Oh, I think it's Dee's birthday today.

Happy Birthday Dee!!!

I hope you have a special day and a wonderful year to follow!

YES Indeed...Happy Birthday Dee!!

First of all I'm wishing Dee a Happy Birthday.

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Not much going on here today. It did rain this morning with some thunder and lightning. some cities around us had hail. We didn't. Haven't had any energy since I've gotten back from Dallas. Think I'm still tired and have a slight sore foot. Didn't realize that I had a blister on the bottom of my foot until yesterday morning When I walked barefoot across the floor I noticed blood spots. Hum, but it is healing.
Some one asked if I had been to visit with the uncles and that answer is no. But I'm planning on it. Sis bil and I have a trip planned to visit my niece in Maryland. Hope I can tolerate the ride.

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Happy
Think I will go into Springfield tomorrow to buy some groceries and then find a good ole KFC for lunch. Good for you on riding the NuStep for 45 minutes. Maybe you can work out the knees. My Dallas sis was telling me to increase my speed on the treadmill. but I'm going to keep on doing what I can. She would get on my nerves trying to coach me if I lived around her.

Annie
Oh my! Hope this doesn't last as long as the last round of the crud. First thing I do if the little boys want to come for a visit is ask if they have a fever. I've caught more things from them.

Shad
That's funny that you've had to change the locks because of the dog. But I've heard that some dogs do learn to work the door knobs. Don't be surprised if he doesn't learn how to use the round ones.

Hi Susie.

Good Wednesday Morning all ya'll! HAPPY, HEALTHY-Not, GRATEFUL, BLESSED.

Third night of hacking a lung up. The couch is my friend. This too shall pass. Hopefully before April 1st vacay. I bought some Robitussin DM but that didn't help AT ALL. I am not supposed to even take that stuff with my heart issues but I had to try something. Hauls cough drops don't even affect it. wah wah wah. Pity party for this ole hag.

Dinner was scrambled eggs with mushrooms and cheese. C had toast with his. Chris had the boys last night and Sam was at Meg's getting her hair colored and trimmed. Really a quiet evening. The pups tried to get rowdie but we put a halt to that. Bruno in his room (toy, DVD room) and Sass in our bed while we watched TV. Really a rather quiet evening.

My Yeti cup jumped out of the cup holder (didn't have it in all the way) onto the passenger seat all over my coat. The yeti had my BPC in it. (BCP- coffee, butter, coconut oil and heavy whipping cream). It was a mess. Had to wash it last night. It wasn't dry this morning so I didn't have a coat to wear and just wore a hoodie. Of course today's high is 35 and tomorrow's high 50s and Friday near 70. Luck of the not so much Irish! Of course my car smelled like coffee on the way home from work. Not a bad smell actually.

Work is crazy and getting crazier. All the new things I "get" to do are not the fun things like SUSIE gets to do. Was on CCs from 2:30 to 5 yesterday trying to get this new procedure in place with all the BAs cross site. BA-Business Associate. Deadline is March 31st. Really? OMGosh I have 9 BDOs (Business Development Officers) that I have to get in order. I love my job, right? Grateful I have a job. Amen.

CEEG...Maryland is a long car ride for you. Hopefully there will be many stretching stops along the way. Like EVERY rest area is a good start, then maybe Starbucks. We had the thunder and lightening also but most of it went north and west of Indy. Missed us again. Grateful. Yes. All that walking at the flower gardens may have gave you the blister. Be sure to pour some hydrogen peroxide on it then some Neosporin and a bandage. No infections please.

Have to go back to the other page to see what else there is for personals. Posting this. BRB

OK. I think the building is on fire cause I am a fireman today!

Sign on One America building...S

Whoops hit submit unknowningly. WHAT??

Spring is here...WEATHER it knows it or not.

LAURA...good for you on the work outs. Hey, how is your admin doing? Recovering well?

HAPPY...yet another busy day for you. You wear me out. I have not that gumption you have. 45 minutes on the NuStepper is too long for your weary bones and joints. Heck even at the heart PT. We did not stay on each machine more than 10 minutes. Slow down woman it is not a race and not worth the pain. Yes we are driving to Gulf Shores. Stopping along the way to visit a couple of friends for a an hour or so before moving on down the road. Ah, the song....Move on down, move on down, move on down the Roooohoad.

Hello to all. Hugs

Good morning ladies,

Quick check in for me. My bingo partner and the thrift shop coordinator shuffled into the shop yesterday looking like death. He has viral pneumonia. I told him not to come in today, I would cover for his shift. His coworker just had knee replacement surgery yesterday so she's out for a few weeks. So again, my plans change on a dime. I am trying to figure out how I am going to pick up my lunch at the senior center since they stop serving lunch at the time I would be getting off my shift. Maybe DH will go pick it up - I did order him a meal too. Need to pack my gym bag as I get off at 1pm and I go to yoga at 1:30 so I'll probably head right over there, especially if DH drops my lunch off for me. He's a good man. On the way from yoga I have to pay my library fine and return the videos. Last night I was binge watching them and saving certain videos that had good techniques and I found that with my subscription to America's Test Kitchen I can watch all seasons online. My fines for the library are half what I paid for a year's access to ATK

Happy Belated Birthday Dee.

Anne - I hope that you can find something that will allow you to get some much needed rest at night. Maybe you have to take the cough medicine more than one day to work. Bummer that so much of what you can use just ups the blood pressure. Good luck with all those fires today. Thanks for your concern on the NuStep but I am only going at level 1 - I told DH I am not out to compete with anyone and I am watching carefully what I do. It's about building strength in the new knee right now.

Ceejay - have a good trip for groceries. I LOVE new grocery store experiences but hate grocery shopping.

Shad - that's funny about the doorknobs and ODDU. We have the handle kind and I told DH he needs to replace the round knob from the laundry room to the 3 season room as I have a hard time gripping it with the arthritis. Good thing the cats have no urge to get out. DH mailed your package out yesterday. Be on the lookout - but not TOO soon

Laura - when we lived in AH we had a pair of mallards that would come on our property and eat the bird food we put out. Your story reminded me of them. They came for years and then one year - there was only one of them - they mate for life from what I understand. It made me sad. I hope your stomach settled and you are feeling better today. How's the foot doing with all this rainy weather?

Ok, sorry to cut this short but I have to take a shower and hurry up. Have a good hump day ladies.

Morning all. Happy hump day.

Happy – Good of you to fill in for the under the weather colleague. But the logistics to make that work! Good luck. -- Good idea to subscribe to the ATK site – do you get access to all the sites? They have so many! ATK, Cook’s Country, Cook’s Illustrated... (You can help library some other way, lol.) I get magazines through my library via the Zinio app and just downloaded an issue of Cook’s Illustrated. – Smart to take it easy on the Nu Step until you feel ready to up the intensity. Your own pace, no one else's.

Ceejay – I hope the blister heals and doesn’t give you any problem. Yup, a sign of a lot of walking or an issue with the shoes and/or socks! So how nice is it to be able to get home from a trip and be able to rest and recover and not have to worry about going back to work the next day or on Monday?? == Wow, a driving trip to MD, that’s quite a road trip (I G00gled it - over a thousand miles!!!). Will this be a leisurely drive or a “get to the destination as fast as possible” type of drive?

Annie – Hope you find something that works for you to stop the coughing. Nyquil is a no-no for you on two counts I guess – the heart and the alcohol. Darn, that’s my go-to when I just want to make sure I can get some sleep. == Yum, the eggs sound good, and I have all the ingredients! -- Ick what a mess with the bpc spilling out in the car. == Good luck and may the force be with you with all these new work challenges. Busy, busy…but you’ll stay out of trouble. And appreciate that vacation all the more!! -- Okay, I don’t get the sign…

Hellos to Susie, Shad and Dee!

==

Talked to another admin with whom our admin is friendly yesterday, but she hasn’t heard anything recently either about how she’s doing. Hopefully soon.

I did one BE workout last night. Need to keep at it. I’m also now walking the downtown parts of my commute (half mile each way). Everyone passes me by, but the foot feels okay. Once the weather is consistently milder, I look forward to cycling the home portions of my commute.

We’re one month away from the cruise/Key West. Guess I better take a look through my clothes and figure out what I need to shop for. I've been wanting to buy a new pair of Birkenstocks and also try a pair of Teva sandals for a while now. And work out how much stuff I need for two weeks!

That’s about it for me. TTFN.

Ha LAURA....Spring is here...WEATHER<---like bad weather, spring knows it or not.... (not whether) spelling.

I get it. For some reason I thought the fireman comment was on the sign, hahaha. I get that too, since it was about you. I hope you're not a fireman anymore. Or that you're close to a bathroom.

Annie
I'm not on the keto diet just going to try and cut back on my carbs. Dogs do act like kiddo's at times.

Happy
What would they do with out you. I would have filled in for them too. Did you get your lunch?

Laura
Glad you are back to walking your route from the train to work. Just take it easy.

Hello Susie, and Shad

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A non eventful day. I did go in to Springfield to the super Walmart and bought some groceries and got my hair cut. Tonight I had a low carb meal. And so far I don't feel hungry. I'm choosing the Atkins diet and chose the 20 net carbs for a day. We shall see how this goes.

Good Day! HAPPY, REALLY NOT HEALTHY, GRATEFUL AND BLESSED...

Broke down and went to the Minute Clinic this morning. Sinusitis and bronchitis. Bleh. I haven't had bronchitis in years. Anyway Augmentin and Phenergren for the cough. Tylenol for the headache. At work but taking tomorrow off to recoup, hopefully. One week til vacation. SO ready to go and bake this crap outta me.

Not much on the home front as we are all hacking and blowing. Dinner was my chicken salad on lettuce wraps the others bread. Sam made her ramen noodle salad for her and Curtis. Made a couple of angeled eggs for C. That was it. I went to bed after dinner and watched TV till I could shut my eyes and sleep before the next hacking session came upon me. Ended up on the couch.

I may go home early today.

No personals today, not feeling it. Hugs from a distance.

Hi Everyone,

I've been reading and think I will get back to posting on what I read and her it is Thursday.

I took a vacation day today. I was orginally going to work a Health Fair that our local college is putting on today and be there with our TOPS booth...me and another lady from our chapter were planning on it.

I called on Monday to see what time we could set up on Thursday; the health fair stated at 10. They told me 9 a.m and I confirmed that we would be there.

Yesterday at 4 p.m, they called and told me that they had two many participants and they wouldn't need us this year. I was not happy and you can bet when they call next year, I will say no. We have done it since the beginning about 7 years ago.

I thought about going ahead and working from home like I do on most Thursday's but I decided, I could use the break and so I took it off.

I moved my Saturday hair appt up to this afternoon. I have been doing laundry, got my work out in and reading my book.

It's a nice sunny relaxing day. I also had someone come out and give me a estimate for the chimney. So, I have gotten a lot done today.

I need to deposit the Fed Tax refund today (we asked for it to be electronically deposited but we got a check instead). The State refund went in electronically. Maybe the tax person forgot to check-mark a box?

I think I am going to have a small gain at TOPS tonight I have been tracking up a bit since Tuesday. I think it is because I have ate at the TOP of my calorie range. So, today, I'm starting back closer to the middle or bottom of the range.

Annie: I'm sorry to hear that you all are still sick! You must get well as vacation is around the corner. Go home, sleep and do the same tomorrow.

Laura: Nice to hear that you are able to walk more!

Happy: I saw you used the Nustep. Remember to start slow so those knees don't yell at you.

Ceejay: I hope the blister heals up soon. Those are miserable.

Shad: ODDU and the stories about him always make me laugh. Did you get that bush taken out yet? I hope you have someone to help you with it.

It is nice that you will take a fun trip to see family here soon.

Dee messaged me yesterday or maybe it was the day before. She was having some tests done and will know tomorrow. I told her all the ladies here wished her a Happy Birthday.

I'm sure we will hear from her again off and on.

I need to get in gear and get my errands ran before going to the salon at 2.

See you all tomorrow.

Good morning ladies,

Anne I'm glad you went to the clinic to get something a bit stronger than over the counter things to fight this off. That was always my mistake - I'd wait too long and then have the horrible bronchitis to contend with. Cough a lung up and your entire torso hurts from coughing. I hope it helps, sure don't want you sick on your much anticipated (and deserved) vacation. Make suppers easy and get as much rest as you can. Feel better soon - but not too close because I don't want your crud either

Ceejay - trip to Maryland (crab yum) could be fun - especially if you are not in a hurry and can take advantage of some stops along the way to see the sights. Sounds like you are really enjoying retirement, no? We can give these working girls some hope. Good luck with the carb counting - hope you can find a rhythm that works for you.

Laura - to your question, the America's Test Kitchen access was not too bad for a year. However to get to their other sister sites - Cook's Illustrated, etc was a really pricey over $10 a month. Nah - don't need it that bad although about half the recipes are from the pricier subscription of course. I'm not paying $125 a year for an online subscription. I didn't realize you can borrow magazines from the library and view them on your phone. That's pretty neat - I should check into that. Thanks for mentioning it. Yay for you for starting to walk part of your commute now. How is the foot holding up. I guess you have to ease back into it. Do you take some time to break in your Birkenstocks when they are new? Those and the Orthofeet brand always bothered my feet - not enough cush in them. Orthofeet has a lot of cute casual styles. Yikes 2 weeks is a long time to pack for, especially if you can't do laundry - or can you? At least you can pack lighter clothes and get more in the suitcase. The best packer I ever encountered IN MY LIFE was Shad. She chooses a color theme and everything is coordinated to that theme. First time she visited us she had a small bag, a bit bigger than I would take for a weekend AND she was hauling around this GIANT garment bag from a Canadian hockey team as a gift for someone. The hockey bag was empty. I could not believe it myself that she could take such a long vacation with so little but she IS the master of packing

Speaking of Shad - hope you are feeling a bit more energy and perkiness and able to get up and about to do some things.

Susie - that really stinks about getting blown off at the Health Fair. I kind of gave up on the commercially sponsored ones (but still go to the one at the Senior Center). The commercial ones seem to be there to promote powders and "nutritional supplements" instead of true health issues. I hope you didn't get blown off for that. Hope you get everything done that you planned on.

Yesterday I did my morning shift for D - there was a steady stream of customers in the shop - nothing too overwhelming. DH was kind enough to bop into town and pick up our lunch at the senior center - meat loaf, roasted red potatoes, sweet corn. I sent him home with the slice of bread, butter, carton of milk and dessert. It was a nice, hearty lunch. I tried the desert when I got home - they called it a pretzel salad but was lots of fresh fruit mixed with Cool Whip (fake whipped cream) and some crunchy pretzels. Light but nice and tasty. I went to yoga after my shift and when I got done with that there was a note on my car seat from DH. My afternoon relief at the shop accidentally rang up a $2,000 sale with her boobs so I had to run back and fix that. It's really easy for us short people to hit the register keys with our chest when we lean over to pick up items from the counter. The desk we use was built more as a reception desk than a cashier's station. It was an easy fix but she's a talker so I didn't get out of there until 4:45 which was running late to make something for dinner so I picked up some bbq on the way home from the new "Famous Dave's". We shared pulled pork and beef brisket - no sauce, some coleslaw and a corn muffin top (their specialty). I also got a small bowl of their new beef brisket chili which I liked but DH did not - he said it had too much chili powder in it for his tastes. I thought it tasted more on the tomato-y side which I liked. I dropped off my overdue videos at the library - talked to my librarian buddy - a south side Chicago transplant like me. She gave me the link to a website to learn a new Polish word of the day which I shared with my sister. I went into the hot tub last night - feels good at the moment but doesn't really do anything long term for the aches. I am also 28 days into taking the Krill oil - again, don't think that did anything at all for the inflammation. I am going to the doctor this afternoon - we'll see what she says. Probably lose weight as that and sugar (yes I know) is probably the 2 most contributing factors in the arthritis pain. I need to clean out the refrigerator after I get off the computer. Something is starting to smell in there and tomorrow is trash day. I think it might be the remaining raw cauliflower or a left over bunch of broccoli - either starts to generate gas after a while. I have to run bingo tonight for my friend - only just a tiny bit more to do than what I usually do there. And will be more running around - with only 2 of us one pays off the winner and the other has to grab the winning bingo card, go to another table and read off the numbers on their winning line to verify it's a valid bingo. They are talking some freezing rain and sleet overnight - right now we have nothing going on tomorrow and I hope it stays that way. I have lots to catch up on at home and who wants to go out in the ice anyway?

And that's it for me. Have a good day everybody.

Afternoon all. Been in a long meeting that lasted all morning and would have gone beyond that had someone else not needed the conference room we were in.

Ceejay – Good luck with the Atkins plan. It wouldn’t hurt me to track my carbs a bit – I do notice that sometimes I’m eating too much carby junk. Wouldn’t be a bad thing if it was good carby food – veggies and stuff.

Annie – I hope the meds work for you!! Go home early, take tomorrow off and I hope you rest and feel better very soon!!

Susie – What a shabby way to treat an organization that has participated in an event for 7 years! -- You’re making good use of your day off – very productive. I seem to fritter my days off by slothing away the day. Well lately I’ve had to do med appointments, but that wasn’t the norm in the past. == Don't worry about a gain - you seem to know why, so you know what to do about it and will erase whatever it might be going forward.

Happy – You are busier than ever. I hope you have a productive day at home tomorrow, forced or not!

==

This is me whining, so skipping what follows is a good option.

In a bleh mood. I’m not sure why, but when I have certain meetings (like this morning), it makes me realize all the more how unsatisfied I am with my job. I’m especially unhappy with my boss. He doesn’t have confidence in his employees or he would hand off work that can obviously be handled by his employees. And when he does assign work, there’s little to no explanation or background for the why behind it. Like I wouldn’t understand it? I don’t push for more information because even though “the door is always open”, I feel like I’m an imposition to ask for more, and that he’s so busy (doing everyone’s work) to give me that time. And honestly, sometimes I just don’t care all that much. And I was not copied on an email by someone in another department who never copies me on anything anymore, but it doesn’t matter all that much because the boss or Ms. Perky will respond anyway. I guess what rankled was the admin was copied on it (yeh, the one on leave) and was curious why I wasn’t copied on it. And of course the legacy issues that arise are a major PITA – they’ll never die! I need to get into a new environment. Yes, I know, I may end up in an even more unsatisfactory situation, but I think taking the chance might be worth it. But not for a while yet (i.e., next year)

End of whine.


What else? Margaret Richard is doing another kickstarter campaign to try to raise funds to produce another series of the Body Electric shows (workouts) for PBS airing. Her last campaign a couple years ago failed, and I’m not sure how successful this one will be. But I like her and the BE shows, so I did make a contribution to support the cause.

No workout last night.

[More whining follows.] BF bought some snapper to make for dinner last night. He broiled it and it was awful – tough and lacking flavor. He claims it was a bad piece of fish (not spoiled, but just substandard quality?), but I think he overcooked it, or maybe removing the skin was a mistake. He’s probably secretly cursing that I didn’t want him to pan fry it. He’s done that before and a few times the whole house reeked. No thanks. I don’t get why he didn’t want to look up an actual recipe for it… and now he’s declared he’ll just stick with salmon. Sigh. I’m okay with salmon, but he never seems to want a light flaky white fish that can be poached with white wine and lemon - comes out nice and moist, even if you microwave it. Whatever.

[End of whining session 2.]

Tonight I’ll do a workout. And that’s about it for me, so let me post my whiney post and get on with the day.