Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Deegee, STILL no water… oh you poor thing!!! And I can’t believe that you still have a rash. Is there anything you can put on it, like Calamine lotion? And I fully support you in your wearing of PJ bottoms to work, especially if they are velure (sp?) and have brightly colored elephants on them!

Curby, I can’t remember if I told you I got a crock pot for Christmas…? I told my dad that’s what I wanted (really I wanted it so the CB could use it, ha!) and he sent me a small one. As in tiny. Super tiny. And he sent a cookbook with it so we assumed the cookbook went with the crockpot. Nope. The CB started putting all the ingredients in the quantities called for in the recipe in the pot and couldn’t even get them all in because it was too small. Finally he dumped everything in a regular pot and made it on the stove. Later I talked to my dad and he offhandedly mentioned the cookbook had no relation to the crockpot and I would need to “adjust” the quantity of ingredients. NOW you tell me. Sucker is going straight to the Salvation Army.

Last night the CB and I went out for mediocre Mexican food and then I got a ten year old boy haircut. One of the things I specifically said to her was that the hair on the top of my head was too short and I wanted to grow out some more length there… and then she cut off two inches. WTF. Oh well, in a week or two it will be fine.

Tonight my department is going to Spiaggia, which is a chi chi Italian restaurant on Michigan Avenue, for a cooking demonstration and dinner. Should be fun!

 

[deegee]

Still no water. Hundreds of people in "safe" zones are being treated in ERs for rashes, vomiting, nausea and severe headaches after following instructions to flush their systems and using "safe" water to take a shower. People are also reporting doing laundry and running the dishwasher in "safe" water, and it ruining clothes and plastics. Maybe I won't be using the water anytime soon even after we're finally declared safe. We ate dinner at Cracker Barrel in a safe zone tonight. Limited menu, and drinks were canned sodas only. This is so weird! I finally went to the dr today after coughing my head off the last few weeks. I have a respiratory infection with inflamed lungs. I walked out with a fist full of prescriptions, including 2 different cough medicines, antibiotics, and steroids. This is the crappiest anniversary/birthday week ever! (My anniversary was yesterday-19 yrs. woo-hoo!)

Marcy-don't you just want to yell, "hellooooo.....bright red car here! Can't you see me??" Seems like bad drivers are out in full force these days. I made a roast and veggies int he crockpot on Mnday, and we had it 2 nights in a row. It was really tasty! I'm having a hard time getting back on track with food right now too.the steroids won't help. I hope Marty isn't gone for long this trip.

Dee*Jay-thankfully my rash doesn't itch anymore. It's just tiny little bumps now. With all of the people now going to the ER after taking a shower in "safe" water, I'm thinking I'll be taking Dasani showers for a while! We decided to get rid of our giant crockpot whe we moved and bought a new one for our new house. It isn't tiny, but I could barely squish my roast and veggies in it. Probably should have gone a tad bit bigger. My haircut lady decided I needed a short style last April without asking me first. Now I'm afraid to ask for a trim!

I'm going to take a big dose of couch medicine and head to bed. Good night!

 

[deegee]

The WVDHHR is now advising pregnant women to drink bottled water until further notice. I think it will be a while before we feel our water is safe to consume.

 

[marcy]

Happy Wednesday!

Dee Jay, good plan to get a crock-pot so the CB could cook in it. Rats that it is too small for the recipes that came with it. I have been thinking of getting a smaller one to bake potatoes in. I don’t use them that often to really go crazy though. How annoying to have them cut your hair too short. Hopefully it will grow out quickly. My hair is such a mess I may not get a hair cut for months. I wanted layers and ended up with the bottom of my sides shorter than the back and the layers on top are thicker than the bottom so no matter what I do my hair falls forward. I am trying to let it grow long enough I can get the bottoms straightened out and get the top re-layered. I bet the cooking demonstration and dinner was fun.

Deegee, how awful that people who were told they could use the “safe” water are finding that’s not exactly true. What a mess this is turning in to for you and your community. I hope your respiratory infection gets better soon, the handful of meds should help. Happy anniversary and birthday! 19 years is something to celebrate. When is your birthday? Yes, I do want to yell at those cars. Today was lots of flashy blingy red trucks and car day. I saw 4 sheriffs this morning with one single car pulled over. I think he was doing more than speeding. Tonight coming home 2 fire trucks and an ambulance was going the other direction. Funny I’ve had such adventures get to and from work this week. I tried to eat better today but I sure didn’t need a coke, PB M&M’s or ice cream. Sigh. Marty will be back Friday.

I woke up at 1:30, finally got back to sleep about 2:15 or so and a weather alert woke me up at 2:30. It told me there is a high wind warning for here. I was thinking ooh there is a surprise. I quickly went through my settings and changed all my weather alerts to “no sound”. Then I started thinking about work and fell asleep again about 5:30. Short night.

Work was no fun Part 3 today. I told the HR director today (after she asked about Marty) he sure doesn’t miss being a manager. I don’t think she liked that.

I turned on the fireplace and blower tonight and it sure warmed me up. I had it going, the dishwasher running and then one of Marty’s speakers fell off the stand. Scared the crud out of me. I know it got bumped a few times during the family Christmas and the girl that cleans for us moves them to clean. I hope it’s okay. I can hear sound out of it anyway. I was a few feet from it and not moving so I don’t think it was something I did. The only thing I can see is it was probably not quite on the center and the blower and dishwasher was shaking the floor. I won’t tell Marty till he gets home.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I forgot to tell you I saw some of your old places in your IKEA thread - they looked marvelous. I can't wait to see what you do with your new place.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Deegee, this water situation is just horrible and crazy! And your hair person sounds like my hair person. Seriously, don’t they LISTEN to us?!? If I wanted my hair to stick straight up off my head I’d stick my finger in a light socket and save the hundred bucks.

Curby, the first time my phone put off an alert it was an Amber Alert at about 2:30 in the morning. Scared the living sh!t out of me. I had to google what to do and once I finally got the alerts turned to silent and went back to sleep the CB’s phone went off for the same thing. Mercy… And I have had some good kitchens over the years. Bathrooms too; too bad I never take good pics of those!

The cooking demonstration was fun and the food was great! The manager of the restaurant ran our event and he told us the restaurant was actually closed now (Dec. 31 to some time in March) for renovation. They are trying to be less “stuffy” (my word, not his!) and want to update the atmosphere since they haven’t done anything to the interior for 30 years. I also didn’t know this was one of only three restaurants left in Chicago that is “jacket required.” Wow – talk about a throw-back!

This morning I cleaned my bathroom to a degree that it hasn’t been cleaned since I used cleaning as procrastination for studying for the CPA exam! The rest of the apartment looks like a bomb went off, but dammit that bathroom is CLEAN.

Off to HRB in a hour and then dinner with a friend at a local steak place tonight.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I had a missed call from Chicago on my cell today. How'd you get my number? Hubby tells me I pay way too much money to my haircut lady to be afraid to ask for a trim. I agree, but she does a awesome job with color! Your cooking demonstration sounds really fun. Did you actually have to cook anything? I'd be such a fish out of water if I went to something like that and had to actually cook. I was a little nervous at our beer making party with the one ingredient I was responsible for. It was the yeast, for heaven's sake! Oh, the pressure.

Marcy-you have had some adventures in commuting this week! Since I only have about half a mile on the interstate each day (instead of 110 miles before we moved), I get lots less frustrated. Although this evening on the little curvy road, 2 people straightened the curves and almost hit me head on. I'm only on that road .8 mile! Maybe my next vehicle should be a tank. My birthday is today. I'm, ummm...20 something. Sounds good. Actually, I'm 46. And with all the crazy things that have happened to me over the years, I'm pretty darn happy to have made it this long! That stinks about the speaker. I hope it isn't damaged.

Still no water. We're thinking about heading out of town for the weekend so we can rest, take showers, and eat good food. There aren't many restaurants open and those that are have limited menus and sodas in cans. The last time I made chili, I froze half of the ground beef. Tonight I made tacos with the rest of the ground beef. Neither of us felt like going out since we didn't know what we would find to eat anyway. I'm feeling a little better today. I took a very large dose of my narcotic cough medicine last night and slept through the night. I hope the antibiotics and steroids kick in really fast and I'll perk right back up. Next week will be better. Have great Friday!

 

[marcy]

Happy Thursday!

Dee Jay, it figures that weather alerts will only go off on your phones at night and at different times. The light of the phone is so darn bright in the dark too. When Marty has to get up really early he sets the panic alert as his alarm and it scares me to death when it goes off. Great kitchens and bathrooms are the best. I am anxious to see the progress of your new place as it gets renovated. Enjoy your squeaky clean bathroom.

Deegee, Happy Birthday! I am glad you are feeling better. I would go somewhere this weekend too. You will probably spend at least an hour taking a shower. How scary to almost have a head-on collision. I would say today was my day of bad drivers like that. I think we both should get tanks and bubble wrap. Marty wanted me to let him know yesterday when I got home so I sent him a text that said “Curby 1 & 2 arrived safely at home”.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up a few things and actually looked at a frost and tip kit but I don’t know if I have the skill to frost my hair.

Marty will be home tomorrow. Yippee!

Take care.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-Yay! Glad Marty will be home for the weekend. Did you frost your hair? I'm always too chicken to do that kind of thing myself. My haircut lady likes to experiment with my hair and she always does an awesome job with color. I've never been upset with her for color. That last cut though...grrrrrr..... Still ticked about it 10 months later. I agree about the tanks and bubble wrap. I don't go looking for these things, they just seem to happen!

Matt, Lily and I shot out of town as early as we could today. We rented a cabin in the mountains 5 hours away from the contaminated water zone. I'm sooooo looking forward to a long, hot shower. We got the all clear today to begin flushing our system. Our neighbor who is taking care of our cats said he tried to flush his system twice today, but couldn't take the smell. Hopefully by the time we get back on Monday, the rest of the community has flushed all of the nasty smell and contamination out of all the lines. I read an awfully scary story today about how the CDC used information from a 1991 study on a similar chemical in its pure form (not diluted) to determine safe levels for us. That doesn't really give me a warm & fuzzy feeling. I ate terribly today. A hamburger for lunch, spinach dip and a slice of pizza for dinner. I'm thinking I wasn't supposed to drink all of that beer with my pizza this evening considering all of the medicine I'm on. This has been one lousy week, so I decided I just don't care! Have a great Saturday!!!

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday and Broncos going to the Super Bowl Day! (Sorry if you are a Patriots fan but I am excited).

Deegee, I did not pick up the frost and tip kit; I figure that is above my skill level. It's funny that you, Dee Jay and me all have had hair cut disasters. I don't think I'll have mine cut for at least a few more months, it is so uneven I need a lot of length to get it evened out. How was your cabin this weekend? I am sure you guys took a lot of showers.

We had a busy but lazy weekend. Friday night was our astronomy club meeting. We really had a crowd. Our announcement in the paper was for "Astronomy 101" with a handout going over basic astronomy so we had a lot of new people show up. After the meeting we had french fries and a shake. I was so full since i don't usually eat that much at one time I stayed up really late that night.

Saturday I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast and Marty marinated flank steak for lunch / dinner. We had veggies and potatoes with it.

Today we had bacon, eggs, toast and hash browns for breakfast. I made a small batch of chocolate chip cookies and sent home a lot of them with my dad. We ordered pizza and watch football.

I have a horrid sinus headache today. I am sure it's the stupid wind we have here. Boo.

We aren't off tomorrow so enjoy your days off.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-when I look at a picture of myself from last April, I get irked at my haircut lady all over again. She did a great job on the cut, but she went way too short. I haven't had anything but a few bang trims since then. I was too stunned the day she whacked it all off to say anything, but when I went back for my monthly dye job, I told her she got it way too short. I showed her the picture I had shown her when she chopped my hair. She said, "oh, I guess I missed it by a couple of inches." Yeah, like by 4 or 5 inches! Matt would absolutely love to join an astronomy club, especially one that went over some basics. I never did order the telescope for him because he can't figure out exactly what he wants.

We are enjoying our hot showers so much we extended our stay another day. We'll head home tomorrow. We're in a cute cabin in the mountains (I think at the top of a mountain!) I have run all of the hot water out of the tank for my showers the past few days. It just feels so incredibly good. It's also wonderful to be able to rinse a cup, wash your hands, do laundry, etc. I'll never take usable water for granted again! Food has been really bad. Yesterday I had a banana for breakfast, an orange for lunch, and dinner was at a microbrewery where I had stuffed shells and lots of beer. I love eating at microbreweries! I'm off to take lily for a walk, and to breathe some clean air that doesn't smell like contaminated water. I don't want to go home! Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday!

Deegee, I am glad you at least showed your hairdresser when you went back what you wanted your hair to look like and let her know she cut your hair too short. I think they just start talking and kind of do what they think you want. I have only left a salon once looking like the picture I took in and that lady was always late so after I complained about it I hated to go back there. There should be an astronomy club in your city and a good reason to join one is to get to look through assorted telescopes so you can decide what type of telescope you want. Your cabin retreat sounds really nice, I am sure you are dreading going home. Our first RV only held 30 or 40 gallons of water so we really had to conserve water when we went out for 4 to 5 days. I was always very happy to get home.

Work was somewhat better than last week. I sure am tired of being the boss; I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. I try so hard to keep everyone working and playing well together and it simply does no good. I really want to get an iPad or something so I can have a private place to take notes and document EVERYTHING. I definitely need to keep more notes and do a lot of CYA. I just don’t want to haul my iPad back and forth.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday morning kids!

Just a quickie because I have to start conducting annual compliance training meetings in half an hour.

Deegee, I’m glad you got away for the weekend and I LOL’d about you running the hot water out! I hope by the time you get home the water situation is all cleared up!

Curby, I know what you mean about being the boss. There have been times when I’ve been tempted to smack my employees up-side the head – HR consequences be damned!

OK, off to Conference Room G (aka My New Home for the next several weeks… ). If you don’t hear from me for a long time please send someone in to make sure I’m still breathing!

 

[Dee*Jay]

OK, I'm back!

I was supposed to train six people today... one sent me an email at 10:30 last night saying she was taking PTO today and two people didn't show up at all. But I filled in with two others, so all in all I did five. This is going to be a long slog...

Every time I look in the mirror I say to myself, this is the haircut that convinced me to grow my bob back. I've been googling pictures and saving them. At this rate it will be a year before I have anything resembling acceptable hair agian.

And I'm having a furniture crisis. I *wanted* a particular sofa from Crate and Barrel (two of them facing each either actually) with a BIG industrial coffee table between them. I actually ordered the coffee table a few weeks ago when it was on sale (it's on hold for delivery) but now I am reading reviews about the sofa having feathers poking out all over the place. That was the problem that drove me crazy with my last sofa from Room and Board (ergo the reason why I don't have it any more). There is another sofa I am going to look at at Macy's tonight, but if I got the route of this over sofa I might want a DIFFERENT coffee table too. The *different* coffee table I like though is from Z Gallerie and is only 44" square. So now I have to visit THAT and see what it would look like to have two of them together. Seriously, it's a good thing this is the only furniture I need (want!!!) right away or I would be in a panic. I do also need (want!) a bigger dining room table, but I'm in less of a hurry for that.

C&B sofa: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/verano-sofa/s594424
Macy's sofa: http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/teddy-fabric-sofa-91w-x-44d-x-29h?ID=827892&CategoryID=29391#fn=sp%3D1%26spc%3D12%26kws%3Dteddy%20sofa%26slotId%3D1
Restoration Hardware table (already purchased, 43 X 67" in darker rust finish): http://www.restorationhardware.com/catalog/product/product.jsp?productId=prod1617078&categoryId=search
Z Gallerie table: http://www.zgallerie.com/p-10418-timber-coffee-table.aspx

I'm going to use cowhide rugs (cream/taupe, not spotted, and with longer hair) in this area.

Any and all opinions are appreciated! And if you have alternate ideas, well hell, I'll take those too!

 

[marcy]

Happy Tuesday Evening Kids!

Dee Jay, have a blast in conference room G. At least some people showed up for training. I hope your hair grows fast. I always have a few dozen photos saved myself for my next hairdo too. Sadly I just never look like the picture. I think I might be able to get a hair cut about June but it’s still hard to say. I like the Macy’s couch and Z table better – don’t ask me why they just appeal to me more. Of course pictures tell me NOTHING about comfort but the Macy’s couch looks more comfortable. I love the idea of having 2 of them facing each other with a table in between. That is a perfect layout.

Deegee, did you get home tonight? Is the water all clear to use?

My day was full of one on one with my employees. We rehashed the disastrous close of the year and celebrated the fact we are starting this year with new shifts, a new person and new processes. Let’s hope it all works out for us. The person who has been the center of much stress and strife on the team has moved on to another room so hopefully everything works out for the best for everyone.

Whenever I need to have discussions with employees I lay awake at night thinking about what to say and then my mind never shuts off to fall asleep. I think I finally dozed off about 2 and then Marty got up at 5 again. Short night!

Marty made us some garlic sauce, fettuccine and little Parmesan steaks for supper. It was quite tasty. He always fixes me too much so I saved half of it for lunch tomorrow. I had lots of dishes but worked on finishing my glass of wine while working on those.

Marty is trying to kill me off right now with aerosol paint in the basement. Someone save me teddies!

Laters,
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I didn’t like the Macy’s couch I linked to yesterday once I saw it in person (the quality just seemed sloppy to me) but I found another potential option: http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/delilah-fabric-sofa-87w-x-43d-x-27h?ID=1101390&CategoryID=29391&LinkType=PDPZ1 I can special order it in a custom grey velvet fabric for extra $ (of course). Eighteen weeks though… ACK. And the depth is good but I had a longer sofa in my head, this is only 86” and some of that will be taken up by the wide arms. Some time Friday or this weekend I’m going to go to Walter E. Smithe (do you have them there?). Their claim to fame is the vast array of custom work but I’m sure there’s also a vast amount of my cash involved in that process, so we’ll see. Frankly I’m a little worried the Macy’s sofa is so cheap (even with the upcharge for the custom fabric) so I guess there’s no real balance to be had in this process! Is Marty painting the table he recently made? Did you and the teddies survive the fumes?!?

Last night I was tempted to eat the left over pizza from the night before, but changing into my jammies and viewing the alarming fat gathering around my middle put an end to that! Plus I had several phone calls with my mother and brother to kill my appetite. What a nut job my mother is. Even my brother agrees, and we never agree on ANYTHING!

OK, off to Conference Room G. Six people lined up for today!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I like the second Macy's couch and the Z coffee table. Although I suck at picking things out so don't pay attention to my opinion! We have very limited shopping choices here, so I'm jealous of you being able to see things in person. But seriously, 18 weeks? I nearly exploded waiting 8 weeks for my furniture. I still haven't bought the first thing to actually decorate with. I don't know what takes me so long with these things. And speaking of that, I haven't picked out my new car (haven't test driven anything either), but I have added the Lexus RX 450H (hybrid SUV) to my list. Which Lexus do you have?

Marcy-I am glad to hear things might possibly be looking up at work. Now that I am on the project full time, I am no longer a manager. I can't say that I miss it! I definitely didn't document engough, but I was lucky to have a pretty good group to work with so things really never escalated. Poor Matt is going nuts with personnel issues. Poor guy also discovered that, in addition to his employees in 2 different Charleston offices and his group in Louisville, he also has a group in Houston...which is quite a distance away from Charleston! I'll tell him to do a search for a local astronomy club. I think he would really like that. He volunteered to be a math/science tutor at the middle school on Wednesdays and is also taking Spanish (at home course). He says crazy runs in his family and he's trying to keep the crazy away!

Our water situation is bad. We have been given the go-ahead, but the water reeks. You can smell the licorice smell as soon as you walk in the house. If you get it in your eyes, your eyes water for the rest of the day. You turn bright red after a shower. I honestly look like I've been in the sun! Even my freckles are more prominent (coworkers said today, "didn't know you had freckles!"). The red goes away but I think my freckles are staining. Eek! All of us ladies at work are complaining about our flat, fuzzy, sticky hair. The water feels thick, so your skin feels like you have a coating of something-oil, lotion, yuck... To top it off, the chemical company yesterday revealed "oh, by the way...there was another chemical in that tank in addition to the one you knew about." Can I please come & live with one of you? I can't cook or help much around the house, but I'm neat and I'll bring booze! I've been eating like a pig, and I blame the steroid. I finished the rest of the prescription today, so hopefully I can get the food thing back under some kind of control. Walking has been a no-go. The temperature is in the single digits to below zero, and we got 7 inches of snow yesterday. Our neighborhood is on the side of a mountain and the road is solid ice. I think Matt and I should skip town again, and stay away much longer! Have a good day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Happy Wednesday Eve!

Dee Jay, I like the new couch you posted. I have no idea of the quality of furniture from Macy’s. We’ve looked at some of their furniture but never bought anything. Our couch and loveseat are by Flexsteel and they have held up really well. I don’t know if we have a Walter E. Smithe around here but we don’t shop furniture stores in Denver that often. Marty’s poker table is almost done. He has to put padding and the surface on it (some kind of felt / neoprene / poker top). He is painting is a little stand he made with cup holders on the top. He wants to make a few of them and use them like TV trays for snacks and drinks. He is also going to refinish a little rocking chair I had as a kid. It’s red and I have one of my teddy bears setting on it in the living room. The teddies and I did survive the fumes and hopefully he’ll paint when I am at work. Rats that you had to deal with several phone calls with your mom and brother. I need to call my sister but I continue to put it off, I just don’t want to listen to her rant. How was conference room G?

Deegee, I would already be out test-driving all those cars. I really liked the interior of the Lexus we drove (a sedan). Both of us are too quick to go shopping and buy something. I envy you being employee free right now even though that means you are working on your project. How is the project going for you now that you are working on it fulltime? I think this year will be good for my team because all of them seem willing to work and show a desire to succeed. I totally need to document more and accept that there are things I can’t control. I am sorry to hear Matt is having personnel issues especially at a remote site which makes those problems more challenging. Marty often reminds me how happy he is that he doesn’t have employees anymore. That is so nice of Matt to become a science and math tutor at a local school. That's good you can use water again but how awful it smells bad and feels yucky. I can’t believe they didn’t reveal the entire story before now. I wonder how long it will take to get it all out of the system? You’d be a perfect houseguest – you are neat and bring booze. It sounds cold, snowy and icy there. I see lots of places on the east coast are getting a lot of snow.

You would laugh if you could see me right now. We are expecting a few inches of snow tonight and it's getting colder. I am setting here with sweats on plus a hoodie. I have my hood up and I am still cold. I might have to get out a blanket.

We went to Chilis for supper. I had ½ of a sandwich and brought the rest home for lunch tomorrow. I thought of going to look at the iPad mini with retina but I know I’d buy it for work so I didn’t suggest going to the Simply Mac store. I figure as much as that poker table is costing to make an iPad mini is a lot cheaper.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Hey Marcy-how about I come & stay with you, and we go test drive lots of cars and SUVs? We can drink afterwards to wind down from all the test driving. Maybe you can give me the much needed push I need to make a decision! I'm trying to decide if I want an Ipad mini with retina display. I'm still using my old ipad 2. I thought if I got the mini, I'd give my dad my ipad 2 with the excuse that I got a new device, and then show him how to read books & play games. Might help on chemo days, and I know he's having to stay home a lot these days. He's normally out and about, so he's going stir crazy. I think he'd enjoy texting with the grand kids...if he'd just give it a try!

I'm sitting in bed, reading on my ipad, drinking my 3rd bourbon beer and eating peanuts. I blame the skanky water & the steroid. Couldn't possibly be my fault. Dee*Jay- your post about saying no to the pizza inspired me...for tomorrow. Good night!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Deegee, my Lexus is the RX 330. It’s 10 years old now and as much as I keep looking for a reason to trade it in, I just can’t find one. Good ol’ Dominick (yes, that’s his name) keeps on going just fine. Plus, he’s got enough small dings and scrapes from being a true city car that I don’t care about stuff like that any more, and if I traded for a new Porsche SUV I would then have TWO cars I cared way too much about, LOL! The whole thing about your freckles and icky hair… YUCK. You are more than welcome to come and stay with me! I work almost all waking hours so you will pretty much have the place to yourself. It has a great view and is well stocked with booze – come on over!

Curby, I looked on the website of the sofa manufacturer and found a different distributor here in Chicago. They said the time would be 6-8 weeks (as opposed to 18!) for them because they are the largest seller of that brand in this area so they have a faster delivery network. BUT they don’t carry that exact sofa so I am going to stop by there tomorrow and see if they have anything close enough to go with. I’m also going to stop by the custom place. Who knows; maybe they would be AS expensive as I’m thinking. You’ll have to post pics of all the things that Marty makes some time!

The CB and I are having a belated xmas dinner with my best friend from law school and his partner tonight and then they are coming over to open presents so last night I had to clean the apartment from top to bottom. It took three solid hours (much of which was because of the disaster I had going on on the counter and I vowed to actually DO something with every piece of paper, not just move it around again!), and I didn’t clean the bathroom because I did that last weekend. The place looks great… too bad it will be in its natural state of disaster and disarray by the end of the weekend…

OK, off to do my first (of 8!) training sessions of the day.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I like hearing about a super reliable car! There is nothing wrong with my Acura, except that it is 3 years old! I'm as bad as Marcy!! The RX 450h is a good size for me, I think. Plus it comes in blue. I hope you figure your couch situation out soon. Don't be like me, sitting on the floor for 8 weeks. We knew we were buying new furniture after we moved so we didn't move the old stuff. In hindsight, we probably should have kept a couch seeing as to how long it takes me to pick stuff out.

Marcy-I totally hear you about the cold. I'm sitting beside the fire in sweats, a turtleneck, a sweatshirt, knee socks, and a quilt. I'm a big baby! It's cold, it's windy...I'm ready for spring. Who's with me?

I don't have much to report today. I ate worse today than I have in a long time. A coworker brought me a sausage biscuit for breakfast and I ate the whole thing, half of a meatball sub for lunch, and turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots for dinner. Right now I'm drinking a glass of adult orange juice (orange juice mixed with vodka infused with lemon). I thought maybe the vodka would help my cough. Yeah...I'm sticking with that story. I'm going to head to bed early. For this being a short week for me (off Monday and 1/2 day Tuesday), it sure seems to be taking forever. Good night!!

 

[marcy]

Happy Thursday! One more day of work.

Deegee, come on down! Our guests have their own wing here. You’d be going home with a new car, some jewelry and who knows what other things. I like to spend someone else’s money. I think giving your dad an iPad is a wonderful idea. You’d like either the mini or iPad Air; the retina display is awesome. I can’t believe I am toying with getting another mini just to have it at work but I think it would sure be handy for documenting everything and a lot more private. Is the water still slimy today? I am so finicky I am sure Marty would have killed me by now or at least taped my mouth shut because I would be whining so loud and long you ladies would here me across the country. Your sound all bundled up tonight, I might crank on our fireplace too. I am getting chilly myself. I am ready for spring but then again remember our weekly blizzards last spring? I know as soon as they start Marty will be traveling. I hope your adult orange juice helped your cough. I know a guy who swears by putting vicks on your feet at night will stop your coughing.

Dee Jay, party at Dee Jay’s house! Sweet. Did you visit the couch distributor today? 6 to 8 weeks sounds more reasonable. I think our couch and loveseat was supposed to be 4 to 6 weeks and we got it in about 5. I will get pictures of Marty’s poker and side tables when he is done. He is doing a nice job. Was your belated Christmas dinner and celebration fun? It’s always nice to extend the holidays. How were your training sessions today?

We had a couple of inches of snow so the roads were really icy today. Some idiot in a jeep was on my tail all the way to work and darn near slid in to me 3 times. I finally got through a light before him and got rid of him. Tomorrow should be in the 40’s though so the snow should melt. We’ll be good until our next round of snow on Sunday.

Have a great evening.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Friday Evening!

Deegee, is it warming up there yet? We had 50 degree weather here today but starting Sunday night we have over a week of cold and snow on the way. Looks like about 10 inches over the week. Boo!

Dee Jay, did you order a couch yet? Did you do more training sessions today?

We were quite busy at work this morning but this afternoon was boring.

My dad came over tonight to have me show him how to use my mom's camera (a regular old film point and shoot). He plans on going on a trip this spring and wants to take pictures. He had me set up auto pay for his new car. This is very scary - he kept telling me he sold the car dealer his old car for $6500. He said he got the check and deposited it in savings. I logged in as me to his checking account to try and found his routing number and was looking at his savings account and the check (which I could see a pdf of it online) is only $4100. Wow, my mom was telling me for years how bad his memory and thinking is but that is very scary. I even asked him so you got the $6500 check and he said "yes". I am worried since my name is on his checking accounts.

I figured our taxes tonight. It almost looks like we have a ton of kids - of course we are only getting a refund because of interest on a new house and taxes we paid on 2 new cars. Can't say I am sad though. I might let Marty get the french doors he wants for our sliding glass doors but the rest goes in to savings. I swear!

I met Marty for lunch today and then brought home junior cheeseburgers and a small waffle cone for supper. Marty was pretty funny whining about no fries. He got out baked lays and ate those.

We are meeting my sister and brother in law for lunch tomorrow. Marty is working on his poker table tonight; the stuff for the top showed up.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I'm packing my bags & you can take me shopping! I never did have my ring reset, and now I have another Christmas/birthday/anniversary/valentine's day gift to pick out. I'm always telling Matt he doesn't realize it, but I'm a cheap date! Yay for a tax refund! Maybe the new house thing will help us on taxes this year too. Our water is still yucky, smelly and thick. I broke out in a rash on my chest & stomach from that skanky water. I knew it would happen because I have super sensitive skin. I had to go get medicine today, and it is looking and feeling much better. I wanted to strip and slather that medicine all over me today at work, but I didn't think it would go over well! We're comparing our shower rashes with each other at work. We ate at Longhorn tonight, and they brought the water out in bottles. Restaurants are posting on their doors that they are using bottled water for cooking. Weird times right now. Oh, but according to the powers that be, these rashes, eye irritation, nausea, headaches and other symptoms we all seem to be having are due to flu season. We weren't able to properly wash our hands for over a week, so we're just spreading the flu. Seriously, that's what they're telling us. Yeah.

A small version of the Detroit Auto show is in town for the weekend. My BIL and nephew from KY met us at the restaurant and then we headed for the show. Every SUV on my list was there, and I was really excited to be able to check them out without a pushy salesperson hanging at my elbow. My very favorite was a Range Rover, but I really don't need 550 hp. My next favorite-Marcy-was the Audi Q7. Loved it! Then the Lexus GX. I've added those to my list of cars to test drive, but I don't plan to do that until this crappy winter is over. Don't want to get a new car covered in salt and ash from the roads. I did better with food today. Hopefully that means the steroid is working its way out of my system. It's 12 degrees out and we're supposed to get 5-7 inches of snow tonight on top of what is already out there, so we stopped for a few groceries on the way home. I think we'll stay in tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

Deegee, we’ll leave the lights on for you. You are behind on gifts to holiday / birthdays / anniversaries. We on the other hand won’t live long enough to catch up with our “this can be my present for . . . “. We don’t shy away from buying things. I bet your new house, closing costs, etc. will help you out on taxes. Are you saying you aren’t buying those whoppers that the rash everyone has is from the flu? That is a bit unreal they'd even try that. I don’t blame restaurants for using only bottled water to serve and cook. The last thing they want is someone getting sick from the tainted water and filing a lawsuit. I am glad your medicine is helping your rash. The car show sounds really fun. I like your choices too of cars to test drive. Range rovers and Q7 would be on my list. The Lexus GX is nice too. We looked at the Mercedes SUV when we were looking at cars and I was very disappointed in it; the one we looked at seemed quite cheap inside.

We had homemade biscuits for breakfast. I used my sifter this time and they came out lighter. Marty is so funny, he said he’d have some to go with his Jimmy Dean breakfast bowls this week then ended up eating all the extra ones while they were hot. We met my sister and brother-in-law at our favorite steak house in Fort Collins for a late lunch. It was fun. After we got home Marty took down the Christmas lights outside since it was warmish and the wind wasn’t blowing 50 miles an hour. I went to the grocery store thinking Saturday night at 5 pm won’t be so bad. Wrong; it seemed worse than going on Saturday morning. I hopefully got enough food for the week especially since cold and snow are moving in again through at least next Sunday.

Tomorrow is laundry day. I am going to wash all the sheets and blankets too. The excitement never ceases at M&M’s house.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Lazy Sunday!

I slept in until about 7:30. Marty got up at 3:30. I made french toast for breakfast. I had some Italian bread over a week old and it worked great. I made Marty some bacon and eggs. For lunch I made meatloaf and cheesy potato bake. We had popcorn for supper.

I have been working on laundry all day. The last batch is in the dryer now. It seems like I was in the kitchen all day. I also mixed up my spaghetti sauce for the crockpot tomorrow. Lots of dishes but making us some different dishes.

We've been watching movies all day. Snow started falling at 4 this afternoon. It is so darned windy it is snowing totally horizontally. Fun! We are expecting 2" with lots of wind then snow off and on all week. Yay for icy roads.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your lazy Sunday sounds like a work day to me! When I say sleep in, I'm talking 11am-noon. I figure the later I sleep, the less I eat. The D & M household is every bit as exciting as the M & M household. We did laundry pretty much nonstop yesterday. I hate using the skanky water, but we were at the point we had to do laundry. I used extra detergent pods and fabric softener, so maybe they don't stink too bad. I have a feeling we all have an odor about us that we're getting used to but that people from other areas can probably smell. I agree with you about the Mercedes. My nephew and I sat in pretty much everything in the Luxury Loft at the car show. We hopped in the Mercedes SUV, looked at each other, made faces and hopped back out. We did sit in a Mercedes SUV that was super nice inside, but I don't think I'm spending $120,000 on a car right now! Andi have to say, I was a tad jealous when our neighbor at our old house bought his daughter a new Range Rover for her 16th birthday (complete with giant red bow). Now that I sat in one, I'm green with envy! I guess you'll have to keep close watch on your dad's account to make sure he doesn't overspend...or get close to it. I hope he'll talk over big purchases with you first. That would worry me.

We ended up with about 10 inches of snow yesterday. The neighborhood association did a great job getting the steep hills in our neighborhood taken care of so we were able to get out today. Nobody slid into our back yard coming down the hill this time either. I decided to be sweet and shovel the driveway today (that's hard work-I'm counting it as exercise), and I met the lady who lives in the house at the very top of the hill. Her husband is a heart surgeon and she also works in cardiac surgery (infusionist or something like that). She told me she slid down the hill sideways and backwards in the last snow and almost landed in our retaining wall. There are 4 houses up the hill from us, and surgeons live in 2 of those houses. It makes sense now that the president of the homeowners association stopped by after the last snow and apologized for the condition of the road and promised that it wouldn't happen again. We have important people up the hill! Good to know.

Oh, and Marcy-at dinner Matt told me "Life is short. It's only money. We have money. Go buy something!!!" I pick things out and then talk myself right out of it. I have something in mind, but have convinced myself that I'm being selfish and don't need it. Tell me why it is that when I really couldn't afford it, I bought things I didn't need. Now that I can afford things, I can't bring myself to buy anything! Argh!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, I know what you mean about picking stuff out and then changing your mind! My problem is a lot of things are all about “the thrill of the hunt” and when I finally get it nailed down… well… it’s not fun anymore! Crazy, I know. And a new Range Rover for a 16th birthday present—wow! That is so far outside the realm of my own reality I can’t even comprehend it, LOL.

Curby, a single guy friend of mine loves to go to the grocery store on Friday and Saturday nights. He says there are more women there than in a singles bar! I had to point out to him that those women grocery shopping at that time are the ones who don’t have a date for some reason… and it may be a VERY GOOD REASON!

So this weekend I ordered two of the crazy silver coffee tables from Restoration Hardware (we’re going to slam them up against each other and connect the legs with pipe ties) and made a decision to buy the Macy’s sofa (which is only 8-10 weeks out, NOT 18!!!) because we finally found the right dark grey fabric. All of the other greys turned toward the brown when I took them home and put them next to my cowhide rugs, but this one is really dark and almost leans toward blue. Just awaiting confirmation on whether they can make the back cushions as firm as the seat cushions (not a deal breaker, but I’m not a fan of squishy cushions) and to get a guarantee that the stitching will match the fabric and not be contrasting like it was on the one of the sample sofas. I also bought six X-mas gifts on Saturday but I’m not overly fond of one of them so it might go back. Now the trick is to remember where all that stuff goes when I move so I can actually find it next December!

Currently -2 here now going down to -17 – and that’s not including the wind chill. WTF.

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday!

Deegee, a Range Rover is very nice for a 16-year-old girl but then again it is a very safe car for her to have. I am sure you guys will enjoy having clean clothes; I hope they aren’t too skanky. 10” of snow is a lot. That is good to know the president of your HOA stopped by to assure you the road will be cleared out better in the future. Coming down that hill sounds very treacherous. I am sure climbing it one ice isn’t a picnic either. Life is short, I agree with Matt you should buy yourself something. I have been doing that lately too when deciding to buy something, now that I have money to buy things I am less likely to do impulse buying. That probably contributes to the fact I have money. I vote for a new iPad or iPad mini and a new ring. See how helpful I am at spending your money?

Dee Jay, I really resemble your “thrill of the hunt” remark. I am so excited shopping, picking out something and getting it then I quickly become indifferent to it. I can see where shopping on Friday or Saturday night is a good call to meet women. It really isn’t that bad of a place to start a conversation. How exciting to get some tables ordered and your couch underway. It will be fun to watch your new place unfold and become your new home. And you are doing Christmas shopping too? This is a great time of year to start shopping but as you said the key is remembering you have them at Christmas time.

Good thing I had a light breakfast and lunch. My crockpot spaghetti was really good and I ate way too much of it. You know how pasta expands in your stomach? I feel like I swallowed a pot roast right now.

We had about 2” of snow by the time I went to work and a few more inches during the day. Our wind chill is going to be 30 below tonight. Dee Jay I saw where you guys will have wind chill 45 below. I am cold just thinking about it.

Tomorrow we have sunshine on the way, Wednesday it will warm up enough to melt some of the snow then Thursday and Friday we are expecting about 10” of snow. I told my chauffer he better have his trucklet ready to take me to work on Friday. Last spring every blizzard we had Marty was out of town.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I can't wait to see your space finished. Maybe it will get me motivated, even though the style is totally different. I absolutely love modern/contemporary, but my house is very traditional (the former owners decorated primitive/country. Eek! Not me!) Your place is going to be so awesome, l can't wait to see it finished. The range rover my neighbor bought his daughter was brand-freaking-new (I checked it out). He drives a range rover, his wife has Escalade, and they also have a big Mercedes high letter car and a bunch of other very nice vehicles. I guess the range rover for a 16 year old is a sensible choice. Man, they should adopt me.

Marcy-okey doke. You need to spend my money. I think my hang up is the ridiculous amount of $$ I spent on Louis Vuitton bags. I don't even like or carry them anymore. They mock me from my closet! I second guess everything because of those stupid bags! I had planned to give them to my nieces at some point...but they're not old enough. They're dying to get them though. Maybe I'll move those little suckers (the bags, not the kids) to the attic... My chauffeur took me to work one day last week. I was seriously late. We went late because of snow and flushing the skanky water out of the pipes and we stopped for lunch. I barely made it by 2! Your crockpot spaghetti sounds yummy. I need to come up with new things to make. These windchills are crazy town.

We had a quick unexpected 3-inch show this morning between the time I got in the nasty-water shower and out the door. Unfortunately, snow plows hadn't run so the commute was slow and slick. You guys (especially Dee*Jay) would be amused with my mountain road, curvy commute! My 15-minute drive ended up being 45 minutes this morning, a did I didn't have anywhere near the problems my coworkers had. Ahh...the joys of living in the hills. I had yogurt for breakfast, chicken noodle soup for lunch, and I made minestrone soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. Bottled water for cooking, of course. I must get this food thing back under control! Have a great (safe) day tomorrow. Stay warm!