Afternoon all. Cooler temps today and for the next several days. I enjoy these temps in the 70’s so I look forward to it. Nice to have the windows open and the A/C turned off.

Happy - The lamb sounded tasty! == I hope you get out to the garage and make some progress with the boxes. If these are from your move, then it must be a bit like Christmas when you open them, lol. Well I guess it depends on how well-labeled they are... -– Sorry the weather is getting in the way of plans of getting out and using your toys. :( == I didn’t mention the eclipse yesterday. It was somewhat cloudy in our area, so it wasn’t a spectacular sight. But we could definitely tell that it got darker at the height of totality. == Wow, that’s a lot of supplements! Good idea to start off at lower dosages. I hope you don’t have any negative reactions to them. :crossed: == Re the PowerBall and MegaMillions, I think IL was able to get back in the games because they’d finally gotten a budget passed. I don’t know how that could give the other states the warm fuzzies that IL could afford to actually pay its payout share, but that’s the story.

Annie – We’re here for you!! :hug:

Hellos to the rest of you.
==
Nothing much to report. I had lunch with a work buddy yesterday and it turned into a sobfest. Her 14 year old dog has cancer… Very sad. BF and I had her and her dog over for a play date with Coal when they were both young – they were so cute together.

I did a Mari Windsor Pilates workout dvd last night. Only 20 minutes, but at least it’s something. I’ll do another workout tonight.

Still hungry after my hearty and filling Lean Cuisine cheese ravioli entrée. Yes, sarcasm. Off to get my yogurt from the fridge.

That’s about it for me. TTFN.

Ok, if we are being honest here - when I have the Lean Cuisine Cannoli ?? which I love. I want to eat two packages because just 2 of those skinny cheese filled pasta tubes, delicious as they are - JUST AREN'T ENOUGH. There I said it. That's why I only eat them twice a year. :lol:

Annie - thanks for checking in. Do I need to clean the commune in anticipation of a get away visit? I do have to warn you that while it's peaceful and wonderful here, it is cool and apparently today while DH was over to the side of the mancave digging, a bear came out where he was there (and didn't notice) and stole our brand new pricey woodpecker suet feeder right out from under him.

I guess I won't put on my earphones and Ipod while I'm out in the garage...

Morning all. Work is a bunch of PITA tasks right now. And the boss is back in the office, so bleh. But keeping busy, so that's something.

My foot has been bugging me last week and this week. I'm so over this. I will likely end up getting an MRI to see what might be going on. The x-rays in early July showed the bone healing just fine. Sigh.

Tonight I'll be going to the wake for a friend's father.

That's about it. Back to the grind.

P.S. Happy - Those frozen entrees are so mediocre (and that's being kind) that when I finish one, I never want to eat a second one. Just something else more flavorful and filling.

Good morning all,

Last out, first in I see.

DH got up this morning at something like 5am to take a 3 hour drive to go take pictures of some waterfalls somewhere in Minnesota. Did I want to go? No thanks :no: Told him that was much too long of a day for me when I have to work bingo tonight and stay there until 9pm. Any other day I may have gone. He just sent back pictures - long tough hike to see some waterfalls. Beyond my abilities right now...

Yesterday was a sunny but cooler day and even though I had lots to do inside, I decided it would be a perfect day to go tackle some boxes in the garage. Winter always sneaks up on me too quickly and before I know it, DH is complaining about all the stuff in the garage and it being too tight to park in there and boxes getting wet from the drippings off the car. By then it's way too cold to work out there. So I decided to make good on a promise to myself to tackle that early. Many of the boxes have technical books (out of date), linens, housewares, some cleaning supplies and our old component stereo system as well as an old tv. There are also several tupperware bins full of clothing and office papers. Even though I started in the late afternoon, I did manage to get through 5 boxes before I quit to figure out something fast for dinner. One box was DH's clothing, there were several boxes of his stereo and computer stuff and a box full of his technical computer books. I set those off to the side. For my side there was a box of knick knacks - I kept 2 that I loved and the rest went into a box for the thrift store. And yes Laura, that WAS like Christmas as I had to unwrap them all from the white packing paper and had no idea what was in them :lol: I went through 2 boxes of paperwork - 95 percent was tossed/recycles out including a few magazines and catalogs. The stuff with sensitive info (like old credit card receipts that had the full c/c number on them or med records with our social security number) went into a bag to get burned or shredded. I'm going to wash a set of bedsheets that I had packed in a bin - if I can get the slightly musty smell from them I will wash all of them and donate them, otherwise they will go in the trash. I'm surprised the elastic is still stretchy on the fitted sheets. We don't have a bed that size anymore which is why I never bothered to bring that box into the house.

I also forgot or didn't realize that I have to work a fundraiser on Saturday evening. I always work this one so I guess it was just assumed I will be there again. It's an outdoor event and they are talking 80 percent chance of rain and temperatures in the low 60's during the day and at night our temps are dipping to the low 40's. That will not be fun. At all.

I am proud of myself - just got a call from the Senior Center asking if I can answer the phones from 1 to 4 today. I said no it's bingo night and I have to be there from 4:45 to 9pm. She said well, can you work a couple of hours? I thought about it and almost said yes and then no. I said Thursday is the one day I can't / won't work from 8 or 11 all the way to 9pm. I am learning to say no. :lol:

It's chilly in the house today - 61 outside but sunny yet the house has not warmed up yet. My hands are like ice. And so are my feet. I should go out on the deck in the sun for a few minutes and warm up like a lizard :rofl:

Let me post this and see if any of you have checked in yet.

Gads this site is annoying. You log in to post. It times your login out way quicker than it takes to type in a post so when you try to apply it, it makes you log in again. Then it gives you some bs error message about not being able to process your post and you have to go back in and out to post again. :dizzy:

Laura - I actually like the LC Canneloni - that and a Sesame Chicken I think it is. But yes, most of them - particularly the beef ones are about 2 spoons of food and not at all satisfying. Sorry to hear that your foot is still bothering you. I'm not sure it's like other body parts when you can strengthen the surrounding muscles to support the joint better. Can it perhaps be that arthritis is setting in? I hope it's something that can be helped reasonably. My feet hurt all the time and it really kills your energy levels. I am going to try some Kuru shoes. DH got a pair of lace up boots and said it really helped the heel pain he was having. I got a pair of slip ons (which I prefer over tie ups) and unfortunately there is some stitching on the right outer side that really rubs a protruding bone in my foot - even though the shoes were wide. I sent them back and ordered a pair of athletic type tie ups. It sure is hard to find relief once your feet start bothering you.

Meadow is walking around here and every time I look at her she is meowing and meowing. I don't know what she wants. You're nobody in life until you get constantly hollered at by a cat. :D

Hello to the rest of you out there. :wave: A special :hug: to Annie just in case you are in need of feeling a little love today. A :rain: to Shad who needs more than just a puddle in her yard. There is no "Calgon take me away... " emoji for Laura and Susie to have a restful break from the office grind or an organ emoji for Ceejay to stick with her practicing. :lol: Later chicks... It's my first of 3 nights being the chief cook and bottle washer for bingo - let's hope all goes well without incident. :crossed:

Oh sure - I go to post and now it tells me I don't have permission :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

I'm stuck in a rut right now. Needed some inspiration. Found this - sharing for everyone...

10 Reasons Why You Are Good Enough

1. You are good enough because you were chosen to exist. Whether by God or Buddha or whatever you do (or don’t) place your faith in, you are here. You have a purpose and you should try to understand what it is.

2. You are good enough because you have something no one else has to offer. A killer smile, an affinity for baking, excellent math skills — whatever your specialty might be, you’ve got something no one else can compare to.

3. You are good enough because you make big mistakes. Huge ones. And that’s awesome because it gives you the chance to become better. And you choose to take it.

4. You are good enough because someone out there loves you. You might not think so all the time, but they do. Perhaps they should tell you that more, or perhaps you should listen when they choose to do so.

5. You are good enough because you have shown vulnerability that shakes you to your core. You have given someone a tender and precious part of yourself that you can’t get back. This shows more courage than anything else.

6. You are good enough because you let that person go that hurt you and chose to move forward in life. You understood that you were worth more than the way you were treated. You learned to move on.

7. You are good enough because even though you know you have to let go of some people, you also know there are some you have to continue to forgive. You’ve become aware of the people who need to stay in your life, and sometimes those are the ones that need more forgiveness than others.

8. You are good enough because you have let your emotions consume you at times. You’ve sat down and drowned in yourself and truly known what it means to be human.

9. You are good enough because you’ve watched the sunrise or listened to the wind blowing the leaves around and actually appreciated it. You know that there’s natural beauty that man just can’t recreate. You think outside of yourself.

10. You are good enough because though you may be in a rut right now, or maybe you’re just having a rough day, you know that things will get better. You have hope. You let the beauty of the brighter days ahead of you carry you on until you reach them.

Good morning chickie babes,

I sure hope it has not dwindled down to just me and Laura in here. Eventually we will run out of things to talk about. :(

Bingo was good last night. We had a good crowd of 54 people. No complaints, no fights. I was hyping the 50/50 cash drawing with 2 extra prizes and we got people to buy raffle tickets to the tune of $78 so that was great. I should have got my bank deposit ready to go today but I got an email late yesterday that one of the Friday morning thrift shop workers had to take her husband to emergency knee surgery this morning when he tore a muscle in his leg as he was teeing off playing golf. Her partner won't work alone so guess who gets to go and fill in. :rolleyes: Actually I like P and she'd do the same for me if she could so I don't mind going in. I have decided that since I am filling in for D for bingo and the thrift shop while he is out jaunting all over Europe and the Baltic, expect that things will be as chaotic as they can possibly be and I am just going to have to roll with it. There were some crazy things at bingo yesterday too. Just ease on down the road... I can always make the bank deposit on Monday - only need to get it done before next Thursday because part of the bank deposit is making sure I have enough change in small bills for bingo that night.

So I am working this morning and I am working tomorrow afternoon and evening. I think I still have Sunday to myself even though I am passing on a free prime rib dinner for working tomorrow. It's going to be cold and rainy and the event place is about a 40 minute drive so I don't feel I am missing anything. I had to put the heat on today to take the chill out of the house. The weather said we might start to kiss the upper 30's at night over the weekend. That will make the tree colors start to turn. I guess I can kiss what few tomatoes I have goodbye. Hoping the cucumbers won't mind because I have alot of them.

And that's all I have to say about that said Forest Gump. :D Hello to the chicks :wave: I will check back later.

Hi,

The intake counseling session went well. My first real therapy session is on Wednesday, Sept 6 at 1:30pm. I feel very positive no matter how this turns out. Excited about going to therapy to address several things.

Have a good weekend all.

Still accepting prayers, good vibes and thoughts.

I am still here...it's just been one busy week!

I have read the posts and will try to remember what they said and comment:

Annie: I have been praying and I'm still praying....I believe in therapy & counseling and I believe in you. Whatever is going on, I know that you will stay under the umbrella of prayers and good thoughts and will come out stronger.

I love you lady!

Laura: It sounds like that DVD was a pretty good workout. The picture you posted looks like a very nice and serene place to sit and just glance about.

Happy: The hippy town was fun...I love people watching there. They most likely like watching me as I am so prissy and preppy! lol

When I was reading about that bear, my eyes were wide open! My DH asked me what I was reading and if everything was ok. I had a run in with a beak once in Gatlinburg. I was in the hot tub on our chalet's deck and there he was. I was terrified! I had my phone on the edge of the hot tub and called my DH to tell him to bang some pots and pans together near the front door so hopefully he would run off. As soon as he turned around to see where the noise was coming from, I was out of that hot tub and slammed the sliding glass door shut! DH heard me and step back in the front door quickly.

I called down to the rental property and told them to send a Ranger up as I was packing and we were headed out of that woods into a nice hotel on the strip in Pigeon Forge but I wasn't going outside until the sent someone with a gun so I could get the suitcases in the car and get the heck out of there.

Thanks for posting the inspiration. I'm printing it and taking it to my TOPS meeting to share.

Shad: Once you get the house finished and that dust cleaned up it will all be worth it. It looks like you were able to get some very needed and nice rain.

Ceejay: I read on FB that you slept in to 10 or 11 a.m. or something...good for you! Enjoying that retirement life I see! ;)

I had a nice loss at TOPS last night, I lost what I gained the week before and a little more. I'm trying to hit the 65 lb loss mark next week.

I will be back on the weekend to post more.

Afternoon all. Happy Friday. I’m burnt out on the project I was doing, so I’m glad that it’s mostly complete. However, the boss has already asked me a couple questions and I had to correct something I missed when I modified a spreadsheet. I’m sure there will be more, but I just need to make it to the end of the day and then he’s out again for another three days next week. Unfortunately, he’s in a big time crunch and is quite the grump right now.

Happy – Yes, if this thread goes down to just you and me, it’ll be awfully quiet because I have nothing much to say lately. It’s all on you kiddo! :D == I hope your dh had a nice trip to photograph the waterfalls. Awaiting more photos on fb. == Good progress on the box project – keep it up and you’ll be done before the cold weather hits. Wait…it sounds like it already has! 30’s-40’s for lows and you had to turn on the heat!! :brr: == I hope your outdoor fundraiser isn’t rained out tomorrow. == I’ve never heard of Kuru shoes. I’ll have to check those out. -- Don’t work too hard this weekend. :no:

Annie – I’m glad the session went well today. Too bad your next session isn’t for another couple weeks. I will keep the thoughts, prayers and vibes coming. One day at a time!

Susie – What a story about the bear! :yikes: I’d probably want to get out of there too. I’m scared of raccoons and skunks roaming around, bears would send me over the top! And now there’s something I need to remember to put on my gratitude list – no skunks have been making themselves pests in our immediate area this season, knock on wood. == Good job on the loss and may the force continue to be with you to help you make your mark next week!!

Hellos to Shad and Ceejay!

--
I went to the wake for my friend’s dad last night after work, arriving just in time for the prayer service. Stayed a little bit after that and headed home again. Hawaiian pizza for dinner.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to remove an old silver/amalgam filling and have it replaced with a new one, the white kind – composite or whatever they call it. Not thrilled. I’m pretty sure this will be the most “involved” dental procedure I’ve ever had.

On Sunday I’m having breakfast with my friend D. She told me she stopped seeing the guy she was dating since before the cruise. Guess I’ll get the scoop on that.

Other than that, it’s supposed to be nice weather again tomorrow, so I’ll try to get outdoors.

Okay, I’ll get this posted. My workspace is pretty sloppy right now, so I’ll take a little time to tidy up. Have a great weekend everyone.

Morning all

Happy, I am still here. Just getting through the painting of the bathroom ceiling and then it will be the window frames and doors. After that comes the laundry and the bedroom. So much happening around the house, I'm wondering whether I should go back to work.
Good of you and Laura to keep the thread going.

Lets see, what's happening around here.
Ruger the dog has gone to the vet to have his ears looked at. He has some sort of infection in them and they are big ears so it is quite the operation to find the source. His vet seems to think he is allergic to something probably around his environment. So they will have to have the place sprayed for fleas and ticks and then maybe check on the grass seeds etc. After that, if it proves not to be the cause, we will have to examine his food. Since I make most of that, I don't think that will be it, but he may be allergic to some proteins. He doesn't tend to get itchy or scratch the ears when he is at my place, so I am picking an environmental allergy. Anyway he is off to the vet this morning and will be sedated and operated on. DS2 will pick him up this afternoon.
They don't seem to have much luck with animals at their own home. Romeo the cat was allergic to something in the yard in their old home and has improved no end since he came to mine. Right now he is beating up the cat tower and racing around the house like he has a burr under his tail.
Sunday the cat is still here and still yelling for food. However, she is drinking a lot of water and is generally getting slower and slower. I don't know how much longer I will have her for. I can see that her days are numbered but she is stubborn enough to hang on for the summer.

My tiler has hurt his back at work, so work on the laundry is somewhat stalled at the moment. Haven't heard from the builder for a couple of days but I do know he has been working in his normal job and also renovating his own home so I am not too worried about him. All he has left to do is to fit the architraves and a few small things. It's good the tiler is incapacitated because the floor in there is not fully waterproofed yet. I have to go shopping for some cabinets for in the laundry soon. I want to put in a tall cupboard that will take the vacuum cleaner and its hose, and also have some shelves in it to take linen or whatever. Then I want some overhead cupboards to take the cleaning chemicals etc. The dryer will go up on the wall and I also have to find a laundry tub and some cupboards to fit on the floor. It's never ending. I need to take some measurements and then go shopping with my neighbour who will no doubt stop me from spending too much money.

We are into spring in a few days. Seems like we haven't had winter yet apart from a brief cold snap earlier on. The garden is producing well at the moment and I am eating broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, tomatoes, corn, lettuce and spinach regularly. In fact the night before last the only purchased component on my plate was the protein (Salmon) so I am doing okay there. I may get some peas and more corn before the weather gets too hot but in November the garden is put to bed for the summer. Just not worth trying to grow anything then as the bugs get there before I do, it's too hot for tomatoes as well.
I've cut down the hedge now. Just getting rid of the bits to go. It's been a marathon, but it is done. Now I have to poison the trunks before it sprouts again (as it has in some areas) and then I can cultivate that area. Seems I have a lot more space in the yard now. I will have to redo some of the fences, but it will all get done in time.
The Azaleas are blooming nicely in the front yard. Mind you the poor things are confused by the weather we have had and they have been spot blooming most of the year. But at least they are putting on a good show. I need to get out there and water, fertilise and mulch shortly before the hot weather hits. Hopefully we will get a rainy season this year.

What else? Not a lot. I think I am done now. I'll catch up with personals later. Have a good one.

Hello Everyone. I am posting as DH drives us to work.

The weekend was a busy one and I feel accomplished as my home office has all the paperwork put away and I can see surfaces, which need dusted.

DH was so excited to get to meet Bruce Campbell and get his autograph.

We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner afterwards and I had a wonderful salad that had beets and asparagus in it and it was all quite tasty.

We did share a piece of Smores cheesecake with DH

It is going to be a busy work week. I am looking forward to the upcoming 3 day weekend.

I was lazy over the weekend and skipped my workouts, so tonight when I get home from work that is the priority.

I will come back later and do personals,I cant remember all that I read and when posting from the phone I cant scroll back and reread.

counseling cannot come soon enough. I am a mess today. Sorry for the pity party. That is just how I feel today. I know one day at a time.

Good morning ladies,

Annie - I was hopeful at your last post (before today) that perhaps you had found a tool to help work through your troubles at the moment. I am a big believer in counselling - someone objective to help us think through things and sort out what what should and what should not. Sounds like you still have a week to go yet before your real counselling starts so you can always call me if you want a sounding board. I have also found it helps to write down your feelings. I have written many letters expressing my feelings of anger, disappointment, fear, whatever was bugging me at the moment. I never send them out, always rip them up and sometimes I'm even fearful of people actually seeing what I have written - but it helps me personally as a steam valve to blow off the bottled up emotions. Sometimes too when I am at a low point, I take the opposite approach and look for the good things / blessings in my life just to refocus. I'm sorry you are a mess, I wish I could help in some way :hug: Prayers, good vibes and positive thoughts sent your way!!! :angel:

Susie - busy as ever. I'm sure you will work extra hard to get that 3 day weekend - I just hope you can enjoy it with your family and not have to devote even an extra minute to work. It's Labor Day - holiday for us laborers - let's keep it a holiday!! How nice to clean off the desk and get rid of hot spots. I didn't know Cheesecake Factory made salads. I'll bet they are as delicious as their calorie bomb entrees - but at least you can split them into more than one meal and still be satisfied. That was a really scary story about the bear and I'm used to them - I'd be frightened too :eek: There's nothing like the feeling of vulnerability when you are sitting in the hot tub and something comes lurking up !

Shad - how nice for a change that you are actually home TO ENJOY YOUR GARDEN'S BOUNTY! :lol: You were always travelling as I recall and never seemed to be home during harvest. Did you do corn this year? Ours was late blooming - the corn man's not my yard - and at peak it still wasn't as good as last year. I'm sorry to hear that Sunday the cat is in her shadow years. You saved her from death and she certainly had a wonderful life with you. I hope she can be comfortable and reign as princess for whatever time she has left. Your comment about azaleas reminds me of Memphis in the spring. Everyone has them and they were so pretty when blooming. Our lilies are blooming nicely and for the most part, the new landscaping is taking root. We are just having problems with one bush type plant. The first one had a fungus, the replacement isn't doing any better. I'm not keen on that plant anyway. I'm sure they will replace it. Sounds like the house renovations are coming along despite injuries. At least you are home to tackle everything that needs to be done and can save a few dollars by doing some of the work yourself. I had to laugh at you taking a neighbor along who would talk you out of fancy stuff :rofl: We all need a partner in crime. Any plans for the open space provided by the removal of the tree? Glad you checked back in with us.

Laura - did you get your spreadsheet fixed for the boss before he left? Is it going to be a quiet week this week or will you also be rushing to make up for a long weekend? I certainly don't want to be the babbling fool if it comes down to just you and me on the thread. :gossip: Do you have any special plans for the weekend?

Hi Ceejay :wave: Welcome to having a holiday when you're retired and every day is a holiday :dizzy: I guess you get to cook all the fixings for the Labor Day cookout since you aren't working. How are the uncles doing now that you can't visit regularly?

Posting this for now...

Morning all. Happy Monday.

Shad – I got tired just reading about all that needs to be done with the reno. Still a lot of decisions to make too. :faint: == Poor doggy, I hope you figure out what he’s allergic to and that the surgery goes well. Does DS2 have lawn treatments at his place that the dog and cat might be sensitive to?

Susie – Good to go into the workweek with a sense of accomplishment that tasks at home were taken care of. == I saw the photo of dh with Bruce Campbell on fb – I think he was on the tv show Burn Notice, right? I liked his character. Cool your dh got to meet him!

Annie – Be strong! I like Happy’s suggestion - write those feelings out. :comp:

Ceejay – I hope you had a lovely birthday. :)

Happy – Yes, I got the spreadsheet fixed and only had one more pow-wow with the boss before he finally left the office. == No special plans for the weekend. Oh wait, there’s always that one fest we go to.
==

The dentist appointment went fine. I was sufficiently numbed so there was no discomfort. The tooth feels fine, but there’s still a wee bit of soreness in the jaw.

After the appointment, I got home and changed clothes and attempted a bit of weeding out front, but the soil was dry (we’ve had no rain lately) and it was difficult to pull the weeds. I gave up after a short time and went back indoors. I felt a bit worn out and spent the rest of the day taking it easy.

Sunday I got to the farmers market and finally bought some corn. I bought two ears from a booth whose corn comes from Illinois, and two more ears from a booth whose corn comes from Michigan. We’ll have a taste test to see which we prefer. After that I met my friend D for breakfast, which was nice. The rest of the day was uneventful.

For Sunday dinner, we had grilled chicken and corn, and the corn was just delicious. Nothing like farm fresh corn. :hun:


The boss and another department member are out of the office today, so it’s quiet here and will be for the next three days. I’m past a lot of the crunch-time work, so I can breathe a bit easier now.

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

Saturday was a very dreary, cold, very rainy awful day out there. I had to go work a fundraiser at 4:30 and I REALLY REALLY didn't want to leave the house. DH (my Uber driver) also didn't want to leave the house. I tried to come up with a good enough excuse not to go but I know the president was depending on me... :( Nagging guilt made me go and I'm glad I did because she is not feeling well and was depending on me. It was a nice event even if they did run out of food very early on. They raised a large amount - this is the biggest fundraiser of the year. Yesterday I went into the shop after hours and ran the credit card slips through the machine. I told D we have to be more selective about who sits at the table to take money. The lady next to me was rather snippy when I told her what I needed and then she made lots of mistakes which meant I had to spend extra time yesterday adding things up and in some cases actually calling people because information was incorrectly written down or missing. I went to the shop around 5pm and didn't get out until after 7:30pm, chasing the sunset so I would not have to drive when it's dark and the deer are out on the road.

Friday I worked the thrift shop in the morning but wound up doing more running around taking care of business than cashiering. Friday night DH and I went to dinner at a local farm for Chef's Table by the chef whose cooking classes we go to. I had an appetizer of roasted beet stuff ravioli with a slaw of salad turnips, carrots, broccolini, blanched green and yellow string beans and ancient grains, DH had lamb kabobs. Then we each had a salad of fresh greens with sliced fresh peaches and blueberries with a light balsamic dressing. Dinner was roasted chicken with salted potatoes, mashed cauliflower casserole and a peach sambal - which is spices mixed with fresh peaches and chopped cashews and peanuts. Dessert was coffee with fresh peach and blueberry pie with a dollop of their vanilla lavendar homemade gellato. It was delicious. So very flavorful. I didn't like the potatoes which DH loved so I gave mine to him - take small new potatoes and boil them in a very heavily salted water - it forms a fine dustlike salt crust on the potatoes - too salty for me but DH loved them. In turn I gladly took his mashed cauliflower off his plate and enjoyed that very much. I was also surprised at the beet ravioli - I really enjoyed them. Trying hard to learn to love beets.

Sunday morning DH and I talked about taking a small trip up north to catch the dark skies and fall color. Trees are already starting to turn up this way. So mid September we are taking a 2-1/2 day getaway trip. I do hope the cats will be ok by themselves. I think I worry about them more than they need to be worried about. We also booked a weekend in November to catch a meteor shower in one of the darkest parts of the country. I think he is taking to heart my comment that we just have to bite the bullet and plan on doing things together. I am trying very hard to cut back on my volunteering for now but honestly like Saturday - the more I try to wiggle out, the more things steal my time. I have stopped working my regular shift at the store but wound up the last 3 weeks filling in for one person or another so I really didn't achieve my goal of more time for me.

Yesterday DH and I went to the casino for a while. We had a late lunch / dinner there. That was pretty much my meal for the day. DH had some leftovers while I was at the shop. I was hungry around 8pm (we ate at 3) so I had a sliced tomato with some mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and a drizzle of balsamic.

We have been eating out alot - I think it's contributing to my weight stalling. It's not that I'm eating all that much more - I am pretty much no breakfast but coffee, and one light meal and one bigger meal. I need to get back on track today taking supplements, drinking more water (I have been doing that already thanks to the new refrigerator & water dispenser) and tracking meals. Also as part of our trips, DH of course wants to take waterfall pictures but I told him I am not going to hike 6 miles in the woods like he did so he was trying to find places that are a bit more friendly on the legs. Now that it's getting chilly outside, both of us are noticing that our legs are stiffening up. I have been doing stretches when I'm in the hot tub and I am finding that is helping my flexibility. I also need to regularly get on the NuStep to build some leg strength. Just have to remember to do it and make time to make it happen. I might need to cancel the first round of yoga starting next month. There is alot going on Wednesday's and if I miss 3 or 4 sessions, it's just not worth the cost of the classes. I think I will miss one for our trip, one for a week I need to fill in at the desk for the senior center and there might be one week I have a class on Wednesday... I am starting to feel stiffer more than I ever remember before. Don't get old. :lol:

Guess that's enough babbling. I have a long list of errands to do today so I'd better get on them before the day is long gone. Have a good one people. At least it's a short week for those of you who are working.

Ok, back to do personals

Laura: Glad to hear that the filling replacement wasn't to bad. It is a good thing that you weren't able to finish the weeding. After any dental procedure, you should not let your head go below your heart for at least 4-6 hours afterwards.

Enjoy the quiet in the office and being able to work at what you feel like working on.

Anne: Dear Sister Friend, I am praying for you and if you want to talk please reach out to me. :hug::hug: I care deeply about you.

Shad: It is nice that you are enjoying your garden and it's bounty.
What did you end up buying (if anything) on your shopping trip with the friend who would keep you on track?

I hope the dog does well at the vet and that your kitty can make it for a bit more time

Ceejay: I saw on FB that you celebrated a birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday! :bday2you:


Happy: You still sound very busy with your volunteer things. Your dinner sounded very nice.

How exciting that you have a mid September 2-1/2 day getaway trip!

OK..time to get back to work. See you all tomorrow.

Susie
Thanks for the birthday wishes.

Happy
I'm proud of you for saying no. And good for you in getting some boxes gone through.

Laura
How is your foot today. I've been messaging my foot every night and it feel a lot better. Enjoy the quiet in the office today.

Shad
Poor doggie. Hope the Vet can get him well. I bet you will be glad to have the renovations done.

Annie
:hug: Hope things can get sorted out. I'm with Happy on writing things down. I need to start journaling again.

-----------
Not much is happening except life. My nephew C. slid into 3rd base while playing slow pitch softball and broke his leg just above his ankle. He's been to urgent care but goes to the orthopedic tomorrow.
Looking forward to my niece coming in September.
My nephew A. came Saturday and mowed my lawn. He brought his little boys. I haven't cvlean up the mess they made playing with the toys.



They say third time is a charm so I will try once more.

Sorry for the typo's

Trying to get out of the whoa is me attitude. Hard to do some days. I know I am not ok.

Thank you ladies for all the love and support. This has to be the worst thing I have been through since my first marriage.

Whatever it is Annie, I hope it sorts itself out soon. I'm aware that we are strong and vibrant people but there is just so much a body can take. Let us know if we can help.

Hi everyone. Sat up watching a movie and should have gone to bed ages ago. Ruger came through his procedure okay. I haven't heard much in the way of results or causes yet. Maybe tomorrow DS2 will get around to telling me. Apparently there was yeast in the ears. From where or what I don't know. Anyway, I had better get into my lovely warm bed and sleep. 5.30am will come soon enough. Sunday the cat is still here, but I don't know for how much longer. Doesn't want to eat, and when she does, much of it comes back, sleeps a lot, drinks a lot and even worse has been very quiet today. She is never normally quiet.

Bed Shad. Get OFF the computer.

Hello ladies,

Anne :hug: It's not unusual when bad things happen that you question WHY ME - especially when you otherwise feel you are a good and kind person and you try to do the right things. I think it's just a natural feeling, especially when you look around and see that other people "deserve" worse than they are getting. I'm sorry you are feeling that way, I'm sure it is well justified. Is there anyone you can talk with - perhaps someone from your support group? Know that we love you and care about you too. :hug: :hug: :hug:

Shad - sadly it sounds as if maybe Miss Sunday the cat may be approaching her last days. I think they tend to stop eating when they are just tired of the world. It is a sad thing - her heart may be tiring out as well. :hug: DH took Nina in for her wellness checkup yesterday. She too had a yeast infection in her ears. The treatment is either a week of fighting with her to get ear drops in every day for 8 days or this other one dose, quicker acting stuff. They did the one dose. She came home not a happy camper at all - has been hiding under the bed upstairs all evening. She peeked at the top of the stairs and when I attempted to come up, she ran and hid again. Poor thing is not comfortable at all. I would not like ear drops either... I left her food and water so that she can at least get some sustenance. Don't know how she got a yeast infection either so we can both guess and come up short??? :shrug: Why are you getting up at 5:30am if you are retired??? Other than you have always been a morning person.

Ceejay - that is awful about your nephew breaking his leg! I assume this is not the one who has been helping out at your house? Did you have a nice birthday? Happy belated birthday wishes :hb: :celebrate::bday2you::celebrate:

Hi Susie :wave: are you getting things done so you can enjoy the weekend off with DH?

So Laura - who has the better corn - Illinois or Michigan? We have blueberry farms up north in Wisconsin - you pick your own types but I did get blueberries from Michigan from the peach truck and I have to say those were huge and sweet and wonderful. Either of them blows away the stuff in the stores. How is your foot feeling? I did get the Kuru lace up sneaker type shoes. They feel like Frankenstein shoes - a bit bigger than some of the more form fitting shoes like Sketchers but that's probably because of the added padding in them. Just wore them for about an hour yesterday. They felt ok. At least they don't rub like the moccasin type slip ons did. I will have to wear them a bit more and will report back. Do you wear orthotics in your shoes? I can't remember. Are you hoping for an early dismissal from work on Friday? :crossed:

I am supposed to work at the shop this afternoon to fill in and work with with friend of mine. Got a call last night from one of my other friends who works the Tuesday morning shift. There is a guy who buys books from us and resells them at a higher price at a flea market stall in town. He was grumbling last month when we raised prices. Now I come to find for the last 3 weeks (I haven't been working on Tuesdays when he comes in) that he announced that the price increases DID NOT APPLY TO HIM because he donates books to us. What??? :?::?::?::?: Can you believe it? And he also was not adhering to the 10 book limit we have in place to keep the booksellers from clearing out our shelves. All this was going on and not one person decided to question him or anyone who is a decision maker in the store. :mad: Cheating the animals makes me very ANGRY :mad: :mad: :mad: We have plenty of people who buy our books, pay the listed prices and re-donate the books back to us when they have finished reading them because they want to support our cause. I talked to the person who is leading the book team last night - she said that was utter nonsense as I thought. So I fired off an email to all the cashiers last night. I expect he will come in today although I think the flea market closed for the season yesterday. He comes in the morning so now I have to spend my entire day at the shop. Does not make me happy. What a clown!!!

Anyway that doesn't leave me much time here to do things so I'd better post this and go get showered and ready to leave. Have a good one ladies.

Morning all.

Happy – I’m glad you’ve scheduled some time away for you and DH. It’ll be nice to have a break for your busyness with the volunteer activities. == Your farm dinner sounded so tasty – a lot of creativity with the flavors. == Poor Nina – I hope the quick-acting med is quick and effective! We haven’t tried the other corn yet, so I don’t know who wins yet. == Re Kuru shoes – I’ll have to find a store where I can try them on. All the shoes that have a lot of support are Frankenstein-like. That’s just the way it is. I‘m currently wearing my New Balance sneakers with my custom orthotics, as well as the rigid carbon fiber plate in the shoe for the bad foot (right one). So much for the expensive OTC insole I bought when I bought the new shoes… == The official closing time for Friday is 3:00 pm, but yes, I’m hoping for an earlier dismissal than that. :crossed: == What a nervy jerk that flea market book seller is! :mad:. And I’m going to assume that the volunteers at the shop are of a more mature age and shouldn’t be afraid to respond with something like “I’m not aware of this, I’m going to have to check with someone.” If he got angry and didn’t patronize the shop anymore, I imagine no one would feel it was a great loss. I hope he came into the shop today so you could set him straight.


Susie – I didn’t know about not bending over with the head lower than the heart after a dental procedure. Then it was good I gave up on the weeding after a short time… == Any special plans for the 3-day weekend?

Ceejay – My foot is on week three of being sorer than it had been before that. I’m getting frustrated about this. :tantrum: == How’s the nephew with the broken leg doing?

Annie – I’m so sorry you’re going through a rough time right now. We’re all here for you. :grouphug: Get in touch if you want to talk. :hug:

Shad – Glad to hear Ruger got through the procedure okay. == Poor Sunday. It sounds like her time with you is getting short. :( == Okay, what have you got going on at 5:30 am when you’re retired????!!!! Oh, just saw that Happy asked the same question, lol.

--

I rode my bike home in the rain after work yesterday, it wasn’t raining hard or anything, so no biggie. I didn’t have my helmet because I forgot to wear it that morning. :doh: No problems, I was extra cautious.

The oh-so-tall goldenrod in my mish-mash flower bed are finally turning golden!

What else? Nothing much. Foot still bugging me.

Oh, I have a good amount of vacation time to use up, just have to decide how I want to use it. I’ve been avoiding the fix-ups for the half bath, so I guess I’ll just allot several vacation days to that. In fact, I think I want to start back on that this weekend.

I’m just torn about how much I want to re-do. It all started with us replacing the old tall medicine cabinet with a new tall medicine cabinet. This was because bf didn’t want to reframe the wall to fit a smaller cabinet. In fact, just about everything he did is because it was easier for him. Where he removed the old-school inset soap dishes (right above the sink) and the tp holder, he didn’t patch the openings in the wall with pieces of drywall, he just used something akin to giant band-aids. So now there’s a good-sized blank space above the sink, and the medicine cabinet is above that, and then the light fixture is above that - way up there near the ceiling. It looks goofy to me. I’m thinking I want to replace the new cabinet (which was pricey!) with a smaller (shorter) one. Then move the light fixture lower. The gap on the wall above the sink would still be there, which bugs me. However, it was pointed out to me that we really couldn’t move the cabinet much lower anyway because the sink faucet has a bit of a high curve to it, and we couldn’t have the cabinet too low or it couldn’t open without hitting the faucet. It would be a lot of work to only move the cabinet a few inches lower. So that’s out. Anyway, I’m creating a lot of work for myself because of this, but it really does bother me. So I’ll do it. I might just hire a handyman type of person to do that part. The rest of it I could tackle on my own. I think...

Okay, enough rambling. I’ll get this posted.

Hi Everyone,

We had a lot of rain in Ohio today, but then again it is nothing like Texas has been getting. When I see the pictures and hear the stories it seems unreal. I can't imagine what those people are going through.

I have decided I'm taking a vacation day on Friday. It will most likely be a half vacation day and I'll be using some OT that I have this week to flex in for the other half. However you slice it I will be off the whole day.

I need to take one of the cars in for a oil change and also a couple of recall notices. I then plan to take a couple of the fall/winter dress pants I bought last January and see if they can be altered or do I need to go buy all new ones again for fall.

We have a pretty busy weekend planned. Saturday is hair appointment, the twins nieces have their Karate Black Belt tests. After that we are taking DH's father to do some shoe shopping and out to dinner. Sunday will be at home and church. Monday we are meeting a friend for a early movie and lunch.

Annie: Still praying for you. Whatever it is that you are dealing with, you know that God is with you and you have to go through the phases of the recovery when they come...you can't go to the next step until you complete the step where you are. :hug: Love you Sister Friend!

Ceejay: I cringed when I read that your nephew broke his leg. Poor kid!

Shad: Glad to hear that Ruger came out ok. Any idea why he had yeast in the ears. I don't know much about dogs and issues like that.

Happy: That guy who buys the books all up and thinks he gets a discount because he is a regular customer should be thanked for his support to the shelter and asked if he realizes when he is asking for that discount because he is a "regular" and he resales them for more for his profit, he is negating the his support to the shelter...and of course say it with a smile on your face, while in the back of your mind you are thinking..."you no good jerk!".

Sorry...my evil side just came out with that remark! Lol

Laura: The bathroom reno you are doing sounds like a lot of work to me. I would have to be off work for something like that so I could have time to see and think the project through while the work is going on.

We are planning on having a storm door, one of the full glass kind installed in a few weeks. We haven't had on on the front door since we lived here. It is time for the front door to be painted and new weather stripping and such so we decided to go ahead and have the storm door installed too.

My contractor will paint the door that is there--it needs touched up. He asked me if I want it painted white as it is now or a different color. I have no idea..so I need to head to Lowes and see what colors I might like if I don't want to leave it white.

Our home is brick and we have black shutters enhancing the windows on the side--they are fake shutters..they are decorative only. I don't know what color I would do if I didn't do white.

If anyone has input I would love it.

I am going to try one more time. I'm disappointed that my tablet has crashed.
Not much is going on except that my stomach gave me fits on Sunday and part of Monday. My sis said it sounded like a gallbladder attack. I just hope it wasn't.
For the month of September i'm taking care of my digestive health and exercise.


Happy
I have two nephews, both my sisters sons. Thankfully the orthopedist didn't put a full cast on and told him to wear that boot. He's been working because he doesn't have any sick leave and used his vacation time. That book dealer sure was bold. Maybe he scouted out the store and knew you were not there on Tuesday's.

Annie
Hope you get to feeling better. We miss you.

Laura
I'd take my time on the renovation and make sure what you want. I've made to many fast judgement only to have to redo them. Hope they can find out what is wrong with your foot.

Susie
My nephew is 37! We have all been concerned about him. He's had pity on himself and that didn't help but think he's turning the corner.

Shad
Sad that Miss Sunday is not feeling well. Bet you will be glad to get your bathroom back.

Morning all. The admin isn’t here today, and the other two are still out of the office, so I’m on my own today. I don’t mind at all. :D In fact, the admin has become overly chatty lately and it's sort of a relief to get a break from it. I'll have to figure out a way to nip it though...

Susie – It really is awful what Texas - and now Louisiana? - are going through. So sad. == How nice you’ll have a 4-day weekend! Sounds like you’ve already got it filled up with activities. What movie do you think you’ll see? == Good idea to have a storm door installed – I’m sure it saves on the weathering of the main door. And in mild weather, you can have the main door open and nice light comes in through the storm door. Our storm door has a hidden screen that rolls down from the top, and that’s a nice thing to have in the warm weather. == As for changing the color of your front door… with the brick and the black, it seems like you could certainly change to something other than white, but what color are your window frames, and your garage door (if it’s visible from the front)? We did a deep mahogany color for our front door and garage door, and it’s a nice contrast against the brick. Our windows and gutters and storm door are a very neutral sandstone, so it seems to work. Good idea to go to the home improvement store and take a look at what’s on display. Or just drive around your neighborhood. ;)

Ceejay – Sorry you’re having so much trouble with this site (and your tablet). I hope you don’t have a gallbladder issue!! :no: Good to pay attention to what you eat and take note of what types of food cause you problems. == Good advice to think some more about the half bath renovation. This is already a redo from what bf did, I sure wouldn’t want to put more work into another redo and not like it. And now I wonder if just changing the paint color would be enough for me. We went with a warmer color, but in the end what we chose clashes with the color of our pedestal sink and toilet and it’s just too strong for me. Maybe that’s the answer.

Hellos to the rest of you. :wave:

=

I did a kettlebell workout last night. It was a good workout and got my heart pumping and the sweat flowing. I couldn’t do the front and rear lunge moves because of my foot. My legs are a bit sore already and I’m sure it will increase as the day goes on. The soreness sort of feels good because at least I know there are muscles there, and is a sign I’m getting stronger. This dvd also has a core workout I look forward to doing. I recall from the kettlebell class I took years ago, it worked my legs and my core really well.

There’s a notice posted near the bike rack that announced a bike rack shelter will be built next to the existing bike racks. It will have solar lighting. I don’t care all that much about a shelter – it won’t make me want to ride year-round or any longer than I already do. But… if it expands the amount of parking for bikes, that’s a good thing. I believe there will also be shelters built near the other bike racks that exist near the train tracks. I guess it’s a good thing, and it might encourage more people to ride their bikes to the train instead of driving. The funding is coming from a grant from the Federal government.

What else? I have a hair appointment after work today.

I think that’s about it, so I’ll get this posted. :comp:

I slept in a little later than normal. It felt good. Stomach is much better today.
Had a good work good work out yesterday at the gym.
One year ago today I retired. Feeling blessed.


Laura
Ouch on the foot problems. I truly understand. I'm still debating on making an appointment with the podiatrist to get my bunion taken care of. I'm having to baby it again.

Susie
Good for you in taking some time off from work. We had clouds yesterday and was curious as if they were from Harvey.

Happy
What you doing this week end?

One day at a time.

Morning all. Why does it feel like it should be Friday?? Oh well. Happy Thursday to you.

Ceejay – Wow, already a year has passed since you retired! You sure seem to be enjoying it and you don’t sound bored at all, so happy anniversary and may you have many more!

Annie – Yep, one day at a time. Hang tough.

Hellos to the rest of you.

--

Well, the dealership finally fixed the AC problem with our SUV. Strange how bf was in such a tizzy the night before last about how to get the car taken care of and I come home yesterday to find it sitting in the driveway.

The issue we had was that the dealer we had taken our vehicle to has a very small service department – one mechanic and one service writer. And they had turnover with the service writer position. Trying to take it to another dealer was an issue because of some mechanic's union strike that’s affecting a lot of the area dealerships. The next move for bf was to take the car to the Ford dealership (they could work on Lincolns, which is what we have). But bf didn't have to do that. It turns out that when another service writer quit last week, the dealership had to get the service manager at the sister Ford dealer across the street (owned by the same company) to help out. So the AC is now all fixed, as well as a recall brake issue. They were going to try to bill us another $100 deductible on the warranty, but bf refused – we had to take it in three times to get the same AC problem fixed, that’s not a new issue! And there would have been no cost related to the recall item anyway. So no payment was made. Anyway, that’s done. Thank goodness for that extended warranty we bought. We'll be using another dealer next time, but I hope next time doesn’t occur anytime soon, and certainly not until after the strike is over!

I had my hair appointment last night, and that was about it.

Oh wait, forgot to mention the missing title to our scooter. When we bought it a few years ago, bf did the paperwork to have the title transferred to our name. Apparently the title came in the mail, but bf had it sitting around in the mail basket for a while. (Yes, the mountainous mail basket that he spent hours cleaning out a couple months ago.) Of course, he cannot remember what happened to it. It only occurred to him to ask me about it last night - several years later and months after he visited the safe deposit box for something else (when he noted that the scooter title was not in the box). So last night he's asking me about it, and I don't have a clue or any memory of being asked to do something with the !@#$ title. If it had come up, I certainly wouldn't have let it sit around just anywhere. If I were putting it somewhere temporarily there would only be one or two spots where I would put it (they've been checked, and it isn't there). But since it's bf, it could be just about anywhere. And now he's beefing about having to pay a $95 fee for a duplicate. Arrrgh. I'm thinking it unintentionally got tossed when he went through his mail basket. Sigh.


Okay, off to post. Have a good day everyone!

Didn't go to the gym today. I was in a mood to clean and I got a lot done. I've set a goal of 150 minutes per week and I'm almost there!

Laura
Hope the bf can find the title to the scooter. You mentioned taking the car to the dealership. I need to take mine soon to get the oil changed. I had Walmart do it last time and they can't reset the maintenance ready light. Ugh.

Annie
One day at a time is all we do. Hope things are getting better for you.

Hello Everyone. I an glad itnis Friday and my day off. I do have a lot going on today with all my errands but it will be nice to go about getting things done.

I am a bit upset with myself as I had a gain at TOPS last night. I know it happens but I am not happy with myself as I just wasn't paying attention and sticking to what brought me to the dance so to speak and that is, you can't out exercise a bad diet. So, today I go back to that frame of mine.

Annie: yes, one day at a time. Don't borrow anything from tomorrow and you cant go back and change yesterday. Hugs and prayers Sister Friend.

Laura: my window frames are white and the garage door is white. We also have white vinyl railing on the porch. I am going to consider burgundy for the door....I will go look at that in a store.

Your kettle bell workouts sound like intense workouts. It feels good to master a tough workout.

I think it sounds like the title is lost,I know when I dont keep that paper work filed it is very easy to misplace things. Bf only has himself to blame for it.

Ceejay: I am glad to hear your stomach settled down and you feel better.

It is hard to believe that a whole year had gone by since you retired. I think you have done very well adjusting to it.

Time to get my workout done for the day and then get a shower. I have to have the car to the dealer at 10.

It is only supposed to be a high of 61 today in Ohio. It will put me in the mood to start a bit of fall clothes shopping or at least looking. I am checking out Kohls and JC Penny today.

Hi to Happy and Shad.

Good morning ladies,

Happy September already. The year is flying by. Cooler temperatures on the horizon for us - dipped into highs of the 60s after this weekend and forties and even upper 30's at night. :( It's bringing out some brilliant reds on the trees though. I think we might see some great colors for our trip in 10 days. (2 day getaway up north). We will try and take the boat out on Sunday - although traditionally the lakes are pretty busy on this upcoming holiday weekend with everyone waving the last hurrah of summer up here.

Sorry I haven't been in here. Crazy busy. I'd start to read posts and get interrupted before my coffee cup emptied. Tuesday I worked at the shop, went in early - about an hour after opening. The man who refused to pay the listed price for books was waiting for the ladies to open the shop. He went in the back, brought a whole bunch of $2 and $3 hardcovers to the front and demanded to pay $1 for them - said the new prices didn't apply to him. I had already spoken to both cashiers the night before and warned them about him. One lady cowered and ran in the back to avoid conflict and the other - my friend - politely and firmly stood up to him - she was a middle school teacher. The guy was upset and then one busy body we have came up to the front of the shop and started making a commotion about how this guy was excluded from the price increase (that has been in effect all month). This only agitated the guy further and he walked out vowing to never return and he was giving all his money to someone else. I didn't say anything to the volunteer when I came in - she avoided me. She had no place sticking her nose into things, she thinks she runs the store and is quite disruptive. But I did talk to the president, said this has gone far enough and both cashiers at the store agreed she made an inappropriate and unnecessary scene and had no business doing what she did. We will see if that gets handled. This one constantly ignores directives, does what she wants and although she does do alot, she is a constant disruptive force. Maybe we should just give discounts to everyone (on top of our ridiculously low prices) and to heck with the animals?? Then there was a rash of back and forth calls from the Senior Center who is unsure of what their schedule is and when I should be volunteering. I should not be the one to remind them of their meetings and seminars. :rolleyes: There is a handy invention called "... a calendar" for those things :lol: I also attending a few video conferences on the shelter software. Some of the updates they want will cost money. It happens. I am also peeking to see just how much they actually use the software and that takes time and efforts. And then there is bingo. I said when my partner left for his vacation that I felt it was going to be a very disruptive time and I was just going to go with the flow... So yesterday I came in, fortunately we had another guy come in to help us. We are getting ready and the bingo caller who generally comes in about 30 minutes ahead of time was no where to be found. It's getting closer to the start time and he's still not there. I look in my book of reference numbers and he's not in there!! Fortunately his wife plays bingo so we had her contact him. Turns out that he needed to work overtime last night. He knew ahead of time and called D's house and left a message but ... D is in Europe on a boat. :eek: I announced that we might have to skip the early games to the horror of the bingo players and my own personal horror of refunding money and 60 spoiled bingo books that we'd have to take a loss on since people often mark up their cards with the game patterns ahead of time. At the last minute T who came in to help said he was nervous but could / would call the bingo games. Whew what a relief! He did a great job. They got a hold of the other guy who was able to leave work earlier than he planned and came in about 10 minutes after the start of the regular games. Then about 10 minutes into the last game before intermission I noticed 2 people escorting one of our elderly gentlemen out of the bingo room. He didn't look good, I asked what was wrong - they said he was having problems seeing. I immediately asked if he had diabetes (low blood sugar causes blurry vision). He also just got out of the hospital a few days ago with fluid build up for heart issues. His wife was crying. His young grandson was hysterical on the phone that grandpa fell and was very sick and his family members were buh-DEE buh-DEE - grandpa is a stubborn gent. :dizzy::dizzy::dizzy: OK BUT where is he? What's going on? Should I call an ambulance??????? Talk to me. I went out in the parking lot to look for grandpa - thought they might have taken him to his car but it turns out they took him in the men's room for some odd reason. There is no chair in the rest room other than the toilet seat :?::?::?: One of the bingo players told me she was a Certified Nursing Assistant but was hesitant to approach grandpa without permission. SO I asked his wife and she said - can they check his blood sugar? So C goes to check on him, meanwhile one of the grandson's comes back and tells me that grandpa is sweating profusely and not looking good. Well for heaven's sake CALL 911 emergency already. "Oh grandpa won't like that". Well he's not stroking out or dying on my watch baby! Blurry vision is one thing but I'm not messing with sweating on a 90 year old guy with heart issues. So we call emergency - the ambulance is literally just across the parking lot from where we are located. Still it takes them a few minutes to show up and when they do they are kinda taking their time diddling around in the parking lot for some odd reason. I finally said to them - guys I think you might want to HURRY UP please - we have a 90 year old man with heart issues with blurry vision and sweating profusely. :dizzy: So they yelled a code and hurried in there. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: So they go in and start treating him. Meanwhile bingo is still rolling along so we shut the door to the hallway and pretended nothing unusual was going on. They finished the last game, got grandpa in the ambulance and as we hit the break I tried to stop all the smokers rushing out the door for their cigarette fix as I was not sure if they were done with grandpa yet. Never try to stand in the way of a smoker who has gone 60 minutes without a cigarette :nono: I thought it was sort of comical that the smokers were gathered at the front entrance smoking 8 feet away from the ambulance. :o Turns out that grandpa had low blood sugar issues - heart was ok. I said "why didn't you give him a cookie when he said he was getting woozy when you know he's a diabetic?". They said cuz he's a stubborn old cuss and refuses to eat. :rolleyes: :shrug: I was frankly sort of taken aback by their general nonchalance. Apparently they know him better than I do and he is an avid bingo player and was mad he missed it last week because he was in the hospital and wasn't about to give up his seat last night. :^: Because the bingo caller was related to grandpa (it's a whole family who plays) we took a longer than usual intermission. We usually do a 50/50 cash raffle at intermission and yesterday I had a second prize giveaway - a pretty hand crocheted afghan. First winner gets to pick their prize, most people take the money first (50 percent of the tickets we sell). And then we draw tickets for any extra prizes we have. So the first ticket is drawn, person wants the money. Second ticket is drawn - it's this curmudgeon guy who only wants the money. I go to give him the afghan - he says he wants the money, I tell him someone else got the money he says too bad - I want the money. I said you can choose between this afghan or NOTHING. He says he wants the money. So I told him he has to wrestle Marge for the cash I am drawing another ticket for the afghan. :dizzy: The third ticket winner was delighted to have such a pretty blanket. Then we are late getting out of there and we are trying to close up and there is a cluster of ladies having a coffee clutch in the corner. I had to tell them 4 times - we are shutting the doors - let's move this along please. After the 3rd time then they decide they all need to use the toilet before they go so that's another 30 minutes we had to wait. I was ready to lock them into the facility for night. So this is my life, I could not make this stuff up even if I tried and I have a pretty vivid imagination.

Let me post this and I'll come back for personals.

Morning all. Happy Friday. Our office closes at 3 pm today, but of course we’re all hoping for an earlier dismissal. We’ve all been spoiled by getting the day off on the Monday before July 4th, and all the various other pre-holiday early closures, so of course we hope for one today. :shrug:

Ceejay – Great goal of 150 minutes per week of exercise! Any special weekend plans?

Susie – I know we’ve all said for ourselves or others “Oh, it’s just one week, I’ll/you’ll do better next week.” But it’s good that you didn’t just take this gain lightly and that you identified what made you gain and what you’ll do about it. == I bet burgundy would look good on the door – how do you think it would look against the color of your brick? == Re the kettlebells – yes, actually that was the toughest class I ever took, and the dvd workout the other night was tough too. I guess it’s the combination of the weight and all the squats. == Enjoy your extra day off work!!!

Happy – Wow, what a lot of drama at the shop and at bingo! I bet your buddy on vacation in Europe will be happy to have missed all the bingo “excitement” last night. I think that family with the diabetic grandpa – the whole lot of them – should be banned for a couple weeks just for being such fools, but then again, they bring money to the Senior Center… And what about the guy who insisted on money instead of the blanket??!! Yikes what a group. They sure take their gambling seriously. Was your dh there to make sure no harm came to you? Seems like the type of crowd that could get ugly, LOL. == I hope you’re able to get out on the boat this weekend. You must be looking forward to your getaway after yesterday!

Hellos to Annie and Shad. :wave:

==

Nothing much to report. The boss and I didn’t have any interaction yesterday, so he must be trying to catch up from his time out of the office.

After work I did an ab sculpting Pilates workout (Mari Winsor dvd). It was a tough one. Thanks to the library sales, I believe I now have 3 Mari Winsor dvds. The other two dvds (more general Pilates-focused) seem to be very similar. Once I’ve done each of them again, I’ll figure out any significant differences - if any - and maybe weed one of them out by donating it back to the library.

I think I’ve gotten myself hooked on those Hallmark channel murder & mystery movies. Last night I watched part of one I’d recorded on another day. This particular series is done for now and will come back in January. I was feeling tired, so I went to bed early. I ended up watching my recorded episode of “Younger” on the bedroom tv. That’s gone to the #1 spot on my guilty tv viewing pleasure list. It used to be “My Big Fat Fabulous Life”, but the last season ended and there’s been no announcement about it coming back (it’s on TLC). And I’m not sure it should return. The series started off with this woman wanting to get back to dancing and seemingly wanting to lose weight and get healthy so she could do it, but in subsequent seasons all that disappeared. The situations they throw her into (yeh, it’s supposedly a reality show, but all the stories must certainly be cooked up by the producers) have gotten so ludicrous, it’s just a stupid show. And I understand she’s into this body acceptance cause, which makes me now understand what the show has chosen to display - or not - about her life, e.g., they never show her eating anymore, or talking about eating sensibly. I think body acceptance is all well and good, but this woman is so overweight she can’t really move/dance all that much and I can tell she just isn’t that healthy – she can’t do some things on her own, gets winded just walking short distances, etc. Her life is NOT fabulous! I really want to see her turn things around. Have any of you ever watched that show?? If so, what did you think?

Okay, enough rambling. I hope everyone has a great weekend. TTFN.

so between my post and now I have dealt with a few phone calls. There are problems with several of the overhead lights at the shop. We have had people jury rig the lights, that makes me nervous because I don't want the store to burn down again. Finally someone agrees to have a real electrician look at the problem so I had to document the issues and try and translate from girl speak to something an electrician who never set foot in the store would understand. :dizzy: Life is much easier when you are flakey and irresponsible :dance::dance::dance:

They decided to put the summer clothes on sale (good idea) so now I have to go in and pull and mark the summer clothes because the person who usually does this is on a boat in Europe with D. And the other person is working this weekend. So guess who gets to do this??? And I have to go back there again tonight to close out the register because the 2 substitute ladies working don't know how to close and don't want to learn.

I am still hoping to get out on the boat with DH on Sunday. :^:

Susie - you are so right about not being able to exercise off a bad diet. I also find that as the weather turns cooler, the weight is harder to get off - it's like nature knows winter is coming and is trying to store things. I hope you can come up with a nice accent color for your house. Good luck with the errand run today.

Ceejay- I cannot believe an entire year has passed since you retired already!!! Boy that flew by quickly. Glad you are happy and managing well financially - that and health are peoples' 2 biggest fears about retirement.

Annie- :hug: to you. Hope you are muddling through things as best as you can. :^: Take some time to enjoy the holiday with the kids or go shopping for nice fall stuff or something fun.

Oh Laura - your BF and my DH sound like brothers from another mother :rofl: Actually I think they all think the same way. Sometimes I rummage through the garbage because he just tosses things out without asking. :rolleyes: What a snafu with getting the SUV fixed. I am starting to think that one should purchase a car from the largest dealership in the area - you get better service.

Just got another phone call - the humane society stickers I ordered are in at the printer. Can I pick them up today? Oh sure... let me add them to my growing list of things to do that I didn't plan on doing. :^: Maybe the laundry fairy and the house fairy will come and do things here for me.

Better post this. Have a good weekend peeps.

Laura - funny you talk about body acceptance - I was talking to my sister about younger girls and their "body confidence" as she calls it. I don't expect anyone to be skinny minnies - I certainly am not. But I am astounded at how people dress now a days. Too tight, too clingy and too open clothing when you can't contain the flab is certainly not flattering. One of the places I patronize hired a young girl who is substantially overweight. Last time I saw her she was wearing a very thin spaghetti strap dress that was not flattering at all. The material was paper thin - the backdropped light through the window showed right through the dress. It hugged all of her rolls and worst of all from the back it clearly showed the outline of her very skimpy panties that did not cover a whole bunch of lumpy cellulite. It really was not flattering at all and drew more attention to her than should have been necessary. I am also not a fan of random tattoos all over arms, legs, back, etc. Especially when it looks like 7 people came up to you and slapped you with a tattoo on a random place on your body. I always wonder, what will you think when you are 40? I just don't understand it. I guess that makes me REALLY old ! :lol:

I hope you get out earlier than 3 today :crossed: :crossed: :crossed:

I started a post on the tablet but the screen kept freezing. I'm not sure I have all the kinks out of it yet. At least it does perform at times :lol:

Laura
About a week ago I was flipping through the channels and found the Hallmark Movies and mystery channel. I've gotten in the habit of watching My 600 pound Life. I have some of their emotional struggles, but once they can show the doctor they can control their food and lose the doctor's require weight loss they get weight loss surgery. But even then they have to stay on a very strict diet. To me it sounds like Annie's Keto diet plan, no carbs, no sugar and no carbonated drinks.

Happy
What week you have had dealing with things at the thrift store and at bingo! I know you will be ready for some time alone with the DH. Will you be taking the cats?

Susie
Glad you are jumping back in with both feet so to speak and not to let the gain at Tops do you in. You've worked to hard.

Hello to Annie and Shad

---------
Not much going on today. I did clean up the kitchen this morning and took out the trash. I did go to the gym this afternoon. I've met my 150 minute exercise goal. A total of 199 minutes. Mostly cardio, I do some weight machine too but my fitbit doesn't count that. I meant to weigh in this morning but I didn't think about it so I will do that tomorrow morning.

Hi Everyone,

I am wide awake as I came home around 5 and slept until DH woke me up at 7:30 p.m. to see if i wanted something for dinner.

I need to go to bed shortly because I have a 7:30 a.m. hair appointment....I had to make it at that time because the twin nieces have a Black Belt test/ ceremony at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. was the only time my hairdresser had since I had to change the original appointment I had made 4 weeks ago.

I didn't find out until last week about the belt test--their mom forgot to tell me and there is no way I would miss it. It is important to those girls that we are there.

I got all the car recalls done and one of them required an oil change so I didn't have to pay for the one that we needed. That was a plus.

I did well on my shopping trip. I bought two new pair of black flats for work/casual at Kohls.

I also did very well at JC Penny and I ended up not taking my slacks to the seamstress to see if they could be taken in because JC Penny had all their Worthington work slacks on clearance (they were $15 each with 20% off) and I was able to find 5 pair in my new size...which is a size 18! I couldn't believe that size fit. I thought I would need a 22 or maybe a 20. The 22 was huge and the 20 would be really baggy in about 7-10 lb loss so I tried the 18 and they fit and look nice.

When I started my weight loss plan on December 26, I was wearing a size 24 an sometimes a 26.

I also found a couple of lighter weight sweaters and two tops on sale and also could use the 20% off with the sale price. My pants are black (3 of them), grey (2 of them) brown (1) and navy (1). I am set for work with dress slacks.

I need to go through my clothes in the next couple of weeks and then I plan to have a yard sale to see if I can sell some of them that are two big. I have a lot of ladies in the area asking me what I'm going to do with my "before weight loss clothes", so I think I would have a good turn out for a yard sale. That could help replace my heavy sweaters that I will l need later on.

Happy: That bingo sounds out of control...it's like Bingo gone wild! Between that and the book price haggling, I think I would walk out and they could all just sort it out. You are a better woman than I am!

Laura: Did you end up getting early dismissal? I haven't watched the show "My Big Fat Fabulous Life".

I think it is one thing to look your best that you can at any way and try to be as healthy as you can but I have been a larger size girl and I know I didn't feel good physically or emotionally. I don't mind being curvy but that is different than being obese.

Ceejay: You have a great work out plan in place. You should be very proud of yourself.

I have decided that I'm going to set a mileage goal for myself for the month of September. I will only count my "exercise" mileage that I get on the treadmill and the bike for this goal. I will complete 150 miles (Ceejay inspired me to go for that number!) of exercise mileage the month of September. That means I need to get just over 6 miles in 6 days a week.

I am going to work up to 180 miles a month in the month of December as 180 lbs is my goal weight. I don't think I will be at 180 lbs by December 31 but I could be close and 180 miles a month will be a goal that stretches me.

Hello to Annie and Shad...I am finally feeling sleepy so I better get to bed.

I most likely will be back on Sunday. Tomorrow is a very full day with hair appt., grocery shopping, belt tests and then taking DH's dad shoe shopping.

Susie
Congratulations on the smaller size. I like the J.C. Penny store. I don't mind the exercise. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of aerobics each week. And I'm trying to build my stamina. I would like to find a healthy food plan that I can adjust to. I like food.

Hello to the rest. Enjoy the week end.

Unfinished post, dunno how that got posted!