Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Happy Thursday LATE night.

Deegee, your diamond and the pears look great. I went and looking at the setting again too; I think it will look great. I like the detail they have in the band by the pear shape diamonds. Yay for getting more pictures. I wish I’d had WF take more pictures of my diamond loose. Yes, I do have a devious mind. I am glad I’ve hidden it from you so far. Ha Ha. I don’t think looking pathetic and using lawn tools wrong would get you very far. It’s always worth a try though. Are you going to get a new hairstyle? I like mine a little shorter than I usually wear it. I hate to come home too when Marty is gone but then I want to be home then too. It’s strange but I am sure you understand what I mean. Your drive home in heavy rain sounds very scary; I am glad you didn’t hit anything. OUCH for cutting your finger and burning it as well. I am sorry you caught my bad habits. Marty loved the concert. He said it was one of the best concert he’s been too and trust me those are frequent. Stupid knees, that is all I’ve got to say about that!

I am setting her yawning but wanted to come post because I was excited to see your picture, Deegee.

We had BLT’s for supper. Mmm. We were setting on our deck and a friend of mine walked by. She used to live next door to my parents and now lives about ½ mile from us. She visited with us for a while then we gave her the grand tour of our home. It was nice to see her.

Well, I best get ready for bed.

Hi Dee Jay!

Curby

 

[marcy]

Happy Friday Night! The weekend is here.

Work was painfully long and boring today. I had my reports done by 10:30 then amused myself waited until 4 to get the last report run for the day. In between reports I dreamed of diamonds, sapphires and rubies - oh my! We all took a break in our cars at 4:45 and drove home.

I made one of those silly noodle sauce hamburger meals for supper. Nothing exciting but it was quick. I truly need to go to the grocery store before Marty tells me to. Things are getting scare in the frig and cupboards.

Deegee, did you get any more pictures from Denise?

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

TGIF!

Marcy-my stylist is terrified to cut my hair after she scalped me last year. I was speechless that day and just left, but let her have it the next time I went in. I don't usually do that, but she scalped me! It takes a darn long time for hair to grow back!! I asked her to trim it today, and she'd cut a a piece and then show it to me to make sure it was enough because she was cutting very little at a time. Just a little trim seems to add a lot of bounce to my hair. Sorry work was boring today. I'll trade you!!! (Pretty please??) Matt and I stopped by the Audi dealer this evening after dinner. I like going to car lots when there's no one there so they won't bug me when I first start looking. They didn't have the SQ5, which is the supercharged Q5, but they had several Q7's and a bunch of A4 and A8. No A6, and that's the one I wanted to see. Oh well...this was my first actual venture to a lot to look so at least it's a start!

I left work today promptly at 1:30 so I could run a few errands and grab lunch before my hair appointment. I was in the middle of working on something with a coworker, but decided I just really needed to go. I feel like I've had such a long evening. It was wonderful! The minute I walked into the salon today, my stylist declared "you look exhausted." I can't let work do this to me. Matt and I went to Olive Garden for dinner and I had pasta primavera, which was very tasty. I'm looking forward to doing very little this weekend. Yes!!

Here's a pic from Denise today. Have a wonderful weekend.

 

[marcy]

Deegee, the new picture from Denise is awesome. Look at those arrows and beautiful pear diamonds. I was "eyeballing" some D Si1 diamonds on there tonight for studs. I am glad to hear your stylist is worried about cutting off too much hair now. I hate when they don't listen to you. I can't get my current stylist to cut layers on top - I am going to have to show her next time what I want. I would gladly take on some of your work. I HATE to be bored at work. I definitely vote for you guys to drive an A6. I've had 3 now and while the first 2 would get our official rating of "they didn't suck" the 2014 model seems noticeably improved over them. Marty says I drive it like an old woman but I have fun with it. They go through snow like a dream and I don't have problems on ice. I often say those German's sure know how to build a car. Marty on the other hand loves to drive it and I often say our tombstone will read "Crap, I forgot this wasn't the Audi". At least you guys were out looking at cars. I hate to hear you are exhausted. Definitely take it very easy this weekend and dream of your pretty new ring.

Curby - should I or shouldn't I buy new studs? I actually wore a headband today so I could "see" my studs as much as possible. I still haven't convinced myself that super ideal studs are worth about $2000 more than the ones I've already got.

 

[marcy]

Okay this is my official stop your whining and pining for some super ideal cut studs notice.

I caught some nice fire on my earrings in very dim lighting and them did some assorted light tests around here and there is nothing wrong with my current studs. When we bought them we had them bring out every pair they had in the store and these were the only ones that weren't cloudy, included, tinted and were very lively stones. So there! She said as she truly wandered off to bed and pondered how much more money she can now spend on an EC upgrade and sapphire upgrade or ring for said sapphire.

And to all a goodnight.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your post cracked me up! I'm glad you decided your stones were truly lively. It inspired me to pull my studs out of the jewelry cleaner and wear them. While I was at it, I pulled out my halo bezel pendant and wore it too and I felt all blinged out. And then we decided to try a new restaurant which happens to be in a not so nice part of town. SMART! Are you getting lots of wear our of your peach sapphire in rose gold? That ring is so pretty! How about the channel band you just got? My new ring is platinum and all of my other rings are white gold, so I'm going to need a new wband to go with it. I hear those Audi A6's tend to hit curbs! I sure whacked a few myself when I had my Infiniti. Matt had this idea that if I get an SUV, we'll trade his Pilot and keep my Acura. He suggested that I get a car, and we keep both SUV's so I'll have something to drive on nasty snowy days. I like the way he thinks! My only problem is that I will run through an endless list of possibilities in my head and never decide to do anything. Hmmm...maybe that's why he suggested it.

I spent yesterday on the couch trying to find a beach house to rent for a week in September. The vendor agreed to shut the project down for a week so we can have a vacation, thankfully. The only problem is that it is 6 weeks away, and it's hard to find an available beach house! The best one I have found so far is in Nags Head right on the ocean and it's a little more expensive than we usually do, but we're thinking it's a go anyway. It's only money, right? We found a gorgeous home in Corolla, but we just can't bring ourselves to do that one. It has 10 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms...and there are only 4 of us and a dog. Fabulous house though. We had monster storms last night. The generator kicked on at 3:30 and ran for several hours. I looked out into a sea of darkness with the only light being our porch light. That whole home generator has turned out to be a very nice future of this house. I'm glad the former owners installed it before they put the house up for sale! We went grocery shopping last night and I'm doing laundry today. Exciting weekend. Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday!

Deegee, I am glad my post inspired you to get out your earrings and halo pendant. I am sure you were fine wearing it out to a restaurant. At least I hope so. Was the restaurant any good? I am still trying to convince myself on my earrings so I keep pulling my hair behind my ears and checking them out in different light. I’ll probably wreck my car because I’m watching them in the mirror. That’s more dangerous than texting! "But officer I wanted to see if my earrings were sparkling".

I will be anxious to hear what you think of your platinum ring. Agreed you will probably need to get a platinum band to go with your new ring. Yay more jewelry shopping. Does the Summer have a band that matches it?

If I “did” get new studs I want platinum. Speaking of my earrings – I checked the diamond inventory from where I have my current one’s from and I was able to find two .42 carat GIA XXX that had under 2 HCA scores. They are F and would cost me about $1000 more to upgrade. I doubt I’d see a whole lot of difference on my ears between a .42 ct and a .46 carat. I have tiny ear lobes and my right one kind of curves down so anything larger than 5 mm looks way off center on that ear.

I have worn my new peach sapphire rose gold ring about once a week. It is so different than most of my jewelry. I wear my new channel set band sometimes but I wear my Etoile band more. The channel set band is thicker than the stated 3.5mm width, the edges are squared instead of rounded and it would look better with a spacer between it and my ering because the diamonds blend in too easily with my solitaire. I think a wider ering would look better with it. I am not unhappy with the ring it’s just not as good a fit as the Tiffany band. The Tiffany band is honestly a larger version of my ering so they match pretty well. The channel set band I wore for years looks better with my ering – it’s the same width, smaller diamonds and doesn’t detract from my solitaire. And as with my earrings – I can’t say the diamonds in it are that bad. I will probably have them size it up a little and wear it too. My WF and Tiffany stuff are slightly larger than what I had before because the bands are thicker and I find I like them a little loose. Unless of course that sapphire 5 stone ring knocks my socks off then I'll trade my old channel set band in a heartbeat.

Yes, A6’s do have a tendency to run in to curbs but I am sure Marty would claim it’s the loose nut behind the wheel. I do like the idea of having a car and keeping your Acura for those bad, icy, snowy days.

I hope you find a place on the ocean to rent for September. That sounds so really NICE.

How awful the power went out last night but how nice to have that generator.

I got up about 7:30 and ventured out for my least favorite chore – grocery shopping. For a smallish list I sure spent a lot of money and had a ton of crap to carry in when I got home.

Marty was done with golf about 11:30 so I went to have a drink with them and we ate lunch there. Marty and his friend had too much to drink to drive home safely so his friend had his wife come get him and I drove Marty home. We’ll go back in a while and get the trucklet. People kept buying them drinks so I think they had 5 a piece.

I was going to make tacos for supper but I am not that hungry. I’ll see how Marty feels about that about 5 or 6 pm.

Dee Jay, how are things going with repairing your home?

Is it really almost Monday again?

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, your out of a box hamburger meal brought back memories! My mother swears she never made them when I was little but I have distinct memories of standing in front of the cubbard faced with the agonizing choice of either the cheesy version or the fake lasagna version. And I think if you want new studs you should have them! That being said, eyes on the road there sister! No matter what fabulous jewels you're admiring, just make sure you don't end running off the road or rear ending someone! We would have to take up a PS collection to pay for the damage because there's not one among us who hasn't been guilty of paying more attention to the diamonds than the road!

Deegee, I'm glad you are getting a week off in September to enjoy at the beach! The house sounds divine and please save a bedroom for me! Your ring is going to be to die for!!! And LOL on being all blinged out in a bad part of town. When I do stuff like that I just assume people will think my earrings (which is pretty much all I wear) are real and keep on walking. As for the Dragon Tattoo books, I agree that I was dragging by the third one. Don't get me wrong, I appreciated the distraction for several evenings, but I was ready for the whole thing to be over. Are you a Kindle reader? I'm kind of intrigued by Amazon's offer to read all you want for $9.99/month but I am not sure what the limits in terms of titled becuase I know not everything is included.

Thursday and Friday were spent looking at flooring options. I've found some pretty amazing products and I think I'm going with a loose lay vinyl plank. It's absolutely real looking at it's so so so easy to put in that the CB and I can do it ourselves, which will save me $8-10K in installation, which is what it would cost me to have someone put in some of the other products. Don't get me wrong, this product alone will still be $9-12K just for the materials, but saving that much again on install is a huge boon. I will have to deal with putting quarter round in to span the gap because the new flooring is not at think as the current hardwood with the plywood underneath but I gess that's the lesser of all the evils. Plus, if there is another water event this stuff just lifts right up, you wash the planks and dry them off, and put them back down. I'm really anxious to have the other flooring taken up so I can get the concrete dried out. I think I'll have them come in and demo this coming weekend.

Saturday and Sunday are (already) a blur. How do the weekends go by so fast?!?

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday!

Dee Jay, that’s kind of strange you had a lot of boxed food as a kid; my mom made everything from scratch. We thought boxed food or TV dinners were a treat. I like your recommendation - that I should have new studs. It’s not like I can’t use the studs I have towards something from that jeweler. I put my visor and mirror up coming home from work today – there was way too much traffic out there. Good idea to join Deegee at her beachfront house. Sounds like a great IDEA. I was wondering about the Amazon deal myself. I am starting to read again. Marty reads a lot. The vinyl planks sounds ideal for your place and how great they can’t be ruined by water. I wonder if the person before you had issues as well? What a chore, mess and LOTS of money for you to get everything fixed and replaced.

Deegee, I guess you better rent a house with LOTS of bedrooms. Did you get any more pictures from Denise?

I had a busy day at work. I don’t have to interview for my open position; we are getting someone transferred in from another department. She will start Monday which gives the guy she is replacing an entire month to train her. Woo hoo!!! That is a win win in my book.

I got my new work laptop today. Let’s say they didn’t open their wallets very far on that baby. It’s a glorified netbook. The resolution is certainly not comparable to a MacBook with Retina. Oh well, I got it up and running so I can do work from home if necessary.

We had homemade tacos for supper today. I think I’ll make homemade pizza tomorrow. Marty is gone from the 2nd to the 16th so I won’t have to cook much starting this weekend. I am taking my sister jewelry shopping while Marty is gone. I am going to look at upgrading my EC diamond and my 6mm sapphire (either get a larger size sapphire or maybe put the sapphire I have in a 5 stone setting). My sister never spends money on jewelry but wants a pendant and earrings.

Have a great evening.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, we are Irish and the Irish couldn't cook their way out of a paper bag. Everything is boiled or burned within an inch of it's life. I remember the first time I had a porkchop that was cooked correctly (i.e., not like shoe leather, which is how ours came to the table at home!) and I was like WOW! What sort of animal is THIS?!? The funny thing is both she and my grandmother thought they were great cooks. I have no idea where they got that impression!

Last night I worked a little late and then did not much of anything. I have to get the dumpster set up for Saturday and also clean everything up so it can be moved off of the floor as they tear it up. I'm seriously so over this I can't even describe it...

I've got a thread in hangout but in case you don't go there, would you risk an internet supplier to save $1,550? The lowest local quote I have for materials is $10,754 and the internet guy is $9,200. Plus, the internet guy will have it dropped at my curb where the local guy I have to go and get it. What do you think?

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I would google reviews of that supplier and If I don't see any red flags I would definitely give them a try. I'd also use a credit card so if something goes wrong they might help you get your money back. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Curby, the internet company has been in biz for 12 years and there is only one negative item, which relates to a tile color not being the same as the sample and the homeowner didn't realize it until the contractor had already put it in. I'm not sure I can really hold that against them, and apparently some sort of adequate resolution was reached.

In the whole grand scheme of things I've spent a FORTUNE on this project, so one one had what's another $1,500, but on the other hand if I can save $1,500 I'm all for it! My gut is to go to the cheapest local guy and ask what he can do in terms of price.

 

[marcy]

It wouldn't hurt to see if the local guy will match price and deliver. Good luck!

Curby

 

[marcy]

Happy Tuesday!

Dee Jay, did you talk to the local guy yet on your flooring? I hope he meets or beats the internet price. I did get a chuckle out of your family is Irish – you guys couldn’t cook your way out of a paper bag. The new meat “pork chop” is really funny. It is king of strange when really bad cooks think their food tastes great. Marty’s grandmother’s family were all horrible cooks and they all seemed to loved the spread put out at potluck family get to gathers. I usually ate whatever I took. I do have to tell you my favorite Irish story. Marty was working in Hong Kong and a group of them went out on Saturday to the local markets. One of the guys is really short and all of a sudden no one could find him anywhere. They were all kind of getting worried and were discussing breaking up to try and find him and he shows up with a cup of French fries and a beer. Marty asked him where the hell he found French fries and a beer and the guy answered, “I’m Irish!” Since he is short and small he was always called the leprechaun.

We are getting a lot of rain – sorry Dee Jay! I hope all the rain falls here and leaves Chicago alone.

Marty set up our webcam yesterday so I had it facing my loveseat full of teddy bears today and I’d get notices of “movement” and he had his rabbit chewing on a few of my bears then the rabbit’s eye right up against the camera. He must have been bored.

I made homemade pizza for supper. I put Canadian bacon and pineapple on my portion and put pepperoni and sausage on Marty’s.

We had some slow churned ice cream after I got the dishes done.

I got a settlement letter from Hyundai finance today. My dad’s lease is officially cancelled and he owes the $4480.70! Holy crap! There were $80 late fees, a $400 get out of lease fee, taxes and other unspecified fees of about $231, a sales fee of $130 and the rest of the difference between the amount leased and what they sold it for. Marty was going to go there tomorrow and see what he could do but I found the lease agreement my dad signed and sure enough everyone of those things was listed as possible fees if you break your lease. Of course I could nitpick and say technically he died didn’t break his lease but I wrote a check and hopefully Hyundai and their financial company never crosses my path again.

Dee Jay, how are you coming on your grandmother’s estate? I imagine that is difficult handing from a distance.

Hi Deegee. Did you get our rooms booked for September? I sure crack myself up.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy & Dee*Jay-your posts cracked me up! And yes, we have the 8 bedroom, 8.5 bathroom house beach house booked and paid for. Come join us! And bring a few friends... There are only 4 humans and a dog going on this trip. It has 7 master suites with king beds, a kid room with bunk beds, a game room, pool table, private pool and hot tub, a cabana by the pool with a wet bar, grill, table and chairs, a private beach volleyball court...you know, all the things we have at home. Oh yeah, and an elevator. We are bad, wasteful people. We really tried to find a smaller house, but our usual house was booked and we struck out everywhere else we looked. And would you believe the restaurant we tried Saturday in the not great part of town got robbed later Saturday night? Holy cow! Several years ago a couple was mugged coming out of a restaurant where Matt and I had eaten just a few hours earlier. This was the incident that made me stop buying Louis Vuitton purses because when I thought about how much I had spent on the purse, makeup bag and wallet I was carrying and how it could have been yanked off my arm...or made me a target... It really freaked me out. Hopefully the restaurant getting robbed won't cause me to not wear my new ring! Eek!

Marcy-thanks for the info on the channel band. I have a few white gold bands to try with it and hopefully I'll like one of them and just have it redone in platinum. I don't want anything big or overpowering. Sorry to hear Marty will be gone for a few weeks. Good you have your sister to go jewelry shopping with! My sisters such a scardy that she and her girls stay with my parents when her husband is out of town. She readily admits she's a coward. I can't believe that about your dad's lease. That's really ridiculous. I remember handling an estate once where the man had a lease. We did have to pay to break it, but I don't think anyone wanted to fight it.

Dee*Jay-I don't know what I'd do about the floor. For something that big, I think I'd try to get a local person. The difference in price might not be great enough to be worth it...but you've done the research and know more about the internet company. Having it dropped at your curb is an awfully nice bonus. See why I can never make a decision? I just go round and round until I'm dizzy and hop off the thought train for a beer. I'm intrigued by the kindle deal too, but I haven't looked into it. I just started 11/22/63 by Stephen King upon recommendation by a friend. She promised it was not a horror book and was really good. We shall see.

I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, that really sucks that you have a $4K bill related to your dad's lease! I totally agree with trying to work something out because that's a lot of $. As for taking your sis shopping, if she needs any enabling I have every confidence you'll be there for her like a sister should -- HA!

Deegee, a elevator... ooh la la! As for being bad wasteful people -- ABSOLUTELY NOT! Last time I checked it was YOUR money and you can do anything you want with it. No one in your family is going hungry becuase you are taking a much deserved vacation so I say enjoy the hell out of it!

So I'm pretty much set on the local flooring guy. I will ask him (gently) if we can do anything more on the price, but I really am more comfortable with being able to deal with a local person in case there's an issue. And--just to make my life difficult and because I'm OCD!--there is one more flooring option (of the same kind, but a different brand) and I'm going to see tomorrow. My dilemma is that I really *thought* I wanted a darker floor but I'm afraid it will make the whole place too dark. This other brand does a better dark version than the brand I've got samples of. Also, this other brand has what could be an odd plank size (basically 10" wide by 41" long and that just seems TOO wide to me) whereas the sample I have is 8" by 40". For some reason the 1:5 ratio seems so much more "real" than the 1:4 in my head, but I guess I won't know until I see them in person.

The dumpster is set up for 8 am Saturday morning. Let the demoliton begin... AGAIN...

 

[Dee*Jay]

Update on the alternate flooring: I got a price that would be an extra $3,300 for my square footage (so basically going from $11K to $14K). I'm not even going to see it unless the larger samples (i.e., full boxes) of the other flooring that I ordered to test out in my space are just not doing it for me. I'll pick those up tomorrow morning and lay them out and post pictures so you can give me your opinions because I'm deciding between two colors.

 

[marcy]

Happy Wednesday!

Deegee, why would Dee Jay and I crack you up? It’s not like we are kidding. We’ll be there in September. I can hardly wait! That house does sound like it has all the comforts of home. Okay and a little bit more, but still it sounds fabulous. Holy cow that restaurant got robbed the night you were there. I understand what you mean about carrying expensive bags and wearing nice jewelry but then again I don’t want to live in fear either. I guess we should carry heavy things in our expensive bags so we can hit people with them. I hope you find one of your rings goes well with your new ring when you get it. I like 3 pointer diamonds with my diamond – it adds sparkle but doesn’t distract from the diamond. I have been wearing my Tiffany band this week too. So much for switching them off every week. I am anxious to go jewelry shopping with my sister. Sadly we are going the day after Marty leaves so I’ll still have 2 weeks to find ways to keep myself busy. From what I can find online that even death is considered breaking a lease contract. I also saw where you can refuse to pay it and they usually don’t take you to court but it’s just not worth the hassle for me. I read that Stephen King book. It was pretty good.

Dee Jay, I am not happy about the lease payment but I guess I’ll just pay it. I will definitely do my best to help spend my sister’s money. I like your outlook on spending money! Marty and I seem to do well with that as well. I hope floor samples look good. Have fun with the demolition on Saturday.

My day started unpleasantly. My uncle called to let me know my aunt passed away this morning. She was my mom’s younger sister. She died 11 months to the day after my mom. She’s been sick for about 5 years.

Work was busy again. I left a roast beef cooking in the crock-pot. Poor Marty was on a conference call for 6 hours so didn’t eat until late. I was hungry – I didn’t wait.

The rain is slowing down and moving out. It was only 60 here today. That’s cool for July 30.

Take care!
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, I am very sorry to hear about your aunt's passing. Your family has had a rough go of it these past few years and I'm sending big hugs to everyone. As for paying off the lease, I get it. Sometimes if just writing a check is enough to make something go away, well you just do it.

I woke up at 6 am and then fell back asleep until about 8:30. I don't know what has happened to my motivation--on my days off I used to get up early (6ish) and get some much done right off the bat, but lately I've been going back to sleep in the mornings. I should probably break that habit!

So I'm having a MacGyever (sp?) moment! My front door is 8' wide and opens as a double door. I want a screen big enough so that I can open both doors because that's just great light and a nice breeze, especially if I open the back door too, so I have a big pile of screen (48" wide, 25' long), hooks, a grommet maker and grommets, and vinyl baseboard (to weight the whole thing down at the end. I also picked up some Velcro because... well... you just never know! As soon as I get up from my nap I'm totally going to work on this!

On to the flooring... I am still torn! I really though I was leaning toward the lighter version (which is close to what I have now) but this dark one is nice too. What do you think? I'll post separate pics and then the colors together.

 

[Dee*Jay]

How annoying - I can't get these pics to post. I've tried two different browsers on my computer and both wifi and 3G on my phone and they just won't show up.

 

[Dee*Jay]

The State posted my license number on line -- I'm officially a CPA!!!

 

[marcy]

The State posted my license number on line -- I'm officially a CPA!!!

Sweet. Congratulations. How exciting.

 

[marcy]

How annoying - I can't get these pics to post. I've tried two different browsers on my computer and both wifi and 3G on my phone and they just won't show up.

Stupid pictures.

 

[Dee*Jay]

The State posted my license number on line -- I'm officially a CPA!!!

Sweet. Congratulations. How exciting.

Thanks Curby!!!

And I just tried the pics again... no dice. I can generally post from my work computer so I'll try to do it there when I'm in the office next week. God knows I'll STILL be mulling it over!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am so excited for you! Yay for being a CPA. Yes, my family has had a rough time lately. Good thing I’m tough. I mailed the check this morning to Hyundai – I may complain to the BBB about them in a month or so, I think car leases are a total scam and I want to complain to someone about them. The sleeping in on days off must be catching. I’ve been doing that myself. It’s a bad idea because I am less anxious to wake when I have to get up. Did you get your giant screen up and working? Sounds like a great idea. I tend to like lighter floors than darker floors but I’ll wait to see your pictures before casting a vote.

Marty was ready to eat when I got home today. We went out for supper then took a brief walk when we got home. There is a lot of new construction by our house so we went out and looked at what they’ve done so far.

Best go do the dishes. Ugh.

Curby

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay- I love the look of the dark floors. My only concern with them would be stuff showing up easily and bugging me... Coming in with wet or muddy shoes, pet hair, dust, etc. my floors aren't too dark, and I run my broom vac every single day and the cleaners do a thorough clean/mop once a week. For some reason, stuff showing on the floors drives me insane, and I'm really not that picky a house keeper! Congrats for your CPA credentials being posted online. You're big time!

Marcy-I'm sorry to hear about your aunt. Your family sure has been through it. Matt tells me not to let thieves influence what I buy, and to wear and enjoy the things I do buy. You're right, we should carry heavy things in our purses to whack anyone who attempts to take anything! A few years ago I was walking through the parking lot after work when a guy jumped up from behind a car and grabbed my arm. He was trying to get his other hand in my purse, and I was tring to get my purse off my shoulder so I could worm away from him. Luckily a city police officer was nearby and yelled "hey" and came running. The guy took off running with the cop right behind him, and I ran to my car, locked the doors and had a serious freak out. That's something I'll never forget, and I think it has made me paranoid for sure! I hope one of my bands works with my new ring. I'd love to be able to send one to BGD or WF and ask them o make the exact same thing with their super sparkly stones in platinum. That would save me from thinking about it too much! I pulled a serious Marcy knife accident today. I could probably stand a stitch or two. No knives for me for a while.

I've been sleeping too late on work days. I'm having such a hard time getting out of bed! I have been at least 30 minutes late nearly every day for the past two weeks, but I stay 2-3 days late everyday so I'm not shorting the fine taxpayers of WV. They're getting a bargain in the end. I'm off to bed. I don't know that I've ever been so ready for a Friday to get here. Have a great day!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Curby, how far along is your housing development in terms of capacity? And when do you think you’ll get your first neighbors moving in? Best to make them aware right off the bat that the neighborhood norm is to introduce yourself to your new neighbors by showing up at the door (YOUR door, that is!) with a very nice case of wine as a token of goodwill toward a future nice neighborly relationship!

Deegee, I don’t think it counts as being late in the morning if you stay several hours late at night! How scary about that guy trying to snatch your purse, but AMAZING luck that there was a cop close by! So much for there never being a cop around when you need one, huh? I don’t know if I ever mentioned it here before but I was in an armed robbery when I was 18 working at a shoe store in Pittsburgh. THAT was a crazy experience…

So this morning the CB called and said that he had received a call that a plumbing inspector was scheduled to come out today and look at the sewer. Well the problem is INSIDE the complex, not outside, so unless someone were to let him in the gate he’d never get to the right place. Of course by the time I went outside he had come and gone, but left a big orange “call the city” sticker on the intercom at the gate so I called right away and then the CB also called (plumbers—they speak the same language so I know it was best to have them talk with each other because there was no way I was using all the right words!). The city is going to serve the association with a citation and they have 30 days to fix it or the fines will kick in. If things go too far the building will be “red tagged,” meaning they will force all the occupants to live elsewhere until the problem IS fixed. The guy from the Sewer Department also said there have been a number of complaints lodged for this address over the years but they have never been followed through on. That’s bad because no one in the building has ever seen it through (*more on that later) but good because I can get a log of the complaints through the Freedom of Information Act, and that will bolster my case. *I was afraid all my neighbors will hate me for stirring the pot (and let’s be honest, some of them WILL!) but one of the ladies who lives across from me stopped by today and said she was glad there was new blood in the building and that things will get taken care of. If only these things had been addressed with annual maintenance the cost would have been SO much lower than what it is ultimately going to be. People need to thing in the long term when they are managing a property because buildings things don’t run themselves!

About the floors… I’m so torn it’s not even funny! EVERY single person, to a one, who has looked at the two choices says go with the dark option. My concern is that I will spent every waking moment mopping the floor with the darker wood. It would be a much more “dramatic” look though (that’s the actual word used by two separate people when they saw it) and there is a group of new designers moving in next door and when they came to borrow a ladder I had them look at it and they also said go dark… I can't wait until I get to my office on Monday and can post pics to get your opinions!

 

[Dee*Jay]

BTW, not sure if you saw this but I posted it in Hangout. Its a guy describing women using the Hot/Crazy matrix. Hilarious!!!!!

https://www.google.com/#q=hot+crazy+matrix

Skip the first 40 seconds, it's just the two guys introducing themselves.

When he got to the part about "unicorns" and "trannys" I was dying!!!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-holy cow! If I had been involved in an armed robbery in any way, I would have ceased to function, period. Guns in the hands of bad people scare me like nothing else! The dark floors do make everything more dramatic. I visited a friend in his brand new apartment a few nights ago, the flooring in the entry, kitchen, dining room, and hallways is gorgeous dark hardwood. I love it. He doesn't have pets or kids, so he probably doesn't have to worry about the stuff that bugs me. Your homeowners association people don't know who they're dealing with! It's good you have the CB to be able to talk to the city people. I sure wouldn't know how to deal with them. I was chatting with one of our vendor's employees in the kitchen this morning. She was fretting about winter here in WV. When I found out she was from Chicago, I assured her that if she survived the last Chicago winter, she'd have nothing I worry about here!

Today was busy, as usual. I had planned to leave at 2, but our team was determined to finish what we started yesterday so I didn't get out until 4. The guard in the lobby was surprised to see me waltzing out so early. We met friends for dinner at a local restaurant and then went to a baseball game. Friday night games always end with a really good fireworks display, and I love fireworks! We're heading home to Ky tomorrow for a family day, and I'm going to go to bed early. I'm so sleepy! Might be from all the beer I drank at the game. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[deegee]

That video was too funny! That dude has put a heck of a lot of thought into the subject!