Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, your car is gorgeous. That’s my favorite color of blue. Decisions, decisions on retiring. I knew when it was right. We have some C130’s stationed here too. I kind of enjoyed watching them coming in for a landing at our two houses ago. I’m seeing a lot of Huey helicopters at TBE. We spotted a stationary white balloon out here today. Don’t know if it’s a weather balloon or I said it’s another spy balloon. Sorry that spot on your head still hurts. I think we are both going to love our new house. Your long weekend sounds like a nice, relaxing time.

Dee Jay that sucks your idenity was stolen. My niece’s husband had that happen and what a mess and pain. It cost them in the 10’s of thousands of dollars. Good luck with that. Were they using your North Estate address too? How is your back doing? Are Liam and the ferals due home this weekend? Our house faces pretty much west. There’s a house right across from us being built that cuts off our horizon as the sun heads south again. Darn. I can easily walk down the road if I want to see something. Marty is farther from the gym now, he’s taking the highway to get there though so it’s only a few minutes more one way. The grocery stores are at most 20 minutes away. Not bad.

We continue to be working on things around the house. It’s mostly Marty chores now. Marty is putting up security cameras today. We were going to get a storm door and have it installed, but out of the blue the builder said they were putting storm doors on all the houses that face west out here due to the high winds. They even were going to put the same door Marty was going to buy anyway. They put it in today.

We went to the local melodrama last night, It was kind of sun. A friend of ours bought 36 tickets for her husband’s birthday party. It was their friends and his relatives.

We picked up our utility vehicle this week. Things are moving along.

It’s wonderful to have the internet again, streaming services working and the scenery is still mesmerizing.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, yes, the scammers were using The North Estate Address. Crazy. My back has good days and bad days... Liam and YF will likely be home in the next hour or two. Party's over. The laundry room and kitchen, including the eat-in area, look so good right now I took pictures to remind myself of what the house can be. Of course the rest of the place is a disaster, but this area is good (for now). Score on the storm door! Enjoy the new utility vehicle... but wear a seatbelt. Just sayin.'

Yesterday I didn't get a whole lot done in the grand scheme of things. I talked with JP Morgan Chase and Acima first thing and got those straightened out. Then I went back to sleep for a few hours. I had an order to take to the post office (two Christmas serving pieces) and then I got a pedicure. After dinner (scrambled eggs and ham -- Sam I am!) I washed up five sets of glasses (and found YET ANOTHER Christmas serving piece in the bottom of a box -- it went straight into the "later" cabinet!).

This morning the dogs were pretty good and I didn't get out of bed until about eight. I then screwed something up and think I lost a sale. I had an order for the same thing and seemingly by the same person come through both Etsy and my Shopify. I canceled the Etsy order since it came through second and sent her an email telling here I only had one of what she I ordered. She then said she'd only bought one, through Etsy, and she had no idea what other site I was referring to. Well apparently either Shopify or (more likely) the app I used to connect Etsy to Shopify has lost it's mind. I've been having problems with importing listings for several days now and I bet it's all part of the same problem. Anyway, I'm pretty sure the lady is gone for good, but at least now I know to look out for this. Oh joy; a brand new technology snafu.

I'm kind of hungry, but Liam and YF just had big lunch at Chili's so I'm debating whether to just have a snack or engage in some real food. And... maybe a glass of prosecco since it is later afternoon on a Sunday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay that is awful the scammers had your NE address. Spending time on the phone to straighten things out is not my idea of fun, but glad they were able to help you. Darn the peace and quiet is over. Enjoy the clean house while you can. Too funny you took pictures. I can so identify with that. When Marty used to travel, I had the house cleaned before Marty boarded the plane. I just spent about 10 minutes picking stickers out of his socks that I washed with the rest of our underwear. I’ll be checking things before I put them on for the new few weeks. A new joy of living in the country. After we road around in the utility vehicle,

I hope your back has better days than bad. I took it kind of easy this weekend hoping my knees would quit griping at me.

That sucks about the duplicate order. Now you know what to watch for on that.

Marty worked on arranging the garage again today. He hasn’t got things out of the RV yet. We met my sister and her family for dinner in Colorado for lunch today. I’m heading back tomorrow for my annual service on the Curbymobile. It’s my 30,000 service but I’m not quite to 15,000 miles yet. Can’t believe my car is over 3 years old already.

Our garage door openers have an app that can tell you if the doors are open or closed. Such fun. I did “whine” to Marty not only did I have to walk through several rooms to do laundry today, but I had to turn the light on in the laundry room. We had a motion sensor light in our last laundry room.

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

I’m posting during lunch, and I don’t know what this building is constructed of but it has horrible cell reception so who knows what will actually post. They are supposed to set up a WiFi network for employees to use but they aren’t in a hurry. We’ve been in this building since May 2023.

Dee*Jay-CFO for a hedge fund? That IS impressive! I’m definitely not that fancy. They created this job specifically for me and I must say I crush it, but it’s about the only thing in my life where I’m confident. I was on the design team for our pension operating system and I have worked for or managed 9 of our 10 retirement systems and I know them and their governing laws very well. I’m the liaison between business and programmers. I do a whole lot of writing requirements, testing, managing projects, creating stuff, and working with our database. My personal life? Eh, I’ve lived in my house for 11 years and don’t have any pictures hanging. That really sucks your identity was stolen. What a hassle to get straightened out!! I just watched a British series called Cold Call about scammers. UGH. That’s funny Liam and the kids drove by the house where you used to live and someone was on the porch. My momma still lives in the house where I grew up in KY.

Marcy-your views!!! That’s awesome! I’d have to be outside to see the sunset everyday. Too bad it’s blocked a little. Is the balloon still there? I might be suspicious about that. So glad your internet is working. Being in this building and not being able to use my phone for internet is extremely annoying, so I imagine it was even more frustrating for you at home. I love my blue car. I park right outside of my office window and I fall in love every time I look out when the sun is shining and the my car is putting off its best blue. The color is pretty much the same as the sapphire I’ve been using as an ering and also my new front door. If your car is 3 years old, you must have bought it at the same time I bought my last one. I would have had it for 3 years on August 20. I’m hoping to keep this one longer.

I’ve had a migraine since the weekend. Today is my first day working this week. I’m having a struggle with my eyes not wanting to focus, which is normal with one of these headaches. This fluorescent light is a killer and there is SO much of it. I’m lucky to have big windows and natural light to balance the fake light. Better get back to work. Have a great day!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I'm channeling you today, as I check in here from the Audi dealer. Getting new brakes because, yanno, stopping is a good thing! In Liam's Ebay room he got lightbulbs that are motion activated. Not sure if that will work in your laundry room because I'm sure you've got fixtures over the bulbs, buy maybe... ? It certainly saves Liam from having to go in the dark clear from the door of that room to the bench where he packs things up. There are no windows in that room so it's like a tomb!

DeeGee, Do you have a second in command, or someone who can take over at least some of your stuff when you do retire? Even if it's not for a while, you do SO much that it probably makes sense to start as early as possible getting someone--or multiple someoneS--up to speed! Sorry to hear about the migraine. Ugh.

I'm trying to think of what I've done the first few days of this week LOL. Monday I listed, and was really pleased with what I got done. I had a big order for 30 pieces of Christmas dishes come in right before I went to the chiro, but I didn't have time to get it all packed up before I had to go to the post office before they closed. Liam had over two dozen orders to ship from when he was gone and I had to have YF go to the PO with me because there was no way to manage all that by myself. Yesterday... no idea where the first half of the day went, but after going to the PO I had a hair brained idea that I need you gals to talk me out of...

I drove past several retail spaces for lease in our immediate town and one town over. For some reason Liam and I have been talking about the idea of me doing a physical vintage store. I actually found a space that sounds perfect (although who knows what's really going on inside; I just peeked through the windows) on the main street of one town over. I talked to the guy who owns the building last night and I'm going to see it on Saturday. In THEORY it would be great! I could set up all my inventory, and if that didn't fill I know at least three people who I think would want to put some stuff in there. The price isn't bad, especially considering it's already set up as a store. The guy who owns the building decked it out because he and his family were going to open up a wine and gift store in the space, and they realized they were all too busy. His son actually has an insurance office in the other half of the building. My challenge is coverage. I don't want to have to be there every day all of the hours it's open. And really -- didn't I retire so I can have a totally flexible life?! I guess I could hire some people (or maybe take them on as contractors), but minimum wage is $14/hour and that adds up VERY fast. Anyway, I am going to at least see the space on Saturday, but I am hoping I can talk myself out of this! And please, you two also throw your thoughts out there because I need all the common sense perspectives I can get before I start writing checks, ha ha.

Alright, off to wander around the showroom for a little while because the office I've parked myself in is getting pretty warm.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Yesterday was productive... but sore. For some reason my lower back was REALLY uncomfortable all day, including a couple of muscle spasms. It hasn't been like this since before I started going to the chiro, so no idea what was up. I powered through though and did five listings, picked up bubble wrap, went to the chiro, packed an order, and got everything to the PO. Liam made steaks on the grill for dinner -- they were great!

Today I have nothing major on my list. I want to finish drafting some listings that I've got photos for, and if I get SUPER motivated I have a crazy idea in my head about cleaning out the lazy Susan corner cabinet where the tupperware lives. I haven't done that since during covid and I have no idea why that is such a problem area!

Other than that, not much else to report.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-your idea is intriguing. That might be something you’d really enjoy. Although it is a lot to take on, especially if you end up hiring help. Personally I wouldn’t want the responsibility, but I’d love to work in a shop like that! When did you retire? Are you ready to jump in and do this? And nope, I don’t have an assistant or even a coworker who knows what I do. Several years ago in an audit, it was recommended that they hire someone to work under my direction, but I was and AM totally done with managing anybody. They were supposed to promote a someone to work with me this summer, but the governor put a freeze on hiring or promoting over a certain salary so nothing has happened. Not going to worry about it

I have been a complete waste this week. I have a migraine hangover and I just want to sleep. I’m going to bed and I fully plan to sleep in tomorrow. I am NOT going to work. Have a great weekend!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

DeeGee, I retired on June 6 and I can't believe it's been two months already! Wow... it's pretty short-sighted of them not to hire or promote someone so you can train them. When you walk out the door they are Screwed with a capital S. Geez; a migraine is bad enough but a migraine hangover is like adding insult to injury. Just take it easy for another day or two.

This morning I bolted off to an auction based on the description (no photos) and was sorely disappointed. I took one lap around the tables and got right back in my car. Oh well, not every auction can be a winner! On the way back I stopped at an estate sale that had some glasses in the pictures, and and they turned out to be a real score, so I guess it was still a good morning.

So... I went over and looked at the retail space. Boy; if I was ever going to do this, this is the perfect storm of a space. It's got all sorts of fixtures and display racks and tons of storage. But, but, BUT!!! I just keep thinking about dealing with employees/contractors, and what a giant pain in my a$$ that would be. I really do think I'm going to skip it, but I may always wonder if it would have been something I should have done.

I've got a busy few days coming up! Tomorrow I'm going to go over and see the house renovation that the chief investment officer from my old company just finished. Monday I'm going into the city to have lunch with an old friend that lived beside me about 15 years ago. And on Tuesday quasi sister #1 and I head to Missouri for the rest of the week. My calendar is full.

Alright, off to pack up a vase someone just bought and contemplate doing my nails. Saturday Excite-O-Meter = about a 3.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-with the store idea, I think the worst part would be employees and EVERYTHING that goes along with it. Finding a good employee, and then dealing with all the requirements for having employees, the taxes and all the other stuff. But it would be kind of exciting to have a store and to pick the items to sell. I can’t pick anything out so it would be a huge flop for me, but you’re really good at it!

Yesterday I slept in, then did laundry and napped the entire rest of the day. I slept in again today and I’m feeling back to normal now. My migraines usually go through all the phases in about 3 days, but this sucker lasted an entire week. I got my robot vacuum set up today and I need to find a better place for its home. It got stuck in my office and I’m really wanting it for the entry, family room and hallway. Its name is Furminator because I have 5 shedding fur monsters… er, I mean pets. I don’t know how any of them have so much fur on their bodies when it’s fur tumbleweed city around the house. Matt went to visit his parents Thursday and got home late last night. I should have taken advantage of my alone time and cleaned, but sleeping off that migraine hangover was priority. Off to do some grocery shopping and then I’m giving my car a bath when I get back home. It’s in the mid 80’s today but the humidity is low so it much less miserable out there. Have a great evening!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I haven’t been ignoring you, when I wasn’t working, I was engrossed in a book. I’m alive and hanging out at TBE.

Deegee, that is kind of nuts you get lousy cell reception at work. I’m guessing the building has a lot of metal in it. It sounds like your job is perfect for you. And how nice to park your pretty blue car out the window so you can admire it. We haven’t seen that balloon again. Although, we’ve had a lot of rain lately. I think we did get our cars at about the same time. I think I’ll keep this one past warranty. It’s got 15,000 miles and I haven’t had a lick of trouble with it or my last Macan. That stinks about your migraine. I hope resting up this weekend helped. I get flashy lights and can’t see when I’m getting a migraine. They don’t last long for me, luckily. I like that you named your robot vacuum furminator. That’s good.

Dee Jay, good idea to make sure your brakes get done. They are important. Those motion activated lights are awesome in spots. I have a plug-in light that does that. I could stick it in the laundry room. It was handy at our last house when I came in from the garage with all my hands full and the house was dark. Interesting idea about opening a vintage shop. I think it would do well, but that’s rough to think about the time you’d devote to it. And ugh to the hassles of hiring employees, etc. I cracked in 2 months after retiring and was looking for something to do. You could open the shop by appointment, or have limited hours, but then you loose the walk-in customer. IMO, if something like that is right to do, you’ll know it. I hope your back is doing better. You do have a busy week ahead.

I’ve been unusually tired this week. I don’t know why. I am sleeping normal. Today, I kept falling asleep trying to read a book. I didn’t eat much the last few days so when we went out to lunch, I ate my entire meal. It perked me up for a while. I checked my BP - it was in the “green”. We were going to Colorado for a nephew’s college graduation party, but I just didn’t feel up to it. It didn’t start until 4 p.m. and it’d be 2 hours to get home after it’s done.

Marty continues to spend most of his “spare” time on the house. He put up a raptor perch hoping to get a hawk, eagle or owl that would take care of rodents for us. So far, nothing has shown up.

While we were out today, I picked up yarn to make one of my nieces a hat, mittens and scarf set. It’s blue though, I might want it for myself. I was so out of it this morning that I forgot it was laundry day. I’m working on it now.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

DeeGee, is there a door to the office you can close so Furminator doesn't go in there and instead gets to the areas you want it to? The stuff in the store would just be my regular inventory, so I wouldn't even have to do anything special. But I really think I'm over that idea. I do need to call the guy and let him know, as a courtesy, but I'm sure someone will take the space because it's really great.

Curby, I've been doing pretty good on the food front lately. Did I tell you I'm doing the 16/8 intermittent fasting thing? I realized I was pretty much doing it anyway, with the exception of my morning coffee, so I made a slight modification and now I'm "with the program." The concept is that you consume your calories for a day in an eight hour window and then no calories (or minimum, but I'm going with NO) during a 16 hour period. So now I wait until noon to have my coffee (which I was doing a couple hours earlier) and eat pretty much two meals and a snack (plus wine!) between then and eight p.m. I'm not much of a breakfast person anyway, and most days I wasn't eating until noon -- or even two or three if I was intent on doing listings! -- so just shifting the coffee did it for me. I'm losing weight in a noticeable way; even Liam made a comment the other day, and he didn't have any clue I was doing this. Of course all bets are off when I visit the family later this week, but even if I get off schedule I'll get right back on next week.

Today I had lunch with my friend, and it was great to catch up. I was supposed to head to Missouri with #1 tomorrow, but she and her boyfriend both have a nasty virus (possibly covid, but they haven't tested) so instead I'm driving down on Wednesday by myself and #2 will come from Des Moines where she'll be for work. We're heading back out on Friday, so it will be a super short trip with a lot of driving, but Mom and Dad got so excited about us coming that felt like I couldn't bail even through #1 is sick and not going.

Anyway, I need to go into the basement and pack a big international order. Debating whether to do that tonight or wait until tomorrow. Frankly, I'm just tired and thinking it's going to be in the morning...

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I hope you’re feeling better! That’s kind of the way I felt getting over my last migraine. I just did not feel well and wanted to sleep. Your car only has 15,000 miles after 3 years? Dang. My new car isn’t 2 months old yet and it already has 3,500 miles. I’m only 10 miles from work, but I do go home to KY almost every weekend, and we went to the mountains and Pittsburgh. What book are you reading? I’ve gotta get my library card renewed so I can read again. Of course they won’t do it online. Have to make a special trip and their hours are pretty much the same as my work hours. Raptor perch, eh? I’ve never heard of that. Our security camera catches lots of opossums, raccoons, foxes, deer & coyote, and we have a bear who swings by occasionally. The coyotes keep the rodent population under control, and we seldom see bunnies or squirrels. I don’t like the coyotes coming right up to the house at all.

Well, today was A DAY. I was really aggravated by 8:30 am, and I was ready to turn in my notice and leave. I don’t want to resign in anger though. But mannnnnn…. I’m not doing many days like this. There is one person who I absolutely can’t get along with, which isn’t bad out of 95 coworkers. She used to be a contractor and I worked with her on our computer project. She is the only person I ever lost my temper with and yelled at during the project. Several programmers quit when our agency hired her. She’s the most stubborn…gah!!! Unfortunately I have to work with her a lot and she’s the main reason I really started looking into retirement. She’s gotten better since our director had a little chat with her, but she’s still so FRUSTRATING. My blood pressure doesn’t need it.

Dee*Jay- I hope you’re busy week is going well. Marcy-feel better!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-you posted at the same time as I did! My office is a normal person’s dining room with French doors on one side and open on the other. I opened the doors so it’s doing a little better, except there is a chair with a skirt in there and it keeps getting stuck under it. I started to do the fasting thing once. I even downloaded a book about it. I need to try again because I got a look at myself on the security camera outside while I was taking Lily out to do her biz, and YIKES! I was doing so well until I broke my leg. It’s a vicious cycle of not exercising because my leg hurts, and my leg getting more stiff because I don’t exercise.

 

[deegee]

dee*Jay- I’m going to give that intermittent fasting thing another try. Are you supposed to have no calories before noon, or nothing at all? Can I still have my unsweet hot tea in the banned food zone? I eat yogurt or cottage cheese when I get to work, but I can probably hold off until noon or 1. I usually don’t eat until after 1 on weekends. But I gotta have my unsweet hot tea first thing!

Howdy Marcy!

Nothing exciting so far this week. I purged a lot of stuff from my office when our agency changed locations in 2023, and yesterday I decided throw stuff out again. I scanned a bunch of files to myself and threw away almost all paper copies of everything. I kept only what I’m working on. I’ve taken nearly every personal item home too, and what I have left will fit into my purse. People are really going to wonder when they walk into my bare office! Furminator is doing its thing, helping with the fur. One cat follows it around and the other 3 are nowhere to be seen. That’s it for ultra-exciting D. Have a great evening.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

DeeGee, this fasting thing is really the easiest thing I've ever done! I have no calories, and also not anything unsweetened (like diet soda or anything else with fake sugar) until noon. Then I have my normal coffee (with one splenda) and some sort of small food at that point (like a regular small lunch). I'll usually then have a snack late afternoon (a granola bar or yogurt), and then a normal dinner. And two glasses of wine/prosecco -- always! And come eight o'clock, I'm done for the day, with the exception of water.

There are differing opinions on whether you can have some small amount of calories, like 50 or 10, and not "break the fast." This usually comes in the context of milk in your morning coffee. But I figured, why mess with it, so I just have water or maybe herbal tea with nothing in it. Also, fake sweeteners trigger an insulin response that is detrimental to the fast process, so that's why you aren't supposed to use them, even though they are zero calorie, in the fasting window. (And let us be clear: I have NO medical expertise whatsoever, that last bit was just something I've read several times and think has validity, but I am NOT a doctor or a nutritionist!)

My list of foods that I eat are just an example BTW, they say just "eat normally" during the eating window. I find though that I want less food in general, and I'm much more physically comfortable eating small quantities than if I eat something bigger now.

There are different time periods. I just use the 16:8 because it totally works for me (noon to eight pm is perfect), but there are all sorts of options (14:10, 20:4, and even something called 5/2 where I think you do one things for five days and something different for two days, but I've never really looked into that).

Anyway, that's my current plan and I've lost about 13 pounds with pretty much no effort at all!

I'm in Missouri for a few days with "the fam" so all bets are off from yesterday to tomorrow, but come Saturday I'll be right back at it!

Alright, heading out now to a couple of antique stores with mom and somewhere along the way we have to pick up a wedding gift for someone. Off we go!

 

[deegee]

dee-*jay-thanks for the info! You are so right about the artificial sweetener thing. I hadn’t thought about that. My morning hot tea has a squirt of Splenda. Usually eat yogurt or cottage cheese when I get to work, but that’s more out of habit than anything. I did really well once when I signed up for a program at work. The gist of it was to eat only when you’re truly hungry and not because it’s time. Eat slowly for 10 minutes, then stop for 5. Most of the time after that break, you realize you aren’t hungry anymore. At the same time, I was taking walks during breaks and going to the park after work for a long walk. I felt so much better, but then I broke my leg on a walk and I’ve pretty much sucked at doing good since. I’m going to try the 16:8, and I like that you’re still having wine/prosecco and still losing weight! I have some family in St Louis, but I haven’t been back there since my grandmother died in 2011. I remember it as HOT and dry.

I pulled a good stunt this morning first thing after getting to work. I was unlocking my office door and somehow got my feet tangled, stumbled around gracefully in the hall and fell flat on my behind with my legs in the air. All under the security camera right outside of my office. My shoe flew off and hit my door, my water bottle went in one direction and rolled, and my purse and lunch bag went the other way. I fully expected building management to show up with a waiver of liability for me to sign. I’m feeling really stoved up this evening and the leg I broke in 2021 or 22 (lost covid years) is really aching. Somehow my right ring finger swelled up and has a puncture on the underside. My key was still in the door so I’m not sure what the hole is from. I’ve got a finger splint on it this evening to keep it from bending. I swear I’m a hot mess most of the time. Have a good evening. So so glad tomorrow is Friday.

 

[deegee]

I asked AI to imagine a picture of me falling at work. It’s pretty accurate, except our floors are hard tile and I don’t wear heels.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

DeeGee, OMG! But I have to admit that meme is pretty funny... and one I can totally identify with. How are you feeling now? I fell off the 16:8 wagon while I was gone and gained 1.2 pounds, but I'm back on it today. Liam just ran to a local pizza place and picked up lunch. I'm sitting here with an order of meatballs in a bag in front of me and five minutes left before I can eat them.

The trip was good, but about a day too short given the long drive down and back. Yesterday morning I got on the road early and went straight to an estate sale. I filled my car up pretty good. When I got home I realized I left something behind so I had to go back this morning and pick it up. I also stopped at another sale and got two sets of glasses.

My plan for the rest of the day mayyyyyyy involve going into the garage and seeing if I can burn a bunch of paperwork that I've been moving around for the past twenty years. Too much to shred, but Liam said if it looks like it's going to be clear later (it sprinkled off and on this morning) he'll put a fire in the burn barrel later.

That's about all the excitement going on here LOL.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, glad the 16/8 routine is working for you. Woo hoo for losing 13 pounds on it. That’s awesome. Have fun in Missouri. Nice to get rid of that paperwork. I paid a ridiculous amount to Shred-It to get rid of my giant pile of paperwork before we moved.

Deegee, I read a Jason Trapp book - it’s the first of a series that is supposed to be similar to Jack Reacher books. I’m tempted to join Kindle unlimited just so I can read the other 8 books out there for free - other than the monthly fee. I spent most of the week finishing it. I’d never heard of a raptor perch either. So far, we haven’t seen a single bird of prey - or anything on it. I told Marty it’s just not listed on Google Maps yet. Sounds like you get lots of critters. Sorry about that frustrating / irritating lady at work. My car does have very low mileage. That’s funny one of your cats follows furminator around. How awful about falling. I hope you didn’t hurt anything.

I spent the week working, reading or knitting. I have felt like I normally do, so I am sure last weekend was a fluke.

I’ve been studying today about super moons since I got suckered in to being on our livestream about it in the morning. I don’t have a CLUE what questions they are asking me, so I studied quite a bit of it. The host is kind of disorganized and didn’t get any of the three of us he’ll talk to questions. I at least KIND of know what topics he’s supposed to cover with me.

I got a hat and mittens done for one of my nieces. I did finish that book.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, between yesterday and today I have burned everything more than ten yeas old! I know you are only supposed to have to keep taxes for seven, but I'm more conservative than that (for no good reason, LOL). And there are rules around how long real estate files have to be kept... but again, I go a few years beyond the requirement just in case. For the books, can you join a library and do it for free? I had a Kindle unlimited subscription for a short period of time and frankly there is very little available for the monthly fee (in my opinion anyway). I spent more time looking for an available book than it would actually take me to read/listen to it. That was some years ago though, to be fair, so maybe the selection has improved. An interview for the super moon -- you're famous!

I'm now coated in smoke so I better go take a shower and wash my hair -- twice! Then I've got an order to pack, a trip to the post office, and the chiro this afternoon. Things are just WILD here at The North Estate!

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I’m so glad you posted. I was getting worried about you lady! I’m glad you’re feeling better. I just cancelled kindle unlimited and a few other subscriptions. I found I wasn’t using it at all. If you subscribe and have good luck, I may have to give it another try. I need to get to the library after work one day to renew my card. Aggravating to have to do that in person when you can do just about everything else in life online! I hope your super moon discussion went well.

Dee*Jay-good job getting rid of all of those papers, but I bet you did REALLY stink. I was helping mom with things after dad died and discovered he kept every single everything (bills, taxes, EOBs, receipts, cancelled checks, etc) from the entire 52 years they were married. Very well organized I have to say. And I’m so proud of myself! I’m off to a great start with the 16:8 fasting. Friday through yesterday was easy peasy, but I was a little worried about today at work. I was in a meeting 11-1 and was afraid my stomach would be loudly making itself known, so I drank lots of water. The restroom is a .15 mile round trip from my office (yes, I clocked it with my watch), so all that water will help getting steps in for the day. Win-win!

I was really stoved up on Friday so I took the day off. I have lots of bruises and I’m darn lucky I didn’t break anything. I didn’t leave the house the entire weekend. My boss told me today that I needed to file an incident report. I’m probably not going to do that unless they make me. I’m in my rebel…I can walk right out of here phase. I’m being lazy and making cheater chicken and dumplings for dinner. Have a wonderful evening!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I thought you had Kindle unlimited once and dropped it. I’m thinking I’d find the same thing. Why are you covered in smoke? I’d be showering twice as well. There was a lady I worked with a long time ago that would go smoke in her car about every hour. She always stunk of stale smoke. You could hardly stand to be near her. Nice to get rid of all those papers and now I totally remember why you smelled like smoke.

Deegee, I don’t know if our library does the ebooks, but it seems like they make you come in to sign up too. I’m with you on signing up online. It’s so much easier. Good idea to go through those subscriptions. I dropped quite a few of mine, Marty NEVER knows what he’s signed up for though. My dad saved everything too for their 65 year marriage. I transferred a trailer from 1949 to a buddy of his and he had the receipt for that. Everyone at the title office was oohing and awing over it. Good luck with the 16:8 fasting. Isn’t that nice to know you can walk out anytime your want? I hope your bruises and aches and pains heal quickly. Good idea to avoid filing an accident report. It was always such a hassle at my job that I told people if I ever get hurt at work roll me across the street, dump me out and let Marty know where to pick me up.

We had a long, strange day. A guy came to fix a chip out of one of our windows. He patched it and filled it rather than replace it. Still no word on heat. I studied quite a bit for that livestream on the super moon. I was way over prepared but since I didn’t have questions ahead of time, I wanted to make sure I was ready. I think it went pretty well. Marty got a bid on concrete work for the observatory and rock around the house and under the trailer. It was more than expected, but what isn’t these days? He’s going ahead with the observatory part. We went to a nursery and picked out some landscaping rock for out front and got two small pine trees to plant. They had end of season sales on trees, buy one get one free. Marty checked what they had left over and only wanted to two pine trees. They will literally dump the rock off tomorrow.

We had a huge thunderstorm roll through and we lost electricity for about an hour. I went downstairs and lifted then since it was still light outside.

I am seeing the supermoon through clouds right now. We did have a lovely sunset though.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

DeeGee, when I was working if my bathroom had been that far away I'd have just moved in there with my laptop! If you have to file and incident report just say: "See video camera footage," LOL.

Curby, well our wander through the neighborhood in the dark of night did get us a view of the super moon, but it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. It was a spur o the moment decision to go look and Liam and I both set out in dark clothes -- good thing not a single car came by the whole time we were walking around. I did say to him if we heard anything coming we were heading straight for the ditch on the side of the road!

Yesterday afternoon I took Billy Ray out for the firs time in over a month. I'm happy to report I was able to get in and out of the driver's seat without hurting myself, ha ha. For dinner I whipped up hamburger pizza casserole (ground meat, pizza sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni, mozzarella), which we haven't had for a while, and it was really good.

Blue was woofing in the middle of the night and I had to go down and let him out to pee. He had a lot of water yesterday because I put his bowl outside since he and Sonny were out there with me the whole time I was burning stuff. It always torques me off that Liam doesn't hear a thing, no matter what, but I sleep with earplugs in and a white noise machine and I can hear a butterfly flap its wings in Thailand!

Today I'm contemplating going out into the garage and seeing what more I can organize, but I'm not sure I can really do that without Liam's help. I also queued up a youtube workout video for "ladies over 40 with bad knees." We'll see how that goes!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, glad you saw the supermoon and good deal no cars came by since you both had on dark clothes. I did see the moon this morning and got a very lame photo through the window. Looks like it’ll be clear tonight. Saturn will be close to the moon tonight, Glad your outing in Billy Ray was fun and you could get in and out without issue. Too funny Liam doesn’t hear a thing and you do with earplugs. That sounds very familiar. I wear earplugs but barely, they never go in my ear too far. Marty could sleep through an earthquake. And I hear those same butterflies in Thailand you do. Did you venture out to the garage and organize it? How was the video. Speaking of knees, my right knee is really yelling at me today.

My day began at the periodontist. It only improved from there. I was two minutes late because the direction I went was blocked off by construction. Oh well, at least I got in right away. I decided since I ventured in to town I’d pick up groceries. Marty got the rock put down out front in the spot by the porch and planted one of the two pine trees. It pretty much wore him out. His Tuesday crew at the gym cancelled on him, so we went out for supper.

I worked some and knit a few rows. My right wrist is starting to hurt from knitting so much, noooooooooooooo. It’s heck to get old.

Marty was excited, he had a hawk on his raptor pole. It wasn’t there long either, it looks like it found dinner.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I’m a dip! You mentioned the super moon and somehow I missed that it was happening yesterday and it was a big deal. My sister sent pics and I realized…oh that’s what Marcy was talking about. Isn’t it crazy how our parents kept such meticulous records? I am not so good.

Dee*Jay- there was a lot of complaining about the distance to the restrooms when we first moved into our new office. There is a closet set, but you have to enter a restricted area and it’s too much trouble. Only problem with them being so far away is that you can’t wait to the last minute to go! Might have an accident on the way and they’d catch it on one of the millions of security cameras. Good luck with all the organizing.

Poor Matt got stung by wasps at work today. He’s a chemical engineer and usually works from home or in an office, but today he was in a plant doing field work. He got stung through gloves on the back of both hands, his wrist, and a bunch around his goggles, his nose and chin. He was under observation by the plant medic for an hour before they released him. He’s so swollen. His eyes are black and look like slits and his jaw looks like there’s a grapefruit crammed in there. He’s miserable. He’s sitting with ice on his face. I’m going to bed early tonight. I think I’ll be checking on Matt throughout the night.

 

[marcy]

Deegee, poor Matt. That sounds painful and pretty awful. Were the wasps in his gear he put on? Of just a lot of them around? I keep decent records, but certainly nothing like my parents had. Of course when I want something, I can find it. I hear you on the bathrooms. The one on my floor at work was at the other end of a large building and there was one guy you NEVER wanted to run in to on the way. He’d talk your ear off. There will be 3 more super moons. The next one September 17. The October one will be the closest of the super moons. It’ll look pretty good tonight too.

Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I neither made it into the garage nor did I do the workout video yesterday... but I DID take everything out of the corner cabinet where all Tupperware goes to die and organize that! How cool that Marty has an occupant on his raptor pole! We've got a bunch of local road construction going on here too. I'm never sure now if the path I start out on is actually going to get me where I'm going LOL.

DeeGee, oh no, that's TERRIBLE! Poor Matt! Did he manage to get any sleep last night? I hope he's off today taking it easy. How's the 16:8 going? I managed to take off the pound I put on last week down in Missouri, plus one more, so I'm pretty happy right now. Frankly, I'm finding this effortless. I can't believe I never tried it before!

Yesterday, in addition to The Great Tupperware Organization, I did a bunch of clean-up in our walk-in close and put some stuff in a bag for the Salvation Army. Liam made steaks on the grill for dinner and we had that with a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers that I brought back from the trip last week. In the evening Liam decided he had such a good time walking around the neighborhood the night before that we should do it again. Uuuuuhhhh... OK. This time though I got out some red lights that I'd bought some time ago (for reasons I no longer remember... ) and we clipped those to our pockets. We did see a couple of cars this time, plus one guy wearing dark clothes and walking his black dog who I didn't even realize was there until we almost ran into each other. I was happy to get in an extra 6,000 steps, and maybe we'll make this a habit!

I'm back from the post office already (wine glasses going to France... fingers crossed!) and I might start cleaning out the corner cabinet on the other side of the kitchen while I wait for Liam to call. We're supposed to go over to a friend's manufacturing facility and pick up a load of boxes. Another bout of wild excitement here, as you can tell!

 

[deegee]

Marcy-the periodontist…are you having a dental implant? I had one during the most covid years. It started in 2021 and the last procedure was in 2022. I’m curious about the observatory. That sounds interesting. Matt was climbing a ladder in a security cage on a vessel (or tank or unit, one of those) and was about 45 ft up on the very last rung at the top when he got swarmed, so it could have been so much worse. He was loaded down with protective safety gear with the only exposed skin being face outside of the safety goggles and neck. He got stung through gloves, but not the rest of what he was wearing. He got himself back down and got to the medical unit. He wanted to see the super moon last night but he was in no shape for anything but antihistamines and sleep.

Dee*Jay- you’re right that this fasting thing is easy. I get hungry at around 10am so I drink water or unsweetened hot tea and then I’m good. I wait until I feel hungry again and then I have noticed I don’t want that much. I don’t weigh because I get completely obsessed with the scale. I weigh a dozen times a day. I do better mentally just to stick to a plan and hopefully see my clothes fit better. Good idea with the light clips. We had something like that for Lily’s collar and I have no idea what we did with it. I missed your butterfly flapping its wings in Thailand comment. That’s hilarious! I’m a light sleeper and Matt is OUT as soon as his head hits the pillow, so I can relate.

Ladies-do we all have bad knees? Mine were fine until I broke my tibia right below my left knee. I am super busy at work and stayed 2 hrs late. Overtime counts towards my final salary for retirement, but man I don’t want to work it! My boss and I had a discussion about my plans and who I thought should replace me and all of that. Hopefully that gets some things in motion. Have a wonderful day tomorrow!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

DeeGee, how is Matt doing? Yes, we are The Three of The Bad Knees! Hopefully that conversation with your boss gets things rolling. I hear ya on the scale! The thing I really hate is when I get up and pee and weigh myself and then go back to bed, get up later and pee again, and weigh myself... and the number is HIGHER. How does that even happen?!? I haven't eaten or drunk anything in between and I've had liquid LEAVE my body... HOW????? I'm not looking forward to the scale this morning though because Liam and I went out for sushi last night. Oh well, a girl's gotta live a little!

Well my wild cleaning tear continues! I did organize the other corner cabinet with the lazy Susan and then tackled the pantry area. It took two evenings and I needed Liam's in put on some things. The conversations mostly went like this

Me: "What is this?"
Him: "I don't know... but we should keep it."
Me: "If you don't know what it is and it hasn't been out of this drawer in the seven years we've been together we're not keeping it."
Him: "Noooooo.... !" as he watches me drop it into the garbage.

Today I'm going out and about with a lady who has just moved to town. She's the wife of the chief investment officer from my old company. He came up last year, but she stayed in Phoenix to get the oldest kid through school and is now here, youngest one in tow. I visited with them a few weeks ago and found out she's been grocery shopping at The Scary Walmart because she didn't know any different so I'm going to show her where Meijer is and some other stuff.

Liam and I forgot to walk last night. We got so wrapped up with the organization of the pantry and didn't realize it until it was pretty late. That's OK, we'll go tonight.

Alright, off to get this day rolling!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yay for cleaning out the Tupperware cupboard. I put most of mine in the pantry. All the lids are shoved in other Tupperware. It’ll be a challenge to find a lid when I actually want one. There’s always press n seal. It is construction season all right. Nice to be going on walks at night and good idea to use some lights. I hope the glasses make it to France okay. It is strange how the scale seems to go up during the day. I don’t even know where our scale is in this house. I’m sure it’s somewhere. LOL to getting rid of things you haven’t used in 7 years. Of course, you’ll need it as soon as it’s gone. That’s nice of you to show that lady around.

Deegee, I had to have a tooth lengthened that took almost two years to get done. Now i go for their cleanings every 4 months. How is your implant doing? Marty is building an 8 x 16 shed as an observatory and it will have a roll off roof with 7 foot walls. He has two giant piers he’ll bury in the ground to put mounts on. Then he’ll leave his gear and scopes out there. It’ll be about 350 feet from the house, so he’ll have to bury cable to get power to it. That is so awful about Matt getting attacked by that and really scary being 45 feet in the air. Glad it didn’t make him fall. Poor guy. Tell him not to worry. There are 3 more super moons through November. Sounds like Matt, Marty and Liam can fall asleep instantly and sleep through anything. Not the 3 of us. Yes, I think we all have bad knees. Good luck with work and finding your replacement. Of course, you’ll be hard to replace.

Well, speaking of bad knees and throwing things away that you need - my knees have been gripping worse than normal and my right wrist (not even the one I broke) has decided it wants attention too. I think it’s carpel tunnel - you know based on my degree from webmd - so I’ve been icing it and doing some exercises I found on line. I had some nice wrist braces from breaking my wrist and I threw them all away when I was packing. The wrist had kind of been bugging me knitting so much, but the other night I couldn’t knit more than a few rows. And I decided to poke around on my wrist to find the sore spot and it shot pain and tingling up through most of my fingers and thumb. That confirmed I found the right “spot” though. My desk is too tall for me so that’s probably a contributing factor, plus all the knitting. I picked up a brace and wear it now and then.

The TBE sign is almost done. I’m so excited. We had our astronomy meeting last night and I have no idea what’s on tap for the weekend. I have some work to do and need to get an article written for the local paper.

Laters,
Curby