Morning all,
My computer seems to be playing up again, or maybe it is the internet. All this heat seems to be playing havoc with anything electrical - or then again, maybe it has contracted a virus or something - who knows, better run a scan for that I suppose and back the computer up.

Not much to report here. We have had a shower of rain overnight. Looks like it might be a decent one at last. The garden looks fairly damp. The kids left this morning before I got out of bed so the ODDU came in to ensure I was there and I was awake. His method of ensuring you are awake is an attempt to get into bed with you. This normally ends up as his front half pinning my legs to the bed and a big nose right in my face. "Are you awake yet?" Yes I am awake. Get off. No can do. I'm stuck here, help me get right up on the bed. NO!

Laura - good that you are working from home. Hate to think of people slippy sliding over all that ice. Body feels better today. It got plenty of movement yesterday. More to come today.

Annie - I have heard of the birth control failure before. Apparently with some of the low dose ones you can lose the protection just by changing time zones and not taking the pill at the same time as the previous time zones. Nothing is foolproof apparently - except abstinence, but then again we have all heard of the virgin birth.

Guess it must be time to get dressed and get on with the day. Might attempt something a little more ambitious today. Like painting the verandah poles. As long as I have two feet on the ground and not up a ladder, I should be okay. Wont try to shift that heavy ladder yet.

Cya

Hi ladies,

Sorry I didn't get in here earlier. Was waiting all day on the washer repair guy to come. My machine basket is really loose and clunking. He finally showed up and I find myself arguing with him because he's telling me that all of this is NORMAL. I said I have had this machine for 10 years (12 actually) and no, this is NOT NORMAL. He runs through all the repair calls I had in the last 2 years. I don't care - you took my hundreds of dollars when I upped the extended warranty, didn't you? I guess the machine is old and on it's last legs - they don't build them to last any more. But they are going to make it work through November of next year when the warranty expires. He did begrudgingly order another part when I pointed out how crooked the top piece was. Oh suddenly he realizes there is a "flash notification" on this part failing. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: The good news is that they are coming back next week and the other repairman whom I like a lot better is coming to install the part. I HATE IT when these guys try to bamboozle you or get out of doing their freaking job.

Then I suggested to DH that I had a taste for Mexican food. He grumbled a bit that we had eaten out a few times lately. I said so what, I get tired of always cooking and YOU don't cook. He said yes I do. I said once a month doesn't count and you always pick out stuff I don't want to eat. I don't make stuff with mushrooms and brussel sprouts and cauliflower that I like and he doesn't. So we went for Mexican. I didn't like my carne asada but I did eat the rice and beans and a tiny bit of the meat. I could have made this stuff at home but... I made really good boneless pork chops last night with baked beans and apple sauce and special brownies (no, not THAT kind of special :dizzy: - they had Butterfinger candy bits mixed in) and he ate about 6 of them. :lol:

I cleaned up the laundry room for the repair guy and DH walked in and said he though he was in the wrong house because the room was basically empty. Ha ha - you're so funny. Now get all your stuff out of the dining room. :mad:

One of the Board members owns a landscaping and nursery business and she is coming over tomorrow to give us a consult on prettying up the new deck grounds. The biggest thing will be deer proof plants. We have alot and they are voracious plant eaters. The adults stay out of our flower box but the baby bambis think we planted colorful salads just for them. :devil:

I did my stint Tuesday at the thrift shop but did not cashier as we were so very slow. Instead I went through 4 boxes of donated VHS tapes and pulled out ones we can't sell as well as some X rated stuff we shouldn't be selling. It was nice and peaceful as there was no one in the store. Sales are really down and sluggish. But February and March are really dead around here except for the snow loving outdoors activities.

I heard that same problem with today's birth control. They dropped the estrogen on it and it's less effective than it used to be. How cruel - Adam wanted sex and Eve has to pay for it - menstrual cramps, labor, PMS, raising kids. :shrug: I guess the estrogen is so low now that they are recommending it to women approaching menopause just to keep those symptoms in check. I went off of it at age 35. And crossed my fingers alot :lol: Guess I had tough eggs ;) :lol:

Shad - must teach DS to put coffee in a small jug on ODDU's neck. If he's going to pin you in bed and wake you up, at least bring coffee :lol: My computer is acting up too - Chrome seems to routinely lock up yet everything is up to date. I think it's the growing wave of negative energy generated from this country lately. :^: There is supposed to be a comet visible in the night skies Friday into Saturday morning but as usual, it's going to be cloudy here. :( And I guess you might be on the wrong side of the earth to see it . How much longer before the heat moves back up here and away from you? keep us posted on the chemo treatments. I send good thoughts to you each night. Loved the story about the British man and the lack of signposts - so English :lol3:

Laura - if you have a strained muscle in your armpit (sorry) you are using your crutches wrong. If you are using them properly, your wrists should be screaming in pain as you use the hands to support you, not the armpits which mean the crutches are a tad too high for you. At your side they should come about 2 inches below the pits. You are right though, walking with them is really strenuous. I liked the rollator much better than a cane, stationary walker or crutches. Therapists said crutches are the devil - avoid them. You should try chair Tai Chi. We had the afternoon teacher fill in for us and she demonstrated it. Was ALOT harder than standing. You sit and do the arm movements but you also move your feet while seated. I can understand how your body that is used to regular exercise would be getting antsy. Too bad you can't swim somewhere. Maybe seated exercises with a thera band stretchy band??? Hope you found your cup warmer. It's probably hiding in the same place as mine is in my house. :lol:

Anne - one of my happiest cooking encounters was when I discovered how darn good grapes are in cold chicken salad. Oh the bomb!!!!! That combination of sweet and slightly salty chicken salad. Yummo. I have rotisserie chicken but DH tossed out my grapes that were on the counter. Like bananas, he likes them really firm, I don't mind a bit of "give" to them. Sigh. Thank you for the compliment - we are not awesome. Just do enough good so that God doesn't strike us with the lightning bolt. :rofl:

Hello Susie and Ceejay :wave:

I'm posting now because the morning will be busy. And then I have a bit of time and then it's off to bingo. There are so few people at bingo they are considering giving up on it. That would mean I'd lose both my social outlets. Poor DH. Send him sympathy cards and invite him out for the weekends ;) :rofl:

Maybe I'll get a chance to check in tomorrow. Night all...

HAPPY, HEALTHY, GRATEFUL, BLESSED....

Leftovers for dinner. Chicken salad lettuce wrap for me. YUM. C ate a wheat wrap chicken salad. Sam had it on a bun. The kids ate leftover homemade mac n cheese and chicken fries. (Chicken fingers) What a crazy meal time. Did two loads of laundry and went to bed. Tonight is Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder.

SHADDIE...Had to laugh at OCCU getting you up or holding you down in the mornings. Sounds a lot like Bruno, only he doesn't get on the bed, not allowed, too hairy. He does put his head and partial upper body across my chest and belly and looks me in the eyes. Be careful on your reaching and stretching when painting, could cause you some pain later. Should you really be doing that in the first place??

LAURA...I can just about bet your downtime is driving you bananas. Hopefully your foot will get to feeling better and you can get to moving around more.

HAPPY...These new washer and dryers are not any better than the ole klunkers. Don't last very long AT ALL...mine are what 2 years old and the digital numbering has blank spots here and there. Doesn't help two families are using them either. They are always going. Mmmmm Mexican food, one of my very favorites right up there with seafood. Haven't been to taco Tuesday in a very long time. Maybe I can recruit someone for next week to go with me. Maybe SHADDIE could come over and and do the landscaping for you. Right up her alley. Hope all your parts are not giving you a fit today.

Hello to CEEG and SUSIE.

Hugs

We have a dusting of snow this morning. I am working from home as it is Thursday and I plan to work most Thursday's at home going forward.

We have flexible work arrangements that we can get approved with our manager and mine approved mine. I know that one Thursday a month I will be in the office because we have a North America Management meeting the 1st Thursday or every month. And then when my VP is here I will also be in the office.

We have agreed that if I come in for business reasons then I can take another day that week if I want to. It's all in writing and logged on the proper forms.

Thursdays are such busy days for me personally. I have TOPS at 6 p.m. Which means I have to make a dash out the door to be sure I get there on time and I never know about traffic.

After TOPS I have Aunt duties with my nieces and it is a very long day. Working from home allows me to not have to rush around and I get more done when I am home working. I feel blessed that we have flexible work arrangements.

I believe I will show a loss at TOPS tonight. I compared my AM weight this morning with last weeks and I think I might end up with a 2 lb loss. That is my goal each week and My Fitness Pal is set for that.

I do want to share a NSV (non scale victory) that happened yesterday. We had a site event for our Arts Wave campaign and I went down to hear the Orchestra that was performing and sign up for some of the raffles. There was also cookies and tea and coffee--I skipped that.

Anyway, I was signing up for a raffle and a lady I know but don't see all the time said to me "Look at you! You have really lost weight!" I was smiling from ear to ear! :D

Laura: I am impressed that you are trying to figure out how to give your body some sort of workout. I think that chair exercises sound like a good idea.

Did you find some warm socks to wear with the boot? and did you find that cup warmer?

As for the useless co-worker. I have one of those too....and every time I see her, I feel like sticking my tongue out at her.

I think what Happy says about the crutches sounds right and I'm sorry you have your arm pit hurting too! You need a break from all this hurting!!:hug:

When I wore my boot, I couldn't figure out how I was going to walk in it due to the difference in the height from me being in a flat show on the other foot. I thought I couldn't do a wedge shoe or anything with a heal as that bothered my knees, but I did try a wedge shoe that had some height to it and I could walk in that wedge and the boot with no issues at all...Just a thought.

Annie: you are so creative with your leftovers! Re: the birth control not working. I had a friend that got pregnant on birthday control..not once but twice.

It was always when she had a cold. She wasn't take antibiotics but she was taking an over the counter liquid cold medicine. Her doctor told her that because that medicine thins out the mucus in your chest and lungs it does in other places too and makes it easier to get pregnant....at least that I how I remember her telling me what he said.

Both times that she had a cold and was using cough medicine she got pregnant and other times, even when she would miss a pill or something she never did. Strange......

I don't eat tacos but I do eat fajitas and you and Happy are making me hungry for Mexican food! I really like quesadillas but with the low fat diet I'm doing I have to watch the cheese so unless I'm making them myself I just do fajitas when I'm eating Mexican food out.

Happy: Good for you for not letting that repair guy talk you into just letting the washer not working right go. You and I think a lot alike on those things.

I can't believe that people would donate Xrated movies!

This idea of doing tai chi in a chair is interesting and sound hard! but I think it would be a good way to get your body trained to the movements. Learn the upper body and then put it together later with the lower body.

Shad: Glad to hear that you are feeling better when you move around. Just take it easy and don't work those abs muscles or back muscles too much...you are still healing. Annie has a good thought of being careful to not stretch up to much when painting.

Hi Ceejay!

I best get back to work. I'll see you all tomorrow.

Morning.
I'm happy, healthy and blessed. It's cold at 22 degree's but quickly warming up. The sun is shining. Yes.
I like being retired and being able to stay up half the night and sleep half the day. I don't always do this but this is my first full day off this week. Tuesday I had my bone density test and most every thing was good except for the neck and lumbar region. Already knew that I had arthritis but from the report I now have a degenerative disc in my lumbar region. I'll need to ask sis if I'm reading this report correctly. After my test I decided to go to the mall. I bought 3 new tops for summer at J.C. Penny's. I'm beginning to learn my way around.
Yesterday I had an appointment with the tax people to get my income tax filed. I didn't owe Arkansas any money but a small amount was owed to Missouri.
Went to the gym yesterday also. Did around 45 minutes of cardio and did the chest press machine, the lateral pull down machine and one other machine. I'm getting to the point that I miss my work out if I don't go. This may be my outlet to get out of the house. When I got home I had a phone call from my uncle so I returned his call. Then worked out in the garage for a couple of hours and cleaned up the mess that the guy made from cutting the tile. Restacked some of my nieces belongings and I think that most of it could be discarded.
My nephews wife works in advertising and wrote a commercial for one of her clients. My niecelet, who is only 5 years old, s very talented in music and likes to sing. She had her to sing the jingle for the commercial. I'm so proud of my family.
Nothing on the agenda today except to go to the gym and go through some more boxes. About to get done with those.

---------
Happy
Can you still use your washing machine? Maybe bingo will pick up again when the weather is warmer. Your DH has been taking some of the most beautiful pictures. I love the snow picture with the old barn in the background.

Annie
Your chicken salad sounds so good. But I'm hungry for a meatloaf.

Susie
Good for you in getting things down on writing. Isn't it a good feeling not to have to get out in the cold and snow?

Hello's to the rest. :wave:

Afternoon all. I’m happy, healthy, blessed and grateful. It was nice and sunny out there earlier, but only 21 degrees. Brrr. Been pretty spoiled lately in the temperature department. (grateful/blessed)

Shad
I hope your computer and/or internet is all sorted out and in working order again. All the problems and complications we never used to have 20+ years ago. == LOL re ODDU’s wakeup method. I suppose it's good it was your legs and not your midsection that he pinned. ==I’m glad you’re back to moving around again. ==One of the industry message lists I’m on recently discussed standing desks. The conclusion was to mix up standing and sitting (and moving and stretching!) frequently and regularly during the day. Too much of one or the other is a bad thing. Especially sitting, when a lot of people go home after work and sit on the sofa watching the telly for a few hours more. Anyway – be careful with the painting. == Re working at home, meh, still not crazy about it, but it’s definitely reducing my steps and keeping me off my feet. Yesterday’s total steps for the entire day (worked at home), 1164. Today, at the office, so far, 2444. As for slippy sliding on the ice – nope. None of that at the moment, for which I’m grateful. 

Happy
Wow, you’ve got some history with that washer of yours. Typical business – you shell out the $$ for the extended warranty and they try to weasel out of their obligations. How maddening! Good for you standing your ground. I’m sure they wish you’d throw up your hands and call it quits with that machine. == Those dinners out might be marriage savers… :lol: == I won’t claim to be perfect or consistent on the crutches, but they were adjusted properly, and I did have a sore wrist and hands (and arms and shoulders) as well. Thank goodness the doctor said I didn’t need them! == There’s plenty of exercise I can do without using the foot. Just need to get to the basement to do it…== What a shame the bingo isn’t well-attended. Is that just because it’s winter?

Annie
Yeh, really been out of sorts with just sitting around. So different when I just sit around voluntarily, LOL. == Bummer your 2 yr NEW washer and dryer are already losing part of the digital display. I hope ours holds up better with much less use than in your household.

Susie
How nice you’ll work at home on Thursdays! It’s nice that your boss is open to that. Just because there’s a policy for it doesn’t mean they’re okay with it. == Good job with the NSV’s – both skipping the snacks and someone noticing your weight loss. :) == I did wear a pair of wool blend boot socks to work today and I didn’t have cold toes except when I was outside walking to and from a company meeting held just down the street. == Thanks for the advice re choice of shoe to wear to match the boot. I know a couple people who recently wore a boot/walking cast and have mentioned that the different heights cause hip pain, which I notice too. Right now I wear a sneaker on the other foot, but I do have a wedge shoe I can try out.

Ceejay
Good idea to discuss the density scan with your sister, and of course I'm sure you'll talk to your doctor if you still have questions or concerns. == Oh, shopping for summer already huh? Only 38 days until spring. :) :flow1: I need to check my warm weather clothes to see what I want to bring on the cruise and what I’ll need to shop for. == Good for you getting the workout. I think that’s a good thing to do to obviously get fit, but also to maintain a bit of structure in your life. I think if I didn’t have any structure, I’d be sitting around the house watching tv all day. Having Coal to feed and walk added structure to my days, especially the weekend days, and it’s thrown me off a bit without it. == How fun that your niecelet sang a jingle for a commercial!

--
I didn’t mention this, but my mom’s house in MO is under contract. Great news, since she hadn’t really expected any activity until spring given she was late in the season putting it on the market. Anyway, I talked to mom the night before last and she reported that the closing date was moved up by a month and may happen at the end of this week! That would be great, even if it seems odd to me that it was moved up and not pushed back which seems more likely to happen. It’ll be wonderful to have that big thing out of the way. :carrot:

Today I went to the office because there was an all-employee meeting this morning. I'm glad I attended it.

Tonight I’ll finally get over to the recplex with my doctor’s letter about not exercising. I phoned the recplex yesterday and they said I can get a credit refund or get a credit towards a future class. I’ll probably do the latter.

That’s it for me, so I’ll finally get this posted.

Shad
That's a cute story about ODDU. hope the computer woes clear up soon also.

Laura
Yeah for your mom's house selling. I know that will be a big sigh of relief.

Busy day, last day for my boss. I am sadden by his departure. Tears flowing while I was trying to write in a card I got him. Bleh. Have a loan closing this afternoon, off-site. Don't know the location yet. Hope not too far away. Tomorrow is meeting in the morning, then laundry, groceries in the afternoon, church in evening. Sunday is my intergroup meeting and it is our "Pancake Extravaganza". Starts at 8:30 which means I have to be there at 8. Leave the house at 7:30. Early day to say the least. I will try to check back in this weekend for personals. Hugs all.

Good morning guys,

I am happy, healthy, grateful and blessed. I am also tired and hurting from the knees that kept me up a good part of the night. Not sure why they are bothering me as much as they do but at least I can gimp around and if I have to I can take a nap in the afternoon although I hate to do so as that makes the sleep more disruptive I think.

We got a consult on the landscaping. Looks very pretty. She was sharp, realized that we plow snow off the driveway so in that section of the deck she's got stuff that will get cut down the end of the season so all that snow doesn't damage it. There's alot of deer resistant stuff and I guess some granules you can put down that will deter them from eating your stuff. Apparently they LOVE tulips because they have alot of moisture in them. Kind of like a snack and and a drink at the same time! :cheers: So no tulips in my yard :lol:

Bingo was a good night. We had a bunch of new people and a good sized crowd. We think it's because they had a pre-ski race this week and it may have brought extra people into town. Once I got settled in I did start out talking to my partner who is also the thrift shop manager. He said he almost had a heart attack when he read my resignation. I am going to try to slink along and ignore the people as much as possible. I know he depends on me as I do him so it's sort of like a comrades in battle kind of thing. My biggest thought is that I have to sadly get over the fact that we should be treating this place like a retail business that earns as much as possible. The volunteers and their stubborn lack of communication and teamwork will prevent that. Not that all are troublesome, but enough of a few to kink up the works. :rolleyes:

Yesterday I made DH very happy by totally cleaning the living room, dining room, kitchen and hall in anticipation of the landscape consult. Got rid of a bunch of clutter. Came home from bingo and the kitchen counter was already starting to accumulate clutter -- HIS. :nono: :nono: :nono: Of course as it got closer to the appointment, some things got gathered up and put in the bedroom which now looks like a tornado hit it. But it's concentrated and that and laundry are my tasks for the day. After I come back from Tai Chi which I am so not in the mood for due to lack of sleep and these achey knees of mine. DH said his foot and hand are hurting too so I know it's weather related. Funny thing is that it's sunny out - cold right now but it's supposed to warm up to near 40 degrees and sort of cycle between 32 and 42 over the next 10 days. Global warming. I'm glad this is not the kind of colder than average winter they originally predicted. But once again, this weather will give us a melt that is not good for the bar and restaurant businesses as it will deter the ice fishermen and the snowmobilers. Also we have a huge world wide ski race here in 2 weeks and we need not fresh snow the day or so before but a nice packed down base for a good run. I'm glad I don't have to worry about that.

Laura - I have a cheaper answer to stand up desks - a gallon of water. Put a gallon of water on your desk and drink it before lunch. Fill it up again as you finish lunch. This ensures at least 6 potty stops during the day. Go to the farthest restroom of course. You get your water in, get your steps in and maybe a quick jog or two if you wait too long to head out :rofl: I don't know about all this sitting too much stuff. We've been sitting at desks forever and in my line of I.T. work we were often sitting there smoking and drinking pots of coffee too. And I'm still kicking around! :lol: Perhaps it's because people are so sedentary when they get home too so it makes for an all around sitting around day. I know the kids today sit way too much staring at the computer or their phones and kids don't play outside as much as we did. And then in school they cut the gym classes. We decided to do the extended warranty on the washer because we do need a new one eventually but we laid out so much cash on the house last year, we figured we could defer the purchase 2 more years and ride this washer out. I agree with you that they might wish I'd just give it up but I paid for service and I will just keep calling them out. I think this particular repair guy didn't want to do anything. If the guy that comes out next week does some stuff, then I will file a complaint against the guy who came yesterday. While we put some clothes in the washer, he purposely didn't let it completely fill with water although I insisted that was the only way to hear the loud noises I called about in the first place. He said the washers are noisy to which I pointed to the logo on the front of the washer and said yeah, I guess that's what "QUIET PAK" means, huh? After he left I ran a regular load with water and took a video on my phone so you can clearly hear the knocking noises.

Anyway - I'm so happy to hear that your Mom got an offer on the house and they want a quick close. Perhaps they moved it up because they have to get out of their current place too. Will be nice to have some cash to pad Mom's bank account. And she doesn't even have to go back to sign papers. I hope. Is she all settled in now? Maybe you can go out to a local shelter and walk or socialize dogs in the interim - but not until your foot heals :nono:

Ceejay - thank you for the compliment on DH's pictures. He enjoys it. Said he's liking his new camera so far too. I think as we age all the body parts start to crumble. The discs compress which is why we often "shrink" in height. Good reason to keep up with the exercise as you have done to ward off future aches and problems. I'm glad you are enjoying retirement. It's so freeing, isn't it?

Susie- that's great that you can work from home once a week. Not only does it help your schedule but at home I'm sure you will get 3 days work done in one day just having uninterrupted time to yourself which means you have an 8 day work week! I agree it's hard to eat Mexican food without eating cheese - especially if you can't substitute avocado / guacamole or sour cream instead. There's only so much you can do with salsa but I guess like anything, you get used to adjusting things and eventually your taste buds follow. Good advice with the wedge shoe and the boot - I still had an issue with finding something that worked with the boot to keep the hips level. Quick healing and out of the boot was the answer! I hope you have a good weigh in this week.

Annie - yes I am afraid that replacing our stove and washer means in 5 years we will need another one!!! So aggrivating. But I guess it beats washing the clothes on a rock at the nearby lake and cooking dinner in the fire pit. See - I turned a downside into an upside. :D Such a cute picture of Jacob you posted on Fb this morning. I love little kids smiles.

Oops - I gotta get in the shower unless I want to run to Tai Chi with wet hair and it's too cold for that.

:wave: to Shaddie. Will check back later ladies.

Anne - :hug: - a big one. Trying to get through today with saying goodbye to the boss. Sounds like a super busy weekend for you. Always on the run you are. Make sure you get enough rest to keep you going.

Morning
Today I'm happy, healthy blessed and grateful.
Not much on the agenda today. I will be going to the gym. And I will be listening more to the radio today to try and catch the commercial where my niece is singing their jingle. I was so over whelmed with happiness last that I burst into tears. That's unusual for me.
In the morning I will be going to our church Valentine breakfast. The men cook breakfast for us women. This will be my first. My sister is babysitting with Payton, our little singer, tomorrow so I will get to play with her. I'm so blessed.

--------
Happy
The last washer that I bought is noisy. When they first brought it to the house I thought there was a dog barking in my house. If I have to get a new washer in the future I hope I can find one that is quiet and has a normal agitator. It's been a good washer. I have shrunk an inch in height!

Annie
This sounds a terrible day for you at work. I know you will miss your boss. Sounds like youo have some fun times planned for the week end. Enjoy.

Morning all. TGIF. :carrot:

Annie – Sad day for you with the departure of your boss. :( :hug: Another busy weekend for you. Find some downtime, chica!

Happy – Sorry your knees are giving you pain. :( I hope it lets up soon!! == I do think naps can be disruptive to a regular night’s sleep. I guess even when you're retired, a bad night's sleep can mess up your plans for the next day. == Awww, no tulips. :( == I’m glad bingo was good last night. But you’ve rescinded your resignation with the thrift shop? Oh dear. I dunno - nothing’s gonna change until that manager finally takes matters in hand. Does he think he won’t be able to get other volunteers if he were to ultimately decide to “fire” the difficult ones? You have a really good heart to keep at it even though all the drama really gets to you. :yes: Good luck. == Ha, I bet employers won’t be pushing your water theory to get people up and around. They’d rather just have them stay at their desks, sitting and standing and WORKING, not taking bathroom breaks. Are you kicking around – I didn’t thing there was any kicking in Tai Chi?? ;) :D == I agree with your strategy with the washer warranty, and it sounds like it’s been paying off for you, but what a lot of effort on your part. Oh well. That’s the way things are with “planned obsolescence” (aka, planned failure, shoddiness) being the way of manufacturing today. == Mom’s still trying to get rid of stuff, as she reports every time we talk. I’d really like for her to get past that stage and get some real furniture in her place. She kept several pieces that are just plain crap (claiming it was only temporary) and there’s really no place to sit down as there’s just one decent chair (and she’s in it). Another chair always has something sitting on it, and yet another one is truly bonfire material, along with the giant useless tv armoire - the type made for the big, deep tv’s of the past, the type of which she doesn’t even own anymore. Hope I’m not sounding like an awful daughter by saying that I won’t be going over there any time soon given the fact that I need to stay off my feet and I prefer not to have to sit on the floor. Wait, I can bring over a folding chair whenever I visit. I’m sure that would go over well…

Ceejay – The Valentine breakfast sounds like it’ll be fun. And of course seeing your niecelet Payton. == My mother has lost a lot of height over the years, and she’s on a monthly osteoporosis drug. Her mom also had osteoporosis. I hope you can prevent further shrinking through exercise and whatever your doctor thinks you need.

Hey Susie, how did TOPS go last night? :goodscale:

Hi Shad! :wave:

==
Nothing much to report.

I was on my feet too much yesterday – over 4,200 steps. Trying to take it easier today, even though I did go to the office today. I timed my office days this week to coincide with the boss being at an offsite meeting all day yesterday and taking a half vacation/half work-at-home day today. :D

After work I went to the recplex with the doctor’s note and filled out a form for a credit on my Pilates classes. I’m supposed to hear back from whoever approves the credit. We’ll see.

I had to phone my doctor’s office again today. I’d called Monday about getting an order for my (follow-up) diagnostic mammo & ultrasound on the 20th, but never heard back from them. This time they called back within the hour saying they’d re-sent the order.

I finally have my eye doctor appointment tomorrow morning. Too bad I haven’t been able to get out and find some eyeglass frames I like. He doesn't have a large display of frames, but he can get just about anything I would pick out elsewhere, so that's what I prefer to do.

That’s about it for me. Have a great weekend everyone. :dizzy:

Hi Everyone,

I am happy to share that I lost 3.8 lbs at my weigh-in last night! :carrot:

Today is my rest day from exercising and I'm glad as I was so tired when I got home from work. We have a 7:30 a.m. meeting and my Director was calling in and so he asked me to please be in the office to get the video conference started for everyone.

I was up at 4:45 so I could get on the road by 6 to be there by 7 so I wasn't rushed to get everything ready. I knew he would change something in the Power Point and I was correct so it gave me a bit of time to get it changed and make sure everything still looked good on the screen.

Another busy weekend for us. DH has a dental appointment in the morning, then basketball game for Aidynne at 11:30 and we are going out with friends for dinner. Somewhere in there I will be cleaning house, getting my workout in and maybe a couple loads of laundry done.

Annie: :hug: I know today was a hard day for you with your boss leaving the office. It looks like you will have a busy weekend too.

Laura: You also have a busy weekend the eye appointment. Do you get new glasses every year?

Shad: How are you feeling after the painting you were planning on doing?

Ceejay: It sounds like you have a nice Saturday planned with the church breakfast and seeing your niece.

That is really amazing about the jingle and your niece. Did you make it to the gym?

Happy: I have some piles in my home office that I need to get to. It doesn't take long for things to pile up that is for sure.

It sounds like you will be really happy with your landscaping.

I am about to head to bed. I most likely will be checking back in on Sunday.

Happy healthy blessed
 

I was up early to drive to Ash Grove for the Valentine breakfast at church. It was really nice. Some one brought pheasant which tasted slot like chicken.
Took my sister to Willard to get the brakes fixed her car and her hair cut. I decided not to spend the night. I will see niece let tomorrow.
Last night I some how locked up my phone.ugh. I wanted to take it to my carrier to see if they could unlock it. It took some doing but he did which took about 2 hours to unlock. Whew.
I was worn out. Stopped at Braums and got a strawberry sundae. Yum.
On the way home this afternoon I saw a dead deer in the medium.
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Susie,
Congratulations on the weight loss.

Good morning ladies,

We're supposed to have a huge, worldwide ski race here in 11 days. Meanwhile thanks to a huge warm front, we are experiencing temperatures in the 40s - enough to erode that nice base of snow we have. This is going to bump right up to the day before the race - even if they make snow, I'm not sure it will be cool enough to sustain it. The race organizers must be pulling their hair out. This is an important race - one that if you are professionally competing you must complete and with people coming in from all over the world, they can't just up and call it off or move it. Global warming folks. Undependable and highly unseasonable weather this time of year. While I am enjoying the break, it is generally horrible on the economy here as the bars and restaurants and retail businesses depend on the revenue from the winter outdoor enthusiasts. Last Tuesday it wasn't worth opening the store. I think I was the big sale of the day when I bought a candle holder and some CDs for $10 total.

We went to dinner last night. DH has prime rib which he said was no where as good as the steak he had the last time. I had the pot roast which was tasty. The potato pancakes were very good. I brought some pot roast home and Meadow scarfed it right up. We don't know what changed - we have her almost 5 years now and up to this point, she showed no interest at all in people food. We would only try and give her protein like fish, chicken or beef. She ignored it like it was styrofoam. Then after she had the bump removed from her tail, now she eats meat like a caveman. This is good for her and her diabetes - straight up protein is better for her. DH said maybe her tumor messed up her tongue. Poor thing has had her share of medical woes. Anyway she ate up what was going to be my mini sandwich for lunch. :shrug:

Today we are going to look at some plans for benches and planters DH feels like making for the new deck. He is looking at a ladder type of planter for my herbs. I'm not sure if I like that over the herb table type thing. We are also going to take a drive to scout out some locations to spend the night for our anniversary. I guess he decided he doesn't want to go as far as St. Paul. The thing is too - we never know what the weather will be like early March. If we are getting overly warm weather now, it's completely possible that in another week we could be looking at a major snow dump. The nice thing about the warmer weather is that the roads are dry and I am more comfortable driving myself around again. I haven't really driven all that much since my knee surgery. DH is my Uber driver. :o

Susie - congratulations on a wonderful weigh in !!!! That new low fat plan certainly seems to be working for you. Keep up the good work. Did you get a lot done working from home this week one day? It would drive me NUTS if I had to keep spinning my wheels at the last minute with the boss changing things. My last boss was famous for that but fortunately I was not the "Susie" in the group - my buddy was. And that becomes the new normal - no lead time.

Laura - to your question, I had a talk with the volunteer coordinator at the shop. I told him nothing would change - it had to be within me. He made some suggestions as he doesn't want to lose me - we are both partners in misery there and it's for that reason I will try and continue to support him and ignore the rest of the drama. I guess I have to write on my hand "not MY monkeys" before I go in there. And no, they will not get rid of the people who are causing the most trouble because they are long time volunteers and despite the fact that they cause continuous commotion, they also do some good. Also with everyone blowing town this time of year, we are woefully short on volunteers. I am not in favor of covering 4 extra shifts each week to make up for the lack of people. And no one is in favor of closing the store an extra day or two over the slow season even if it means we spend more than we take in heating the turning the lights on in the place -- hence the lack of understanding about good retail practices :dizzy::dizzy::dizzy::?: To your question - no, we are not doing the martial arts moves in this version of Tai Chi but there are some side to side movements which can be detrimental to good knee health - especially when applied to our aging knees. So we have to limit the side to side swaying and purposely be mindful of taking smaller steps (we do move around alot) as the broader steps put more stress on the knees and make it harder to stay balanced. I'm finding it's alot about deliberate movement and concentration. Based on the assisted living apartment I saw from my sister's in laws - I can totally understand the dilemma about the lack of adequate seating at your Mom's place. The place where Aunt J is - they have lots of common areas on each end of the hall with easy chairs, tables and couches. The most comfortable chair at Aunt J's is also the one she sits in :lol: I got the impression that they encourage the social aspect by getting people to gather in the common areas or the eating areas (with tables for cards and game) and there is so little room in the apartment that it's only good for maybe one extra visitor. It does become a bit awkward to invite people to the place and then say let's go sit in the hallway instead of my home :?: Were you able to find some eyeglass frames you liked? Don't they have like 3 optical places at Woodfield? At least to get an idea. I hate picking out glasses.

Ceejay - that's interesting that you say your new washer is noisy. I guess the repairman wasn't lying after all. I agree with Laura about the osteoporosis risks - it's good to keep up with the exercise as much as possible. My Mom is shrinking too (which she is FOND of telling me and my sister now that she's smaller than we are). She said she doesn't have much of an appetite - except for sweets and bakery items. I think too it gets to be a hassle for them to cook for one person - not that she was ever much of a cook when it comes to experimenting with new stuff. I think she eats a small salad or eggs or cereal just because it's easier than making something. I hope we don't have to wait until we are 85 to lose weight. :dizzy: The Valentine's lunch sounded like a really nice event. It's good that you have found plenty to do.

I remain happy, healthy (mostly), grateful and blessed. I was thinking about that last night as I drifted off to sleep. I made it out alive from the corporate world. Am very grateful to have what I consider a blessed life compared to many people. I just hope it stays this way. I looked over at DH last night with his CPAP masked and braces on both of his hands (he says it helps with the carpal tunnel like pains he's been having) and I rubbed my sore knees and thought - we're a little worse for the wear but at least we're still up and kicking around. It's a good thing...

Time for me to get ready for the day's adventures. Hello to the rest of the chicks. Hope you are enjoying your Sunday. :wave: