Afternoon all. TGIF. After today I’m off for the next two weeks. I’ll be crunching on deadlines when I get back to work, but oh well. Not going to lose my vacation time. But I’ll probably be bored and may spend a few hours on work just to get a jump on things…

Not doing much aside from working, tv and reading. I’ve worked out about 1-2 times a week the past few weeks with my all sitting/floor workout dvd. Got my Secret Santa shopping done – not much time to do that since it’s for one person and being done online. That’s about it. Felt a bit sorry for myself missing the happy hour hosted by the boss’s boss on Wednesday and the company holiday party yesterday. Yes, if I were able to attend I wouldn't have wanted to, LOL. Bf did a couple loads of laundry for me, so I guess I’ll be doing some folding tonight. Big Friday night for me!

On to personals...

Annie - Like the others commented, much better to be looking for a new job while you’re currently employed. Would have been good to keep all the current benefits of being with a long-term employer, but - you can’t be miserable for however many years it is until you retire!! I hope your SIL’s recovery continues until she’s 100% and feeling good. Wow, C’s doing well with controlling his diabetes! Good for him, and hopefully he stays on track. I’m sure you’ll find your keto mojo again sometime soon. It’ll be easier once the holidays are over and everyone gets on the diet & exercise resolution bandwagon. I don’t know when I’ll physically go back to the office. I’m now allowed to start putting weight on my foot, but I think I’ll see how my progress is with my next dr appointment on Jan 7.

Ceejay – Glad your nephew is doing better. Hope he keeps going in the right direction. Best wishes to your BIL with his treatments. Have you been keeping up with the gym? I bought a Margaret Richard workout dvd, “Getting Better” and all the exercises are on a chair or on the floor, with no weight on the foot. I’ve done it several times now. It’s like a lot of MR’s workouts, so I’m sure I could have put something together from memory, but I always like doing a formal workout. When I’m on my own it doesn’t happen!

Happy – Gosh, hard to deal with someone who’s being judge-y - okay the proper word is judgmental - about your gift ideas. Bf and I have been exchanging mostly gift cards for a while. We buy stuff we want whenever we want it, so it’s kind of difficult to find something to give at Christmas…. My side of the family is doing a secret Santa this year after not doing it for a couple years. We use the Elfster site/app to set it up and it selects who you’re buying for, and everyone gets to set up a wish list. You can either enter a manual description of what you want or link to exact things. So unless you’re super vague with your list, you hopefully have a good chance of getting something you want. I think I did okay with my own list. I’m buying for one of my nephews and everything was okay with his list except for not including sizes on a couple t-shirts he wanted! I’m glad he also listed stuff that was non-specific as to size, so I bought him those. But it was all done online with no wrapping to do, so I kind of feel like I missed out on that part of it, which I do enjoy. Don’t miss out on the shopping/crowd part of it, or the shipping part of it, so I’m good with it overall. Holiday theme – oh brother. I have whatever I’ve accumulated over the years and I get attached to it (especially ornaments), even if it all ends up being a mish-mash. I do see what other people do and appreciate it, but if I’m going to put any energy and effort into a cohesive decorating scheme, I’d do it for my year-round décor!! I’m sorry you’re not able to get down here to visit with your family. Hopefully you can plan something soon! It’s a sad thing if those people you have driven with in the past aren’t open to it now because you don’t share the same views. It’s terrible to think that people can’t put this aside for the limited time they spend together – such as a drive to Chicago, or a few hours with family on a holiday. I’m sure certain controversial topics will come up at my family’s gathering because my BIL likes to talk a LOT and my mother is a strong believer in engaging in conversation and considers it rude if you aren’t busy making conversation. Sigh. How are the compresses working on your eyes? I wake up with very dry eyes at times, but it eases up during the day. Do you have a whole-house humidifier attached to your furnace? We do, and after some kind of fix this last seasonal visit by the HVAC guys, it seems to be doing a decent job. No static giving me shocks on the light switches or door handles.

I heard that air fryers are one of the popular things being purchased this holiday season. I love kitchen gadgets, but I honestly don’t cook all that much lately (something I want to improve on – we eat out/carryout way too much), so I don’t feel like I should buy anything more in the way of small appliances or pricey gadgets. And we just don’t have the storage room anyway. That said, we recently bought an electric knife sharpener. Bf justified it by saying that the manual ones we had tried didn’t cut it (groan, pun!) and it would save us $$$ vs. buying a new set of knives, and even vs. having a sharpening service do it. We have a set of Chicago wood-handled cutlery including steak knives (when I moved into my first apartment!) that are in good shape because we don’t soak them or put them in the dishwasher and I've – albeit infrequently – oiled the handles. Just needed a good sharpening, and I think the machine did a good job of it. Bf also bought himself a cast-iron pan a couple months ago. We might replace our round slow cooker with an oval one…and we need to replace our non-stick saute pan. So no exciting food appliance purchases for us, but I really do enjoy reading about yours! I hope you take advantage of a house/pet sitting service sometime in the future so you can get away from it all for change of pace. But enjoy those kitty antics until they outgrow them!

Susie – I hope you’re enjoying your vacation time - finished all the “need to dos” and have gotten to the “want to dos”. Have you gotten back into your exercise routine?

Shad – Wow, sounds like you had quite the spread at your Christmas buffet this year. I hope you were able to freeze some of it for future meals. I know what you mean when the appetite decreases because of the heat - or in my case because of much less physical exertion.

Alright enough rambling. Boss is out today and email’s been very quiet. I’m waiting for information I’ve requested, but good luck to me getting it in a timely manner. It’s probably a ghost town in the office today, as it will be next week.


Have a good weekend everyone!!

Got in the car to go meet friends friends for lunch but the car wouldn't start.. :Sigh: We are having O'Reilly's charge the battery because the tester showed that it wasn't to far off base to where it should be. But just got word that the battery is no good. But that is okay. I knew it was getting bad but was hoping that it would last till the next oil change.
Sis says that bil is doing fair under this circumstances. And nephew is still improving on a daily basis. He's been a great help to me these past couple of weeks. Especially yesterday and today.
Nephew called. The battery is dead. It would not charge.
I've been staying on my food plan this week and it show's. Decided to order some MRC products, protein drinks and bars. These help me a lot.

Laura
Glad you are able to work from home. The Grinch has stolen my Christmas spirit. but I have put out a few decorations. I did draw names this year and drew bil's name. He loves Leonard Cohen and bought him the DVD he requested. I let the mom's, dad's and grandparents buy for the little ones. I will be getting sis something if and when she tells me what she wants.

Happy
I don't usually order any thing online but did this year. it was kind of neat to get boxes in the delivered. Almost felt like Christmas. I was expecting them both on the same day and heard a thud on the front porch and thought what was that. When I checked Fed Ex had dropped off one on the packages.
I've been thinking about adopting my nephew's cats. One of the ran away from home when they moved. Luckily she was found and it was very cold. some of the nights but she has a very thick coat.

Susie
Are you feeling better?

Shad
Can't blame you for not buying he adults gifts.

Annie
If you are unhappy at current job, definitely look for something else. It may take awhile but will be worth it.

Hello Everyone,


I had a very busy and enjoyable week last week being home by myself and getting tihngs done, as well as just reading, napping and piddling around. Today is DH's last day of work until we both go back to work January 2. I have a lot of wrapping to do today, and pedicure at 1:15.


We had a fun weekend out with friends. Saturday we went to The Montgomery Inn (famous for their ribs) with a young couple that we are friends. After dinner we went to one of the local outside shopping areas and enjoyed the tree, the shops (just window shopping: the train display and the horse drawn carriages.


Last night we went to Old Coney, and went through the lighted display which is timed to music and such; we went with a couple from church that we have become friends with. We ate at Red Robin afterwards....just good time with people.


So, with all this out and about, and eating out, I had my last TOPS weigh-in for the year and I netted out staying the same weight all year. I guess I am happy that I didn't end the TOPS year with a gain. However, I am gearing up to get the last 60 lbs off that I want to loose and be at my goal weight in 2020. This is the year I turn 55 so that is a goal I am setting for myself.


Also June 1-5 we are planning a trip to Las Vegas to meet my friend, Charlotte (from Denmark) and her husband, who are coming to the US on a business trip and are staying over a few days. I am very exctied about this and I want to look good in the pictures!


So, I told myseld that 3 workouts this week is acceptable as long as I log my food and stay in my calorie range and next week, I start back to 5 days of working out a week and really working on my food choices. I am excited to say that my chef and her husband are back from Mexico for about 18 months, so I will have her cooking for us.


I also am going to go to a new workout class on Tuesday's nights. There is a Cardio Drumming class that meets on Tuesday's at the Senior Center in town for this class. It looks like so much fun and I hear it is a really good workout for the entire body. I thought having some sort of workout to go to with other people there would be a nice change of pace for me. If you haven't heard of these workouts, or are curious, you can find them on YourTube.

I will now do personals, but I do want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm grateful for each of you. You are friends, true friends.....you know a lot about me and are supportinve and unjudmental and enourgeing and real...you tell me when to pick myself up and move on and you are there to check on how I am doing and I appreciate and love each of you.

Laura: Continue to take it easy with the foot and getting it healed up correctly. That is the most imporant priority for you. I am impressed that you found a way to work out and stay off the foot. I think you should be proud of yourself for this effort.

Enjoy the slowed-down time with work and the opportuinity to get to some things without it being a deadline. I have been online about every day and calendar invites so that when I go back those things are done and I can get to the real work.

I was recently thinking the same thing about all the pricey kitchen applicanes we have sitting around and also all the extra things that I have multiple things for such as measuring cups, and baking sheets and dishes and such. So, when I had to take everything out of my cabinets when we had them repainted in November, I did a lot of purging. I had 5 stock pots...I don't need 5 of those! and I had other things like that.

The one thing I did keep was my Insta Pot that my brother bought for me for Christmas 2 years ago. It is unopened and I have decided I want to learn to use it. My chef and I are looking going to learn to use it together. Like you and your boyfriend, we eat out way to much and after work I need to be able to put meals together rather quickly, I have been watching YourTube chanels for ideas and such. Now to just start putting it in place.

Anne: I will be praying about the right new job opportunity opening up for you in the new year. We spend a lot of time at work, so it is important to be happy and enjoy the work, people and perks that come with working a job that you like the work and they people and location.

John and I look forward to seeing you and the family at Kings Island this year. As soon as you know the dates, please let me know so I can put in vacatiion time. I'm all about planning fun things so when I'm working I have things to look forward to.

Ceejay: It is good that you realized the battery was going bad and that you were at home when it didn't start instead of being out running errands and being "stranded" in a parking lot.

I'm glad to hear tha that the newphew has been helping you. I hope that he can stay the course and keep himself from drinking...one day at a time is really all we can work on...that goes for all of us. We can have hopes, dreams and plans, but the work comes one day at a time. My prayers continue for your BIL and his wellness.

Happy: You have done very well this year in untangling yourself from all thos commitments that you took on because you love people and animals and wasnt ot make a difference in this world....thank goodness for people like you.....but you should get a good rate of return on your efforts and you weren't so you took a hard look at things and started the processes. Be proud of yourself for doing that.

I hope in 2020 you will use your time and energy on doing what makes you truly happy! Don't over extend yourself so that you can enjoy what you are doing. I hope that the dental issues and implants get settled and finished for you early in the year so you can eat well, smile pretty and enjoy eating.

Shad: Has the heat wave passed and things are more seasonal? I know your summers are hot but wow....that was a lot of heat to deal with and it has be be dangerous when you are dealing with those types of tempatures.

It sounds like you have set yourself up to have a very enjoyable and uncomplicated Christmas---I admire you for that and how you do it in your every day life. I plan to put a little more of that practice in my life in 2020. Thanks for being my inspiration.


I need to get moving so that when it is my pedicure time I can go and relax during and afterwards.

Hello Friends!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had our Christmas this past Saturday. We served Mexican. Christmas tacos. haha. Very enjoyable time with family and lots of card playing.

Not doing personals at this time but wanted to get in here before the holidays. I am working today and half day tomorrow then off till Jan 2.

Make the best of it and let's all stay healthy and get trim. Not that kind of trim either. lololol.

Love yas all....

Just a quick stop in to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy your Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Have a Merry Christmas every one.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a safe and wonderful time. Love and best wishes to all you lovely people and your families.

Good morning ladies,

Happy day after Christmas or Boxing Day I suppose. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. Mine was good - quietest ever that I remember but that's what I wanted. Food was good. Weather held up. Electricity stayed on and the furnace is working fine. Can't ask for anything more!

Will come back later for personals. Have a few business phone calls to make and I have a schedule today to keep me on track.

Later chicks

Sis, bil and I had a very nice quiet Christmas day. Our Christmas Eve service at church was great also. Bil didn't feel like going but he did. I'm very concerned about him. He's still getting radiation treatments. He looks like he is wasting away.
We are having our Christmas on Saturday and am really looking forward to it. Bil's 2 daughters and grand daughter will be there. It will be a very nice time and I will get in some baby time also and kid time.

Have a great rest of the afternoon.

We had a very nice Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve was with my brother and his family. We decorated sugar cookies, went to dinner, opened gifts and watched a movie, then put the nephews in bed so Santa could come. It made my hear happy.

Christmas Day we were with our good friends, The Jarrels. We had a nice lunch that we all brought food for, opened gifts, watched movies, had dinner, from lunch leftovers and watched more movies. There was napping also! Lol

Today we are having brunch with our friend Tess, and going to the movies. We are seeing Jumanaji and Knives Out. I am sure we will do dinner as well.

Ceejay, I am sure you worry about Bill. Keeping you all in my prayers.

Hello to everyone! Enjoy your day.

Morning all,
Short post seeing I am doing the after holiday clean up and have some bits and pieces to do in the garden as well and a huge pile of washing. When one lives alone it is difficult to remember the days where you had the family wash going and 3 or 4 sets of sheets and pillowcases to put through.
My trip to Adelaide went off well. Little miss S is growing up and is a very clever little girl, however she has a mind of her own and it won't be budged if there is an opposing point of view. I can see some 'fun' looming ahead. The family are finally starting to build their new house - with everything that opens and shuts naturally. I saw the plans. The house itself looks nice but huge. Glad it is not me going to clean all those bathrooms, massive kitchen and stairs along with an Island bench that needs its own postcode.
Adelaide was stinking hot and the smoke was hazy all the time. Yes SA is on fire too. Every State and Territory in Australia apart from Tasmania (which burnt last year) has fires. SA is a well known wine growing area and at least one vineyard in McLarenvale has been completely burnt out. They will not know until Spring next year whether or not the vines are dead and even if they are not, they will not produce for the next 5 years.
I'm glad to read that you all seemed to have a fairly peaceful and pleasant Christmas. Long may it last. New Year can't come quick enough for me, I've had enough of this year.

On getting home on Friday, I found a card from you Annie. You have a knack of getting them to the right place at just the right time. Thank you for that.

I'm not feeling the greatest since I got home. Actually the indigestion and stomach upset and lack of being able to 'go' (sorry if that's TMI) started in Adelaide. Fortunately I had taken some stuff with me and quickly fixed the 'unable to go' bit. Don't know whether it was something I ate, something I picked up on the plane or what. Anyway, have eaten very little over the last 2 or three days and get home to find my neighbour is suffering something similar. This mornings breakfast eggs were the first solid meal in days. They don't seem to bother with set meals in Adelaide apart from breakfast and then the choice is not great. They seem to pick their way through the day. Son is vegetarian so he snacks on fruit and vegetables etc. Little miss S prefers pretzels, nuts and chocolates (which doesn't leave much appetite for dinner) and DIL snacks on some interesting stuff like sushi or rice paper rolls and at odd times because 'she didn't have time for lunch' so I guess it is no wonder that proper mealtimes are not high on the list.

I'm not doing personals at the moment - might get back for them later meantime, while it is cool I should get outside and do something. Have a great day

Good Morning Ladies...

Happy New Year! 2020 is going to be healthy for everyone, I declare! Celebrate responsibly.

Happy New Year to all of you.

Looking forward to the new year with all of you. 2020 is the year I will reach ONEderland!

It's 2020. A new year, new beginnings, new personal goals. I'm not setting any new year resolutions because they only last as long as the fireworks do. Still not well but a whole lot better than I was 3 days ago. I have decided to live.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO US ALL

Hi ladies,


Wishing you all a safe and happy and very healthy New Year. May we all achieve at least something positive in 2020. I agree with you Shad, resolutions don't seem to stick.


2019 was a turning point for me in many different areas. I hope to work to some positive changes in the new year. I also noticed very distinctly that people seem to keep in contact when you are doing things for them and when that stops, you sort of fall off the face of the earth. I am going to try and adopt a more positive attitude about things.


The last few days have been a mess. Last Friday we went over to our friends house and brought 2 frozen Chicago style pizzas to share. Came home and around 9pm DH said he had the shivers really bad and was having problems urinating. He was afraid of having an accident and was going to sleep in the basement which was insane. So I warmed a hot pad and put it on his neck and remade the bed "accident proof". This is why I keep lots of odds and ends supplies around! He asked for a urinal and I told him he made me throw out the one had had from surgery years ago - why do we need that - I'll never use it. Sorry if TMI. I looked up his symptoms and wanted him to go to the emergency room that night - figured he needed an antibiotic. He was afraid to stray too far from the loo. Saturday we went in at noon and waited for 4 hours. Our hospital E/R is also our after hours urgent care facility. The weather was horrid - icy rain that made the roads hazardous. The hospital is only 2 miles from our house - not my most favorite place of confidence but it was too ugly outside to drive an hour to the better hospital. After 2 hours of sitting in the waiting room, we finally got into a cubicle and DH was able to lay on the bed and rest. He was exhausted. After 4 hours of waiting we were seen by the nurse practitioner that misdiagnosed my shingles when I saw her last. Did I say inspires a lack of confidence?? They had taken a urine sample when they triaged him so that was developed by the lab and sure enough, bacteria and such to indicate an infection. She looked at a list of meds and selected an antibiotic for him. It was a harsh one I had taken once before. We got him home and he tried to rest. Sleep was fitful - about 20 minutes at a time with constant trips to the loo. He'd get overly warm and sweaty and then the next minute he'd be shivering. I could not get him to eat or drink. He was this way for 2 and a half days. Temperature was slightly elevated but far from worrisome. I told him he HAD to drink and flush this bacteria out or it would go to his kidneys and he'd REALLY be having severe problems. He was whiny because he was so sick so it was very difficult dealing with him. And he took his hearing aids out so he misinterpreted a lot of what I said. It was also difficult as he was very tired and did not want me to make noise. So I could not do laundry, could not clean, could not do more than sit in a chair and look at the walls. Monday I INSISTED he go see a regular doctor. He has a nurse practitioner he likes so he emailed a request to her. I was starting to lose my patience I admit and told him what if she is OFF this week - CALL THE OFFICE. So when he went back to lay down, I called and made an appointment with the next available doctor in the practice. DH was also developing a cough. For the first time ever, I went in the doctor's room with him. I wanted to make sure all the facts got presented, I had questions and I knew DH was not paying attention. The doctor was great. Explained a lot. Said it was only 2 days but DH could also have an infection in his prostate too. We talked about his symptoms - extreme tiredness, lack of appetite, nausea could be attributed to the antibiotic given in the E/R. The doctor said they could change the medication and offered a shot in the butt to jump start the antibiotic. I said ALWAYS TAKE THE SHOT IN THE DUPA WHEN OFFERED!!!! Which made DH smile for the first time in 3 days and the doctor laughed hearty too. They gave him a longer course of antibiotics too in case the prostate was also infected. Got him home (I did not have to drive the truck thank goodness) and he said he felt better than he had since this onset. He is coming along but still has a long way to go. Very, very weak. But at least he got some sleep last night. We were supposed to go to friends for New Year's Eve but cancelled that. I'm glad we did not make reservations for something fancy. I was able to get him to stop at the grocery store and let me pick up a few things - neither of us had been eating much at all and there wasn't much in the house to work with. Today DH tells me that he thinks this infection had been coming on for a while. I rolled my eyes and then said well I hope you learned your lesson. Although you had no idea what this was when it first started because you never had it before, at this point in our lives we break more easily and take longer to heal so you have to be mindful of things. I guess the infection got really bad but he is lucky that he did not have the hallmark of a UTI - that burning blades of pain when you go to the bathroom. He had pain but not like it can be so that was fortunate. I said you need to be mindful of anything that is out of the normal realm of behavior with your body. He was fretting because he thought his prostate was going kerflunk and he had taken a blood test and they (should not have) told him he had a predisposition to kidney failure and diabetes because more tests were needed before this diagnosis. In fact, in thinking, perhaps this blood test showed trouble with the UTI and since he didn't mention anything with the nurse at the time, that's why they didn't pick up on it - just told him he might be going the route of eventual kidney failure. He was ready to check out of this life. Gads!!!! So that has been pretty much my week. Haven't really accomplished much and now I am behind but still have a few quiet days ahead. He is getting on my last nerve as he is moaning and groaning and acting as if he is in the end stages of pancreatic cancer instead of just a typical, common infection. Men. He is lucky I give him much better care than I get from him the few times I was down for the count - like most women, we just make do and take care of things ourselves.


We officially adopted the kittens. Boy they make a ton of noise when they are playing. But they are adorable. The boy is like a gawky teenager. By next week he will be the size of Bimmy and by February he will be bigger than her. I just hope he is not going to be a handful. Loves to wrestle with his sister but she's just as much a fighter as he is.


My Mom announced to my sister 2 days ago that she HAS to go to the doctor. She has a fatty lump on her hip bone that has been there since the spring and has been steadily getting bigger. But has not said anything until now because "she did not want to bother my sister". But she said it's a problem now because "it's pressing on my internal organs". My sister, still fuming over why she waited 7 months to say anything snapped back "WHICH INTERNAL ORGAN is attached to your hip bone Mom????" This made a big hassle for my sister because they want to do a CT scan of the thing and they inject a dye and they need her to have blood tests prior to the scan to determine if her kidneys can take the dye without problem. And oh, they are drastically cutting our Medicare health insurance (thank you useless Republicans) effective January 1 so you'd better get this all done pronto and there are only 2 days left to the end of the year. Much teeth gnashing and hair pulling on my sister's part. Miraculously with some begging on my sister's part, they were actually able to get her in today for the scan and get all her bloodwork done. My poor sister.


So it's been a heckuva day at sea sailor so my sister is fond of saying.


I hope you all have a great evening tonight - Shad has already welcomed the new year. I hope it's a good one for all of us. Will check back later and start a thread for the new year I suppose.