Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi everyone! Happy Weekend.

Deegee, I am with you on clean floors. I keep a little hand Shark vac handy and pick up stuff on the floor. I have a stick vac too but I like the quickness of cordless. Agreed, my family has had a rough year but I know there are many other families with a lot worse things going on for them. Matt and Marty sounds so much alike at times. Marty tells me the same thing about buying what I like and enjoy wearing it. I would have freaked out a lot from that guy grabbing you and going for your purse. I am glad there was a policeman nearby. I think as hard as you are working you deserve to sleep in and go to work a little bit late. Anyone gives you any grief send them my way! The game and fireworks sounds like a lot of fun. Have fun on your trip home tomorrow. Any news from Denise?

Dee Jay, our block is just beginning. There will be 15 houses on our street. We are smack in the middle of the east side of the block. They started on the place directly across the street from us plus they are working on 2 houses directly to the north of us. We’ll have them working on the block for a year or two. I’ll have lots of nails in my tires when they are done. Once they build the house south of us they will put in the greenway between our house and that one. I felt like I living in the country for a year and a half and now I’ll have neighbors. I like your idea of bringing me wine. I can make out welcome to “my” neighborhood pamphlets and hand them out as people move in. Just set everyone straight when they encroach on my territory. Holy crap the problem with the sewer has been going on and not addressed by the association. I think you have a lot of evidence on your side now. How could this not have been revealed to you when you were looking to purchase the place? Sounds like everyone is voting for a dark floor. I’ll go watch your video later. And Double Holy Crap you were involved in an armed robbery. I would have been scared out of my mind.

Marty slept in our guest wing last night because he had to get up at 4:30. I couldn’t fall asleep so I put 3 – count ‘em – 3 of my teddy bears on his pillow and pulled up the covers and then I slept like a log. Yes, I am weird.

Marty kind of took most of his day off. He played golf and turned in our RV to be sold on consignment. We are going to take a major beating on it when it sales – I’ll probably have to pay $15,000 to $20,000 difference on what we get. Sigh. When we bought it we thought is was a GREAT idea to finance it for 20 years. Now, not so much. Of course RV lose value by the seconds. I guess our linoleum cracked in the kitchen from the heat and it was full of thousands of dead miller moths. Glad I didn’t see that. Think of the earrings I could buy with that much money?

Marty takes off to the UK for 2 weeks tomorrow. He has to report to work first thing Monday morning so he’ll travel Saturday and Sunday to get there.

Speaking of diamonds I am taking my sister jewelry shopping on Sunday. While I am there I am going to look at a few things. First at a higher clarity (maybe color as well) EC diamond. I have some things I can trade in to help defray some of the cost for an upgrade. Depending on what I find on that I am going to look at a larger blue sapphire an see if I like something they have there. I am also going to try on some studs that are in the .80 ctw to .84 ctw size to see if I note them being smaller than my current .92 ctw pair. Since these don’t have any certificates for all I know these were cut for size and face up larger than they should but I think they are right around 5mm. I keep wearing a headband so I can watch my diamonds whenever I can and honestly they aren’t that bad. They are probably HI i1 and very good cut. So my thoughts are I may use my studs towards the upgraded EC and sapphire leaving the jewelry store with 2 new things and not leaving behind much cash. Then I could use some cash to purchase diamond studs from WF, CBI or BGD. I was even thinking of asking Wink if he can find me some great diamonds without certs. I honestly don’t care if they some with paperwork or not. I just want them to be awesome. However, I should “see above” about how much getting out of our RV might cost us.

I met Marty after work for a drink and one of his old employees joined us who is in town from Arizona. We all went out for supper. I am working on laundry since Marty needs clothes for 2 weeks I thought I’d best get everything washed.

Have a great weekend.
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! Happy Weekend.

Deegee, I am with you on clean floors. I keep a little hand Shark vac handy and pick up stuff on the floor. I have a stick vac too but I like the quickness of cordless. Agreed, my family has had a rough year but I know there are many other families with a lot worse things going on for them. Matt and Marty sounds so much alike at times. Marty tells me the same thing about buying what I like and enjoy wearing it. I would have freaked out a lot from that guy grabbing you and going for your purse. I am glad there was a policeman nearby. I think as hard as you are working you deserve to sleep in and go to work a little bit late. Anyone gives you any grief send them my way! The game and fireworks sounds like a lot of fun. Have fun on your trip home tomorrow. Any news from Denise?

Dee Jay, our block is just beginning. There will be 15 houses on our street. We are smack in the middle of the east side of the block. They started on the place directly across the street from us plus they are working on 2 houses directly to the north of us. We’ll have them working on the block for a year or two. I’ll have lots of nails in my tires when they are done. Once they build the house south of us they will put in the greenway between our house and that one. I felt like I living in the country for a year and a half and now I’ll have neighbors. I like your idea of bringing me wine. I can make out welcome to “my” neighborhood pamphlets and hand them out as people move in. Just set everyone straight when they encroach on my territory. Holy crap the problem with the sewer has been going on and not addressed by the association. I think you have a lot of evidence on your side now. How could this not have been revealed to you when you were looking to purchase the place? Sounds like everyone is voting for a dark floor. I’ll go watch your video later. And Double Holy Crap you were involved in an armed robbery. I would have been scared out of my mind.

Marty slept in our guest wing last night because he had to get up at 4:30. I couldn’t fall asleep so I put 3 – count ‘em – 3 of my teddy bears on his pillow and pulled up the covers and then I slept like a log. Yes, I am weird.

Marty kind of took most of his day off. He played golf and turned in our RV to be sold on consignment. We are going to take a major beating on it when it sales – I’ll probably have to pay $15,000 to $20,000 difference on what we get. Sigh. When we bought it we thought is was a GREAT idea to finance it for 20 years. Now, not so much. Of course RV lose value by the seconds. I guess our linoleum cracked in the kitchen from the heat and it was full of thousands of dead miller moths. Glad I didn’t see that. Think of the earrings I could buy with that much money?

Marty takes off to the UK for 2 weeks tomorrow. He has to report to work first thing Monday morning so he’ll travel Saturday and Sunday to get there.

Speaking of diamonds I am taking my sister jewelry shopping on Sunday. While I am there I am going to look at a few things. First at a higher clarity (maybe color as well) EC diamond. I have some things I can trade in to help defray some of the cost for an upgrade. Depending on what I find on that I am going to look at a larger blue sapphire an see if I like something they have there. I am also going to try on some studs that are in the .80 ctw to .84 ctw size to see if I note them being smaller than my current .92 ctw pair. Since these don’t have any certificates for all I know these were cut for size and face up larger than they should but I think they are right around 5mm. I keep wearing a headband so I can watch my diamonds whenever I can and honestly they aren’t that bad. They are probably HI i1 and very good cut. So my thoughts are I may use my studs towards the upgraded EC and sapphire leaving the jewelry store with 2 new things and not leaving behind much cash. Then I could use some cash to purchase diamond studs from WF, CBI or BGD. I was even thinking of asking Wink if he can find me some great diamonds without certs. I honestly don’t care if they some with paperwork or not. I just want them to be awesome. However, I should “see above” about how much getting out of our RV might cost us.

I met Marty after work for a drink and one of his old employees joined us who is in town from Arizona. We all went out for supper. I am working on laundry since Marty needs clothes for 2 weeks I thought I’d best get everything washed.

Have a great weekend.
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I was certainly a slug today. I was up until midnight getting laundry done. Marty is off on a business trip for 2 weeks so I had to wash as many of his clothes as I could. My uncle woke me up bright and early about 6:30. He’s on ET and I’m on MT, I was going to ask him “do you ever check the local time before you call someone?” but I hated to be rude. He was calling to see if I heard when my aunt's funeral is going to be. My cousin said they were going to call everyone but so far they've only called me.

Marty played golf this morning then left for the airport about noon. All I did today was read, do dishes, bake a small batch of cookies and walk over to the mailbox. I am taking the cookies to my nephews tomorrow and only ate 2 cookies hot out of the oven. I had toast for breakfast, noodles and beef for lunch and a baked potato for supper. I stocked up on lots of raw veggies so I should be able to eat cheaply for a few weeks.

Tomorrow I am going jewelry shopping. My sister wants earrings and a pendant. That will be fun! Hopefully I'll find something I want to upgrade but the pickier I get the harder it is for them to have something I want. Picky, Picky, Picky!

We finally got our RV to a local RV dealer yesterday. We are going to take a bath on that sucker - probably about $15,000 to get out of it. Hopefully it sells quickly.

I hope you are having a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi. I just got back from getting gas in the car and getting some breakfast. There are a few dozen geese in our community and they were all walking in a row down the greenway behind my house. See it's not only ducks that get in a row. Ha ha. Too bad I didn't stop to take a picture.

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday. Oh wait. CRAP!!!! That means I have to go back to work tomorrow.

So I took my sister shopping today. She got a very pretty pendant. It has some pave diamonds on the bale then she bought a F (EGL) .50 carat diamond. I wasn't going to urge her to look at more expensive diamonds and this one was actually very clear and pretty. She is very excited. She is going to go back and get .75 ctw studs in a few weeks.

The picture below is of my EC diamond and/or sapphire RHR below - weird it turned out to be a radiant lavender sapphire in a rose gold ring. Sadly this is my LAST jewelry purchase. I MUST save money. Really. I swear!

I took one of Marty's killer rabbits with me for the road trip and put him on the dash behind my media display. See that pic with comment below. I posted the same on Facebook.

We went and had lunch at Olive Garden then went back to pick up our finished jewelry. It's nice to get such good customer service. Marty says walking in to that jewelry store with me is like walking in to Cheers with Norm.

Off to get things done I should have done this weekend.

Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, if your coworker survived Chicago winters (especially this LAST one) a WV winter will be bikini weather! I’m glad you got to leave a little early on Friday, even if it was 4 instead of 2 – you deserve it! The armed robbery was a crazy thing and the guys who committed it were apparently on a spree and got bolder and bolder as time went on. The place they robbed right after mine they actually shot and killed someone. The States Attorney called me and asked me if I would come back to Pittsburgh to testify (I had moved to Chicago by then) but they had enough other witnesses that they didn’t need me in the end.

Curby, there are geese all over downtown Chicago because of the river running right through and it’s a frequent sight to have a feathered pedestrian just waddling across a busy street. I’ve never seen one hit but I’m sure it happens. Glad you had a successful shopping trip with your sister! Your new ring is lovely, I really like the lavender radiant with the rose gold! And funny how that EC and/or sapphire RHR turned out that way – ha!

I worked harder on Saturday and Sunday than I’ve ever worked in my life! The CB and I thought that getting up the wood and plywood would be easier than it was. The part we weren’t counting on was that the plywood was nailed down with these long nails that were literally shot in with a 22 cartridge (I guess that’s how you do it when you’re dealing with concrete) and when you pulled the plywood up the nails just ripped right through and stayed imbedded in the concrete. We couldn’t get enough leverage to get them out with a regular crow bar, even hitting it with a 5 lb hammer to try to pop them, so we got a 48” long pry bar which have a lot more leverage but when the nails come flying out (and man DO they come FLYING out!) they leave a pock mark in the concrete that’s about 3” round and an inch or more deep. The holes are about every 12 inches across the floor in both direction (we only got half of it up this weekend) and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has to be filled in with concrete because we can’t put the new flooring down with holes that big. So I will be down on my hands and knees ‘till the fvcking cows come home with a bucket of concrete and a trowel. Plus you have to vacuum the hell out of the holes before you put the concrete mix in or else it won’t adhere correctly, you’ll just be putting concrete on top of loose pebbles and gravel and then it won’t stay in. I am really about ready to smack the property manager and the association president for letting this water issue get so bad. I was also talking to one of my neighbors last night and his unit is where the water comes down from all the upper units before it goes into the sewer. Well apparently that pipe, which is also attached to his kitchen sink, got clogged up over time and he would frequently have water shooting up out of his sink and HITTING THE CEILING. He said they sent someone out move than TWENTY TIMES to fix it. Finally he had enough (I assure you it would have taken me A LOT LESS THAN TWENTY TIMES to have ENOUGH) and went on a rampage and they finally got someone in who knew what they were doing and corrected the problem properly. I am living in a building run by morons…

Anyway, here are my floor choices. What do you think?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Darker version

 

[Dee*Jay]

Both together

 

[Dee*Jay]

These pics are washed out, the flooring is all much richer than it looks in the photos. I'm really learning toward the dark... But I can be swayed!

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday!

Dee Jay, I like the dark better. I am screaming for you about the robbery. That is so scary. That is amazing the geese just blend in with people. I honked the horn to get through the parade and they just got out of my way and the ones behind them stopped. It was well planned. I do like my lavender stone. It was a good call. That’s what I’m telling myself and I’m sticking to it.

Ripping up your floor then repairing the holes in the cement sounds like an absolute nightmare. I think the association has had amble issues and complaints to know this problem existed. As a realtor are there any lemon laws or other things you can use as leverage to get them to pay for this? I am so sorry your beautiful new place has turned out to be such a drain on the pocket book and a pain in the arse.

I am FREEZING right now so I am thinking of cranking on the heat or fireplace! I actually have on sweats, a thermal shirt and a sweatshirt. Sigh.

I had a short day at work. I went in late because I had to let in my housekeeper. Then I had to come home because the electrician setting up a box for the house they are building next door cut our phone / internet cable. They “said” they’d fix it by noon. About 12:15 I called the manager of the construction company who didn’t know a thing about it and said I should call my internet provider. I’m like “um no”. So then he refers me to his sales office. They are both at lunch. I finally hunt one of them down and she calls the electrician who says they are going to fix it. They promised to show up in 30 minutes. An hour later there they were. They did patch the cable, not replace it so I took pictures from the house with the construction manager out there so if anything comes of it down the road it’s not our dime. They have 22 houses to build on our street. At least I lived in the country for 1 and ½ years. This is going to be a long process. I got back to work after 2. That made for a quick afternoon.

Tomorrow we get to go to lunch about noon, show up at the movies about 12:45, watch a movie and eat popcorn on the company’s dime then get off the rest of the day. Yippee! I think I’ll go get some fresh fruit after the movie.

Off to find my heated throw – wash it and get it ready to use. This is about the 3rd chill attack I’ve had in a month. Must be an allergy to jewelry.

Curby

 

[marcy]

Damn Killer Rabbits. In reviewing the LONG list of what can give you chills I am sure they have given me cyanide poison. They'd get the Teddy Bears to themselves for 2 entire weeks. But I'm on to them now. Ha!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, the scariest part of the robbery was that there was an old safe in the back room and when the guys took us back there (it was me and the assistant manager of the store) they saw it and told him to open it. The building was built in the 1800s and we had never had the safe open (the combination had probably been lost for a hundred years at that point). The manager tried to explain that to them but they were getting pissed off. One of them said "Shoot the girl, he'll figure out the combination." That's a moment that sticks with you!

So we are all universally voting for the dark floors. Guess that decision has been made!

I spent about two hours last night filling holes in the concrete. I thought I was doing a much better job than I actually was because when I looked at it in the light this morning some of the holes are either too sunk in or too humped up. The difference is probably so slight it doesn't really matter but since I have to rent a grinder anyway to take care of some biger bumps near the front door and to get some epoxy off that won't come up in any other way I'll probably give them all a little grind just because I'm OCD!

Today I'm wearing a 3/4 sleeve T-shirt that I bought at Macy's a couple of weeks ago. They had a bunch of colors but I only got the navy with white print and now I am kicking myself that I didn't more because it fits really nicely and even though it's a tee it's really good thick fabrick and I can totally wear it to work. They only have this one color on the Macy's site or else I'd be ordering a bunch more right now!

 

[Dee*Jay]

So I just searched a different way and found the tees in black with white polka dots and a pink with white polka dots versions and ordered them. There was also a cute green one in the store that's not on the site but I guess beggers can't be choosers! And why on earth I can locate these using google but not directly on Macy's site is completely beyond me, but whatever!

ETA: And I know fabric does not have a "K" at the end (in my last post). I wish this thing automatically spell checked becuase I rarely go back and read it before I post and I'm sure you guys must think I'm a moron -- HA!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I can see why something like that would stick with you! We’re glad they didn’t shot you!!! That is so scary. Dark floors it is. All right! Good luck getting all of your holes patched in the concrete. That is great you found some more colors of the t-shirt from Macy’s. I really like one of their store brands (I think it’s Charter Club). I am wearing polka dots today.

I was in bed last night before 9:30. I turned off the air condition, cranked on my heated mattress pad, put on more blankets and slept until 11:30 when I woke up boiling hot. Weird. I had very strange dreams too.

The movie was fun today. I met a friend for supper at Olive Garden. I had spaghetti and brought home enough for 3 lunches. That means I can avoid the grocery store for a few more days. Woo hoo!

Take care!
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, the shirts are from Charter Club and I like that brand too. There is also Alfani, do you ever get their line? I'm not sure if it's a Macy's brand but it tends to be decent basic stuff and not too expensive. One of the biggest problems for me shopping is that some sleeves and pants, even in petite, are too long for me so when I find brands that work I stick with them! Talbots is also good for me but sometimes their pricing is crazy high. There's an outlet up by the CB that I wander into every now and then but I haven't been for ages.

So my communication with the management company/association has been, shall we say, *persistent*. I would send very detailed messages about what exactly was going on (On such-and-such date we received rain beginning at aproximately xx pm. At xx pm water began gurgling out of my master bathroom drain. At xx pm water was geysering up from the obstructed downspout (see attached picture)... that sort of thing.) If they didn't respond within what I considered to be a reasonable time (generally three business days) I would send a message saying I was awaiting a response to my last message. Then they would reply and I would immediately fire off another very detailed factual email. Well I think I have worn them down! The last message I got yesterday said to have my insurance agent call them to discuss the cost of damages and repairs! I'm not out spending the unseen money yet as I will believe it when I see it, but this is at least progress. Plus, they have engaged a contractor to address the problem. Of course they won't share the scope of work with me on what is being done but I will stay on them like white on rice to make sure it's completed. Plus, now that the City is on the case I have hope it will ultimately get resolved. (Tentative) happy dance!

I spent about three hours filling in nail holes in the floor last night. I'm really refining the recipe for the concrete (I've discovered more like cake batter than cookie dough is better) and my technique is definitely improving (smoosh it in with my fingers, pack it down with the 6" putty knife, do one last swipe away from me--not toward me!--with the putty knife to finish it off). I also made a "creeper" to scoot along on because being on my hands and knees for hours is just miserable. I took a furniture mover with wheels, spanned the gap with a big plastic cutting board, and sat on it to scoot along. I am MacGyver!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Here is what the floor looks like with all the damage. Some of the spots are pretty large and I might have to use an actual trowel when I get to those because I don't think my 6" putty knife is big enough.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Here is last night's handiwork. It's really a mess right now becuase of all the little loose concrete turds that form when you're finishing a spot off.

 

[Dee*Jay]

And here's the hallway, which I did the night before. Once it's all dry I can scrape the floor with an 8" blade to loose up the concrete turds and suck them up in the shop vac, then it looks much better.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Jesus... Looking at those pictures makes me (a) want to weep -- there is SO MUCH SPACE TO FIX and I only did that little area in three hours last night... I swear it seemed like I did a lot at the time but now it seems so SMALL, and (b) think I am absolutely bananas to take this on. Holy fvck... I just can't think of another way to get it done without hiring someone to refinish the whole floor and then I still have to put the new flooring on top so I'm at 20+ grand all day long. I'll be off in the corner crying if anyone wants me...

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I love the darker wood, but I think mine looks more the color of your lighter choice. I like it, but would probably have picked something different if I had been the one having this house built. Concrete turds...sorry, but that made me laugh! You do have a lot to do. I feel for you. Alfani doesn't work for me because everything in regular length is too short and tall length is too long. Shirts are a little too short too. I had good luck finding t-shirts that weren't too short, tight or see-through this year at Elder Beerman. I doubt that store is everywhere like Macy's. My sister and her family just got back from Chicago today. They posted lots of pics on Facebook, and it looks like they did just about everything one can do in 3 days there!

Marcy-I love your new ring. I must get something in rose gold. Your pieces are so pretty! You better keep an extra eye on those rabbits. They seem like they may be a little crazed these days. Are you feeding them and talking nice to them? That works with my cats, although I swear sometimes the one who fell from the floor above, whacked me on the head and left a nice scar on my wrist around Christmas time is genuinely plotting against me. And speaking of scar, I think my index finger is going to fall off from my Marcy knife wound of last week. It was a really weird color and sore to the touch yesterday, and it bled like crazy this morning. Strangely it feels much better today than yesterday and the color is mostly normal, just bruised. I did this last Thursday night making my salad. Matt told me no salads while he's out of town this week. Have you ever gone for medical attention from one of your knife attacks? I wonder why you're so cold. Is it already past summer weather there? I hope you're not getting sick or anything. What a pain to have to deal with the contractor/electrical issue/cable/phone...I send a big GRRR to the dude that cut the line.

So after our talks about robberies and such (Dee*Jay-your story freaks me out), I checked the bank of cameras at the guard's station in my building at work. Even though I park 3 lots away, it is a lot our guard monitors and he says he can see me all the way to my car. That makes me feel better, especially since I've been staying so late. As it gets darker earlier, I'll start parking closer. We had a great visit with my parents this weekend, and I invited them to come to the beach with us in September. If they can make it, we're down to only 5 extra bedrooms in the beach house! I warned them that there will be lots of lazing, chillaxing, drinking, and eating and they weren't allowed to make us do anything. That's pretty much their idea of a great vacation too, so no worries. Matt gets home in a few hours. I had salad for dinner...I'm such a rebel! Have a great Thursday!

 

[marcy]

Happy Wednesday!

Dee Jay, OMG you have so much to do to repair the floor. I am so sorry you have to do all of that but how clever of you to figure out how to MacGyver it. Small world that the shirts you like are Charter Club. They have really nice t-shirts. I also like Land’s End t-shirts. Both of them are made of thicker fabric so they don’t feel like a cheap t-shirt. I tend to stick with the same brands of clothes once I find something I like. I am delighted to hear you are making progress with the association and hopefully they’ll make it right – both with your pocketbook and fix the underlying problem so it never happens again. I hope you aren’t off in the corner crying. Drinking okay, but not crying.

Deegee, thank you for the compliments on my ring. I’ve worn it everyday this week so far. I really like rose gold all of a sudden. Speaking of rings, any word on yours? I am so anxious to see it finished. I forgot to mention my sympathy on your pulling a Marcy and giving your finger a serious knife wound. I am glad it’s better today but I wonder if it was getting infected? Maybe when it bled this morning it cleaned that out of there? I did go to the doctor once who gave me heck for not coming in sooner because it needed stitches. Good idea to stay away from knifes when Matt is gone. I am talking nice to the rabbits and feeding them “teddy” grahams so hopefully they’ll quit trying to poison me. That is too funny your cat is plotting to get you. I have no idea why I get those attacks where I get so cold. I had one camping once and ended up putting on 2 full sets of sweats then got under about 4 fleece blankets. I could barely move. It must be the evil coming out of me. Good idea to make sure the security guard can see you all the way to your car. Definitely park closer once it is dark when you leave. That is awesome your parents will be joining all of us – er I mean you guys at the beach house. How are your parents doing?

I spent time on the phone with Verizon tonight. They keep calling Marty in the UK with a message to please hold for an agent then put him on hold. Of course since I’m not the owner of the account they wouldn’t tell me why they called him. I finally answered enough of their questions so they’d tell me what they wanted. They were inquiring if the roaming and international charges were his. Of course I believe they were concerned that the extra $305 charges would be paid. I asked “what in our payment history would make you think we wouldn’t pay our bill?” She sure got apologetic then. She at least put a note on the account to call the other cell phone on the account (me) to verify that yes the phone is out of the country and the phone’s owner is in the same place.

Other than that my day was uneventful. Those are often the best.

Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Thursday!

Dee Jay, did you work on your "turds" today? They remind me of the plugs they leave behind when they aerate the lawn. I'm thinking of you girl! Someone - really a long time from now - you may look back on this and have a great story to tell. You know one of those "that's nothing" stories when someone whines about having to tear up part of their floor you can tell them about your horror story. You are remembering to have a glass of wine now and then?

Deegee, I can also see the soon to be arriving pictures from BGD. I can hardly wait.

Work was busy. I had a kids meal for supper and now I'm ready for some football. Sweet!

Marty rented a car in the UK. It sounds like he is going to turn it in tomorrow. He was going to try and move to a different hotel for the weekend and next week. One that has a golf course. All of gear testing went well so he's done with that. It looks like a trip on to Serbia isn't necessary so I guess he'll just work from a real office in the UK next week. It's good for him to work face to face with other people from his company.

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-thanks for the reminder about my ring! (Work has become my overlord and I think about nothing else...) I emailed Denise late today to check the status and hope to have a reply tomorrow. I gave them the go-ahead 2 weeks ago tomorrow, so hopefully it will be done in another week or so. You're right about the concrete turds looking like the lawn plugs. I hadn't thought of that. I was hoping if Marty didn't need to go to Serbia he'd be home earlier, but I guess not huh? I'm working on this project with our consultant from Michigan and vendor employees from all over the country. Some fly in on Sunday night and others come Monday morning, and they leave late Thursday evening. Every single week. Every single project they work on. A few have leased apartments in town for the days they're here since the project is going to last a minimum of 4 yrs. Others just live in hotel rooms. I can't even imagine how hard that is on their families. I know they make really good money, but still. Matt is counting down the days until football season starts! Thanks for asking about my parents. The chemo made dad's teeth super brittle and they kept breaking, so he had to have them all removed. He has a temporary set of dentures he isn't doing well with so he's having o drink everything. He can barely walk because of the swelling in his feet, but he seems to be in really good spirits while the whole family is visiting. Mom promises it does hm a world of good, so we all try to make the trip every weekend. I hope they can come with us to the beach. I have been looking for beach wheelchair rentals, although I doubt he'd actually sit in it...stubborn man! You and Dee*Jay will just love them. They are the most laid back, chill kind of people you can meet. I thought of you today while I was wrapped up in my snuggie during a meeting at work! What a pain dealing with Verizon. You must be a super patient woman with all this stuff you've had to take care of the last few months!

My stupid finger is back to being a weird color and swollen. The top of my finger is cut, but the pad of my finger on the backside is what hurts where the knife went through so far. It doesn't bend quite right at the fingertip knuckle either. Sigh. I'm keeping an eye on it. I think the weird color is just bruising, no red streaks or anything. My neighbor is a heart surgeon...I might ask his opinion as a medical professional if I should go to the dr. He'll tell me he doesn't know about fingers, only hearts! So glad tomorrow is Friday!! Have a wonderful day!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, LOL, the concrete turds ARE kind of like the things the aerator leaves behind! I hadn't had any wine this week, partially because the only thing I had open was a bottle of malbec that the CB and I started on on Sunday with dinner and partially because by the time I would get done with my project for the night it would be 10 o'clock or later but yesterday I went to the grocery store and got a box of some sort of white that a friend said was really good and now I can tap it any time I'm ready for a little nip--like last night!

Deegee, how's your finger doing? It's weird that it was ok and then got bad again. Seriously, if it's still doing strange things you should get it checked out. We don't want to have to call you "four fingers," especially with the new ring on the way! And speaking of the new ring, where is it?!? I'm as anxious as you are! (Well, OK, maybe not...!) It's awesome that your parents are going to the beach with you guys in September. It's also awesome that there are still enough bedrooms for Marcy and me!

Yesterday I made huge progress on the floor! I filled in all the holes except for the ones that are under where the furniture currently resides. My technique has become very efficient--HA! I scoot to the next hole on my "creeper," slap some concrete in, swipe once toward me to mush it in completely, flip the putty knife and swipe once away from me, and DONE! Getting the right consistency was key and so was learning that I have to keep the blade of the knife wiped off so it makes clean swipes or else the stuff on the blade kid of "pulls out" what's already in the hole. By the time I get to the second half of the floor I'll be able to do this in my sleep!

I just ran to my real estate office t pick up a check for a client and I'm going to lunch with a friend later. Beyond that I think I'll rest up for the weekend because my full dumpster is getting switched out for an empty one tomorrow and they will be here to start tearing out the rest of the floors at 8 am. Ack.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I can't help but think how crappy it is that your floors are coming up so soon after they we're put down! Did you decide on the wood color? Both are very nice and I don't think you can go wrong with either. I was going to try to take a picture of my family room flooring from the 2nd floor in the daylight, but I'd have to fluff the seat back cushions on the couch so you wouldn't think I'm a slob. My finger doesn't feel like fluffing cushions! You'll be such a pro at filling in holes, you'll start a new career when this is over! I've never tried boxed wine, not even in college. Was it good? Drinkable?

Marcy-every time I start scrolling down the page, I have to stop and admire your ring. I'm going to need you to take a picture of it with your other rose gold ring so I can admire them both at once! Have you decided to keep your studs? I think I might have mine reset in the dangly setting so I might actually wear them. I always feel like studs are pinching my ears.

I have done absolutely nothing all day. I had planned to leave work early yesterday but ended up working an hour late. We got the deliverable from the vendor yesterday at 4, and we have 5 business days to review and respond. It was a massive deliverable so I will be working late all next week. I think I'm going to have enough working extra time built up that I won't have to use any vacation days when we go to the beach. Yay! I keep thinking about doing some laundry, but it doesn't seem to be getting done just from me thinking about it. I started a new book, The Rook (I think that's the title), and I have been lounging on the couch under a blanket reading all day. My kind of Saturday. We need to go grocery shopping tonight so we don't eat out all week like we did last week. Since I'll be working late all week, I'm thinking crock pot meals are in order. Have a great weekend!

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

Deegee, I am glad you emailed Denise. Just because that order is placed doesn’t mean they can’t keep in touch with us. We want pretty pictures and of course our finished jewelry. I was hoping Marty might come home too but he didn’t change his plans. He and a guy went in to London today to do some sight seeing. I saw on FB they were at the Tower of London – I hope Marty got some pictures of the crown jewels. I feel for those consultants and vendors who fly in every week. No amount of money can make up for being apart from your family. I have really struggled with Marty’s travel this year. I always spent extra time with my parents when he was gone and now I honestly stay home and watch TV. I know I should get out and do something but I just can’t seem to motivate myself to leave the house. Marty will probably head to Serbia the first of September. I am sure both of your parents enjoy the family coming to visit on the weekends. I think of them and wonder how they are doing. They will enjoy a visit to the beach. I hate to hear about your dad’s teeth. I am sure Dee Jay and I would love your parents. I am glad you enjoyed a lazy day with a nice book. I really hate to hear about how your finger is feeling – I would go visit your neighbor to see what he says. I will definitely take a picture of my rose gold rings for you. I need to take pictures of the jewelry I want to try and sell, maybe I’ll work on that project tomorrow. Planning ahead for crock pot meals for the week sounds like a great idea. For now I have decided to keep my studs. I have some dangle earrings too maybe I'll get them out to wear and quit obsessing about my studs. I think you would love having the dangle earrings.

Dee Jay, the first time we had our lawn aerated I truly thought our lawn was covered with a bunch of dog turds. There were little “tootsie rolls” everywhere. You are becoming very proficient filling the holes in your floor. You will be able to do that in your sleep. It sounds like you are coming along on your massive project. You’ll need lots of wine to celebrate then. When will your new flooring be delivered? Has there been any progress on the association accepting responsibility and paying for the damages? I hope you had a nice lunch with your friend today. Ugh to starting to tear up more flooring. How was your white wine?

As I mentioned above I didn’t go anywhere today. I had a list of things to do but just watched movies all day. I did walk over to the mailbox. I didn't even get out my jewelry to wear. I planned on buying some new shoes, finding some shoes for the wedding, going to the cemetery, mailing a card and picking up a gift for a bridal shower. I guess those chores will wait until some other time. Marty is supposed to call or FaceTime me tomorrow so I won’t want to leave the house in case I miss him. He'll probably email me when he gets up (7 hours ahead of me) and give me a better idea of when he'll be back in his hotel room.

I had strawberries and toast for breakfast then made homemade pizza for lunch. I brewed up some popcorn for supper. The new microwave popper we bought a few months ago has a crack in it so I guess I’ll throw it away.

I rented “The Other Woman” today. It was actually pretty funny.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Here are my 3 rose gold rings together.

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday!

I hope you are having a great Sunday. I took pictures of the jewelry I want to sell - I put them on PDF and sent them to my sister. I'll see if she can sell them at the hospital she works at. I just want to get rid of some stuff I never wear.

I talked to Marty quite a while on FaceTime today. He had fun sightseeing in London yesterday. A guy from one work went with him. They passed on seeing the crown jewels because the line was way too long to get in. I guess the end of hurricane Bertha is hitting there today so it is rainy and windy.

I again managed to stay home again today but at least I worked on some things. There wasn't much laundry with just me here this week.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-thanks for posting your rose gold rings. I hadn't seen the one on the bottom before. I love it! I would love to have a wideish band to wear on my right hand. Tell me that's not one you're selling! I have a great idea. You can send me all the rings you don't want, and I won't charge you a penny for your posh room at the beach house. Deal? Which one of the 3 rings is your favorite? I'm glad Marty got to do some sightseeing in London. You need to quit your job and tag along with him everywhere he goes. You could get all kinds of shopping and sightseeing in while he's working. I like that plan! I didn't hear back from Denise Friday, so I'm really hoping I hear something tomorrow. I mailed my ring on July 2, they got it on July 10, had to order side stones which came in a week later, and I gave them the to-ahead 2 weeks ago. I don't wait well! I really like BGD's dangle earring settings, and I like WF's also. Are those kinds of earrings hard to get used to? Can you feel the stone moving around down there?

We went home to KY today to celebrate my nephew's 18th birthday. My kids are getting old! The whole family was there, and the three oldest kids brought their boyfriends/girlfriend, and the youngest brought her best friend. We played corn hole, and Matt and the kids played an epic game of wiffle ball and then everybody hopped in the pool afterwards. A good day. I had a hot dog and a ton of watermelon, and my stomach is sticking straight out. School starts here tomorrow so I'll have to get up and out of the house earlier to beat the school buses. If I leave after 8, I'll be waiting behind buses that stop 1000 times on my curvy 2-lane shortcut road to work. Ugh. Have a great Monday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, I really love your rose gold rings, especially the bottom one! Have you posted that before? I fell like I've seen it but I'm not 100% sure. (Senility at 43 is a terrible thing... !) I haven't had any more communication with the association because I was waiting for the floor guy to send me the revised quote so I could then send it to the insurance person who now has to make the call. It's a bit of a "process"! I really hope I get some sort of $$$ out of this. No dollars can make up for all the lost hours and crazy aggrevation but at least it will defray the cost.

Deegee, it sounds like your whole family had a great time! I am always amazed when you write about them how "normal" it all seems. (Normal = not in any way resembling the ABnormal family I've got, LOL!) Please tell WF that Dee Jay is MOST anxious to see your beautiful new ring and they need to step it up a bit! The idea of sitting behind a school bus along a long winding road would make me get out of the house a little earlier too.

The rest of the floors came up on Saturday and now I'm living in concrete hell. I will spend this week filling in the holes on the newly uncovered side and next weekend the CB will bring a grinder and smooth out the area near the entryway and over by where the bed use to be because that is really bumpy for some reason.

On Saturday I walked up to the local hardware store to get some safety glasses and my knee popped in a funny way. How ironic--I spent days and days and day in craz positions working on this floor and just walking along I get a crazy POP. It's still sore and I really don't know what's wrong with it. Knee aside, so many other parts of my body hurt right now too...