We made it to Maryland. We drove through 5 states to get here today. We started in Indiana, then Ohio, then Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and finally Maryland. What some beautiful country! And what a nice cabin my sis has rented for us up in the mountain. I'm not sure how to post from here but I will post some on FB.

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Annie
Thank you for coming by to visit while we were in Indiana. My sis was impressed that we knew each other so well. She enjoyed meeting and visiting with you also.

We have some company so I will close for now.

Hello Ladies!

We have a beautiful sunny and warm day here is Ohio...and lost of blue sky. Makes me happy!

We had a great time at the Elvis show last night. Both me and DH are fans and we love to go to Memphis. Mike Albert puts on a great show....there are times I have to tell myself, "that is not Elvis".

DH and I managed to get all the floors and baseboards and wood doors and trim in the dinning room, bedroom, hallway and living room wiped down and mopped with Murphy's oil soap. It smells so good in here.

Still a lot of spring cleaning to do but it will all get some in the next few weeks.

Last night we booked our rental car and hotel for June 6-9 when we will drive to Ashville NC to check out the town and the Biltmore. A single friend of ours is going as well with a friend of hers so we should have a very fun time. I'm excited that I'll spend my birthday there. I want to drive to Mt. Pilot one day (which is really where the Andy Griffith show was filmed) so that we can take the Blue Ridge Mountain Highway. I hear it is a beautiful drive.

Today DH and I are going to spring clean his closet and two of this chest of drawers. Some things have got to go! Mine are all done!

Ceejay: I am enjoying your pictures on Facebook. Have a wonderful trip!

Shad: I am glad to hear you can post here again. About the hair....it will take time...and soon it will be cold there and you will need to wear hats anyway. Think about the cute short spring "do" you will be sporting!

I am sorry to hear that you are having some family issues. I say, keep ODDU and let everyone else move.

Your garden sounds very nice and it is rewarding to eat what you have grown.

Thank you for the support with my 1 lb gain last week. I'm already working on it hard to make sure that this Thursday that gain is gone and at least 1 more pound with it.

Ellen: Nice to hear the car repairs weren't to expensive. Happy Anniversary to you and your DH. It sounds like you had a very nice dinner out.

You asked about the daily exercise and the stress of the day. Yes it does help a lot. Sometimes when I get home from work, I don't want to go do it. I have found it works better if I come in and get out of my work clothes and into my workout clothes. Usually I will get go get on the bike or the treadmill but sometimes I want to sit for a minute and chill with the local newspaper. So I let myself as long as I am in my workout clothes. It makes it easier to just go from that 15 min small break to my workout out.

Hello to Laura, Annie & Happy!

Good morning ladies,

I have to go to work at the Senior Center today. All day - 8am to 4pm. Which means I had to get up at 5:30 this morning so that I have enough time to have some coffee, shower and get dressed, figure out what to wear 8 times over and waste 15 minutes this morning looking for my distance glasses. I will most likely spend my entire day on the phone taking calls from everyone wanting to schedule bus rides for this upcoming week. The lady's computer screen is set far enough back on her desk so I NEED my distance glasses to see the computer which I need to then type in everyone on the schedule for various days. 5:30am - ugh - this was an ugly reminder of why I am GLAD to not be having a regular job anymore. Yes I know, boo hoo - you guys do this all the time.

We had a nice weekend. Yesterday we went to a buffet at our favorite Italian restaurant. It was a small buffet - fresh fruit and cheese, panzanella salad with diced tomatoes & red onions, arugula/rocket, not near enough croutons for a panzanella salad and a light dressing. There was roast pork, cheese tortellini in a cream sauce, mashed potatoes and their version of pizzas. Then they had a dessert table with cheesecakes and small pastries. Yep, no pasta with red sauce - that's the kind of place it is. They want to make it uniquely their own and that's ok. We like the couple that own it and their food. We were going to go to the casino with another couple but she cancelled on us last minute yet again. So we changed and went over to a friend's house who dug up a bleeding heart bush plant that was crowding out her bed. Got home and tried to decide where to put it. Every place DH wanted I didn't like because it was in the back of the house where you'd never see it. Consequently he also did not like any of my suggestions. A few years ago DH carved out a big tree log into a planter for me. It sets on big rocks and I called it our "Flintstone" planter because it reminded me of the car Fred Flintstone from the cartoon drove. He did a lot of work hacking out the middle for the planter but it never really worked out because it was too shallow and I guess the wood would still absorb the watering we gave the plants so the dirt was always too dry. Or the deer would come and eat the plants It turns out the spot where that set was perfect for the new bush. Now to move this 300 pound tree log. After a couple of failed attempts we put our heads together and got the strapping right and DH hauled it off on his ATV to the back of the woods. He dug out a pit and we planted the bleeding heart which I hope will be very happy and flourish nicely. I was amazed at DH, he is still very strong for a 67 year old guy. Afterwards we sat on the deck for a while and enjoyed the nice day and had some lemonade. There were deer in the yard that suddenly went leaping across the grass. 30 seconds later Mr. Bear came out of the woods to claim their corn. We had been waiting for them to make an appearance. DH took several pictures and then shot him in the butt with a pellet gun to get him to move along. But he will be back because he's hungry and remembers where there is food. This ends our feeding of the deer which is a shame because several of the does are pregnant. However they are grazing the grass so there is lots of nice tender shoots for them to eat. I pulled a few boxes out of the garage and went through them. The thrift shop will be getting some nice stuff as well as several hardly ever used pairs of dress shoes I no longer need or wear. And that's about it.

I'm sorry I don't have the time to do personals this morning. I would have if I didn't have to search all over the house for my glasses today - it turns out I knocked them to the floor off the end table when I was talking to my Mom yesterday and didn't notice them on the floor. All is well - I can drive and see the computer today. Have a good day everyone, I will try and check in tonight.

Good Morning Everyone! Tis a beautiful day here in Indiana and supposed to be for the next several. Highs in the mid-80s. Yeee a bit warm for C. He likes 60s. Hot air wears him out just as cold air. Poor Guy! What a whirl wind of a weekend.

Friday night...Jacob had a baseball game. Let me try to describe it to you. Pretend the players are ants, the ball is a cinnamon roll. Batter/ant hits the ball/cinnamon roll, it goes to the infield, all the players/ants dash to the ball/cinnamon roll to field the ball, occasionally the batter-ant joins in fielding his own ball. Then the batter/ant realizes what he is doing and runs over to first base all the while the player-ant throws the ball/cinnamon roll to first base of course he doesn't throw accurately, first base player/ant then goes after it. OMGosh, what a long hour that is on me. hahahahah Hilarious to watch. Jacob did get hits of the coach pitch balls. After 5 coach pitch throws they use a T to hit off of. Chris's family was there and very ugly to me and Sam. I just flounced my butt right past them and didn't even give them a look after that. They probably were not looking my way anyway.

Then I finally caught up to CEEG. What a lovely person and her sister and BIL are the nicest, sweetest, kindest people ever. No wonder she wants to live by them. CEEG is just as sweet as they are. We had a nice visit, laughed and talked constantly. Of course I can be a yacker when I want too. lol. We visited for about an hour or so then I headed home as it was already about 9:30 since I had to go to Js ballgame first.

SATURDAY was just as crazy. Meeting in the morning which was very good. Topic was name some joys that have come to us in sobriety. Also on topic was practicing the principals of AA in all of our affairs-when did we apply them.

Jacob's ballgame was a noon. Another ant fest. bah. My brother Eddie and SIL, Cindy came. We visited all the while watching the comedy. I bought their lunch at the ball park. Two hotdogs, two chips and a beverage all for 5 bucks. I didn't eat as I knew I would be eating later with a friend. Said friend Diane, picked her up at the airport at 3pm. She flew in from Corpus Christi, Texas. We went over to her momma's house as her mom was out of the nursing home on a day pass. Mom is recovering from knee replacement and not doing the greatest. PT is slow. Knee hurts a lot. Surgery was over two months ago. I refrained from telling her the woes of knee surgery from others I know (HAPPY). It was a surprise as Diane flew in for Mother's Day. Her mom was shocked to see Diane. I am one of their family too. Diane and I go back to 7th grade. I went on vacation with them once as a teen. Did a lot of family things with them too. Cute reunion and I recorded it on Diane's phone for her. Got home about 7pm. Baby boy came home for mother's day. He spent the night. My heart was full all day long.

Sunday was another busy day. We didn't do church as we all stayed up late talking. I didn't even get up till 9, altho awake since 5 when C went to work. He got home at 10 to spend the day with us. My son took us to eat at Bluebird restaurant in Morristown, In, about a 30 minute ride from home. They are notorious for their fried chicken. It was yummy and I stay in KETO. Picked the breading off and ate the chicking. Greenbeans, mushrooms and a few shrimp. I didn't get salad cause I had been salad-ed out. They did have a very nice salad bar. They had a popular town chef that I didn't know carving ham or/or roast beef if you wanted that. I tried a bit of ham. Delish, was a bit salty for me but good. Got home from there about 3. The rest of the day was spent out on the porch chatting. Son left around 5:30. Then another highlight of the day...Samantha, the boys and C had a water balloon fight. I was the judge. Ha, all I did was laugh at them and reminding them no balloons to the face area. We all know a 3 and 5 year old balloons go where they go. What a hoot. Both dogs tried to play. Sassy mostly sat on my lap and barked. What a fun time. Off to bed at 9.

Oh and we have a baby bunny nest in the old garden area. Sam had raked the leaves around the fence line that get stuck and threw them in the garden area. Just as we were about to till that area we noticed a bunch of hair balls in a little rutted area. FIVE baby bunnies, sixth one dead. They are the tiniest little things and have to watch Bruno-Sam's dog as he has spotted them. He doesn't try to get them but snorts on the nest and I am sure the babies think it is some kind of tornado coming through. The bunnies are so small they barely have hair, their eyes are still closed and their ears are barely a 1/4" long. We need HAPPY's DH to come down and shoot some pictures. We could also take him on a covered bridge tour for pictures. Just a thought HAPPY. Wink wink.

Now here I am at work getting ready for the week. I will be off on Wedsnesday as Sam and Chris have their first court date at 10:00 am. It is all good. Chris has signed of on everything. Even child support. Of course it is calculated by the state of Indiana so he really cannot fight it and Sam is not asking for anything extra. If this is OK'd by the judge the divorce will be final 60 days after that. Fingers crossed. I get to spend quality time with the boys on Wednesday.

SHADDIE...don't ever feel like you cannot chat about family issues. Unless you just don't want to. LORD knows everyone else in here does as this is a SUPPORT group, not a judgement group. Plus sometimes we post helpful suggestions. bah. So glad you are feeling better each day. Your hair will grow back by leaps and bounds. Michael had very stick straight hair like mine and it grew back with a wave in the top. He kept his hair short anyway but couldn't do a thing with the top wavy part. I am sure he was just not used to it and didn't know how to style it. Didn't matter anyway we loved him just the same. So cheers to feeling better and hair growth. Take 10,000 mg of BIOTIN a day.

Posting this, to be continued, almost lost it twice.

OK back. Just noticed HAPPY posting over my head.

HAPPY...Bleeding heart plants are one of my favs. Lucky gal. I saw the bear pic and the deers on FB. Hubs does a nice job of photography. Like I said, you all need to hurry down and take pics of our baby bunnies. Aww that is just a poly to get you hear. Working in the senior center is a nice change from the thrift shop. I hope it works out for you and you find a nice place to volunteer that doesn't drive you crazy. Your friend you will be helping sounds like a nice person. That helps. The Italian buffet sounds wonderful. Always love a good salad bar. I would forego the croutons, pasta and dessert. Hope you had a nice FURRY momma's day and DH too. He has plenty of furry friends. What did Meadow and Nina get you for mom's day? lol. Oh I forgot to tell you all, C, S and son all got me the most heartfelt cards that brought tears to my eyes. Plus DS got me a gift card for Starbucks. Didn't have the heart to tell him I don't go there anymore due to KETO. I guess I can go there for unsweet black iced tea. DD didn't get me anything but did do some extra work around the house that I had mentioned I wanted to get done. Loved that. And Curtis, bless his heart got me an Amazon gift card. OH YEAH! We got a nice card for Sam plus a gift card and let the boys give that to her. DS got his sis a couple of gift cards, one for the movies and one for Subway. Very cute. Anyway, hope your day is smooth at the Senior Center and stay calm with the elderly, deep breaths before each phone call you anwer.

SUSIE...wow you had a very nice time out with Elvis. I have never been to one of those personater shows. Guess I should put it on my "to do" list. I am still trying to figure out a good time to get to meet up with you and/or DH. Sam and I have discussed KI but frankly after about an hour of walking my ankle is NOT with the program. SO for now that is on the very back of the burner. We are going to do a new water park that is opening up on the north side of Indy in Carmel. Pretty cheap for the first year. Ten dollars for adults and 5 for kids, under 3 free. I can do the lazy river, no problem. hahahaha. Our warm nice days are your warm nice days too or eventually. Got to love them. Makes me happy. I am sure your WL at TOPS will be down that lb plus more...my goodness you are certainly rocking this WL girl. I am so proud of you. The Blue Ridge Mountain drive is gorgeous. We did it about 25 years ago when I was married to ex. Just gorgeous. I need to do it again as it is faint in my mind. Will you be passing through Indy at that time. I can hold a sign up for you also at an exit. lol.

CEEG...I know you are enjoying yourself with sis and BIL plus their grandbabes and daughter. Safe travels and love on those babies.

LAURA...yep with this wonderful weather we are FINALLY having it is time to get out your bike. Nice of BF to park over to the side in the garage to get your bike out. I think gift cards are the bomb. Mom will enjoy going to purchase her own taste in house plants. You are a wonderful daughter. I wouldn't doubt she has some planters she drug along in the move. lol. Hope your week is a good one at work. Yep when the boss is out it is called an in-house vacation.

ELLEN...Happy anniversary. 16 years with the same person is saying a lot. C and I just got to 4. Altho by the time my divorce was final from EX we were married 22 years. 21 together. Other than my kids, what a waste. Live and learn. Anyway, glad the fam is getting healthy again. Have a good week. When does DH go out of town next?

DEE...hope you are feeling better. Please post your status. Hugs.

Hello to all.

Hugs too!

Morning all. Back to work today. We had an all-employee meeting this morning. They announced that they are down to two options for relocating our office – staying put or the building kitty-corner from us. Nothing I didn’t already know a month ago... Our department meeting was moved to this afternoon. Big whoop.

My weekend was pretty good. Lovely weather, for sure. Saturday I didn’t do much other than running some errands. My mom, who’d previously said she didn’t want to go out to eat for Mother’s Day left a message on Friday “hinting” that she wanted some chocolate creams as a gift. Of course, after I brought them home Saturday, I found she’d left another message saying no to the chocolates and saying she wanted us to set up her stereo instead. Then on Sunday, I called to set up a time to go over there and do that, she had a stomach ache, so we didn’t see her at all. I guess it'll have to be next weekend.

With no plans for Sunday, I decided to take a bike ride on a bike path that goes through a large forest preserve not too far from home. I couldn’t remember what adapter to use to inflate the tires on my “real” bike, so I took my commute bike instead.

I rode about 4 miles just to get to the bike path, and then rode about 5 miles of the path and then rode another 3-4 miles home from where I ended up on the path. Lovely day and a nice ride, but with only 3 speeds, it was definitely more difficult than it could have been vs. my other bike. Then again, I’m not in great shape for riding at the moment. My rump and other parts are sore and my quads are tired today from the ride.

[Boring ramble about my bike follows…no need to read….]
Today when I got to the train station and was about to lock my bike, I noticed I didn’t have my cable/padlock! I left the bike and my (old) helmet there unlocked and texted bf asking if he’d seen it. Of course he took that badly, like I was accusing him of moving it. But at my request, he did agree to take another cable/lock and lock up my bike.

But the question remains – what happened to my cable/lock? I have a basket behind the seat of my bike (sits over the rear fender) and I keep the cable in there when I’m riding. It’s a thick, heavy duty cable and I can’t imagine it falling out of my basket while riding without my hearing/feeling it. Especially since I put my purse in the basket on top of the cable. So now I’m trying to think if I did anything with my cable when I went for my ride yesterday. I think I made a deliberate decision to just leave the cable in the basket in case I wanted to stop enroute anywhere. And then I had my fleece hoodie in the basket, as well as my water bottle (the commuter bike doesn’t even have a water bottle cage on it). Now I’m thinking that the cable wasn’t even in the basket at that point, and if it was, it would have been underneath the hoodie and the water bottle and it would be unlikely that it would fall out.

And so I think the cable was taken out of the basket at some point. I parked my bike on the patio next to the grill on Friday after work. But also on Friday night, bf grilled steaks for dinner. Even if he moved the bike to get access to the grill, he wouldn’t have done anything with the cable. I’m stumped.

[End of ramble. On to another.]

I found a pair of vintage wooden chairs on Craigslist to go with the vintage drop-leaf table I bought for the 3-season room last fall. Bf and I picked them up yesterday. Pretty sure they had originally been stained in some sort of brown finish, and at some point they had been painted solid black. The sellers told us they started sanding them in preparation to paint them yet another color, but then they decided the “distressed” look was interesting. So we bought the two chairs and I may or may not repaint them to match the white table because we do like the distressed look, and the black goes well with the futon we have out there, which also has a black frame. And the chairs go well with the table because the table has turned legs and the chairs also have turned legs and spindles - sort of a shabby chic look. I’ll be glad to get rid of the old dinette set, which had sturdy chairs, but a rather UNsturdy table. It will go on Craigslist.

After picking up the chairs, we stopped by bf’s mom’s place, which was on the way home. She had a nice but pricey brunch earlier in the day, courtesy of bf’s brother. She doesn’t like that he always wants to go out to some fancy brunch along with hordes of other people, but she did say this one was nice in spite of that. Bf will take her out to lunch or dinner this week as her Mother’s Day treat. Unlike my mom, she does enjoy food and going out to different places for yummy eats.

That’s about it for me. Hopefully I can get back for some personals later on today. Have a great day everyone!

Hi Everyone,

I am about to head home for the day. When I get there I'm going straight to the treadmill. We had a ice cream truck on site today (to boost morale I think) and I had a cone. I have not eaten full fat ice cream since December. I told myself only if I go on the treadmill tonight.

Laura: Nice to hear you had good weather too this weekend. That is very interesting and a bit disconcerting about the bike cable lock. I have had things like that happen that they don't make sense at all and I can't figure it out.

About the chairs, I would sit them out with the table as is for now and look at them for a while and then decide what you want to do with them. I have a sturdy table that I need to find new chairs for...I'd really like a new table, but I have decided to take a trip to Ashville instead! lol

Anne: I would love to see you and your daughter and anyone else you want to bring to Cincinnati. I understand about Kings Island and all the walking. There are other things to do in Cincinnati that would be fun in the downtown area. We could do the Duck Ride, tours of the city, go to a baseball game....think about it. Or we could come to Indy for a day and meet up with you.

Laura: If you are thinking you would like to come to Cincy and go to KI or something else, let me know!

Happy: How did you day go. I was giggling when I was reading your post. that is how I feel when I get up everyday for work!

Hi to Ceejay, Shad, Ellen and Dee. Time for me to get out of here and go home.

Hi Susie - Glad you felt better for the weekend! The Elvis show sounded fun. Re riding the bike to the train station - you wouldn't be worn out if you lived close to it like I do - it's only 5-6 blocks and only takes a few minutes to pedal over there. And the train ride is easy, very,very rare to not get a seat . Yup, some days when something goes wrong it feels like a long tiring journey and like I've already lived a whole day by the time u finally get to work, but that's infrequent too. -- Your vacation plans sound wonderful. What a fun way to celebrate your birthday! -- I agree with you about changing into workout clothes right away - keeps you on track for your workout.

Ellen- Glad, the car repair didn't cost an arm and a leg, knock wood. My bf and I have our fingers crossed that the power steering pump in our old car doesn't need to be replaced. Bf replaced the o- rings on Saturday & topped off the fluid. == Happy 16th anniversary to you and your husband! == Low key is perfect,IMO. == Okay, so both you and Happy were both South siders. Big.mystery to me - I grew up on the far northwest side.

Shad - I'm happy to hear that the chemo side effects are subsiding. Just need to get that hair to grow back soon! Sorry to hear about the family woes, I hope it settle down. You would miss ODDU!!

Ceejay - What a lot of driving! Glad you arrived safe & sound. I'm happy you and Annie met enroute. Enjoy the cabin, it looks nice. Great photos you're posting on fb. Thanks for sharing them!

Happy - I hope your day at the senior center went well. I bet it flew by! - Your weekend sounded nice, especially the buffet at your favorite ltalian restaurant. Bleeding hearts are pretty - they're perennials right? I'll have to research those and see where I could plant one...

Annie - Love your description of J's ballgame! == I hope the crummy behavior from Chris's family & neighbors stops soon - not a good thing to expose the kids to. And be civil & have a little class, for crying out loud. So great you met with Ceejay, and her sis & BIL. == How nice your friend surprised her mom, and the reunion with her gram & family - & you too! == Sounds like a perfect Mother's Day for you! You deserve it!!

Dee, come on back and give us an update! How was your Mother's Day??

Did I miss anyone? Started this on the train & finishing at home . Took the earlier train home cuz allergies are kicking my butt today.. I just wanted to get home and take some Sudafed to dry out my ears.

Okay, time to get this posted. Have a good rest of the day everyone.

Good Day all....

Well I decided to take the afternoon off since it was so lovely and not much on the agenda at work. Left at 12:30, stopped at the grocery and was home by 2. Spent the rest of the day outside until I came in at 4:30 to shower and get dinner ready. Grilled boneless pork chops, stuffed mushroom caps, rice for C and the boys, and cauliflower. Quite yummy. Did a load of Sassy's laundry and that was it. Sis had done a load of our laundry, folded/hung and put away. She also cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.

Poor lil Royce has the creeping crude again. At least no fever as yet. Just a very congested head cold. I am not pointing fingers but seems like after he spends time at his dad's house, he comes down sick. OK MAYBE I AM POINTING FINGERS<---all ten of them. Anyway, Sam gave him some dimetapp last night and he slept so sound that he peed the bed. He has not done that since being potty trained a year ago or when he is sick. He gets so upset when he does that as it wakes him up plus I really think it p*sses him off that he did it. He cries about it. God love his heart.

LAURA...Give the lock a few days it will show up in the most unlikely place. Check the garage where the charcoal, lighter fluid or the grill essentials are kept. That is my guess. We lost the remote control to the living room TV over the weekend. Hmmm, found it in the toy room. Now I wonder how it got there? lol. I also found the keys to the shed and gates outside on the brick border around the flower garden. Hmmm, I think I know how that happened, SAMANTHA. She admitted to leaving them there on Sunday. Yes, let's lock up the shed and leave the keys for the thieves. Good job on the bike hike. It would of been the death of me and my arse. The chairs sound like a perfect fit with the table. Good job.

SUSIE...what is the duck ride? We will have to figure out something. June and July are getting full but I am sure we could figure out something. Jacob starts school on July 24th, so preferably we could do something prior to that. Did you get on the treadmill to counteract the ice cream? Hope your day is wonderful.

Hello to all, make it a great day/night.

Hugs

Morning all. Feeling better this morning. The way I felt yesterday, I thought I might have to stay home today, but nope. I suppose all the pollen got to me when I ate my lunch outside yesterday. Guess I’ll be eating indoors today...

Annie – Nice you took the afternoon off, it sure was a nice day to do it. We had pork for dinner too – grilled pork tenderloin. Yum. == Poor R. sick again. I hope he feels better soon. Send those boys over to his dad’s with disinfecting wipes and antibacterial gel and tell them to wash their hands a lot! Oh, you don’t have to point all ten fingers at C., just one specific finger… == I think the cable and lock are gone. We looked around the patio and garage, and I called the train station depot and nothing's come up. I have a feeling that I had a brain cramp on Friday night after work. I might have unlocked the bike, letting the cable and lock fall on the ground while I grabbed the helmet & put it on. Then took off the plastic bag covering my bike seat and just went on my way, forgetting that the cable and lock were sitting on the ground. Duh. Or the other scenario is that the cable & lock just fell out of the basket and I pedaled on, oblivious. Now, the TV remote and keys would be much more of a dire situation!! Glad they turned up!! == Oh, a duck ride is in an amphibious vehicle that can drive on land and go in the water too! I guess the military used these types of vehicles and now they are used for sightseeing tours - last one I took was when some friends and I went to the Wisconsin Dells.

Susie - Our building management company has an ice cream social in the building lobby every summer. No harm when it's an infrequent indulgence, but bravo to you for doing the treadmill and keeping that promise you made to yourself!! == I was going to suggest going on your local Craigslist to look for some chairs for your table (not upholstered, right?), but you're going to NC and isn't that area known nationally for its furniture manufacturing?? You should see if you can get a deal on some chairs, you'll be right at the source!! I'll give some thought to a trip to Cincy.

Hellos to the rest of you.
==

Nothing much to report from here. Bf brought my unlocked bike home in the afternoon, and then he gave me a ride home from the train. I took my Sudafed and felt better by bedtime. We had grilled pork tenderloin for dinner along with beans and couscous.

I used a different lock and cable to take to the train, so the bike is safely locked today.

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

Good morning chicks,

Got up early to see DH off on his trip. He's excited - I hope he gets good photo opportunities. The weather at first was supposed to be yucky but now it looks like it will clear up some. Good thing he has a truck - he sure did pack alot AND he will have to carry it up to the second floor at his hotel - no elevator in the historic section he is in. Still I hope he has a good time. I have the pistol, pellet gun and rifle loaded here It's 37 minutes after he left and one cat is wandering aimlessly and the other is sitting on the rug facing the door. "I can't believe HE is gone and we are stuck with HER - oh the horrors" As for myself I am pretty motivated to tackle a bunch of clutter here and do some deep cleaning and reorganizing. DH will return and think he's in the wrong house. I have volunteer stuff tomorrow and on Sunday but otherwise I am no plans to leave the house. Good thing because it's going to be rainy wet for the next several days. At least that takes care of the fire danger - always a concern of mine this time of year.

My day at the senior center went fine. Thankfully the phones were not as busy as I feared and I was able to keep up with things. I did handle 42 calls that day. Yesterday at the thrift shop we also had a busy day - a nice cash deposit at day's end. We got some of last year's left over summer stuff from a nearby boutique - it was still really nice classic stuff. I was dismayed that they marked $120 dresses for FIVE DOLLARS. One of the women that works in the boutique prices everything at rock bottom prices and then complains loudly when we spend money to improve the store like putting up new hanging racks we needed. And it doesn't do any good to talk to her at all. She just says "whatever" and walks away from you. Needless to say - several ladies came into the store and scooped up these brand new bargain dresses and shoes. And the flea market resellers are heading back in. One guy came in yesterday and bought 3 bags of books.

Laura - bummer about losing your bike lock and cable - that had to be frustrating. Glad you are feeling better - I didn't realize you can get so sick from the pollen just from eating outside. That has to be a real downer. I'm glad your office is not moving far - that would be a real hassle if you had to take a bus from the train station or had a much longer walk. Yay on the furniture score for the 3 season room! It's nice that the colors went along with the other things you had - a new design theme just by accident. It's nice to change things around also - sometimes just a few pieces makes a big difference on a whole new look. Now you are ready to enjoy the room as the nice weather moves in.

Annie - ok you mention Blue Ridge Mountain drive and now I have John Denver's "Country Roads" song playing in a loop in my head. Over and over LOVED your description of Jacob's baseball game. I give lots of props to the coaches who try and teach them the game. I would be smiling all through the game. Love little kids. Really little kids until they get sassy. Sorry R is sick again - does C have a dog or something the kid might be allergic to that brings on the crud? Then again, it's so easy for kids to pick up germs and stuff. Hopefully they outgrow it. Glad to hear you had a nice Mother's Day with the family as it should be.

Ceejay - looks like you are have a wonderful time on your trip. Loving the pictures you are taking. Glad you and Annie got to meet too.

Susie - glad you had a good time at the Elvis show. Have you been to Memphis? Why didn't you look me up? Good job for getting on the treadmill after you ate some ice cream. I swear you have to make it a habit so that it's just routine to get the exercise in and you don't even think about it. I keep forgetting about getting on the NuStep until I am about to go to bed.

Shad - it sounds like you have a nice garden planted with plenty of variety in the veg group. I hope you will be home long enough to actually enjoy your crop this time. Sorry to hear about the issues with the family. I know you will miss them but especially ODDU. You will need to get one of your own!! It's time although Sunday the cat will no doubt disagree.

Happy belated anniversary Ellen. Yes the years do fly quickly by.

You guys make me feel so old - DH and I were married 40 years ago last month - talk about time FLYING by. I could not imagine us as old people. Still can't.

I'm going to try and see if I can get an hour's nap in before I get going on the day. Getting up at 5am twice this week was just too hard on this old lady. Have a good hump day chicks.

Afternoon all. Had an all-morning meeting.

Quiet here. I guess Annie is immersed in Wicked Wednesday.

Happy – I hope DH has a good trip and takes lots of great photos, and that you accomplish what you intend while he’s gone. == I’m glad your day at the senior center was sane for your first time. Too bad about the thrift shop underpricing – I’m sure it’s so frustrating to know that the shop could have made so much more on those boutique items. I have to think it’s worse than overpricing – what do you think? That woman needs to be reminded that this is done for the benefit of the HS and the animals. The top priority is not to have the highest inventory turnover in history. == Re the pollen – I think I felt alright before I went to lunch that day, but I could’ve already been overexposed to it from my bike ride on Sunday. (Though I showered immediately upon my return from the ride.) All I know is that it’s ironic that I was sitting in a pretty plaza not far from our office, eating my lunch and admiring the shrubs and blooming things (even took a photo) only to return to the office to have an allergy attack. ==

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Nothing much to report on my end. Bf bought me a new cable with a built in lock yesterday. Light weight cable, and the lock is built into the cable, so only one thing to keep track of. Works for me.

It was really warm yesterday and the temps didn’t drop much overnight. It was warm in the house, but I slept pretty well with the ceiling fan going on low speed.

Today’s warm too, and windy again. I hope any rain/storms hold off until I get home tonight.

I have to get back to tracking my food on MFP and also back to my exercising! It’s been nearly two weeks since getting back from vacation and I haven’t gotten back to either. Tonight I'll exercise.

That’s it for me. So I'll post this and get back to work.

Morning all,
Looks like we are about to get another rain period this weekend. Seems to be two different systems out there - one moving south and the other moving east. The whole of the eastern seaboard will be wet for the weekend.

Other than that, there is not much news from around here. The DS2 and ODDU and Romeo the cat are still with me and probably will be for the next six weeks or so. But at least it is quiet now and no shouting and yelling for the time being. Never pays to have two women in the house really, especially two that are diametrically opposed as to what constitutes a tidy house. Unless of course the other woman is a daughter.

I'm finding my strength slowly returning and yesterday was a very productive day. I got the spare room, hallway and wet rooms scrubbed and cleaned, then took out buckets of weeds from the rose garden and surrounds, made a weeks worth of food for the ODDU, did a bit of shopping and then trimmed the big tree in my front yard so the DS2 could get his truck into the carport. Made dinner and cleaned up afterwards. Felt very tired last night so slept well. Lots more to do to get caught up on the house and yard.
Today I am putting up some guttering on the fence (after I paint the fence) to grow strawberries in. My neighbour has lots of runners from her strawberry patch (she grows hers in a wheelbarrow) and will continue to pull weeds and trim the trees and fertilise the vege patch (before the rains come) - after I have cleaned the kitchen and dining room. I also need to fertilise out the front as well but we shall see what we shall see if there is time, and I need to do some fresh fruit and vege shopping. Going to be a full day again.

Happy - sounds like you are going to have a full week without the DH. I do hope he does enjoy his week away and gets lots of hints and tips and beautiful photos. Such a shame that the thrift shop sells good stuff for such a low price. I know the whole idea is to sell the donated stuff but giving it away so the sharks from second hand places can make big profits is a shame. Humans are a funny species.

Laura - bummer on losing the bike chain and lock, but at least you have a new one now and can safely secure the bike. New furniture sounds good.

Ceejay - happy travels. Sounds like you are having a great time. Enjoy.

Susie - One ice cream cone is a treat and you have countered the calories on the treadmill so you needn't fret about it. Glad you enjoyed Elvis. Like Happy said, you need to go to Memphis. She and I went last time I was over there and we had a fun time. Still giggling about some of it.

Annie - Hope R doesn't get any worse, and that it doesn't spread around the family again.

Hello's to Ellen and Dee.

Right, I had better get out there and do something. Getting greyer out there by the minute and not all that warm either.

I'm going to post a very short post as we are getting ready to take bil out for his birthday dinner tonight. I've had a lot of fun but I'm tired. The falls were beautiful yesterday and today we puttered around in my nieces town of Friendship, Maryland which is down the mountain.
More later.

Morning all, just a quick line from me. Busy week. I'll come by later if I can with an update!