LAURA....next appt is October 4th, then weekly after that. I am on a waiting list for next week. I feel positive. Do read up on brain spotting. I just did and it is quite interesting. Great job on getting you exercise in last night. I cooked my spaghetti in the microwave. It was a large/xl squash so I nuked it on 18 minutes. Poked it with a fork all the way around and up/down. Grateful to have jobs for sure. Been without a couple of times...not fun.

I need my chickie sisters to come and rescue me! I know my work is always crazy busy, but right now it is over the top!

My Director changed all his plan for Asia; still going but flipped where he was going first and last.

My VP is going back 3 days early so that meant switching all sorts of meetings around and she is on some sort of a restrictive diet for some test she is having and I have to check everything that she is eating and make sure it isn't on her "can't have list", She can't have things with iodine in it, or certain food coloring, nothing with milk in it and one and one.

I think I will be nuts before the next two weeks are over.

My focus is to just maintain for the next two weeks in the weight-loss area.

Oh and did I mention I had a major IC flare of the weekend and am still dealing with it as of today. It is lessening in intensity and I have myself all medicated up to get through it; trying to rest and get extra sleep when I can.

Sorry for no personals. Maybe in a couple of days. Please send me good vibes ladies!

OMGosh SUSIE....I pray you get through this work week mess and still be sane. Can't the VP do her own food? For Pete's sake just eat what you can and don't be catered too. As long as there is water and a little something, no one ever died from eating less. Sorry I had to rant for you. lol. VP-pull up your big girl panties and deal. LEAVE MY SUSIE ALONE... :) Maintaining is a great goal when life gets tough. Whether it be mentally or physically. Hope the IC flare is better or gone. Prayers for healing. Love you sister. Hugs

Jacob had scouts last night and got to launch his rocket. Samantha said he was jazzed about it. It had a teeny tiny engine on the rocket that he and Samantha built. When he pushed the button for the launch he had the biggest smile on his face. Chris did show up for the launch but left right after due to a basketball game. Some times I want to ring his neck.

C and I had a long talk while they were gone. I just don't know about him. He is really not the C I thought I married. His counseling starts next week. I probably shouldn't put so much hope and expectations in this helping him get his head on straight. THere is always hope.

If you get a chance to read up on Brain Spotting which was initially developed for those with PTSD, like for soldiers returning from Iraq etc. It has been found to help so many other areas for therapy.

Hello to all...

Make it a great day, I am going to try to make it great. Hugs.

Good morning fine chickie ladies,

I have a bit of time before I have to head out and go cover the phones at the Senior Center for a few hours while they have their Board Meeting. Yesterday we ran errands in town, stopped at the thrift shop - one of the errands. I sat and talked to a few of the volunteers. It was nice to talk, I felt no pressure to do anything of consequence except order some supplies. I did not partake in the big argument with one volunteer who works on clothing and *horrors* decided to keep a donated sewing box with supplies so that she could use it for repairs and such. Big fight because SOME people think we should sell everything that comes into the store totally ignoring that we need supplies to run the place :dizzy: Nice to sit there and get up and leave without a worry :^:

My former afternoon partner there decided she wanted to go to the senior center for Tuesday evening supper so we made plans to go. One of the servers is a really nice girl - I say girl because she is younger than me but is about 50 - sort of a bit on the simple side but a big hearted wonderful lady. She is getting pushed around at the center and DH felt bad for her. She said she saw a giant teddy bear at our thrift shop but it was too expensive for her. So after we finished eating, we went to the shop and DH gave me money for the bear. We came back and put it on her car hood (bonnet Shad ;) ) and parked off to the side to wait for her to come and see it. We had to wait almost an hour while they cleaned the kitchen and finished up. But she was sooooooo happy when she saw it. Totally worth it. I have to stop at the shop today before the center to go and pay for it. Was really nice of DH to do that.

It seems that if I remember (and I'm trying) to take my supplements regularly - they do seem to be helping a bit. Not a miracle cure but they are helping. I went and picked the last of my tomatoes and cucumbers out of the garden. Still lots of green ones there but I don't like green tomatoes - too crunchy for me. Will take the garden out on Sunday as I have things to do every day until then. Tomorrow we are taking a ride up to apple country to see if there is color and pick up some apples before the crowds hit for apple fest in 2 weeks. Cranberry fest is coming too. That's how you know autumn is coming here - even if the tree colors are not a give away.

Annie - thank you for sharing the brainspotting. I will check that out. Awww how cool for Jacob and his rocket. Too bad Chris is not as supportive. :( He probably would have been better off not having kids but the deed is done. It must be hard for you right now with alot of not very comfortable feelings on many angles. I hope you can work out your feelings with C - after 45 years together I can tell you that there are times in a relationship where both parties are not the same as what you thought. You have to search your feelings to decide if it's worth staying together and if you are getting something productive from the relationship. I send my prayers to you each night for grace and guidance. :hug: And while there is always hope, there is also a down side to starting over again. Why can't life be simple?

Susie - oh man - I don't envy you at all and I can imagine your pain. I CAN'T imagine being so pampered that someone is looking over my food to make sure I don't eat anything that makes me sick... :rolleyes: But yes, I have known management who expects that sort of treatment. :queen: Good luck with that. I am sure you are a master juggler!!! I just hope you have time for yourself to rest and breathe. Sending you extra oodles of energy girl!!! Make sure you pack healthy things to stay on track and don't compromise your own self. :hug:

Laura - my sister said it's hot and humid by you. Ugh - where is fall already??? that's good that you stretch your toes - believe it or not we do that at yoga - it DOES help to keep things flexible. Really it does. ANd good for you for getting a workout in. Do you do most of the cooking at home or does BF? Sounds like you need a new project at work to re-energize you!

Shad - I am very sorry to hear about your hands. I have heard that chemo can "settle" into body parts. I certainly hope this is not a permanent thing as you have FAR too much going on to be side lined. You are right - we will either have to have separate duties at the commune to make the most of working body parts OR we will have to figure out how to make one complete person :rofl: I am distressed to hear it is so dry by you. I remember the droughts and then they were followed by floods. The weather is so wonky. Mother Nature is not happy with what we are doing to Mother Earth I am afraid. How many orchid plants do you have? Send some pictures - I'd like to see them. Any time I see potted orchids I think of you.

Ceejay- I did re-read your post and now I understand it's the niece wanting to move back in her house. I agree with you - you have lived on your own for so long, and you don't need another person underfoot. I hope you can stay there and she changes her mind. Sounds like you are happy and busy and loving where you are.

Have a good one ladies. Time for me to hit the road.

Sis told me last night that she thought my niece would not relocate in this area but around Kansas City or St Louis. Thanks for the explanation of the "ginger". We have a little red head also, 3 year old Charlie.
Started my fall cleaning yesterday. Climbed up the ladder to get to the ceiling fan n the living room. Don't think it's been cleaned in a long, long time. I know I didn't clean it last year when I moved.

Annie
I'm going to google "brain Spotting". Praying things will work out for you. I can understand some things about bi-polar as my cousin has it. She's living with her sister in Texas.

Susie
Sending you good vibes these next few weeks. Think you shouldn't not be having to monitor you VP's food.

Hello's to Shad, Happy, and Laura. I'll be back this afternoon to finish comments

Oh and I forgot to add to all my mess....I am scheduled for a colonoscopy this Friday the 22nd. Bleh. Prep tomorrow. My friend Betty is taking me as Sam was going to but now she is babysitting with Abby and has Royce as well. Too much for me at the hospital. I just want PEACE and TRANQUILITY. How hard is that people. Quite hard I am afraid, look at the state of the country.

HAPPY...so sweet of you to give the teddy bear to the waitress. Doesn't surprise me that you and DH did that as you are both so very kind. Guess that is why I love you. Good Lord is that all they have to argue and fight about? A sewing box. Geewhiz. There are bigger things in life to worry about. Get a grip people. Not like she was using it for her own personal use. Take it easy and do have fun in apple country. Sounds like a fun trip.

Afternoon all. Went out at lunchtime. Wow, hot one today. Luckily there was a good breeze – not a cool one, but enough to keep me from completely melting.

Annie – I hope you can get fit in for a session next week, but at least you have another appointment the week after next. I scanned a site online about brainspotting and not sure I understood it much at all. My take is that they look for a physical reaction/response to traumatic/emotional issues/topics. And then they can try to access what they detected (a brainspot), even if the person has buried/blocked it? Very interesting. I wish you the best with this, and I hope C’s sessions are helpful to him. == Aww, so great Jacob enjoyed the rocket launch at scouts last night. What’s coming up next?? I didn’t spend more than a year or two in scouts, but have some good memories from it. Too bad Chris isn’t thinking about making shared memories like that.

Susie – It sounds like you are being given the ultimate challenges at work right now. You are a travel agent, meeting/event planner, nutrition coach – on top of all of your other responsibilities! Can’t say I’m not surprised that you have to check the VP’s food, but if it’s something being provided as part of the meetings, it’s not like she can run out and grab her own food… Good idea to just shoot for maintaining during the next grueling two weeks – you’re under enough pressure already. == I’m sorry your IC flared up, I hope the meds are helping and that it has eased up/faded away by now. Be kind to yourself!! Sending good vibes. :goodvibes:

Happy – I’m sure your donors would not object to their items not being sold if there was good use for them in the shop. I know I wouldn’t, as long as they weren’t being diverted to volunteers for personal use. Oh, what a sweet surprise for the senior center server! Very thoughtful of you. == Set an alarm on your cell phone to remind you to take those supplements! == Yeh, 90% humidity again today, and it’s getting up to 90 degrees. I’m trying not to mind this and enjoy the last of summer, but it definitely puts a damper on my motivation to do outdoor activities of any intensity. == At the moment, neither bf or I do much cooking, which I’d like to change. == Don’t worry, plenty of projects to tackle at work. Right now I’ve shifted to working on one of my performance management goals. And there’s also some things to plan concerning our office move – the contents of my workspace, as well as what’s in some of the department file drawers. Since I know I’ll be the one they ask re those files, I may as well come up with the answers while I have plenty of advance time to do it.

Ceejay - Good to hear your niece won't be wanting to move back into the house you live in! == Be careful on the ladder!

Hello to Shad. :wave:
--
I did one BE workout last night. Otherwise, nothing special. I’ll do some more exercise tonight, but will try to do 2 BE workouts instead of one. On Thursday I’m going to the health lecture, which will be about antibiotics.

I scheduled a vacation for Monday. :)

That’s about it for me. Make it a great day. :spin:

Momma said there would be days like this but must it last forever???

Afternoon all. Hot and humid today. I brought my lunch today, and I didn’t go outdoors to eat it. Farthest I got to being outside was to pay a bill at the Citibank in our building lobby.
==

Annie – I hope your day got better. :hug:

Hellos to the rest of you. Hope you’re all having a good day.

==

I got home from work yesterday and found bf had sent me a text about a half hour before. Mom wanted us to go to dinner with her at the restaurant in her community. Too bad dinner only goes from 4:30 – 6:30 pm. I got home around 6:15, so it wasn't going to happen that night. We’ll plan to go next Wednesday, and I’ll get the earlier train home so we can get there before closing time.

I did one BE workout last night. Good ab routine in that episode, and my abs are feeling it today. For dinner, we had broasted chicken from a local place. So good!

Tonight’s I'm going to the health lecture at the rec plex.

That’s about it for me, so I’m off to post. :dancer:

Winter must be coming even though it's 82 outside right now - DH is putting up the hand rail on the deck stairs for me.

Annie - dropped something in the mail for you today. It's just a tiny little thing for the boys - hope it makes you smile :D

We didn't go to the apple country today - color was only about 15 percent. We will wait till later. So instead it turned out to be a very busy totally unplanned interuppted day. I am now legally licensed to sell liquor in my town, specifically at the Senior Center. I'm not sure about this - they think it will increase bingo attendance. I am fearful...

Anyone want to give some kittens a good home? We have too many. They are mostly all adorable.

Laura - I hope you have a nice dinner with your Mom - those places make pretty decent food. Will be nice to spend time with her.

Annie - I hope life gets better and you find something (like a giant pillowcase of cash or something) to make your life a little easier. :hug: Good luck on the colonoscopy - you are doing a good thing for yourself even if it's uncomfortable.

Ceejay - Be careful on that ladder!!!

time for bingo. Talk to you later. :wave:

Good morning all,
About to leave for my stint at the Senior Center in a few minutes. I'm hoping it will be a quiet day :crossed: although really strong thunderstorms are about to hit. Have a good weekend everyone. I will check in if I can.

Morning all. Just went to a presentation about generational diversity, and the speaker was really good and I found it very interesting. I was born in the last year of the birth year range that is typically considered the Baby Boomer generation and I felt like there was a lot of both Baby Boomer and Gen X with which I identified. Of course, these groups are generalizations of massive numbers of people, so everyone's personal experience/situation may differ in a multitude of ways.

Annie - Hope the colonoscopy is going/went well. Take it easy the rest of the day!

Happy - I hope you have a quiet day, and that you don't have to be out in the t-storms. :rain:

Hellos to the rest of you. :wave: Have a great weekend!

==

I went to the lecture about antibiotics last night. It was okay, I'm not sure how much I really learned. I feel bad saying this, because I really like the woman who presents these lectures and know her from being in exercise classes she teaches. But I do wish I could be getting more out of them. One interesting thiing was a list of medicinal foods, including those that boost the immune system. I believe the next lecture is about gut health, and I think there might be an outside speaker presenting it, so we'll see.

Nothing going on this weekend except having breakfast tomorrow morning with a former co-worker. He frequently complains about the younger generations he works with, so I was thinking of him during this morning's presentation, LOL. If the powerpoint of the presentation is made available to us today, I'll send it to him. :D

Otherwise, it's going to be very hot today and the next several days, so I suppose I'll focus on getting things done inside the house this weekend, ever thankful for a working A/C system.

TTFN.

Hi girls :smug:
Being gone from you'all for so many months this year it will be impossible to read through your posts. Maybe...possibly you'all could catch me up with the highlights of what happened with each of you ;)

Oh Laura :hug: Thank you for the thoughtful notes & emails you sent me :hug: Your family & friends are Blessed to have you. Since l wrote you back last month, my nerve problems in my face have multiplied through my face & into my eye sockets, pretty scary not knowing what's causing this. Hopefully there is a specialist that can diagnose all my symptoms so I can start to recover soon. I try to stay calm by blaming it on allergies, but I know that's not the truth, I've also felt the same sensation in my leg. I get labs done next week for my yearly pap physical, so I'll tell my doctor in 2 weeks about the latest problems :( Also go talk to the neurologist again to explain Clearly without the medical terminology my brain MRI results to me now that I'm not emotional. I hope that my thyroid is back to normal now, so I can stop that daily pill because my thick hair is thinning/alopecia :( & I told you I gained about 10# this year from pills. Everyone here is losing weight except me, I'm in the 150's now :o

That's why I've been embarrassed to come back to my friends here. My Dh & my doctors are the only people that know I'm messed up... My 2 sons say to me whenever I have a medical problem, "mom you're old" so me & Dh stopped sharing medical probs, except unless I get something genetic. Of course I'm older than them, I'm the mom & I gave birth when I was 21 & 25 yrs old, duh :dizzy:

So please fill me in girls on your 2017 :hug:

PLease add me to your church prayer list, I need His mercy & His precious healing.

Love & hugs :hug: Dee

ps: my email changed 2 weeks ago.

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for all your supportive comments concerning my crazy work life.

Things improved some with the food issue for my VP. Really she isn't the sort of person that requires a lot of "hand-holding" and if she were living here (as she used to), she would be cooking things so that she could bring them for herself.

So, she and I talked about that and for this week before she returns to Singapore (she has decided to cut her trip short and only stay 2 weeks) she is now staying in a Residence Inn that has a kitchen and she can cook.

I did help her out by doing some grocery shopping for her based on the list she has as to what she can eat and got it to her new hotel and put away in her kitchen. She texted me today and told me she was so thankful for all my help and that she was making ahead breakfast and things that she could bring to work with her.

I also worked with our onsite catering and the head chef and dietitian have worked out menus for all the meetings that require lunch or breakfast and we have all that in place.

It is going to make the week so much easier for me to not have to deal with daily. Just a little behind the scene work and seeking other to help out and it all came together. So, now I can concentrate of work I need to complete this coming week.

I had a .4 lb loss at TOPS. Small loss but I was happy as I didn't really workout this past week and I didn't keep track of my food. I am feeling better with the IC. It finally started feeling normal on Friday.

This post has been all about me. I'm going to end this post and do a separate one for personals.

Dee: It is so good to see your post! I am so sorry for all the medical things you have going on. It has to be a bit scary to feel the way you do.

I hope that you can get what you need medically to get back to feeling like yourself.

I will put you on our prayer list and I'm praying for you.

As to catch you up on me: I have done well with my lower fat diet and exercise and I've lost 65 lbs since December 26, 2016. I feel great and I went from a size 24/26 to a 18/20. I'm not done yet..I want to get another 20 off this year.

Annie: I hope all went well with the colonoscopy. I need to do mine...most likely next year. I know that prep is awful as I remember when my DH did his 2 yrs ago.

I think that it is good that you and C could sit and talk. Be patient dear friend....counseling takes time.

I think Happy was correct about there are times that come in marriage where we don't feel we know the other person. But it's a choice as to if you both want to put in the effort and get to know the people you are now (we all change somewhat over time..because life happens and it brings change). Hopefully with the changes we go through as the years pass we can still see the "core" of what brought us together.


Laura: How was your breakfast with your friend? Did you get a lot of things done in the house? It is extremely hot here in Ohio and I was miserable today when DH and I were out and about doing some errands.

Ceejay: I'm glad that you will be staying in your home and don't have to move. I'm jealous that you have started your fall cleaning...I'm so behind and I need to get to it.

Shad: I am sorry to hear about the issue with your hands. I feel it is after effects of the chemo. Hopefully with time it will subside.

Happy: your story about the lady and the teddy bear just made my day. What a very endearing kind thing that you and your DH did for her. This world has so much wrong with it, but things like what you guys did gives me hope that as a society we aren't all over the edge. :hug:

I am headed to bed...it's been a very busy and HOT day here