Now I really did it :((

[missy]

Good morning girls!

Kristie, keeping cautiously optimistic regarding Finn and his full recovery and continuing to send healing vibes and hugs his way.

Jimmianne, have a wonderful exciting and safe trip with your DD! Haha so you noticed. Yes I was thinking it was the appropriate time to give dear sweet Francesca a holiday makeover. LOL.

June, cannot wait till you receive your new marquise ring next week. Hoping it is beautiful and that you love it.
I'm with you re the artificial tree because what a mess the real ones make especially with kitties attacking it lol. Glad you love your tree and we are probably putting ours up in a week or 2. This weekend we are only going to the house for a day trip as we have plans today and Sunday so that only leaves Saturday. Not enough time to put up and decorate the tree especially with so many other things on our list. Soon though.

Don't feel too badly for our clinic administrator because he is telling everyone he has a better job he is going to so maybe he wasn't forced to leave as we originally thought. Anyway I only wish him the best.

Marcy, Haha silly rabbits. They better leave the tree alone. Looking forward to pics and yes I think there are some really beautiful artificial trees nowadays and plus think of how good it is not cutting down live trees. That always made me a little sad.
Wishing Marty safe travels for his business trip and before you know it he will be back home with you. Just in time for all the holiday festivities.

We are meeting a good friend in the city for a late lunch this afternoon and then tomorrow day trip to beach house and Sunday off to my parents for the first night of Hanukkah. I cannot believe we are well into December already. I just scored great seats for the broadway show Ave Q in January. I saw it many years ago without Greg and I just couldn't pass up this opportunity because we got first row mezzanine aisle seats (my favorite seating location first row mezz on the aisle woohoo) for an amazing price. I hope it is as entertaining as I remember and because Greg missed it when I went years ago I thought hey cannot pass on these great seats and price. Sweet and it gives us something to look forward to in dreary cold dark January!

Have a good day girls!

Adding some hug emoticons for Jimmianne. I am with you and have often wished we had an official PS hug emoticon!

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Junebug, I remember what a mess real Christmas trees make. It seems like you find needles for months after Christmas. That is surprising Zoe leaves your mom’s tree alone. I will be anxious to see your marquis ring next week. Doesn’t it seem like it takes forever for something to show up in the mail? So far the rabbits have not shown up in the tree but Marty was busy with work today. I love peach sapphires too. Every time I walk in that store that is the first question out of my mouth. They had a light EC peach the last time I was there but it was too washed out. Sometimes the cut isn’t very good but sooner or later I’ll be lucky and find one. I should pick a color that goes with white metal because I want another platinum ring. I only own one and I sure like it. Those little rabbits have Napoleon complexes and Marty encourages it. Ha!

LLJsmom, the pendant is so pretty. It’s something to keep on your wish list. Good luck in the marathon Sunday!

Jimmianne, I know those rabbits are mean and sneaky. They make me scream all the time. Have a wonderful trip. We will miss you!

Missy, funny out the clinic administrator has another job; maybe it was a mutual agreement of I’m leaving well good get out of here. You have a busy weekend planned. That is wonderful you scored great tickets for a Broadway Show. You and Greg will have a great time.

Kristie, more get better dust and hugs coming your way for Finn.

I bought Microsoft Office for Mac (2016) last night. I have no idea if I like it yet.

Work was busy today and went by really fast. Of course an automated email came out about 6 pm indicating my team made an error on something for tomorrow so I had to dial in and fix it.

Good news though I finally got my double wide cube today. It seems huge! I can see my TV easier now from my PC. Oh oh. I can easily line 10 teddy bears up across the back of my desk too. Sweet.

I spent what seemed like an hour hand washing the Rubbermaid package we picked up at Sams the other night. I'd picked up a few larger Rubbermaid containers the day before at the grocery store. Between the assorted containers and lids I had to use 7 dish towels but at least they are all clean. Marty thinks I am crazy to wash them all but I'd rather give them a soapy rinse because I don't know how clean they are off of the shelf.

I finished my self appraisal at work today and my last moment was "I don't like doing self appraisals. It's all about me". One of my employees submitted their self appraisal so I got it finished today too. This summer when I was dealing with my problem employee I wrote up all of our appraisals so I have them pretty much done already. I just have to copy and paste them in to our internal site and I'm done. Yay!

Marty made meatball subs for supper with our leftover meatballs. I'd never had a meatball sandwich before, It was good. He sent me a text to pick up chips on the way home. I went to the little mini mart store at work and bought chips there.

Marty is packing. He is headed to Philadelphia tomorrow. He was going to visit a friend in PA tomorrow then drive on to DC on Sunday. The guy's kids have strep and some other contagious disease so Marty is driving to VA tomorrow and will spent the night with his brother and SIL. They are about an hour away from where Marty stays in DC.

I have errands from heck to run tomorrow and will start working on Christmas cards and baking cookies. Hence the abundance of new Rubbermaid containers. I should drive myself to Denver and look at sapphires though. It sounds more fun and expensive but I will wait for Marty.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[junebug17]

Missy, sounds like you have a few busy days ahead of you! Dinner at your parents' on Sunday sounds like fun. Lunch with a friend sounds really nice, hope you had a good time.

OK, I don't feel as bad for your director now lol! I wish him well too, and hopefully his leaving won't cause too much upheaval.

I'm so glad you were able to get good seats for the show at a good price! I agree, it's so nice to have something to look forward to during these cold and dreary months.

Yes, I'm excited to get the marquise! I'm having slight second thoughts that the stone might be a bit too small, but JA has a great return policy so I'm not worrying about it.

LLJsmom, that necklace is just beautiful!

Kristie, thinking of Finn and hoping he's doing as well as last night.

I'm posting this too late for Jimmianne to see, but I think we could all use a group hug anyway!

eta: Marcy, we were posting at the same time lol! A blue sapphire would look lovely in platinum! I love platinum too, I should have gotten my ering setting in platinum. Glad your day went quickly and yay for the double cube! That extra space must feel downright luxurious. It must feel so great to have the appraisals almost done, good for you for doing them early. I'm sure it was a pain at the time but I'll bet you're glad now! I laughed when I read what you put in your self-appraisal! Marty is going to be in my neck of the woods! I'm only about a half hour from Philadelphia. It's really nice he'll be able to see his brother on this trip, that worked out well. My mother used to make meat ball sandwiches when I was a kid, I love them! I can see where you'd be tempted to go sapphire shopping, but I guess it's only right to wait for Marty!

 

[Calliecake]

Missy, How is your eye today? I have no idea how serious the problem is but I was hoping it wasn't too serious if you were able to go work. Do you know the true story about your boss? I wonder if he was told to start looking for a new job and found something fairly quickly. Do you know the person who will be replacing him? It sounds like you have a very busy weekend. Will your sister and her family be at your moms house on Sunday? Have you made any decisions on your earrings? I have typed up so many posts tonight only to have them completely disappear. I have no idea what is going on with my IPad.

Junebug, Are you happy with your new ring? It sounds like it is beautiful and can't wait for you to post pictures. Do you like the rose gold? I gave up on real Christmas trees years ago. Needles always ended up getting stuck in the carpet, only to get stuck in our feet two months later. You are so lucky Zoe leaves the tree alone.

Marcy, Do you have any plans while Marty is gone? Your Christmas tree picture is so pretty. Are you loving the larger space at the office? Are you still hoping for a new sapphire for Christmas?

Jimmianne, I hope you have a lovely time on your trip. I hope you were able to get all the details worked out and aren't stressing.

Kristie, Do you have any big plans for the weekend? Although with the way the week went I am sure having everything nice and quiet is probably what you are hoping for. I think you have had enough excitement for while. Finny looked so darn cute in his goggles!

LLJsmom, What a beautiful necklace! I hope you know we will all be cheering you on this Sunday. Will your son be running in this race with you? Are they calling for nice weather on Sunday? How are your husband and dad feeling?

 

[MarionC]

Surprise! I am still here, lurking. Good thing too because of the group hug. Thanks, June!
I was ready to go out the door yesterday when I got a text from Delta. Flight to NYC delayed so we would miss the connection to Air France.
All dressed up and nowhere to go. So where does one go when that happens? shopping! LOL
So - I have already said goodbye and everyone has said goodbye back, but I felt funny lurking without saying hi.
So hi - and bye! See you here in a couple of weeks.

 

[missy]

Good morning girls!

Marcy, woohoo for your new double wide cubicle. How sweet is that and room for almost a dozen teddy bears.
I have never seen a peach sapphire and when you eventually purchase your EC peach sapphire I bet it will be very pretty. And I also bet a blue sapphire will be ooh la la beautiful in platinum. Love that contrast between the blue of the sapphire and the white steely color of the platinum.

We also bought Rubbermaid containers for when we bake the christmas cookies. They make for safe shipping I hope. Not baking this weekend but hopefully next. It is a challenge as we have never used the oven at the beach house for baking so Greg wants to do all our Christmas baking in Brooklyn for tried and true results but since we are spending so much of our time at the beach house it makes it more challenging.

Yay for being almost done with your employee appraisals (and lol funny about your self appraisal), thank goodness for being able to fix work issues from home, and yay getting started on holiday cards and baking. You are ahead of schedule and run a tight ship Marcy. Those killer bunnies better leave you and your Christmas tree alone. I hope you like your new Microsoft Office for Mac. Safe travels for Marty!

Junie,that is exactly the group hug emoticon I was searching for but unable to find. How do you add it in the post just like you did? I am so weak with these things and only know how to add it as an attachment and then it makes less sense as it posts at the end and not where I want it to in the conversation. Please tell me how to do that.

Only a few more days till your new ring arrives. I love the shape and cannot wait to see it on you! Where are you spending the holidays? Here or at your sister's house or at your new beach house? What are your children's plans? Just a couple of more weeks!

We had fun with Jeff yesterday. He is a very interesting man and we were at lunch for over 4 hours LOL. Didn't get home till late but enjoyed every minute of seeing him.

Callie, I am still seeing a big fat blobby spot in front of my left eye and it is distracting. Weird because it is right in the center of my visual field. But the good news it is a complete vitreous detachment (and in both eyes) so there is less risk it will pull at my retina causing a retinal tear or detachment. So while it is bothersome it is not dangerous and I am good with that! I was concerned that it was the beginning of a retinal break and that is why I wanted to get it checked out as soon as possible because the sooner you catch a tear or detachment the better the prognosis. So listen up girls. If you ever experience any weird eye symptoms i.e. flashing lights, big changes in the floaters you see, get yourself to a retinal specialist as soon as you can to get it evaluated OK? I think you all would know to do that anyway but it doesn't hurt to add a little PSA here. Plus you have me and can just call me and I will tell you what you need to do should you ever have any questions.

Have you done most of your holiday shopping yet or just getting started? How is your sweet grandniece doing? Is her face all better now?

I don't really know the true story about the clinic administrator yet but I guess it will come out eventually. I thought of that scenario you suggested where he might have been asked to find something else soon and that's how this went down. Really cannot say as when he called me into his office to tell me he seemed very chipper and upbeat and hard to say if it is an act or real. He sure would be saving face either way knowing him and that is why I just cannot say.

Change is always a bit scary and I am sure there will be changes at work. I am not so worried because I do have the option of just leaving if I want to. I won't be unhappy if I don't need to be. Been through too much these last few years to suffer in silence. And anyway I have never been one to suffer in silence as you girls know LOLOL.
Just hoping it is a smooth transition and that the work condition only improves. We are merging or being taken over by Federal or something like that (I am hopeless with these details) because the clinic lost one million dollars this past fiscal year (no fault of anyone's at all it is 100% due to Medicare and Medicaid cuts) and even with us being non profit that is too much. Clinics and hospitals all around us have closed so we are hopefully remaining open to continue to serve our patent population and I think we might be expanding to serve the non MMRD patient population. This should be interesting.

So one of my shopping purchases was mistakenly sent to our beach house and arrived yesterday at 1PM. I am so annoyed at Nordstrom because they mistakenly (though they will never admit it) sent it there and the UPS people always leave packages in full view of the street instead of leaving it somewhere more discreet. I am worried it will not be there when we get there today because well we all hear about delivered packages stolen this time of year. Especially in full view of the street for over a day! I sure hope those boots are there when we get there because I have little energy or patience to deal with customer service at Nordstrom and don't want to call my Am Ex to fight the charges if that package is not there. Plus I want those SW boots!

No decisions re the earrings yet. Sigh. If you girls come across anything you think I would like please let me know. I would love chunky antique pear dangles (lightweight i.e. 5 grams and under) that are in the Edwardian style but open to anything you think I would like. My budget is flexible. But would like it to be reasonable. Under 4K would be great. 3K would be even better.

Kristie, thinking of you and the fur babies and hoping things are steadily improving! Bad bees!

Jimmianne, hope you have arrived in Paris and are having smooth and easy travels!

LLJsmom, good luck in your marathon tomorrow! Run like the wind and have fun!


We are leaving for the beach house very soon and hope to go cycling, go to Whole Foods and go to Costco and do laundry while we are at the beach house too. And then return back to Brooklyn tonight. LOL we have a lot on our to do list. Hoping it is calm cycling weather.

Enjoy your Saturday and hugs!

 

[junebug17]

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a good weekend so far -

Missy, sorry you're still having an issue with your eye, it sounds very annoying and I hope it clears up soon. I didn't really know anything about the condition you have so I read a little about it and have a better understanding of it now. I'm glad you didn't have a retinal break and that it doesn't seem to be anything that is going to pose a major problem but I can see where it would be very distracting.

We're staying in NJ for the holidays and my family and I will go to my mother's on Christmas Day - I'll just bring some kind of simple meal with us, haven't figured out what yet lol. How about you? Will you be in NY or at the beach house for the holidays?

I'm hoping your package was at the beach house safe and sound! Ugh, it's nerve- wracking to say the least when something like this happens.

Glad you had a good time with your friend! 4 hour lunches are fun!

I got the hug emoticon from the Emoticon thread in Hangout. Start a post and when you want to insert an emoji open a new tab and go to the Emoticon thread. Right click on the emoji you want and then hit "copy image address". Go back to your post and click the box with the diamond (it's under "insert" at the top). A large box will appear (it might take a few seconds) - go to the top right box next to "add url" , right click and hit paste. The url of the emoticon should appear. Then hit the "add url" button and the emoticon should appear in your post. You can click preview to check that it's there. I know this sounds confusing but fool around with it and let me know if you have any questions!

Also, when adding an attachment from your computer, you can place it anywhere you want in your post by first placing the cursor where you want it to be and then clicking the "add inline" button. Your attachment will show up at that spot. Again, you can use preview to make sure it's in the right place.

Kristie, I'm hoping Finn is doing ok, thinking of you all.

LLJsmom, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts tomorrow, I hope you have a great experience running this marathon!

Thinking of Jimmianne as she begins her 2 week adventure.

Callie, I should be getting the ring sometime next week. One thing is for sure, I'm definitely sending it back if I don't love it, or have one doubt about it!

Hope you're all enjoying your night, will check in soon!

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Junebug, thanks for the group hug! I bet you are anxious for your marquis ring to show up, I am excited for you. Marty was in your neighborhood then. He made it to his brother’s tonight. I really like the weight of the platinum ring I have. I don’t think I’d want it for my wedding rings because I like yellow gold for them but future RHR are probably going to be in contention for some of that premium metal. Good idea to plan something easy for Christmas dinner at your mom’s house. We are cooking ribs in the crock pot for our family Christmas. I think I’ll make some mac and cheese and green been casserole. There will be 17 of us that day. I haven’t tried the emoticon copying for awhile; it didn’t seem to work on my Mac. I used to that that thread marked and used it frequently. There are fun things in there.

Callie, I hate when I lose things I’ve spent time typing up. I generally use my laptop to respond to PS posts. I seem to have lots of typos on my iPads. I do have lots of things on my “to do” list while Marty is gone and I got so many of them done today I’m excited and exhausted. I do still want to go sapphire or ring shopping but working a trip to Denver in sometime this month may be difficult. Our dance card seems full. Do you have your tree up yet?

Jimmianne, rats that your flight was delayed. Good idea to pass the time by shopping. Have a safe trip.

Missy, how is your eye today? I am glad it’s not dangerous but sounds awful. I will post a picture of the heart shaped peach sapphire I had; it was pretty but I just never found a setting I liked it in. I tried 3 different rings and ended up trading it in for a different sapphire. I think if I get a larger blue sapphire I’ll stick with yellow gold because I already have a white gold sapphire ring I really like. I often come home with something completely different than I intended. I am sure Greg’s cookies will turn out great no matter what oven he uses. We have a gas stove now and it sure bakes better than my electric stove did at our old house. I hope things urn out well for everyone at work but most importantly they turn out well for you. It sounds like you will have more clients in the future. Were your boots at the beach house?

I am enjoying my new double wide cube; I plan on using every inch of it too so they don’t decide “she doesn’t need that much space”. Marty will probably pack up my bears for me to take to work but then what would the bunnies eats?

So I had a very busy and productive day. Marty got up about 5:30 and was gone a little after 6. I went back to bed and had a difficult time falling asleep then had a really weird dream. I got up a little after 8. I picked up a package at FedEx, picked up some things at Office Max, Hallmark, Walgreens, Joann Fabrics and picked up lunch while I was out. Then I baked some Christmas M&M cookies and started working on my Christmas cards. I pretty much got those finished and ready to mail.

I am going to bake another batch of cookies tomorrow and then I’ll be glad to go back to work on Monday to rest.

Have a great Sunday.

Marcy

Here is the peach sapphire. The heart was too pointy. I think it would have looked better in a bezel set ring but some other sapphire called my name and this baby was gone.

 

[missy]

Good morning girls and happy Sunday!

June, thanks for that explanation re emojis (is that the right abbreviation?). I will try it out as it does seem complicated I am not sure I got it. I am dense when it comes to things like this and appreciate your detailed explanation! Oh I tried a few things Junie. I am hopeless. Cannot figure out how to make it work. Sorry! I am hopeless.

OK I figured it out finally Junie, thank you! Sorry I am such a difficult pupil.

Your holiday plans sound good and I am sure whatever you bring food wise to your mom will be delicious.

We are spending the Christmas holidays at the beach house and then as always spending NYE at my sister's house with my whole family. We never stay the whole evening though and leave a couple of hours before Midnight. Too late for us but we do spend much of the evening with them at least.

Yes 4 hour lunches are good especially when you have the time for them. I am enjoying working part time and it's funny because I know many who don't like being retired but I can see it being awesome as long as I have my dh retired along with me and we can afford to be retired haha. That is the tricky part!

I am super excited for you to get your new ring!!! Please post pics as soon as you can because we need some new bling in our lives!

I almost pulled the trigger on earrings last night but fortunately Lang was closed LOL.


Marcy, that is a very pretty heart sapphire but I see what you mean and I know something better will come your way. OMG you accomplished so much yesterday. I cannot believe you did all your cards and you did baking too and ran all those errands. You are so efficient!

Haha I think you need both bunnies and bears at work so you can keep an eye on things and they can not get into too much mischief this winter. I mean if Santa gets a whiff of the bunnies bad behavior no gifts for them so you would be doing them all a favor. Plus they need to be put to work to start contributing to the family and also it will keep them out of trouble.

Enjoy your continued baking today and yes it sounds like going back to work Monday will provide some much needed rest for you. LOL you are super efficient and you go girl. Those cookies sound yummy!

My boots were there woohoo and I will post a pic or 2 that I took as soon as I got them haha. No delayed gratification for me. I tried them on to see what I thought as soon as we got there and then we went cycling.

It was pretty cold out but we got a good ride in yesterday and are up to I think 4,160 miles now for 2015. Only problem is I used the heated vest and it was delicious except I have been getting rashes/welts where the heat touches my body (has happened the last month or 2 but I have not been sure it was the culprit till now). I wore 2 heavy layers touching my body and then the heated vest but still the welty rashes appeared again yesterday. Still there today.

So now I am worried and sad because I am guessing I am not going to be good wearing the heated vest anymore. Greg said he will figure out a different design but I had 2 heavy layers underneath the vest so it was not against my body and yet still the reaction happened. I am more worried about WTH this means than this actual reaction as you may remember during the summer I was getting a sort of similar reaction on my legs from the heat of the sun despite everything I tried. If I get hot I get this reaction but the weird thing is yesterday it was in the 40's and I did not at one moment feel hot during our bike ride and I had the heated vest on only medium anyway as it drains the batteries too fast if I put it on anything higher setting wise.

It is frustrating for me as
#1 I want to ride in the cooler weather and more importantly
#2 I am scared what this means for the future of our cycling in the summer when the weather is hot and
#3 what does this mean for my future. Whenever I get warm am I going to be getting this awful ugly reaction?
I didn't share it with you girls but last Thurs when I was rushing back to work after my morning my face broke out in hivey welts. Not sure it is related but something is going on and David (my dermatologist) has so far not been able to diagnose it definitively. I see him this Tuesday so we shall see if this provides anymore clues. I ended up taking 4 different allergy meds yesterday within a 12 hour period because on top of it all after dinner I started getting this huge allergy reaction. That morning I took my usual Allegra and after the bike ride and the welts started appearing I took a Zyrtec and then after my nose started getting stuffed/running/sneezing I took a Claritin and then before bed because I was still so uncomfortable I took a Chlor Trimeton. OMG crazy right? I feel better right now though when I woke up this morning so let's hope that lasts.

OK Back to happy things. So we had a good bike ride yesterday and today off to Hanukkah celebration with my family.

LLJsmom, good luck today!!!

And have a great day girls!

 

[marcy]

Here is my official Christmas cookie tester.

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, you figured out how to do the great emoticons. Sweet. Aren’t they fun? A quiet day at the beach on Christmas will be nice and NYE with your family will be lots of fun. What do the earrings at Langs look like? You can’t buy from them online unless they are open? I did like the color of that heart sapphire and I like heart shapes but that one was too pointy. You are so right about those rabbits needing to be kept busy and out of trouble. I am sure Santa has them on his no way no how list. Woo hoo that your boots were there and you got to go cycling. Well rats your heated vest gives you a rash / welts. What a tangled web between meds, symptoms and reactions. I hope your dermatologist can figure something out for you. When I was trying to figure out food allergies it was crazy how a combination of things can cause a major “wham” reaction yet those things by themselves barely caused a blip. Your new boots look fabulous.

I was busy today but I didn’t do as much as yesterday. I went to bed about 12:30 and got up about 7:30. I had cereal for breakfast then went to Office Depot to mail some packages, dropped off all my Christmas cards at the post office, picked up the mail for the astronomy club, came home and made lunch then started on candy cane cookies. I just got done with all the dishes. Sweet!

I took a few pictures of this year’s tree that I’ll post. I made a Christmas collage to send white flash with all of my WF jewelry, the bear they sent me who I call Arrows and the title was I’m Dreaming of a Whiteflash Christmas. Ha Ha. I don’t know if I should post it here but I’ll post the 2 pictures I put on it.

I am looking forward to resting at work tomorrow. There won’t be dishes to wash.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

I believe you are all familiar with my ring and bands. I have RB studs, the EC studs and a pair of PC studs from WF - they were their ready set to go earrings they used to sell. I keep trying to figure out something I could buy for Christmas from them. Earring jackets?

 

[missy]

Good morning girls!


Marcy, I am loving the bling and teddy pics.
I like the idea of earring jackets to add even more oomph to the studs. Beautiful.

I love your tree and thank you for sharing pics.
Oh I wish I could be your cookie taster. Those look delicious!

Yay for finding a snoopy tree skirt. And haha I'm dreaming of a whiteflash christmas....they might want to use that as their official christmas advertisement. You should get royalties then...that is very clever Marcy!

We had a nice time at my parents yesterday for the first night of Hanukkah. My aunt is in Florida because one of her closest and long time friends is dying of lymphoma (had it for 30 years now) and my Aunt visits her often and helps her with whatever she can help her with to make life easier. Her friend is in bad shape now and it might be close to the end. Anyway my uncle came to celebrate Hanukkah with us even though my aunt is away. They live a few hours away from my parents and it is always nice they make the effort to come to many of the family get togethers.

My nieces were wild as usual and refused to smile nicely for the pics I took but here is the best I could do. They are wearing the dresses Greg and I just bought for them and gave them last week at our Thanksgiving celebration. They look less than neat however as they had been playing for quite some time before I took the photo of them. Haha do you see the portrait of my sister and me in the background? That is a painting my parents commissioned when we were little. LOL I didn't get that in the photograph on purpose but I like that it is there.

As part of our Hanukkah gift my parents gave us a Christmas tree ornament. I love that.
My mom hates the nickname Missy so she always calls me Melissa. If anyone else does it sounds too formal but when she calls me Melissa it sounds just right.



Thank you Peggy for your advice yesterday and all the NIRDIs for your bling input. LOL I still have no clue what I want to do but must decide today! I am leaning towards not getting the earrings because I am unsure and once I buy them my bling hunt is over for a long while. I just don't know. As I told some of you I didn't do this much back and forth with any decision let alone a bling one.




I hope everyone enjoyed a good Sunday and that all the NIRDIs and their fur babies are doing well. Sending dust to Finn and Maggie.


LLJsmom hope you ran a good marathon and that you are sleeping soundly right now.


Jimmianne, thinking of you and hoping your french vacation is off to a marvelous start.

 

[junebug17]

Hey there girls!

Missy, I am very impressed with how you figured out how to do the emoticons! You sell yourself too short - after I typed out the directions I said to myself "this is really confusing, I'm doing a terrible job explaining this" lol! They're fun to use and there are some really cute ones.

I am so sorry to hear about your skin issues, I really hope it's all a temporary thing and that your dermatologist can shed some light on what's going on. Ugh, these allergic reactions are just so complicated because it's hard to determine the cause in a lot of cases. It does sound like some kind of heat rash maybe, but you've worn the vest up until now with no problems. I'm frustrated for you and I'm hoping all of this just goes away! Hugs, I really am sorry you're dealing with all of this.

Oooh, love the boots on you, they look great!

It's interesting to hear peoples' opinions about retiring - my SIL says she's going to keep working until the day she dies! That sounds rather extreme, doesn't it? lol But she's one of those people who's self-worth and purpose in life is directly related to her career.(not saying that in a negative way, I think many people feel the same). The CEO of dh's company was forced to retire at 65 (company policy) and he had a very hard time with it; someone ran into him recently and told dh the guy is absolutely miserable. Personally, retirement seems like a permanent vacation to me! I wonder how my dh will handle retirement, he seems tired of working and I think he'll enjoy it, although I guess there's a possibility he'll get bored. I've read that a person should work for as long as possible because it keeps him/her mentally stimulated and socialized, but that doesn't sound very exciting to me ha! I can think of more fun ways to stay socialized and metally stimulated I guess it depends on the individual person.

I sent you an email, but just in case you didn't see it - I think you should go with your gut on the earrings and hold off. Maybe after you've had a chance to look around some more and the Lang earrings are still available you can reconsider. I know it's a tough call - sounds like you do love them but are just not 100% sure, which makes it very hard to decide!

Christmas at the beach sounds wonderful! And I'm with you about not being out too late on NYE, dh and I feel the same way - we usually go out for dinner but are always home well before 12:00. So sad about your aunt's friend, it must be very hard for her.

Love the pic of Greg and the girls! They're adorable, and so is the portrait of you and your sister! Glad you had a nice time at your parents house. And how cute that you got an ornament for Hanukkah! I love it!

Marcy, sounds like you've been very busy and have been getting a lot done! I have to say, I do love the color of that peach sapphire. The cookies look delicious, I don't blame the rabbit for going for them. Your tree is really pretty, yay for finding a Snoopy tree skirt! And Snoopy looks so cute perched in the tree. The bear ornament is perfect, I can see why you had to have it. And oh my goodness, you have the most beautiful bling! I love that you have several different shapes of studs, I think it's great to have some variety. Thanks for posting the pics, I love seeing your gorgeous diamonds.

LLJsmom, I hope the marathon went well! Thinking of you.

Kristie, still thinking of Finn.

Speaking of marathons, my husband is running in a half-marathon in Kiawah this Saturday - he's been training for a few months. He was on the track team in high school, but of course that was a long time ago lol! But maybe he retained something from those days because he was able to get back into running fairly easily, although he did struggle in the beginning. He exercises regularly, so that's probably helped too. I'm going with him, we're leaving Thursday and coming home Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it!

Hope everyone is having a good Monday so far!

 

[missy]

Junie, you did a fantastic job of explaining it and that is the only reason I was able to eventually figure it out. Honestly if it wasn't for your explanation I would still be scratching my head!

I just wanted to say thanks for getting how I am feeling about the rashes. It's not the rashes specifically but more what it might mean health wise in the future if that makes sense. What is brewing causing me to produce all these haywire reactions. But I want to make it clear that I am thankful for everything being so much better than last year and don't want to seem ungrateful or whiny. It's not the rashes. I can deal with those no problem. It's just my concern about what is happening inside my body and what might manifest later on but I am just going to shut that out of my mind right now and enjoy each day as it comes. And thank you so much as always for all your generous, kind and warm support. (((HUGS)))

Woohoo to your dh!!! Fantastic he is running a half marathon at the beach. We will be cheering him on please let him know that!

Good luck Mr Junebug this Saturday and Junie please keep us posted!

I am so happy for you that you are going to enjoy another long weekend and the beach house.

I am with you re retirement. I think there will be enough to enjoy and keep busy in a good way so am not worried about being bored or not engaged with life and activities. Though I can see it both ways and agree if you are one who identifies that much with what you do, that your career defines who you are and that you get your sense of identity from it yes retiring could be traumatic. Or you could just love work that much that it doesn't seem like work. I get that too. My grandfather never retired and happily kept working (part time) till his death. It was the way he wanted it and he just never desired fully retiring from his career. His clients came every year from where they retired in Florida to keep going to him. That is loyalty.


Thanks for your advice. I spoke with Nicole at Lang's about an hour ago and told her I was not going to be purchasing them. I am still very undecided but I just couldn't pull the trigger for some reason. So the search continues. To that end I sent you girls another email. Hahaha.

Just found our original ornament. This is the first ornament Greg and I ever bought together.

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, I would get earring jackets for my 4mm studs. I have pretty small earlobes so I don’t like studs larger than 5 mm on me. Saves me money. You ladies should come on over to be cookie testers. Party at Marcy’s. Happy Hanukkah! I am glad you had a nice time at your sister’s house. I am sorry to hear about your aunt’s friend. That is hard. Your nieces are adorable, Greg is looking handsome as always and I love the picture of you and your sister in the background. The ornament your parents got you is cute but your original ornament is awesome. I like it.

Junebug, good luck to your DH in the half marathon. Have a nice weekend. I can’t imagine myself being retired; 4 day weekends tend to bore me. Marty is looking forward to retiring and talks about it a lot. It bothers him I don’t think about it; I guess I take things as they come. Our tree is full of mostly Snoopy or Star Wars / Star Trek ornaments. I am a total sucker for studs but my favorite are my RB.

I got up about 5:30 to see Venus near the crescent moon. It was mostly cloudy but I was able to see the Moon and Venus okay. Of course then I couldn’t get back to sleep. Rats. There is a binocular comet near Venus and I think I found it but couldn’t be sure. This of course was all from my bedroom window so it’s not like I went outside to look. Bad astronomer observing from inside.

Work was a bit crazy today and I was frustrated again with some of my employees. This one guy didn’t listen to my instructions and then messed something up. He came out to my desk and asked what he could do to fix it and I said listen to me. I couldn’t help myself. I start training tomorrow on the task I’ll be taking over for a few months. Something new to learn. Sweet.

I tried the Sally Hanson gel polish tonight. It’s kind of stinky. It dried pretty quickly but of course with no humidity here that isn’t unusual. It is very shiny. Now I’ll see if it lasts more than a few days.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[missy]

Good morning girls!

Marcy,I'm with Marty re retirement so come over and visit me and I won't let you get bored with 7 day weekends let alone 4. This is the city that never sleeps remember and there is always something to do or keep you occupied should you so choose.

I don't wear fingernail polish and have no clue what gel polish is...is that supposed to last a long time as compared to conventional polishes? Does that dry out or damage your nails in any way? If it is stinky I say forget it. Or just bake some more and that will make the whole house smell delicious again.

I am sorry work was a bit crazy yesterday and that some of the employees are being difficult. It is always something and honestly I almost think it is impossible for everyone and everything to work smoothly together. I am sorry you couldn't fall back asleep last night after watching Venus near the crescent moon. You are a very very good astronomer though so don't think otherwise. I am very impressed with your astronomy skill.

Lucky you having petite earlobes. Mine are huge and earrings get lost in them sadly with me being an earring girl and all.
Are these too big for your studs or might these fit?
http://diamondbistro.com/category/211/Earrings/listings/45495/diamond-earring-jackets.html

I am excited to start a new (maybe) earring project. Hope it works out.

LLJsmom, sending you hugs and PS ***DUST*** and as always thinking of you and your family.

Today we are off to see David as both Greg and I have appointments with him. Greg for his full body check and Greg's visit is my main concern today. He is supposed to be checked every 3 months but I don't think he is as diligent about it as that so I am taking over with scheduling his appointments whether he likes it or not.

I hope everyone has a good day and (((HUGS))) to all.

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, I am sure you and I could find something to do at your place. Of course at the beach I’d be content to just stare at the ocean. It’s such a novelty to me. I have always used basic nail polish so I don’t know what the big deal about gel is other than this one was advertised to last up to 14 days. I am worried it will be hard to get off my nails. I wondered that too if it is hard on your nails; I know a lot of people who get manicures end up with fragile, thin nails. Or so I’ve heard, I only know I like to have painted nails but have recently gotten out of the habit. BTW, the ends are already showing on some of my nails. Pretty earring jackets; I don’t know what size I need but I might try some on when we go look at sapphires. I am excited about your new earring project. Regardless of which pair you get I hope you find some nice chunky pears; I know that is what you really want. Of course I often end up with something other than I intended. I hope your appointments went well today. I am glad you are going to be diligent about Greg’s checks; Marty just recently got moved to yearly appointments. He’s had a lot of cancer spots on his neck and ears.

Work was busy again so the day zipped by. Again I didn’t stop at the grocery store which means tomorrow is PB sandwich for lunch day. I could go to the store during lunch maybe and pick up something. It’s dark on the way home and I guess I don’t want to go grocery shopping in the dark.

Have a great evening and day tomorrow.
Marcy

 

[missy]

Good morning girls!

Marcy, all went well yesterday at the doctor's visits thanks for asking. Now I am obsessing about the earrings and even dreamt about bling again last night though I cannot remember any specifics. So far no design is grabbing me saying choose me choose me so IDK. I am glad for the distraction though and hopefully I will have a pretty new pair of earrings to show for all of our brainstorming. Thanks for helping me figure it out!

We would love to have you over to the beach house with or without Marty whenever you guys want to visit! It is very relaxing and peaceful watching the waves as long as there is not a storm occurring.

I do think those earring jackets are pretty and can really jazz up classic studs. I have a pair of diamond halo studs from BN that are very sweet but rarely wear them as I am not a studs girl. But I got them specifically with the halo for max impact and for me I cannot fuss with earring jackets but for those more dextrous it is a great look and the versatility of having 2 looks (with and without the halo) is pretty neat I think.

We saw (well re-watched but we had seen it so many years ago it was like watching it for the first time again) the movie Disturbia last night. It was good and was a similar theme to Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window which of course is a classic. Cannot beat that movie.

Off to work in a few hours. Have a good day and only a few more days till Marty returns woohoo! I hope those killer bunnies are behaving themselves

and that work is going smoothly.

Have a good day girls.

 

[marcy]

Missy glad the doctor visit went well. That is funny I dreamt about earrings too but don't remember what. Must have earrings on the brain. That movie sounds interesting. Have a great day at work. So far the bunnies are behaving. Lucky for me and my bears.

Have a great days ladies.
Marcy off to work now

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!


Missy, you have filled my mind with visions of beautiful earrings; I even had a dream about earrings last night. That’s not a bad thing. Did you get pictures of those diamonds? Did you like them? I have lever back dangles with .44 ct diamonds (on each). I was looking at what I would be willing to pay to upgrade to larger pear diamonds. It wasn’t bad but you know me - I am going to go for another sapphire before I’ll upgrade earrings. Between my RB studs and EC studs I rarely wear anything else and you never see my earrings anyway.

Work was busy today and I finally got to get some training on my new task at work. I liked it. I have no idea what I am doing yet but I liked it.

I picked up a few groceries at lunch and came home to put in our trash can. We had wind gusts over 50 mph today so i didn’t want it to end up in Nebraska.

Have a great evening and day tomorrow.

Marcy

 

[junebug17]

Hi girls!

Missy, I love the pool and fan emojies lol! So cute, that will be me this weekend haha!

I agree with you about retirement, some people do just really love their jobs and are happy to work as long as possible. I liked the story of your grandfather, good for him, I'll bet it was good for him to keep working. Dh is at a point where he sometimes feels frustrated and stressed at work, and it's those times retirement looks very good to him ha!

Aw, I love that ornament, it's really cute!

I'm excited about your earrings, I'm hoping you get word on the stones soon. I love the idea of a simple dangle.

Marcy and missy, thanks for the well wishes for dh! I will definitely pass them along, he will appreciate the support. He seems a bit nervous about it lol - he says he just wants to finish and I'm sure he will. He seems more excited about playing golf on Sunday ha!

Marcy, sorry the gel polish didn't work out - I like wearing nail polish because I just feel it makes my old hands look a bit nicer but it's really frustrating how quickly it chips. And don't worry about being bored when you retire - after you visit Missy in New York and at her beach house, you can come to the beach in SC. Marty and dh can play golf and we can go look at the ocean and float around in the pool lol! I know what you mean about not thinking about it until it happens - it's hard to imagine being retired.

Sorry you had a rough day at work, dh goes through the same things, and those are the days he says retirement doesn't sound too bad!

I know what you mean about running errands in the dark - it stinks!!! I hate it, it's just so depressing.

And yes, I'm the same way when it comes to bling - a marquise diamond wasn't even on my radar until a week ago!

It's so funny you both dream about bling - I do too! This is funny, last night my husband woke up (I was still awake reading) and he said he had a really weird dream about me having expensive bracelets and the cops were following me, either to protect me or arrest me lol! The cops kept asking him if he knew the value of the bracelets. We were laughing, and dh said it's all because of the bling blog (that's what he calls PS ha). I have no idea how he came up with bracelets!

Have a good night everyone!

 

[missy]

Good morning girls! Thank you all on your help and great ideas for my new earrings settings. I really appreciate it!

Marcy, thanks for keeping me sane yesterday AM. All is well again. I am glad work was good busy for you and that you are enjoying your new duties. Wow that is windy weather you had last night. Smart idea about getting those garbage cans out of the wind. Stay safe.

No pictures yesterday either girls and I am super disappointed because I was promised pics first thing yesterday after the no show pics on Tuesday. No email explaining, nothing. I am disappointed.

I love lever backs and wear many of my earrings (all dangles) and never reach for my studs. I would love to see your lever backs on you. I bet they are lovely. Can you wear your hair back so your earrings show more? I always wear my hair back the better to show my bling hehe.

I agree dreaming about bling is not a bad thing Marcy, I agree. Right now I am dreaming of NIRDI bling including but not limited to Junie's new marquise ring and Ms Kristie's new ruby band. Cannot wait to see them!

Junie, speaking of which, where is your delicious new ring? I am dying here. We need new NIRDI bling! No pressure though.
Hoping it arrives today and you LOVE it. Thank you for your great setting ideas yesterday. I am not sure I will have anything to put in them however given the current situation. Not sure why I have not had any communication from her since Tuesday night especially after she was so apologetic about not getting the pics to me Tuesday.

Yes when we are all retired we can go from one NIRDI beach house to the other haha.

Haha so funny your dh is now dreaming about bling. You have him conditioned well Junie! More good luck to your dh and his marathon this weekend.

So I got more details on what is happening re work. In a few months we will no longer be an article 28 (non profit medical) clinic and we are being taken over (though they kept using the word merging) with NYU and others in a federal health clinic designation. An FQHC. I Otherwise we would have had to close as many article 28 clinics all around us have in these past 2 years. Medicare and medicaid budget cuts have put most of the article 28 clinics dealing with the ID population out of business. Lots of changes on their way and not sure what this is going to mean for me, my patients and their care and as usual I am taking it one day at a time.

Thinking of everyone and sending hugs your way!

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Junebug, I think it’s great when someone wants to keep busy and not retire. The estate attorney my parents used was 87 years old and he’s still working now. He stays in California in the winter now but will answer clients by phone or email. Marty will be jealous your DH gets to play golf this weekend. We are getting some more of that white stuff here. I am sure he will enjoy his marathon. That is pretty cool. My gel polish is still hanging in there. I will let you know what day I decide it’s time to go. I like my hands better with nail polish too. That will be great when we are all retired and I can come visit you and Missy and hang out at the beach. Life will be good. You guys will need to visit in the summer; I doubt you’d like our cold and wind. I am with your husband on rough days at work retirement looks more appealing. Yes, I want the sun out when I am running errands. That means lunchtime or weekends. The company I work for is on the edge of town. You can get anywhere in about 10-15 minutes but still that’s 30 minutes out of an hour lunch to go and come back. That is funny your husband had a bling dream for you. I guess our husbands listen to us talk about bling so much it works in to their dreams as well. You’ll have a pretty marquis waiting for you when you get home. I hope you love it.

Missy, I hope you love the earrings your ordered. You had so many wonderful choices. There is a lot of NIRDI bling on it’s way. I am so excited. All of the talk of hanging out on the beach is making me want to retire - move - or something. Ha! I hope all the changes at work turn out to be the best for you and your patients. The unknown usually seems worse than it actually turns out to be. When do your earrings arrive?

I chatted with Marty on FaceTime tonight. It sounds like his project in DC will consume most of his time next year and he’ll be there about 50% of his time. Boo. Smile Marcy. You can shop every other week. Right?

I spent my afternoon at work doing my new task. I made some mistakes today - darn it. Of course I don’t know how to fix them yet but I’ll get there. I am enjoying having something different to do.

I picked up a mini pizza on the way home from work today. Easy supper.

Tomorrow is Friday.

Have a great evening and day tomorrow.

Marcy

 

[missy]

Good morning girls and HAPPY

!!!
I have been waiting all week to use that emoji! Or is it called emotie? LOL speaking of emoting thank you ALL for letting me go on and on last night and for all the great advice and support. You girls are truly the best. And you saved my dh from having to listen to me agonize over all the choices LOL.

Marcy, don't worry, I know you will catch on faster than most and soon enough that new task will be easy peasy for you.
Thanks again for everything and especially for you know what. Love it!

Thank goodness for FaceTime so you guys can chat and see each other but Boo is right for Marty being away much of next year but at least it is in DC so not too far. You might want to think about coming to visit me during one of his business trips. Just sayin...

That mini pizza sounded good. If it were me I might have bought a full size pizza and then had some leftovers for tonight's dinner. I actually prefer second day pizza from the fridge. I am weird that way.

Hope your work day goes super smooth and that your weather cooperates. Stay away snow and wind please and I hope you see some beautiful stars in a clear night sky.

June, Tomorrow is Marathon day right? Sending lots of fast running vibes your dh's way. Thank you for everything yesterday. Really love you girls and how amazing you are. Today is the day right for the arrival of your new BLING!!! Hoping it turns out to be WOW and make you fall in love with it. Fingers crossed.

I bet you are beginning to be sorry you explained how to do these emoticons LOL. I am sure the novelty will wear off for me soon.

Callie, ugh I cannot believe I got that retirement number wrong. I think I hear what I want to hear. Greg was like where did you come up with that figure? It will be much much more. If only we could all retire somewhere great where the weather and cost of living was easy I would be OK if he needed to work more because we would all have each other. Yanno? Let's get our dhs cracking on that idea.

Kristie, when are you going to share pics here! Cmon you cannot hold out on the NIRDIs. I loved the few pics you sent but OMG we need more pictures of the new bling.

Pretty please.

Anyway I LOVE your new band and also Ms Groovy and so happy you can wear her now!

LLJsmom, sending more healing dust and good thoughts and lots of love your way. (((Hugs))).

Jimmianne, bonjour and I hope you are having lots of fun and staying warm. Glad you have found some potential houses to buy and I am looking forward to hearing more details. Enjoy.

Sunstorm, I am thinking of you and sending virtual hugs your way.

OK girls, we are off to the beach soon. Hoping to bike ride. This mild weather is awesome though I know my dh cannot wait for the cold and/or wet weather so he can get a break from cycling and start working on his new shop and clearing the basement of everything including our washer/dryer/extra fridge/feezer for construction for his basement expansion project. He has a lot of work to do but we cannot waste this amazing weather we are having right? I hope you all have a terrific day.

 

[missy]

June, forgot to say have a safe trip to the beach house and enjoy your time away! And when you get back home your new ring will be waiting.

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, I am pretty sure all of our DH or SO are delighted we can talk to each other about bling instead of them. Marty has retained a surprising amount of gem and diamond information and knowledge though. I hope it works out Marty gets to keep this project. Think of the bling we could look at and buy if I came to visit. Lock up those credit cards and pocket books. I hope to get this portion of my new job down by the end of the month. Of course I have finished all of December so there won’t be anything new for a few weeks but I will get to practice making changes. I used to have the little star emotie in my signature. It is so cute. Thanks! I don’t think we’ll see stars tonight. I love all the little emoticons you are posting. I think I need to try and keep up. I hope you have nice weather this weekend for cycling and that Greg gets to work on his shop and basement.

I wanted to come home by noon today - of course that was because Marty was here. He cooked some steaks on grill for supper. We had rice, rolls and salad too. My cook is back!

We got the Peanuts Christmas tree skirt in the mail. I like it.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[junebug17]

Missy, I can't wait for you to get your earrings!!! I'm very excited and am hoping so much that you love them! And yes, I'm dying to see kristie's band too. I just checked on the JA website and it says my ring was delivered so luckily my son must have been around to answer the door lol

I'm glad you were able to get some cycling in, I agree it would be a shame to waste this warm weather, we have to take advantage of it while we can - before you know it we'll be doing this!!!

Sorry to hear about the changes at work, not knowing the end result of these changes is disconcerting to say the least- I'm really hoping you and your patients aren't adversely affected by them. As you said for now all you can do is take it a day at a time and see what happens.

Marcy, I'm really sorry to hear about Marty's upcoming travel, that's rough - but you know we nirdis will be here for you! And don't sweat the mistakes, you will definitely figure it out and I'm glad you're enjoying the challenge. It really does feel good to do something different. I know what you mean about all this talk of retirement - it's kind of fun to think about having complete freedom and being able to just do whatever we want lol!

Ok, this is ridiculous but I had a bling dream last night ha! I dreamt I found my original ering diamond and decided to reset it in the original setting but in white gold (which actually isn't a bad idea lol). At first it looked beautiful, and the diamond looked suspiciously bigger than my original .33 stone but as the dream went on it started sparkling less and when I looked closer it was a rose cut diamond! This is conclusive evidence that I'm on PS way too much and that I need help!

Have a good night all!

Marcy, we were posting at the same time, I'm starting to notice we tend to do that! I'm so happy Marty is back in town, no more popcorn for dinner while he's around, that's for sure I love the tree skirt, it's perfect! I have always loved Snoopy, I think Charles Shultz was a brilliant man to think up such a lovable and endearing character.

 

[missy]

Good morning girls!

Marcy, I love your new peanuts tree skirt. It is fabulous and that ornament is too! Your tree and decorations are beautiful.YAY for your head chef being back in town. We love our NIRDI men and we love that they sure know how to cook!

Greg pretty much gets my aesthetic sense including jewelry preferences and he will know right away if a piece of bling would make my heart go pitter patter. Now we just need the disposable funds to match my wants! OMG that ring is TDF girls. Why can't we all buy it?
If we lived closer we could more easily share don'tcha think? That way when one of us wants to wear in on a specific night no problem. Sigh. Oh well, like Callie said when do we (meaning me and her not talking about anyone else who has more exciting lives haha) really wear our bling anyway? I mean most nights I am home with my dh and blingless as that is most comfortable for me so do I really need more big bling? Of course who really "needs" bling anyway?

But it can make life a little bit sweeter.

Marcy I am ready whenever you come and visit and we will take my credit cards with us! I have to see how high I can make the limit haha.

Junie! Woohoo! YAY for ring delivery. Can you get your ds to post pics to you? LOL I think I know the answer to that. I cannot believe he didn't text you it arrived however. OMG doesn't he get it? I hope you are having a wonderful time at the beach house and that your dh enjoys a great marathon today. And after you enjoy a wonderful weekend at the beach I cannot wait for you to get your new ring and hope you absolutely LOVE it. We will wait patiently (haha well as patiently as possible) for you to share pics with us. Remember my new fave saying-don't leave us NIRDIs hanging OK?

OK so yesterday we came to the beach house in the AM and had a good ride. We hit 4200 miles total on the bike yesterday afternoon so woohoo for that. A new personal best.

When we came back from our bike ride Ann was driving up. She is the cat rescue person who is going to try to TNR our 5 ferals. I was wondering about her and what happened. Well she told us to get all the food up and not feed them and she was going to try trapping them starting tomorrow through Wed. I am not loving that she wants to use Greg's raccoon proof feeding station to place the traps because I am worried then the cats will never go in there again and won't be able to eat safely away from the raccoons. She doesn't think that will happen and this is her best plan.

So we are going with it and please girls, keep your fingers and toes crossed this works. The sweet ferals (or as Kristie refers to them the "soda gang" and I love that collective nickname for them) need to be neutered and vaccinated and dewormed etc to give them a chance at the best possible life they can have. There is so much that can go wrong here and I just don't know what to do but keep thinking good thoughts and praying it all works out. I hate not giving them food now for all these days and worried about a lot of things but what can I do. One day at a time. I saw Dr Pepper before it got dark last night as I was in the study on the computer and he came into the backyard saw me got scared and ran away. That was the first time I saw him during daylight and OMG he is adorable! He is so short with short little all white legs and his whole body is solid gray. What a pretty little boy or girl. And I felt so badly there was no food there for him because we had taken it all away in preparation for Ann's TNR attempt coming up soon. All night I kept thinking of the little ferals going to the feeding station and no food there. We left the water but nothing else. I know you are all going to say this is their best chance and I know that but I still feel so horrible about not feeding them.

OK I certainly wrote enough this AM yet I feel I am leaving something out. Have a good day today and sending lots of hugs your way NIRDIs.

Leaving you girls with a pic from yesterday from our bike ride. We stopped for a break and Callie and I were texting about riding in December and I snapped this photo for her of Greg in his winter garb and am sharing it with all of you too. Haha he looks like a lightweight (that is his winter cycling jacket) compared to how I dress when riding in the cooler weather. I literally had 6 layers on yesterday as we were cycling. The good news is NO rash happened and it is exactly what I thought. I left the heated battery vest at home and instead wore 6 layers to keep as warm as I could without the heated vest and no rash at the end of the ride. So directly related to the artificial heat from the battery vest. It was challenging wearing 6 layers and cycling but I did it so woohoo!

 

[marcy]

This is me today! Stupid Snow!

Testing the emoticons. Thanks Junebug.

Marty's home so the bears and rabbits are fighting today.

Now I am really going to go do something.

Not this but I can dream can't I?

Marcy