Afternoon all,
Happy - no I don't plant my carrots in special soil. I do however put the seeds in a jar and add a bit of sand so they spread out a bit and don't all sprout in one spot. That way I don't have to do a lot of thinning out which is to my way of thinking a waste of a plant. However if they don't sprout at all it was a waste of a couple of $$ anyway. Have to agree with DH about the taste of home grown. I have some friends who take any produce from my garden that I can spare and put it to good use. He is an ex-chef. Your DH knows him through photography. I'm not suprised you say he is having cabin fever. I think a lot of people have it this year - witness the chaos at the airports at the moment - everyone is trying to go from here to there and there and there and there isn't enough staff to see to them so they have to get to the airport hours earlier than they leave and everyone gets grumpy at the delays. Hope his bulbs survive the squirrels - he might have to put wires over the patch to protect from both the squirrels and the deer.

Hope all is well with the others and that they are trying hard to lose the weight gained over Covid lock downs and shut ins. I had another dose of a 1kg (2.25lbs) gain overnight. I went over the food I had eaten and what I had drunk and it seems that the only things that could have caused it was the sugar from the cider I love to drink ice cold or there are still some hormones at work internally and they are causing it. So I have cut down yet again in case there was too much salt in what I was eating or it was just plain and simple fluid retention (take another moduretic Shad)
I planted corn, peas (sugar snap and snow peas), tomatoes and green beans last week and everything except the green beans have come up. The beans should be through in a couple of days. Now I have garlic, rocket, spinach to put in before I start succession planting. It might be a good year hopefully. I pulled a lot of the pumpkins/ butternuts last week and still have about 6 on the vines which will be ready very soon, plus the 3 or 4 in store - so I will take them to Probus next week and sell them off. There will be more on the vines soon as there seems to be a bunch of flowers coming up again. I've also found two rogue potato plants and 2 basil plants popping up along with a stack of weeds : which will need to come out asap.

And that's about it for today. I've got some housework to do and there is always the painting of the back door to be started. The front door is done apart from a couple of touch ups where the masking tape pulled off a bit of paint on removal. Bah humbug. Always something to do around this house.

Stay well, stay safe, stay home.

Happy Easter ladies.

Hope you all have (or had) a lovely day.
. .

Wishing you a very VERY Happy Birthday Shad !!! ♥

Hoping that you are having a lovely day and a lovely meal and celebrating in a way you deserve. Once again, I have forgotten to send the card out a month ahead for it's journey around the world so I hope you will instead accept my electronic greetings. No less sincere.

Checking in. The days are passing quickly. Spring is in the air. It actually got to 68(F) degrees here yesterday. It felt amazing. This is the 3rd coldest April on the books since 1950. We still have patches of snow on the ground but the thaw is here, my sump pump is going non stop which is the scariest time of year for me, lest we lose power. We were supposed to have bad thunderstorms which thankfully passed us by (no doubt in part to my fervent prayers that they go someplace else). Today we had really high wind gusts. The bird feeder pole got knocked over - that is generally a sign that the black bears have woken up but it appears to just be wind related. We have taken down our feeders almost entirely because of the Avian Bird Flu that is taking it's toll on the poor birdies. First Covid for humans, now the birds are being attacked.

Easter was nice. We went to a local restaurant that had a small but nice buffet. I enjoyed the vegetables and salads. Had some chicken marsala and a small piece of prime rib as well as some lovely salmon. I tried a bite of the carby stuff - mac and cheese, cheesy potatoes and did not enjoy them at all.

We are going to a nice steakhouse for my birthday this week and then I am starting a new diet program.

I talked to my doctor 2 weeks ago at my last appointment. In January I committed to a new lifestyle because I am tired of being so overweight and am in terrible pain with my bone on bone knee and bone spurs. I HAVE to have knee replacement surgery and my BMI is too high to qualify at this moment. Even though I have made big time changes to my eating and have incorporated exercise - the scale will not move. I am gaining and losing the same 3 pounds over and over. It's become very frustrating and depressing. All that's left is a diet of boiled fish and steamed vegetables and I will never stick with that.

She recommended a new weight loss drug. It deals with insulin resistance - like diabetes drugs but in stronger doses for weight loss. It has been successful but has some pretty strong side effects for some. The worst part is that it has not been cleared for the over 65 crowd - mostly because the new, higher dose has only been out for about a year now. It is FRIGHTFULLY expensive - $1400 a month. I cannot qualify for a discount of any sort nor does insurance cover it. I have pretty much spent the last 2 weeks doing intensive research on this. I am not in favor of diet drugs, have not had any success with them and I am leery of most of them. This one slows the emptying of your stomach to make you fuller faster. I have already with changes since January really cut the size of portions. I am losing my taste for sugar stuff big time so that effect from the drug will not do much for me. Nausea may cut that even further but I am hoping my body will process food more efficiently. I can't afford to stay on this drug for even a year (good bye new car ) but I MUST do something to qualify for knee surgery. With the way I am right now, I cannot put all my weight on my bad leg which affects some of the exercises I do in exercise class. It prevents me from walking for an extended period and also impacts the level of intensity I can put into my workouts. This too, diminishes my chances for weight loss. I am seeing a nutritionist now (have been since January) but end of May I am getting into a Weight Management program also. Mostly coaching. My doctor and I agreed that I will put my best efforts forth between now and September and then even though I will not be close even with the best of success to the weight loss / BMI they want me at - at least if I can show considerable promise, the doctors may allow me surgery with her urging. I am in a terrible amount of pain daily and am limited in my mobility. DH and I talked about it. Thank you Mom for the inheritance which will help with the cost of this drug for 5 months. I also told him that I need to "write off" this year for activities. I simply cannot walk as much as he wants to for his photography jaunts. I need to focus on losing weight until September and then hopefully qualify for surgery in the fall with recovery over the winters. Let's hope Covid is done by then and not to mess up my plans either for surgical access

I have done a lot of research and am planning for success in both my eating, having to feed DH as well as dealing or avoiding potential side effects. It's kept me busy for the better part of this month. I will start the medication May 3. DH is onboard, understanding and supportive.

We finished bingo this week thank goodness. It was hard to stand for 3 hours on a cement floor. I brought a memory foam rug to stand on which helped a bit but it was still exhausting. We made $3600 for the Humane Society which was great. We are all glad it's done. Except the players. They had a great time and want us to continue it but that's not going to happen too soon. It's hard for a business to give up 4 hours when they could be making money with several turn arounds of the tables when instead we are sitting there for 4 hours. People don't tip the servers that much either. It's ok during the quiet days of winter but I don't see us doing this over the summer months.

My friend cut me some pussy will branches which I absolutely love. Unfortunately my cats also love to destroy them. So I am hiding the vase and branches in my laundry room. The branches are longer than will fit on any of my shelves so I have to have DH make me a shelf to put the vase on. Considering I am still waiting 5 months for him to make and frame the pictures I asked, I will just lock them in the laundry room each night and shoo the cats out. Fortunately they have not seen them yet but once they do, they will do everything to get at them including leaping about like super cats.

Not much else new in my world. I ordered new furniture but we have had to delay it because in the spring they put in a ban on trucks so as not to tear up the roads while things are thawing and mushy up here. It is now scheduled for the first week in June.

I did enjoy my exercise classes. Even though I have to modify some things, I can see an improvement in strength and stamina.

Hope you are all doing well. Love to you all.

Gads.. having a terrible time trying to post here. It just hangs and then flips to a new blank screen. Good thing I copy before I post.

Happy belated birthday Shad! If you were in my neck of the woods, it would still be your birthday and you could still celebrate. You can still celebrate anyway. Birthday, week, month... Hope it was / IS special.

Thank you very much for the birthday wishes ladies. I haven't put a card in the post for you either Happy. So much to do and so little time these days that the birthdays of good friends sometimes slip right past me.
I did have a quiet but reasonably busy day - mostly on the phone to friends and family in NZ and those far and wide in Australia. My brother and sister-in-law came over with my niece and the niecelets with cake and flowers. The girls had made a cake for me and it was delicious. We caught up on the family gossip and introduced the niecelets to their great grand parents via the photos I now have framed of my mum and dad. My younger brother (the niecelets grandad), my sister-in-law and I talked about how my mum was such a great cook and would have been so proud of the sponge cake they produced for my birthday. Little miss S (grand daughter) rung me to wish me happy birthday and tell me about her day as well and DS1 got on the phone as well. DS2 rung later in the evening to chat as well. All in all a good day.

Happy - my DS2 and his partner went on that diabetic drug as did a couple of friends - who are actually diabetic. T (the partner) lost a lot of weight on it and quite quickly but DS2 didn't so he decided to give it away. Neither of them had side effects from it. It wasn't cheap but certainly wasn't $1400 per month - I think they said $150 or there abouts per shot. DS2 in his new job up north has lost over 20Kilos since he started working up there. He said that 20000 steps at least plus 5 or 6 litres of water per day is what did it. 20K is about 44lbs. He looks slim and trim these days.
I'm so sorry to hear of the pain you are in, and something needs to be done asap for you Unfortunately with the medical chaos that has ensued from covid over here, our hospitals are overloaded, nurses and doctors are overworked - that is those that manage to make it into work and those that are allowed to work (can't go into a hospital, school, aged care home or be in the police force unless you are triple vaxxed over here. Stupid rule and takes away peoples choice.) My other sister-in-law is in the same boat and is informed that after waiting at least two years for the operation, it will now be at least another two years before he gets to the top of the waiting list. Still we can find space for the idiots stealing, crashing cars, brawling in the streets and get themselves injured and if you have medical insurance you might get a bed but it may not be in the hospital of your choice or even in your State.

Laura - I may not be in your neck of the woods but I will celebrate this week of my birthday. I think of you all often over there and one of these days I will sort out a time to get in touch with all of you on Messenger or maybe even by phone. Mel and I used to speak often - probably every couple of months. But never ever told me how sick she was. We just laughed and chatted and said 'what?' a lot.
I hope you managed to get back to the pilates class. Always a bonus if you like the instructor.

Well must away, got shopping to do today and I like to go early and beat the crowds. I have a fair amount of Probus work to catch up on since I have been slack during the week, and with all the rain we have had, the weeds are having a party out there so I need to get into the good earth again - always soothes the soul.

Stay well, stay safe.
Joy

Hi ladies.

First thing: A birthday greeting to Happy. Hope you have a wonderful day doing something you enjoy!

==
Easter was fine. BF had his mom over for dinner. Bf was running late with his part of it, so we ate a couple hours later than he’d planned, which was no surprise. What did surprise me was that he kept his mom by us until 10 pm! Also surprised she didn’t say anything about that. I was the one who started yawning at that point, and it was time to get ready for bed because I had to get up for work the next morning. At 88 years old, she may have been thinking that this could be her last Easter.

Not that I haven’t started wondering about that in regards to my own mother. She’s about four months older than BF’s mom, and with her dementia, no one knows how much time she has left in this life. A few weeks ago, aides reported bleeding (from her lady parts) and it’s ranged from spotty to a lot, with nothing reported the past week or so (very sporadic). It’s very concerning, but discussions with her doctor and a hospice nurse, and conversations with my sister, as well as what mom’s wishes are in accordance with her healthcare proxy have led us to agree that we will go with the recommended comfort measures (keep her comfortable and pain-free). My last visit with her this past weekend went well. I’m not thrilled about the change of ownership at her place as it seems there are a lot more aides from an outside agency instead of their own employees now. All we can do is keep an eye on them and make sure they are doing their job in caring for mom properly.

Last week I returned to the office for the first time since March 2020. It was odd riding the train and doing the commute again, and being back in the office after all that time. I’m glad my boss was on vacation last week so I was kind of eased into it. This week we’ll see how long it takes him to walk up behind me at my cube to startle me out of my concentration. Sigh. I just need to be grateful that my hybrid schedule’s only three days per week and not five. This week it’ll only be two days in-office for me. I’m using up the last days of my carryover vacation from last year and the last 1.5 days I’m taking reduces the number of in-office workdays by 0.9 days (as per 60% in-office policy). I’m rounding up to 1.0 day , which means this week I’ll be in-office two days instead of three. I’m anticipating the boss will challenge/question this, but if he wants to quibble over 0.1 of a workday, I’ll certainly make up the 45 minutes on the two days I’ll be in the office this week. It’s not my RTO policy, I’m just doing the math...

Anyway, RTO has been alright. I brought my lunch and snacks every day so far and didn’t leave the building during the day. I’m going to try to do that going forward. Our building now has an outdoor terrace and I’m looking forward to using it when the weather finally warms up. I might have to bring my own lawn chair (or blanket) because I can see it being a very popular place to eat lunch on a nice summer day. There are also plenty of places within the building to get food if I don’t bring my own food. I’m staying indoors at lunchtime to keep myself from buying junky lunches and snacks, and also to be safer. I’m really not sure how safe it is downtown anymore. I think there was a bit of “lawlessness” that took hold during the pandemic when most people were working from home.

On the exercise front…not much happening. We had nice weather for a few days in the past month or so that allowed only a couple nice walks. Otherwise not much of anything. Well, I take that back for last week - I walked between home/train stations/office three days last week when I commuted to/from work. I walked instead of cycling because when I inflated the tires on my commuter bike, the front one blew out a few minutes later. Bleh. I don’t think I’ve ever had to replace an inner tube on that bike since I’ve had it. Oh well. I should have pulled out the old innertube over the weekend so I could buy a replacement for it. Darn. It might be better if I walk again this week. It’s not forecast to get above 50 degrees this week and it’s actually warmer for me to walk than cycle. And it’s only two days of commuting this week anyway.

I've also been taking the Monday night mat Pilates at the park district, which is not enough exercise – the instructor takes it at a very slow pace. It doesn’t start until 7 pm which gives me too much time to consider talking myself out of going. I did that last night and played hooky. For some reason I was tired and the thought of changing clothes and leaving the house just didn’t appeal. It did, however, finally occur to me that I could go to the rec plex and work out in the fitness center before class begins. Duh. Only took 3 weeks to think of that. So I’ll try that next Monday. I really wish the park district would add the circuit class back to the group fitness class schedule. I used to like that class!

I’m still tracking my eating on the MFP app. I’m weight about 4-5 pounds less than where I’ve been the past couple years, so I haven’t lost any substantial weight, but I haven’t gained much either. I do think the tracking helps me stay aware of my calorie intake.

I caught a cold early last week – my first since before the pandemic. On Tuesday I thought it was just allergies from being in the office (while working remotely I did NOT miss the strong cologne scent someone was wearing one cube aisle over from me– that person’s in-office schedule may impact my in-office schedule). But on the train home that evening, my nose started running, and it worsened that evening. Bleh. On Wednesday morning I took one of the covid tests the feds handed out. It was negative, so I went to work Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn’t coughing, sneezing or blowing my nose much, so I didn’t want to NOT go in the office and look like I was trying to avoid RTO the first week it took effect, even if the boss was on vacation. Between the new RTO routine and the cold, I was very glad for a remote work day on Friday AND my half day of vacation. I believe in these pandemic times when we’ve become so adept at working remotely, it might finally be acceptable the “if you’re sick stay home” stance.

This week it’ll be 8 weeks since my last/final touch-up. I’ve got a good bit of gray at the temples and I can see a lot of gray underneath, but not a shocking white skunk stripe or anything. I fear the really ugly stage is yet to come and will be agonizingly long! Oh well, I’ll get through it. It’s been even longer since my last haircut, so maybe next month I’ll schedule an appointment for a trim.

Nothing much going on in terms of fun stuff. I met a friend for breakfast a couple weeks ago, and just had breakfast with another friend yesterday. We’ve talked about getting together to walk, but the weather’s too iffy to plan anything right now.

If the ground ever dries out, maybe I can finally get outside and do some gardening. My perennials are really coming up now, and the daffodils and hyacinths are blooming. I cut some for vases on Saturday.

On to personals…

Susie – Glad you enjoyed the Alton Brown show. It’s great you’re getting out with friends now that the pandemic has eased up. == I do think Mondays are a great day for you to work remotely. It’s nice to catch up on things without people being in your face! I suppose for me there might be a quandary between wanting to work remotely on Mondays and Fridays - like most people seem to prefer - or choosing those days to be in-office because everyone else is working remotely and so I’d get some peace and quiet…I think about it sometimes. == Sorry you’re struggling with eating and exercise lately. Don’t give up!! You asked about the admin. She had her surgery on 3/31 and she’s back to work this week. It went well, though her return to work (remotely) took longer than she wanted. Now she’s focused on her move out of state, which will be late next month. She’s had so much on her plate! I really want things to settle down for her.

Shad – Oh, fresh lemons from your own lemon tree! Sounds great. BF has taken to buying lemon and lime juice in containers. Not the reconstituted kind, but still. To me, one of the advantages of getting fresh citrus is the wonderful scent when you peel or cut into it! I bought a few fresh lemons that I used to make lemon bars for our Easter meal dessert. Yum. == I haven’t done a thing in regards to the front yard landscape, nor have I started any seeds. Lame, I know. Part of me wants to be contrary to what bf wants, which is to tear out everything and start over. Well, there are a few shrubs I happen to like a lot, so why should I get rid of them?

Happy – Seeing my hair at the 8-week stage, it doesn’t seem to be all white, so I’m going with it for now. I don’t want to do any more chemicals on my hair scalp, so we’ll see how it goes. My salon’s an Aveda salon, but I did experience some scalp irritation after touch-ups anyway. ==Bummer you had to put off delivery of your furniture. We’ve had a very rainy April down here – Friday and Sunday were just raining buckets at times! == So sorry you’re having the knee pain limit your mobility. My friend D luckily had a doctor that agreed to do her knee surgeries (she’s now had both done) in spite of being overweight. ==It must be frustrating to not see the scale move down in spite of all your efforts at weight loss. I hope the new drug you’re considering will do enough to be able to get a surgeon to do the knee replacement. That’s really expensive!

Congrats Annie on the new grandbaby!

Hi Ceejay!

Okay, gonna get this posted. Have a good rest of the week everyone! TTFN!.

Hello! I am still alive and kicking!

Aprik was a blur for me. I was sick most of it.
I had a sinus at the first part of it and then this week on Tuesday I had a stomach bug and spent most of the day in the ER. I was violently ill and got.to the point I was.dry heaving about every 8.to ten minutes

The waiting room was full of others doing the same.

I was never so happy to get a IV drip.
But there is an upside. I lost 10 lbs!! Lol

They told me to eat the BRAT diets for 4 to 5 days and the slowly return to a healthy eating plan.

i am going to work hard not put that 10.lbs. back on and get.back.to me fitness training and eating nutritionally.

I will do personals tomorrow. My hands are cramping up typing on the phone.

Good to see everyone popping in.

Hello Everyone. It took me a bit to get back but I finally made it.

I am feeling a lot better now and can finally eat a salad. I lost 14 lbs through the whole ordeal and I have gained back 2 lbs of it....I'm doing my best to keep the rest off and to go down from there.

I'm eating a salad right now and chatting to all of you!

Laura; I am glad your RTW went smoothly and you are blessed to still get 2 days at home. Get out and enjoy that patio at work when you can and it will help you on those days you are there.

It sounds like your hair is doing ok with going gray. Getting a trim every now and then is a good idea too.

Have you been making your workouts? I see you tracking your food on MFP....that is a big help and Congratulations for being about 4-5 pounds less than where you have been the past couple years. That is something because I see my co-workers who are now coming into work and you can tell they gained a bunch of weight..

I will need to come back later and do more personals; my lunch hour is up

Hello Everyone. It took me a bit to get back but I finally made it.

I am feeling a lot better now and can finally eat a salad. I lost 14 lbs through the whole ordeal and I have gained back 2 lbs of it....I'm doing my best to keep the rest off and to go down from there.

I'm eating a salad right now and chatting to all of you!

Laura; I am glad your RTW went smoothly and you are blessed to still get 2 days at home. Get out and enjoy that patio at work when you can and it will help you on those days you are there.

It sounds like your hair is doing ok with going gray. Getting a trim every now and then is a good idea too.

Have you been making your workouts? I see you tracking your food on MFP....that is a big help and Congratulations for being about 4-5 pounds less than where you have been the past couple years. That is something because I see my co-workers who are now coming into work and you can tell they gained a bunch of weight..

I will need to come back later and do more personals; my lunch hour is up.

We are a quiet lot these days aren't we.

We are back on flood watch again. Another large band of rain is sweeping down the Eastern Seaboard and various areas have gone underwater again. So far we have had more 150mm of rain here this month and it is only the 14th of May today. That's about 9 inches of water and it hasn't finished yet. Such heartbreak for those losing their homes in times where prices are soaring and rentals scarcer than hens' teeth. There are more homeless people than ever before. I thought about opening the house to someone since I have spare rooms but the problem is that one never knows who we can trust these days and the thought of someone coming in and more or less taking over the house doesn't make for happy thoughts. So I haven't done anything about it yet.

The garden is producing well despite the rain. I've had tomatoes, pumpkins and lettuces from it so far and there are beans not far off ready now. The rocket and spinach isn't too far away either. The tomatoes are coming from a plant which established itself in the gravel path (as did some parsley) and is flourishing so well that I have to cut it back frequently to be able to walk along the path. Unfortunately the weeds are also flourishing in the gravel paths and it's too wet to get out there and remove them. The carrots are not doing too well although a few of them have put in a burst of growth lately. The lack of sun is holding most things back. With the price of fruit and vegetables now, it is necessary to grow a few of your own - besides which they taste better.

My weight is going down slowly - and going up fast at times - but it is generally on a downward trend - which is probably good given the way food is going up over here. I'm still doing exercises 30 mins per day 5 days a week, but it is harder to get out and walk when the rain is belting down, so I need to mix up the sessions a bit more. However, I am not very good at DVD's of exercise workouts. I can never seem to get to the current point and am lagging behind everyone else. My niece runs Step classes - she is so slim now - but they don't excite me too much as again, it's too loud, too many people and too hot in those exercise rooms. Excuses, excuses.

Susie - good to hear from you. I'm sorry to hear that you have been so sick but at least you lost some weight. Got to look at the good side of life. I have no idea what the BRAT diet is so will have to look it up. Okay so now I know what it is - Banana, rice, applesauce and toast - now that's not something I would use for very long. I understand that it is for upset digestive systems, so I hope it works for you.

Laura - Hope the return to the office is going okay still. It must be a bit of a shock to have to get back into that sort of routine again. I haven't ridden a bus or a train for ages but I am fairly sure that masks are still required in them. It's a good idea to make your own lunches and eat them at work. Hope the weather warms up quickly so you can use the roof terrace and that the air out there is fresh enough to blow the cobwebs away for the day. I hear you on picking up the snacks and bad foods when you are out and about. They always smell good even if they aren't good for you.
I'm sorry to hear that you mother is not doing so well. Hopefully the bleeding stops although it does not sound good.
Exercise classes never seem to be at the time we would like do they? Always a gap there where it is impractical to do something useful and too much time to sloth around.
How nice to read that the daffodils and hyacinths are flowering well. Always love that time of year. We don't get much of them up here, too warm but I did notice yesterday that the jonquils are poking through the soil in their big pot, so maybe a good show of them this year. I agree, do not pull out something which is growing or producing well just to put in something that may or may not survive and won't produce for a year or too. Unfortunately some of my lemons had bugs in them and were not usable but I salvaged what I could and next year I will not leave them to get so ripe - I see there are already flowers on the lemon and the lime and the bees are happily humming around them.

Hello to Happy and Ceejay and Annie. I guess they are busy with house and home and grandbabies and furbabies. Happy must be spending her savings to feed the deer and the turkeys.

Catch you later. Stay safe, stay well.

Oh for crying out LOUD. Took me FIVE attempts to get this posted.

Hi Ladies,
Sorry I haven't been posting. Used to be a regular habit with morning coffee to check on the site but since we are so random now, I have gotten out of the habit of checking.

I am in terrible ongoing pain with my knee. It really needs to be replaced but I am too overweight and all the doctors are singing the same song of risk of infection, slow healing, da dah da dah. I have discussed this with my doctor. The fact that I can barely walk rules out any sort of strenuous exercise and while I have been cutting portions and watching what I eat since January - all I have done is gain and lose the same 3 pounds over and over. Last month she recommended a new drug - the one that costs me $1400 a month out of pocket. I am willing to make the investment temporarily if it will help me to qualify for surgery in the autumn season. Problem is, everyone and their friends and enemies are jumping on the bandwagon - why not, with regular insurance they can get what I pay $1400 for for only $25. There are supply issues with the pen but that isn't stopping people - they are jumping doses doing stupid things and just making it worse. It's very frustrating. So I can only do what I can. I go to a chair based exercise class twice a week and work out as I can in between. I am still building lost muscle and moving even if I am not able to marathon. I have gotten used to cutting back on my food. I was able to secure 2 months of the drug at the lowest starter dose and started taking it last week. I will take this month to month and do what I can. The wonderful thing about this medicine is it makes COCA COLA not taste good to me! Thank you Lord! Coke tastes like seltzer water to me now - no sweet taste. I haven't had a soda in a week. Been drinking lots of water now. The lowest doses don't do much so most of the work has to be me watching what I eat and fighting my usual head games of I want this. But I am working on it. The down side is that the constant pain I am in every day for almost a year now is giving me depression and anxiety. It usually hits me around the late evening. Some times during the day. I am doing my best to deal with it - some days are harder than others. DH is busy planting a garden and wanting to go out and take pictures and do all things outside. I can barely walk so I told him to go on his jaunts without me - at least for this year. Some things I can do with a walker but not long afternoons in the arboretum. I worry too because he tends to get an idea in his head, doesn't talk it out with me and it becomes his version of reality. And he makes wrong assumptions that eventually show up and bowl me over. WHY would you think that? He too is dealing with his own issues. He had a funky blood test which they still have not addressed - could be a fluke, could be a rare blood disease. His heart is wonky and he is out of breath alot. Part of that is the doctor wrong up the heart meds wrong and he wasn't taking what he was supposed to - too much. He is on a heart monitor for a month now. And he tried hearing aids. The first pair was constantly itchy in his ears so he sent them back. The second pair the blue tooth connection was wonky and he got frustrated and sent those back too. So life has been a bit unsettled in my house recently. I have to find the energy to get my house purged in 2 and a half weeks when my new furniture comes. At this point I am ready to load garbage bags and toss it all. DH headed off to the arboretum this morning and will be gone most of the day so I am motivated to get busy as soon as I finish my coffee here.

We finally got a break in the weather. Went from winter snow to blazing heat in 3 days. It's too hot for me - this is August weather right now. All the birds and frogs and animals have returned. The only thing we haven't seen is the bear yet. We have some heavy looking does so hopefully they will drop fawns nearby as they hang around the house closer and closer.

Instead of getting a new overpriced car, I am shooting the payments into my leg each week so I at least don't have to worry about finding a new car. My battery drained in March which killed the clock. I tried to change the date and time and it doesn't recognize the year 2022 Only goes to 2021. I have a 2003 Toyota Avalon. I thought that was funny. My car is old and dinged but reliable. Still don't have 100,000 miles on it. It's just getting harder and harder to get out of the seat in a sedan. We have an SUV for DH's car and it's easier to step up a bit higher than be so low in the sedan. Still it runs well and I am grateful for that.

Shad - I am sorry to hear about all your rain and flooding. I guess it was a long time ago that everyone was fearful of the drought. The world is so crazy. I guess you are seeing the higher prices also. Are any of your plants rotting from too much rain? Our groceries and gas are outrageous prices too. But everyone is begging for workers so I don't know what people are doing her to earn money which doesn't help the supply chain or manufacturing problems at all. I'm glad to hear you have found success in your weight loss. We have about 30 people in my senior exercise class. It is mostly chair based and while a lot of people, they are all generally good natured and when we do get up, we manage not to trip over each other. Some exercises are tiring and a strain to do so I know I'm getting something out of it. I do agree with you, for some reason it's hard to do those dvd classes on your own. And yes, DH is spending our money on his animals. He is making contraptions for them and as word gets out - we have more and more beggars at the door.

Susie, I am glad you are back to feeling more like yourself. Sounds like you got a double whammy there! I'm sure you are happy that spring is finally here. I remember your excitement of digging out sandals and the warm summer wardrobe! I am about to pack away my winter things. We are still bouncy - too hot in the 80's the other day, then we bounce back down to the 50's and 60s. I still keep some longer sleeved items because some of the restaurants and other places keep it cooler than I'd like. The problem I have with purging now is that it's the winter stuff I want to get rid of and none of the thrift shops want that and if I am going to purge, I don't want to store it for another 7 months. How is your job going?

Thanks for the birthday wishes Laura. All I can say about your Mom is to hug her and give her as much time as you can spare. You never know. Even if she lives a long time, it may get to the point where she doesn't know you or ages into a different person that was your Mom and it changes the relationship. I lost my Mom last year, my friend lost hers this year and she has some doozy stories to tell about battles with her Mom but in the end you still miss them when they are gone. I'm sure it's difficult to get help in those places - they are crying a river up here about the shortage of caregivers - the kind that would allow people to remain independent. There is a woman in our exercise class - she is obviously a care giver, probably in her 50's and she brings in a rather frail (but you can see sometimes gives her a run for her money LOL) client. She kind of bosses around the older lady - it can be startling at first until you remember how stubborn they can be. She is doing it in her best interest. All I can say is that's NOT a job for me. I had to smile at your description of your boss "the creeper" popping in on you. Sounds like you are holding your own on the weight and exercise. Good for you! This class I did for 3 months in January was a circuit class - I liked it also. Now mind you, I can do all those exercises at home, but do I? Nah, easier to do in a group setting. And what I have found with the hair dye is that I NEVER wash my hair the day of a salon visit. I make sure to wash it no later than the day before. I had heard that you have natural oils which protect your scalp and shampooing washes those away and leaves your scalp susceptible to irritation. Never fails - I am fine unless like this last time, it had been 2 days since I washed my hair and I could not handle going to the salon looking like that (I know, that's dumb). So I washed my hair when I showered in the morning and sure enough, by the evening of when I got my hair done, my scalp was all itchy. I'm glad you are happy with your hair growing out. It will probably quicken up now that the spring is here and hair tends to grow faster. So you can always do a rinse or change something if you need to. Many ladies have embraced the grays.

Hello to Annie and Ceejay I need to get some food into me and get something done before DH is home in a couple of hours. I have wasted too much time in front of the computer this morning!

Be well everyone.

Hello! It looks like we are all busy these days!

As usual work keeps me busy and this upcoming week will be the same, BUT on May 27, I am on vacation from May 26-June 8th!


My "niece "Layna graduates High School on May 27 and that weekend is also her graduation party. A lot of family coming from out of state for her graduation weekend. It will be a lot of fun! I am just in awe how fast time went!

It is also Memorial Day weekend so let the start of summer begin. We have highs in the 90's today and tomorrow.


June 1, we fly to Las Vegas for vacation and to see my Danish Friend and her husband who are meeting us there. We are there until Sunday and fly home and I took June 6 & 7 off work to be able to get laundry done and other household things done before returning to work and my Birthday is June 7 and I don't work on my birthday!


When I get back from vacation, I'm going to get back into running; I have my annual physical in September so I'm using that as motivation to really get back to losing weight and getting fit.


I have not gained back what I lost when I was sick. I have been using My Fitness Pal and I get up from my desk 3 times a day and take a 15 min walk 3 times a day...I walk 7.5 min one way and turn around and come back.


You all have been on my mind and I am on a hold for a work call so I thought I would pop in and check on everyone.


Please post when you can; I love coming here and catching up with everyone...we can "talk" more freely here than on Facebook.

Hey everyone, very quick stop in to say hi. I'm doing alright. Work's fine, moving into a very busy time for me now. Mom's holding her own. Hasn't had any bleeding for the past several weeks.

Still tracking my eating. Bringing lunch and snacks to work on my in-office days, so that helps. Exercise is not good.. I've kind of given up on the Monday night class, just not a great day for me. My commute gets me some physical movement, and I did one BE workout and took one walk this week.

Have a 4 day holiday weekend, so today is my Friday. I'll get back here to post this weekend for sure.

Train's pulling into the station, let me get this posted. TTFN!