Morning all,
Not much to report here. In their usual bumbling style, this place engaged a stack of trainers to get through the vast amount of training to be done. However they didn't plan this out too well and they now have trainers sitting around twiddling their thumbs because there are no training rooms available or not enough laptops to go around. *sigh* yeah* :faint: guess that's government for you.

Went out for drinks for an NZ friends birthday last night. Level 36 of the Shangri La Hotel. Magnificent views across the harbour, and North Sydney. I got back to the apartment about 11.00pm and from the train to my place there was only one shop open. A kebab place so I ordered some falafel, vege omelette and some chips. Filled a hole and I slept well.

Happy - sounds like a busy week ahead for you - used to love preserving (canning) food and making pickles and things. With just me I now freeze them in small packages, and enjoy summer fruit throughout the winter months when there is only apples, oranges and pears and bananas around - oh yes and some American cherries at 24.99 a kilo :yikes: I guess someone buys them, but it won't be this little black duck.
Many times I feel like your brother-in-law as I sit on the patio and survey my kingdom. Still not quite enough in the kitty yet. Soon though.

Susie - good to have a relaxing time while staying home. Saves money too. Enjoy

Laura - enjoy your time off. Does Coal have arthritis? Moving is probably the best thing for him now. Gentle exercise. We had to do that for Shad the dog when he was growing old. Still miss that dog.

Annie - nice to have a quiet weekend from time to time.

That's about it. Home to Brisbane this weekend. I was supposed to go to Adelaide, but am informed that there is a party the following weekend so could I please come then. Not sure I am ready for the hyped up sugar fuelled kids at all but there you go. That's life.

Hello to all. Ready for my 4 day week end. Sure do miss my Sunday's off. This week at work was quiet.

The police department called me today to ask if I could get some one from the street department to take some sand out to the interstate. Their was a wreck. When I call the department head he said I thought you had retired. I told him August 31st was my last day. He said good I can still aggravate you till then. He's a big tease.

I may take a quick trip to Missouri the week end of the 24 and 25th to get the utilities turned on. And do some banking. And take a quick look at the house again. Talked to my sister last night and she is getting excited also. In fact both siblings are excited for me. 8 more weeks till retirement.

More later it's getting late.

Good Morning....

Much of a crazy evening. Royce was being extra loveable and ornery at the same time. "I love you too, Nanna" in the sweetest lil hush voice. Melt my dang heart. Jacob was being Jacob, teasing R and just being a stinker. Chris has made little to no contact with Sam to see the boys, kind of sad really. I do see his posts on FB that he is partying downtown at various places. Hmmm, wonder if that is the connection. Being a A$$ really.

Took the Highlander for it's 5000 mile check up after work yesterday. The mechanic said all is good. I replied, "I would hope so with only 5K miles on it, it better be good". He looked at me like I was an alien. Guess not many have smart a$$ replies, guess I need to make amends with him on that for being a SA.

Made homemade pizza and dough for dinner last night. Had to use up some of my fresh veggies. Green pepper, onion, tomatos, mushroom then added black olives. Sam helped chop the veggies. Made a bit of it just cheese for the babes. Amazingly, Jacob who eats NOTHING, ate two pieces. What a success. R ate two pieces also. Granted they were two by 3 inch pieces, but I felt successful. lol. Sam cleaned up while C and I relaxed. Beginning to like this program. Haha, good thing cause it is what it is.

Sassy has decided she likes Bruno's dog food. OMG. Now Bruno eats Sassy's food as an appetizer and Sassy eats Bruno's. Gonna have to put a stop to it as Sass is starting to gain weight and getting pudgy. Not good on her back. Yes a worry for that lil type of doggie.

Discovered a new beverage at Starbucks, not too terribly expensive, low in calories and is very very good. Called the Strawberry Acai Refresher. Made with fresh strawberries, white passion tea and water and maybe something else I am unaware of. Yum.

LAURA...HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Do things that make you happy, relaxed and loved. Make the best of you days off from the hustle and bustle of work. I am sad for you about Coal. I know how that feels to make a decision that will be in front of you eventually. Hugs my dear sister. We did not watch any fireworks either. Just laid in bed and tried to drown the booms out.

SUSIE...your staycation sounds wonderful, enjoying DH and all the family and friends to boot. Concerts, KI, cleaning, ok well two out of three, not bad. lol. Have a great week sister friend.

HAPPY...Love the "pretending to be retired" from BIL. I have to pretend a lot of things these days. lol. I didn't "skip" the veggie garden as much as I did scope it down quite a bit. Just a few tomato plants, cucumber plants and peppers. Sis planted for me. This ankle doesn't let me do much of what I like these days. Mostly because I lose my balance and bust my arse. I have not payed any attention to what is going on in the garden either. I am just not into much these days. Trying like h*ll to shake this depressional funk I am in. This too shall pass, hopefully. Speaking of busting my arse....I tried to pull this very tall weed out of the middle of my rose of sharon bush, it let loose, I flew back, landed on my arse in front of the shed and hit my head on the shed, then sh*t my pants too boot, when I hit the ground. Now that is funny. Didn't get hurt too much, legs ached for a couple of days. Felt like I was on the Three Stooges. YES YOU MAY ALL LAUGH NOW! :)

CEEG...For a nano second I read the "police department called" and thought OM, then you went on about work. Thank God. And the count down continues. I am VERY excited for your next chapter in your book of life.

SHADDIE...geez, not enough laptops and no room to train in. Like gardening with no hoe, rake or shovel. Geez Louise. Hope this smooth out and do enjoy Lil Miss S at her party.

DEE...hope you are feeling well and enjoying the gbabes.

CHELLE...get back in here sister friend, missing you!

Make it a great hump day altho I am off by one day due to having Monday off. All messed up in my mind<---in more ways than you know.

Hugs all.

Happy birthday laura!!!
 

Happy hump day morning ladies of the world and a special

Happy, Happy birthday to you Laura! :balloons: :celebrate::bday2you::celebrate::balloons:

I baked you a cake - it's got peaches in it :hb:

I hope you have the day off and you are having a nice day today just relaxing and being the birthday queen.

Annie - yum, the pizza sounds good. Any victory getting the kids to eat, especially vegetables - is a reason to celebrate. I imagine it makes it more complicated factoring in more people with different tastes when it comes to meal planning. Of course there is my Mom and Grandmom's old standby - eat or GO HUNGRY! :lol: Sorry to hear C is not in contact with the family - sounds like he would have much rather been the boyfriend, not the stand up family guy. If only we could get a glimpse at the future when our eyes are filled with stars when we first meet someone. :shrug: Then again, we would probably ignore it anyway. Seems like you have a houseful, all you need is a pet chicken. :rofl: I can understand your funk feeling - a lot has rocked your life over the last few months. Will take the boat a while to settle back down again. In the mean time, keep mindful of the good things in life - as difficult as it might be. Always easier to slip slide to funky town. I do like alot of your 12 step meeting stuff - wish our little organization here would offer 12 step for life in general - they focus on gambling and drinking with their programs although I have met a few people and asked them to consider expanding the program. I'm sorry your ankle is giving you fits. Last night rain moved in and my entire leg hurt so bad I didn't know what to do with myself. It was storming so I could not go in the hot tub either. Good that you are keeping an eye on Sassy. I'm sure the dogs are interested in each other's new flavorful kibble. The new Starbucks drink sounds refreshing too. Light tea aka white teas with fresh fruit are quite refreshing. I had some extra skinned peaches left over from my pie and they are even better chilled up. I thought what a great nectar / smoothie this would make. I can't do smoothies anymore because of the yogurt. Need to find a non dairy substitute. But yum on the summer fruit.

We had quite a storm yesterday. It was around us but not over us. We'd get these occasional bright flashes of lightning and the longest bout of thunder that I can ever remember. I was counting duration and at times it thundered for almost an entire full minute! I like storms - comes from being born in the month of April (showers) I think.

Ceejay - be prepared for a mix of emotions when you retire. There is the excitement of a new place, a new life and less stress. But since you are moving away and unlike like us who were eagerly moving from a place we didn't like to a place we did - you are going to find that you will have some "blue" moments when it comes to saying goodbye and missing people who have known for years on end. Still in the end, it's all good. And you will have a new, exciting life ahead. You will be amazed at how good you feel overall when you are not stressed. And that happy, happy HAPPY feeling when bad weather comes along and it just means that's a day to plan at home and it doesn't mean anything else to you! :dancer: :carrot:

Shad - there is one consistency in training and that's the fact that they are never truly ready for it. *sigh* Does it cost you in the pocketbook when you are having to change travel plans at the last minute or with just a bit of advance notice? (aka the party plans). I think over the cool season months I am going to be more like you and choosy about the fresh foods I eat. We have opened the world up so foods are available all year long BUT I am starting to notice that there is a huge lack of flavor because they seem to pick it weeks before it even develops flavor just to account for shipping things over seas and sitting in a warehouse before it hits the market. I do remember as a child that winter fruit consisted of oranges, bananas and apples. Period. We'd all get excited for stone fruit and melon season in the short summer and could not get enough of the good stuff. I often find I feel like I am wasting my money on out of season produce.

Susie - enjoy the King's Island jaunt today. Hope you have great weather.

I have some spreadsheet entering and ciphering to do to prep for my 3 minute report at the board meeting tonight. DH picked me up at the shop yesterday and we went to a town about an hour's drive to look at replacing our other entry doors (with better quality doors). This is just a simple replacement, unlike the fiasco of the window with sidelights so DH can replace them himself. Since I had not eaten all day and DH was also famished, we went to the local steakhouse and had a great dinner of bbq ribs and he had prime rib. The leftovers will be dinner tonight. While there we talked to the owner and asked if they do a pig roast for catering. We casually talked about having a summer get together for the shelter staff and the thrift shop staff who for the most part, never have met even though we work for the same organization. We got some pricing and then went to talk to the thrift shop coordinator who has a business with disc golf, pickleball courts, mini golf - a great place to have an outdoor picnic. DH really wants to do a pig roast and sort of has his heart set on it. I'm not sure how some of the vegetarian animal lovers at the shelter will feel about that although we do lots of things where there are meat and veggie options. D said we could use his place - it's just that it's weather dependent but we have a plan B for that too. I have thought through most of the details and will present it to my buddy the head of the organization next week. We want to do this over the summer weather, hopefully before September hits because our weather is goofy at times.

Well I'd better get going here before I realize it's time to leave and I haven't gotten done what I need to. Have a great day everyone!

Morning all. Just a quick pop in. Thanks for the birthday wishes. Bf, his mom & I were going to go out for dinner last night to celebrate, but his mom fell down while she was walking over to the management office of her apartment complex. She's broken her hip. :( She's having surgery tomorrow. Please send some healing thoughts/prayers her way, okay? Thanks !!

Happy
My main concern ill be the uncles upon leaving. And I'm sure you are correct in that I will have some blue days on the horizon. I have them now too.

Annie
Saw the word pizza and have to have one. I go get in in about 10 more minutes.

Laura
I knew there was some one else who had a birthday. Happy birthday and enjoy it.

Susie and Shad :wave: Will be back in a bit.

--------
I've been on the computer most of the afternoon printing off forms for turning on my utilities setting up a new account at the bank I'm going to be using in Missouri. Finally figured out a way to transfer my money online with out having to physically carry it with me.
Thought it was Thursday and went to pick up my pay check. The guys laughed at me and I felt about as high as an ant. oh well. A new schedule and old age will make you that way.
Gotta go pick up my pizza.

Hello everyone :) The weather is just so beautiful today, sunny & 80* :cool: Dh decided to have a garage sale Saturday-Sunday to downsize having fewer items to move & he plans to use the $ for a different boat. I'm working like crazy the last 4 days getting things sorted to sell & my hand is aching.

Laura :hug: are you 52 yrs today, because you looked beautiful in your 40's in your pic you sent me last year. I sure your MIL will do well w her surgery :goodvibes Thursday. Trina & I are looking forward to seeing you post again using your pedometer steps :running:

:bday2: :gift: :bday2you: :hb: :hug: :celebrate:

Holy Crud, yet another sad day. My cousin passed away last night. Probably around 45 years old. Overdosed. Could things in life get any sadder? I am at a loss.

Good morning girls,

Gotta go for my MRI and B12 shot shortly so no time for a long post.

Annie - I'm sorry that you've had yet another loss to deal with. :hug: There are no words of true comfort. Be there for the family.

Dee - probably a good idea to downsize - less expensive than moving things you don't really need. Thought that would be used to help pay for the move rather than another boat.

Ceejay - pizza isn't totally bad for you - like pasta, it depends on what you put on it. I'm trying to move to more veggie oriented pies myself. Funny on getting the days mixed up but tell the folks that happens alot because when you are retired "every day is Saturday" :D :D :D :D :yay: :yay:

Laura - that's very sad about BF's mum - hope all goes well with surgery and recovery. Healing prayers...

Gotta run, have a good day.

Morning all. Back at work today and happy for the short work week. ;)

Susie – Hope you’re enjoying your staycation! How was KI? Great that you found one of the lost fitbits!

Happy – I have a mild interest in the AH fireworks at the racetrack, but it’s about $20 per adult, and there’s still traffic and parking chaos that you get with big crowds. I’d much rather save up and hire a pilot to fly me over the area to check out all the shows going on. Hope the MRI isn’t as awful as expected and you get through it okay.

Shad – What a waste of resources to have people sitting around! Yes, Coal has arthritis in his hips. It’s definitely better for him to be up and moving. Unfortunately, he has issues with uneven ground (in the yard, sidewalks) and trouble laying down and getting up. When his worse leg gives out and he goes down, it injures that leg and it’s a process of trying to get him to stay put and rest it. Hope you enjoy your weekend at home, including an exuberant greeting from ODDU! :D

Ceejay – Countdown to your retirement continues and it’s seeming more real now – opening bank accounts, getting utilities set up!! It’s going to be great for you and your sister to be living in the same area. And I imagine it’ll probably be easier for you and your sis in Dallas to travel to see each other. :)

Annie – I’m so sorry to hear you’ve had another loss in your life. :( :hug: We’re here for you sister.

Dee – I hope your garage sale goes well this weekend. I'm with Happy – better uses for that money than another boat. On the other hand – if you’re downsizing and starting a new life and that’s gonna be a part of the new life, go for it. Will it be a pontoon to be converted into a summer home? :D Thank you for the birthday greetings (No more numbers in conjunction with birthdays, LOL) and the well wishes for MIL.

Hey Michelle, how’re you doing these days?

===

On Monday the 4th, we decided not to go to the fireworks. We were, however, able to see some of them from our driveway. And that’s the only good thing about there no longer being a tree across the street from us…

I didn’t do much of anything on Tues & Wed, just some reading and tv, so it was mostly relaxing. I did finally get the rest of my impatiens planted on Tuesday. Bf was with his mom at the hospital for most of Tuesday afternoon/evening and yesterday bf and I both visited her. It's horrible that the surgery couldn’t happen right away, but they have to wait until the blood thinners she takes work their way out of her system. She’s scheduled for surgery tonight.

Nothing much else to report, so I’ll get this posted.

Hi Everyone. I could get use to this "home" thing if it paid well! ;)

We had a great time at Kings Island. My niece likes to ride everything and I rode a lot with her. There were a couple of coasters I didn't ride.

What surprised me the most was that I couldn't ride the rides back to back or I felt very nauseated. It was ok most of the time as we had weight times of about 40-60 min for each ride, especially the coasters. We were there from 11-6:30 and decided to call it a day. It was pretty humid and very sunny out.

DH wore his fitbit for the first time and was so happy to see all the steps that he got that day. He got like 14,000. I had around 13,000. If he didn't ride a ride with us, he would walk around and just people watch. He is not a coaster fan.

Yesterday we were home in the am and cleaned the living room and dinning room. I'm going to have my furniture professionally cleaned as well as my area rugs in those rooms--they are coming Friday morning to do that.


In the later afternoon/evening we took our other 3 nieces to a place called Young's Dairy Farm. It is an operational dairy farm that also has a restaurant, working barns that you can go through as well has two putt- putt golf courses, a big slide that 3 can do down at a time as well as batting cages, putting green, bouncy house. It is a very fun place to hand out.

We had dinner, played the longer putt-putt course. Did the big slide and then had ice cream (the make all of it there). We were there for about 4 hours.

Today is an "at home day". DH cleaned his closet out (he never got it finished back in the spring). I went to the library and got a card, signed up to be able to take out ebooks if I decided to do that. I walked up and back from my house. Each way is about a 20 min walk. I have gotten a lot of walking in this week and I love it!

My TOPS meeting is tonight and we are having our picnic. We bring our families as well. I made a angel food cake and a berry mix to add to it if people want to do that and macaroni and cheese.

Tomorrow we will leave after the furniture/rug cleaning and meet a friend in Dayton Ohio. We are going to see two movies--The Secret Life of Pets and Criminal Justice.

We also plan on trying a new restaurant that is in the same area (It's called "The Greene"--it's like a little city/outdoor mall with stores, movie theatre, restaurants, and they have a lot going on at the "Square" in the evenings. Music and other entertainment). The restaurants is called "Pies & Pints". The pies are pizza pie and I'm looking forward to trying this place.

Laura: Happy Belated birthday! :balloons: I am sorry that I missed wishing you a happy birthday yesterday. Facebook didn't even tell me it was your birthday.

I am sorry to hear about BF mom. A broken hip is a very big deal. Healing thoughts and prayers for her. Please keep me updated on how she is doing.

Dee: So excited to see your posts! Getting ready for a garage sale is a lot of work for sure. I hope you make some good $$$.

I imagine sorting and pricing the items is giving your hand quite a workout. Be kind with it when you are finished, rest, elevation, ice...whatever makes it feel better. :hug:

Annie: I saw the post about your cousin on your FB page. My heart hurts for you and your family. We are here for you. :hug:

Shad: Sitting around at work is so boring... and frustrating, glad you got to come home this week. I was wondering about your granddaughter and when her birthday party is and if you did end up getting the little case to put her presents in. I was at our Family Dollar store last week and they had some adorable cases. I love that sort of thing.

Happy: I hope the MRI went well and that it will give you and your doctor a map for the direction to take you in so you can be active again without pain.

Ceejay: Who cares if you went early for the paycheck. You see, soon your days will all blend together and you will define your own cut-off points with dates and things. You are soon achieving what all of us work for--Retirement! That has to feel great!

You have a lot of paperwork to do with retiring and moving. I think you sound like someone who is pretty organized...and that is going to be a big help!

Hi Michelle--come back and post when you can. We miss you!

Hello to all...

Just dropping in to say HI. Got a lot of marketing pieces to get out today. Wham lets slam Annie today. Thank you. NOT.

Make it a great weekend.

Morning all. Happy Friday.

Annie – Hope you get through the projects quickly today.

Susie – Glad you enjoyed Kings Island. I guess your stomach needed time to get re-settled between rides. The dairy farm outing sounded like fun! I hope you enjoyed the TOPS picnic. Let us know how you like the movies, especially The Secret Life of Pets. Re FB – I don’t do much with it except lurk, so no, I don’t have my birthday on there.

Hellos to the rest of you. :wave:
--
It was a bit rainy on my walk home from the train yesterday, then it poured for a short time after I got home. After it stopped, I walked doggy because bf had gone to the hospital.

Turns out bf’s mom had multiple hip fractures, but they took care of all that in the surgery last night.

That was about it for my evening. Tomorrow morning I have a dentist appointment and that’s all I have going on this weekend. I'm sure there will be at least one visit to the hospital. As usual, plenty to do around the house…

Everyone have a good weekend!