Thank you for the birthday cards and well wishes on retirement. Can't believe that it finally got here. Friday I was counting down the time in hours, then minutes.
Both siblings called to wish me a happy birthday and my sis from Missouri said see you Wednesday. It will sink in on the day we go get the U-haul.

Morning all,
Bright and beautiful day here and I need to get up and move about a bit to ease this pain in my lower back. Feels like sciatica and is very annoying. My lovely neighbour managed to put her back out yesterday and we are grumbling and moaning like two old ladies with walkers and sticks.

Spent yesterday in the vege patch - dug one of the beds over and put in some potatoes. We'll see how that goes this year. I've also planted some heirloom tomatoes and a snackiscum (sort of miniature capsicum or bell pepper if you must). Now I need to find something to overplant in the potato patch - possibly Rocket or Lettuce. I've also been digging and planting in the front yard and starting off new gardens here and there. It might get finished during this time at home. I will take some photos when the next step is complete.

Talking of photos, I have been watching the portions and contents of my food lately. I now find that if I eat breakfast and eat a good solid breakfast I only need two meals a day, with a snack in between. I have taken a photo of a few of my meals for Dee. I will attach them later on. They are on my phone and that doesn't seem to want to talk to my computer as far as downloading photos is concerned. So I will have to attach via the phone.

The kids put fairy lights (solar powered) in the big tree in my yard while I was away. It is very pleasant to go out there at night time and watch the lights flickering and dancing in the tree. The neighbours love it too and want some for their trees. The whole street will be flickering away like glow worms shortly - well all except a couple of places which are rentals and the occupants are not exactly friendly.

Today - apart from doing some shopping and cleaning the bedrooms and working in the yard and taking the dog out for a walk late in the afternoon I will be starting on my taxes. Yikes - hate this part of life. I wonder what I will do when I don't have to do them anymore. Have to hate something else, like paying the bills.

Ceejay - so on Monday you will wake up and decide you don't have to go to work today - or any other day for that matter. Oh what a feeling. When does the big shift take place? And what did the landlord say when you gave notice of your intention to move out?

Annie - ODDU certainly took care of the welcome home. So did the DS2. No-one else seemed too overjoyed (Cats). Glad to hear that the ankle is healing well and that you are managing to get around okay. Are you missing work?

Happy - how amazing that you pay all that money for insurance and have to find out all the information for yourself. Here you get bombarded with information and places to choose from and which doctor you might like and which hospital etc. Not having health care insurance, I would just get carted off to the nearest and then get all the same treatment as an insurance job would get without the bill after it. You still have to ask the right questions but it all gets down with little fuss - as long as it is emergency surgery. If it is elective, you go on the list and wait and wait and wait............
So nice to hear that your heart, lungs and blood pressure are okay and you are still breathing.
DS2 and J are over in California - LA as of yesterday according to Facebook. I will only probably hear from them if something goes wrong or they need picking up from the airport. They went to the cheesecake factory for dinner last night - apparently the one that the Big Bang crew are supposed to work at. Not having watched the Big Bang, I have no idea. I just remember the time you and DH and I went to the one in Chicago and couldn't eat all the food.

Laura - I like the changes you have made to you lifestyle and diet. I will list mine later if I can think of them.

Dee - I'm posting pics of my dinners shortly. Well some time today anyway. I will also think about the changes I have made. There aren't many of them. I don't believe that cutting things out of your life are going to help. Cutting back yes, but don't deny yourself anything and make yourself work for the treats.

Susie - Come up for air. Stopping working so hard.

Okay, I am off to do some yard work and some housework and some shopping. Time to move anyway.

Good morning ladies,

Hope this is a fresher start for us all us this week. I feel so scattered lately but this happens when I have a bunch of things to do. Yesterday I went to the thrift shop after hours to process the credit card transactions from our Saturday fund raiser auction. They had 4 ladies writing up the cash/check/credit card receipts - she asks just any old buddy to help and what a mess they made. We write stuff on forms and then I go into the shop and manually enter stuff through the credit card machine. You try tell people what you need and they don't pay attention or fluff it off and get huffy and say I have done this before and I know what I'm doing. I had A LOT of mistakes yesterday - card numbers written incorrectly, missing information, items added incorrectly, etc. I had to make about 10 phone calls to follow up and fortunately I was able to get a hold of everyone I needed to because it's much easier if I can process all the transactions at once. Otherwise I have to go in after the shop is closed for the day so we don't miss shelter business and thrift shop business even though technically it's for the same place. It took me about 3 hours in total (far more than the hour I planned) and when I got done it was almost 6pm so I suggested to DH that we run out to make sure our boat was ok. We had not been to the dock in about 2 weeks - everything was fine. While we don't really care for the food at the restaurant there or the service for that matter - they seem rather indifferent most of the time like you are bothering them - I did have a coupon for $15 I wanted to use up so we had sandwiches there. Must have been a fluke because our waitress was perky and friendly and we had the best service ever DH left her a big tip so that pretty much negated the discount coupon I started some laundry yesterday as well as cleaning up a hot spot but both took more time than I had so I did not finish them - that's what today is for.

Woke up this morning to thunder at 5am, both of us rolled over and went back to sleep. I woke up at 8 to the sound of hammering and electric saws outside. My waking thought was that I'm not going to get any kind of rest after surgery next week. We'll be LUCKY if they are done by the end of the month. I just hope they hurry and get the front part of the deck done by next Friday. As for resting, DH said that by the time I get out of the surgical center and we drive the 90 minutes home, the workmen will probably be gone for the day. And it's Friday so I will have quiet for Friday night, Saturday and Sunday - so recuperate quickly.

I probably won't be posting tomorrow - lots of errands and it's going to be a busy day - well actually a busy week this week. But I knew that. Just need to stay focused.

I am a bit bummer as the place I just found that had all the good vinegars and oils has decided the day after I stocked up that they are closing down the business. Next Monday will be their last day - I'm sure fans will be descending upon the place to stock up so there is not sense in rushing up there, not that I'd have the time this week anyway. Oh well, will just treat this like something I picked up on vacation that I will never get again and make sure I use it up instead of finding it in a cabinet 2 years from now. Although can vinegar go bad? I know oil will turn.

Oh great, what an idiot I am. I was going to post and went to copy and did a control V (paste) instead and lost most of my post. How stupid can you be happy???? I also went to go make a cup of coffee this morning. Heard something weird and looked and I had put the coffee cup BESIDE the maker but not under the spout. It's a good thing the Keurig has a basin of sorts underneath to catch the runoff.

Ceejay - I'm sure you are busy wrapping up loose ends with your move. Stop and savor the last days of whatever brings you happiness in Arkansas and don't overwork yourself getting ready.

Dee - when are you moving?

Annie - I hope you are feeling much better now. It seems like the first few days are the roughest of them. Thanks for the tips on the pain meds. I am not a fan of Vicodin or Tylenol based products - they do nothing for me. I am hoping they will give me oxycodone but not sure as that is the new devil now so to avoid the 2 percent of the population that might become addicts, lets penalize the 98 percent that it may help short term. I just need something to knock me unconscious the first few days Are you in a hard cast or just a wrapping and boot? Did you get your scooter yet?

Shad - how nice to be getting your veg garden planted again although it's that time of year for you to start thinking about it I'm sure. I hope DS2 has a great time on our west coast. It might be a bit chilly in the morning at the Grand Canyon - hope they brought fleece or no sunrise pictures for them or night time star gazing. Are you enjoying having the house all to yourself again? Hope you can work the kink out of your back - that sciatica feeling is horrid - no way to twist or turn to get any relief. Feel better I'll be the tree lights are gorgeous. People decorate usually outdoor seating areas with those lights and it always looks so lovely. Great idea from the kids. Just hope the neighbors don't all copy it or it will look more like holiday decorations instead of decor.

DH picked up some outdoor low voltage lights to try on the new deck. We just laid them on the boards last night and he drilled some squares into the steps for special step lighting. It looks like it's going to be lovely also. I think the house will look grand once it ever gets finished... Now my washing machine is making clunking noises. I need to call today to get the repair man back out again - one last fix before the extended warranty runs out in November. I will be looking at a new machine but hope I can push that out until next year. We've had lots of big huge expenses this year. The dryer is 12 years old - that will be a dilemma to figure out whether to replace it also. I have a special top drying cabinet that Maytag only made one year. It's for dry cleaning delicate clothes and it's wonderful to warm the towels for the hot tub. I'd hate to loose it.

Hello to the rest of the crew - will save this (properly now) and post and see if anyone checked in when I was typing away.

Have a good start of the week all.

Afternoon all.

Happy – Glad the pre-op physical went well. It would be awful to not be able to have the surgery because of something else being wrong! Sounds like all the phone calls to insurance were a PITA, but a necessity. Nothing’s ever easy. === You must at least be glad you got one last purchase in before the vinegar place closed up shop. Maybe they will be going the farmers market route like I suggested – you should call and ask where their products will be available going forward. === I don’t think our window wells were non-standard, but years ago we went to a company that does custom ones just so we could get sturdy ones in case we step on them. I recall my leg going through the flimsy ones we had prior to getting the new ones…=== Has dh finished staining the deck boards yet? I hope those deck guys finish up the job this week! == I sent you a PM a while back, but I’m not sure you saw it – thanks for the card you sent.=== I hope the washer and dryer will hold out for a bit longer, give your wallet some time to recover.

Annie – Sounds like the AA home meeting and the outing with the AA friend went well. You needed that! One day at a time!

Ceejay – Zero more days of (paid) work and now only 4 more days of Arkansas! I bet you’ll be so happy once that U Haul is emptied out in MO! Best wishes, safe travels, and don’t overdo it with the lifting!

Shad – You sound busy and perky in spite of the sciatica pain. I bet it’s nice to have the place to yourself (well, yourself, ODDU and two cats!). I hope DS2 and partner are having a wonderful time in CA and elsewhere over here. Yes, Cheesecake Factory is one of those places where bf and I have an appetizer and split one entrée between us – rather large portions there. The twinkly fairy lights sound lovely. Enjoy.

Hellos to Susie and Dee! Michelle - if you’re lurking – feel better soon!
==
My weekend was alright. Friday night’s dinner/vacation planning session was okay. We made some key decisions, so that’s good. It was noisy in the restaurant and for some reason in our area it seemed like everyone was shouting and I know they weren’t. Just bad acoustics…and a after a long week at work, a bad mood for me. We’ll pick a quieter place for the next meeting. Probably someone’s house.

I had a lot of Saturday to myself as bf went to a car show in the afternoon and to a friend’s house that evening. It had rained a lot overnight and in the morning, so no gardening. I puttered around the house and then got out for errands. I stopped at the Salvation Army store on the way to Trader Joe’s. Never been there before and I guess I don’t understand the price tags. I was surprised at checkout to get two workout dvd’s for 65 cents each and a fireplace mantel knickknack for 69 cents. Such a deal! I don’t buy tons of stuff - thrift or not – but before I do buy more, I need to commit to jotting down my donation items (for when I do the values at tax time), bagging them up and getting them over to the thrift shop. I will do that this week.

On Sunday morning I did a workout video. Not one of the ones I bought Saturday, but a Richard Simmons workout – “Sweat & Shout”. Oddly enough, it was one my mom passed along to me. I liked the music (guess I’m old enough now to appreciate the Oldies, lol), and the workout was alright. I sure did sweat. Of course, I’m not a huge fan of cardio workouts, so I’m not sure if I’ll keep this one. The two workouts I bought on Saturday are Winsor Pilates and Prevention walking.

We visited bf’s mom at the rehab facility. Unfortunately she picked up an infection and that has extended her stay. Now that she’s strong enough to go home, it can’t happen fast enough for all of us! The longer she’s there the more possibility of infections, etc.

Tonight after work I’ll go get signed up for the YMCA membership. Surprisingly, there are actually quite a few group fitness classes that fit my schedule and that I’m interested in. I suppose that might change once I try out a few….

Better get this posted. TTFN.

Ladies, I've run out of steam for packing and still have a closet and the kitchen to do. Maybe I will get back in the mood tomorrow.
I took the internet and t.v. boxes back to my carrier today in Blytheville.
----
Laura
Yep, Zero day's of paid time but hello Social Security. I do get my last pay check this week.
Tomorrow is my retirement lunch.

Happy
You need to slow down some.

Shad
I hope to get the opportunity to dig in the dirt in Missouri.

Hi Everyone, sorry to have not been posting. I have been reading on my phone to try and stay caught up with all of you.

Work has been busy but so has my personal life with just getting some things done around the house that I have put off or trying to just keep laundry and things caught up as we have been on the go most weekends.

Saturday we had a birthday dinner at a local restaurant to attend for a friend of ours. We usually have the celebration at her house in her back yard but this year it was to hot and to buggy so we went to a restaurant and then back to her house for cake and ice cream and to sit around and visit some more.

She turned 64. We have been friends with her and her husband for almost 20 years. They are both the same age and only 4 years older than my DH. I'm the baby of the bunch I guess. I have seen them slow down some and I'm not sure I like the feeling it gives me. It makes me aware of my own aging and I'm not ready to be there yet. We still have a lot of fun with them but we don't go on vacations together like we used to. They just want to seem to stay close to home these days.

I enjoyed the sharing of what everyone has done and are doing to keep a rein on overeating and making changes in our eating habits--thanks for getting that going Dee!

I also only keep the kind of ice cream that DH likes in the house. I am very tempted by ice cream when I like it and it is in a big tub! I do keep popsicles on hand and occasionally the novelty ice cream bars....they are easier for me to control.

One thing I will start to do is what Laura does with yogurt topped with some Grape Nuts cereal (for crunch). I like yogurt but sometimes I feel I just need something else and it is the crunch that I'm missing...Thanks for that idea Laura!

One thing that I have changed in the past few weeks is that on Monday night I go ahead and eat by myself instead of waiting for DH to get home from his meeting.

When I wait for him, I graze because I'm hungry and I don't pick the best things to graze on..they are here, I just don't pick them. So I have been going ahead and eating my dinner when he goes to the meeting, then cleaning the kitchen up except what he is having and then I sit with him while he is eating dinner and talk with him.

Shad: Those lights in your tree sound lovely. I hope you get the sciatica pain under control soon. That pain is awful.

Happy: Glad to hear the prep-op went well. You do have a lot to get to before your surgery. Stay focused...I use lists to do that.

Laura: Did you make it to the Y tonight to sign up for the classes?
Your upcoming trip sounds like a lot of logistics to get in place but I think it will be such a fun time.

Ceejay: Enjoy your retirement lunch tomorrow!


Anne: I'm so glad you enjoyed the time with your AA friends. How are you getting around with the knee scooter?

Hi Dee! and Michelle-if you are out there lurking. I hope you get home from the hospital soon.

Good morning Chicklets I can't believe fall is starting so quickly. We had a very hot summer & No rain for our garden or lawn; so now that our temps are dropping we have been getting rain that we don't want or need. Saturday we finally had a normal, beautiful day at the lake, in the low 80's Dh fished with a friend & I borrowed a paddle board to stand-up paddle board from our friends marina. I fell off the board 4x like normal for me, from boaters waves, Dh & his friend laughed. I need to get my timing better, getting on my knees or sit when I see big waves coming fast; it's awesome to stay-up/standing on my board riding the wakes without falling in the lake. One boater came back to check on me & apologized, that's nice when they do that. I always wear my hot pink life-jacket & a tether on my ankle to get back to my board. The guys caught us lots of big perch & a few bass for supper When I got tired I paddled to our boat & got inside for a snack while Dh's friend tried to stand-up paddle board he couldn't stand-up the 10th time he fell off my board he gave up, he also fell into the water trying to paddle on his knees He said he's got new Respect for me now

Sisters, I am sooo Happy for everyone sharing their healthy eating styles with us I did a copy/paste to print them out.

I have a confession that I have a addiction to eating veggies & fruits & not as much protein daily or weekly as my body needs A friend is on W.Watchers & loves the point system, so on Friday I joined it online for a month membership to try getting myself into a routine to eat enough protein daily for my body & I'm getting back into a habit to include it more. When my month ends I won't renew it, I'll continue with eating everything I want by using common sense & one serving size on my plate & to include a protein.

My yrly physical is September 27 & I have to be back to last yrs weight 143# or I know my size 0 Internal medicine doctor will lecture me about BMI, disease prevention, etc. I have 4# to lose but I hope to reach my ticker goal weight by Halloween so I can sample all my holiday baking & stay near 143#.

Chelle We aLL Love you & you are in our thoughts & prayers Little sister, we need you to come back to us here... How's Santa been?

Happy & Annie...Sounds like we might have to recruit a nurse to live in the commune to fix us

Ceej...Sending travel blessings to you as you begin your New life in Missouri.

Laura...We've never been on a cruise yet. The farthest west we've visited is San Francisco, CA & south is central Florida. Your cruise sounds awesome, watch out for the crazy chickens in Key West because I was told they are everywhere

Susie...I'm proud of you for putting Susie first again, instead of your Admin trying to run your life & cause you to stress eat. Did you ever get another kitty after Buddha died a couple of yrs ago, our pets are a playful, cuddly Blessing. About hitting 60 yrs old, duh it's everybody's choice, everybody on this thread has a active life, ex: Donna. I'm fine & I just tweak doing sports with my 80% hand strength. I daily see people in their 30's-60's that are semi-sedentary; 'use it' or 'lose it' pertains to both muscle/physical strength & mental strength. Your friends sound like they feel secure near home. We still have those 5K walks & kayaking or stand-up paddle boarding or horseback riding to do together maybe next summer, my Dh is outgoing & will do anything your Dh suggests.

Shad...When we get our million dollar lottery ticket, we'll get a passport & come visit you & Oddu & you can be our tour guide When you went to the Outback did you ride a horse or camel, I saw on TV here that's a good way to see it. I thought a air conditioned jeep may be nice

I have a appointment soon, Thanks again for sharing your food tips

Morning all. It was rainy when I left work yesterday, but not too much for me to ride my bike home from the train. Rained some more in the evening, and then it was raining again this morning. It was raining/dripping lightly when I rode my bike to the train this morning.

Ceejay – Yay for that SS check! Enjoy your retirement lunch today. Big congrats to you! It'll be a while before you see your former co-workers again I bet. [Will you pick up your last check or have them mail it??] I’m sure you’ll finish up the packing soon – it’s got to end at some point!!!

Susie – Good that you decided to eat on the night that your dh is out at a meeting and that it helps you not to graze until he comes home. --- Re the YMCA – yes, I now have my membership card and will go to a class tonight.

Dee – That paddle boarding sounds fun, but I’d want my first time to be in a very calm body of water! No waves, boat wakes, etc.

Annie – How are you feeling these days? Hopefully everything is feeling better now.

Happy – Hope you’re not running yourself ragged today. You still have part of next week to get things done before you surgery, recovery (and forced rest!)

Shad – Loved the bathtub inspector photos on fb!

--
Nothing much to report. I now have my Y membership card. The person who set me up is a manager and yet she still couldn't figure out that 3 months from 8/29 (my membership start date) is 11/29 (membership end date) and she had written in my end date as 10/29. One of her employees and I had to explain. Sigh. Anyway, I'm signed up. I was told that after my membership ends, it'll cost me $55/month. Yikes, no wonder I never looked into a memberhsip there in the past.

Anyway, I will go to a class tonight. The one I’m going to is called WERQ and I think it’s a dance-y cardio class along the lines of Zumba and Jazzercise. It’s a 6:30 class, so I’ll take the next train earlier than my usual one. I hope it’s not pouring when I ride home from the train tonight.

That’s it for me. Have a good day everyone.

Morning all,
I've done an hour or so in the garden and have now just finished breakfast so while I drink my coffee I will type todays little epistle.

Dee - my things I do to motivate and energise the body to lose old man fat:
1. Portion control. I always measure because even though I know what 250g looks like I find that over time my perception goes and the portions increase. So measurements r me
2. I don't forbid any food or drink. Because if I do, what is the first thing I want? Never matter about need.
3. Some form of exercise daily. It might be walking the dog or out in the yard or renovations. I don't do structured exercise well - wish I was more like Laura.
4. Alcohol is limited to 3 days a week and no more than 2 glasses a day.
5. Sometimes I take pictures of my food (as you know) to remind me of what a meal should look like.
6. Vegetables every day. Protein every day but not necessarily meat. Protein comes in many forms. Fruit everyday as well.

Dee - I'm not sure what part of the outback you saw on tv. However I would not recommend trying to see it by horse back or camel. It's too big and there are too many pitfalls. If you must ride a camel, I will take you to Cable Beach and you can ride the sunset on a camel along the sand. It's very romantic (well maybe, camels are not known for smelling pretty and being polite) Horses will not last on a long trip in the desert (only camels will) but there are plenty of places where you can do guided tours in 4x4's all nicely airconditioned and sleep in tents around a bonfire. I would not recommend you try it by yourself. The locals get a little testy about tourist stupidity around here. Deserts are dangerous places and we have plenty of them here - that's why 90% probably more of us live around the coastal fringe

Happy - As far as I am aware, vinegar does not go off. Checked out my friend Google and got this : Studies have been conducted by The Vinegar Institute and confirm that vinegar's shelf life is almost indefinite. It does not even require refrigeration. Its acid nature makes vinegar self-preserving. White distilled vinegar will remain virtually unchanged over an extended period of time.
I wonder how many of us have used Ctrl V instead of Ctrl C and lost things. Sometimes Undo will fix it in Word but there doesn't seem to be one here. As for the coffee cup - shall I book you into the room that was my Mothers when she went crazy?
The kids seem to be still in LA doing all the touristy things and eating a lot. Hope they get out of there soon before the madness invades - ie Chris Browne on this mornings news.
They've been up Mulholland Drive and seen the stars homes and the stars set in the pavement. That's about all I know so far.
The garden has now been planted with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, capsicums, and I notice that a pea has popped up - must have been left in the soil after last year. I have some carrot seeds to sow and some corn. So things are moving along. I have another vege patch to dig - maybe today.

Laura - I have a couple of Richard Simmons videos that I do once in a while. The VHS is not working so well anymore so it is used sparingly. Hope you enjoy the Y membership.
Yes ODDU loves the water and was pushing to get into the bath while I cleaned it. He jumped in after I had finished and I guess you saw the result - dirty paw prints.

Ceejay - by now you will be probably sleeping your last night in Arkansas. I can only wish you the best retirement and happy days ahead. I'm sure you will be so busy you won't have time to miss work - just like Happy. Once you get straight in the new place you will be wondering why you didn't do it years back.

Susie - Sometimes as we get older, we don't go too far from the house since it is not always certain how much money we will have to keep us in our old age. Some people just don't want to get up and go anywhere because something hurts too. Perhaps your friends are in this category where they are saving to keep the wolf from the door. I know it worries me from time to time. I know I could not survive on what they pay here for pensions.

Annie - hope you are keeping off that foot and getting on with life. Nice box of goodies from the work friends I saw on facebook.

Okay - gotta go. Dog walk required. Best to get that out of the way early. He's being very good today so a reward is in order.

Short post tonight fron my phone.

Laura: how did you like the class tonight.

Ceejay: The cake for your retirement dinner was beautiful. I hope you had a wonderful celebration with your work colleagues.

Shad: I too loved the pictures of the paws in the bathtub. That dog seems to have quit the personality. I hope you will have a successful gardening season. It was so hot here in the States and it seems most didnt do as well as hoped with the gardens.

Dee: your time on the lake sounds lik lot of fun.

Happy: I hope you got a lot done today and didnt wear yourself out.

I am heading to bed. See you all tomorrow.

I konked out and slept on the couch tonight until my lower back woke me up hurting.
My retirement lunch went well. We had bar b que and the fixings. And a beautiful cake. A good fellowship was had by all. Some one said that they had voted to keep me their 10 more years. I don't think so. My bosses were super nice today. And their was a reporter from the news paper their making pictures. Yes, me in the newspaper! The city gave me a picture. I really like it. It's of the mural of the court house. I love our old court house. I will try to post a picture.
I haven't gotten to get done what I wanted to from texting people. I'm thankful that I have relatives and friends that care about me.
My sister and bil will be here early afternoon and then we will go pick up the U-Haul

------

Dee
I've seen people on those paddle boards. I know I could never stand on one.
Think my goal for September will be to get my muscles toned. It's going to take some doing on my part but I will not have an excuse now that I'm retired.

Happy
I know the feeling of having to much on ones plate and trying to get things done. I text my sister last night and told her that I hope she will not be to disappointed in me by not having everything packed. I ran out of steam. Packing and purging 24 years of stuff hasn't been easy.

Laura
It's nice that you had some free time to yourself. I'm ready to have some family around to do things with.

Shad
Nice that you are back in the garden planting things. Tonight will be my last night in Arkansas. Mixed emotions for sure. But I'm still more excited to move to Missouri.

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I've been awake since 3.30 a.m. so now it's 5.30 and need to start my day. May have to take a mid morning nap. I'm going to like retirement.

Morning all. Lovely cooler, less humid, sunny day today. Well it feels less humid and more comfortable, even though the current weather stats still show the humidity and dew point are still a bit high. I turned off the AC this morning.

Shad – Totally agree with you about not forbidding any food – that feeling of deprivation would set in all too quickly. As for structured exercise - I thought you sometimes went to Body Pump classes? I bring that up because the YMCA has a few of those classes on their group fitness schedule and I’m thinking of trying that.

Susie – I liked the WERQ class well enough, and I liked the instructor. As usual, there’s a learning curve with getting the hang of the choreography. I would do it again.

Ceejay – Glad you enjoyed the retirement lunch, yum bbq. LOL re the vote for you to stay 10 more years. Wow, today is it for Arkansas! Safe travels, and I hope everything goes smoothly with the move. That was an early wake-up for you today – a nap is definitely in order!

Hellos to the rest of you!

==

So I went to the WERQ class last night, and like I commented to Susie, it was good. I did tweak my sore hamstring within the first minute and I thought if it continued I’d have to leave class, but it eased up and I also did a little stretch between routines and I was able to stay for the whole thing.

It finally occurred to me that the cause of the constant breakouts I'm having on my face could be the asthma inhaler I’ve been doing twice daily. I don’t think I ever noticed it before when the doc would put me on it for a couple weeks or a month, but now that I’ve been using it regularly since maybe April (?), the intake of steroids has been more constant. I kind of hope this is it because at least I would know for sure. Otherwise, I’d have no idea what’s causing this. I don’t think it’s hormonal or related to “the change of life” because I take birth control (sorry if that’s TMI) and it regulates the hormones and I understand they mask a lot of the symptoms, and there's been no recent change in type or dosage. In fact, I think my skin is better when on BCP than not.

Okay, enough rambling and time for posting. Have a great day everyone.

Morning all. It’s a bit cloudy and cooler, very pleasant. Quiet here in the office – the boss is out and so is the admin.

Last night I pulled all the bags of items that have been set aside for donation from the closet and jotted them down and re-bagged them. The list is in my tax file & I’ll drop the bags off at the thrift shop this weekend.

Today bf’s mom is finally leaving the rehab facility and going home. Of his four siblings, bf has been doing most of necessary preparation for that and he’s been stressed out with that. However, he’s very happy his mom is finally getting out of there, and of course so am I. She's strong enough now, and the only thing that could happen by staying there longer is picking up the various bugs/germs that get passed around in that place.

I need bf to confirm that his mom has someone staying with her tonight. If not, I’ll go over there. (Bf has his class tonight.) If I don’t go over there, I’ll go to a Zumba class at the Y.

That’s it for me. Hope you all are well and are having a good week.

Hi ladies,

We did an overnight outing yesterday up north to an island you get to by ferry. We went there last year. It generally has wonderful sunsets and sunrises over Lake Superior. This year the whole thing was sort of a bust and a huge waste of time and money. The hotel has a wonderful view of the lake and you can hear the water gently lapping on the beach. There is a private balcony and I don't know why but there are brown spiders all over the outside building and patio furniture. So you just stand on the balcony and admire the view. The room was clean but old and in need of updates. The bed was squeeky as were the chairs and the doors. There's not many places on the island to eat - only one for dinner as a matter of fact if you are there Sunday - Tuesday. The restaurant next to our inn is very pricey. I had been looking forward to dinner based on the specials they had listed on a signboard outside in front of the restaurant. Come to find that it was an old listing - the linguini with shrimp I had instead was very bland and tasteless. I did have a grilled romaine salad with blue cheese dressing and crumbled bacon bits that I shared with DH and we both enjoyed. He liked his steak too. The sunset was very lackluster but sunsets can be like that. DH was going to get up to catch a sunrise picture but when I woke him at 4:30 he said his feet and arm hurt alot. My hips were killing me too - blame it on the soft bed. We pretty much got up at 7, had coffee in the room, packed and checked out. We did stop at an apple orchard on the way home and got apple donuts. We stopped and had a very expensive $40 - and extremely mediocre lunch at a small cafe on the way home. DH got home in a panic, he is staining the boards to put on the deck ahead of time and the workmen ran out of stained boards and started laying unfinished boards Then the good worker told him that he found some boards that were only stained on one side so he installed those, stained side down, so DH could easily stain the topside when he got back. That was very considerate of him. Still alot of boards to be stained yet - I think DH said something like 250 boards altogether! And then there's the railings too. DH put some low voltage lights on as a test - they look really nice. And the guys finished the deck at the front of the house so now we can get in the front door again It's a really big deck and is looking nice. DH said he always wanted a really big deck. Why, who knows - he said he just did. We could do performances and dancing out there now.

I had a talk with a nurse from the insurance company today - she was very nice but also surprised that I was having knee replacement as an outpatient procedure. We had a useful conversation and she will follow up on the Monday after surgery.

Today I did stuff but frittered away the day and didn't get everything I needed to completed. I have to get ready and head off to bingo shortly - it will be the last time I see my partner before he heads off on vacation and I head to surgery so it's my last chance pretty much to cover what I need to do. I am a bit nervous about running bingo in his absence - especially when I can't get hold of him. Everything will be fine, right?

Ceejay - happy travelling - don't blame you for getting tired of packing. We did too when we moved from Memphis. We left a giant pile of stuff on the lawn that we just didn't want to deal with or move. I'm sure the "garbage pickers" who frequented the neighborhood on trash day were happy to sift through our things. After so many boxes of packing you just get tired! How fun to get your picture in the paper - as a long time city employee you deserve it and nice to have a remembrance. Congratulations on your retirement. Happy and safe travels to your new home. Check in when you can.

Laura - glad BF's Mom is headed back home. I guess it's true what they say about how easy it is to pick up an infection in the hospital. My sister said the weather finally got better for you. Still warm but not the sticky humidity. That's very interesting that you think the steriods would be contributing to the face break outs. I was having alot of issues lately but I think it was the more warm and humid weather - that was the problem. There's also that pesky adult acne that plagues everyone of all ages. I was worse after menopause then I ever was as a teenager. Thanks Mother Nature! Glad you liked the WERQ class. Hope you get something out of your Y membership.

Dee - I was watching 2 people (one of whom had a dog) on their paddleboards Tuesday night on the lake. Takes alot of good balance, good knees and ankle strength for that. Looks like fun too - ONCE you get the hang of it! I hope you can drop those few pesky extra pounds by your doctor's appointment.

Annie - hope you are doing well and on the road to recovery! Good talking to you the other day.

Shad - No camel rides for me, thank you. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to visit you one day and have you show us around. I'm sure we would be inspired and awed. But that would mean you'd have to be retired also in order to be a tour guide. Hope the kids have fun in California. Have you retrained ODDU and gotten rid of bad habits?

Susie - one thing I will attest to is that like it or not, things start to interfere with life (or you need accomodations for things) as you age. Not that you can't do things, just that you do them slower and maybe not at all. So... don't fritter away your life working all the time. Stop and have some fun too. Also, sometimes life smacks you in the face and changes things - you never know what the future holds so another reason to enjoy life.

I need to get showered up and off to bingo. I have never "opened and set up" before and while it just encompasses counting bingo sheets and setting things out, I want to make sure I go through everything at least once before I take over. I am really sleepy right now, just like kitty next to me, I'd rather be snoozing but I'm hoping a shower will wake me up. Anyway - have a good night everyone. I will set up a September thread tonight or if someone else wants to do it...

Hi all,

Last one out, first one in. As soon as I finish the last sips of my coffee I am out the door. First thing is to get the hair done. I hope the new girl does a better job than the last one. Then I have to meet the bingo guy at the bank so I can go over the bank deposit process all over again. Then back home to focus on getting more stuff done. This will be day one of no pain reliever until after surgery. The worst part is that rain is moving in - Monday is a holiday so of course it will rain. Rain really makes me ache. I'm going to try and get as much as I can done this weekend as I'm sure as the week progresses I will be feeling less and less like doing anything although moving is the best thing to alleviate the pain they say. I don't know, not standing on bone on bone painful knees for long periods of time would get my vote

Ceejay - looks like you made it to your new destination. Long and happy days ahead for you! Give yourself some time to settle in, it doesn't all have to be done at once.

Anne - saw your FB post, don't know what's going on but prayers sent as requested.

Laura - hope BF's mum got home and settled in comfortably.

Shad - you seem to be back home, relaxed from the craziness of the corporate life and settled into a nice routine. It's good that ODDU is a motivated exercise partner

Dee - do you have a move date or is it dependent on selling the house? Is it on the market yet?

Hi to Susie and the rest of the chicks. I'm off on the run. See yahs