Afternoon all,
Been flat stack busy this week with cleaning out cupboards and getting rid of stuff I no longer use. Some has gone to Op Shops, some to the recycling barn at the refuse centre (rubbish dump) and some to the neighbour over the road. Some of the bits and pieces the kids will take so I will parcel them up and leave them in a safe place. I am determined that I won't have huge amounts of stuff for the kids to sort through in time to come. Not that I am thinking of dropping off the perch yet, but one never knows.
Garden is producing beautifully and I have been eating cauliflowers (sorry Happy's DH). The ones I have been growing have been minis and they are just enough for 2 meals for one. This latest lot is coloured. I ate the purple one this week, there is a green one ready and a yellow one well on the way. I'd heard of the coloured ones but never seen them grow previously.
Then I went off to the dentist who is no doubt gnashing his teeth since there was nothing to be done apart from tartar (plaque?) removal and a clean. $120.00 today thanks.
I've been to Probus meetings and weeded the garden and also spread a M3 of gravel around the vegetable beds to try to stop some of the *&*&*&* weeds that grow out of nothing. We might be in drought but no one has told the weeds yet.
I've been searching for a birthday present for my niece who turned the big 30 yesterday - and while cleaning out the fancy glassware cabinet I came across a handpainted martini glass (its called birthday girl Flirtini and has a recipe for a martini drink on the base. It originally came in a round padded box but I can't find the box as yet. I'll get it to her over the weekend. There is also another one coming in the post complete with its box so she will have a pair - different designs and recipes on each.
Today DS2 and I took the dog to a dog trainer as he has been getting too disobedient and stubborn. Just one lesson with the e-box thingy and we have him walking to heel on and off lead despite the attractions of smells, other dogs, bicycles, scooters and kids in pushchairs. He was also almost coming when called. Not quite there yet, but the trainer said he has not met a dog as stubborn as this one.

Annie - good to see you posting. I hear you about boring jobs however the alternative is not a viable proposition so hang in there and keep checking for other jobs You never know when one may just come up. Meantime head down, bum up and work so you don't get made redundant again. Pleased to hear that the sil is doing okay. It always seems that once you get past 60 the medics will continually find something that needs checking or fixing or expensive testing. Thank the old timers of this country and NZ who fought for universal medical care. I'd not be able to fund private health care.
Hey, aren't all big brothers contrary and authoritarian. Mine can be but fortunately he tends to run out of steam when someone tries to tell him to shut up for the 50th time.
I hope C gets some help from the VA. Wouldn't it be good if can help him somewhat.
I have a friend who went to one of the 'over 50 resorts' (can't call them retirement villages because it changes their taxation stuff and their concessions. She quite enjoys it, especially since she has a small garden to tend and there are staff to do any required work on the house she bought (that's after she has had to fight for her rights). Sometimes she has a problem with some of the neighbours. Really they are so close together and if you have visitors and sit outside about 3 sets of neighbours can join in the conversation and the mobile phone coverage is sometimes pretty sh*tty and she has to sit out for the conversation.
Do your research and think carefully about what you can have and can't have in there

Ceejay - glad to hear that you have had a good birthday and the cataract surgery is wonderful. When does the second eye get done?

Susie - As long as you are walking fast enough to burn calories, walking can be the best exercise of the lot. I hope you have been able to get back to working out again. It does help.

Laura - glad to hear that the projects are levelling out at work. Damned if I know why they have to have all of them going on at once. So where did you go for your 'Summer day'? Did you take your bicycle out?

Happy - We're getting into Spring here. Only a couple of days of winter left and I notice that the new leaves on the Poinciana tree are growing along the bare branches. Poor tree does not know whether it is coming or going. One half is completely bare and the other half still covered in leaves and seed pods.
Congratulations on the land purchase. Now you can put up signs that state no hunters, shooters allowed.
Glad to hear that you are coming right again. Bummer on the back appointments being cancelled, hope you can get them back again.
Unfortunately, the gun laws are being watered down over here. There is still the ban on automatic weapons although they can be had for specific purposes. Still we are getting more and more shootings, stabbings and murders as the world prepares to implode through technology. NZ had a buy back scheme on the automatic weapons and the accessories that make normal rifles automatic, however not everyone over there is happy about handing it in. Same bulldust, different day. However we don't have the frequency of killing fields that you do. It will no doubt come.

As some of you may know, I have a problem with chronic constipation and I am determined I will not deal with it any more, so I have been taking steps to avoid it. DS2 said that Metamucil helped him and I got some from the supermarket. It worked okay until I bought the last jar and this one was smooth rather than granular. And I had been fairly steadily if somewhat slowly losing weight by portion control and no snacking etc. Well I started to put the weight back on, couldn't work out why, and when I got up in the morning I was as stiff as a board. The only way to ease the stiffness was a 40 minute romp with the dog. Once that was done, life was okay until I sat in a chair to watch a tv program. Then I got stiff and sore again. It took a while but I was reading the list of ingredients in the smooth Metamucil and it contains aspartame. Somewhere once before I had read that that particular sweetener wasn't too good for people. So I cut it out and started to take Movicol which was prescribed after the chemotherapy had me all stuck up. Took several days but now I don't nearly fall over when I get out of bed, the pain in the joints has nearly disappeared and I am 'moving' much more successfully. When I checked with the Granular Metamucil it doesn't have aspartame in it, it has sucrose. So I will be asking my doctor about this when I next see her. Oh yes and my weight is moving down again. Just something else to think about if you are using the above. Sorry if it was TMI

I think that is about it for now. Time to go and get on with cleaning out cupboards and drawers in the dining room and what the heck am I going to do with all these recipe books.

Hey Everyone….

Twice in one week. HahaSHADDIE…I have been eating Quest Bars almost daily as they are KETO approved. Keeps me MORE than regular. Just sayin’ Don’t know what is in them because the box is at home and I am at work. Yes, just trying to get through each day. I need a new mantra, like I love this place. BahCEEG…happy belated birthday. Since I am no longer celebrating or counting mine, I am not for others either. HahaFunniest thing I have read today. “These taste like chocolate covered fish with a hint of fart”. This was describing some sort of food on FB. Hilarious. Or at least it struck me funny. Have a wonderfully awesome weekend.

Afternoon
Mowed most of the lawn yesterday. Will mow the rest after it quits raining and the ground dries out a bit.
I'm more than ready to get my other cataract off. Plus there has been too much stress in my life right now. Mainly with the nephew falling of the wagon and hit the dirt hard. Ended up in the hospital for 5 day's but now is in rehab.
I'm also giving up MRC. It's to expensive. But I will try to follow their plan. I've found a local chapter of TOPS that I'm going to look into.

Annie
Yes this is my bil that you met. He's doing really well for his circumstances.
Laura
Thanks for the birthday wishes.. As my sis said on FB I'm 39 and holding.
Shad
What's a Probus meeting? I've never heard of different colors in cauliflower.

Good morning,

Yikes guys - sorry I have not posted. It's been crazy busy. I have to go to the bank so I can't post now but will come back later and catch up.

ha ha Annie. New Zealand's favourite sweet.

Morning all,
Not much to report because I posted it all yesterday, I think.
Going out on this beautiful 1st day of Spring to lop some branches of the Calistemon tree and the Poinciana. General tidy up in the front yard and then some weeding down the back. I need to spray the Azaleas and repot some of the orchids. My poor garden suffered somewhat last summer and this summer does not look like being much better so I will need to somehow heat proof it to stop the carnage of plants.
Romeo the cat has come in with what looks suspiciously like a sore eye or conjunctivitis so a trip to the vet is probably on the horizon this week.
I need to get back to the painting of walls etc again too next week. I'm trying to get all the heavy and sweaty jobs done before the heat hits in November/ December.
My DS1 has been granted Australian citizenship. The way things are going in Australia, we will all have to do so soon I think. Life is becoming extremely divisive and racist here. And our fool of a Minister for Immigration is one of the worst. Just about all the rights that Kiwis who come here now have been eroded and I am expecting to hear that some of us who have been here for years will have our rights and privileges taken away soon too. I'll have to get on to the NZ in Aus site to sort it out. DS2 will need to think about it too. Deportation for refugees is on the rise as well regardless of how long they have been here and whether or not their children have been born here. Quite crazy. The world has gone mad.

Ceejay - glad to hear that your cataract surgery is so successful and wish you well for the other eye. My eye specialist tells me she can see the beginnings of cataracts in my eyes, but they will take years to grow.
Sorry to hear that the BIL has fallen off the wagon. Perhaps he needs specialist help for the stresses in his life.
Susie does well on TOPS so hopefully it will help you too. Pity the program that you liked was too expensive. Such is life today.

Happy - Sometimes life just gets on top of us all and we can't get to the things we should do. I'm no longer the daily poster either so forgive yourself and post when you can. Other than that we could set up a closed group on Facebook but I know that many of us post elsewhere on 3fc.

My friend and neighbour from Romania has had her baby this week. 2kgs or 4.4lbs - very small but the hospital released her late yesterday afternoon, so today I get to meet Selena Grace. It will be different to have a newborn in the street, most of us are either teenage parents or empty nesters - well apart from a few down the end of the street. Funnily enough we seem to have a top end of the street and a bottom end of the street, which is pretty silly since there is only 10 houses in it.

Okay, better get off my butt and go do some things out there while it is still cool enough to do them. Have a good weekend - what's left of it.

Hello Everyone,


DH and I are on vacation today and tomorrow. We took a couple of days after the Labor Day weekend. We have beautiful weather; warm sunshine, low humidity. We have had some rain but didn't wash the weekend out.


Yesterday we met a friend for an early dinner at TGIF Friday's; we hadn't been there for very long time, in fact there aren't many left, but they had some new menu items and the old favorites, and it was all tasty. We also went to see a movie, "The art of dancing in the rain"...great movie, and then closed the evening with some frozen custard.


Today, I am doing some house cleaning that I didn't get done of the weekend, we had a cookout to go to on Sunday and I know we did something on Saturday, but I can't remember what just now. We have Cincinnati Reds baseball tickets for the game tonight. It will be fun to go; we try to get to a ball game at least once a season. We pre-buy our peanuts to take to the game and we can take bottled water as well, most likely I will have a slice of pizza, it is LaRosa's pizza that is native to Cincinnati and it always tastes so good at the game. DH always gets a hot met.


Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned at all. I think I will start taking the very summery looking things out of the closet and getting it in the tubs that go in the garage...time to make room for the fall things. I can't shop if I don't have room in my closet! lol


Shad: Once I read your post I went and looked at DH's Citrucel. His surgeon who did his surgery said he needs to do it daily for life. His is sugar free and does have the aspartame in it. I asked him if he thought he had unusual stiffness and pain in his joints. He has been complaining a bit about it in his ankles and feet. I can't find Citrucel without the aspartame in it so we are going to try the Meta without it and see if he notices a difference. Thanks for sharing that information.


Does your son spend a lot of time in Australia? I am bad on not knowing my geography and so I need to take a look regarding New Zealand and Australia. It is scary to think you are losing your rights.


Ceejay: I'm glad to hear that things went well with the cataract surgery. I am sorry to hear of the added stress and the nephew having issues with falling off the wagon. Hopefully he can right the ship and get back on a good track. I hope you find a TOPS group you like and is close enough that you can make the meetings. Once you are a member the TOPS website is very helpful and inspiring as well. What was MRC? I don't recall what it was.


Annie: It is nice to see you posting; I think about you a lot. Fingers crossed and prayers up that C's appt on Sept 23 with the VA gets him what he needs to have for his issues.

Sorry to hear that work is boring but there are worse things....like no income of insurance right? I think I will get a little board in my new role after a while, but it is ok....the last 4 yrs I didn't have time to breathe so I'm ok with being bored I'll just fill up my life with my wants and desires instead of work


Laura: I hope you enjoyed the week without the boss and also your day off that you took. Any updates on your foot?


Happy: Looking forward to hearing how you are and what you have been doing.


I had a loss at TOPS last week, 1.4 lbs. So, I am now back to where I was at the end of June. My plan for the rest of the year is to average a 2 lb loss a week and get me back to my lowest weight, (actually 8 lbs. below) when I took all the weight off two years ago. I have 16 weeks from Sept 1, 2019, that would be 32 lbs. I am getting in 5-6 workouts a week, started running on the treadmill again as a part of my workouts, now I just need to keep my focus on the low-fat diet...that is what works very well for me. I can and want to do this. I have cute clothes that still fit but are feeling tight and I don't want to not be able to wear them.


I must get going on this house cleaning. See you all later.

Good afternoon all.


Gosh, been over a week since I last posted! Where does the time go??


Ceejay – Glad the surgery went well. Sorry to hear about your nephew. I hope he finds his way back. Have you decided if you’re joining TOPS?

Annie – Glad your Denver trip went safely. Yes, way too much driving in too short time!!! Hope Cindy’s eye procedure went well today!! Speaking of procedures - yes, I’m having foot surgery. I’m thinking the first week of November. Would have wanted it sooner - before the bad weather is expected, but work’s been crazy and since this isn’t an emergency, it would not have been cool to schedule it during such a busy time at work. How fun to have a siblings trip to look forward to! I’m sorry you don’t like your job, and boy do I understand about some people being impossible to like…but just hang in there. I have ten years until I’m eligible for my full pension, but only 4.5 years until I can get my hands on my 401k $$ penalty-free…very tempting. My co-worker P and I were talking last week and she told me that she was traveling for work and was at a function in which the boss brought his wife. Apparently the wife was telling P that she’s trying to get the boss to retire within a couple years. Seeing as the boss is only 58, it’s probably unlikely. But one can dream. It would be so different if I weren’t working for him! I hope C can get the VA coverage.

Shad – Good for you trying to get rid of stuff you don’t need/use. I sure wish my mother had done that… I hope the trainer is successful with training out the disobedience and stubbornness. Wow, that aspartame sure doesn’t agree with you!!! Hope all is better now that you’re off of it. I spent part of my “summer day paddling a canoe with bf. It was a nice day, but windy so it was difficult navigating. Bf & I aren’t experienced paddlers/boaters and weren’t in sync (like our whole relationship these days). We decided next time we’ll rent two separate kayaks. I did take my bike out a couple weeks ago just around the neighborhood. I took my “good” bike out yesterday for a ride on the bike path in the nearby forest preserve. There were a lot of people on the path yesterday, so it was sometimes frustrating when walkers take up the entire lane. I need a bell on my bike. (Bf says I should get an air horn, LOL.) Sorry to hear Aus is experiencing immigration issues too. I hope you and your family won’t be affected by it.

Susie – Nice having the extra days off this week. I hope you enjoy the ball game tonight. I didn’t know TGIF’s was still around. I wonder if there are any more Bennigan’s?? We used to have a Chili’s by us, but that’s gone too… Sounds like you have a good plan for the rest of the year as to WL. Great job getting in 5-6 workouts a week. So does that mean you’re not working (a lot of) overtime in your new role at work? I think I need to go back to PM workouts. The AM thing isn’t working very well for me.

Hi Happy – How’s it going? You must be super busy. Hope to see you back here soon.


This past weekend was a 4-day weekend for me. Didn’t do much on Friday or Sunday. Saturday we went to a fest that we always go to each year. A friend met us there with his wife and son, but they were late so we only spent a half hour or so with them because we had a 60th[ birthday party to attend. Yesterday I went cycling on a path in a local forest preserve, and then bf & I met a friend of mine who was visiting from the Twin Cities (MN) for coffee.

Back to work today…before I leave the office I’m going to tell the boss I’m scheduling my foot surgery for November. Then I’ll schedule it with the doctor’s office. When I have the date, I’ll go to HR to get the short-term disability paperwork started. The doctor will send a surgical packet, but I was told over the phone that it includes pre-surgery lab tests and clearance from my primary physician.


Okay, gonna cut and paste and post and get back to work. Everyone have a good rest of the day.

Evening all,
We're going through another heatwave and it is only the beginning of spring. Today here was apparently 33C (96F more or less) and we were among the coolest areas around. It's still cool at night but heats up rapidly. I think we will be in for another long hot summer. The drought is biting out west with several towns out there saying they will be out of water by Christmas. Naturally enough the State and Federal pollies are 'thinking' about how to sort this, but of course mention money and they bury themselves in the sand. We are told we will be under water restrictions soon. There is no such thing as climate change.

Susie - If you have some rain to spare, send it over will you please. Glad to hear you are having a good break from work and doing things together. Glad you are trying to see if something else will suit your DH. The online information about the stuff is dreadful. Can cause all sorts of problems. Both my sons live in Australia, one here in Brisbane about 45 minutes from my place and the other in Adelaide in South Australia - some 2500 kilometres away, which is why I don't get to see them often. Well done on the loss at TOPS this week. Hope it continues through the next week as well. It is so annoying that we have to be so careful to eat well and exercise so much and yet the weight goes on when we look at a bunch of bananas or such.

Laura - Still going on the downsizing. I've now done the kitchen and dining room. Next on the list is my bedroom where there is all sorts of stuff in the closet which I never use and probably some that I will never fit into again or if I do, it won't be back in fashion yet. Then I need to get up in the roof and see what I have stuck up there. Probably a lot of cr*p. Dog is doing okay with the e-collar. I put it on him this morning for the first time since last Friday when we got the thing. He obviously remembers it since he was not happy to have to have it on. To make life a misery, he also had the chain collar AND the halti muzzle. He behaved very well. Almost a different dog. He even ignored a couple of bikes going past this afternoon. Progress.

Ceejay - 3 years in retirement. Do you ever think about going back to work? I know I don't often think about it.

Happy, I hope you are well. I see you posting on Facebook so I guess you are just busy. Annie, time to poke your nose back in.

Okay, time to go clean up the kitchen and sit down for a read before bed. Not much on the TV worth watching at the moment.

Happy Friday Afternoon! To me, anyway. Hope you’ve all had a good week. I’m less than an hour away from the start of my weekend. Woohoo!

Shad – Our summer, at least here in Chicago, started late, so it seemed to go by quickly. We’ve had temps in the 70’s for a bit now, but I’m hoping for a last blast of summer before it goes for good. But your summer sounds like it’s starting early!! Hope it’s not just hot/dry all summer long. How worrisome a water shortage would be. Right now, our water levels in the Great Lakes (or at least Lake Michigan) are at record highs. I’ve read a couple newspaper articles about washed out local beaches and the adjacent infrastructure. Mixed feelings on e-collar – we never used one. I think if it keeps the dog from running off and getting hurt or hurting someone, that’s good. If it’s just a bark-preventing tool…hmmm, dunno about that. But we did use a prong collar on our dear Coal, and I know some people had negative feelings about that…Sounds like the collar/training are working great for R.

Hellos to the rest of you. SUSIE – hope you enjoyed your extra days off. How was this week’s TOPS WI? HAPPY – Forgot you were going to take a quick trip to Chicago – how was it? Bet you’re glad to be back home away from all the traffic and people!!!! CEEJAY – I didn’t realize your other cataract surgery would be so soon. I bet you’re glad it’s done now! And how awesome you don’t need glasses!! ANNIE – Loved that photo of Bruno you posted on FB. He looks like a sweetie.

Nothing much to report. I scheduled my foot surgery for Nov. 6th. I told the boss I was doing this a couple days ago. On Monday I’ll have HR get the ball rolling with the short-term disability paperwork/approval. Otherwise, the doc’s office is mailing me a surgery packet with the specifics.


Nothing special planned this weekend. Probably take my mom grocery shopping. Hope it’s nice enough to get out on the bike at some point.

Okay, have a great weekend everyone!

Morning
It feels odd not to reach for my glasses each morning. I still need glasses to read the fine print.
I'm ready for fall. I noticed some trees beginning to turn already.
My sis and I are going to my nephew's wife's baby shower this morning. Don't really want to go. She has been very hateful concerning things and don't guess I can blame her. She's been through some tough times with the nephew. I'm not sure this marriage will or can be saved. My 2 cents worth is that she is extremely controlling and treats the nephew like her sons instead of a husband. It is what it is.
I'm not sure what I will do concerning another weight loss program. They are all basically the same thing. It's up to me to enforce the program and I don't think I'm 100% into it.
Sorry no personals today.

Hi all,

So sorry I have been MIA. Have gotten out of the habit of checking in during the morning. Usually as I am sitting here DH is either talking to me or he wants to go off and do something right away so my routine has changed. As for me I have my oral surgery scheduled for October 22. I am a bit nervous and starting to fret about this - 4 front teeth to be extracted and they will at the same time set the posts and start the work for 2 of those teeth being implants. They will knock me out cold at my request. I think that's too much to endure being awake, even with laughing gas! One of my front teeth - one of the ones they will extract has a crown on it. The stub of the tooth broke off a while ago and the crown is hanging on for dear life. It's been getting more wiggly. I was getting ready for bingo and flossing and the tooth just wedged over. I had to decide to pull it off or eat it, as it would most likely come loose chewing. I could not find the cement they gave me so I had to go and call bingo with no front tooth! Fortunately I don't smile big or open my mouth wide. I am going Monday to get the fitting for the temporary bridge they will insert right after surgery (another OUCH I am dreading). I will have them use the more sturdy cement they have to keep this in hopefully until the 22th. There is such a tiny bit of tooth left, I don't know how they will pull it but I will be asleep so it won't matter until I wake up. Am getting ready to head to Chicago next weekend. Looks like it's going to be a rainy drive. The wetness is moving in and looks like we are going to have gray, chilly and rainy instead of a beautiful, colorful autumn. DH is trying to sand and restain the deck and this weather is not cooperating. We learned that he made a mistake putting 2 coats of stain when he first did it. The second coat did not adhere to the wood and that's why the stain on the entire massive deck peeled off. I told him to do just a small section in the front applied as it should be and see how that goes. If it holds up one year, then do the other 2/3 of the deck, otherwise he will use paint. He has been working hard on his hands and knees. He has a belt sander but he is particular and has to hand sand using a sanding block also so his hands are raw and the leaning on hands and knees is bothering his joints. Even if I could get down on all fours (NO WAY), I couldn't help him anyway as I'd do it wrong. I hope it takes as our deck is massive. (His design). My garden was kaput this year. We will be pulling the tomatoes out before we leave this week. It's getting in the low 40's at night and we have hit 39 twice so that is like refrigerating the tomatoes and they don't taste as garden tomatoey as they should. The flowers were nice this year, the veggies not. We had tons of rain (wish I could send you some Shad) - there are wild mushrooms popping up all over the place. I don't think I am going to be able to get into the garages and go through the boxes I have out there before the cold weather hits. I did not realize how many boxes of papers I had stowed all over here in the house. I'd start to work on something and then put it aside and forgot about it. Went through about 8 boxes so far. Reduced to it a box and a half of keep or mark it down electronically as I have a record and then pitch. But I have made a big mess in trying to go through that so it's disappointing and seems like I am going backwards instead of making progress. I also formally resigned from the Board and all Thrift Shop activities. Said I would work through the end of October - the end of the fiscal year but with my teeth on the 22nd, more like mid October. They asked me to still do the books because they like my recaps to the Board but that is difficult without knowing what is going on at the shop. They said they will probably divy my work up between several people but are avoiding dealing with the biggest drain on time which is the full time manager they need at the store year round. The president wants to preserve the all volunteer shop but no one is as crazy as me or my current partner B who are willing to put in 5 days at the store for FREE. B is only doing it now because she snowbirds to Arizona December - April and then when she does come back they take a 3 week summer vacation at least once during the season. So she works long now to make up for when she's gone. They talked about a manager of the month to rotate and I said that will never work. They need consistency. Anyway it is this stubborn insistence on ignoring the obvious that made me leave in the first place. I am still covering things so my immediate work load has not diminished but the break will happen when I have my teeth out and I am miserable and crabby. I'm not sure if it's the weather but my knees and back are really hurting. This makes it difficult to do the cleaning and purging that I need to get done. We took a break from the gym when DH hurt his knees hiking and we haven't made an effort to go back yet.I suggested a few times but he is really trying to focus on getting the deck done before the constant rains hit so that has been his priority. I am fretting about leaving the cats for 2 and a half days alone when we go to Chicago. The house is not in the shape I want it in to bring in a pet sitter and DH doesn't think we need one for 2 days anyway. He took the cats to the vet and there is a complication with them. They both eat the same Royal Canine prescription dry food for sensitive tummies / food allergies. Turns out Bimmy should not be eating dry any more because it is constipating her. Vet recommends we feed her wet food which she doesn't really have an interest in. She nibbled dry throughout the day when the feeders dispense food. Nina loves wet food but is overweight and can't clean herself as well as she needs to and that is causing some bacteria problems for her. (Sorry if TMI). She is not huge but is getting older and not as agile. Wet food has too much water and gives her the opposite problem of Bimmy. So the vet said we have to feed them separately, twice a day and sit there and watch them eat, then take up the food. First we have to regulate them to eat when we give it to them. No easy task. And I said with this method for sure we will never be able to go away ourselves! I guess we'd just have to hire a stay there pet sitter... The end of the month we have a 3 day cabin rental hoping to get some autumn color on the lake. Early trees are turning red already. And then 3 weeks after that will be my teeth so not a whole lot of time for tasks the next 2 months which is typically the big push to get ready for winter. Today I have some sweet corn to process into vacuum sealed bags of freezer corn. I would have loved to have gotten some tomatoes to can for sauce but the season is late - tomatoes are ready now which means I'd have to get them Monday and make haste to can them this week which I know deep inside I will be busy getting ready for the trip and won't really have time. DH will get mad if 30 pounds of tomatoes spoil. I did plan my teeth around apple season so we can head to the orchards in early October and get enough apples for me to make several quarts of apple sauce. I'm just hoping that with all the other vegetation being later this year that it won't hold true for the apples. There is a tree at the animal shelter fruiting apples - we received permission to pick up the ones on the ground and our deer were most happy to eat them up so I think apples will keep to their traditional ready for market times in early October. So that's about it for me. Nothing special or interesting going on. Just kinda plowing through life.

Ceejay - I'm glad your surgery turned out well. Give your eyes a chance to settle down - they will adjust a bit as they heal up. I need cheaters too and since I have to wear them all the time for close up and computer work, my eyes eventually became dependent on glasses again, although the prescription is a fraction of what it once was. Nice to be able to see far better again. I'm sorry your nephew relapsed. Sometimes though when one partner acts like a child, the other partner has to treat them as such and be the adult. It's hard. That was the case with my easy going loveable Dad and my Mom who had to bear all the responsibility. I hope for the new baby's sake they can work things out. As for the weight loss you are right - at this point in our lives there is no easy answer other than continuous attention and hard work. It's so frustrating. I have a friend I went to grade and high school with. She is out there climbing the mountains on a vacation right now. She looks pretty much the same as high school except for some sun wrinkles as she was always an outdoors person, never had a desk job. I am envious of her but lifestyle definitely played a part in her good health. She has an older sister who is the opposite - overweight and full of medical issues so I'd say it was more good living on her part. Wish I knew then what I know now...

Laura - hahaha - yep neither of us is looking forward to the traffic in the city. We let DH pick the food choices for the 2 days we will do meals. My sister warned him that Friday evening in Orland Park is NOT the place you want to be driving in :lol She orders in a lot and has someone else deliver it. I'm glad you got your surgery scheduled. Are you also going to try and get arrangements to be able to work at home for a while? I can't even imagine trying to trudge back and forth to the train station even with a boot on and cabs can get costly. As for early retirement, considering how long we live now, it's something one has to figure out VERY carefully. One of the scariest things about retirement is that you can't depend on going back to work if you run into a deficit. It's really frightening to watch the markets and protect your investments - the only real money source you have. Social security at my age is pretty much grandfathered from changes but ... we can find that someone's weekly weekend stays at golf resorts with an entourage of staff puts us in the hole and programs can be effected - no guarantees for safety so the only real money you can count on is what you have saved. Chances are good too that if you are not 60 years old by now, you probably will see some cuts to the social security program. That's why I took mine early - less money but I am guaranteed for what I have and the older I get, the worse I feel I don't want to live to 85 anyway. My BIL took an early retirement because the job was killing him. He is only 55 and has a risky plan to get to 60 when he can collect his full retirement. I hope it works for them.

Annie - yikes that was a super drive to Denver and back. Glad you made it ok, but leaves little time to enjoy the trip. I'm sorry the job is boring. Work is not interesting for most any more. In those days you were down just remember how you felt when you were out of work, head down - find things in your free time to make yourself happy and just plod through until you can quit for good. I thank God every night we were able to make it, consider myself most fortunate even though at the time my career ended I thought it was the most awful thing ever. I am really glad to hear that Cindy's surgery was successful. I hope her worst days are behind her now. Sorry that you are dealing with C's issues. I hope he gets the help he needs. Why doesn't it ever work out the way we hoped it would? Keep your chin up girl, if anyone can persevere, it's you though sometimes that burden gets awfully heavy...

Shad - OMG - that is frightening about running out of water. Was scary enough to hear about your water conservation efforts and now it's time to tighten up again. Yes, it is a concern about how we are killing this planet. People refuse to accept or see and others have to deal with it every day. Just like guns here. I hope R can calm down and it's more of a training issue and not that you have a wild child. Bimmy is starting to show some signs of increased aggression to her sister which is worrisome and she is getting a bit destructive out of boredom. I do not have time to entertain a cat! I told DH I could not turn her back into the shelter - Nina would also go nuts. Yesterday he had to take Nina to the vet - when Bimmy saw the travel bag she went and hid in the farthest corner of the basement. Nina came back and spent the afternoon looking for Bimmy who was not going to be coaxed out under any circumstances Nina kept walking the main floor, crying and looking for her so I know they are a bonded pair even if they do fight sometimes. Animals!!! I am so sorry to read about the issues you are facing back home with racism and hatred. I thought it was just we who have gone mad here. What is becoming of this world? My brother said when we were teens that as the population grew, we would become more aggressive as a society - just like caged rats. And I suppose not only is this your home but there is no way to go back to the motherland and make an affordable living? I hope things work out for you as well as your family. I am glad you were able to sort the problems out with the Metamucil. Is the constipation an after effect of the chemo? You were always a good one for the vegs so you are probably doing all you can with the diet.

Susie - what's a hot met? A local favorite I'm sure. Glad to hear that you and DH are enjoying some fun times over the summer. Can't be all work, work, work. Congrats on being diligent in your weight loss efforts. I too bought some tubs recently to move what little summer things I have out of the closet. Most of my clothes are all season or cool weather. I just wear less layers in the summer. I always loved when the seasons changed and it was time to refresh the wardrobe! Have fun and buy some cute stuff.

DH should be back from the store soon so that means I need to get busy myself. Half the day is gone already. Will try to be more regular with the posts. Thanks for not forgetting about me. I can't believe we are a week into September already. Time's a flyin' by.

I need to run some errands this morning.
Later this afternoon I'm going to the infusion center where BIL receives his chemo to hear BIL ring the bell. That's his treat for finishing treatment. Today is his, we hope, last chemo treatment. Next week will be his CT Scan and then hopefully surgery.
Nephew is still in rehab.
I did go to his wife's baby shower on Saturday and she seems to have calmed down a lot. She has not moved in with her parents as she had planned which I think is a good thing. She needs to see what it is like to deal with every thing on her own. My nephew's brother and her dad is helping her with the yard work.
More later.

An update: Didn't get to go to hear BIL ring the bell instead his doctor told him he had to have 6 more chemo treatments. Don't know if this is good or bad.

Afternoon all.

Ceejay – How great to not have to wear eyeglasses for everything! I hope once the eyes are fully healed from the surgery, you can continue to get by with just reading glasses. Re the weight loss programs – if you already know what you have to do to lose weight, the value of the program must be what else you get out of it – is it accountability, structure, socializing, support, good tips/recipes? As for me, I’m trying to get back to logging all my food in MFP – for the umpteenth time! That’s what worked for me in the past. I wish your nephew well with his rehab and your BIL well with his continuing treatment.

Happy – I do not envy you with your upcoming dental surgery! It sounds like it’s going to be a bear. My dad had dentures at a relatively young age and my mom has had gum issues and hates her crooked teeth, but I must have gotten my decent teeth from one of them because they are doing okay. I had an exam/cleaning appoint this past Saturday and all was fine, and the hygienist said it looked like I’d had a cleaning just a couple weeks before. So it’s nice to know that me and the electric toothbrush are doing a good (enough) job. I wouldn’t mind having my teeth whitened. I just don’t know if they would get as white as I would like. Won’t the whitening only do so much - if my teeth aren’t naturally bright white, they’ll never be movie star white, right? I might just try it once and see if it’s worth it. Good luck to dh with the deck re-staining project! Our concrete patio is old and small and might have a crack or two, but I’m glad not to have to maintain a wooden deck. Good job on reducing the boxes of paper! I’m getting much better. It helps that the village public works has periodic document destruction events. If I had to feed the shredder, it wouldn’t happen… As for your boxes out in the garage – will you be able to bring some into the house to go through out of the cold? Aren’t they kind of “out of sight, out of mind” out there in the garage? If they are in plain sight in the house, you might tackle it more quickly… I’m glad you’re trying to distance yourself from the thrift shop drama. It sounds like they need a *paid* person to manage the whole store operation and the volunteer staff. What a dilemma with the cats and feeding times! I’m sure you could get a line on a good pet sitter from your contacts at the shelter. Re my foot surgery – yeh, I believe I’ll be approved for short-term disability for a longer period of time than I need in terms of being *completely* unable to work and after a couple, three weeks I’ll be going bonkers sitting around the house, lol. So then what I could do is get a doctor’s release to work at home, and then it would up to my anti-work at home boss to see if he will agree to it. You make a very good point about retirement – there are too many uncertainties about the future of SS, the financial markets, and pension funds. The bottom line is that I’m way too cautious of a person to retire early. So 65 will probably be the earliest for me. But it would be nice if my boss would retire early, hahaha.

Hellos to Annie, Shad, and Susie.

Nothing much to report from my end. Work is quiet. Boss is out through Thursday. I was asked by someone from another department to reschedule a Friday meeting to next week, so I’m happy because now I’m going to take Friday off work. :banana:

Rode my exercise bike yesterday for 30 minutes – after work. It was the first time I connected my cell phone to the sound jack so the music comes out of the console speakers. The speakers are better than I thought they would be. I had to take my phone partially out of its cover so the cable would fit into the jack properly... The bike’s console has a small cubby that fits cell phone or TV remote, but not both or anything else. It also had a ledge thingy you can prop the cell phone on, but when you do, you block some of the console display. Not ideal. I think I’ll rig some sort of caddy or shelf to hold other stuff.

Okay, off to post this. Be good ladies!