Morning all,

I'll get in a short post while everything is quiet and still - oh uh, ODDU is on the move again. Anyway we have had some more much needed rain overnight and it woke me around midnight so I got up to put out the pot plants to ensure they got a decent dose of the good stuff. When I was nice and wet, and all the pots were in the yard, I went to make a cup of tea to take back to bed - with dry pjs and a towel to dry my hair. The cats did what they could to help me since they had decided that it was now feed time since I was up.

Temps here have been much milder this week - only breaking 30C once and it has been pleasant. I worked in the garden yesterday afternoon, pruned, weeded, fertilised, mulched a section of the garden - so things are getting there slowly. J pulled weeds in the back yard and painted the rafters that DS2 was putting up to rebuild my pergola. Hopefully we will have some protection from the hot afternoon sun before summer goes away. I've also patched the wall in the spare room and DS2 put the first coat of plaster on that. Today I should get to sand it down and put the second coat on. Better find some plastic sheets to protect DS2's clothes which are hanging in that room. Won't be too long until prep is done and the room is cleaned and ready for the paint - just got to sort out what colours to use. I'm not into beige or white or brown - BORING - the room needs some colour but I don't want yellow and blue will probably be a bit cold. It doesn't get a lot of sun in there. So I am sort of looking as a light sage colour or a light silvery grey (fashionable again I see). Anyway that is all in the future.

Tonight I am going to my brothers place for dinner. It's my nephews birthday tomorrow. DB2 said to come early and help with the dinner preparations and bring Apple Crumble for dessert. Right - now I know why I am invited!! :P

Ceejay - the thing with painting is that in itself it doesn't take very long. It's the cleaning, dusting, sanding and preparation work that takes the time, and is the most boring. If the walls are in good order, you can get away with a light sand and then vacuum and paint. My place was build by a cowboy builder and a dodgy painter who wasn't apparently aware about the existence of sandpaper. Ensure you wear a mask and safety glasses - especially with your history of sinus problems.
Nice job, inheriting a chair that fits with your colours.

Laura - Re the cat and the pills. Well I bought a pill popper and so far there has been no blood - either hers or mine. She's not too bad with it actually. Only managed to spit it out once so far and we have been doing it over a week now.
on the B/F patching with the tape. I tried that several times with different products and with similar results. Now depending on the size of the hole I either insert a piece of timber behind the wallboard with glue and string and pull that tight then plaster the hole against the timber, or as I did this time, cut a piece of wall board to size and screw it to the stud and then plaster. With the wall board you have to be able to screw it in or it doesn't hold when you try to drill (as you have no doubt found out). There was something on the market some time back which consisted of a square of plastic which had a sort of spike attached. You put the plastic square in the hole behind the existing wallboard and then filled the hole with plaster or spackle or whatever you lot call it. When finished, you attached another piece of plastic to the spike sticking out of the all and secured it tightly with a clip to ensure the plaster was squished into all spaces etc. Later you took off the front plastic plate and snipped off the spike, sanded and smoothed and then painted. It did work quite well but I haven't seen them around for quite a while.
How did the move to the new cubes go? I well remember one place that I worked where one was obviously not supposed to get used to ones surroundings. We got moved at least once a month. We used to joke that whoever got to sit close to the project manager was the bad boy of the month.
on the de-icing woes. One thing that we don't have to put up with here.

Susie - I have been doing renovations for years. I routinely tackle painting and wall repairs. They are the simple things in life. It's a bit more difficult tiling, and plumbing and I have a resident electrician so I don't touch electricity apart from changing lightbulbs etc. I've built block walls, laid pavers, painted the inside (and wallpapered) and outside of the house and re insulated the roof cavity and then put a partial floor up there so I can store some stuff that I am not yet ready to get rid of. I've laid concrete and built fences as well. I do minor repairs on dishwashers, washing machines and fridges. This is the land downunder - we do as much for ourselves as possible - we haven't always had access to trades. I think we invented DIY. Apart from that, I have a very handy son and I happen to be part owner of a small excavator machine so I can dig holes with the best of them.

Happy - hope that your sleeping patterns sort themselves out shortly. It's a right pain to be awake when you really should be sleeping in the arms of Morpheus. I've had a few bad nights over the past few months and although I am not in pain, it is really not a great place to be in. Lately when it happens, instead of switching on the light and reading for a while, I get up and make a cup of tea and sit in a chair for a while just cogitating. It really isn't a good idea to wake up the brain completely I find. When I find myself spilling my tea all over my lap because I am drifting off with the cup in my hand, I go back to bed.
I think I read somewhere about you or your mum not getting through the workload once you had retired. It is so true that when days blur into one another we tend to put things off. I have now divided the household chores into days and must achieve them before midday. Usually by midday, I am done with everything anyway. So the early morning is out in the garden for an hour or so after walking the dog, then I do the allotted chores and the laundry if required and then I can sit and watch tv - although this is not happening so often anymore since I generally drift off to sleep for an hour or so and this buggers up my night time sleeping - or go out somewhere or do some renovations. Otherwise I will be putting things off again and again.
Glad to hear that Nina is okay.

Annie - bread sales are down for C? Around here, that's about all anyone can afford after massive spending and credit card blowout over Christmas and New Year. I really don't understand how they can fall for the same stupidity every year. Talk about dumbing down the human race.

Okay, I have been here forever, and I need to get on with things so I will leave off for now. Sorry Annie - out of time to comment anymore on the posts. I will make a new year goal to get back here more frequently. You will probably be glad to see the back of me after I have done the enforced six weeks rest after my surgery anyway.
Have a good day and don't forget those goals.

Good morning ladies,

Still pretty cold out there this morning but weather is supposed to slightly "warm" up by tomorrow. Ugh - so not a fan of winter this year, not that I ever way. I am upset that I ruined 17 of my precious Florida oranges when I left them in the 3 season room and they froze hard as rocks. That's alot of oranges to waste... Spent yesterday going through a bunch of CDs I picked up cheap from the Thrift Shop - kept a few and put a whole bunch to the side which I will take back with me when we head over there in a bit to visit with our friend. Still alot of work to do but making progress. Going to spend most of the weekend cleaning. While I was going through the cds I was looking for low carb recipes and preparing to start my new food plan on Monday. I did read something of interest. Said that if you eat 3 meals a day with 2 snacks (which is more often than I eat) that would amount to 35 food opportunities you have the power to change or revamp. Rather than trying to tackle everything at once and feeling like a failure quickly, instead work on mastering one group at a time. For example - in this next week I am going to challenge myself to eat an on plan breakfast every day. Doesn't mean you will ignore all the other meals, just means your "perfection focus" is limited to a smaller group that is easier to control. Also, this will start to reinforce habits. I thought this was a rather practical approach - particularly when you are trying to revamp your entire way of eating. I think I am going to focus on dinner and also finding "quick" breakfast options. I find food repulsive first thing in the morning but yet that also is one of my biggest downfalls because I wait until 1 or 2pm and then I am ravenous and will eat the first, easiest thing I can grab. My Tai Chi classes are at 8:30 Monday and Friday so I SHOULD grab something small prior to class or be ready to eat something just afterwards. Eggs are the obvious choice but I sure don't want to eat them 7 days a week.

Looks like Meadow broke open the stitches in her tail. She is not bleeding but the wound opened slightly and the stitches are slack. Not sure if the vet is open today, they have a sister office in a town 30 minutes from here - we will try and call them in a bit.

Shad - you have always been a master when it comes to being handy around the house. I admire that. I really have no excuse myself - I don't know how to do things but DH would certainly show me if I asked - it's just that he is a perfectionist and would rather do things his way although he would let me help in small ways if I asked. I'm sure it comes in handy for you to take care of yourself. I had the same issue with picking a color. Read a long time ago that they recommended using a neutral color and then adding accessories, curtains, and wall decor and such that would pop the color into the room. Much easier to change things up periodically that way. Grays are in right now, I've seen many that look nice and they even add a tiny bit of color into the gray to warm it up or cool it down depending on what you want for the room. Glad you finally got some much needed rain. Good idea to put the plants out when you can - natural rain seems much preferable to tap watering. Have you a plan on how to occupy yourself when you are on "enforced rest" after your surgery? Please make sure you don't leave loose ends to stare at and get you all rumbled up while you should be resting. ie. unfinished labor intensive projects that will temp and mock you. Have a good time at the brother's party - yum on the apple crumble. I like that as a dessert because it's so rich I can have just a large spoonful and be happy with it.

Laura - what flavor of soup did you decide on?

Ceejay - yes if you are planning on doing the WL tracking online, meetings would be a waste of time. Sometimes it's nice to have the camaraderie of other people - depends on what works for you. Whatever keeps you motivated is what matters most.

Anne - did the arm pain ease up? You HAVE been under a tremendous amount of stress over the past 2 months. I know it's easy to say but gotta start giving up alot to God to handle and not fret as much as you do - not good for the old ticker sister. I know, it's much easier not to fret when they don't CONTINUOUSLY THROW frettable things at you, right????

Susie - did you make it to your TOPS meeting?

Ok, well DH just breezed by and asked if I am ready to go out. No I am not. Haven't even finished the coffee yet. You early morning get up and goers are a pain people. Have a good weekend everyone.

Hi Everyone. It is frezzing cold on Ohio. I never saw the temperature go above 9 degrees today.

We did have TOPS and a pretty good turn out. I was the biggest loser with a 12 lb loss for two weeks. You could say this low fat eating is doing the trick. I am feeling really good, no more in the pancreas area....but I sure miss pizza!!

I also am using the recumbent bike almost every day.

Laura: Have you put up the art for the bedroom yet? Did you do anything different with your hair?

How are you feeling now that you started back with palatities?

Ceejay: Sorry to hear you are dealing with sinus issues. January 17 is a long way off. Have you thought about going to an urgent care type facility?

You are correct there is a lot of online support for weight loss but some people need the face 2 face interation with others. I go to TOPS as I need the weekly weigh-in accountability.

Annie: what did you find out at the liver doctor? I was alarmed when you said your arms were hurting. Has that happened before? Be sure to let you doctor know.

Happy: I loved the picture on Facebook of you in your early work years. It sounds like bingo went well. I expect people turn out for it when it is cold like this and snowy because they need a change from being cooped up in the house.

Time for me to get to bed. We have church in the morning and a gymnastics meet to attend in the afternoon for one of the nieces.

Susie
Hadn't thought about the urgent care. I'll have to look up to see if this area has a walk in type clinic at one of the pharmacies. Sure would like to get this cleared up. It sure has been cold up here. I'm happy to hear about your 12 pound weight loss, congratulations.

Shad
Good that you have some help doing the renovations. I realize that there s preparation work that has to be done before painting and that it is a boring process. But this time around I don't have another job that I have to do. Some warm rain would feel good right now.

Happy
Oh my, I can only imagine how upset I'd be if I let my oranges freeze. One of my problems is eating to much after 7 p.m. so I've been using yogurt or cheese as a stand by for protein. My regular exercise is taking off the inches too. I like to exercise in the early afternoon. Do you like the protein drinks. Carnation instant breakfast is good to me and I've used that when I don't feel like eating anything for breakfast or if I get up late.

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Need to get some things done.

Apparently you can still eat the frozen oranges. They will lose some colour and texture but can be used for cakes and icing and ice cream etc. I googled frozen oranges and got a range of options. Naturally fresh is best, but who wants to lose good juicy oranges even if we have made a mistake with their storage.

Good morning ladies,

Not sure what idiot in me decided that early morning Tai Chi classes on cold winter's mornings in the depth of the freeze of January and February would be a good idea. It's almost 7 and still dark as night out there. Plus there's a blanket of fresh snow from last night. At least it's the powdery, broom sweepable stuff that's easily cleaned.

Neither DH nor I slept very well. We both woke up around 1am. Meadow is barfing alot. First we thought it was because she was eating too many treats, then we thought it might be because she was wolfing down her food so yesterday we let her nibble and then picked up the food bowls. I'm wondering if it's anxiety also due to her surgery and the fact that her younger sister keeps stalking and chasing her. We are not sure if that's play on the part of Nina as they are not rolling on the ground fighting but Nina does get hollered at alot as she does not want her sister impinging on DH. Was hard for both of us to get back to sleep. I was shocked out of a dead sleep when the alarm went off at 6am today.

Today is weigh in for the weight loss challenge and start of my new eating plan.

Shad - thanks for the tip. The oranges are a wretched color of brownish orange and rather mushy. I did cut one open to see if it was salvageable as juice. I'd say not - something about the cells blasting apart. Maybe I just think it's not good - no that's not the case as I compared it to one orange I had kept in the refrigerator - huge difference. But thanks for the advice anyway. There are 17 oranges - I am heartsick.

Ceejay - thanks for the protein drink option - that might work in the morning! Be careful with the walk in clinics at the pharmacy. When I was in Memphis I went to Walgreens because I had a respiratory infection. The P/A read from a computer screen and wrote a prescription for an antibiotic. Didn't do a thing so I went back. Then she wrote one for a really strong antibiotic which proceeded to cause me all sorts of problems. I wound up going to the doctor who gave me a stern lecture. Of course they don't like those places, it takes business from the doctor's office - but still, be mindful. Just sayin' ...

Susie - congratulations on a FABULOUS weight loss for 2 weeks. That is amazing. Keep up the good work.

Hello to the rest of the ladies, I need to get a quick shower in before I head out for the day. Need to leave enough time to completely dry off before I head outside, lest I freeze like a popsicle.

Will check back in later. Happy Monday.

Morning all,

Happy - sorry that your oranges came out all mushy. I did a bit of an experiment last night and froze one of my oranges. When I took it out this morning, it was okay - still orange, but I couldn't cut it open to see so I stuck it in the food processor and it turned out okay. Could probably use it with fresh juice or over ice cream or something. But not something I would do just because I can. Sorry that you have wasted so many.
I like the idea of the food revamp. If you blow out on one, there are still the others to consider before saying you blew the day.
Yes greys are in for colour and I think that is what I will do in that room. It has to be a light grey before the room is small and can be dark and cool. (coolest room in the house in summer) and I will trim it with white and maybe add some colour with burgundy or orange or something.
Yes, natural rain is better for plants, it doesn't contain the chemicals used to ensure our drinking water is free of bugs and contaminants (so we contaminate it with something else ) I understand that lightning is good for the plants as well because it creates ozone in the air and the plants love it (well not if the lightning strikes the plant probably)
Hope you enjoy the Tai Chi today despite the rotten weather. We are in for another heatwave - up to 39C I believe for the next week. Prepare for the kiwi whinging about the heat.

Susie - 12lb loss over 2 weeks. Whatever you are doing, don't stop doing it. It's working.

Ceejay - I agree with not eating late in the evening. Even tho' the body does burn calories while we are asleep, it doesn't burn them fast. I find that a meal around 6pm - 6.30pm allows me to move around and do things after the dinner cleanup, and then when I go to bed the digestion process is already happening. I looked up eating late on the net but according to them, it doesn't matter how late you eat. Maybe because I am older and have always had dinners around that time I am happily in the groove so to speak. I don't mind a late dinner if someone is taking me out to a nice restaurant I must admit.

Okay, time to get off here and get started on the daily chores. We picked up some roofing material for the pergola yesterday, it should be delivered today. DS2 will be able to start putting it up and we will have some extra covered space in the house. Being an electrician he can also install a fan and some lighting so it can be used at night as well. This roofing is insulated so should keep some heat off (and out of) the house. We still need to paint a couple of rafters. I was going to do it this morning but discovered that the paintbrush was not cleaned up after the last painting a couple of days ago and neither was the roller. I will have to buy some new stuff down the road this morning - grrrrr............
So anyway. Off to the bathroom, laundry and loo and clean, clean, clean. It always amazes me how dirty things get within the week since the last clean.

See ya

Happy
Not sure that I will go back to that clinic. My doctor in Jonesboro would have given me an injection along with antibiotics. Plus in my opinion she was putting words in my mouth because my blood pressure was 120/80. I told her I had been exercising. So I'm keeping my appointment for the 17th. I need a follow up any way. She also wanted me to have an EKG. I will if the doctor wants me to.

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Made a pot of soup for dinner tonight. The bowl I ate sure was good. Still haven't felt like exercising. But I'm going to try tomorrow.

Hi Ladies. We are coming out of the deep freeze we have been in for over a week. We have light rain this morning which will help get some of the salt off the cars. I also plan to run them through the car washes today.

Happy: how was taichi? Did you end up taking a nap yesterday after being work up at 1 am and them getting up at 6 am? I would have.

Did you start with your new eating plan yesterday?

Shad,I think your pergola sounds like. It wil be very nice! I also liked the plan for the room you will paint a lighter gray and do orange and blue with it. So trendy right now!

Sorry to hear the brushes weren't properly cleaned snd stored after the last painting. That sort of stuff bothers me when my DH does it.
Thanks for the kudos on my weight loss. What I am doing is eating low fat and getting in exercise daily. I feel really good.

Ceejay: I think it is an excellent idea to follow up with your regular doctor after going to a walk in clinic or urgent care. Hopefully the meds the doctor gave you will help you get well while you wait to see your doctor next week.

I was so surprised to hear your doctor gives injections for a sinus infection. That is old school and I had a doctor who did that. I loved it as I always felt better the next day.

Hi to Annie and Laura.

Good Morning!

GOD answers prayers...so blessed with prayers answered..

My Friday appt was awful. I was depressed and tearful all weekend. Was told by the the liver doc (using a heart/liver scan from October 2015 when I had my heart attack) that I not only had cirrhosis of the liver. Yesterday evening I received the following email from my liver doc concerning the Hep C:

Your Labs were almost normal. Your hepatitis C virus is undetectable. This may be due to ups and downs in the virus level. Rarely do patients with CHRONIC infection clear it on their own. Clearance happens more often with acute infections. He recommends repeating the test in 2 mos to confirm.

What God???

Now as far as the cirrhosis goes, I had a fibroscan yesterday. This will determine if I have cirrhosis. The tech said she was looking at all normal tissue and numbers when she was doing the scan. Keeping my fingers crossed and the line open to God's ears.

Will come back for personals.

Got to get busy.

Sheese, made it back. I do believe everyone thinks I am a water hydrant, putting out their fires. eh, no.

LAURA...yes, I am referring to tiny houses on HGTV. They are all cute and stuff, but way too small and I don't like stairs to climb to get to bed as in most of the designs. I don't want stairs as I would probably break my neck. Angeled eggs is just another way of saying deviled eggs. Keeping it positive. How did BFs colonscopy come out? lol. I know not funny.

SHADDIE...yahoo on you getting rain. Bout time. We are having 49 deg with rain today. Thank God it is not snow as much as it is raining and blowing 40-50 mile an hour winds it would of been a blizzard. How was your nephew's birthday party? How old? We had to take Sassy of her antibiotics for her bladder infection, only two days left anyway. They were making her vomit. Like 3 to 5 hours later. The entire pill would still be whole within the vomit. Bleh. Was tired of doing bedding laundry or where ever she decided to get sick. One day in my hands while C ran and got paper towels. That was about gross.

CEEJ...so did you actually have a sinus infection. That is amazing that your doc gives injections for sickness, anymore no docs do that nor to they prescribe anything. Kind of useless going to the doc these days. How are you feeling?

HAPPY...had to snicker about you getting CDs from the Thrift Store and taking back the ones you do not want. Just struck me funny, no reason just did. How is Meadow feeling after she pulled her stitches out? Sassy did that with her incision from her hysterectomy. She was healed enough that it is all ok. Ahhh the arm pain, joke is on me. My arm kept hurting. I caught a glimpse of the back of my arm in the mirror, low and behold, there is a bruise the size of a softball and it is a bit hard. No wonder my arm hurt. Don't know how I did it either. Rather that than a heart issue. It is much better today and not so paining. Speaking of pain, how are your knees and feet doing these days? Used any of the Biofreeze? Helping any? Some days I need Biofreeze for my brain. True story. How was first day of eating healthy? and WI? My doc said to eat protein for breakfast to keep full even if it was 1-2 oz of hard cheese, not the processed kind. The protein gets your metabolism going too.

SUSIE....whew whooooooooo on 12 lbs down. Low fat must be the key for you and less carbs? Congrats sister. Our deep freeze is over also now it is raining like crazy. Better than snow any day. Keep up the great work. What day is TOPS?

That about covers it, hello to all.

Hugs

Afternoon all. Quick post. BF's colonoscopy was fine, and yes, Annie, everything came out all right, haha. Fingers he won't need to have another one for five years.

Back at home, I watched the 2015 movie "Maps to the Stars" (very disturbing) and made a pot of the Italian beef/veg soup.

I had a morning meeting and a business lunch that went long, so the day's gone by quickly. I'll try to catch up on reading your posts, but I may not be posting tomorrow because it's move day. I've already moved the contents of several file drawers and my overhead bin, but there's still everything on my desk and another couple desk drawers. I also don't know how long I'll be without my computer once they come to disconnect, move, and reconnect it.

That's it for me. Have a good rest of the day everyone.

Laura
Didn't realize that you were moving? Did you get a promotion?

Susie and Annie
I didn't get an injection this time for the sinus infection. I did get a pneumonia prevention shot.

Happy
Hope that Meadow feels better. Good for you in getting up and going to your exercise class in the bad weather. Don't know about you but it makes me feel better.

Annie
I've heard that doctor's don't like to give antibiotics but this one was an APN. I tried to go with out going to any one but this keeps hanging on. And this was a bacterial infection instead of viral. It was caused by the mold on the leaves that mulched.

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I was very happy that the last couple of times that I've had my blood pressure checked that it was 120/80, the best it has been in years. The reason I'm keeping my doctor's appointment is that the APN told me she heard a double heart beat on the S4. Not sure what that means but I do want a second opinion. He didn't say anything about it when I was there for my blood work. She asked me all sorts of questions in which most of the answers were no, and was trying to put it in my head that I was dizzy. I am at certain times. I told her I had been exercising and doesn't that bring your blood pressure down!!!! Now I'm confused. I'll find out next week.
I have a follow up appointment with the foot doctor tomorrow morning. My toe has been doing a lot better concerning the pain.
Went to the gym today and walked on the treadmill for thirty minutes then did some of the weight machines.

Good Morning....very tired this morning. Didn't take my gabapentin till 9:30 last night plus stayed up to watch This is Us. Could barely keep my eyes open driving to work and much less now. Just want to lay down and snooze a couple of hours. Maybe under my desk. lol.

Still waiting on the results from the fibroscan. No word yet. bleh...

Make it a great day.

Hugs