Hi everyone,

Thanks for the good travel wishes. We should have good weather both ways so hopefully we will get chatting and pass the time quickly driving down and back. I'm sure the time itself will pass very quickly. My sister is REALLLLLY looking forward to the visit. I think she badly needs some venting/relaxing/sisterly love time.

The weekend went quickly - got some things done, no matter how you try you don't get everything done. But that's ok.

Annie - hope you survive Indy 500 weekend. Must be like Daytona in Florida. No thanks on the crowds. Hope you can make it to your friend's farewell. Big skies of North Dakota. It's pretty land up there just pretty rural and rustic. And cold in the winter.

Thank you Laura for the good wishes. I forgot about the bone growth stimulator - good point. How to tell if it's WORKING???? Hope so. Your friend must have baby like hair - fine and scraggly and very prone to static so it's quite unmanageable. Cute on a baby, frustrating on a grown woman. Many people say their hair grows back coarse and curly. Yay for the house almost being paid off - at least the end in sight!! Always a reason to celebrate - going to burn the mortgage papers in the firepit?

Hello Ceejay, Shad and Dee

I watched the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction last night. You get old, you can't sing anywhere nearly like your monster hits - time to stop, just make a nice speech and take your award. Makes me feel bad - a good part of these guys are still a few years older than me but I know it's coming soon where they will be younger than me - makes me feel old and reminds me the glory days are long over.

Anyway - have a good week everyone. I will try and check in when I can at my sisters.

Wow a pretty quiet weekend in here...

The weekend was great. Had a great time downtown Indy Saturday night for the niece going away fun. Didn't get home till about 1 am. WAY too late for this momma, think I am still trying to catch up on rest.

I did have the chair massage on Saturday for neck a shoulders. It was marvelous. The gal said I had a huge stress BALL rather than a small knot. She worked on it and I am feeling much better. I go back on Wednesday eve and Friday eve for continued chair massage. So glad I went. I am really looking forward to going on Wednesday.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I have the 2nd crown prep. Bleh. I am so NOT looking forward to that. I am still paying on the first one but should have it paid off this week. Ha, just in time to start paying on the 2nd one. I love how these things work out. lolol.

My son got the sink in my bathroom half fixed (hot side) and will come back to finish the it (cold side) one evening this week. It makes a screaming noise when the water is turned on. Not all the time but at least once an hour. Have to fiddle with turning off and on till it quits. Leave it to me to get a weird problem like this.

HAPPY...HOpe your visit with your sis goes great. Again, safe travels. Hugs.

Hello to the rest of ya's. Hugs

Hello Everyone!

I survived the End to End meetings last week....and yes, I'm behind on everything else and trying to get a handle on it.

I didn't get workouts in on Wed, Thursday or Friday. I did get walking in all over our downtown offices and from the parking garages and such. I did pretty well with my food.

I didn't have a official weigh-in at TOPS because I didn't go to the meeting on Thursday, seeing how I was still downtown until 7:30 p.m.

I anticipated it would be that way and I knew I needed to get back to the GO on Friday morning at 6:30 a.m. so I booked me and hubby a hotel and we stayed close to downtown. It made the AM commute much easier and we had a nice dinner together Thursday night and just relaxed. It was worth the $$.

Scales on Saturday morning said 1 lb down from the previous Saturday so I was happy about that.

Over the weekend, I got my house dusted, home office papers put away, paid bills, got my spring/summer shoes/sandals out, put away winter shoes and boots. Pulled the rest of the winter sweaters out and they are in a tub in the garage and hung up all the new things I have bought in the past two weeks. I new I needed some new black pants and tops and light sweaters..all in basic colors so I went ahead and got them and a couple of new summery dresses that I liked.

I plan to get a tub out of the garage each night and go through it. I have 3 total to go through.

I also started my Couch 2 5K training yesterday. I do it 3 days a week and then I'll do the bike the other two.

I'm about to go to lunch. I'll try and pop back in later or for sure after I get home tonight.

Sorry I was MIA. I read through the posts...and will post personals later on what I remember!

Afternoon. Quick post, before the week starts getting so busy. Finally had our last reference call just now. A lot of meetings this week too, can’t wait to get through it.

Annie – Sounds like a nice weekend. North Dakota sounds really cold to me, and I’m a Chicagoan!! Good luck to your niece. == Oh, the massage sounds wonderful, and you have two more this week!! I’m sure your neck/shoulders will be thanking you.

Happy – I hope you enjoy your family time while you’re here. ==

Susie – I hope this week is a good week and you catch up on everything that got left behind last week. ==Good job on the 1 lb. down. == Couch 2 5k! Are you signed up for a 5k event in the near future?

Hellos to the rest of you.
==
My weekend was fine. Nice weather both days. On Saturday I went to my mom’s and we got outside on the walking path. The grounds of her community are nice. Not much walking, but it was a nice day to be outside.

Saturday was also the relay for life charity event, but I did not participate this year, except to make donations to my sister and SIL who are on the same team. I could've stopped by, but I didn't want to answer questions about why I didn't participate this year, or if I'll be doing it next year.

Sunday we had breakfast with bf’s mom and other members of bf’s family. Otherwise, I didn’t do much else – laundry, shopping, paper purging.

Okay, gonna get this posted and get back to what I get paid for.

Good Tuesday Morning!

Busy day with personal stuff. From 1-3/3:30 in the dental chair for 2nd crown prep. I am NOT looking forward to that. Tonight Jacob has a ball game at 6p. Fixed cheeseburgers, spaghetti squash and mac n cheese for the rest of em. Boring evening. Couldn't get to sleep to save my life. Finally about 11 pm I think my eyes finally gave out and brain waves stopped. haha. Probably too much tea and coffee yesterday. Need to replace some of that with water.

LAURA...nice to spend time outdoors with momma. Gotta love this weather, altho not looking real forward to 88 and humid on mother's day this Sunday. Yes pressure to join in on events is sometimes overwhelming and frankly just not in the mood to do it. Good for you for doing what YOU want and not what other's expect you to do.

SUSIE...glad you came up for air. Are you gearing up for a marathon? Get back to YOU sister. Stop giving your all to everyone but yourself. Rolling pin moment.

Safe travels to HAPPY.

Have a wonderful day all. Hugs.

Started a post last night but didn't finish it.
I did have a talk with sis and told her what was going on and she agreed to my plan of action.
She gotten to work by herself when she lived in Maryland.
Saturday mowed the back yard that night to a skating birthday party for my niece who turned 8. No skating for me, but fun to watch. Sunday was church and home for a nap. Came back to Branson yesterday to take niece to class. After class we went down to the community pool. I actually got into that cold water.

Happy
Glad to hear you had a safe journey to visit with family.

Will be back for mores later

Evening all from the train.

Had the first presentation from the prospective vendors of 4 this week, 2 hours each. Can't wait to finish the other 3. Two on Thursday, bleh.

Annie - Hope crown prep #2 went okay.

Ceejay - Is it pool weather already?! It has been nice the past few days...

Susie - Saw your FB post. Sorry you're so down.

Hellos to Shad, Happy & Dee.

==
Nothing much to report. If I get a fitness membership with the park district, I get to use their 2 fitness centers. I've never been to one of them, but I phoned it and they have 2 rowing machines - one is a water rower (water is the resistance mechanism) & the other is not. That might be the better option. I'm almost positive that the other fitness center only has 1 rower, but it is used by the circuit class and that would rule out two weeknight times/days I could use it. Might go over to the other fitness center to check it out. I think it's much newer.

Nothing else, so I'll post this before I lose it.

Hi chicks,

I auto logon from my PC at home, been so long since I had to remember my PW here I almost forgot it Got here ok. Wasn't a bad ride - 7 and a half hours. We hit one snag in traffic when they were repairing a bridge and everyone had to merge to the left. We were barely rolling for about 35 minutes. Then when we crossed the border into Illinois we hit the infamous Chicago road construction. I had called my sister to tell her the Garmin said we were about an hour away so she left her house to pick up up at the designated drop off spot. 10 minutes later we hit the construction and had to drop to 45mph for the next 29 miles. Aggravating because there were only 2 small spots of actual construction but it really killed our timing - Sis had to wait about 20 minutes for us. But all is well.

Time is flying by as I thought it would. 2 days down already. Monday was pretty shot just with travelling. Today we just went grocery shopping - I am jealous of all the wonderful selection you guys get here in the grocery stores. We picked up some fresh food and Sis made a delicious dinner of baked chicken, fresh tomatoes, roasted asparagus and I made some crash hot potatoes. Yummy dinner. I picked up a loaf of fresh Italian bread - crusty - something we can't get at home. My that was good. I stuck with just one piece. My Italian BIL enjoyed it too.

Laura - I hope the vendor presentations are not too boring. Who is going to make the purchase decision? Glad you didn't get roped into something you'd rather not do with the Relay walk about. Is your foot still tender? You supported the cause - that's the important thing. Sounds like you might be better off with the park district gym membership instead of buying a rowing machine. I know it's hard to be motivated to go after working all day but they will have a variety of things. I think sometimes it's better to go out and work out - when you have to go to the basement sometimes it generates a bunch of excuses.

Speaking of which the friend I ride with water walks with a friend twice a week and invited me to join them. I'm excited and hoping to get back in the exercise groove again. My foot hurt a lot after walking around shopping all day but I'm back to icing it and that seems to help too.

Ceejay - I'm proud of you for getting in the cold water to swim. Did you have a good time? It would be fun to skate again but then I guess we are more wobbly than we'd think.

Annie - I hope the crown work went ok. I have to go to the dentist when I get back on Tuesday. DREADING IT. My teeth are very sensitive, my mouth is small and my jaw locks trying to hold it open. I would rather clean public toilets than go to the dentist. I even thought about asking DH to drive me to Duluth to the expensive dentist that knocks you out totally for your dental work. Would be worth it to me I hope you got to sleep tonight. It's a bummer when you're tossing and turning and then realize that you took in too much caffeine. I'm trying to drink more water at Sis's place too - let's both make a pact for the week. Yikes 88 and humidity - sweat city. No thanks. Anything more than 73 is too hot I'm so glad you went for a massage. It's more therapeutic than a luxury. And the chair massages are cheaper than the full table ones so indulge your tensions please. I hope the household repairs come to an end ONCE AND FOR ALL. Enough already!!!!

Susie - saw your post. to you. HOpe things turn around. It would be a better world if we were all kind to one another. Don't know why it can't be that way. What a great idea to get a room for the night. I'm sure hubby appreciates a little time with you too. May this week be a calmer one for you. All relative, right? Do you have any concerts lined up for the summer?

Well Sis and BIL went to bed. Nephew sits up most of the night on the computer - just like his aunt But I'm actually getting sleepy so I think I will sign off and head to bed myself.

I will post in a day or two - hello to Shad and Dee.

Good Morning Sisters...

Jacob's ball game went well. No tears and he got two hits. Excellent. Altho we lost it was a good game. We went to Wendy's after for dinner. Of all things they were out of all salads. Are you kidding me? I was honked. So everyone else ate and I waited and went thru Taco Bell drive thru after. I got the power bowl minus the beans and rice with extra gauc and extra lettuce. It was probably better than Wendy's anyway. This Wendy's was not to my clean expectations and the bathrooms were horendous (sp). Bout grossed me out. Glad I didn't eat there.

C's cousin only 44 years old died of a massive heart attack last Friday. His kids in their 20's, found him on Sunday. So sad. His funeral is tomorrow so I will probably not post tomorrow as we will be at the funeral. It is Cs dad's brother's kid. I had never met his cousin or his Uncle, but I suppose I should go and be the good wife. Bleh.

The crown prep went smoothly. My jaw and lips were numb till about 6 pm. Then the drilled area and temp crown gave me an ache in the gum area. I took a couple of ibuprofens and went to bed after we got home from the game. Permanent crown will go on in a couple of weeks. The 29th. Then all dental work will be done till the next cleaning. Hopefully.

HAPPY...glad you made it to Sis's house safe. You have to take it easy on that foot. Maybe when you all go shopping take a sit here and there. Or ride the electric scooter as much as possible. Hey, I used to when I had ankle surgery or it just plain hurt. It is really kind of fun. Water aerobics are a lot of fun. I tried them once or twice. Just didn't like getting all wet and messing my hair up. lolollol, yeah we all know it was exercise. OK the water challenge is on. Let's do this.

LAURA...I agree with HAPPY...join the gym and use their rowing machines. A lot cheaper. Plus I think when we go somewhere to exercise we are more motivated. Great weather here. They moved our 88 and humid to Saturday and Sunday is now supposed to be 75. Very nice for mother's day.

CEEG...I couldn't even imagine skating now that my ankle doesn't bend. I, like you, will watch others from the sidelines. Oh geez woman, getting into a pool this early? You are brave cause I know that water had to be like 60 degrees. Whew.

SUSIE...many happy hugs to you my friend. Hope you are feeling better about things. Don't let this world steal your joy.

Hello to all. Hugs.

Good morning from the train. Two 2-hour meetings today, bleh. Don't know how people who do this all the time can bear it.

Happy - Glad you had a safe trip. Traffic, that can't be helped. How's momma?? Give the foot a rest!!

Annie - My sympathies to C & his cousin's family. Way too young.

Hellos to the rest of you.

Absolutely nothing to report from my end, so I'll get this posted. Everyone have a lovely day.

Morning girls --- aaaaaahhhhh chooo. My voice is very deep, throat quite sore. Voice is rough. I'm thinking it's all these pretty trees in full flowering bloom. Pretty but hard on the nose and throat. Time is passing quickly. I chatted with a friend yesterday on the phone - I can say there is one thread of commonality with my friends lately - we are all : fat, arthritic/stiff, have occasional bladder leakage, everything hurts and we are all in need of at least one major body part that needs surgical repair. Sad but true.

Got a call from my nephew yesterday - he and his wife of 20 years are divorcing. Just living separate lives. It is a problem with long term relationships. That makes 2 of my brother's 3 kids divorced. I hope the 3rd can hold her marriage together although we suspect some issues with that one too.

Picking up Momma on Saturday. We will have 2 days to spend together as I have no other plans. I hope she will be happy with that.

Argh on the meetings Laura. I hated being trapped in meetings where you are given more assignments that you can't complete because you are STUCK IN MEETINGS!!!!

Shaddie - have we lost you???? I know Susie's buried under work and Ceejay is travelling between 2 states but where have you been?

Annie - glad Jacob's game went well. Don't want to traumatize the kids, let them enjoy the game so they want to play more often. How nice to almost be at the end of the dental work.

Sis is out of the shower so I need to go comb my hair and change pants. We are off to Sam's Club. Yum yum fresh orange juice. For some reason this screen is bouncing around all over the place - hard to type... Enjoy the weather - have a good day all.

Hello All--you know why I have been MIA...but I do want to say that I have taken care of myself. I have only missed one workout and that was Wednesday's.

My food has been ok...not crazy but for sure at the top of my calorie range. I wonder if I'll ever learn to not soothe myself with food...but I'm happy that it's not what I used to binge like when I had a rough time.

Thanks for all the support to my FB post. Usually I just keep things to myself but I really was over it all that day..and a few things had been going on for a while and I was tired of being treated the way I was being treated. After I wrote it all out on FB, I cried off and on all day but I felt better the next day. That is so unlike me but I do have to say it help.

Also, I have made a conscious effort to distance myself from the two people who were treating me that way. They are work "friends" and I realize they are friends when they need me otherwise it is another story. I won't burn bridges because you can't do that at work but giving of myself to them in any other way is finished.

Ok enough about me.

Happy: I'm sure that the flowering trees are kicking up your allergies. Be careful as those can turn into secondary upper respiratory infections. I hope despite this all going on, that you will have a nice visit.

Annie: I'm sorry for the loss of C's family member. It sounds like things are going well with the crown prep and hopefully the final repair will be finished soon and it will all go smoothly.

You made me LOL with comment about the water aerobics and it messing your hair up....

Laura: Can you to a class visit to the Park gyms and see what you think of the rowers?

You asked me if I was training for a 5k. I really want to run one and I want to run one in Sept/Oct for breast cancer in support of Genny, and my sister-in-law Lori, & my friends Joetta and Rhonda & Jennifer. I have had the pleasure of walking beside these ladies through their journey's and seeing them all be survivors.

My friend Joetta wasn't even someone I really knew, but a unusual circumstance brought us together right when she was diagnosed and a beautiful friends ship was formed.

So, right now I'm training on the treadmill to see if this is something I can even think about doing. I have finished week one...we will see from there. It is a good way to shake up my workout routine.

Dee: I wish your could be my seamstress. I have a good one that I use but if we lived closer I would so pay you..and I would have the honor of getting to see you and chat with you and be girlfriends too.

It is very sweet what you do for those young ladies.....

Ceejay: I'm glad you talked to your sister and worked out things for your plan of action. I bet that water was cold when you got in the pool!

My husband is mowing the grass almost twice a week these days.

Hi to Shad!

I'm off to TOPS. It will be a coin toss as to if I am up or down...next week I won't have put myself in this quandary. I started being more food conscious today which is good..the old me would say, oh, just eat what you want and start tomorrow....nope..change starts now!

I'm not lost, just snowed under. I didn't think retirement would be this busy. Another endless round of medical appointments - all of which came up negative - so that makes the driving and travel worthwhile.
Garden is at its most vulnerable - feed me, water me, feed me is what I hear from out there. But rewards are coming. Corn and tomatoes are ripening, been giving lettuces away. Lemon tree is bearing fruit so must be fed and watered frequently. Orchids are flowering well - feed me routine must be kicking in and the flower garden is a mass of chrysanthemums (just in time for Mothers Day on Sunday).
The weather is finally turning cool at nights. I had to put a duvet on the bed last week as the cotton blanket was just too cool and I woke all curled up and very stiff and aching.
My friend with the stomach cancer is being discharged from hospital today, given the all clear on his last CT scan and is itching to get home. His wife is itching to have him home. Not sure who is the most upset about it all. I think probably her.
My neighbour over the road is back in depression land and has her house on the market and it hasn't attracted a viewing yet. It's only been there a week or so, so she can't expect miracles, I keep telling her. But she has in the back of her mind that she is not safe in it, so she wants out. I just hope she can get something she wants for the money she will get. It won't be easy and she may well find herself in a worse situation than she is already in.
Price of petrol has gone crazy lately and I must get some today before it goes even higher over the weekend. Can't understand why, since we produce a fair amount of our own here and nothing has upset the apple cart lately (apart from your president making everyone nervous ) so before I take S the neighbour out to a garden centre for lunch today, I'd better get some to tide me over.
Friend R seems to be settling in okay and we had drinks on the verandah last Friday, followed by a Japanese meal which was nice. Might go and visit her today with S to pick up her vacuum cleaner which she is giving to S and seeing if she wants to verandah tonight - being Friday again. We always used to have the Friday night verandah girls while we were living in Townsville and it was fun. So we have sort of started it up again here although we have only done the one real evening so far.

And with that I must away. Go get dressed, breakfast, get petrol and sweep the house and wash the floors before I go out and have fun. Back later, maybe I will also get some personals done. I do think of you all and my passport has been sent for renewal so maybe that's one step closer to September/October time.

Good Morning All....Enjoy Friday/night~

The funeral was short and sweet. Not many attended. It was sad to watch his cousin's dad bury his son. He was really beside himself and barely talked or greeted anyone. God love him.

Got home pretty early and ran errands. Much that I cannot get done on the weekends. Feeling accomplished in errand department. Did get a couple of tomato plants and jalapeno plants. Pretty cheap. Got a couple of very pretty begonias for the pot out front. Bright orange one and of course a bright PINK one. It is a small pot that used to belong to my grandma. She always planted petunias in it. Other than hanging pot petunias, I am not a real petunia fan. Sis is working up my small garden area and planting everything today. Gotta love that, since it will be 87-90 degrees and VERY humid the next few days. Not complaining as this past winter s*cked. Just glad she is doing it for me.

Had my chair massage on Wed evening before we went to the viewing of cousin. She said the stress ball (huge) seemed to be a little smaller. I have my next appt this evening. I so look forward to it. I can tell you that is the quickest 15 minutes of my life. I am a bit sore from the massages but that is to be expected.

Dropped Miss Sassy Pants at the vet this morning. She is getting her teeth cleaned and a mani/pedi. She was not at all happy about me leaving her there. Even tho I know she is in great hands, it pulls my heartstrings when I leave her. I can pick her up this afternoon after 3. Guarantee I will be there by 3:01. They said they send dashunds home with antibiotics as they tend to have gum issues if not.

SUSIE...glad to hear you are on track and taking care of you and your journey. In my mind I think about doing a 5K, walking of course, but in my body it screams no. I mean will my ankle be working correctly that day? Will I have major bathroom issues that I normally have several times a week? Or will I just not wanna when the time comes? All sounds like MAJOR excuses to me! I understand about distancing yourself from life s*ckers from you every day life. If they make you that down and miserable, then so be it, distance yourself. Good for you. Hugs.

DEE...your sewing abilities are amazing. How talented you are. I can sew, barely. lol

SHADDIE...your harvest looks so yummy. Glad all your friends are coming along great with their illnesses. Makes life happier all the way around. Hope you enjoyed your Friday outting!

LAURA...two hour meetings are the worst. Especially when one attends and it has hardly any impact on/with your job. Well that is two hours of life we cannot get back. Bleh.

CEEG...great talk with sis and plan of attack. Enjoy your weekend at home.

Hello to the rest of youse. Make it a great weekend. Hugs

Oh and happy mother's day to all....kids, furry, and family.