Sinuses hs turned into a full blow cold. I hate this. I simply have no stamina with this. I don't feel like doing personal today. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Hello all,


Been dealing with severe back pain on and off the last couple of days. Started last week with a kink of sorts in both my neck and back. It would get better, then another day be really bad pain. Yesterday I could barely move or breathe. Feels like muscle spasms. Don't know what I did. I used the heating pad and took it easy and that seemed to help. I have a ton of laundry to do today so going to make my way around the house. It's windy, rainy and chilly. I turned the heat on today to take the chill out of the house. Summer is definitely over. I shucked 2 dozen ears of corn, cooked it up in a kettle and figured out how to use my vacuum sealer. Made about 10 bags of freezer corn. Now that I've figured out the German vacuum sealer (thank goodness for You Tube) I am ready to try my sous vide immersion cooker. I picked up my new glasses and sure enough, they are not working right. It's like I have someone else's glasses on. They said to try them for a day or two and see if my brain adjusts. It has not. I will give it over the weekend but things are still blurry and not crisp. Within minutes I can feel my eyes straining to read something from a distance. That's why I paid $500 for glasses, right?


Sorry you are feeling sick Ceejay - this time of year is the worst for me - sinus issues abound with the change in seasons and things starting to die off and mold up. Hope you feel better.


Shad - I had heard about that issue with the needles in strawberries. Obvious answer as you say - cut up the berries instead of destroying them all. There are a lot of sickos in the world today. People who think nothing of random killings, hurting and maiming people and animals. End of the world as my grandma would say. Sounds like you are busy as ever with home projects. Did you finish off the laundry room you started a while back? I had to smile - although not funny - about painting the ceiling and dealing with cat hairs. I looked at the walls on my bath and apparently when I blow dry my hair light bits fly up towards the ceiling and stick to the nubby textured walls we have. I need to vacuum not just the floors but the walls too apparently Is the weather starting to warm up by you?


Laura - that's good that people are noticing you getting more trim. You do put a lot of effort into exercising. I can tell your future self that it is SO WORTH IT. Keep up the good work. I hope you get some relief with your foot. Frustrating... Good luck packing up for your office move. That's the worst part - going through all the files - keep or toss???


Susie - hope DH Is recovering from his surgery and that you are not too over taxed.


Annie - looks like you are having a great time on vacation. Nice picture of you and the hubster.


Dee - I guess you are just going to leave us hanging about the fate of the dog. I have to say - that annoys me. If you came back to post where are we, at least you could have posted something about the dog at that time.


Oh well. I just don't understand people any more. Maybe I should be a hermit after all. I'm off to do laundry and housework. Have a good weekend everyone.

Morning all,
Let me know where you are going to hermit Happy, I will grab the cave next door.

Laura - our exercise queen. It's so nice when people notice the effort you have put in. Hope you have now managed to sort out the office move and have everything in the place you want it. Now all you need is the powers that be decide to upgrade the computer system and change the electricals in the new place. Chaos with then be in charge. I have all the fencing material at my place apart from the rapid set cement. Now I just have to be patient and wait for DS2 to have some time. Meanwhile I am doing as much preparation and removal of the old fencing that I can. Think a trip to the dump will be in my future soon.
Sneakers here are darned expensive too - especially those that have orthotics for my flat feet.

Ceejay - get rid of that cold asap. Winters on it's way up your end of the world, you don't want it lingering on and on. That cold I got back in June is basically gone but has left me with sinus infections. I really have a nose problem first thing in the morning.

Happy - Hope that back pain goes and soon. Been dealing with pain in the shoulders and neck myself and that has been exacerbated by the painting of the ceiling in the spare room. One more coat to go today and I can put the ladder away for a while and concentrate on the walls.
Well done on the corn and figuring out the instructions. I'm up to my ears in strawberries here.
Don't you just hate it when the glasses or contacts do not work as they should. What is it with these people. Not everyone is the same when it comes to eyes and teeth and ears for that matter. One size does not fit all.
The laundry is done apart from some handles on the cupboard doors and some tiles on the sink splashback. I've been waiting for the nephew to come and do the tiles but he is too busy. I may have to get some one in. I'd do it myself but I don't have the equipment to drill holes in tiles or to cut fancy shapes. I can and have done basic tiling where things don't need a lot of cutting and that cutting is straight lines. Now I am in the 3rd bedroom and there is a lot in there to do. It's not big but it is an odd shape and I need to work out how to make it a better layout - got some ideas but need to run them past the DS2 who has better artistic insight than I.
Yes it is amazing where that animal fur can get to. Apparently when I did the undercoating, and the paint wasn't completely dry, Romeo the cat got into the room (well I guess its not hard when there is no door on the room) and did some grooming. I have 9 foot ceilings and there was individual hairs on the cornices (crown moulding) when I got up there yesterday.
Weather is definitely getting more humid although the temps are not bad yet. Days are getting longer and we are seeing more bugs around - all the more reason to try and keep my blue tongue lizard around.

Annie - hope your holiday is going well. Nice photos on Facebook.

Well I went down to the strawberry farm and got some berries. Now I have to process them. I'll be making some jam today - already macerated the strawberries. Trying out a new recipe. Hope it works okay - I'll let you all know.
The strawberry saga goes on and on and on. Apparently some stupid 12yo girl started it off, stuck a needle into her lunch time strawberry and then kicked up a ruckus at school. This was followed by a 9yo boy in another State who decided it might be fun to put one or two in the strawberry punnets in the local supermarket and so the strawberry world went mad. The government have upped the penalty rates for anyone found contaminating food and some supermarkets have decided to take sewing needles off the shelves. Personally I think the parents should be fined A: for not keeping their children in school and not knowing where they are at all times and B: because they have caused a large amount of grief to some already hard done by, drought stricken farmers who spend up to $50,000 each year to produce and get the crop to market and get their money back by selling the stuff. So far we've had needles or pins in bananas, mangoes and other berries. Mostly done by copy cat idiots who will mostly likely not be caught.

Picked the last of the Broccoli last night. Those plants will come out today or tomorrow. Potatoes are done until next year and I still have some beans, corn, beetroot and lettuce to go. The lettuce is self seeded. I let a couple of plants go each crop so I don't have to go and buy new seeds or seedlings. Nothing like free food. Oh and there are tomato seedlings popping up everywhere and I am hoeing them into the soil. Have enough of tomatoes for a while. Come February I will probably be groaning for a fresh tomato.

The Toowoomba Flower festival started on Friday. I may take a trip up there next week and then there will be enough miles on the car to take it in for its 1000k check. I've been here for 30 years and not made the flower festival yet. Better get there soon.

Okay, I am off to make jam, paint ceilings and walls and annoy the cat. Should fertilise the garden as well but we will see how time goes. Be good and play nice.

Hello ladies,

I haven't been out of my house in 3 days. It was great! My back and neck are still bothering me so I just decided to take it easy. I did a bunch of laundry over the weekend - DH should have enough clean stuff for his trip this week. I am looking forward to some quiet time. I just have to keep focused and make it productive. I debated but opted out of going to the Fall Festival in town Saturday. I was not feeling up to walking very far at all - was supposed to meet a friend but begged out of it. Part of me hated to miss it but then again, I really didn't need any doo-dads or food products. This is winding up to the big 3 weekends coming up - Fall Festival and then the big apple festival which I never go to because over 300,000 people crowd into a town that us generally about 25,000 so that's pretty crowded up that way. And then back by us is Cranberry Festival the first weekend in October. I won't get to any of the festivals although we might take a ride up to apple country on Tuesday and pick up a load of different apple varieties - I hope to make some of the wonderful applesauce like I did last year. It was amazing. And I froze a couple of containers instead of canning it. A friend also gave me a quick recipe for the Vitamix where you don't even have to cook the apples down. I might try that with a small bag of apples we got 2 weeks ago when DH had a taste for bakery at a local orchard. Tonight I made figgy balsamic chicken breasts with shallots and apples. I also warmed up a bag of the frozen freezer corn I made. I was disappointed only in that there seemed to be a small leak in the bag itself when I was microwaving it - some juice leaked out of the bottom seal when I took the bag from the microwave. But the corn - OMG - was that delicious. Kind of like that satisfying taste of a freshly picked tomato from the summer garden. The corn was bright yellow and delicious and sweet. I will definitely be making more freezer corn next year as the season rolls along. I did want to make some corn stock from the cobs but the next day I was laid up and I also needed celery which I was out of. So I had to toss the cobs - should have put them in the refrigerator to save them And there is no more fresh cobbed corn to be had so that will have to wait until next year. I think it would have made for a tasty stock.

Besides the laundry I did make some good progress on the paper piles. I assembled the bits and pieces of paper into a log so that I can find things in one place. It's taking a long time but I tell myself to just keep at it until it's done. I hope eventually I will tire of sorting and decide I can just toss it all out! LOL

I can't believe it's dark by 7:30pm already. Winter is going to hit us rather quickly I think. I'm not happy about that. I still don't know what I want to do about a car - can't figure out what I want. DH liked the new Toyota Avalon but it's my car and I think I want something that I can sit a bit higher in. I would like a V-6 engine but all the mid range SUVs have a 4 cyl in them. I guess I have to stop thinking about towing something - that's what DH has the truck for and I will just look for something I am comfortable seeing out of the back of the car.

Ah well I'd better post this. I had to get up wayyyy early - too early so that I can meet someone at the shelter and answer a few questions for them on how to use the shelter software. Even the coffee didn't wake me. Hope you all had a good weekend. Later chicks.

Morning all. Monday again and back to work for me. For you retired gals, is Monday still a day in which you’re happy it’s not the start of another work week, or has it just become another day to you?

Happy – I’m glad you’re spending time at home and are happy to be taking care of home matters. == I agree with you about the paper purging and organization - just have to keep at it. Unfortunately, I address it only in fits and starts. I’ll have to do something sooner rather than later because I’ll need some clear work surface in our home office by next week. At work, we’re getting a new monitor, docking station, keyboard and mouse at the new office, so the old will be recycled or….we get to take them home with us. I’m going to take mine home. For the infrequent times I work from home, it’s not ideal to be working at the dining room table with just my laptop. I certainly don’t want to dismantle the hookups to our home desktop just to use the peripherals…and I’m lucky if I remember to bring my mouse home with me, and I just hate using my laptop’s trackpoint and trackpad. So I’ll set myself up at home with all this and have a proper setup for the next time. And who knows when the train or the weather or some combination thereof will require a work from home day. == I have no issue getting another sedan when we finally decide to replace our current one (old Acura). We have a big SUV, but it’s just not fun to drive like it is the Acura, which is a 6 cylinder – nice and quick and “can get out of it’s own way” as bf says. == I hope your back feels better soon – I say go get yourself a massage!!


Shad – How did the jam-making go? == Maybe I could learn to peacefully co-exist (i.e., no shrieking on my part, lol) with a reptile like your blue tongue lizard if I knew he was keeping the
mosquito and spider population controlled… == Are you going to the flower festival? I hope you have a lovely time. You truly have a really green thumb Miss Shad. Mine has gone black. All the plants I got with that beautiful orchid and tropical plant arrangement I brought home are now dead. I might have a photo by which to enjoy how they once looked. Only my diehard house plants are still alive (e.g., mother-in-law tongue/snake plant, etc). I have managed to keep my window box impatiens and my chrysanthemum watered and alive, thankfully.


Ceejay – How are you feeling? I hope your cold is going away.



Dee – Please check in and let us know how MeeMee is.



Susie – How is your dh doing post-surgery??


Annie – Are you back home now? I don’t recall if you said how long your vacation would be. Perhaps you’re back home, and at work wading through mountains of email. Hang in there! Weekend will get here and I know you have that class reunion to look forward to.


==
Weekend was fine, weather was lovely. I was a sloth about exercise and didn’t do anything except a few sets of counter pushups.

On Saturday I finally got out and sprayed the weeds. Fingers crossed I had the proper blend of week killer and water and it does the job so the landscape guys can come back and seed the areas for grass.

I had my grade school class reunion on Saturday night. I had a nice time - was fun to see people I haven’t seen in forty years!!! Some folks look exactly the same and some I wouldn’t have known without their name tag. A lot of the girls went on to the same all-girls HS I did, so I recognized many girls more easily than the guys since I’d seen them for 12 years vs 8-9, and seen them as we all matured into womanhood. Had not seen most of the guys, so only saw them before most had hit puberty full force… May I just wonder in print why quite a few of them are now quite tall, especially given the relatively small group, and yet on my commutes to work, I don’t see nearly as many tall men. At 5’7” I feel like most guys are within only a few inches of me. Okay, now you know…I like tall guys, hahaha. Enough babbling about that.

It was a late night for me (though I was home just before midnight) because I didn’t get to bed right away. I woke up too early on Sunday, and then I did nothing productive. Not the fc, nor did I get out for a bike ride even though it was a nice day. Bleh. I will regret that waste of a day.

Okay, almost time for our weekly meeting – the first in several weeks. Better post this and prep for that. Have a good day everyone.

Sinuses are still giving me fits but I'm dealing with it. My throat has been extremely sore and feel like I'm coughing up a lung at times. I was hoping to get a flu shot but don't think I'll be able to get one tomorrow. sigh. Am scheduled to go for a blood draw in the morning to check for my for my b12 level. I've been doing better at taking my b12 vitamin. I'm trying to drink 64 oz of water today for that purpose. I am going to ask for a muscle relaxer tomorrow as well. I can't do any thing anymore for more that 10 minutes at a time without my muscles getting tight. Mainly lower back where the degeneration and arthritis is. It's very painful
I signed up for weight watchers again online and they do have meetings in Springfield. I was going to go to a meeting last Thursday but was extremely miserable that day so I'm going to try again this coming Thursday. I don't want to buy any of there products. What I need is the accountability.
I am going to Lowe's in a few minutes to check on the fall plants and pumpkins.

Happy
Sorry that your back, arm and neck are giving problems. Could it be arthritis?

Hi Laura, You were typing above me. Glad you had a nice time at the reunion.

Hi, I was writing a post with personals on Friday & we lost our electric power from high winds.
Last week was busy, dh had his annual oncologist appt 1 1/2 hr away, she's a specialist. He's still in remission, going on 8 yr in March, Thank you Jesus!

Then MeeMee had a long vet appt with new x-rays which shows she's out of danger. Her broken pelvic bone has moved away from puncturing a vital organ. Her pelvis will take 8 weeks to heal because of how dogs shift their backs to go poo. She has 2, 1"x1" open wounds that I have to apply a RX antibiotic powder ($40 for 1 ounce ) 2x daily on them because she can't have a gel & bandage on that area on her, plus she's on RX anti-inflammatory pills & a liquid antibiotic daily. She's Happy & she's trying to behave normal, but she tires quickly from her pain & walking on 3 legs trying to balance her broken pelvis. I'm a gentle nurse & she's loving her extra attention I give her. The 2 vet office bills with x-rays & the RX were just under $400 But she's a BLessing & family to me & worth the expenses.

I was hurt by Dh the day she was ran over by the truck, that he dug a grave for her & loaded his rifle to 'end her pain' & giving mercy & peace to her because he thought her back was broken. I cried & I begged him to let Jesus & the vet be the ones to Heal her or end her life. My prayers were answered & my little girl will soon turn 4 years old. She has to be permanently separated for 8 weeks from her mom Sundae, because they wrestle when they play & her left pelvic bone will break again & worse & would puncture a organ & her open wounds will bleed again. So that confuses her because she loves her mama & they snuggled.

MeeMee is happy again & that makes me happy! Thank you my friends for your kind thoughts & prayers for her. She's family, not a animal to me. Just as her mom Sundae, born on a Sunday but named as a yummy 'hot fudge sundae' is a member of our family

This is another busy week for me, just as it is for y'all.

I'm never online daily because we're on a monthly metered internet for our 2 cell phones & the tablet-laptop, so I must budget my online use until we are not in a rural area or I'm employed to afford a better ISP.

I hope y'all are enjoying the fall & prayers that nobody gets sick & also prayers for anyone that is right now

Laura ~ I hope your foot recovers soon, you've been suffering way to long.
Susie ~ Thank you for your text about John.
Ceej ~ Saying a Get Well prayer for you right now!

Anybody use Instagram, Twitter, etc ?

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and thoughts for John. Things went well and the catheter came out today and I think we are on a good road to recovery. It is a 8 week recovery.

I wish I could be home with him all this week but I need to get into the office for somethings that I need to get done.

This week I am thinking of working 6 hours in the office and then finishing two hours at home.

I read through personals and will do comments tomorrow. It is late and I am tired.

I missed all of you!

Hello

Back from vacay. It was excellent, relaxing and very enjoyable. Did a lot of things and ate at nice places.

Could use some prayers for my SIL with cancer. Not looking too good at the moment.

Being selfish, prayers for myself. WF is reducing my position across the region from 5 to 2. I have to interview for my position today from 4:45 to 5:45. Doesn't look good for me. As of the 5, I am the pup of the group. One of the ladies, her boss and his boss are conducting the interviews. She is a shoe in. Another gal who is remarkable and been here for quite some time is probably the other shoe in.

Not doing personals as I am on the struggle bus.

Love youse.

Annie
Hugs and Prayers coming your way. Glad vacation was great.

Dee
Glad to hear hat MeeMee is doing better. She has a great mom.

Susie
Glad to hear that your DH is on the road to healing.

----------
Went to the doctor this morning for my b 12 blood test level and he checked my thyroid. Said thyroid was a little above range last time.
He gave me a steroid injection for my allergies and sent me on my way. I didn't get a flu shot today due to the steroid shot. I'll go back on 10/ 12 to get that.
I need to get outside but I need to get some mask so that I'm not breathing the grass.

Anne, I am sorry you have to deal with work stress and also then stress of cancer with your sister-in-law.

I am praying. Love you sister friend.

Ceejay: hopefully you get to feeling better since the doctor gave you some meds.

Dee: I am happy to hear the doggy is doing better.

Laura: You are doing great with the exercise. I need to get back to it. My body keeps telling me. I havent worked out in 2 weeks!

Happy: what are you doing today with your alone time? I hope are enjoying it.

Shad: how horrible about the needles in the friut. People are truly crazy all over the world!

I want back to work today. John had a pretty good day at home. He was ready to see me and I was ready to see him.

Thank you for the good thoughts and prayers.

The interview was truly crappy, I am certain not to be the chosen one.

Morning all. Had my health evaluation at work today – this part was just a blood draw and BP reading. The other part was the online self-assessment. We’ll see what my “score” is in the next day or two. Ceejay – I hope you get over the cold quickly and your sinuses feel better soon. My asthma has been bugging me a little bit lately. Probably something to do with whatever’s in the air at this time of year and not using AC quite as much lately because the temps are lower. == I agree that accountability helps – I forced myself to step on the scale on my Monday weigh-ins at home just so I know that my eating over the weekends will have consequences if it’s off track!!Dee – Glad to hear that MeeMee is on the road to recovery. She’s got a good nurse taking care of her! == Any progress with the home sale? Susie – I’m glad your DH’s recovery is going well. == Get back to your exercise girl!! You know it makes you feel good, and you’ve got that 5k to train for!!!Annie – Glad you have an excellent vacation. == I’m so sorry to hear about your work situation (but I bet the interview didn’t go as badly as you think). Hang in there, I’ll be keeping you in my thoughts. Happy – I hope your back/hip are feeling better and you’re enjoying your time at home.

Hi Shad!!



==I’m leaving work a bit early today so I can go pick up my MRI and x–ray from my current orthopedic dr. I have an appointment with another ortho doc tomorrow morning for a second opinion and they want to see the previous images. So I’ll be late to work tomorrow too. I haven’t mentioned it to the boss yet. He’ll be out of the office late this afternoon and all of tomorrow for a local conference. It occurred to me to not bother telling him because he won’t even be here, but he’s so anal about recording our time off work and so untrusting about it that I’ll tell him. We’ll see if he’s feeling brave enough to tell me I need to count this time off as vacation time (I’m sure not going to offer it up), or if he just tells me to make sure I enter it into the absence system as “medical”. Otherwise, I have a lull at work in my real work, but still busy doing move stuff. I have a bunch of odds and ends/junk on my desk that I need to decide if I need to keep or just toss. That’s about it for me. TTFN.

Morning
Annie
Sorry that you didn't feel the interview went well. I don't fully understand what is going on. But prayers continue for yu.
Susie
Glad to hear the Dh is on the road to recovery.

----
Not much going on. I can tell a difference in getting the steroid injection yesterday. My throat is not clogged with stuff any more and I'm beginning to sound normal. Still have a bit of drainage.
We had a good rain last night.