to reschedule this and as you know, I have a very busy schedule so actually this is going to be a pain as the week is already filled up with stuff. Then I have to call the junior college and gripe - I registered for an art class in April when I was there last week and by chance I looked at my schedule and they dropped me from the class! This is a popular instructor - I'm going to be so mad if I am on a wait list. And then I have to wait for the THIRD call from Home Depot to schedule a person to come and measure for the replacement of our front door. So stupid how they handle this. One call to talk to a salesman. Second call from someone else about installation. Third call from the installer to come and measure. Probably a 4th call from the driver to find out where we live and a fifth call from the weatherman to make sure it's not a bad day to drive Why have things become so complicated?

Then I am losing my mind. Last week I went and got my hair done and put my shoes on in a dark closet and didn't notice I had 2 different shoes. Today I got up early and started doing some housework. Washed 1 twin blanket with 2 sets of twin sheets. Put the blanket in the dryer by itself, left the wet sheets in the washer. 20 minutes later grabbed a load of towels and dumped them in the washer and turned it on. I thought the washer looked a bit full but ignored it. 15 minutes later I notice the dryer tumbling and wonder what happened to the sheets in the washer? I opened the lid and idiot me, tossed the towels on top of the wet sheets, added soap and away it went. The floor was thumping from the too heavy load. I'm lucky I did not mess up the washer. Stopped and drained the water out, pulled out the heavy wet sheets and tossed them in the laundry tub and went and rewashed the towels. Now I can't finish all the laundry I planned to because I have thrown too much water in the septic from my stupid mistake. Sheets will have to go another rinse cycle. I told DH he MUST start paying attention, guess I have to do the same.

Saturday the Humane Society president and vice-president held an informal thank you get together for the people serving at the gourmet dinner and those who painted the thrift shop exterior. She served baked ziti which had (yuck) olives in it and far too many red pepper flakes. I wish people would realize that olives are a love it or hate it item - like mushrooms. And people who like olives tend to be like - if one can of 'em is good - 2 cans would be GREAT and they overdo them. They had a salad which was very good, I ate that. I brought a garlic cheese monkey type of bread - canned biscuits, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, butter mixed together and topped with shredded asiago, parmesan and mozzarella - very easy and big hit. I did not get to talk to everyone I wanted to and towards the end I got talking to the vp who very much wants to run the thrift shop like the retail business it should be. She made some valid points about several things. I just said you can't get these volunteers to understand that. Anyway it was a nice evening. Yesterday we stayed home, it was a lazy day at home. While I truly enjoyed it, I feel I wasted a nice sunny day inside even though I got several of my to-do list tasks done. Today is supposed to be a similar day, I need to get outside in the afternoon.

Ceejay - I guess those pills are helping you to get your steps in! No fun though. Sounds like the job is tiring you out but you are still not sure "should I stay or should I go?" Sometimes you just have to make a decision and be ok with it. I think there are no simple answers anymore, we just have to stop analyzing things and tell ourselves we are ok with what we decided and not second guess ourselves.

Annie - glad you had a nice Linner and that the cable is fixed. Hallmark channel is gearing up with the holiday shows. They do have some really nice movies, would not want to miss that. Yes, I have tasted swordfish. DH has suggested I try his several times when it's prepared especially well. It is a dense, meaty fish. I do not care for the texture of it even if I did like the seasonings and preparation. I find it dry. My preference is the softer, smoother flaky type of fish like cod. I think that is the difference between fresh water and salt water fish - the texture. He was salt water coming from Rhode Island and I was fresh water. The same is true of yellow fin tuna - ahi - it also has a more dense texture and I don't like that either. Yes it is annoying being on the blood thinners. Something else to consider for the winter if you tend to get bloody noses from the dry air and the occasional sniffles of sinus - might want to get a bottle or two of the saline mist you spray in your nose to relieve dryness of the tissues. Bloody noses on blood thinners are also annoying and should be avoided.

Arthritis in the hands - yes, intense hand gripping like tugging at gardening, wringing out wet stuff, or lifting heavy things or even intense winter cold can aggravate the arthritis and make your hands ache. I have it in my thumb joint and if I squeeze the joint it brings an intense pain. Sometimes I just rub / massage my hands when they ache and that helps a bit. Yoga teacher has us do hand movements to get synovial fluid into the joints that seems to also help.

Laura - Good to hear BF's mom is home now. Hope she will recover quickly. What a great way to enjoy the last bits of the nice weather with a walk with Coal. Have you been out in the forest preserves lately?

Shad - welcome back for a brief touchdown at home. Much more to do than time to get it done I'm sure. That's nice that your son and family will be coming in for Christmas - nicer if they discussed it with you first Ah it is what it is, eh?

Susie - you need to document everything that is going on with work, particularly the part about the managers sitting on the slides until the last minute. It's not just the directors but EVERYONE making a crisis for you. That has got to end. Or at least keep track of every instance the next time you have a discussion about your responsibilities.

Dee - argh about the Humane Society volunteer offering the kids puppies and kittens. That is NOT the way to ensure that the animals are getting good homes. Very irresponsible. Nice of you to help your son at the new home, just make sure you don't over do it.

Hellos to the other chicks, I'd better get a move on here and start those calls.

Morning all. Sunny today, and temps will hit the mid-50's. I'll get out for a walk at lunch.

Ceejay – I agree, your job sounds like it was stressful the past week or so, and your car window being broken certainly added to it. I hope things calm down for you this week. Is the other BP med working for you?

Annie – Sounds like a good weekend. I’m glad your cable/dish service is working again. It would be so great if you and Susie could meet up!! Re the sore hands – yes, I thought this might be how arthritis feels. In which case, it sucks. I like using a stick vac, but they all have dirt cups vs. disposable bags. The cups can be messy, and they sure do fill up quickly when there’s dog hair in the mix!

Shad – How long will you be home? I hope your dentist appointment went well. Wow, you actually mentioned that “C” holiday!! Anyway, it’ll be nice for you to be home for that holiday and have DS/DIL/granddaughter coe to you. Will your contract be done by then? If so, then it’ll be another reason for celebration!

Susie – Ugh re working on a Sunday! What a pain having to wait on information from others that are tardy in order to get your job done. Good luck with that. So nice you have a day off on Friday to look forward to. And it’ll be really great if you and Annie get to meet up!!! Fingers that it can happen!

Dee – We had a beautiful week here too last week. This weekend was cooler, but still beautiful. Nice crisp autumn weather. Our oak tree in back has turned a nice russet brown/orange, i.e., rust. Not brilliant reds, yellows or flame orange, but nice in its own way. Of course, it hasn’t lost many leaves yet. That usually happens well AFTER all of the village’s leaf removal options have passed, LOL. We haven’t received our dehydrator yet. How nice – now both of your sons are in MI? Nice you got to help him out with his new place.

Happy – I hope you’re having some downtime these days. You’ve been so darn busy – those “not paying attention” mishaps are probably from having too much going on and too much on your mind! Nice you found a new restaurant option. Thanks for the tips for possibly getting the Aravon shoes at a discount, and avoiding return hassles. That’s important when buying online! Your poor car! But at least that’s cosmetic and not mechanical. The engines these days really do well in terms of longevity, so I hope you have a lot of reliability left with your Avalon. I wasn’t a McGuyver watcher, but it’s funny how it’s become part of our language – like a verb – to McGuyver something – and (almost) everyone knows what you mean. The HS thank you dinner sounded nice, but olives – yuck. Way too salty for me. That garlic monkey bread sounds great. I love foods that involve bread or pastry crusts! I hope you get outdoors today – try to do some of those outdoor tasks, or just putter around out there pretending... I haven’t gotten out to the forest preserves lately. Bf and I drove past the Busse Woods FP area along AH Road yesterday on the way home from his mom’s place. Several people were on the bike trails walking and cycling. Nice day for it. Another cycling season has passed us by.

Hi Terra! Hi Michelle! Hope you both had a great weekend.

Have a great week everyone!
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Nothing much else to report about the weekend. As I mentioned to Dee, we’re still awaiting shipment of our food dehydrator. We also ordered & are awaiting a big electric roasting pan to replace the Nesco that went kaput on us this past summer.

Now that the one big garden project I wanted to get done (remove all the hydrangea bushes) is done, I’m ready to get going on the indoor projects. There are still a couple garden projects to work on, but they will have to wait until next year. One is redoing the borders of all the garden beds with the fancy border stuff (Snap-Edge). The other one is removing the one border that runs along the outside of the 3-season room and replace it with grass. I will dig out the hosta and daylilies when they come up in the spring and give them away. Looking forward to easy digging projects!

The indoor projects are too numerous to list, but they include the half bath re-do (yes, still), paperwork decluttering, and basement cleanup (many sub-projects there). Oh the fun!

Okay, it’s taken forever, so I will finally post this.

Good Morning All...Got lots of reports to get done today. Doesn't even include the Wednesday mess. Sheese.

I tell you, Curtis requests the strangest things for dinner. Honey, can you make some mac n cheese and put some cut up hot dogs in it? Really, um, well ok. I certainly didn't eat any of it, so you are on your own. YUK. I went to a meeting instead. lol.

It is getting a little nippier around here than I like. Like 42 on the way to work, high mid-50s. Beats 0 and snow I suppose. Skip forward to spring please.

LAURA...does the snap edge stuff hold up very good? I have never had much luck with it which is why I switched to stone decor borders. I thought you got the half bath redone already. What is left to do in there?

HAPPY...ugh, automated machines when trying to talk to a human. I just start hitting 0 in hopes it will through me to a real person, works most of the time. Other times they disconnect me. Worth a shot in my books. Pretty cool the radio was defective and you didn't have to pay for anything on that.

Got to get this baby started, make is a great Tuesday/night.

Happy
I'm going to wait till my next doctor's visit concerning my blood pressure before I make a final decision about retirement. I want to get the most out of my social security benefits but it may not be worth it health wise. I've let my sister who is the nurse know about my bp. I'm with Laura you need some down time.

Laura
I'm getting out in the yard tomorrow to rake leaves. Supposed to rain this week end. Going to enjoy these warmer days while I can. I want to shampoo the carpets in the living room. Wish those Rug doctor's weren't so big I would rent of those. I also need to down size some more.

Annie
Reports, ugh, I hate them. Luckily I can do mine on a daily basis and then turn them in on the first of the month. Did you have a good day out with the kids? I don't mind the mac and cheese but not with hot dogs.

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Where is Michelle, Terra and Susie.

The maintenance man finally got the filter fixed so we are back to normal today. I'm taking tomorrow of for a me day. I've had it scheduled for a while and I'm looking forward to having some me time. I'm thinking very serious about not going to Paragould and just relaxing this week end. And see if this will bring down my blood pressure.
Going to look up my new bp med to see what it is supposed to do.
Better get back to work and get caught up on this paper work.

Hi kids,
Happy Tuesday. Sun is shining, we still have temps in the 50's at least for one more day. Maybe there is something to this El Nino winter - we are fortunate in that we have had milder weather than normal up to this point. Yesterday I made it a point to get outdoors and winterize my garden. Pulled as many weeds as possible, pulled the dead plants and tomatoes that fell to the ground and covered the beds with a heavy brown paper mulch. Now I need to find some straw mulch to cover the strawberry plants.

Was supposed to go to see the lawyer about a will today but DH had a Dr.'s appointment he forgot about. I tried to reschedule but the attorney was apparently not in the office. She called at 8 this morning asking to reschedule as she was not feeling well. I was like - don't you check your messages??? Then I remembered where I live and how casual people are. We will try again next week. DH and I had a conversation about things - I told him if I die first (we are taking bets who dies first - in his family the men outlive the women and in my family the women far outlive the men But I said if I die first and he remarries, new wife can't have my jewelry or my money He said WHY do you think I'd remarry????? I just said, you never know although at this point in my life I am done breaking in a new man.

We are having an ordeal and going in circles trying to get someone from Home Depot to come out and measure our front door for replacement. They were supposed to call us, then they didn't. We called, they promised to call. They didn't. We complained. They called and said they'd come between 3 and 5pm today. Then got a second call from the installer who said he'd be by between 5 and 6pm. Then got a 3rd call that they would be there at 3. Today we got a call that they had a mix up, could they come tomorrow? DH called the manager and complained. They called back, was no mix up after all, they would be here at 4 today. So we STILL don't know when they are coming. This is probably my biggest complaint about living up here. This is very typical of what we have to do to get someone to fix/install/show up. IF they ever show up. *big sigh*

Ceejay - I understand your concerns about stretching your money as best you can. But I can also tell you that when I moved up here I was on 5 kinds of medicine and within 1 year I got back down to 1 medication - thyroid which I will always be on. I was amazed to look back and see just what the overall stress of the situation - work and living in the wrong place - was doing to me and my body and my health. Same for DH. Yes, I have less money now - far less but I have enough to be busy and happy and spend some extra with a little shopping when I want it and extra for taking classes and hobbies. It was SO worth it to me. But only you can make the decision between having enough money and the continued stress of working. And remember, there is no perfect answer. Just make the best decision and move on with it. Enjoy your day off.

Annie - I thought mac and cheese and hot dogs was a kid's kind of meal. DH ate that once too and declared it delicious. OMG - salt bomb! I would like to think that most men have a totally different caveman palate but then again, most great chefs are men so go figure I agree with you about the stone borders. The plastic tends to crack if you get a lot of cold weather and it also takes a beating from the string trimmer if you use that to nip the grass along the edge. DH told me the trick about hitting 0 on the phone or just not answering any of the automated questions. Good luck with getting all the reports done.

Laura - did you get out and get a walk in yesterday? Yes, you are probably right about too much on the brain and not paying attention. I keep saying I have to slow down - when I get past this week and it just keeps piling up. I guess what you say about the cycling season passing you by. That's how I used to feel about September and those last few Indian Summer days - summer has flown by - get in a few more activities before everything gets cold and gray. What are you planning to make with the food dehydrator? Just meat or dried fruits too?

Hello to the rest of the chicks - time to check in with us. No slackers Have a good one all. I am off to my shift at the thrift shop. We'll see how I do with afternoons instead of mornings. Will be a longer day for sure as I will now have to close out the till and count up the money. Oh well - more brain cells to develop! See yahs.

Hello all.

Annie – Hope the reports went okay today. LOL re C’s dinner request. Definitely a kid kind of thing, though at our house we’ve been known to make a dinner of Stouffer’s mac n cheese with a packet of tuna stirred into it. Good of you to skip that – not a healthy thing to eat. Re Snap-edge – I can’t say how it actually hold up. What I do know is that bf’s SIL works for the company and his brother had installed some at their old house. The half bath was not completed by bf to my satisfaction so just about everything is left to be done, or rather re-done. For example, below the old medicine cabinet were two old recessed soap dishes we didn’t want anymore. When installing the new medicine cabinet, he removed the recessed soap dishes. He did not reframe the wall and change the placement of the medicine cabinet to account for having removed the soap dishes. So the new medicine cabinet is too high on the wall, and the light fixture above that is of course too high as well. And there’s a big gap between the top of the sink and the bottom of the medicine cabinet. The paint turned out to be a bad color and I intend to repaint it. But aside from the color, the paint job is not good because the sanding was done poorly. The towel ring and the toilet paper holder are placed oddly, and also too high. Aren’t you glad you asked what was left to do?? <<<< if I don’t grin I will

Ceejay – Enjoy your day off and time outdoors tomorrow. Ugh re the carpet cleaning. We broke down and bought a carpet cleaner for all our area rugs a while back, but have only cleaned one of them! : That’s another thing on the to-do list… I think staying home and not taking the drive to Paragould (and back) is a good idea. You need to de-stress.

Happy – LOL re the discussion/bets re who dies first. I hope you finally get that will/trust done. Did you have to do any prep work in advance of this lawyer appointment – gather info, etc.? What a PITA re getting Home Depot out to measure for a new door! We haven’t used them for doing work, but when we’ve had to order something that had to go out to be done (3rd party) in the recent past, it wasn’t handled in an efficient manner. I felt better about them years ago, but not more recently. Yes, I got out for a short walk at lunchtime. Re the food dehydrator, we will use it for meat, maybe some fruit and probably some herbs.

Gee, never got this posted. Hellos to the rest of you and I’ll get this posted before I leave the office.

Happy
I was thinking about the bp problems and the stress I'm under as a result of me retiring. It's never been this high. I'm going to give it till I get my vehicle paid for in May and then set another date. My sis has told me that I could live with her but not sure if I want too. Can't blame you for wanting a will.

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Texted my co-worker to remind her that I have a vacation day tomorrow. Thinking about staying home and not traveling any where. That's stress.
She asked to have off the 27, 28, and 29th of November. I kinda frowned on that one cause it cut into my week end, but I bartered with her and asked for the day before Thanksgiving. She said yes. They have to take care of some things for his recently deceased mother. So I'm working another long week at the end of the month. I can't work any over time in December due to jury duty. Sure hope that things are settled out of court.
I sure am excited about being off for 5 day's.

Evening all,
Sorry but this will be a short post. I'm back in NZ and due to go back to work tomorrow. At the moment I am just so tired that it is hard to put one thought past another - brain is dead.

Had a reasonable trip home. The DS2 and partner are in my house. They are not the tidiest people, but I had to draw the line at a couple of practices they seem to have adopted. DS2 is not particularly happy, the new (used) car he bought has broken down and will cost $3K to fix after 6 days of use. So he is off to court to get his money back this week. His partner is a difficult person to get to know. She is intelligent - she is a corporate conveyancing lawyer after all, but I find her quite hard to talk to.
Spoke to DS1 last night and yes he is coming up for Christmas and will let me know dates soon. Just hope it is this month and not the night before Christmas!!! Kids !!!!!!

So back to work tomorrow. Hope the workforce has come to grips with doing things properly while I have been away.

Okay, better go.

Good morning all,

Good dark and gray early morning and a sleepy me after only 4 hours of sleep. And I have a rather busy day today to boot. I wanted to finish a project last night and it decided to give me some push back so I didn't get to bed until very late and of course once my head hit the pillow the brain was still churning so I didn't fall asleep right away. I am hoping a second cup of coffee and a hot shower will wake me up. I have to take minutes for our monthly thrift shop meeting but when I read the barely there minutes that the person took from our last board meeting, I have decided that I have a long way to go when it comes to sloppy notes. No wonder people have complimented me on my minutes. Geez people, it ain't that hard to do - just listen and write. Perhaps the fact that she did more talking with her neighbors than gathering info had something to do with it... The man finally showed up to measure the door just as we were finishing supper last night. He came in all chatty to DH and didn't say a word to me and I was standing 10 feet away cleaning up the kitchen in an open area. He and DH got to talking and he is a sub-contractor and does siding and decks. After he left I told DH I am not giving him the business. I have a long standing rule (started with car saleman) that if they only talk to him, they DON'T get my half of the business. DH actually told that to a salesman once who enthusiastically ran up to him, ignored me and addressed all communications to him. I just looked at DH and he said laughing - I think you just lost a sale as it's my wife who is car shopping and you completely ignored her. And we walked out Except in this case I might not win because we are having such a hard time getting anyone to do work...

Shad - it is awkward when one of the kids has a partner that is hard to warm up to. My BIL is quiet to the point of off-putting at times. He stares into space, it's hard to get him to talk but he's completely different with his family who he falls all over. Over the years I have learned how to draw him out but still, it makes my Mom uncomfortable and DH too. Other times he is chatty as can be. Just a personality quirk I guess. Good thing that you put a brake on behaviors you didn't like - grown up or not, still your home and your rules. You need to try and unwind a bit - you sound tighter than a bow string with all this busy stuff and no real time to yourself. Don't let your only moments of quiet be in the shower with the water running!

Ceejay - probably not a good idea to live with someone unless you are in the other half of a duplex! Especially since you have been on your own for so long - that's a hard adjustment. Can't you do a trial run for 30 days just to convince yourself what you suspected all along? I have stayed at my mom and sisters for up to a 3 week visit and towards the end I am itching to get back home to my own place also. Enjoy your time off.

Laura - to your question, yes the lawyer gave us a few sheets of paper with basic questions to begin the process and also give her an idea of how complicated the will and trust might be. It won't be with us - it's those people who have multiple marriages and multiple kids and blended families and businesses and lots of assets that get overly complicated. I think we are fairly basic here. Let me know how the dried herbs come out. I have dried mine in both the air and the microwave before. All I read says they lose a lot of their flavor so I shied away from that although duh, what do you think is in the seasoning bottles? They said outside of fresh, freezing is better - chop them up or put them chopped into ice cube trays but who's got room in the freezer for that?

Time for me to get showered and dressed. Will check back in tonight.

Morning all. Nice sunny day. Love it.

Ceejay – Enjoy your 5 day weekend!!! I can see how the retirement decision is adding to your stress – it’s a scary thing to determine if you’re truly able to afford to stop working and live off Social Security and whatever other retirement savings and other savings you may have for possibly the next 20 years. I agree with Happy that having lived alone for so long, it might be difficult to live with someone else. Maybe there’s a way you can move to a job with less stress and/or fewer hours now that you no longer need to have the medical insurance coverage through your job.

Shad – Quite the adjustment having your DS2 and his partner living in your house. If you mentioned it I forgot – about how long will they be living with you?? Good you drew the line at certain habits. What a bummer about your son’s car. I hope he’s successful getting his money back. I sure hope you and his partner get better acquainted once you’re home for a longer period of time.

Happy – Oh how annoying that the HD guy didn’t talk to you. Yes, it would be satisfying to just tell him to get lost and give the business to someone else. But if there isn’t “someone else” that makes it tough. Sigh. I’ve done the herbs frozen in ice cube trays, and that’s fine for soups and sauces that can have added water, but not for other applications. I dunno. I still say that the basil I grew and dried is more flavorful than the store bought…maybe what I buy is subpar, LOL.

Hellos to the rest of you. I hope you’re all having a good week.

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Let’s see…Monday night was Pilates class. Our usual instructor was out with pneumonia (caught from her daughter), so we had a substitute. The sub was an experienced Pilates instructor I’ve taken classes from in the past, so it was fine. She has a completely different style – slower and more relaxing – and it was the first time I didn’t have to shower after class, LOL.

Yesterday there was a huge train delay and I decided to try out the suburban bus system. I got on the bus at the stop right by the train station. After a short ride, I transferred to another bus and it took me to the rapid transit station that got me downtown. I didn’t get to work until 10 am, but II was still ahead in terms of time since my commuter line trains didn’t start moving again until 9:45 am. And just to actually be going somewhere (vs. waiting around) was worth something, LOL. But it’s days like yesterday where I wished I had my work laptop with me and I could opt to work from home. The bus-bus-CTA option is not a great option, but in a pinch it worked.

That’s about it for me. Back to work. TTFN.

Hello you'all
It's been a busy week for all of us as normal. A pack of coyotes were out across the mile section howling the past 2 nights after midnight waking me up & I'm sure upsetting the neighbors w horses; but I know that the one neighbor 4 miles away who races their Arabians securely locks up their stable. Yesterday my UPS driver talked about the bears & coyotes becoming a nuisance & a danger to ppl & animals; he lives in the city but is a hunter & says that there needs to b more, or a longer hunting season to keep the population under control, so the animals will stay in their own territory since ppl can't spay/neuter them; to protect us from them harming ppl/pets... 40 miles away in Cadillac a girl was walking & a bear came out of the bushes & nearly killed her as she walked on the sidewalk, very scary. So last week my hubby made me start taking my dinky 22 caliber pistol w me when I'm outdoors to scare away or wound a animal attacker, when I'm away from the house or walking a doggy down our dirt road. MeeMee 4 yrs. weighs 16# & feels like a feather to carry, compared to Sundae 6 yrs. is 21# of muscle & the bravest of the 2 girls but, she thinks she is a lap doggy they are both good barkers but are not fierce enough to scare or kill a crazy raccoon let alone a coyote/bear. They are both awesomely sweet, intelligent & obedient & my Bff. Sundae has had 1 litter every year for 5 yrs. & I plan to retire her getting her spade & get MeeMee spade also, she's had 3 litters. I simply want to stop breeding, but when ppl contact us about wanting a puppy after seeing our adult doggies ppl got when puppies from us, then Dh wants to breed again for those families...

Ceej... Best wishes w whatever u decide to do with your life. If it was 'me in your situation' I'd do as Laura suggested & find a different type of job to finish out my retirement to do your truck payments; because of the stress level but most of all to Enjoy your days by doing maybe one of your hobbies or interests while getting paid for it Employment shouldn't hurt our bodies/health, personal life at all, that's when we need to b smart enough to leave that position, for a healthier job to b at daily. I have a senior friend now in her 70's that was supposed to live w her son's family, but instead her son wanted privacy for everyone & hired me to design a addition to their home w an adjoining door to his home. It's like a studio apartment giving mom a mini kitchen w dining room table for 4, w a shower/bathroom, bedroom & living-room, Darlene has her own separate outside entrance, porch. It cost less than $20,000 a few yrs. ago. I know 2 other retiree situations where mom moved into that same town & another put a trailer on the same property her family lived on & everyone is happy. You really don't have to live inside the same home to feel secure, just being near the same town or in the neighborhood works also.

Annie... Hubby & I don't eat macaroni & cheese, too many other good foods to eat. Dh won't eat pasta from a box unless we're away from home, my fresh pasta is delish & it changed his palate, the real chef's would b winking @ us because making scratch food uses less fat/salt & takes not more than 10 minutes longer. Maybe w your eating differently C will change some of his meals healthier too.

Laura... When I dehydrate herbs, I store them in tiny canning jars to spoon-out as needed. Have fun exploring & experimenting w recipes! Like u can dry pepperoni slices/turkey pepperoni slices into chips; it takes the fat out of them & u can use them in nonfat yogurt, etc. some ppl eat them instead of kale chips to get the protein benefit. Soo many recipes to try & also many craft uses. I'll miss the beautiful outdoor temps, I won't b outdoors & getting my 10,000 daily steps done anymore.

Happy... Geesh I wish that my hubby & I lived within 2 hours of you'all. Dh would do your repairs & installations because he's mechanical & can also do contractor work; he put in our Ds1 new front door & new door-light glass panels 12"x7' 2 weeks ago. I could help Laura redo her powder room that needs repairs. Yesterday as I was grocery shopping I was stopped & asked to redo a dining room before Thanksgiving, my 3 sewing machines & serger/overlock machine that I kept after retiring my Interior Design business will work fine, I sold my industrial machines; so I guess I'm semi-retired. We met today @ her home & I can get her room completed in a week. In this day & age you'd think a business person would b respectful to both ppl, not just the guy. That hasn't ever happened to us, I've always been included.

Somebody just drove up our driveway to everybody; Terra, Susie, Shad & Chelle. Have a wonderful week.