Hi all,

Quick hi for me. I got stuck this morning with a monkey from the thrift shop but we have another returning volunteer who is ready to step in and make things happen which is a good thing because quite frankly I am getting burnt out and so tired of all the drama.

Because of that I am running behind for my shift at the Senior Center. Oh well they have to be happy for what they get out of me, right?

Looks like today through Saturday will be good weather and then ugly cold and rainy for Sunday and Monday. Need to make time to get outside and get some things done. Will I do a garden or not this year?

Sorry to hit and run but I am already late. Hope you all have a great weekend. I will try and get back with personals tomorrow as I have just a short break back home at noon and then back to the center for tonight's bingo. Have a good day chicks.

Morning all. Another gloomy day. I suppose there will be a ghastly hot humid day in August when I will wish for a day like this...

Happy - Enjoy the senior center and bingo duty today.

Ellen - I'm sure it's rough eating light and healthy with trying to also accommodate your dh and the kids, but you can still try to eat smaller portions even if the food itself isn't the best choice for your own WL goals. Hang in there!

Annie - Happy Friday to you. Enjoy your long weekend!

Nothing much to report, but I posted a couple photos. One is the clump of irises in the overloaded flower bed, I think you can see some of the peonies off to the right that have just begun to bloom. The other photo is the bottom of the garage door with its damage. Today when I was taking my bike out, the metal trim on the bottom of the door pulled off on one end and the door wouldn't close because the sensor detected the loose piece and the safety stopping thingy kicked in. I had to go back in the house and tell bf to fix it so the door could be closed. Oh, BTW, bf filed a claim with our homeowner's insurance because he wants to replace our wood door with another wood door and he thinks the policy will cover that since we have replacement coverage. Never mind the high deductible. I'm not sure I would have done that, and I'm actually not too keen on another wood door. But when has my opinion ever counted?

That's about it for me. Back to work. It's that time when things are getting busy in our group, and I'm also busier because I've picked up some of the admin's work while she's on leave.

Have a good day everyone.

Pretty Iris and Peony Bush!

Pic of Peony bush. 8 or 9 blooms was it. Last year, the first year to bloom, only had 3.

Nice color peony! Every year there will be more blooms.

Good morning chicks,

Pretty gloomy start to a holiday weekend. They are supposed to have a BBQ for lunch at the Senior Center today but it looks like thunderstorms are moving in just as lunch is starting. No outdoor patio dining today I am going to work the Thrift Shop in the afternoon today - the regular person can't make it and the lady working the afternoon is returning back from wintering in another part of the state. It's her first closing in many many months so I thought she might appreciate some help if she had questions. We stopped in the Thrift Shop last night after bingo because some of the ladies banded together and did some rearranging in the shop to expand the boutique area. It looks really, really nice. In addition one of the volunteers donated a bunch of her MIL's furniture as Mum had to move to assisted living. It's some nice stuff that is in great condition. We are going to buy the coffee table and 2 side tables for the basement (more motivation to fix that area up). There is also a cute small table / plant stand which I'll put in the 3 season room for the lamp and take the existing stone table in there now and move it back out on the deck so we have something to set our morning coffee on. There is also a rather large crock that DH was interested in - it would work as an umbrella stand but the lady who was talking about it said it will keep things really cold so we might use it on the patio for something. So today will be guaranteed to be a good revenue day for the store, even if my purchases are half of the till

I am debating about going back to Chicago when my Mom gets her tooth pulled. I know my sister is on her last nerve and I don't know if I'd be a help or in the way. I do feel badly that my sister has to shoulder most of the burden of care. I will talk to her later and see how she feels about it. It might be the only time I can get out there for the next few months.

Annie - I love your peony bush. I am a big fan of using rocks to highlight flowers and shrubbery. Our neighbors had one against the fence we shared but I seem to remember they attracted ants like honey. I guess it doesn't matter if it's out in the middle of the yard. The zucchini lasagna sounds interesting. I guess you treat it like eggplant with the salt to dry the slices out somewhat. Great way to use up the abundance of summer zucchini too. Hope you have a great, relaxing time with 4 days off and a long weekend. I kind of agree with you about the live remakes of popular movies and stage shows. Dirty Dancing is Patrick Swayze and Grease is John Travolta and Olivia Newton John and it's hard to accept other people filling those roles. I did not care for the remake of The Sound of Music the first time but I gave it another chance in a rerun and thought Carrie Underwood did a great job.

Laura - I love your irises. I tried to grow them at my home in AH. Maybe because they were against the house they didn't take well but yours are very pretty - perhaps they like to grow in a clump/bunch. I don't know about replacing the garage door with another wood door. They are heavy and strain the garage door opener and the biggest thing as you say is that the fiberglass or whatever they are is so nice and maintenance free!!! For the most part. Also you will be surprised how much better it is in the garage if you can get some extra light from windows in there. Also I'm not sure I'd want a dink on the insurance just to get a few bucks towards the garage door - he will have to tell them he hit the door with the car so that would count against auto and homeowners, wouldn't it? Otherwise they might say it's just normal wear and deny it. Good luck with that battle with BF. How is your admin doing - wasn't she in the hospital? Interesting that you mention the smells on the closed train car. I started to notice that too, especially in the small commuter type aircraft I take when I fly. People bringing their own food on - even if it's from the airport concessions - tends to really smell over the top - almost gagging. And while less people are wearing scents now, there are still a few who wear a cloud of the stuff. I guess because I am used to fresh air here, I notice smells more - even the bad stuff like smokers. I bought a few of the scented wallflowers from Bath and Body works and even though I like the soaps, the wallflowers are too intense for me now - except the Limoncello. That's the only one we both like and I see that DH snarfed my last one yesterday for his bathroom.

Ellen - good luck with the driving lessons with DD. I understand what you mean with the meals and feeding the family. Might have to do like Annie - make an extra veg for you to swap out for a starch and just take smaller portions. I try to put everything on one smaller plate - ie if we are having spaghetti I put the pasta, salad and a piece of bread if we are having that or a vegetable all on one plate so it looks like I have alot but really I put half salad and 1/4 the plate of pasta instead of the other way around. It helps if it's a good salad dressing too.

DH is back and Meadow is right there front and center when he is eating. He's been giving her more meat / protein again and her barfing seemed to calm down. But today he said she was heaving this morning. I worry because of her diabetes and age, she is on borrowed time now. Yesterday was a really nice day and I opened the laundry room door to the 3 season room and found her sleeping on the rug by the door outside to the deck. She has been curious about the 3 season room but afraid of it also. Would be a good place to spend a nice summer day for them.

Anyway, need to get going. Hellos to Shad and Susie and Ceejay

Have a good weekend everyone. Hope we all get some decent summery weather.

Morning all. The weather’s started off nice enough, so I rode my bike to the train today. Supposed to rain later… but I’m getting off work earlier today (1:00!) so I should be able to get home nice and dry.

Happy – Nice you get early pickings of the stuff that comes into the thrift shop. So are you getting rid of anything to make room for the “new” stuff? == I understand feeling guilty about your sister shouldering the burden of caring for your mom. In my case, it’s my sister helping my mom with the shopping…mom still hasn’t used the community’s shuttle buses for shopping. In fact she won’t really do anything that requires walking outdoors until she takes the balance classes offered by the community. Whenever that’ll happen…for whatever reason, she’s opposed to becoming dependent on a cane. Sigh. Anyway, my sister, who has a bad knee, helps her with the shopping and based on some vague comments from my mom, my sister doesn’t necessarily want to do this (that’s why she picked a place with transportation services for mom!). I can’t imagine why - with my mom still wanting to stock up on the sales - like big bottles of V8!! I’ll have to make a point of asking my mom if she wants me to pick anything up for her and I can drop it off on the weekends. == Yeh, maybe the iris do like crowded conditions, LOL. == The insurance claim for the garage door is a done deal – I had no say in advance - and a check for part is already cut and on its way, and more $ will be paid when we have a contract/work order in hand. Quite a bit more money than I ever expected, but then again, replacing a wood door with another wood door is not an inexpensive thing. What’s funny is that in the 50’s (our house was built in 1956), I’m thinking a wood door was quite the norm. Now it’s an upscale kind of thing. First claim ever on our homeowner’s policy in the 17 years we’ve lived in this house. I hope we don’t have anything that requires another claim anytime soon!! == The admin, last time we talked probably 2 weeks ago now, is at home, and coming back from the complications. She has a follow-up in mid-June and she’ll see if she gets released back to work. == I guess in closed spaces, smells are just more intense. I also find that a lot of the scented bath and body products are just too strong for my taste. == I hope Meadow is starting to feel better. Wonder if part of her issue was just stress over your dh not being around…not to make anyone feel guilty.

Hellos to the rest of you. Have a wonderful weekend!
==

So with this garage door thing…I know I should be happy getting a lot of money from insurance for the garage door replacement, but I honestly would be pretty happy with the relatively modest door we quoted online pre-claim. The amount we have available to us feels like we can be overly/unnecessarily extravagant, and I just don’t care about a fancy garage door much at all. The amount could almost be enough for a new garage door and a new front entry door, for Pete’s sake! I know people get money from their insurance companies all the time and take the cash and don’t use it for repairing their car or for whatever the claim was for, but I’m not sure that makes it right.

Here’s a funny: We were driving to dinner last night (half price burger night) and I saw a nice wood garage door on one of the new McMansions in the neighborhood. BF went around the block so we could take a better look at it. There was a man in the driveway who noticed us looking at the garage and I felt like I needed to say something so I told him we need a new garage door. He said “You can buy the whole house.” It wasn’t until that very moment that we realized he was pulling a home-for-sale lawn sign out of his car, LOL.

Nothing much else to report. I think bf is picking up his contact lenses and my new progressive eyeglasses at the eye doctor today.

Nothing much planned for the weekend except maybe getting together with a friend for a bike ride and/or breakfast. And looking for a garage door too, I guess. And getting my mom’s Fannie May candy over to her that I forgot last weekend.

Okay, enough rambling. More to get done before I leave work - early!

Hello Everyone: The work week got busy and I ended up with an IC Flare that knocked me for a loop.

I finally work up today feeling a lot better, not perfect yet but going that direction.

Needless to say, the flare messed with my workout outs and I did none. It should at the scales last night at TOPS weigh-in but just a tiny bit. .25 lbs.

I started back this morning with exercise..did 30 min on the treadmill at a gently pace. I don't want to flair the IC back up. I also did some of my physical therapy exercises that I haven't done in a long time. I think that is my routine for the next 7 days. I will do 7 since I'm only doing 30 min instead of 60.

Laura: Your flowers are beautiful! I saw if you have enough insurance money to do the garage door as well as the front door, I would do it. It all helps to up the value and market ability for your home.

I have umbrellas everyone at home, work and in the car but still it seems I don't have it when I need it! lol

Ceejay: How are you doing now that you are back home from your trip? Vacation trips can be very busy and make you feel like you need a vacation from the vacation.

Shad: I hope that pesky itch takes a hike soon! As for the hair..it takes a while.

Annie: I was smiling when I was reading about the travel, the scheduling, etc..that is what most of my work days look like.

When I read what you wrote about patience I was laughing. I will not ask for patience because the bible says it comes from the testing of your patience. I don't want that test! lol

Very nice that you ran info a fellow AA person at work.

Ellen: I have been very successful this most recent time of losing weight but like you I have a unhealthy relationship with food. We can help each other!

Happy: I bet your DH will be happy to get home to you and you to him.

I am off work until Tuesday. Tonight my BF and I were going to the Rick Springfield concert but he is sick and it has been rescheduled to Sept 16. I am a little bummed about that, but we are still going to go do something together tonight.

See you all later this weekend.

I apologize for not posting this week. It took the first couple of days to get rested. Then I started doing vacation laundry and cleaning house. Why is it when you leave a clean house then come home you mess it up almost immediately. Also did a bit of decluttering. Then Wednesday afternoon my nephew called and wanted to know if I would watch Payton (niecelet) on Thursday. I did and then that night my other nephew came in with his two boys and spent the night. I love them all but this ole gal is not used to that. I've made myself sore playing with Payton at the park.
Getting ready to go to Branson tonight. I'm afraid that both nephews will want me to babysit this summer. Don't think so.
Think I've waited to long to buy the piano off Craigslist. It's not there anymore. Oh well I will keep my eyes open for another one.
Maybe I can do personals tomorrow.

Morning all,
Another beautiful morning here in the Great South East. Cool at first but will heat up to around 80F later today. I've been working in the yard for most of the weekend and will probably continue to do so today. The vege patch is coming along well and growing fast. Hope that I will get a good crop of tomatoes out of this lot. There's plenty of flowers on them and I need to get out there and fertilise them again. We are already eating the lettuces and I have given a couple away to my niece and niecelet. I say some carrots have started to come up in the potato patch, but I doubt that the potato patch will do much anyway. Corn is coming along slowly and the broccoli and cauliflower are growing well. My herb garden is doing okay as well. I put up the strawberry box and got the runners from my neighbour and hopefully they may do something spectacular. My neighbours were the best strawberries I had tasted in years.


Annie - hope you are enjoying your PTO and having a lot of fun with the grandies. The flowers looked pretty in your photo. Hope they sort out the new person quickly and you get someone you can work with happily.
I know the chemo is interfering with the hair. What is left is quite frizzy and horrible and it is all grey, but I am not dying anything until I have a bit to dye.
Good to hear that the foot is finally okay and you are given clearance. Hope little R is okay now.

Happy - hope that Meadow is coming right now. My cat usually just licks the gravy off the food as well but now it is coming winter she is eating a bit more than she did previously so maybe we will get a bit of weight on her for the winter. She is so thin and can't groom herself like she used to. If it wasn't so cool at night, I would shave her and let it grow again. For the first time in ages, she came in to sleep on my bed last night. So I had both cats one on either side.
DH put up some lovely photos while he was away. He really does like his photography and it shows.
No my hair does not seem to be growing back yet. My neighbour is going to cut the few bits that didn't fall out today and we will then be able to see properly if there is any growth at all. The last lot of chemo affected my eyelashes and eyebrows and even gave me a partial Brazilian - sorry TMI. Most of the side effects have gone, but still having some residual itching and foot/ hand problems. Apart from that I think I am fine although I do notice that my memory is not as good as it once was. Not sure if that is age or chemo.
My take on the tooth? Take the opportunity to go to your mum while you can. Things happen so fast these days that you need to store up the memories. Your poor sister will probably be grateful for someone else to take charge for a while. It's so hard on the person who is the designated carer, I know my sister got uppity occasionally when having to make a lot of decisions and no one there to help her.

Laura - still having the occasional itch but not taking anything for it now. It comes and goes and I can deal with that.
Those garage doors are expensive. Hope you can do something that will not take a chunk of change and a whole lot of family arguments. I love Irises. So many pretty colours to choose from these days. I may just have to see if I can find some for my yard although we are so dry that they probably wouldn't survive.
Funny about the person who had the for sale notice in his car. Take the whole house and give him the insurance check for the garage door

Ellen - so many of us have a bad relationship with food. I know with mine it is habitual and I eat not because I am hungry but because the darn stuff is there. It's never easy and I find I have to control the portions strictly. And drink the water, and get the exercise in. Blah, blah. Yes it is annoying that in some cases this site just refuses to display your post. Happened to me several times and now thanks to a Windows 10 upgrade I have to change the internet platform to actually be able to post on here. It's a pain and it is not only 3FC that need me to go back to IE.

Susie. Hope you are feeling better now and are on the downhill slide with weight loss again. But then even tho' you weren't well, you still had a small loss. Well done.

Ceejay - Houses get messy just because we live in them. I think I have a ghost who moves stuff or doesn't put it away like they should. Do not be brow beaten into babysitting the kids just because you are retired and they think you have nothing else to do. State it clearly that you will do so occasionally or even once a week but not for the entire summer. What were they doing before you shifted there?

I think that is about it. I have to go back to the hospital next week for my final check up. So it's a blood test on Monday and then hospital Wednesday. I also have a list of things to do in the house and yard next week. It will be hard to get it all done, but it is necessary. I've paid all the bills so far, but they keep on coming so it won't be long before I have to spend more $$$$ again.

So I am out of here, get dressed, get breakfast, sort out a time for my neighbour to lop off my remaining locks and get some more items off the list. Real need to get the bathroom done as well. That will mean checking out plumbers and fitters etc. Luckily there is an Electrician and a Tiler in the family. I'd better get the design sorted so I know what I am going to have to buy.

See you later.

Shad
Seems like nothing will keep you down for long. Proud of you for that just do not over do things. I've made up my mind that I'm not going to keep the kids. Maybe like the other day when they are between child care. They can arrange for child care services. I'm not going to be a free baby sitter.

Happy
Wow, you have found some good finds at the Thrift shop. Also happy to hear that some of the people are banding together to rearrange things at the shop. Did the seniors get to have their bbq? Don't blame you for going back to your mom's to help out.

Laura
I've been noticing the garage doors in my neighborhood and all of them are the same. Good luck with deciding on which one to go with. I'm going to get some flowers this week end. My sis is going to give me some flower and I want a couple of pots of petunias for the deck. And some yellow lilies to go on the other side of the fence. My peony only had one bloom this year but I'm expecting more next year.

Hi Susie and Ellen.

---------
Went to Branson Friday night. Went shopping this morning. Didn't buy a whole lot though. Told my sis I needed a couple of plastic cups for the boys and found some with dinosaurs on them. And bought some more Zantac.
Got back home around 1 p.m. and it started raining around 1.30. We've had some doozy of storms. one after the other. Once it got as dark as night. Think most of it is gone south but I still hear some thunder in the distance.
My nephew and his wife are going to St Louis tomorrow to take the boys to the zoo. I do hope things are working out for them.
Annie
How is your week end? Is R getting over his crud?

Hello All,

It is so nice that it is Sunday evening and I know that I still have one more day before I have to go back to work.

It will be a short but busy week. My VP is here, though I won't see her in person until Friday, Friday will be long day as it is always crazy when she is in town.

Also, I am on vacation, starting June 5. We will be home on June 5, packing and such. We leave Tuesday morning to drive to Asheville NC. It is about a 6.5 hr drive. Plans are to check out downtown when we arrive in Asheville.

I have been online looking at things and it looks like there is a hop on hop off trolley we can do downtown that will give us a good look at the city and then we will have ideas of stores and restaurants we will want to visit and we can learn a lot about the town and area.

On June 7 we will tour the Biltmore and grounds. I hear that we should allow 6-8 hrs for this. After we are done there, I expect we will have dinner and come back and enjoy the hotel pool and hot tub.

June 8 we plan a drive on the Blue Mountain Highway. There is a National Park we plan to Artisan area. We will come back home on June 9th. I will still be on vacation until June 14 when I go back to work. We are going to see John Legend in concert on June 12.

I don't know if I mentioned that the Rick Springfield Concert that was have been this past Friday we rescheduled to September 16. Rick was ill and so they rescheduled it. So my friend and I went to see the new "Pirates
of the Caribbean" movie. It was very good and we had a nice evening.

I finally got to feeling better on Friday and even got a bit of exercise in. Today I felt like myself...I am so glad!

Shad: It sounds like your garden is coming along nicely. What are you getting ready to do with the bathroom?

Ceejay: I saw your video of the storms on Facebook. They looked scary!

HELLO LADIES!!

I am already messed up in my mind (even more). Today is Tuesday and of course, my messed up mind is on Monday. It was a nice 4 day weekend for me and the fam.

Friday was nice with the boys. I let them choose what they wanted to do. I named several things that I thought we would do. Never guess what they chose and was not something I named? Go to Target and look at all the toys. Now prior to going into Target we have to have the, "we are looking at toys and not buying anything". So now when the boys see something they like and want they say, Nanna can we buy this SOME TIME? Out-smarted by a 3 and 5 year old.

Saturday was meeting, errands and chores. My bro, Eddie and SIL Cindy, nephew Eric came over for a cook out which turned in to a cook in. I made Keto fried chicken, Keto fried cabbage, homemade macncheese, and greenbeans. Then a delish Keto dessert with strawberries and blueberries. We play one game of Russian rummy and then 3 games of Euchre. I won the rummy game. Eddie and I won 2 out of 3 games of Euchre. At dinner, I popped the top off the pink salt grinder and it went flying. Royce (3 yr old) says, Jesus Christ. Just as I was about to scold him, my SIL says to Royce, cheese n crackers, cheese n crackers...Royce then says oh yeah, cheese n crackers. I had to leave the table a die laughing. Lil turd. Sam took the boys over to her friend Meg's house with her to spend the night. They all got up and went to Meg's g-mas lake house on Sweet Water. So they were gone all day Sunday.

C and I got up and went to church then off to Red Lobster for our belated anniversary lunch. Yum, grilled shrimp, scallops and salad. HEAVEN. Love seafood. Then I rode with C while he hit some of his stops on his route. Came home and watch Dirty Dancing original on DVD that we had. A very nice day with hubby. Sam and the boys came home at 6p.

Yesterday I took my car to Sparkling Image for a wash, hand towel dry, vacuum inside and all windows done. It was worth the 25 dollars to me not to have to do it. It would of taken me half a day, what they got done in 20 minutes. Went to lunch with Sam and the boys. Cheddars. I had grilled salmon on a delish spinach/strawberry salad with strawberry vinegrette (sp). Blue cheese on the side. Very yummy. We came home and played in the back yard with the boys. We put their little pool up but the water was soooooo cold. All they would do is stand in it. lol. I took the KETO fried chicken leftovers and made Keto chicken salad. Leftover greenbeans side.

All and all a very good weekend. The rain stayed away long enough to get the 500 race in. The poor fella that was in the terrible accident during the race and actually walked away unscathed was also the fella that was robbed at the Taco Bell drive through. He will never want to come to Indiana again. lol.

No time for personals being Tuesday I am already behind here.

Make it a great day. Hugs

Hi all,

Even though it was a rainy and gloomy weekend we had a bit of fun. Picked up the end tables and coffee table at the thrift shop on Saturday. They look nice in the basement. Did a bit of rearranging in the living room upstairs. Stayed home Sunday and did housework. Yesterday we went out to the casino and spent the day there - about 6 hours which surprised us. We left with more money then we walked in with so it was an enjoyable day on their money. Today I have to rush and get a few things packed to ship to my Mom and Sister before I head into the shop. This is the last day I will have to work an extra shift and I'm glad. I want to be home and do things. Will still be stuck working Tuesday mornings until the other lady gets back from knee surgery and judging by how she reacted, I don't think she will be rushing back soon. The other lady I am working with is trying to get my friend to fill in for her so she "can have some time off". Hey - I'M THE ONE who needs time off. We are kicking off the warm weather fund raisers and that means from June until September I will be sucked into at least one fundraiser a month. Did I say I would like some time to myself?

Sounds like all of you had a nice weekend and had fun at least one day. For us it's the kick off to the brief summer that we have up here. Must make the most of it. The bad thing is that the vacation crowd returns which means the people from the neighboring state will be riding our butts in cars and tailgating because they are notorious speeders. It will be frustrating to shop in the grocery store because 6 people will block the entire aisles trying to decide what frozen pizza they want to pick up oblivious to the other people trying to get through to shop... Mosquitoes will be returning soon too, especially with all the rain we've gotten the last few weeks. Enjoy outside while you can!!!

I'm sorry I don't have time for personals right now - I have about an hour to pick up a few things around the house and get ready to head into town. Will try and get back later...

Morning all. Back to work. What a gorgeous weather weekend here in my neck of the woods. It started off with rain and forecasts of more rain. Sort of went into the weekend feeling a bit down thinking the weather would be crummy. And it did rain on Friday, but after that it was just wonderful – sunny and 70’s.

Susie – Sorry you had an IC flare-up last week. Glad it didn’t negatively affect your weigh-in. What a bummer you didn’t get to see Rick Springfield. But I guess now you have something to look forward to in September. So great you have a short week and then your vacation starts next week!!! I love the trolley tours – when you have a relatively short amount of time, those kinds of tours give you a nice overview of what a place is like and what you might want to take the time to see during your visit.

Ceejay – You’ve been a busy gal since returning from vacation. I would definitely set limits on the babysitting! Did you get some flowers over the weekend? I bought some petunias for one of my planters. I hope the weather was nice after those storms went through.

Shad – You’ve got quite the veg patch going. How much space would you estimate you have allotted for your veggies? --- Did the haircut let you see any new hair growth? I can imagine how eager you must be to get it growing again. I hope the final check-up goes well today!!!

Annie – LOL, visiting Target to look at toys. Of course the boys love it, but I just think that has to be the last thing you/Sam want to do. But it sounds like they know there’ll be no buying, so I hope there’s no begging and tantrums going on when it’s time to leave (without toys). == Sounds like a nice Saturday with the family. I know the game rummy, but not the Russian version, nor Euchre. == LOL cheese n crackers instead of JC. == Sounds like you had a nice anniversary lunch with C. I think we all just have to move to any of the coasts so we can be close to good fresh seafood – bf and I just loved all the seafood we ate on our vacation. == I just yesterday watched the Dirty Dancing remake and having wasted a couple hours on that (thank goodness for DVR and ff’g through the commercials!), yes, I want to watch the original and much MUCH better version again. Why the heck did they even see the need to do a remake??!!

Happy – I’m glad you had a nice weekend in spite of the rain and gloom. Back to the busy schedule…

Hellos to Ellen & Dee.

--
Weekend recap:
Friday – Left the office a bit after 1 pm to get the 1:24 express train home. Beat the rain. Bf and I went to a garage door showroom in the area before they closed at 4 pm. It rained a LOT starting just when we left there.

Saturday – It turned out to be a nice morning so I got out to Home Depot and bought some flowers and veggie plants and some soil for my pots/planters. I went to the thrift shop afterwards. I bought a shower curtain and a table cloth, both nearly new. The shower curtain came with some rings I didn’t want and they went into the donation bag. The curtain replaces the tired-looking one we had - it’ll be donated. The tablecloth is cream, a color I didn’t have before. Now I have enough of them and no need for anymore!! Both items were $4 each, such a deal. The “new” stuff and the old shower curtain and the tablecloth I still had on the table from Easter all went in the washer. The tablecloth from Easter is linen and had a stain on it from before Easter (hadn’t used that one in YEARS) and I was happy that the Oxy stain spray took it out. It’s the little things I guess…

Saturday we went out for lunch at a place that has a lovely outdoor eating area. After that we picked up a card and gift card for bf’s niece, who graduated from HS that day. And we also ended up buying some groceries.

Sunday I went to mom's to drop off the baby shop vac so she could vacuum her balcony. I gave her the Mother's Day chocolates and she was happy about that - she LOVE chocolate! In the afternoon was the niece’s graduation party. Another fantastic weather day after some clouds in the morning. We picked up bf’s mom and headed out in the early afternoon. It was nice sitting out on their deck (bouncy house, tent/tables, and bags games were set up down below on the grass). We have a ranch home (single story) with a patio and not a deck. It’s got walls on two sides – the garage on one and the dining room/3-season room on the other - so it’s protected from the wind and is nice for eating out. But of course it’s nice to be able to catch cool breezes, and decks are good for that. So anyway, enjoyed their deck. But still glad to not have a wood deck to maintain, lol.

We didn’t get home until nearly 8 pm, but it was still light out so it didn’t feel late. Another great thing about spring/summer!!

Yesterday morning I set myself up on the patio (covered the table with a vinyl tablecloth) for planting some of the flowers I bought on Saturday. I planted four small window box planters with impatiens and a bit of ivy and a spikey fountain grass sort of plant. They’re in the kitchen windows. I’d bought the planters from the dollar store and they’re pretty flimsy and will certainly only last one season (hopefully the entire one!). Much lesser quality than some I’d gotten there in the past. Oh well. We have very skinny window ledges and it’s hard to find ones that are skinny enough to fit on them. There are very nice window boxes that can be affixed to the house itself, but I really don’t want to put any more holes into the masonry than are already there.

Speaking of masonry, our flag holder bracket out front was about to fall off the front of the house because bf, when we first moved in, used the regular old screws that came with that bracket. Yesterday he finally replaced them with some special anchors that are made for masonry and he had the flag flying securely in no time.

It was rather windy yesterday and my eyes were really bothered by all the pollen in the air. I have to phone my allergist today and have him call in a prescription for some eye drops. Should have done that after those windy days a couple weeks ago!

We ordered a garage door from HD yesterday. Not to say we won’t change our minds before the guys come out to measure and see what’s what…

After that, it was a relaxing day. I watched Dirty Dancing, finished a book I was reading, and we had tacos for dinner and watched a DVR’d episode of Law & Order SVU.

This week, we have to order some of the hot sauce we like - when we first discovered it, we could buy it locally, but not anymore. Love the sauce, hate the shipping charges! We buy larger bottles of it so we don't have to order very frequently. I hope bf doesn't decide to try another variety they sell - we don't need another one that we can't find locally!!

Bf's upper braces finally come off on Thursday. I have more flowers to plant, and veggies as well. I like to think that I'll plant at least some of them after work sometime this week, but I'm not sure it'll actually happen. Note for next year: plant perennials!! Saturday is a hair appointment and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life event in which our team participates. I could use another long weekend...

Okay, this darn job is interrupting my personal life again (the nerve!), so I better get this posted and get back to it. Have a great day everyone.