Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Deegee, I am so very sorry to hear of your father’s passing. Biggest hugs to you, your mom, and your entire family. I know how close you all are and I’m sure it was a huge comfort to your dad to have you there.

Zoe, I hope your mom recovers quickly and that your dad doesn’t have too difficult a time getting to her.

Curby, I have a bad habit of putting prosecco in the freezer to chill it down fast… and then finding it several days later. Oops.

This weekend went by so quickly. I was Sick As A Dog on Friday. I suspect it was something I ate, and I spent 12 hours praying to the porcelain goddess. Ugh. Needless to say we didn’t do anything on Friday night. Saturday we went to my friend’s house in Wisconsin. He’s at the tail end of a remodeling project and the place is coming along great! Then we went to a graduation party for one of the CB’s friend’s sons. Sunday I cleaned up a bit (not nearly as much as I wanted to), ran around getting an earnest money check and then to the grocery store, and met my clients at an open house to view a property which we wrote an offer on. (Fingers crossed – let’s hope third time’s the charm for these people!!!). When I got home I planned on cleaning up some more but ultimately just sat outside for the rest of the day talking with the neighbors while the CB grilled kabobs.

I *think* I’m starting to see a little bit of result from eating better. At least that ought to be the case because I haven’t had one good thing since my friend was in town last weekend!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Zoe, I hate to hear your mom fell and ended up in the hospital. Did she break anything? I hope this won’t be a long recovery for her and it will be difficult being so far from home. I am glad your dad was able to go out there to be with her.

Dee Jay, I forget about soda in the freezer and have found blown up cans before. What a mess! You did have a busy weekend. I hate to hear you got so sick on Friday. That is no fun for sure. I’ll keep my fingers crossed the 3rd time is the charm on the latest offer from your client. I was considering kabobs myself this week. That does sound great. That's great you are seeing results from eating better. Sweet.

Marty cooked and staged the most fabulous dinner tonight. My favorite entrée when we go out to an Italian restaurant is Chicken parmesan but I can’t eat chicken anymore so when I see tenderized steak I’ll pick it up and he makes us a steak parmesan. So he picked up wine, baked rolls and made an oil, parmesan and pepper dipping sauce for them and cooked beef parmesan and linguini with a tomato basil sauce. He even had on the Frank Sinatra Sirius music channel. Everything was fabulous! What a guy, huh?

Marcy / Curby

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Dee*Jay and Marcy! My mom broke her shoulder and the only thing they can really do is immobilize her arm with a sling. Surgery is an option but her doctor at the hospital says that it's the last resort. It wouldn't be an easy surgery and recovery would be rough. So they're hoping not to have to go that route. It must be hard for my mom to be in the hospital she's not familiar with, in a city she doesn't live in. My sister and the baby have visited and that made her feel better, but it's still difficult. She doesn't know how long she'll need to be on the west coast.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, my crazy clients are still in the negotiating process so no word yet on the third time being a charm… Your dinner sounds fabulous! Marty is a definitely a keeper!

Zoe, your poor mom! And on top of the injury itself, I’m sure being somewhere other than where she lives is an added aggravation. Did you dad make it there yet?

Yesterday around 5:00 pm the tornado sirens started going off and we evacuated our office building. Everybody was standing around in the GLASS lobby and I was like, later gators. People couldn’t understand why I was heading out, but I had no burning desire to be in that glass atrium if indeed the weather turned super bad and sharp shards were flying around.

When I got home the check valves in all of my drains had held perfectly but there was some water around the toilets that surged out in the worst of the rain. Nothing that couldn’t be cleaned up with a mop, and certainly nothing like the flood I had last year around this time, so I was very grateful for that! And today is one of the most beautiful mornings we’ve had all year – 65 and sunny – go figure!

I found out yesterday we’re moving one floor up in our building. At first I was bummed because I’m so used to our set up and I love the people right around me, but then I realized I’ll be away from the main kitchen where there is always lots and lots of food, so I anticipate losing about 10 pounds by Christmas, ha ha!

 

[Rod]

Hey There........Sorry I've been MIA. It's just been so busy lately. And for some reason, I was no longer receiving notifications of a new post in the HLT thread? I'm not sure why. Then Yahoo deleted my entire inbox, which has been a major issue (they finally admitted they did it to lot's of users) and slowly they've been rebuilding my inbox, which itself has caused almost as many issues as them deleting it.

Work is going well. I've only been there 3.5 months and I'm already 2n highest biller of my team. They seem pleased with me. I'm sorry for not reading through all the posts I've missed. I'm sure I've likely missed some things I'll want to comment on later.

I do have one piece of exciting news. After we put our beloved Sakai down a few weeks ago, we realized we had a big hole in our hearts and home. Once you've been owned by a Burmese though, it's hard to not want more. So after lot's of research and many emails to breeders, we found a breeder in the area who just happened to have two litter mates, both female, one Champagne and one Blue, who would be ready for adoption on June 26th. Charlie went to see them and I told him if he liked them, he should buy them. Like I had any doubt he'd not fall head over heels for them. He wasn't allowed to touch them as they hadn't had their shots, but I do have a not too great cell phone picture of them. We've already given them names. The Champagne Burmese kitten will be named Emi, which means Beautiful Blessing and the Blue Burmese will be named Eri, which means Blessed Gift. They're costing a bloody fortune, but given this may well be the last set of kittens we are ever owned by, we really wanted to have Burmese. I can honestly say I haven't been this excited about anything in a long time. And here's the not too great cell pic, which was taken vertically on his cell phone instead of horizontally, so it's sideways. I'll update with better pics once we've gotten the kittens.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Zoe that will be really tough on your mom being so far from home and not being able to move her arm and shoulder. I hope that works and she doesn’t need surgery; I am sure that would be a long and painful process. I am sure they’d want her stable and fairly well recovered before they’d consider moving her closer to home. I am glad you guys were planning on going out there in a few weeks. Hopefully they’ll have a better idea of what to expect by the time you get there. Tell her to get better for me.

Dee Jay, tell those crazy clients to just make up their minds and get it over with. I am sure they’ll listen to my advice! Marty is a keeper. Good call not sticking around in a glass atrium during a tornado warning. Those flying projectiles can leave a mark! That’s a good thing you had minimal water around the toilets; a vast improvement over last year. Did you see how much rain they are expecting in Texas? Holy waterworks!

Rod, I hate when you lose something in your email settings. I seem to have my subscriptions to threads get added or deleted without promptings from me. Congratulations on things going so well for you at work. I bet they are delighted to have you on their team. Emi and Eri are adorable. You and Charlie will be spoiling them rotten in no time. The 26th will be here before you know it.

Not much going on exciting around here today. We are having rain off and on tonight and had some small hail. Marty brought a fancy phone upstairs for me to use in the living room. I’ve been playing with it tonight. It has weather widgets and all sorts of fancy gadgets. I set up a few contacts to dial from the screen. Now if it rings we’ll see if I can answer it. Ha!

Have a great evening and day tomorrow.

Marcy / Curby

 

[zoebartlett]

Dee*Jay, I've never heard tornado sirens before. When I taught in NC, we had some sort of drill I hadn't done before. It may have been for a tornado. We had to go into the hallway at school, crouch down towards the wall, and cover our heads with our hands. Good thinking to get away from all that glass.

Hi Deegee! Thinking of you. How are you holding up?

Rod, congratulations on your accomplishments at work! That's great news! Your new kitties are beautiful. I love their names, too.

Marcy, my dad got home from his trip and he and I chatted for a bit before he got in touch with my mom last night. Now that he's caught up on sleep and not so jet lagged, he can repack and make plans to fly out to see my mom. She really doesn't feel well enough to be released from the hospital, so I hope they keep her. She may be released to a rehab hospital instead of going back to my sister's house. Honestly, I think that would be best right now. My sister just returned to work, and my dad doesn't want my sister or my BIL to take on hosting my parents on top of working and taking care of the baby. I feel so bad because they've been through a lot in the past 5 months, and now this is one more thing to tackle.

We have one more week of school, Field Day tomorrow and a field trip on Friday. We have our kindergarten end of year celebration next week, with the last day of school the following day. We've been practicing our program on stage, and the kids have been doing really well. I think their parents will be proud! I'm sick so all I really want to do is climb back in bed but duty calls. Since I'm staying where I am next year, I don't have to pack up my classroom. That's a huge relief. I've had to do that the past two years in a row and it's a lot to do. I just have to take things off the walls and cover my book cases with bulletin board paper so things stay put when the custodians clean my room over the summer. That's easy peasy.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Rod, Emi and Eri are adorable and I’m so glad you and Charlie are welcoming more kitties into your hearts!

Curby, My crazy clients lost the property. I won’t got into all the boring details of the bidding, but suffice it to say they thought they were smarter than both the sellers and the other bidders and it backfired on them. Hopefully now they will learn…

Zoe, You must be so excited to be almost done! Do you have any big plans or projects in the wings for the summer?

Last night the CB and I went out with our friends for $5 wing night and then we went to their place and watched ET. I think that’s the first movie I’ve seen in… hm… about six or seven years. Now I’m good to about 2022!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Zoe, I hope they keep your mom at the hospital until she’s ready to move on and I bet they’ll send her to rehab. It will be a long road for them. Hugs to both of your parent and you. Have fun on your field trips. I hope you feel better tonight.

Dee Jay, crap that your crazy clients lost out on the property. I hope they learned their lesson but I wouldn’t bet your any money on it. We just watched ET last weekend. Marty said he didn’t remember every seeing it before.

Deegee, I am thinking of you and your family.

Hi Rod.

I only slept a few hours last night so it was a LONG day at work. I swapped some cash for tacos on the way home; it’s amazing what you can come up with just by pulling up to a window.

Have a great evening.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Hey......It was a super long day at work and I just wasn't feeling great. I didn't really get anything done. I did manage to watch about an hour of cute Burmese Kitten Videos! That was fun.

Charlie spent the day at the beach with my brother and SIL. They had a great time.

Zoe, I'm sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she heals quick. BTW, contracting can be rewarding and it might give DH the opportunity to try out some places before landing something permanent. And consultants can make great money. So don't be too concerned if he goes that route.

DeeJay, ain't sales fun? NOT

Deegee, I was so saddened to see your dad passed away. I don't know what happens when we leave this earth, but I do hope he's someplace wonderful. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Hey Marcy, I don't remember reading anything bad that happened to you, so just hey!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, I hope your day went better. Watching the video of cute kittens is a great way to end the day. My day was uneventful again so that's always a good thing.

We had small pizza at Old Chicago for supper then went to a few hardware stores (boring). I am working on a batch of laundry tonight.

Tomorrow is Friday at last!

Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Hey Marcy,

I do feel much better today. I still managed to watch some kitten videos though! We had breakfast for dinner. I enjoy it more at dinner time than in the morning.

And yes, YAY for tomorrow being Friday! It also means one week till we pick up the kittens. Their Kitty Condo arrive today and is all put together and waiting for them!

 

[marcy]

Rod, I am glad you are feeling better today. The kitten videos must be so cute. I love breakfast for supper too.

 

[Rod]

Hey Marcy,

I do feel much better today. I still managed to watch some kitten videos though! We had breakfast for dinner. I enjoy it more at dinner time than in the morning.

And yes, YAY for tomorrow being Friday! It also means one week till we pick up the kittens. Their Kitty Condo arrive today and is all put together and waiting for them!

Here's a pic of the kitty condo and the view they'll get to enjoy!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, we now my clients are the "official back-up bidders" on this property because the listing agent is convinced the winning bidders are crazy/stupid enough to somehow the foul the deal. It's because quite a bit of trauma/drama and my clients have to tell their landlord FOR SURE by Monday if they are renewing their lease or not. Ack.

Rod, I love the new cat house! Those are some lucky kitties with parents like you and Charlie and a great place to live -- with a *view* no less!

Yesterday was a whirlwind. I cleaned up a little, met the property manager and the former board president to talk through a problem, cleaned up a little more, and then went and met with the commercial real estate developer I've been trying to start doing some side work for. I really love her! She's smart as a whip, super interesting, and I think there's a ton to be learned from her. Right when I got home the listing agent asked me to submit a formal back up offer (not just an email) so I had to go up to my client's house to get it written up. When I got back the CB and I corralled all the unclaimed bikes in the over-crowded bike room and put a note up that if they don't get identified they are going to be donated to charity. By then I was exhausted!

Today I'm going to go to the grocery store (and you all know how much love that... NOT) and mop the floor. I know it doesn't sound like much of a chore, but with 2800 square feet, vacuuming the area rugs, and moving as much furniture as I can to do a thorough job, well it's a PROJECT!

I got the scale out this morning for the first time since I started my "diet" and it says I'm down 8 pounds. The thing is wildly inaccurate so I don't believe it for a second, but based on the fact that I'm getting my waist back I think I'm down *something*!

 

[Rod]

So......Today certainly did NOT turn out anywhere near what I expected. I went to work, was bored, wasn't really doing much when all of the sudden I get a call from the cat breeder and he says, they're ready to be be brought home. I wasn't prepared, but I called Charlie and he said, let's go. So, I got off work, we got everything ready at home and headed out to get them at 3:30 this afternoon. They are so freaking adorable. Eri, the blue is very adventurous and follows us around. Emi, the champagne is frightened to death. Eri, ate immediately and then proceeded to explore every inch she could explore. Emi hasn't eaten yet, and is now hiding behind a pillow on the couch, hoping we haven't figured out where she is. I know Emi will come around once she feels safe. I think Eri will help her realize they did good picking us their new daddies! To say we've both fallen head over heals in love is an understatement.

Here are a pic of each. First is Eri sitting on Charlie's lap. 2nd is Emi sort of hiding.

 

[marcy]

Rod, Eri and Emi are adorable. You guys will have fun getting acquainted this weekend. I am so happy for you and Charlie. The kitty condo is fabulous too. They will enjoy a great view.

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, congratulations on the scale giving you a good report card. I have been better at eating for 3 days now and plan on continuing. Maybe your client will get that place after all. I hope so. That's great you are going to start working on commercial real estate too. That lady sounds like a great person to learn from right now. Cleaning your floors sounds like a chore.

 

[Rod]

Thanks Marci! They really are amazing and cute cute cute. It's exciting for us to have them, that's for sure!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, you and your family are in my thoughts. How are you holding up? How is your mom doing? Let me know if I can do anything at all to help.

Hi Zoe and Dee Jay!

Rod, did you and Charlie have fun with the kitties this weekend? Is Emi feeling more comfortable with you guys yet?

We had a nice weekend. I had the 15,000 mile maintenance on my car Saturday morning. I have to drive to Fort Collins, CO for that or about an hour’s drive. They had an Audi Bear in their accessory case so naturally he came home with me. He has a little Audi hat, hoodie and earphones.

We went to a Summer Solstice party last night. We spent about an hour building assorted kabobs to take with us. I make a pan of brownies. It was fun. Marty’s guacamole was a big hit.

I made lasagna today and am working on laundry. Is tomorrow Monday already?

Have a great day.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

So, it was not the blissful weekend we had hoped for with the kittens. Eri, the blue has been an absolute delight. She came in and simply said, OK, this is my new home, your laps are great. the food is good, this is great! She's simply a love love love. We thought things were fine Friday night with Emi. She slept on my chest and all seemed fine. We decided to put the kittens in the laundry room with the door closed as kittens often new homes overwhelming. Saturday morning at 8:00 AM is when it went wrong. I opened the laundry room door and Emi was hiding behind the kitter litter box and Eri was in the cat bed. I turned my back and in an instant, Emi virtually disappeared. We looked everywhere we could but she was nowhere to be found. Then I went and felt under the kitchen cabinets and found an opening wide enough for a kitten to go through. That's when it dawned on us, she might have gotten in there.

We had to go to my brothers house for dinner that evening, but hoped when we got home, she'd be found. Instead, neither kitten could be found. Charlie stayed by that opening and voila, Eri emerged, but no Emi. We couldn't close Eri in the laundry room as that's were everything the kittens need is, so we finally went to bed. We even decided we'd get up and go to Home Depot and buy whatever we'd need to buy to cut a hole in the cabinet to get them out. I got up last night like every hour hoping to find them both out. But neither was to be seen.

I got up finally at 8:00 and walked into the laundry room and saw Eri behind the kitty litter and then Emi! We went to work and sealed ever little opening we could find. They are now hermetically sealed. They may not look nice, but she won't ever be able to get in them again:



Emi is finally out and about and she has endless energy. She's still not sure we're not monsters, but she's finally eating (she hadn't eaten since we brought her home until this morning. She's going to be a project for sure, but she's so adorable, she's worth it!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Rod, Emi and Eri and just too cute for words! And how scary about the “missing” kitty! Your solution may not be elegant, but it WORKS and that is the important part.


Curby, I have to buy a digital scale because I did a little experiment with the old fashioned one I’ve got and it’s a bit wonky. I know nothing is 100% accurate, but this thing changes substantially even by moving it a little bit on the floor.

This weekend flew by. Saturday the CB and I went to a Pier One that is closing near me and I did a little x-mas shopping. Then we went to an art fair down in Grant Park, which is right on the lakefront. Parking in the lot we used was $33. Seriously! You couldn't see the price until you were already underground, and there were cars behind us, so we were committed at this point or I would have turned right around and looked for street parking, which wouldn't have been as convenient but it certainly would have been cheater. It was an all day price so after we went to the art fair I was like, OK, I’m already in for $33 so what else can we do while we’re parked here? So we went to lunch at a restaurant on Michigan Avenue that we like a lot and then we stopped in the museum shop at the Art Institute and at the store of the Chicago Architectural Foundation. I didn’t get anything at those places but it was fun to go in since I haven’t been there in ages. The best thing I bought all day though was as the art fair and it’s a dish towel that says “I think my ‘check liver’ light is about to come on.” I bought every one she had and I’m giving them for x-mas gifts!!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

OOps -- my Sunday part cut off when I copied and posted, so here it is:

And yesterday I cleaned the house like crazy. The CB helped me move all the furniture except for the bed over to one side of the unit and I vacuumed the baseboards and mopped the floor. We had to go to his brother's for a BBQ but we moved everything back when we got home. Tonight (or maybe tomorrow...) I need to do the other side. That's a little more hassle though because there's more to move around from that side.

I was pretty good foodwise, but I did cheat a bit on both Saturday and Sunday.

 

[Rod]

The Kittens are doing so much better today. Little Emi is really coming out and interacting with us, follow us, is eating really well and seems to be adjusting to her new home. She's very strong willed, that's for sure. I was afraid since she went hiding, she'd be subdued. That's clearly not going to be her personality at all. She just wasn't happy being taken from her mother and she went to hide to show her displeasure in it all!

I promised to let you all know when the Yahoo Documentary came out. If you open up Yahoo as a web browser today, featured on the front page is a Documentary called "Uniquely Nasty." This video is all bout the blatant discrimination of gay people by the US Government. It's about 30 minutes long and the 3rd chapter is about Charlie and ends with our wedding on the beach. If you watch the video, you'll get to meet Charlie and even see glimpses of our home. The footage from the wedding certainly brought tears to my eyes. It is funny that they referred to my brother and now sister in law Amelia as just a "straight couple." After watching it this morning my brother called and said we are now to just them "that straight couple!" LOL

Anyway, if you're interested in learning just how awful the US Government treated gay people and to see Charlie's interview and our wedding, here's a link:

http://news.yahoo.com/uniquely-nasty--the-u-s--governments-war-on-gays-191808993.html

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, how scary for you the kitties were disappearing this weekend. I am glad they came back out and you and Charlie were able to patch up those spots. I am sure Emi will be fine once she determines you and Charlie are okay. Emi and Eri are so cute. I will definitely go watch that video. It will be cool to see Charlie’s interview and get a glimpse of your home. LOL that your brother and SIL are the “Straight couple”.

Dee Jay, our scale is digital too and I notice you can get flaky readings on it. I am glad you made the rounds to get your money’s worth from parking. I got in the valet parking at DIA one time and the attendants had to drive me car in then back out for me because there was no backing up from where I was. They were nice about it. I love the “check liver” towels. I know someone that would certainly fit. You had a very productive weekend.

Work was okay today. I found more software that I needed installed on my computer. They moved our IT support to another intranet site and it told me I don’t have permission to put in an IT request. I called the helpline, was put on hold and listened to the message that told me to enter a ticket online. You can’t make that stuff up!

Have a great evening.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Rod, I haven’t watched the video yet, but I am very excited to see it! And it sounds like the kitties are doing fabulous – which is of course the case with daddies like you and Charlie!

Curby, buying a scale now apparently requires a degree in astrophysics from MIT… I gave up on all the extra features and decided to get one that just WEIGHS ME. That made it a little simpler, but not much. By the time I got done reading all the reviews I was ready to pull my hair out. I ordered something off of Amazon that seemed to have generally positive feedback, but I guess we’ll see when it gets here…

I was pretty good yesterday but I think I ate too much at dinner. The CB grilled steaks and made brussel sprouts with onions and bacon and it was all damn good!

Today I’m only in for half a day and I feel strangely motivated so we’ll see what I get done before I have to leave!

 

[Rod]

I know I'm going on and on about Eri and Emi, but they are simply the cutest kittens on the planet! It's amazing how they're adjusting. They are running and playing, eating lot's of food and finally both using the kitty litter. They've both managed to figure out how to jump up on the sofa and they spend every moment they can with us on it. To say we are head over heels in love is an understatement!

Here's a picture from last night!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I bet scales have more features on them now than cars. They do everything but give you an accurate weight right? CB and Marty are good cooks. I was good at supper tonight cut my burger in half so I could have the other half tomorrow, ate only a few fries and didn’t drink or order dessert. Did you find something to do with your afternoon off?

Rod, your kitties are adorable. How could you not love them and talk about them? I am delighted to hear they love their new home and new daddies.

Not much new here. Our cleaning lady came today so we went out for supper. Marty is off at the hardware store again in my car. I asked him who was going to nag at him about speeding?

Have a great evening.
Marcy

 

[Rod]

Thanks Marcy! I just took this picture of them sleeping together on a pillow! I promise I won't just post pics of the kittens, but they're just so darn cute!

 

[marcy]

Rod, your wedding brought tears to my eyes. You and Charlie look so happy. That is cool Charlie won his lawsuit and set a precedent against such discrimination. I did chuckle at the straight couple. Your home looks very nice too.