Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Rod, I hope your numbers pick up soon. I hate to hear you are working extra hours. The kitties are really growing. That is too bad Eri is still congested but I hope the antibiotics help. I know they are a delight to you and Charlie. I like the idea of getting them a microchip. I kind of did that to Marty – it’s my stalking app. It’s called “Find Friends” and as long as he has is phone on I can find him.

Dee Jay, I am easily amused but I agree it’s wise to know my audience. At my old job I knew people really well and wouldn’t have ever gotten in trouble for doing that. This job is in the corporate world so I’ll be more careful. Will the commercial be on TV and or the Internet? How exciting. The Onion video is funny. They are so obnoxious.

We got off work 30 minutes early today. Sweet!!!

My windshield got installed. It doesn’t quite look the same on the top but maybe I’m crazy on that. Marty said there was a lot of electronics behind the mirror. A piece of plastic in the headrest broke but it’s not anywhere you’d see it. I am going to check everything tomorrow when I go get my tires and make sure the blind spot and lane assist works.

Marty is playing golf and working this weekend. I am doing laundry and being a bum. Sounds FUN huh?

Take care
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Yesterday was a whirlwind of real estate activity, and then the CB and I walked to dinner at a place near us. The food wasn't as good as usual, but the wine was just fine, so I managed to be OK with it.

Today I have to do a couple of computer-type real estate projects, and we also want to fix the 8' square rug with the French writing on it that hangs on the wall. It has always been a little wavy on top and we've been meaning to fix it for... um... about a year now... but since we had to take it down for the commercial shoot we're going to affix something rigid to the top before it goes back up.

I keep resisting the urge to mop the floor and otherwise clean up because there will be a monster cleaning crew through here on Monday, which is one of the benefits of having filming done -- they send in an army of cleaning people afterwards! And they clean EVERYTHING, right down to the baseboards in the laundry room!

OK, off to start the weekend!

 

[Rod]

Man (or Lady) was it ever a loooong week. I made a placement this week (the only member on my team to do that), so my boss was a little less stressed after coming off a lousy July. Of course it's the weekend and here it is Saturday morning and it looks like night time outside, with heavy rain, lightning and thunder. It's supposed to do this most of the day, just like last Saturday. Only it's not supposed to flood as badly as last weekend, which was epic. Really epic.

The kittens are batting around their little free mice from the vet. We bought all these 'spensive toys for them when we brought them home. Do they play with them? Puhleeze. The free little mice from the vet are all they seem to like to bat around. Go figure!

All we'll likely do today is go to Starbucks, have a cup of coffee and read a magazine on our iPads. Dinner is a question mark. If it continues raining, we may just cook at home tonight.

DeeJay, I enjoy reading about the filming going in your house, but must admit I don't think I could let a film crew in here for the amount of time you do.

Have a great Saturday!

 

[deegee]

Hi All!

Dee*Jay - Sounds like I need a film crew to come in maybe twice a year so I can get my house thoroughly cleaned! I loved the commercial you posted. I'm definitely forwarding it to the rest of my team. Do you think about how there was a strange man rolling around in your bed? It creeps me out a little every week when the cleaners make my bed. They touch everything else in my house and it doesn't bug me, but for some reason the bed thing does. Matt is learning conversational Spanish, and he's doing really well. The guys at the Mexican restaurant won't speak to him in English anymore. I kind of hate that though, because I don't know what the heck anybody is saying!

Rod-congrats on the placement! I love to see the kitten pics. They brighten my day!! They will stay fairly small, won't they? My sister's Burmese, Gingersnap, is a little thing, but nearly ever cat is little compared to my 18.5 pound monsters. I buy them toys, but they prefer to play with anything that gets dropped on the floor. Sorry you're having a lousy weather day. I think I actually see the sun today.

Zoe-I hope everything works out well with your landlord and the owners, and you can continue leasing. How long have you been there? Has your DH started his new job? Is he liking it? You talking about getting your classroom ready brought back memories. I remember walking in for the first time when I got my teaching job, checking it all out and planning what I was going to do with it. I hope you had a wonderful vacation! Matt and I are heading to the Outer Banks in September, and I am so ready.

Marcy - you've been shopping! New appliances, china (very pretty, by the way), windshield... you're keeping the economy going! Any jewelry? On a whim I bought a ring from JBG, and I never buy anything on a whim! It's an old, well worn ring and I had to send it back for what I hope is a slight repair. I really, really like it and can't wait to get it back. I tried to take a few pictures before I sent it away, but I can't figure out how to take a close up picture on my iphone. Any tips? I'll post one of Grace's photos later.

I have been DeeJay kind of busy lately. I'm too old for this nonsense! I have been working 9-7, and then starting back up after dinner at around 8:30, working until 11:30, and then talking on the phone with my mom for 2-2.5 hours every night after I finish working. Our PM tells us we are almost at a plateau and things will level off, but I only have about one week of this kind of schedule left in me. We don't even get a lunch break. The vendor has been providing lunch so we can keep going. I'm thinking they're trying to make us so fat that we can't waddle away from them to go home at night. The catered food is bad, all bad. And on top of the fattening food, they order pans of brownies and fresh cookies that are still warm when they get there. The kitchen is stocked with all kinds of snacks, and there's ice cream in the freezer and toppings in the fridge. Such a hostile work environment!! Next week I plan to bring salads and fruit so I can avoid the bad stuff. And I wanted to say thank you for the condolences. I know many of you have been here, and there is no way around how much it sucks.

Well, I need to work for a few hours to finish something up so I can possibly not work tomorrow. Have a wonderful, restful weekend!!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, at least the wine was decent at that restaurant. That’s very important. Have a major cleaning crew coming in after filming is awesome. If you can arrange something every few weeks you are set for life! Sweet.

Rod, congratulations for making a placement last week. Sorry to hear July was so tough on your office. I hope the rain wasn’t as bad this weekend. I definitely chuckled at hearing Emi and Eri like their free toy the best. That does figure, right? Did you end up going out for dinner or making something at home?

Deegee, you have been very busy. I feel the same way about my cleaning lady making my bed. I try to leave the bed made and pristine so hopefully she doesn’t touch it. I don’t like her taking care of my dishes either. Everything else I’m fine with her doing. I am anxious to see your new ring. I usually take my jewelry pictures with a little point and shoot that automatically switches to macro on close-ups. That is downright cruel to bring in warm brownies and cookies. That would be very difficult to resist.

I got my Michelin’s yesterday morning. Woo hoo! The car rides nice. The tire shop is a block away from the donut shop my dad went to every morning so I walked over there and had coffee and donuts with 3 of my dad’s buddies. It was nice to see them. After I got back to the tire dealer I only had to wait about 30 more minutes. I came home and cleaned the interior of my car. Then I sucked it up and went grocery shopping. That way Marty didn’t have to take me. We had lunch at the golf course then came home and did some things around the house. Last night we rented the new Divergent movie – Insergent.

This morning Marty’s tee time was 9:45 so that means Marcy had to get up and make breakfast. I made your basic toast, hash browns, bacon and eggs. I had Marty text me when he was done with golf and I started making tacos for lunch. We just had some cheese and crackers for supper.

Today I am ashamed to admit I watched all of the Sharknado movies. They were so cheesy they were amusing (at times).

Tomorrow Marty heads back to D.C.

Take care!
Marcy / Curby

P.S. After getting my new tires I had to go mail a check and was very careful going through the drive-up at the post office. The last thing I wanted to do was have a curby incident with my new tires.

 

[Rod]

Marcy, it finally stopped raining in the afternoon, so we went out to Starbucks, had coffee, then we went to an Indian restaurant we hadn't been to for a long time. It was really good. Today, it was dry enough to have my car washed. But we had heavy rain tonight. Fortunately, long after we came home from visiting my father in the nursing home.

I had crabs (no surprise as I get them almost every Sunday) and Charlie made himself a pasta dish with homemade Pesto. I absolutely detest the taste of Pesto. I don't know what's in the flavor that turns me off, but there is certainly something awful about the flavor.

I hope you all had a good weekend and the week ahead goes by quickly.

Here are a couple new kitten pics:

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Rod, LOL on the kitties loving the freebies from the vet. And congratulations on your placement last week. I hope your new company appreciates you and how very hard you work!

Deegee, I am really not creeped out by much of anything, including a strange man rolling around in my bed. Hell, over the years there have been A LOT of strange men rolling around in my bed – at least I was sober when I met this one and I actually knew his name at the end!

Curby, good idea to save that first curb event for another time, and not the day the new tires got put on!

For the life of me I have no idea where Saturday went… Yesterday I met with the other organizers of the community association and had lunch with the CB and his daughter, and later we went to dinner with some friends. Pretty low key, but totally fine with me!

This morning I went out to move my car so the cleaning people could have both spots. There is quite a bit of new construction in the area and the workers take up all the free spots starting pretty early. Even at 7:30 I had to drive around for almost half an hour to get a spot! Oh well, when I go home tonight to a nice clean house it will totally be worth it.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, Eri and Emi are growing a lot. They are so cute. I am glad you were able to go out to dinner and get your car washed. I need to do that myself.

Dee Jay, maybe I’ll drive better with my new tires and never have a curby incident again. And maybe I’ll never have another knife incident either. Quit laughing! Low key weekends are sometimes a necessity. Are you enjoying your completely cleaned home tonight?

My stalking app tells me Marty made it to D.C. I haven’t heard from him yet though. I made sure the man cave was buttoned up and found about 12 glasses that needed washed down there. Guys.

Have a great evening and Tuesday!

Marcy / Curby

 

[deegee]

Rod - My sister's Burmese looks like your champagne kitty. She's a little stinker. My sister has 4 cats, and the Burmese drops her little mouse toys in the water dishes and food bowls. When we visited this weekend, it confused Lily so much she didn't even attempt to steal the kitty food like she normally does. Is pesto that green stuff? I don't like it either.

Dee*Jay - Ha! Good answer about the strange guy!! I hope your place was awesomely clean and worth getting up early to move your car. I find very few things worth getting up early for!

Marcy - I have no idea where our camera is these days. Our Samsung phones had great cameras that took really good up close pictures. The iphone - not so much. I'll borrow Matt's phone when my ring comes back to take a pic or two. I'll post one of Grace's pics below. Will Marty be traveling to DC often? Matt has to go to Houston next week, and he's one unhappy fella. He's already whining about how hot it will be. I am hoping mom will come stay with me for the week. Good luck with the no curbing and no cutting your fingers off...

I woke up today feeling under the weather, so I stayed home and slept until 11. I think I had worn myself out! I worked from home the rest of the day, and ended up getting 8 hours in anyway.

Here's the ring I bought that is back with JBG for a repair. I kind of like the larger rings for my right hand since my fingers have been broken and my knuckles are gigantor. The diamonds are OECs and older marquise cuts. The setting is well worn, but I really like it anyway. Have a great Tuesday!!

 

[Rod]

Evening ladies.......it was such a loooooong day. At least I got home before the thunderstorm hit and my car actually made it 24 hours without getting rained on. We've had something like 20 inches of rain in the last week or so.

Deegee, Emi our Champagne is becoming a very sweet cat. Eri the blue, looks very innocent, but she's not at all. She's still congested, so she's back on antibiotics. Our vet says this just isn't something to be concerned with. Her kitten was on antibiotics for over 2 months before she overcame the sniffles. On things for sure, they've added such joy to our home. Oh and they drop the freebie mice in their food bowls too. They also drop them at our feet, which is sweet because it means they're sharing their "food" with us.

That OEM ring is very pretty! Sorry, you weren't feeling well today.

Marcy, I use the Find My iPhone App when Charlie travels too! Try to keep away from curbs with your new tires.

DeeJay, have you had enough fun as Pres of the board yet? I'm seriously thinking about retiring after 4 straight years. The election won't be until December though........

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, your new ring is pretty. I bet the OEC really sparkle and I like the subtlety of the marquis on the side. It is a very nice design. I hope you can get a hand shot for us; I know it looks great on your finger. Very nice. Matt will certainly be in the heat in Houston. He could go visit Whiteflash for you. You know I am still debating another band from them. Yes Marty will be traveling to DC quite a bit. He can go visit his brother and family while he’s there so that makes it nice for him. He grew up in that area. Thank you for wishing me good luck with knives and curbs. I was going to pick up a kids meal from Wendy’s for supper and picked the one closer to work than home because that one is a straight open drive through; the one near us is narrow and “curby” and I’ve had at least 10 curbing incidents there in this car. That will be nice if your mom comes to stay while Matt is gone next week. I am glad you got to sleep in today.

Rod, I forgot to mention this yesterday. I am with you and Deegee on pesto. Marty loves it. 20 inches of rain in the last week is a lot of water. I am glad you made it home before it started raining again. So Eri is the more playful cat, huh? That is pretty cool. In college I went with a friend to the shelter to pick out a cat and she wanted to get one that was really cute and friendly. I talked her in the getting the one in the back by itself looking all sad and lonely. That turned out to be one obnoxious cat. I heard about it frequently too. The stalking app is pretty darned cool. When Marty is on his way home from DIA I can time getting dinner on the table as he walks in the house. That makes me look good. I think 4 years, as president of the board; is plenty of service. We haven’t had any astronomy meeting this summer and I can’t say I’ve missed them.

I had a very short night. The battery in the smoke detector right outside our bedroom decided to become low at 4:30 am. Now while I feel bad for it that it no longer has the “energy” to power a smoke detector - can’t it tell me about it at a civilized hour? I shoved my earplugs in but I could still hear its piercing chirp nagging at me – replace me, replace me. As luck would have it this smoke detector is the highest one in the house. I’m short and have horrible knees; trust me I’m not getting up there to change it. Luckily our friends that live about a ½ mile from us came by with 2 ladders and changed the battery for me. It took their largest ladder. Marty tells me after they were gone he has a nice, lightweight tall ladder downstairs. Oh well, I’ll know next time. Guess what Marty is doing this weekend? Replacing the rest of the batteries in our smoke detectors.

I made death cookies tonight for another birthday party at work. I saved out about 10 for my friend that came over tonight so I can give her some at lunch tomorrow. I am sure she’ll like that thank you gift.

I hope all of you had a great day.

Take care.

Marcy / Curby

P.S. Damn Angry Birds 2. I am obsessed and stuck now on level 32.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-back to the bed thing-I leave a list of stuff I want done for the cleaners each week, in order of importance in getting it done. I don't put make the bed on there, and they do it anyway! I don't leave enough time to make it myself, so I guess beggars can't be choosers, huh? 10 curbing incidents at one place? Wow! I used to hit curbs more often with my Infiniti, but I do a pretty good job avoiding them with my Acura. That thing's a tank. I got notification that my ring shipped this evening, and I should have it back by Thursday. Yay! I had never seen old cuts, and I'm digging the different sparkle they put off. I decided I want clean and classic for my left hand, and anything goes for a rhr!

Rod-I hate to hear your poor little baby is still stuffy. They're both too cute! I would be at a loss without pets. My mom has a cat, but she's an evil little thing. I'd love for her to adopt a dog...maybe even an older one. I think it would be great company for her. When she stays with me, Lily follows her everywhere. Mom keeps threatening to steal her. Our PM is from Michigan, but he's here Sun-Thursday, and he keeps tabs of his son with the stalker app. We kid him about it, but it's probably not a bad idea!

I made it to work today and ended up being in meetings all day, including lunch. They brought in Qdoba today. I am feeling guilty for only working 9 hours today. My brain just couldn't think anymore. I'm probably going to be sorry tomorrow. Here's a pic of the only decent hand shot I got of my new ring. It's a dark pic in my office at work and it's sideways. Hopefully I can do better when I get it back. Have a great Wednesday!

 

[marcy]

Will write more later but wanted to say your ring looks fabulous on your hand, Deegee.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, my house was cleaned fabulously with the exception of the shower in the master. I could tell they didn’t clean that because it takes a couple of hours for the grout to dry and it was definitely dry when I go home. Maybe they didn’t clean it because they didn’t use it in the filming? But the rest of the bathroom, and the other bathroom, were cleaned, along with EVERYTHING else in the house (including the massive book cases!!!) so that was a weird anomaly. Oh well – I’m more than happy that someone came and cleaned my house 99% for free!

Deegee, I really like your new ring! The design is cool and I think the stones are SO beautiful! Do you still wear your other right hand ring? How will you ever decide in the morning which one to put on?!? And I think it would be great if your mom got a dog. They are so much company and just a whole lotta love!

Rod, the roof replacement project on my building starts on Monday. Tomorrow and Friday I am spending two hours each morning with the project manager and the residents who have set up appointments, in 15 minutes increments, to discuss deck rebuild options, A/C replacements (if they want to – most of the units are the original ones from when the building was built 24 years ago), any skylight issues, etc. Do I know how to live or what?!?

Last night the CB and I had our second Spanish class. Boy, are we lousy at this, ha ha! Oh well, we’ve got 15 years yet… And we’ll need every minute of it based on our progress so far!

This morning I was back down to the weight I was a few weeks ago before my friend’s wedding so I’m back on the wagon again in a big way. I lost 15 pounds in two months the first time, took three weeks off, and now I’m hoping for another 15. (Actually, I’m hoping for another 20, but one thing at a time!)

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, I like the idea of leaving my cleaning lady a list of things. Good idea. So far I am curb free for 5 days. Woo hoo! I can’t wait until you get your ring back. OEC are very cool cuts; they kind of remind me of EC with big facets that give off lots of fire. I am excited for you. That is sweet Lily follows your mom around. I bet she’d enjoy having her own dog.

Dee Jay, 99% thoroughly cleaned is pretty darned good. I’m impressed they dusted your giant bookcase too. How did your meetings with residents go today? Yay for being back to minus 15 pounds. Congratulations!

I had my monthly training class at the community college today so I got to come home 2 hours early. Woo hoo! I went to Penneys and got a hair cut on the way home.

Marty is on his way home. Yippee!

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, the meetings went OK yesterday but the very first guy is a *talker* and everything got thrown off by 15 minutes from the first meeting on and it really annoyed me. No one else seemed to mind, but when I set a schedule I like to stick to it!

Yesterday I had a banana and two cups of coffee because I was so crazy busy all day. By the time the CB called and said he was on his way home I was STARVING so I had him stop and get Popeye's Chicken (kind of like KFC -- not sure if all of you have Popeye's). It was so good and so bad all at the same time, ha ha.

Today I am in my office because I will spend at least a few mornings next week with the roofers. This project hasn't even started yet and I'm tired of it already, ha ha!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, you are lucky only one of your meetings was with a talker. Now that I’m near the printer at work I am starting to chat more with people and some of them will hang over the wall to my cube for hours. We have Popeyes in Colorado but I have not tried them. During a blizzard one time we kept seeing KFC commercials so ventured out and got a bucket with sides and after all that effort we didn’t even like it that much. Cabin fever during blizzards can do that to you though. I am sure you’ll be sick of the roofing project before it’s done. Good luck! I say a new piece of jewelry should be your reward.

I got called about a problem from work last night about 9. I was online until 10:45. I feel bad I didn’t great Marty very well when he got home. I couldn’t find the office instant messenger on my laptop. I hate to remote in to my desktop at work and kept getting kicked off. I was trying to talk to some our IT guys and engineers at corporate. IT was one of Marty’s departments before he left our company so instead of jumping up and being excited he was home I greeted him with “where the hell is the messenger program at work?” I apologized quickly but shouldn’t do things like that.

Work was quite interesting today. Our director had a closed door meeting with my new boss for about 90 minutes. The employee who has been pushing my buttons applied for a transfer the day after my boss and I talked to him about his attitude and confrontational behavior. The other manager wasn’t impressed with him but the director has some other people he may want to move around. I had a guy who worked for me that we’d love to have back and there is a lady in another department who might be good. If that works out I’d have more work but less hassles. I think getting rid of that poison to the team would be a good thing. I am rather hopeful but won’t count my chickens before they are shipping off somewhere else.

We are having a pretty heavy rainstorm right now. Yay!

Have a great weekend.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, doncha hate it when you really get a craving for something and then when you get it it's not even that good...?! Argh!

The CB went up to his mother's this morning to fix something and when he gets back we're going out for tacos. The scale was kind to me this morning so I'm pretty motivated, which means I'll *try* to be good today.

Not much else to report... I've already done a load of laundry and I'll throw another one it before we go to lunch, but other than that it's only 11:20 and I'm ready for a NAP!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - please drag me back up on the wagon with you!! I caved and bought 6 pairs of pants for work in a larger size because my current pants have become quite painful. Not funny! I bought a size 12, so I haven't gained all the weight I lost (I started at a size 18 and got down to a 4), but I'm not happy at all. Maintaining a size 4 meant no eating or drinking, so I have decided I will be thrilled with 8-10. I'm 5'9 and old, so I don't need to be a size 4!

Marcy-I sure hope things calm down for you at work. We had a poison person on our team and the rest of us made a serious threat to quit-we weren't kidding either. They moved her to another role, and everything got back to normal. I think me having more to do would be less stressful than dealing with a poison person! Before the project team moved to our offsite location, I was moved to the first office by the elevator. Everybody waiting for the elevator felt the need to start up a conversation with me. Even when I didn't look up! I hated that spot.

Yesterday was a very hard day. We took mom to order the headstone for dad. We tried a few weeks ago, but she collapsed at the monument place and was crying so hard she couldn't get a word out. I was determined to get this done yesterday because I absolutely couldn't take shopping for a headstone again. We prepared this time...I took her to the cemetery so we could walk around to decide the size, material, shape, etc. We drew out what she wanted, and we got it done. My poor mom isn't eating well or sleeping and I'm really worried about her. She needs grief counseling because I sure don't know what to do to help her get through this. On a happy note, I got my ring back on Thursday. It's an old ring that has been worn and the setting isn't in pristine condition, but I think that adds to the coolness of the ring. I love it! I need to get a hold of Matt's phone to take some decent pictures. We're heading out to go grocery shopping. Have a wonderful Monday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, yay for the scale being good to you. I am working on laundry today too. I stayed up until about 12:30 finishing a book last night so I can’t say I am highly motivated today.

Deegee, I haven’t been weighing or counting my calories but trying to cut back and I am not making any progress. I keep trying though. A poisonous person can really bring down a team. I thin my bosses are concerned I am going to quit over this because they know I have reached my saturation point with this guy. No one is worth that kind of trouble. I am so sorry to hear picking out a headstone was so difficult but I am glad you got it done. I hate to hear your mom is not eating or sleeping maybe getting her to talk to someone would be helpful. Our mortuary offered support groups that might be helpful. I was lucky that my parents planned their funeral out completely so there were very few decisions for me / us to make. I will look forward to pictures of your ring.

Marty is on his way to the airport. The weekend went by too fast and he did not get those stinking batteries put in the smoke detectors. I remembered about 10 minutes before he left. He said I’d be okay; if one of those suckers goes off in the middle of the night I am texting him. Ha!

We met my sister, BIL and some nieces and nephews for supper last night. It was fun.

Have a great day!
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, I now own the exact same pair of pants in every size from a 2 to a 12!!! I’ll likely never see the 2 again, and I hope I never see the 12 again… but I’ve learned my lesson and I’m keeping all of them, ha ha!

Curby, so your smoke detectors haven’t been beeping all this time… right? I must be misunderstanding because that sound would make anyone crazy, especially if it went on for a long time!

Yesterday I went to a little mall in the ‘burbs. Ended up buying two pairs of pants, a bathing suit for when I visit my dad in Florida next month, a couple of cute sleeveless tops (same top, different color; jury is out on whether I would wear them to work or not), some plastic glasses that fit in the cup holders of the folding chairs that we put out on the veranda, some new underwear (boy shorts!) and a nightgown that I intend to wear as a dress (I do that a lot actually!).

This morning I’ve been up on the roof with the project manager since about 7:45. Ack. Now I’m finally at my office. God bless air conditioning!

 

[deegee]

marcy-My parents hadn't pre-planned anything, and when dad got sick they couldn't bring themselves to do it then either. He died less than 2 months after we found out the cancer was back and had spread, so we have had to help mom take care of every last detail. Having to go through this part too is doing nothing to help her mental state. Do you have the kind of smoke detectors that are hooked into your home's electrical system as well as having a battery? The one in our bedroom started chirping one night while Matt was out of town and I couldn't reach it with a step stool. Matt has the ladder stored up high too so I had no other choice but to knock the darn chirpy thing off the ceiling with the broom handle. I agree with you about measuring portions and keeping track. If I don't write down what I eat, I overeat bigtime.

Dee*Jay-your roof project sounds so exhausting. Ugh! I'm not happy that my behind is requiring a size 12, but what can I expect? I sit in meetings all day and my bottom is getting wider and wider. Soon I'll be showing up to work in my flannel jammie bottoms, sweatshirt and house shoes because that's all that fits! My team loved the Onion video you posted, by the way. I told them to watch for the bookcase, the brick wall, and the bed, but everyone was laughing so hard at the video to notice. I think we're all stuck in that nightmare right now with this project.

Not much to report today. Matt and I bought lots of fresh veggies and fruit at the grocery store last night, and we plan to get back in our habit of eating in at least 4 nights a week. We have been getting takeout pretty much all summer because we're in KY on weekends and don't get the chance to go grocery shopping. We both work late and are too tired to shop during the week. We came home Saturday night this weekend, so we were able to run errands and shop on Sunday. Hopefully eating in will help this sudden onset of poundage to my rear. Have a wonderful Tuesday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Deegee, glad your peeps enjoyed the video! It was pretty amusing watching that guy rolling around in my bed, especially since they added all the sound/voice stuff later so all I saw was some actor tossing and turning on my pillow, ha ha!

Last night we had some crazy rain. All my check valves held, with the exception of one thing that needs to be adjusted on my master bath toilet, but then I should be totally good with any rain (knock on wood!). Some of my neighbors though need to get valves put in. The poor CB has volunteered to do some for the people I really like, but it's not fair to commit him to do valves for all the first floor units. He didn't realize he was signing up to be the resident construction manager of this complex when I bought the place!

After the big rain it still went off and on all night. I didn't sleep a wink... I'm so tired today I feel kind of hung over. Ugh.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, the one smoke detector that was beeping was fixed last week by some friends of ours. But I decided when one battery dies it’s likely the other ones aren’t far behind so I bought a few packs of 9V batteries and wanted Marty to put them in all the smoke detectors before he left. Lucky for him none of them have gone off. Glad to hear your place survived a heavy rain. It sounds like CB will be busy helping your neighbors. I hope you sleep tonight.

Deegee, my parents went on road trips several times a year so they had their funerals paid for and planned for decades. They even did the prepay and bought their plot when the mortuary had a sale; that is typical of them. I can see how hard it would be to make all those plans during such a highly emotional stressful state. Yes our smoke detectors are all wired in to the electrical system. I don’t know if I’d knock the smoke detector down or not but it sure gets annoying. I can imagine taking one out with a broom handle would shut it up anyway. I am trying to eat better this week but I am craving peanut butter which started because there are white chocolate PB cups at work. I love those things. So I keep having PB on toast for breakfast and since I should limit PB cause of food allergies my mouth is actually swollen. My wisdom teeth are bugging the crud out of me.

I talked to Marty on FaceTime tonight. He is swamped with projects right now and really tired. He isn’t going to do anymore Redeye flights. He doesn’t get back to DIA until midnight Thursday (actually Friday am) and then has about a 90 minute drive to get home. He’ll be a couch potato on Friday.

Have you seen the ad for the movie “No Escape?” No way in h*ll am I watching that as much as Marty travels.

I wrote Whiteflash yesterday about another band. I inquired if they could put bigger diamonds in their 3mm scattered diamond band knowing full well the answer would probably be no. I can have them put diamonds in the middle but it wouldn’t be scattered and then would probably look dorky with the scattered diamond ering. I might go with a 3mm channel set band. Sadly the renewal for plates for my car showed up and I just paid off our new appliances so maybe I shouldn’t be buying another band right now. I know you’re laughing and saying - sure Marcy like you’ll pass up buying another ring.

Work is rolling along this week. The possible employee swap is being discussed but I am not being consulted. It’s not evolving as well as I hoped but still may turn out okay. My problem employee is pretty happy and smug so he must be getting reassured they are moving him somewhere.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, Your parents bought their plots when they were on sale? I swear you and I must be related in the same family!!!

The roofers showed up this morning and put up a giant construction chute and a crane. They are officially starting to tear stuff up tomorrow, but I will be fifteen hundred miles away so I get to miss all the *excitement*. No worries though; I'm sure someone will call me at the crack of down and complain about SOMETHING. Ack.

The scale was kind this morning and gave me a breakthrough number -- YAY!!! And It's About Damn Time!!! Who knows what the long weekend will bring, but at least now I'm going into it with a little motivation and not just an eat-whatever-I-want-because-it-doesn't-seem-to-make-a-different attitude.

OK, off to finish some work stuff, and then to the airport!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope you have a nice trip. Good plan to be away when the roofers are tearing everything up. Congratulations on the scale being kind to you this morning. Sweet! Yes, my parents saw an ad in the paper to get 50% off their plot and complete funeral so they bought them in the 70's or 80's and made payments on them. I am sure compared to prices now it was certainly a massive savings. It sure made planning their funerals easy. Both times we had to pay for the programs, music, singer and minister.

It didn't seem like I worked much today. I had to let our house cleaning lady in and stopped to pick up a card on the way to work. I started teaching my new boss how we do our work, then attended a training class and came home to pay the cleaning lady and lock up the house. Then did all my morning work this afternoon.

I had a burger at the mall for supper then looked a bands at Kays, Riddles and Zales. Weird I didn't buy anything. I looked at crystal glasses at Dillards.

Deegee, you know how we talked about our cleaning ladies touching our bedding? I started a batch of towels before I left this morning and went to put them in a the dryer when I got home and they weren't in the washing machine. She dried them and hung them up. Yes, I was tempted to wash them again but I resisted. It's not like I am not comfortable with her touching our stuff but it did kind of get my attention.

Have a great Thursday!

Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Hey. I haven't fallen off the planet. Just been so busy.

Deegee, I'm sure it has been super stressful for your mom. It's great she has you to count on.

DeeJay, the roof project sounds like a blast [sarcasm galor]! We're dealing with a cable/phone/internet new contract negotiation. It's ugly. Ugly I'm telling you.

Marcy, we all have days where we don't think we accomplished anything. You probably accomplished more than you think you did.

Sorry for the flyby. I still have some work to get done before heading to bed.

Hope everyone's doing well and happy!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-They're putting on a new roof at work right now. They cut the HVAC units off promptly at 5, so by 6 nobody can stand to be in the building. They're working on it after hours so as not to disturb us. I did notice on my way in yesterday that all kinds of debris has fallen to the ground from 13 stories up. It would be my luck to be walking down below when something fell.

Marcy- The cleaning company said our cleaners would be happy to do laundry while they're here, but that's a big no-no for me. I didn't even want my mom to do my laundry while she stayed with me a few weeks ago. Nobody touches my undies! I can't be trusted with an open jar of peanut butter. Somehow everything inside just vanishes. I buy those overpriced individual servings so that I don't pig out. I'm ready for you to get a new ring!! I don't buy a lot of jewelry, so I'm excited to have 3 rhr's now. I need a stone for my old ering setting, and I need to have my HOF 5-stone re-sized to fit my gigantic knuckle, and then I'll have 5 rhr's. Woo-hoo!

Hi Rod! Sorry you're so busy, but I hope all is well with you, Charlie, and your precious little kittens!

After a really bad night, I woke up this morning with a migraine again. I think the stress of everything is getting to me. I was halfway to work when I decided to turn around and work from home. I worked for about 5 hours and napped on and off for the rest of the day. Food this week has been pretty good since we have been eating in. I hope that my new size 12 pants will be too big soon! Have a great day tomorrow.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, good luck with contract negotiations for internet/phone/TV. Our current provider has poor customer service and very few options. I got more done today. I was working on our little department booklet and lost about the last hour worth of work. It was completely a blonde moment on my part too. Are things going better at work this month?

Deegee, be careful watching for that falling debris. I’d probably drive over it and ruin one of my new tires. You are really stocking up on those RHR. I would pull out your sapphire ring a lot; they have such a great color. I thought of getting a 5 stone ring (smaller carat) as a band but worry it would scratch up my ering. I am glad you went home after starting to feel bad.

WF came back with a 3mm comfort band and 2 pointers in the middle not scattered. It would only have about 3 diamonds facing up so I ruled that out. Then their custom 3 pointers half eternity was $1625. Heck the 5 pointers with more gold and diamonds was about $1300. So I pointed out they have a 3 pointer channel set bead band for about $1000. We will see what their response is; I didn’t hear from them today.

Work was interesting. The possible employee swap isn’t as exciting to me as it once was. I met with the lady and I swear she could be my problem child’s twin sister. She came loaded with questions written down in a notebook and wrote down everything I said. She wanted to confirm what her boss told her, quizzed me about the job then wanted to talk to the guy who wants to leave the team. Then they kind of watched what each other did. She seemed very much like a princess, demanding and definitely not very thrilled with the prospect of changing jobs.

Marty is setting around Dulles right now for his redeye flight back to Denver. Poor guy is going to be very tired when he gets home.

Have a great evening and Friday.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Rod, did you get your cable/phone/internet worked out? I only have internet and negotiating just that was difficult enough, I can’t imagine trying to work out all of those at the same time!

Deegee, stuff falling off the roof is a big problem, especially in a place like Chicago that is traditionally windy anyway. We warned everyone at the start of the project that if they aren’t comfortable having their vehicles in the parking lot (the building is U shaped with the lot in the middle) they need to move them. Of course no one HAS moved their cars out at any point and I’m sure something WILL fall and then I’ll have that to deal with…

Curby, I made out Thanksgiving trip reservations for Phoenix yesterday. We’re flying in on Monday (the 23rd) and out on Friday (the 27th). Will you and Marty be there again this year? If so, please be sure to tell Marty not to hit anyone in California with the rental car while we’re having lunch, ha ha!

So I went to Lake Tahoe on Wednesday and came back last night. It was a long five days! We did get some stuff done at my friend’s house so she can put it on the market to sell, and next weekend we’re hoping to head to New Jersey to look at new places for her to live there. It’s a good thing I love real estate!

Oh... and that new low weight I had finally reached before I left... yeah... NO. Up four pounds. Ack!