Morning all.

Shad – I’m super thrilled with your great news!! I will join you in your happy dance. :)
:dance: :carrot: :cb: :broc:

Ceejay – It’s nice that the kitchen/dining space is open concept – gives you a bit of flexibility with arranging the furniture. Our house is 60+ years old and is the very opposite of open concept. There’s a large opening from the living room into the dining room, but that’s as open as it gets. == I hope your new garage door will also have an electric garage door opener too! == Wow, that’s a lot of years with your bank. I believe I’ve also had my checking account with my bank for 30+ years. I also have a couple credit cards that started with one bank and through various mergers and acquisitions of one bank with/by another, they also ended up with one of the giant banks.

Annie – So sorry to hear you might have a sinus infection. :( Get over to one of those immediate care joints or pharmacy clinics and get it taken care of ASAP. === Yay for getting your appointment moved up a whole month. One more bug call and you won’t have long to wait at all!

Happy – Hope all is well with you and that you’re not burning the candle at both ends. Us Worldlies might need to convince your dh to go on strike as your personal uber driver so that you’re forced to stay home, relax, and give the knees a break.

Hello to Susie. Are you feeling better now?
==
Nothing much to report on my end. The only thing I’m looking forward to this week is the boss being out of the office on Friday, lol. Oh, our office holiday party is this Thursday. Not really looking forward to that, but I’ll hang out there for about an hour and then be on my merry way. It’s right across the street in the Willis/Sears Tower, but it’s in a club where we can’t wear jeans, bah humbug!

Okay, back to the grind. TTFN.

:carrot::cb::dancer::woohoo::cheer3::broc::cheer:: yay:

Shad: I am so THRILLED that you go that good news!!!!!!
I want to hug your GP for doing that for you. And i must say Thanks to the Lord above for this great news as well!


Annie: I hope you aren't coming down with a sinus infection. Are you still on the meds for the UTI? Sometimes they can help kick other infections but some times not. You might need a different script that can take care of both.

Cute story about putting up the Christmas tree with your gbabies.

Your boss is a very nice man. I'm glad to hear you got the appointment moved to Feb, just keep calling each week.

Ceejay: That is a long time to have the same bank account and I agree why would you want to move it.

I have had the same savings account since I was 6 yrs old and the same checking account since I was 18....I say had because with the computer hacking and identity stealing, I had to close them and get new ones. It made me sad. Especially the saving one. I remember going with my dad to the bank to set it up.

Your rug sounds pretty. And your workout plan for 2017 sounds like a great one. I must get to thinking about getting myself back on plan.

Laura: I think your decorating ideas sound nice and simple. I hope you don't have to host for Christmas this year. Don't you have a trip coming up soon?

Happy: Actually looking at my Christmas tree lights and listening to Christmas CD's actually does help with my stress---I think tonight when I wrap gifts that will put some Christmas tunes on. I need inspiration...I haven't wrapped a one.

It is snowing in Ohio. A very nice Christmas Globe snow. It's pretty to look at.

I am feeling much better than I was on Friday, but you will never believe this (or maybe you will). I have a very small case of shingles! I had this rash that was on one side of my chest (very small area) on Friday and I just thought it was dry skin or something. It started getting blisters on Sunday night so I went to the doctor yesterday and it's shingles. Now I am on meds for it.

She thinks that stress I have been under is the culprit. You think?!

I am lucky though, I don't have much pain or anything and she said with getting the meds started so early I should do well with it.

That's it for me for now. I need to get back to work.

Shad
I'm so happy for you. Doing the happy dance with you.

Laura
We all need that quiet work week. Enjoy it. I'm sure the garage will have an automated door.

Susie
Yes, the shingles can be caused by stress. That' is what caused mine before I moved. Just be thankful that it is a mild case. Mine was a mild case also.

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We are supposed to get blasted with more cold air Sunday and Monday. Monday night down to 8 degree's I'm better prepared mentally this time.
Don't know why but I'm getting to get in the mood to clean I've been sleeping later in the mornings. Think because it's still dark because of the cloud cover.

Ok, this Worldly thread is now who can top who with medical ailments. OMG...now SUSIE has shingles. I have added sinus infection to my cluster F. Doc called in Augmentin. On a good note, she tested my urine to make sure the UTI was gone and indeed it was. Made Chili last night for dinner, just seemed to go with the tempatures outside. Brought Chili for lunch too~

CEEG...we are getting blasted with the snow and cold too. My car said it was 9 degrees out. BURRRRR

SUSIE...boo on the shingles. I do see how all the stress you have been under could of caused them. Probably next on my ailment list too. bleh

LAURA...it is the small things I look forward too also, i.e. boss being out of the office. Mine will be out next week from Tuesday forward. Yeah.

Hello to all, got to get busy, Oh HAPPY, you ok? Hugs all.

HAPPY....Did the Biofreeze help any????

Hi Ladies,

Yesterday I did a post and when I tried to submit it, the website hung. Over and over. I had to get to the thrift shop for my shift so I didn't have alot of time to fuss around with it. Saved the post and will repost now.

Good morning girls,

I am so sorry I have not posted. Time gets away from me. I am a bad girl - you will all just have to move in at the commune so we can have morning coffee and chat! :rofl:

Shaddie - I am doing the gimpy happy dance for you. :dance: :dance: I know you are not the religious type but I was praying for your health. Please God don't take Mellie AND Shaddie from us. There is nothing like a cancer diagnosis to completely change your perspective on things and realign your priorities. I hope they can take care of this last bit of surgery and on with the show again. So happy for you my friend :hug:

Annie - thank you for worrying about me. :hug: Fatty liver comes from many things as the liver is the detoxifier in the body. So alchohol, food, genetics, cholesterol (body made or food induced) and even some medications can cause issues. I myself am on the cusp of fatty liver too. I am also pounding my liver with these pain meds which unfortunately I don't see myself getting off of soon although I am at low doses. Anyway - you will get through this, I promise. It's a temporary bump. Instead enjoy Royce and his Christmas wonders. Look for the good things in your days and remember that sometimes God puts in speed bumps so we don't get too cocky and take for granted the good stuff he puts there. :hug:

Laura - :rofl: I got such a big laugh about putting the Uber driver on strike. He'd love that :lol: Thank you for your concern. :hug: I always hated getting dressed up for the office Christmas party - they don't make party shoes that work well in snow and ice! I hope you have a good time.

Ceejay - I say move the furniture rather than the chandelier - you'll never completely cover the spot in the ceiling and if it's only a couple of inches, then the person moving it REALLY LOVES YOU as that's a pain. You have to mount those things on cross boards in the ceiling for support too. Live with charming imperfections ;)

I'm sorry I have to bug out early. Afternoon thrift shop today. Tonight is the Christmas get together for all the thrift shop volunteers at the president's home - a lovely place but not enough parking for everyone. It's 0 degrees out right now and getting colder. I would rather stay home to be honest. When I get home I have to rush and prep an appetizer and wrap 2 grab bag gifts. I am not going to be ready on time (don't tell DH :o ) Tomorrow I have the last yoga class until January. They called me from the Senior Center today - the Tai Chi classes are starting January 9th. Monday and Fridays at 8:30 in the freaking early morning !!!! Ack!!! In the winter yet. But I am looking forward to learning this. Even with my arthritis I think I can do this, still not sure on the yoga. Then I have a dentist appointment this week, bingo and a meeting. Somewhere I have to work in this Christmas stuff but I don't know where or when... :dizzy: :dizzy: :dizzy: :dizzy:

Leg hurts but it's winter. It's going to hurt. Deal with it. I woke up at 5 today and could not get back to sleep. Fell back asleep while thinking about getting up and woke up at 9:30 when the phone rang. Drat. I could have used that extra up time as now I'm really behind. Anyway... hello to you all, will check back in tonight. Stay warm chicks.

Argh - very frustrated.

I typed a big long post and the stupid cat jumped up on my computer and somehow managed to hit the right combination of keys to reboot the computer. I lost everything I was working on this entire morning including a brochure for the Humane Society, my post and my Christmas letter and 3 recipes I wanted to try. Kitty needs to find a new place to sit and stay warm.

Then... I am not sleeping again. Just like after surgery I am very tired at night, fall asleep for about an hour or so. Wake up around 1am and toss and turn until about 5:30 when I finally fall asleep. Then I wake up at 9:30 or 10 and like today, the day is totally lost. It's 3:30pm and I am still in pajamas I'm embarassed to say. I called last week for a refill of my pain medication. Back and forth, no one seems to want to help. :rolleyes: Is this what healthcare is all about these days? Charge you exhorbitant premiums, give minimal help and just go suffer??? *** must remember that extreme stress brings on shingles so calm down Happy ****

I guess it's time for God helps those who help themselves and forget the doctors and try and figure out some sort of holistic approach to try and deal with this. I will NOT be in any hurry to get the other knee done. Even though the arthritic pain is probably more intense than the existing pain in the operated leg. Lord help us all...

Yesterday we had our Christmas party for the thrift shop volunteers. It was nice however being as cold as it was, I would have rather stayed at home as would DH. I made Asian Lettuce wraps which came out good as well as a dip with cheddar cheese, bacon, green onions and slivered almonds for a crunch factor - kind of like a loaded baked potato but sort of on the rich side.

I skipped yoga today - I think it's just too early for my knee right now but I will go back in January. They are also offering a Tai Chi class at the senior center come January which I am going to take. It's gentle and supposed to help with balance which I could use. I stopped at the post office on Monday but it was jammed at 2:30pm - I need some stamps and there were 8 people in line with packages to ship and it was taking about 15 minutes for each customer. DH would not have appreciated such a long wait. They took away our options for FedEx and UPS shipping here in town so the post office has a sort of monopoly on shipping. I should have just ordered stamps online but it's too late for that now. Really I should just drop my extra leftover boxed Christmas cards at the thrift shop and be done with it and give up with the cards altogether save for my Mom. The only thing is I usually do a Christmas letter and it's kind of fun to look back over the years and see what has been going on.

Need to figure out something for supper. I did buy alot of vegetables last week and never did get around to making that beef vegetable soup. Maybe I will just use up the left over bacon and do a breakfast for supper of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and a fruit cup. DH won't mind at all.

At this point I am trying hard not to complain so am otherwise babbling so I think I will head down and get supper started. Hope your day was better than mine - at least I got to stay in the house and hide from the cold. Thank you for small blessings...

Quick post here. I had my performance discussion today. The process is being streamlined and we don't have to do self-assessments anymore - yay. Another change is that everyone is getting the same annual salary adjustment - previously it was called a Merit increase, and if you walked on water you could possibly get more than the standard %, but not likely. Now it's clear everyone gets the same. High performers will get recognized through our incentive plan, aka bonuses. So not much really changes...

Tomorrow is the holiday party, but I made an appointment with a podiatrist for tomorrow afternoon at 4:30, so I will only stay at the party for 15-20 min.


Happy - You're as busy as ever with everything - the bingo and thrift shop/HS are so lucky to have you! == I think the Tai Chi will be interesting - can't wait to hear about it. I remember being on a business trip to San Fran and passing by a park in the morning in the Chinatown area and seeing a bunch of people doing Tai Chi. == Yes, I really would rather stay home than go to these office parties, but I make my appearance and sometimes actually have a pleasant time. :) The thought of it is worse than the reality. But I'm still glad I'll be ducking out of the party extra early tomorrow, LOL. == I think you needed the sleep when you slept in - don't regret it!

Susie - Glad you're feeling better, but yikes, shingles too??!! Have you ever had the shingles shot? I know my doc said the insurance cos. don't want to cover it for people under a certain age. But it may have helped you! == No trip coming up soon - it's in late April/early May. Not soon enough!!

Ceejay - So nice you don't have to go out in the cold now unless you want to. :D And then you have an excuse to putter around with housework stuff because you're not going out anyway. Maybe it's not so bad to do housework now that you have plenty of time for it...===Stay warm!!

Annie - Yes, we all seem to be dealing with some medical thing or other. My foot continues to hassle me and I'm glad to be getting to a new foot doc tomorrow to deal with it. Maybe I need to get myself one of those kneelie things?? === Yay for the "no boss" time you have coming up next week!!

Okay, better get to the bathroom to put my long undies on again before heading home. TTFN.

I'm getting better at doing the treadmill. Actually did a 30 minute walk. I've been using the hill program but today switched and did the fat burn. Whoa is all I can say about that. Inclines of 12. Brought in three boxes from the garage to take out to the shed tomorrow. Also brought in my bike. That was a chore. I'm going to put it in my office.
This room is big enough. Just have to get some things put away.

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Happy
Don't scold yourself for sleeping later than normal. I slept in my recliner Saturday afternoon. Woke up at 9 p.m. and laid down on the couch to watch tv. Woke up at midnight and got dressed for bed. I tossed around for a couple of hours and went back to slept and woke up with the alarm going off at 8 a.m. I like the holistic approach to medicine. I didn't realize that my new doctor is a holistic doctor. Had to ask my sis what his title wasslemental insurance recommended him.

Laura
Glad you have made an appointment with your podiatrist. Sore feet are a pain.

Hello's to Susie and Annie and Shad.

Good Morning/Evening...

First, I want to say that I am grateful for my heated seats this morning in the negative degree weather with windchill we are having. Amen. Fast forward to a nice spring season please. I used to not wish my life away, but the way I feel these days, so be it. lol.

Met up with a friend from Humana for a quick bite. A place that many raved about. Not me, I found all the food a little bland and a LOT greasy. Ate a few bites and took the rest home to C. It was good to see Amy as it has been about 2 1/2 years. She left Humana before I did. She and her S.O. of 14 years split up, much to Amy's happiness. She has never looked so good. Got home and lounged for a bit, folded some towels out of the dryer and hit the hay. C ate leftover pork loin, potatos, carrots and onions for dinner then he ate my leftover from the restaurant. Poor guy was starved. It was a hard cold day out there for him. Wears him out.

HAPPY...many hugs and good thoughts, always in my prayers. Pain sucks. Did the BIOFREEZE work for you at all? I have a 90 day supply of it now, 3 nice size bottles with a pump. Let me know how it worked for you! Does the room with your computer have a door, if so close it for the time you are on the puter to keep the keyboard thief at bay. Boo on the sleeping, but really girl when you are having that much pain, take it when you can get it. Heck with other things in life (thrift shop, bingo etc) until you feel up to it and get some rest. Love momma bear! MMMmmm bacon sandwiches, I will take it. Sounds yummy.

LAURA...gotta love the long undies, especially up there in the cold north, oh wait we are having the same weather you are. Today I wore my jeans, furry socks, and flannel shirt to work. I know it is not jeans day however I really could care less. The way I feel they are lucky I am here. :) I am putting my healthy eating and such on the back burner until I get this sinus infection and whatnot taken care of or at least under control. January 1st?? Sometimes raises that are a little more on the side of here is what everyone is getting is better. For others in our region to get raises, some have to go without. It is all just a bunch of bunk to me. Glad it is a "little" more structured for you and I would love not doing the self assessment. Hope you get better results with the new foot doc. Maybe better ideas on how to deal with it.

CEEG...Good for you on the 30 minute tread walk. Better than I could do I am sure. Hope you are not like C in moving garage boxes to the shed then the next time moving them back from the shed to the garage. That is how he reorganizes. hahahaha. Samantha and I laugh at him. The bike is in the house now, you mean the stationery bike? Now you have no excuse to exercise. Let me know if you need an excuse, ba hahahahahha.

Hi to the rest of yous. Hugs, love and prayers.

Good freezin' morning ladies,

Is there anything worse than going to the dentist? Yes, going to the dentist when it's minus 5 degrees (c) outside! I feel sorry for the poor animals. One baby deer showed up this morning. He was rather "fluffed out" trying to stay warm. They have such skinny spindly legs I don't know how they keep them from freezing. He followed DH around the yard and DH was able to pet his head. His sister showed up shortly afterwards along with about 35 turkey pigs. The turkeys are becoming a bit of an annoyance. They sleep in the trees behind the mancave so they can keep an eye on food being tossed in the yard :lol:

I am so over this knee thing. More later on that. Just time for quick hellos.

Annie - yes, aren't heated seats the best???? Glad you got to meet up with a friend, sorry the food was yucky. I've been to places like that too. I guess some people like grease - reminds them of eating as a kid :lol: Yes, the biofreeze helps a bit - thank you for that. Does it help you any? I would love to hunker down in the house and hide but not moving is worse than moving. Can't stay down and grow roots because the longer I sit, the harder it is to get moving again. Poor C - this is a miserable time of year to have an outside job AND have to carry big trays of stuff to boot.

Ceejay - wow on the 12 incline! Not as easy as they show it on tv, eh? :rofl: Keep up the good work and get some exercise every day.

Laura - I agree with Annie - rejoice that you are getting a raise at all. Seems like companies are working on eliminating benefits in the near future too. Sorry that you are still having problems with your foot. Think the cold has anything to do with it? You are getting lots of winter storm weather too that plays havoc with aches and pains.

Hellos to the rest. Like it or not, I have to get ready for the dentist. New crown to be fitted. I tell myself this will be over in a few hours. I hate going to the dentist.... be back later to catch up.

HAPPY....yes I think the Biofreeze helps some. This cold weather is making me ache all over in places I didn't even know had aches. Especially my HEAD! @ hours in the dentist chair for a crown is boring. Especially when sitting there all tensed up waiting on pain to happen. YUCK~ Yes indeedy, love heated seats. Will never have another car without them, or at least ride on a hot water bottle.

Morning all.

Not a great day so far. I decided to drive to the train station this morning so I could get to my foot doc appointment on time today – just jump in the car and go. The car (parked on the driveway) took a while to get warm enough to clear the frosty windshield. I was going to drive to the train station two stops from my usual station to be closer to where this doctor’s office is located, but I didn’t have enough time, so I went to the one that’s one stop away. Upon parking, I discovered I’d forgotten my backpack at home. Luckily, bf was able to deliver it to me at the station before my train came.

Once I got downtown, I realized I’d lost an earring. They were a gift, so I’m very unhappy about that. I’ll have to check the lost and found in the next day or two.

I can only walk so quickly with this bad foot, so it’s taking me longer to hobble my way to the office. And it’s super freezing out, so a longer walk is not appreciated at all.

And best of all, the boss asks to see me this morning, and please close the door. Having already had my performance discussion with him yesterday (with only 3 hours advance notice of it), today he tells me he’s having a hard time deciding how to rate me. So he asked me to rate myself, blah, blah, blah. I could go on forever ranting about him, but I won’t. Let’s just say I’m plenty unhappy with him and his weak managerial skills, and he totally took the wrong approach with this discussion. Between my boss and my recent PITA work commutes wearing on me, I think I’ve had enough. I’m going to think long and hard about making a change.

Today will be the holiday party fly-by mid-afternoon and my foot doctor appointment at 4:30. Nothing planned for tonight. Bf has his last exam prep session tonight. I'll probably just sit at home and feel sorry for myself.

==
Ceejay – Great job on the treadmill!! YGG! Good for you getting things moved around.

Annie – Yup, love my heated car seats!! Especially on days like today. == Nice you met up with your Humana friend and that she’s doing well.

Happy – Sorry you’re having trouble with sleeping. :( === Hope the dentist appointment goes better and shorter than expected. == No, I don’t think the weather effects my foot pain.

Hellos to Shad and Susie.

That’s it for me. Back to it.

Had plenty to do today so I didn't go to the gym. Just a little bit more and the garage will be ready for my vehicle when the new door arrives. Still haven't seen Nick, the guy with the counter tops. Guess he will be here when he can.
Made several trips from the garage to the shed today. Got most of my steps in this way but no minutes for exercise. I've ridden my bike for 15 minutes and will ride again a bit later.
My sis has been wanting me to come to Branson so I'm doing that tomorrow. She's been having work computer problems and is not in the best of moods. She's getting further behind on charting.
Made a pot of pinto beans with ham for dinner tonight.

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Happy
I feel for the animals this time of the year also. How do they stay warm? Or in the summer time how doo they stay cool? I think we are all feeling the weather. Yes, very different than tv. It actually felt like I was doing a steep hill. Ugh on the dentist appointment.

Laura
I hope the podiatrist will be able to give you something for the pain in your foot. Can you drive any closer to the building you work in? Hope you will be able to find the earring.

Hello to Susie and Annie

It was a balmy 19 degrees on the way to work this morning. Altho today's high is supposed to be 32. Several of us are going to the historic Milano Inn for lunch today. (google it). They are closing for good on January 1. So sad and such an awesome yummy Italian restaurant. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. We had a quiet evening at home, ordered pizza and breadstix from Pizza Hut. Easy dinner. I ate one piece of veggie pizza and half of a bread stick. Too many carbs I am sure.

Short post as I am taking a two hour lunch today. We have to drive to the restaurant and I am sure it will be packed.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend. Hugs.

Good frosty morning ladies,

We're supposed to get belted with a snowstorm starting late this afternoon - 5 to 10 inches. Thank goodness for snow blowers although the stuff is powdery and dry up here so a good wind tends to blow the stuff round and round and make cleaning a multiple stage chore.

Yesterday I went for a blood draw - routine checks for cholesterol, Vitamin D, etc. I did not drink enough water ahead of time and the tech could not hit a vein so I'm going back in an hour when the "good guy" is there. Funny how I am looking at the veins on my hands right now but the minute I walk into the clinic, they hide. DH said something about looking up chicken recipes so we might make a grocery stop also. I was able to get into the post office yesterday with only a 10 minute wait so I got my stamps. Have to work on cards today IF I'm going to get any out. I picked up 3 Hallmark brand cards at the store the other day - special ones for Mom, Sis and hubby - shootie heck - that was over $22 for 3 stinkin' cards! :mad: what the heck???? :dizzy: The store used to carry American Greetings brand and they were 50 percent off the list price. I THOUGHT that was what I was buying - geez, these don't even have the super nice sayings in them. Oh well...

I got the meds things straightened out - somewhat. Seems that for class 2 narcotics that I am on, they waive the requirement after 2 fills that you have to do mail order. That helps but still means they have to send the prescription to the pharmacy - no call ins for that kind of med. OR DH must drive 90 minutes each way to pick up the prescription. Not in this weather. I did speak with the nurse at my regular doctor about getting refills from her if I need them in February (doc is going on maternity leave any minute) so they will put a note in my file. We don't have enough medical providers out this way although with Annie living in the big city and her having to wait also for appointments as well as Shad, what's going on here? Anyway things are settled for the moment I hope.

My dentist appointment went well. The older dentist is alot more skilled than the other guy who is one of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Dr. R was able to take my 14 year old partial plate and fit it with the new tooth so that it won't irritate it. I have not worn the partial in years so I'm shocked it still works. It was a good day for a girl who hates going to the dentist - don't hate the man, hate the trip :D

There was a cardinal sitting in the pine trees right out the window. It's softly snowing. I called DH and he was able to get one - just one shot at a photo before the bird flew off. I hope it came out as it looked like a nice picture.

Annie - enjoy your lunch. Hope you don't fall into a "carb coma" afterwards - I always do if I eat pasta for lunch. So sad to lose a good restaurant.

Ceejay - I rode my bike yesterday for the first time in a long time - only 10 minutes but I think it really helped the new knee. You have inspired me so thank you. How did the ham and beans come out?

Laura - what a bummer day you had yesterday! I hope you can find the missing earring stuck in some clothes and that you can get some relief on the foot pain. Bummer on the talk with the boss - just think for a LONG time - slow and careful about making changes in this iffy environment. :hug:

Hello Susie, Michelle, Dee and all long lost chicks. Gotta jump in the shower now. Stay warm and dry ladies - lots of us in for some weather this weekend.

I don’t know what happened to the post I did earlier...oh well.

Happy - Nice your dentist appointment was better than expected, and yay for being able to use the existing bridge. == Stay warm and safe this snowy weekend. === Did the blood draw go successfully today? == Yikes, that's a lot for greetings cards!!

Annie - Hope you enjoyed your lunch. Sad to see a beloved restaurant shut down.

Ceejay - Enjoy your time in Branson. == You’re doing great in your fitness challenge - how's your sister doing with hers??

Hellos to our lurking & missing Worldlies. :wave:
==
My foot Dr appointment went fine. They took x-rays and thankfully I have no stress fractures. Since I have pain in several spots, a shot won't cut it, so I have an rx for some kind of steroid regimen. Fingers :crossed: it does the trick.

Nothing this weekend except the bf's side of the family holiday gathering on Sunday. The weather's supposed to be brutally cold that day, so I'm not excited about being out. And it's a bit of a drive. Sigh.

Ok, let me get this posted.

:brr: it's cold. The weather changes up here in a minutes notice. We left the condo before noon. The temperature was 37 in Branson and by the time I drove an hour north to Battlefield it was 33 and misting rain. I di stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things. The store was exceptionally busy. Snow is on its way.
Last night we went to Belk's and to Kohl's. My sis bought me a pair of pants that are to big. I tried on the next size and they were to big. I was shocked. I knew my jeans were getting loose.
Yuck the North wind is really hollowing right now.

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Happy
My beans and ham are good. Want to make come cornbread to go with them. If the power doesn't go out I will do that tomorrow. Good for you in riding the bike. Every little bit counts. I'm losing inches. I'm going to try to keep up the exercise. I believe it's doing my body good.

Laura
Thankful that you didn't have a stress fracture.

Happy frigid Sunday ladies,

Not as cold as they predicted - minus 6 degrees (F) right now, feels like minus 23. But we have brilliant sunshine which helps and low winds. That's better than the -20 with -40 below wind chills they thought we could have. The front of the house is about 10 degrees colder than the back. The front is where we live during the daytime, the back is the bedrooms. The only issue is that DH's "room" is one of the upstairs bedrooms that must be directly above the furnace. His room is really warm. We talked about switching things around up here on the second floor - I think I am going to take his room. That would be a much better room heat wise and with lots of light good for drawing and such. Next month. I am still wondering if I should decorate for Christmas which is next Sunday :lol: I have a lighted wreath up on the wall right now and 2 larger decorations. Maybe I will bring the 3 foot fiber optic tree up. And I still didn't get my Christmas cards written out. :( I also am 6 weeks behind in entering Thrift Shop sales to pay the sales tax. The accountant is hounding me. That's about 8 hours of data entry - I should not let it get so far behind. Oops. Yesterday we stopped at the shelter to drop off some gifts for the dogs and kitties. It was kind of quiet for a change (nice) so I got a chance to visit with the staff. We took photos and I did a mini interview with 3 of them to write up articles for the website. Always something to do. I need to get structured and put the petal to the metal to get things done as I am getting too overwhelmed and scattered.

I made a pot of beef vegetable soup and kept it in the 3 season room where it's cold. Took it out today to make for lunch and it's a solid block of ice. :lol: Even the pot cover is frozen shut! Yesterday I made a sweet and sour chicken dish DH found a recipe for. I made it in the pressure cooker so it was rather soft. While chewing the temporary cap the dentist put on Tuesday came off. Luckily I felt it and did not swallow it. That's the one thing I hate about temporaries - they NEVER stay on and I have been very careful about what I've been eating. My biggest concern is that I will get bacteria which can compromise my knee implant. Before I have any dental work - even a cleaning - I have to take an antibiotic. The dentist has an emergency number, I was waiting until the afternoon but will call him and see what he recommends. I have 8 antibiotic pills here which should get me through to tomorrow when I hopefully can sneak in to get this tooth fixed.

That's about it for me. I can't believe how fast the time flies when you're on the computer.

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend and staying warm. Shad we could use some of your summer heat right now.

Laura - glad you didn't have a stress fracture. My sister was battling some issues with plantar fascitis (sp?). None of the therapies seemed to work. Then she had to take a round of steriods for something and one day she noticed her foot wasn't hurting any more. The steroids did the trick that other meds and exercises didn't. I hope you have the same success.

Hi all,
Sorry to be missing in action, so to speak, been a bit busy round here and as I have said many times, if I don't get this done early, then it just doesn't get done. Sorry to be so elusive.

It's been a rough lead up to Christmas and all that! Peace on earth and goodwill to all just doesn't seem to cut it anymore and certainly is not existing in this house at the moment. I still don't have the Christmas letter done and there is no way there will be cards this year. Maybe in the new year.

My computer is back and functioning. I will ensure I do back ups on it from now on. I've only been doing them once a month or so and it just isn't enough. But at least I didn't lose any data. It's all still there.

Back to the hospital today. Follow up from the scan and decisions to be made on what comes next - which I think will be a full hysterectomy. My friend Sue will be coming along for the ride and backup support and then we will go for coffee and cake or something afterwards. She's such a good person.

I have 16 coming for Christmas breakfast/ brunch on Sunday - the ever expanding family plus a couple. I've made out the menu and today will start to make up the grocery list. J wanted a Christmas ham with all the glazing etc. I have put her in charge of that. To date there hasn't been much action, but if it doesn't happen, it just doesn't happen. I got the ham the other day and it resides in the fridge taking up much space. Other than that, there will be pancakes, bacon and eggs, shakshuka (sort of spicy baked eggs in tomatoes and stuff - rather like huevos rancheros), toast, fruit and a bellini to start. What flavour bellini I have yet to work out. Might be mango.

So for this week, there will be lots of clearing and cleaning, getting the garden in some sort of shape, cleaning up after the dog, working out whether I have enough chairs, presents for the children, and cleaning the house. Plus I have lunch with a dear friend on Tuesday and the hospital today. It's all go over here and the heat to get through as well. We are in the 90's most days at the moment with rain and thunderstorms quite frequently over the district - still it is the rainy season. The grass will be knee high if I don't get out there and mow again this week. I have to work out where to put the cats and the dog while they are all here. The cats are simple enough, but the dog is a very social animal!

I'll happily send over some heat if you lot send over some cool. The humidity is way up there at the moment - although this morning is cool, it is supposed to get to 32 (94 more or less) again by around 10am. Yesterdays humidity was pretty deadly - around 87% but no rain to relieve the awful feeling of being wrapped in a wet warm blanket.

Okay, I'd better get off here, get some breakfast and organise myself for the day. There's lots to do!

Have fun and stay safe. This world is a strange place right now.

Hello's to the chicks.

Shad
You are always on the go. Need to slow down some after the holiday's.

------------
My day has been uneventful. I woke up to the low digits temperature wise. 2 degrees when I first looked at the phone. Supposed to be 1 degree in the morning. Best thing is I don't have to get out.
I've been doing something a bit different this time for weight loss which is weighing in right before bed. I weigh nightly and then divide by the number of weigh in's. This week I've lost 2.5 pounds. This also allows me to determine whether or not to take a fluid pill. And the doctor is correct in telling me to take it every other day.
I left my thyroid meds in Branson so I told my sis that I would come up to get them after my podiatrist appointment on Wednesday.
Can't believe that next week is Christmas.

OK, gonna try this again.....made me mad that I closed the browser before I hit post. Dang me, dang me....

Cold Icy all weekend in Indy. Over 500 accidents. Our fam was all ok and not on the roads. I70 and I465 were both closed due to ice and accidents. What a mess. Today it is just freaking cold -1 on the way to work and that was without the windchill factored in. Won't be going to a meeting at lunch today, too stinkin cold. I did get some shopping in yesterday.

SHADDIE...funny my son requested ham with all it glory also. If it were up to me I would have a taco bar. I am over ham and turkey. Bleh. Your group is a little bigger than the group coming to my house this Friday night. We have about 14. Five of those under the age of 5. Glad your test results came back good, let us know the final resolve.

CEEG...yep, Christmas is upon us. 6 days away. Bummer on leaving pills at sister's house.

HAPPY...I would switch rooms with DH too. I hate being cold all the time. You would think I would get used to it. I sleep with a sheet, comforter, afghan and my robe on top of that to keep warm at night. I slept 13 hours Saturday night with only one brief wake up. Whew. Here I am tired again. Funny about the frozen soup. Too bad you didn't set it out there in individual bowls.

LAURA...whew who on no stress fractures. THat dang exercising will do that to you every time. Not good for you! lol. Hope the steroids work for you, they did Sassy. Not that I am comparing you to the dog or anything. :)

Hello to all ya'll. Hugs

Morning all.

Ceejay – Yes, Christmas sure snuck up on me this year!! I’m probably not going to get any Christmas cards out this year. == Congrats on the weight loss!! :yay: I’ve heard of taking a weight average over the course of a week. I think it could be a good thing for people who like to weigh daily, but also get upset over the fluctuations that can happen. == I hope the podiatrist appointment goes well.

Shad – There you are! Missed you here, but of course your post tired me out just reading it!! The Christmas breakfast/brunch sounds very nice and the menu made me hungry. Hope you get everything done that needs doing! === I hope your hospital visit went well – it’s so nice your friend went with you for support. === As for trading heat for the cool, it’s a deal!! :D We both have plenty to spare!!!!

Happy – We haven’t done much decorating around the house yet either, but bf took the tree and bins down from the attic on Saturday. == Gosh, you better get busy with entering the shop’s sales – don’t want the accountant to file the taxes late and have to pay a penalty! :rollpin: == Oy, the temporary cap coming off – sounds dangerous if it could damage other teeth or be swallowed! :yikes: Hope you can get in at the dentist to get it replaced. === How nice of you to get over to the HS shelter to drop off gifts for the furries.

Annie – Yes, it was cold-cold-cold yesterday, and same thing today here. == I think a taco bar would be a fun thing to do for a party. Yes, ham and turkey are the standards and people get tired of them, but I do love me some good ham. :ink: That’s what we’ll have on Christmas Eve. Wow, lots of kiddies in your group for Friday’s shindig. Should be a good noisy evening. :headache: == It might not be the worst thing in the world to be a compared to a dog, says the dog lover in me. :)

Hello to Susie, Dee and Michelle!! Hope you’re all well.
==
My weekend was good. Mostly family stuff. On Saturday, I shopped for the ingredients for Italian veggie/beef/bean soup and picked up some groceries for mom on Saturday. Afterwards, stopped at mom’s to drop off the groceries and visit a bit and go out to lunch with her. Sunday morning I made the soup, and then in the afternoon/evening, we went to bf’s family’s Christmas gathering. Everyone loved the soup, didn’t bring any home. Guess we’ll have to make another batch for ourselves.

My side of the family’s Christmas gathering will be on Christmas Day. It will be at my SIL and her sister’s house so they can show off their newly remodeled kitchen. I’m looking forward to seeing that. Reportedly, my nephew is cooking the meal, so I’m also looking forward to that. :hun: We’re not doing a gift exchange this year, and that’s fine by me. Honestly, I’d prefer to forgo that permanently and reserve my shopping for those in need (giving tree type thing).

Anyway, exchange or not, my mom will be given her Costco-size box of Ferrero Rocher truffle thingies. And both my mom and bf’s mom will get a calendar from the rescue organization – if they ever get them sent out to us. We ordered them in November! :mad: Upon follow-up they said to let them know if we don’t receive them by Saturday. Uh, yeh, getting them by Christmas would be nice… I hate to get annoyed with them because they operate with all volunteers, but their responsiveness is not what it should be. :(

I didn’t stay off my feet much on Saturday, but did okay yesterday. Well, I stood while making the soup, but I decided to wear my Birkenstock sandals and they were comfortable for that. Today I got a ride to the train from Bf, then took a taxi to the office and will do the reverse after work. And do this all week The foot feels a bit better, so the med appears to be helping.

Okay, better get this posted. TTFN.

:candy::candy::candy::candy::candy:

Hi chicks,

That's wierd - I posted last night and I don't see it here today. Ah well - nothing of great importance.

It's very cold here. At least it's sunny. DH said he froze just going out to feed the animals. My 3 season room is a frost zone as the dryer vents in there. Warm dry air with just dry towels warms the room up, but when I do laundry and dry wet clothes and it's 10 below out, the damp warm air just makes a frozen fog in the room which coats everything with frozen dampness. So after I do laundry I have to run the dryer with dry towels just to dry the room out.

The temporary crown they put on my tooth fell out on Friday when I was eating soft chicken and rice. I hate temporaries. They never stay in. Fortunately I didn't swallow it. I have to call the dentist shortly to get it glued back in as the tooth is very sensitive - I have to cover it with my tongue to eat or drink anything and don't breathe air in intentially. The one thing I am concerned about is I am supposed to take an antibiotic before I go to the dentist. I hope the tooth stub being exposed for 2 days will not create a bacterial problem. :( Another annoyance with the new knee.

I opted to do my data entry for the Humane Society (I am very behind in entering daily sales for tax reporting) instead of working on my Christmas cards. I am planning on doing them next so I can get them out today and maybe some of you may get them before Christmas. :o You should get yours by Valentines Day Shad :lol: Good wishes all the same.

I placed an order for some Chicago food - should get delivered by Christmas eve so we will have pizza (lou malnati's), Chicago hot dogs and Italian Beef sandwiches. That will be our treat food for the holidays. I also have a Christmas ham. I would prefer mashed potatoes but I know DH will say we MUST have potato salad if we are having ham. Since he drives me all over, I will accommodate him. :lol:

Mom has informed me that she is out of "good" candy and all she wants for Christmas is sweets. So I will head into town tomorrow before my shift and get her 2 boxes of her favorite chocolates. One for now, one to put in the freezer for later as her favorite candy store here is only open until Christmas and then they close until May when the tourists return. At this point, Sis and I are like eat what you want as long as it doesn't land you in the hospital. Because she does anyway :dizzy:

Annie - glad you kept safe at home over the weekend. But then there is Monday to contend with. For some reason this year my feet - both of them - are very cold - bad circulation? That makes me cold all over. I did get some boot socks at Walmart - they are a bit thicker than my regular Kohls socks and seem to help. I also have booties you put in the microwave but they take forever to warm up. I hear you on the ham and turkey overload. I kind of like the idea of a taco bar! Still tired after 13 hours of sleep - are you on point with your vitamins? Or do other things need to be checked out? Good luck with all those people coming over to eat. Are you making pies?

Shad - you DO realize woman that if you need to get a total hysterectomy that you will have to chill out for a while to rest and heal? Your list of physically active to dos makes me tired just reading it. No keeping a good Shad down, is there? :rofl: Glad you have someone to help you throu the hospital stuff even if sometimes it's just moral support. I like the idea of breakfast/brunch for the crowd. Especially in the midst of summer heat. If I could, I'd sure pipe some cold air your way - even if we met half way in the middle with my cold and your heat, it would no doubt be quite comfortable for both of us. Glad you didn't lose your computer data.

Ceejay - I can't believe Christmas crept up this fast either. I'm not ready yet!!!! Your ham and beans looked good. How was the cornbread?

Laura - hope you are enjoying your extended weekend or did you not have time to post today? My sister said it was actually colder by you today than by us and that's saying something! :lol: Stay warm!

Hello Susie and the rest of the chicks. I had to press but got a 4:10 dentist appointment today. That works out because I have to go into town at 4:30 to buy my Florida oranges and Georgia shelled pecans - the Tree Ripe truck is coming to us one last time for the season. I just hope the oranges are good - last 2 years they have had issues with blight or something that messed up the crop.

I have just enough time to gum something lukewarm to fill my belly and get ready to head out the door. Have a good one chicks. I thought it was Thursday and I realize it's MONDAY :dizzy: what a ding a ling!

Hello Hello as she shouts from the deep freeze...

Made chicken n noodles for dinner with mashed taters and cauliflower. I had to laugh at the food on my plate. All of it was white. I told the clan that is was the last supper, a holy meal. bah hhahahaha. DS came up to visit. He is in such a funk over his divorce. He stopped by his house on the way to work to pick up some bills the other morning and there she was on the couch with another man. I think that did him in. Now that the end is near for them, I will say it, she is disrespectful to all and frankly well I am not going to say it. Hold my pen, hold my tongue. bah

HAPPY...yes, I will be making pies but only two. Per request a pecan and a chocolate. Christmas and TG need to be spread further apart. My feet and hands are always cold along with my nose. The sleeping is due to the low iron and the Hep C messing with me. Doc said the iron level was dangerously low. Oh great. Plus the fact my body does not absorb stuff like it used to due to RNY<--bariatric surgery. I am a mess, then we die. What's the point of it all, why diet? bleh. Did you get your crown back on? How long till you get your permanent crown? A good orange sounds really good right now.

LAURA...I agree with you on the taco bar however ham it is for our meal. I just cannot seem to get ready for the season. I would love to forego all the gift giving of Christmas and just have a family get together. Sounds so much easier. Then order pizza. hah. Is there a place for you to park if you drove to work? Or do you have to pay to park?

SHADDIE...Good thoughts are with you for the final decision of a hysterectomy or not. Let us know.

Hello to all Hugs.

Hello! I didn't mean to be MIA for so long. It seems like I am always behind these days and that is not me. I want to get back to me.

I think in order to do that it will take some discipline and trying not to multi-task and mix the work life and the my life together. Boundaries...that is what I am thinking I need to execute in both those things.

You all have been talking about Christmas Cards and I haven't done many. I try to send them to the older shut-ins that send them to me and that is about as far as I get these days. I hate it because really, I love to write letters and such.

It seems that the shingles have all cleared up--thanks goodness! I only have to work today until 11 and then I am done with work until Jan 3. I am looking forward to that.

I so need to get this house organized....getting the presents all wrapped will help. I expect to do nothing else tomorrow but wrap presents. DH will be at work all day--his last day is Thursday. After I get done working today, I have to make a quick trip to the outlet mall where I ordered something for DH and had them ship it to the store there (I didn't want to pay the shipping costs to have it shipped to the house)

Happy: I hope they get that cap replaced soon! and you are so right, those temporary caps never stay on. I saw you posted you got back on the exercise bike. That is my plan too, starting tomorrow. I plan on getting on it when DH goes to work and doing it everyday in the morning while I'm off work. I need to get back in the habit again.

Ceejay: You are doing well with the weight-loss and the exercise. You are inspiring me. I'm getting back to it tomorrow. I know at some point I have to work and keep going on the diet and exercise but right now I am having a hard time doing both. So I hope to create that exercise habit while I'm off work and then just keep going with it.

Laura: It sounds like your foot is getting better. I sure hope so. It's hard to get anything done when it hurts to be on your feet.

Shad: You are one busy woman! What did you find out at your appointment?

Annie: We have those cold temps here too. We didn't have the ice you guys had and I'm so glad about that. We were out and about on Saturday and I kept us moving so we could be home when the temps started to drop so we didn't have to worry about the ice. We had so much rain on Saturday and when it stopped those temps started going down.

I laughed when I read you said you would like to have a taco bar for Christmas dinner. I feel the same. I have had so much "comfort" food since Thanksgiving, I would be fine with just doing a cheese ball, a seven layer salad and a pretzel salad dessert. Also, it is going to be hard to go to church and get things together for Christmas lunch. We will be with our friends, Dick and Carolyn and they do part of the meal and we do part and take it to their house. I'm not sure how I'm going to get it all done.

I better get back to work; I just wanted to stop in and get caught up and hopefully stay that way!. Only a few more hours and then my time is all mine until Jan 3!

Good morning fine ladies,

I went to bed at 1am last night (or early this morning? :dizzy: ) only to find Miss Meadow all curled up nicely where I had turned down the bed. So I let her sleep and went on the recliner. Meadow has a large lump/tumor on the base of her tail that we have been monitoring for a while now. When DH drops me at the thrift shop today, he is taking her to the vet as it seems to be bleeding a bit and Meadow is noticing it more. We are hoping it is not cancer - can't bear the idea of putting down yet another pet and she is finally after 3 years coming around for the most part and seeking out affection - mostly DH's company but that's ok.

I stretched out in the recliner on the sheepskin I just bought from the farmers market farm lady (thank you Lambie for keeping me warm this winter). I covered with my favorite blanket and zoom - I passed out like nobody's business. Woke up at some point cold because I fell asleep saying my prayers and had the blanket at my waist - top of me was quite chilly. I covered up and next I knew DH was waking me at 9am. This is the first night in weeks I slept through the entire night. It was wonderful. I also had taken 2 Motrin PMs but those don't always knock me out that deeply. And I only took 1 of the two pain pills I usually take - trying to get off that stuff completely especially since after this last fill it's going to be more difficult to get. I got a Christmas card from a former co-worker. She said she had both knees replaced last month and she should have gotten a brain replacement! :rofl: sounds like she is in the SAME boat as me (although she bought TWO tickets) as far as shock and recovery go. That made me feel a bit better about my situation. I am convinced they talk you into surgery, don't prepare you for the reality of it and then leave you to totally deal with it on your own.

Wonderful DH - my chariot driver - took me all over yesterday. I got the temp crown reset and then sent me home with a pack of cement in case it falls off again - and she said it just might before the new crown comes in Jan 4. I picked up not one but two boxes of my Mom's favorite candy. I had to laugh as DH has a major sweet tooth and he filled up a box for himself. AND saw 2 more things he wanted after that! :D I was glad to oblige him. Then we stopped at the produce truck and I got 2 boxes of Florida oranges (they are YUMMY) and a box of grapefruit and 2 bags of shelled Georgia Pecans. Oh and a small bag of dark chocolate covered pecans. I got 2 boxes of oranges because I will give out a bunch to the ladies who throughout the year give me some of their garden produce and canned things. We agreed that instead of reimbursement, we will just trade food with each other and I love it that way! Between the candy and fruit, we spent over $200 :eek: DH said there goes our Christmas money. Easy come, easy go, eh? :dizzy: Except it never "comes easy" but it sure goes fast. DH got a raise in his social security for 2017 - a whole $5 a month! If you are planning on living off your SS folks, better make other plans which is probably why we see alot of retirees working at Walmart and bagging groceries around here. My BIL when he sees that calls them "failed to plan adequately for retirement". I call it sad.

I am deeply disappointed that the electoral college was too weak to do their job in their responsibility to ensure that the most qualified candidate was elected to the presidential office. God help us going forward. I think we are too far gone to recover and sliding down that slippery slope. And that's all I will say.

Last night I went into the hot tub - stayed out of it when it was frigid cold outside because the inside of the 3 season room with all the moisture was creating a literal ice cave and I didn't want to add to it. But I was able to warm things up enough last night as the outside temps turned to the 20s so that it was ok and I didn't slide on the ice on the wooden floor. The hot tub has lights on it - by the head pillows, on the very top rim of the tub, by the 3 water jets and a big light under the water line. You can play with the settings and change all or some of the lights. I was feeling playful so I set some of them on green and some of them on red. Very festive. As I sat in the tub I started singing Christmas songs - quietly as DH was sleeping but just loud enough so I could hear but could not be heard above the sound of the water bubbling lest DH think I was calling him for emergency help! :D It was actually kind of nice. Then I got too warm and had to get out.

Susie - I'm glad you are back posting again. I figured you might be buried up to your eyeballs in work getting ready for year end. How nice that you have a long week of vacation ahead of you. That should give you time to get a few things done, have some rest and fun and feel like you are back in control of things again. I am also tossing a bunch of things in my head that I need to get back on the straight and narrow come the beginning of the year. Of course, I do the same thing each January and fail miserably by December :rofl: Just not committed enough I guess so let's all drink a big glass of commitment come midnight on 12/31! :cheers: As for all the work you have to do for the holidays - step back and simplify. I think we would like to do too much but we have to face that there isn't enough time for it. I had 4 appetizers I was going to bring to the party last week and by the time I got home I barely had time for 2 and even two was one too many as there was lots of food there anyways. But that doesn't stop the compelling need to over extend, does it? :lol:

Annie - I had to laugh at the "white food" plate. I have done that too - it's a danger when you have pasta. I'm sorry that there are so many sad things going on in your life right now :hug: Especially with DS - that's kind of crappy to come in and find your soon to be ex in the arms of someone else. :rollpin: I guess all you can say is that he is probably better off without someone like that and hopefully a decent, kind, wonderful girl is waiting for him to notice her. I hope he will not be put off to relationships going forward. Not all partners are bad. :( That is interesting that you say your iron levels are dangerously low. What with them finding things about Vitamin D deficiencies and now iron - I guess there's more to taking supplements than we thought. I do understand also that with the surgery you will have to be especially careful that you are getting what your body needs. As for this life and what's the point - well... the point is that we are in this life to help one another through it. This I firmly believe. Life is hard at times, sometimes it seems like it's all crashing around us and we need someone to lend a hand and help us through it. Frank Caprio was right (It's a Wonderful Life) - had you never been born or were not around, there would be a giant hole from all the things - good things - you brought into this world. You have been a big support to us here, a good Mom and influence and darn if those people at work - especially the ones who expect you to get our those blasted reports - aren't happy that you are there to arrange and take care of everything. And the most important thing is that you have been there for us here to be a comfort and such a supportive person in our journeys. That's why we love you :hug: and it's not the Christmas tree talking here either sister. Give yourself a hug for me and at 1:38 pm today I will rub my knee and you will rub your foot and we will do this in a spirit of sisterly unity as we feel each other's pain! ;) Rock on girl, we will get through this.

Hi Laura and Ceejay :wave:

Afraid it's time for me to find something to wolf down before I get ready for my shift. Got to leave earlier today as DH needs to drop me off before he takes Meadow in. Talk to you later chicks.

Morning all,

Seems we are not at all in the Christmas spirit around here lately so we need to get ourselves sorted. I can understand that when you are cold and or in pain and the outside is uninviting then it is easy to get depressed - what do you all call it - SAD??? Such a shame that your wonderful country is in such a state of turmoil as well. We keep hearing about it over here.

Okay, so on to the news from the hotspot in the Worldly life. It's cool this morning and we were all hoping for some rain last night but alas it all skipped north and south of us. Just not fair! :tantrum: I have a lot to do today. List is a mile long. The biggest problem is that if I do housework, it isn't long before the darling dog comes along and undoes my cleaning efforts. He doesn't have a gentle bone in his body.
DS2 is not having a good time at work and will be looking out for a new job in the coming year. He has done the right thing by his conscience and reported something to his bosses but they seem uninclined to take any action and the place is badly managed anyway. So the man reported is now apparently threatening to kill him. Won't happen but the atmosphere is decidedly unwelcome. DS2 says he just wants to go to work, do his job and come home without all the crap that is going on. And there is enough crap with his partner, him and also me going on that he is probably not wanting to come home either.

I went to the hospital on Monday - sorry I didn't get to report yesterday. I saw the surgeon who has the wonderful task of doing my next surgery. Since there is no cancer present, they will do a full hysterectomy (laproscopically - unless something weird crops up and they need to make the usual incision) on 24th January. These days it is called a bulk delivery :rofl: It involves taking out the left ovary and fallopian tubes, the uterus, the cervix and the appendix. Why the appendix? Well apparently that gets somewhat excited about ovarian cancer as well so that is going. They will also take off some belly fat as well. I tried to get him to do a boob lift while he was at it, but he told me not to push my luck! :lol3: He did offer to do it all next Friday, but I had to regretfully decline and take 24/01/2017 since there are 16 coming to breakfast/ brunch and a Friday appointment would involve a 2 day hospital stay. Can't cook from a hospital bed can I?

Annie - when the body is in pain and low in the essential nutriments, it badly affects the chemical balances in the brain. You need to get stuck into the iron supplements. You have had such a traumatic year that I am not surprised you are depressed. At a guess, I would say you need iron, magnesium, Vit B, C, D, and E to name a few. I wish you could all come over and have a dose of Aussie sunshine, fresh food and some days at the beach.

Laura - hope that foot is coming along and you are out of pain. How annoying to have to use 3 forms of transport to get to work. Hope you Mum has settled down in her new place and is slowly getting rid of stuff she really no longer needs. Good that the car went quickly as well since it was keeping your cars out of the garage.
I well understand the reluctance for gift giving around the family. This year we have said that there should be not adult presents and just gifts for the littlies. All the adults coming to breakfast have some money issues one way or another so it is nice not to have to try to find something at a reasonable price for everyone.

Ceejay - nice to have you sounding happy in your new place. It seems like you are really getting into the retired life - pretty soon you will be so busy that you will wonder how you had time to go to work. Do you miss anything of your old life?

Susie - Good to see you back and posting. We really need to get some sort of work/ life balance in our lives so we can fit in all the things that would make us better at work - strange that the bosses don't seem to be able to see that. Never mind, I had better get off that particular :soap: .
I've done no Christmas cards at all and haven't even got to the normal Christmas letter. I had better get there asap or I will not have any friends left at all. And I still have no Christmas spirit whatsoever.
I'm trying to do things that are fairly easy for our get together. I've put enough pressure on myself over past years when I have hosted this, that it comes and goes and all I remember is a pile of crockery waiting for the dishwasher. We will be using disposable plates and bowls this year and will put everything into a big garbage bag after the meal so we can all just go out and play soccer on the lawn with the kids instead of having to clean up to get away from flies and insects.

Happy - so sorry to hear about Meadow and the tail. Your DH will be very concerned since she has designated him as her particular slave.
The new fruit boxes sound delicious. What are you going to do with all those oranges? Will you be able to eat them all or will you juice some?
It's interesting that you say that you were not fully prepared for the surgery and that it wasn't comprehensively explained. I have to say that when I was at either hospital going through the processing bit, I got far more information than I was able to assimilate. They also printed out all the stuff which explains what will happen, what may happen, what rights I have, the ability to refuse a blood transfusion if required, the ability to donate a pint of my own blood if I have difficulty with some one else's stuff. I have paperwork and information coming out of my ears and it gets to a point where the brain switches off and no doubt I missed a great deal more but I have websites to access and phone numbers of my case nurse to reassure me should all this stuff not get processed properly in my brain. I have to say that despite all its shortcomings and the lack of money given to hospitals by the greedy governments, our welfare hospital system has been extremely good to me and mine throughout this whole nightmare of cancer. Those that complain of the waiting lists are the ones who are having elective surgery - stuff that would make them a little more comfortable, but is not life threatening. I'm told that the biggest drain on our system is those idiots who drive their beat up cars at speed and crash into everything in sight and injure, maim or even kill innocent people as well as themselves. Don't get me on that particular :soap:

Well time is slipping away and the list grows. Laundry, lawns, scrubbing the back deck, checking out the outdoor table and chairs for spiders, cleaning, cushions (suspect the dog might have eaten some of them) and general tidy up of the back yard, mulching the veg patch and water for the plants. Then I have to go to get the fresh eggs, pick up food for the dog, more mulch for the front garden and clean the bathroom, laundry and loo, put all the superfluous stuff into the shed and shut the door on that (tidy up that after Christmas). After that it might be time for a sit down and a natter with the neighbours. No doubt dog will get up to a bit of mischief somewhere along the line. Tomorrow I will concentrate on the front yard and clean the kitchen, dining room and lounge room, wrap presents for the littlies, get the shopping in and ensure I have everything under control. Friday and Saturday will be mopping up the stuff I haven't done and generally keeping things tidy and under control. Sounds like a lot, but since I am once again fit and healthy I have my energy back and I can do this.
Keep smiling - things could get worse or better. It's a lottery these days.

Afternoon all.

Susie – so jealous of you because by now you have begun your holiday break and will be off work for the next 13 days – yes I counted, LOL! I usually take more time off in December, especially days off here and there over the last two weeks of the month. But this year I used up most of my days earlier in the year - and most of those with the trips out to mom’s to help her downsize/move. So it’s odd not having time to take those days AND still have a few to carry over into the next year. Right now I have 2.5 days of vacation left and I’m thinking of just carrying them over into 2017. In 2017, I’ll be taking a 2-week vacation in April/May, so that will wipe out a big chunk of vacation early on. This week isn’t a big deal since we’re getting close to hump day, and on Friday the office will close at 3:00 pm and possibly earlier (fingers :crossed: ).== Anyway, back to you – I hope you thoroughly enjoy your time off work and that you jumpstart your exercise routine and end up in a good groove that continues when you return to work. == Have fun wrapping gifts tomorrow. :present:

Happy – Enjoy your holiday treats from Chicago. == LOL re your mom wanting her “good” candy. Hey, at least you finally know what to buy her for Christmas. === When the cold weather comes around, I like to switch from cotton socks to fuzzy acrylic or wool blend socks, and that’s what some of the boot socks are like. They don’t get soggy and cold like the cotton ones do. == I didn’t take an extended weekend last weekend. However, I’m sure looking forward to a 3-day weekend this coming weekend, and a short 3-day work week next week, and a 4-day weekend next weekend. :) == Sounds like a great night’s sleep you had. I hope you can have a string of them!!== LOL re your friend saying she should have had a brain replacement instead of a double knee replacement. :lol: I guess the docs try to underplay the post-surgery recovery and difficulties. No one would do it if they knew the realities of it!! == Ooh, lots of goodies from the produce truck – enjoy! == The electoral vote yesterday was a rather unpleasant jolt reminding us that what happened in November is indeed happening. Like you said - God help us. === I hope Meadow’s lump isn’t cancerous. :( == Great pep talk for Annie!!

Annie – You listen to what Happy said and take it to heart, okay??? :hug: == Sorry to hear your son is having a hard time with his divorce and that he can’t just have a clean break and not have to have any contact with his soon-to-be-ex. === Another good idea – ordering pizza for your holiday gathering. Or having dough ready to go and let people top it with what they want. And the oven will be set to a high temp and you’ll finally get warm!!! :D === There’s plenty of parking down by the office, - all of it horrendously expensive or far enough away that it would eliminate the “convenience” of driving to work. Which I would never want to do anyway – traffic is a major PITA around here.

Hi Ceejay! I’m sure it’s warming up by you already – you usually get my weather a day or so earlier than I do. I will soooo enjoy moderate temps again.
==
Nothing much to report from me. Taking taxis between the office and the train station is frustratingly slow for such a short distance, but I do want to give my foot a rest. Of course that got negated yesterday after work when the slow taxi ride almost made me late for my train and I made a mad dash from the curb to my train. Today I have to give myself extra time.

Maybe tonight will be the night the Christmas tree goes up. Maybe not. We’ll see. :tree:

Okay, TTFN. Off to post.
:rudolph: :rudolph: :rudolph:

I've caught up on reading the post. Things get away from me to fast now a days. Went into Springfield to see if I could find the podiatrist office. I think I found the building. If it's the right one, I'll need to leave here at 8.30 to get there and find the office by 10.30. Still haven't heard from the garage door man or the counter top man. Sure wish those things were done. I hope they don't plan on coming tomorrow. I will not be here.
I didn't get out of the house until this afternoon and their was still some snow on the drive way. Went to the gym and walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes and did the machines for another 20. Got in a good work out and I'm a bit sore.
I'll be back later to post personals. Just thought of some things that need to get done before morning.

Today is my Friday. My Monday will not come until December 28th. I have so many things to get done before Friday. Still have two littles gifts to buy. One is 7 and is smart as a 8th grader. THe other, her brother is 3 and is a typical 3 year old. My niece and nephew. Mike's grandbabes. Zach, the 3 year old still cannot adjust to the fact that his Grandpa Michael is not coming to visit him. I think the poor little tyke is hurting.

Forgot to report, not that it is important, an uncle from my ex's family passed away, now most of the time his family doesn't affect me. This aunt and uncle and a few more of his family wanted my to stay in the fam instead of my x when we divorced, anyway Sam and I went to the viewing on the 9th. I hadn't seen most of that family since our divorce in 2003, they all hugged me and was so glad to see me. It did my heart good.

HAPPY...thank you for the kind, supportive, loving post. I love you sister. I am so glad DH is such a great man for you. Give him a hug for me. The fresh fruit sounds wonderful. Doesn't it feel so wonderful to have an excellent night sleep. Hope Miss Meadow gets a good report. When our pets are hurting our hearts are hurting too.

SHADDIE...you sure have a lot to do in such little time. Frankly I would be overwhelmed and stressed out. Glad your energy is back. January 24th for surgery, have it on my calendar. I am on most of the supplements you mentioned plus a monthly B12 shot. My doc specifically suggested B1 supplement, but I cannot seem to find it in the local stores. I will have to go to a vitamin store.

LAURA...wow the taxi was slow, that is not how it is in movies. THey go really fast and wreckless. lol. I am taking everyone's advice and trying to stay positive. At this late date, I would even mess with the tree. I can send you pictures of our tree. It is real and looks cute. I did move the candy canes around from the 12"x12" spot the boys put all 24 in. haha.

CEEG...you are so busy these days, how did you ever get all the things done when working. Are you truly enjoying your retirement yet?

My posting will be sparse as I am on vacation until the 28th after today. Hope everyone got their cards, I mailed them a couple of weeks ago.

Hello to all. Love and hugs,

Morning all. The temps are getting milder and I’m glad for that. Happy astronomical first day of winter to us in the Northern hemisphere!

Shad – Happy first day of astronomical summer to you in the southern hemisphere! Sounds like you’ve had summer temps and humidity for a while now though.== I missed your post when I posted yesterday. == Yikes re ds2’s job situation!! :yikes: Not a great time for him right now – tension in the workplace and at home. Based on his job situation, I’m guessing there won’t be a change in the living arrangements at Chez Shad any time soon? But it’s good you’ll have someone around to help you post-surgery - they'll need to keep ODDU from getting too rambunctious around you during our recovery!! == I’m glad your surgery will be done laparoscopically – speedier recovery and all that jazz. Surprised about the appendix. Learn something new every day. What a bonus they will remove the belly fat! :lol: == Re mum, yes she must have gotten rid of some clothing because she's palmed off two bundles of plastic hangers on bf and I when we’ve each been over to her place, lol. == You already have so much to do for your upcoming Christmas brunch that I’m glad the disposable stuff will be used and make cleanup easier.

Ceejay – Sounds like the podiatrist must be in the heart of Springfield or clear across it and not on the outskirts close to you. Oh well, nice to have the time to scout out where it is and the best way to get there. I hope the garage and counter people get in touch. I’m thinking the counter guy could be backed up with everyone wanting the job done before the holiday, but not sure about what the garage door guy’s excuse is… Good going with the workout!! :)

Annie – Happy Friday to you. Poor little Zach missing Grandpa Mike! :( == Sad occasion re the ex’s uncle passing, but nice you got to see the ex’s family that you enjoyed in the past. That’s the way it goes – you see these people at funerals or not at all. == We keep our tree up for a couple weeks after Christmas, so I don’t mind not having it up super early like a lot of people (most??) who do their decorating over Thanksgiving weekend. Plus, I’d get tired of it all if it was up for a long time. Last night I put up the tree and it’s pre-lit, so it’s already looking festive. LOL re spreading out the candy canes the boys squished together. They don’t have your height to spread everything out. :D --- Enjoy your super long weekend, and if you’re not around, have a wonderful holiday with the family. :gift2:

Happy – What’s the word re Meadow’s lump?

==

Again, nothing much to report on my end. Surprisingly, our boss scheduled a holiday lunch for the four of us and it was today. It went fine.

It feels like it should be later in the week than Wednesday… but there’s plenty to keep me busy.

We’ll see if I get some ornaments on the tree tonight.

That’s all for now.
:wreath::wreath::wreath::wreath::wreath:

NOOOOOOO!!! I just hit control v - paste instead of control C (copy) and wiped out my entire long post. Darn it!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta get something to eat. I am so mad. Just saying hello for now. Argh!!!!

thanks for asking - Meadow's lump is tissue. Because she is a diabetic, she will need more prep work before surgery. We have deferred surgery until after the new year. We are all glad it's nothing too serious.

Morning all,

Well that was breakfast - fresh fruit (Orange, Apple and Mango) with Quark yoghurt and coffee. Yummy. Just finishing off my coffee before going back to the clean up stuff. Today it is cleaning up the dining room, find table linen ( or sheets to fit on the table - you can see I don't have much in the way of table cloths anymore), clean up the front verandah (dogs new favourite toy/ tool THE KARCHER) and put away a lot of gardening stuff (shed is in such a mess I will just throw it all in and shut the roller door on it until after Christmas. I need to get some glasses out for our Bellini and put them through the wash. And I should do the shopping as well. That means I have Friday and Saturday to ensure that I haven't forgotten anything and the kids will be around to help move heavy stuff. I need to wrap the gifts for the great nieces as well.

Laura - I see you got the Christmas tree up with lights only - yeah mine is pre lit as well. I have put some decorations on it but there is a box of some more just waiting for the littlies to arrive so they have a job to do before breakfast is ready.
Yes it is quite surprising about what you learn when the medical profession start talking to you. I also learnt that I have cysts on my lung, liver and kidneys but they will not kill me.
Summer here arrives 1st December. We are not precious about special dates etc. with regard to weather. Mother Nature will decide ultimately anyway. Tonight is the shortest night - summer solstice and then our days shorten by 1 sec per day until we hit Autumn around March.

Happy - sorry that you lost one of you epic and interesting posts. Maybe later you can resurrect some of it. Glad to hear Meadow is not on the danger list. Poor thing it must be either itchy or sore if it is bleeding occasionally.

Annie - so nice to have people greet you warmly after a long absence. Sorry to hear about the death of the uncle, but it seems to be true that we grow apart and only seem to be able to get it together for weddings and funerals.
If I don't get to see you on facebook or on here, have a wonderful Christmas with the family. Hope you have a great time and let's hope that 2017 will be better for all of us than 2016 ever was.

Ceejay - enjoyed that picture you posted on FB this morning. Glad you are exploring and enjoying your new surroundings.

Okay - I'm out of here. It's getting warm and I have much to do to get today organised. Fortunately I did much of the outside work before it got too hot.

Laura
Most of the specialist are in the medical mile as it is called in Springfield. The building is on National just a couple of blocks from Battlefield Rd. I had planned a route but that didn't work out so I drove down Republic to National. It was a bit overwhelming but I made it and had time for my blood pressure to settle down. Glad I got there early as they sent me to x-ray when I got there.

I made it to the doctor's office, podiatrist, which was in Springfield on National in the medical mile district. I took Republic down to National which was a bit overwhelming as I've not been that far down by myself. Think I got into one of those diamond intersections. It was a bit daunting for this small town girl.
My foot is a mess according to the x-ray. The bunion has stretched the bone from the big toe back to the ankle. Plus there is arthritis in my toe and foot. ugh. He gave me an injection in the big toe for the arthritis and told me to come back in three weeks. I'll talk to my sis about the results later.
The counter tops are coming tomorrow. Yehaw.
I also shared a painting that my nieces husband posted on FB. He's really getting better and better.

-------------
Laura
I had to take a different route than what I thought I could according to my gps. But it wasn't to bad. Glad I gave myself plenty of time. I think next year I'm going to just have the pre lit tree with no decorations on it. Told my sis that I may have a tree in every room. :lol:

Shad
I love this area for all the rock and hills. There is usually water seepage from these rock but never thought about it freezing. It made a beautiful picture to me. Wow didn't know about the cyst. Glad they are benign. Always things to do before a gathering. I didn't get to do all these things while I was working. Just glad to be able to get to do them now.

Happy
Good that Meadow got a good report. I know what you mean about this website. It's doing better since I've been clicking the remember me at the top. It doesn't seem to go directly to the page but it's usually here when I check back.

Annie
Wow you are getting a long Christmas break. Are you taking iron? My new doctor here wants me to take it but he didn't tell me how much. Sis told me to take 325mg but I could only find one for 200mg. I'm feeling better.

Hi Friends,

I have all the packages wrapped! And I can see the floor to my home office. I need to work on the filing in there but now with the wrapping stuff put away in the garage and the gifts no longer on the floor in that room, I can move and get to the file cabinets.

I won't get to that tomorrow though. I need to return a few impulse buys to Walmart and go to the bank, pick up something at church and I have TOPS tomorrow night. My plan is to get things done early in the day, then come home and take a nap before TOPS. Tomorrow is the last day I will have to myself; DH is home with me until Jan 3 starting on Friday.

Happy: I am thrilled that Meadow doesn't have cancer and that they can help with this issue and get Meadow back to feeling well.

Your post on the oranges makes my mouth water.....I can't eat them anymore due to my IC....they are way to acidic.

Anne: My heart hurts when thinking about Mike's gbabies and them wanting to see him.

I hope you get all your errands done tomorrow; so am I understanding you are off work until December 28?

I was thinking about your DS and having to deal with seeing the ex with someone new. I get the feeling that the someone new was in the picture before they split and that is a situation where no one wins. I call it building your happiness on someone else's misery. I don't ever think I see that turn out well. DS should feel lucky that it happened early and not years after they were married. Now he can focus on healing and liking himself and not settling for that type again. He should take some time and do what makes him happy, happy to just be with himself and his plans and his morals and once he is settled in that, he will attract someone who has the same hi self-esteem and can then have an adult healthy relationship

You have been posting on how low you are with iron and such. Is some of that due to the weight-loss surgery that you had. I work with a girl that has issues like that with her iron and has trouble absorbing some vitamins. She gets some sort of an infusion every so often. I hope you are feeling better.

I think you will have a wonderful time watching Christmas through your gbabies; I was laughing at the image of the 12 x12 inch candy canes on the tree. Precious memories you are making there.

Shad: I put January 24 on my calendar as well--and a note on January 23 as abdominally and it is quite a lot of recovering. I know many how had it done by laparoscopy and they get along quite well. You will need to take it easy for 6 weeks no matter what. While you might not have the incision on the outside, there is a lot on the inside.

Your garage shed sounds like it is going the way my home office was heading. You are correct, you can sort it after the holidays. ;)

Laura: Until you posted it, I forgot that it is the first day of winter. Just think we are now adding back in minutes of daylight! I had to laugh when I read you counted the days I will be off. I told DH, I will most likely need retraining when I go back being off so long. The nice thing is that most everyone is now off and so the email won't pile up while I am out.

Did you get the tree up? I am one who has it down usually the day after Christmas as I put it up the weekend of Thanksgiving. I too have a pre-lit tree, it makes things a lot easier.

I hope your foot is feeling better and continues to do so. Have you thought about using Uber while you aren't commuting your regular way? I have never used Uber before but I plan to next week when we are staying in Cleveland. I want to use it from the hotel to the arena and back to the hotel. I'm going to set up my account and put the app on my phone.

Ceejay; Glad to hear you found your way to the podiatrist office. When you say it is in Springfield, is that in MO? We have friends who live in Mt Vernon MO; I think that is about 30 min from Springfield Missouri.

When I read what they found out about your foot, I though YIKES! I didn't know that bunions could cause those issues. Is the shot he gave you helping?

I have to tell you all about the weird dream I had last night. It woke me up out of myself. I dreamed I was at work and there wasn't a lot of people there due to the holiday's We heard an announcement come over the intercom to use extreme caution and evacuate the building quickly due to a person in the building who had a knife.

In my dream I was down by the dock and not in my usual area. I was trying to figure out how to get out of the area I was in to a safe location when I saw the person they were talking about but they didn't see me. I was crouched down and headed to the exit when I could see another co-worker walking straight toward the man with the knife but my co-worker wasn't aware of how close he was to the man...I then woke up.

Crazy dream right?! So tonight I logged on to my work email to put a note on my calendar for something the week I go back and noticed an email from Security that mentioned they had locked the front gates to SWIC early in the morning due to an incident in the area but they were now unlocked.

They didn't say what the incident was or anything but it freaked me out to read that knowing the dream I had. I think when I get back to work, I'm going to ask them what the incident was.

Hi all,

Going to try a quick post before I head off to bed. We have a bunch of errands to run in the morning. It's going to be complicated as a friend is stopping by to pickk up some oranges and she's coming by (for her errands in town) at the time we were hoping to be gone. So we will wait for her. She has shared fresh eggs from her chickens and many canned items with me this year so I want to make sure she gets some fresh citrus.

The temp cap that they reglued on my tooth came off again at dinner - not even 24 hours after they glued it. This is so frustrating! Hard to go through the holidays like this. I can't chew on the side I normally do because that's where the crown keeps coming off. I can't chew on the other side because I have no bottom teeth for 3 missing molars and they sent my partial plate along with the new crown to the lab so they could fit it properly. That means I have to bite and chew with basically my front teeth. This makes it difficult as I can't eat anything very "chewy". Not sure how the Christmas ham is going to work out. Will have to chop everything into teeny weeny pieces I guess. Or drink smoothies until January 4. :no:

I am way behind in Christmas stuff. Was supposed to make my cards out tonight and that didn't happen. Was supposed to write my Christmas letter and instead I'm doing a post to you guys. I don't know why I do a letter - more for me I think than anything as all the cards I get just have a signature in them anyway. I have not been good about keeping up with my journalling this year either. Lots of goals for next year!

Thank you for the good thoughts about Meadow. She is such a sweet cat. I have a small 18 inch Christmas tree on the table next to the couch. It has ornaments that all look like S'mores treats - graham cracker, marshmallow and chocolate bar bits. Got it at the Thrift Store last year - cutest thing. We found Nina sitting on the arm of the couch sticking just her face through the tree crouched and waiting for Meadow to walk by so she could pounce on her. Apparently she thinks she is hidden by the tree :rofl:

Annie - enjoy your time off. I'm sorry DS is having such a rough time of it. Hopefully there is a new girl deserving of his love just waiting for him to notice her. I loved the mental picture of the boys decorating a 12 x 12 space on the tree. What a Kodak moment - you should have taken a picture before you straightened it out. :rofl: I'm glad the ex-family embraced you at the services - sorry for your loss on the uncle. It must be difficult when divorce separates people who truly like each other. Very sad for Mike's grandchildren and for you who is missing him and your folks so very much. :hug:

Susie - OMG - that was a frightening dream! Especially when you got the email. Work is scary, being on the road is scary. I'm glad you are home and can enjoy a long well deserved rest. Hope DH is not underfoot too much, just enough for you to enjoy time together. I'm sorry you can't eat oranges and other acidic items. :( I would miss that stuff.

Ceejay- ask the pharmacist about the iron pills. I was not reading the box properly - it's marked very confusing and I could not find the 325 mg pills I had to take after surgery and they were right in front of me on the shelf! Maybe after what Annie says, I should keep taking them. But they did mess with bowel movements so I stopped taking them when I thought I was done with them. Take care of that foot of yours. Bunions can cause alot of problems - the whole foot structure shifts and what they don't mess up, arthritis does. Maybe it might not be wise to walk the treadmill right now. It's probably helpful that you don't have to be on your feet as much as you did at the plant.

Shad - you always eat such nice, fresh breakfasts! I hope your brunch turns out nicely and without too much fuss. They will be glad of whatever they get, I'm sure. What are you going to do with ODDU during brunch? Me thinks he thinks he will be part of the celebration and hey - look what she made for me to eat :yikes: :lol: I'm sorry things are a bit sour for DS2 on the job. Terrible that people are not concerned about safety and such whacky people on the job now a days. More of a pity that HE has to leave. I hope he lands something quickly. Is he still flipping houses with the partner or is that on hold too? Will be sending good thoughts along on January 23 so they reach you in time. Get things set ahead of time, you will need time to recover. You might feel great but believe me, if you overdo it, you WILL feel it. Not good. Have to keep ODDU from jumping on you too. Happy first day of summer to you - if I could, I'd box up some snow and send it to you - you could use the cold and the water!

Laura - I was thinking with everyone's talk of time off that you probably had not much of anything left since you used a lot to help your Mom out. A worthy sacrifice. Is she happy in the new place? More than that is she happy purging her stuff? Yay for getting the Christmas tree up. I hope you got the ornaments done. I pass by homes on the street and everyone's lit up trees in the window look so pretty. I just don't have the ambition to fuss alot so I will live vicariously through you guys :lol: Glad you had a nice lunch with the boss even though your last talk was :dizzy::dizzy::dizzy: Never know where they are coming from, do you? Then again, some people don't have great management skills either.

Ok girls. 2am. Alarm goes off at 7:30 so I'd better get to bed. I'm going to just take my pain pill and go on the recliner. It's not the best for my back but I fall asleep quicker and that's what I need tonight. I just can't get comfy in my bed for some reason.

I probably won't get back here until tomorrow night so have a good day and hello to the missing chicks. :wave: