shape
carat
color
clarity

Now I really did it :((

Will be back later but just wanted to pop in to commiserate with you missy, it's challenging to deal with inconsiderate relatives who want everything their way, that's for sure. I think meeting half-way is a very good compromise, no reason why you and Greg should be the ones to drive all that way. Good luck with the day, it's hard to put on a happy face when you're irritated. Believe me, I know that feeling!
 
Missy, whether you "try" or not - "try" to have fun ;)) If they are late, order them something super healthy that you know they don't like :halo: :devil: :halo: lol. Hugs!! Btw: nice one! "tried to be nice" hahahahaha
 
Hi NIRDIs!

Scandinavian, you sounds like you are having a perfect day at the cabin. I have many wonderful memories of weekends at my parent’s mountain cabin. I am kind of the go to expert at the astronomy meetings since I taught the course at our local college for 21 years. Now that I haven’t taught for about 3 years though I have to refer to my notes sometimes. That is funny about a train robbery - it sounds so 19th century to me. Very cool. I have always loved Easter but mostly because of the cute bunnies you see everywhere. Mm to baking bread.

Missy, I hope your trip and visit with Greg’s relatives turned out to be fun. If they stalled at ordering lunch I don’t feel it’s rude if you ordered something. I’d just say “hey we are hungry and we have to get home so Greg can get a good night’s sleep”. You aren’t rude you are taking care of their son. So there! I loved hearing your story of your beautiful first apartment and your 3 adopted kitties. I can imagine the whole thing. I ended up taking Marty’s 2 friends home last night. I waited up until about midnight then kind of went to sleep. They called me a little after 1. We were joking I was Uber Marcy. None of those guys should have gotten behind the wheel. I agree that is a really bad and stupid thing to do think you can drive after having some drinks. Thank you for the series recommendations. I completely forgot to set the DVR for Soap again. At least I’ll have them on my TV at work. Ha! I did enjoy the movie last night but my popcorn was scorched again so I threw that popper away. It was a new one we picked up at Bed, Bath and Beyond - it looks like a pitcher. I ate some of the popcorn but it didn’t taste very good. I have a really old Presto popper that works great. I need to check Amazon for some of the little cardboard inserts because I am almost out of them. I should have looked at the other jewelry stores in the mall but I didn’t. Since Marty took so long with clothes I had plenty of time. I love the Spooky eyes of your cute kitties. It reminds me of the phosphorescence you might see after the lights turn out. We only ended up with maybe 3 inches of snow and it’s all melted today. Did you end up with any accumulation?

Junebug, I am with you on dealing with inconsiderate relatives. Two of my nephews are very inconsiderate and my parents sure put up with a lot of crap from them. One of the things they always did was show up late for dinner. Once we started having family dinners at our place I clearly say in the email: Dinner is at … if you aren’t here we’ll start without you and I can’t promise there will be any food left for you. Weird everyone tends to show up on time.

We got to bed last night after 2 so we slept until about 8:30. My motivation level isn’t registering very high today. I am working on laundry and we cooked lunch but haven’t done much else. We are going to the grocery store once the movie Marty is watching is over.

Marty made himself a garden salad and put some grilled chicken on top. I made myself a raw veggies plate, and had a grilled burger and some mashed potatoes.

Take care.
Laters,
Marcy
 
Good morning from the mountains :-)
Yesterday in pictures:



A lot of wind and some snow. No birds. A glimpse of the sun when we came back to the cabin. Lol.
Missy, I really love your kitty story! My husband had never had a dog before, so it took some convincing - he said it would be ok when we moved to the countryside but not whilst we were living in the city. So watch and behold - we moved to the countryside. Hahahahaha. I can't live without animals. So I get your story completely. Wish I could adopt a rescue dog, but they normally only have "pets" - companion dogs, not crazy athlete dogs who you can take skiing etc. But then again - the rescue centre is a big farm where they can live quite happily forever, so for now I just donate money. 1 hour drive so not so easy to contribute with time. I did give money to a friend of a friend who lost her job and her BF moved out so she could not keep the house. And her dog needed a new surgery after the first failed an the insurance deductible was going through the roof. She was so desperate that she pleaded for money on Facebook. Poor thing. So I paid the remaining amount so she could keep the dog - the alternative was too horrible. Sorry for rambling. I have no idea where I was going with this. But is was kind of hard to tell my husband how much money I had spend on charity, lol.

Forgive typos. Writing on my phone.

Marcy, you always make my hungry. Both you food and Marty's food sound so delicious. I want to move in with you. Can't believe your children ever moved out. You would have had to throw me out with a hay fork.
I think you are very kind and very smart to play Uber Marcy :-) And that way they owe you also, lol. Yes the train ro er was a lot of "fun" as everybody but the police knew who did it - just some kids. Only beaten by the bank robbery (through the wall from the next door grocery store) but that was before my time. So so cool that you used to teach astronomy!!! I only do microwave popcorn. So good of Mary to loose so much weight. Congratulations to him :-) I love shopping for clothes, even if they are not for me, but my husband hates it so I normally buy his stuff without him - makes it faster also lol. I'm with you re inconsiderate relatives. Much better to lay down the law and see if it helps, haha!

Missy, how was dinner...?

All the best!

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Good morning girls! Happy snowy Monday this first Monday of Spring 2016. :wavey:

Thank you all so much for your understanding and now I feel embarrassed. We had such a nice visit and everyone was as lovely as could be really. It was great seeing the kids. They are sweet kids. The youngest is now 6 feet tall and only 14. He plays basketball and I know his dad would be thrilled for him to get a basketball scholarship to college in a few years with the cost of schools these days. He might just do it too. And the oldest is 17 now and a sweetheart. She isn't graduating high school till 2017 but is thinking about schools now. She will probably end up going to a liberal arts college somewhere in California where her mom's sisters live.

Junie, thank you so much. I am sorry you deal with inconsiderate family too because if anyone doesn't deserve that it is you sweetheart. I was in an irritated mood yesterday before we left because my MIL was being a bit uncooperative but it all worked out and I guess when one is 82 you don't have to cooperate if you don't want to lol. In the end they did drive to meet us so we didn't have a 2 hour drive and it took us about an hour and 10 minutes going but only an hour on the way home so it was not a bad trip at all. And while we met a bit later than I would have liked with Greg being sick and it being Sunday it was OK and worked out. The diner Greg chose was one of the top in NJ and the food was good and we didn't have to wait to be seated and the family arrived right on time just about 10 minutes after us so it went very smoothly. No one delayed ordering and we had a great conversation. We stayed 4 hours at the diner lol so it was lucky they were not crowded and no one was waiting to be seated while we were all chatting.

Marcy, I don't think there is much accumulation in NYC but I think Long Island and certain parts of NJ got some accumulating snow. Our biggest issue was slippery roads on the way home last night as it started sleeting around 6 PM when were still with the family but everyone got home safely. Yay for all your snow melting.

I'm glad you got a Presto popcorn maker. That's the one we have. I don't think it will surprise you that I actually have a backup here and at the beach house so that is a total of 4 Presto machines lol. One of them is red and pretty. I got that one from Amazon. I love Amazon.

Your food yesterday sounds good. I had a delicious salad myself with grilled shrimp and it was very tasty I have to say. I was going to order breakfast for dinner but decided to get the big salad instead and I'm glad I did. I was the only one who finished my meal yesterday and everyone else (including Greg) took a baggy home. OMG what babies. I have a big appetite. :oops: 8)

You are very kind to play Uber Marcy as Scandinavian wrote. You are a true gem Marcy. I think Marty and his friends know it too.
Haha yes the glowy eyes remind me of phosphorescence too now that you mention it.
I'm sorry you have a few inconsiderate relatives as well. Greg just thinks they are clueless and not purposefully rude. He believes the best in people and I love that about him. Maybe he is right.

Scandinavian, thanks for all your kind words and support yesterday. All went well whew. For next NYC visit I am trying to convince my frugal BIL to let me get Broadway show tickets for everyone. The kids have never been to a Broadway show in NYC though they do go to shows and in fact just saw Mousetrap at the Princeton theater on Saturday which was excellent according to their review. But I thought how much fun would it be if we all went to a play on Broadway next visit. We will see if he goes for it. The kids were all excited about that possibility. My BIL is a surgeon but OMG he is careful with money.

Thank you for sharing your animal story and that you give to the animals. It makes me happy to read that. We actually had time to visit my Sunday rescue group yesterday before we left to meet the family and they had so many rescues needing homes that they didn't even bring the cats into Petco but stayed on the huge mobile instead in front of Petco as it was easier that way than bringing them all into the store. I only had 10 minutes so didn't get to see them all but said hi to many of them. I am so leaning towards rescuing a fifth if it's the right cat. This time I have to be more picky and find a kitty who is super friendly if we are adopting a fifth because our 4 while loving are scaredy cats and run when anyone comes over. I want to rescue a cat who is like my first 3 kitties who were super friendly to everyone. You know a cat who basically behaves like a dog that way. :cheeky:

I love your latest photos thank you! Your vacation at the cabin amidst the beautiful snow and scenery sounds so awesome and I am so happy you and the family are enjoying yourselves!


My MIL wanted a photo taken with her phone as we were all leaving the diner last night so I asked the maitre de to take the photo but I don't think she had her flash on and the pic turned out to be a bit dark. She texted me the photo and I can share it here but it is not the best pic. Got permission to post it here.

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OK back for a moment to ask a bling question here. Remember the OMC Victorian dangle earrings I saw at the Antique Show last week? They are still available and I wanted to know what you thought. Could you share what you think is a fair price for these?
They are 1.45 ctw OMCs. I don't know the color clarity but the jeweler said they are white with good clarity. Not graded though but I saw them in person (didn't loupe them however and my up close vision is not good and I didn't have glasses with me either :wall: ) and they were very pretty. What was putting me off the earrings is that it is silver over gold (hallmark for the Victorian era) and I don't love silver.

Greg liked the tarnished look of the earrings though against my skin coloring and against my normal wardrobe color scheme and he thought it would be a great addition to my bling as it is different than my other earrings. But I am undecided and have to make my mind up before it is too late. SO I am coming here and want to know if you can please tell me what you think of 1. the earrings but also 2. what would you guess is a fair price?

Reposting the only photo I have of these earrings.

Thank you for your input and advice!!!

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Missy, I LOVE the earrings! But I don't think you should buy them unless you love them too :-) I'm not so concerned about the gold/silver thing, I think they are beautiful. And they look really perfect on you :-) But I wouldn't pay any more than you think they are worth based on the diamonds.. you could always have someone make you a pair that is identical and in gold :bigsmile:
Can't wait for your eBay purchase btw :-)
 
Thank you Scandinavian. The Ebay purchase has not yet been shipped. Estimated due date next Wednesday so over a week until they arrive.

While I don't love the silver I appreciate these are true antique earrings. i am not sure I would want to get a reproduction made but that is a good idea and maybe I will change my mind. Not sure. What else is new lol.

Thank you!
 
Well they are beautiful Missy! If you buy them and regret it you can always send them to me LOL
 
Missy, I think they earrings are beautiful but I'm just concerned that you aren't crazy about the silver over gold. I think they look really pretty on you! After all these years on PS I still don't have a good feel for what diamond jewelry should cost lol. I looked very quickly for comps and so far have only come up with these -
1.60 carat weight in platinum for $3000.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-1-60ctw-DIAMOND-DROP-PLATINUM-DANGLE-COCKTAIL-WIRE-EARRINGS-1940-/231873478137?hash=item35fcbc7df9:g:TbsAAOSwo8hTqwcS

Here's a pair, yellow gold with only .46 diamonds, $1000
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Victorian-14k-Diamond-Earrings-Drops-Dangles-/252321559601?hash=item3abf897431:g:Xl0AAOSwvgdW6FVO

Platinum, 1.50 carats (6 diamonds as opposed to the 4 in your pair) $2500
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-ART-DECO-1-50ctw-MINE-DIAMOND-3-STONE-PLATINUM-STUD-DANGLE-EARRINGS-1930/152011101886?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D35624%26meid%3D6858d7151cb04ee8996e10d79d0bfca5%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D231873478094

So…Just going by these I'm thinking a fair price might be somewhere in the area of $1500 to $2000? :read: It's really just a guess, hopefully others will chime in. That's all I can come up with for now, will look more today…hard to find comparable pieces when it comes to antiques…and it's hard to tell if the comps are overpriced lol!
 
Hi NIRDIs!

Scandinavian, beautiful pictures. That was very nice of you to help your friend out with her dog. Marty and I don’t have any kids - that is why we have teddy bears and killer rabbits. They are cheaper for sure. Luckily we don’t have much crime around here either so when something happens it’s quite the story. I don’t know why Marty wants me to go clothes shopping with him. It seems to take him forever to decide on something. Maybe my clothes shopping just seems quicker but he’s always been very patient with me in jewelry stores.

Missy, I am delighted to hear your day and visit with the relatives turned out to be a pleasant day for you. That’s great everything went smoothly and the diner was good. Glad you were able to finish your dinner. I just ordered 48 inserts for our Presto popper. I bought one of the new red ones but it cracked the first time I used it. My good old original clear popper keeps on popping though. It is easily over 20 years old. I saw they have new ones on Amazon and thought of buying one but decided the one I have works just fine. I am sure Greg is right that people are clueless and not trying to be rude but I sure don’t get it. Great photo of the family. What did you decide on the earrings?

Junebug, great links for earrings.

Jimmianne, did DD get to her fiance's place okay?

Hi Kristie, Sharon and LLJsmom!

Marty made tacos for supper. Now that he is eating less there is plenty left for supper again tomorrow night. And sweet that means less dishes for me.

We have 3 snow storms moving in or through over the next 8-10 days. Weird it’s like springtime in the Rockies around here.

Take care.
Marcy
 
Missy, I saw this on FB and thought of some of your threads. It is a Minions quote. It says "I have trust issues. Because people have lying issues." :lol:
 
Missy, not to worry, I'm sure they will be horrible some other time instead.
Marcy, killer rabies are probably a lot cheaper than children, even if they are a bit bad behaving at times. Leaves more money for jewelry :-)
Proper update later

Goooood day to all ! S
 
Good morning girls!

Junie, thank you for those comps and the links. I actually have most of those on my watch list LOL. Guess we know my taste is predictable haha. And thank you and all the girls for behind the scenes help as well as help here too. How is your week going? How is your mom doing?

Marcy, thank you for all the earring help too. No haven't decided though I am leaning towards your advice. Though the price is fair that silver is just not my thing. But I love them otherwise. LOL now you can see why Greg had to propose to me as a complete surprise. I would have never been ready. :lol: I remember he brought up marriage after dating for a year and I almost passed out. We were at River Cafe during Valentine's Day and I excused myself to go to the bathroom because I seriously felt I was going to faint. I waited about 15 minutes after splashing water on my face and sitting down in the ladies room and then finally I returned to the table and we never brought it up again. LOL. Until year 4 when he surprised me completely and just proposed. Again I felt dizzy but by that time I knew I just had to take the chance. But it was an agonizing decision at the time. :lol: :lol: :lol: I know I am weird but that is how much I hate change. I digress with this story but it just illustrates how I have trouble making my mind up sometimes. Even when the answer should be clear.

marcy|1458614736|4009185 said:
Missy, I saw this on FB and thought of some of your threads. It is a Minions quote. It says "I have trust issues. Because people have lying issues." :lol:


Haha perfect. :lol: Love that quote thank you for sharing. So true!

Oh no more snow Marcy. Par for your Wyoming weather I guess. Stay warm and dry and safe. Your taco dinner sounded delicious last night. Greg had his leftover fajita dinner from our diner visit with his family on Sunday. Gotta love the leftovers. Speaking of which when I visit perhaps you can defrost that leftover lasagna for me...but it has to be vegetarian. Sorry to make demands so early but at least I am being honest. :halo:

Scandinavian, haha yes I will send them to you. As soon as I have enough disposable income to share the wealth with all my NIRDI girlfriends. You are all more precious to me than jewels any way that's the truth!
Looking forward to hearing more about your vacation and fun in the snow. Hope you are having the best time. :appl:

Hugs to all of you and enjoy this Tuesday. :wavey:
 
Just back from today's skiing (and have eaten a quick dinner, was starving!) - cross country though I should probably change that to cross mountains, lol. My DH came with me today, the children went skiing with my mother, she is at the cabin with us. And in two days my dad will join us also. My parents are divorced but almost friendly towards each other LOL. They will do anything to spend time with their grandchildren :-)
Today was very windy and snowy. I decided this picture is Internet proof, lol, to show you.

A bit cold so had to speed up a bit - so now I'm exhausted. But not as much as DH, lol. He has been working too much lately and not exercising enough. Time to change that. I'll regret it later. Like when I tough him how to ski better (he grew up not skiing). And he suddenly could beat me in a sprint because he is stronger. So up and over the mountains we went, looking for birds along the way. Found only one, they are in hiding from the wind. I'll post this now before it disappears.

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Hello again :-)
Missy, I'm very glad that dinner went ok! Was a bit stressed on your behalf. But please don't feel bad about venting - I'm sure you had good reason. Family can always be a bit difficult I think, even you're own family. Friends you have not chosen, so to speak.. and then it can be difficult to be friendly sometimes. I'm sure some people are rude without intending to be so. And others enjoy being rude and getting away with it. Hard to tell. Very nice picture! The children look adorable! I'm probably a bit rude sometimes with some relatives too - I would have just ordered the Broadway tickets without asking, lol :Up_to_something: I have done something similar actually for the summer holiday... meeting a lot of family and I know they would never go for some if the things that our children wants to do, so I just got tons of tickets for all of us... it will probably work out fine when the children stands there with big sad eyes :naughty: (I'm not mean, just want the children to have a nice holiday and everybody involved have more than enough money so just a matter of avoiding everybody having too many opinions - would have caused havoc if everybody should decide together - would have resulted in nothing getting done at all.. hence: I decided lol... ) I love that you eat all your food too - I always do that - I'm always hungry, lol.
Thank you for liking the pictures and my mountains :-) Wish I could show them to all of you sometime :-)
I love the story about Greg proposing to you :-) thank you for sharing! reminds me of my DH and our story :-) will tell you later if you are interested.

Marcy, I miss you teddy bears and killer rabbits. So weird - when you have not posted them in a while I wonder what they are up to... :-)
You weather sounds a bit scary. Worse than we have here up in the mountains. I do hope you stay inside and stay safe and warm. Is Easter a holiday or do you have to go to work?

Something else - showing my ignorance - why have you had the first day of spring now / what is the "definition"? Here, the first day if spring is 1 March - 3 months to each season - March April and May are spring months :-)

June, how is you and your mother and everything?

Jimmianne, your DD ok?

Hope you are having a good day!
 
Hi NIRDIs!

Scandinavian, we definitely haven’t spent much on the Killer Rabbits or Teddy Bears but we’ve had a lot of entertainment from them. It’s been a good return on our investment. When Marty was in Brazil the hotel had a huge Christmas tree decorated with nothing but teddy bears. He sent me a picture of it and said “I can’t get away from those damn things”. I couldn’t have planned that any better. I think cross mountain skiing sounds more appropriate. Beautiful snowy picture today and very cute photo with your furbaby. That is nice your parents get along well and love to spend time with their grandkids. I’d love to hear your proposal story. They are always fun. Trust me those rabbits are always up to no good. Our spring and fall coincide with the equinoxes so your seasons roughly start about 20 days before ours do. That is interesting. When does it quit snowing there?

Missy, I have a hard time making up my mind too. I love your proposal story. I did chuckle that you felt faint when he proposed the first time. That is awesome it took him 3 more years before he proposed again. It obviously turned out well for both of you. I thought you’d like the Minion quotes. I really enjoyed those movies. No problem on vegetarian lasagna; I am sure Marty would gladly make a pan for you. He was studying cookbooks last night. And of course I’d rather you are honest with me.

We had lovely weather today. The rain is going to start at about 9 pm and it will be snowing by the time I get up. We are going to have high winds too. At least we’ve only got about 2 more months of snow.

Marty bought new dress pants today - and will probably order the new iPad Pro. He’s cutting in to my sapphire money. I might have to hide his rabbits. Ha!

Lots of new things starting at work tomorrow. It will be a long and busy day for me. I am the only one who can make these changes I should call in sick. Now that would be funny!

We had leftover tacos for supper. Tasty, quick and few dishes.

Our proposal story is kind of humorous. We were out to dinner at a nice quiet restaurant. I went to the restroom. I came back and was setting there blathering away and the waitress brought something to the table and asked “is this an engagement?” I’m like “What?” I look at her and she points at the ring box on the table. I freaked out. I was the most beautiful ring in the world and I treasured it for 16 years. Oh I did say yes. The next week a friend of mine at work was giving him a hard time about where my diamond earrings were so he bought me some diamond studs (.20 ctw) and they are side stones on my oval pink sapphire ring.

Take care.
Marcy

This is the kind of thing I find when I come home.

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I haven't had my coffee yet, so of course I'll dive right in in the sleep state.
Scan., you've come out on PS in a very PS way! Now we can see that you are young and beautiful. Which. of course. I should have known! High level of athleticism & young children.
thank you for asking. My DD has not texted since Sunday - a good indicator of busy & happy.

Marcy, a funny proposal. Aren't you glad you had an observant waitress?! haha and to get earrings as well - I love that they are sidestones now-Very sweet- Some things kind of make up for having rabbits in the house. yes?

What is this about the 3 year wait for a second proposal? Time to study the thread more closely. Sounds like a good story.

I have a date today - don't get too excited for me. We have know each other for years and get together once or twice a year for lunch. I'm driving down to his territory, Southern Pines/Pinehurst, and you will not be surprised to hear that I have already researched the jewelers in the area and am taking they list! The town is beautiful, quaint, with lots of good boutique shopping.
 
Good morning girls!

Scandinavian, I LOVE the photo of you with your beautiful baby. You are a beautiful woman on the inside and out even with seeing only part of your face I can easily tell that! Thank you for sharing the photos. I love cross country skiing best of all compared to downhill. The best workout and the most peaceful activity ever. All that quiet space and wide open country. Just amazing.

And YES please share your proposal story. You might have figured out by now I very much (I think all the NIRDIs do) enjoy hearing all about everyone here.

So glad you and your children and parents are continuing to enjoy a wonderful vacation at your ski lodge cabin. :appl:
One of my favorite jewelers just returned from her ski trip and I think it might be her first ski trip back since she broke her leg over 2 years ago but I might have gotten my facts mixed up on that so not completely sure. But she had a fantastic trip too. She sent me a video with her dangling in a lift and the mountain views in the background were TDF. You cannot beat those snowy mountain views with the sharp bright blue sky. :love:

And thank you for being so supportive through all my family venting and I like the way you would have handled it. WOuldnt have worked with my family however as they didn't want to come into NYC as it is a 2 hour trip and my MIL is 82. So I cannot mess with that. If she doesn't want to and I bought Broadway tickets I would have been out $900 easily for 6 people. So you can see why I had to get their approval. Maybe next visit they will be up for it. Of course when you are ready for a NYC visit we can all go to the Broadway show of your choice! Would love that. :appl:


I think your definition of the seasons make more sense as they coincide more with what I consider typical season weather. Summer should be June, July and August and so forth. I have often said so and how funny that your country observes what I have always felt to make the most sense!

Marcy, I LOLd at your latest bunny photo and almost fell off the bed laughing hahaha. :lol: Those darn bunnies! Thank goodness no bears were harmed during the filming. Remember, any time you need those bunnies properly disciplined send them my way. I can be pretty strict yanno. They won't be able to get away with much if they come for a visit with me and my kitties. Of course my kitties might need a therapist after the bunnies are done with their visit. :lol:

Marcy, Greg didn't and wasn't planning on proposing that first time at the River Cafe. He just wanted to know if I was feeling the same way about where our relationship was heading and that he was thinking in that direction. And I promptly shut him down but it really was a physiological reaction on my part and I truly could not control my response of almost passing out and having to remove myself from that situation at the moment. Hahaha I am so lucky he got the courage up almost a full 3 years after that first incident to actually go ahead and propose! :oops: :lol: Lesser men would have not been up for that challenge. 8-)


I love your proposal story! Lovely, romantic and humorous too. The best combination. Love that you loved the ring and then you got the earrings a short time later. Sigh. Marty's a keeper and not just because of the bling. :appl: Thank you for volunteering him to make my veggie lasagna. And thank him from me too. :cheeky:

Cannot wait to hear about Marty's pro purchase. Greg just got a new iPad but not sure which one. I will find out and report back. Can you believe he is already at work at this time of the morning? He left at 5:30 AM because he had to do a few things and he had to go the beach house today because it is moving day back into the basement. Goodbye POD very soon! The movers are expected this morning and he is leaving soon to go and help and supervise so he left for the office very early. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.


Jimmianne, OMG I won't get too excited but GOOD LUCK today with your date! I am sending lots of good thoughts and PS dust to you and your potential love interest. :appl: :love:
Most of all have fun today and enjoy!


Have a great day girls and thank you again for the behind the scenes help on what might be another earring purchase. We will see. Part of me is doing this to distract myself and that is not good. I need to make sure I want this newest addition. :halo:

See you all later and (((hugs))).
 
Making dinner but just wanted to show you these pictures from today:

Can you spot the bird?


Had to climb this one because my baby found a bird on the top..


Sun :-)

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Hi NIRDIs!

Jimmianne, that’s a good sign your DD is busy and happy. I was glad I had an observant waitress. I remember I was almost as excited about my little diamond studs as I was getting my ering. My first diamonds. Yes Marty is worth putting up with those pesky rabbits. I hope you had a wonderful time on your date and that you had time to go jewelry shopping.

Missy, that was an older picture but I really freaked out when I got home and thought a bear had been torn up. Marty stages things well. I am sure you and your cats would keep the bunnies in line. Greg knew he had found a keeper so I am glad he didn’t give up on you either. Marty loves to have company and cook dinner so you and the NIRDIs will eat well. What would we do without our iPads? Glad Greg is getting everything moved back in to the basement. I bet he is excited. That’s good too since he went to work so early.

Scandinavian, beautiful pictures.

We had 14.1 inches of snow. It was blizzard conditions all day. Holy snow drifts. Here is the one that is right in front of our house. Marty had trouble getting out to pick me up and getting back in when we got home.

The picture is looking out our front window. Note the drift starting in front of the truck - easily 4 feet high and it runs down the middle of the street, across our driveway and well past us. We can't go either direction.

We hire a service to shovel for us and our neighbor keeps shoveling our sidewalk and most of our driveway. Marty went out and shoveled to our front door. I wish the neighbor would quit because I worry our service will just stop coming by and then I'll need them to dig me out. Oh well.

Marty took me to work this morning and I had him pick me up at 2:30. We had london broil cooked in the crock pot for supper with baked potatoes.

Have a great evening.
Marcy

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Good morning girls!

Scandinavian, beautiful photos thank you! What a wonderful vacation for you and the whole family. Where is that bird? LOL I am not sure. Love that glowy sun photo. :love:

Marcy, OMG 14 plus inches of snow. Thank you for that pic. I cannot believe you went to work yesterday but glad you had Marty pick you up early and that you enjoyed a good afternoon. Nice of your neighbor to help but yeah I can see where that is more of a hindrance than a help.


As you and most of the other girls know we had a water main break at work yesterday morning so had to leave and I had a nice day enjoying the weather with a friend and neighbor. But today will be a day from you know what as we are going to be super busy as the patients have to be seen from yesterday and today. Not sure I am going to be able to come up for breath.

And thank you for all the behind the scenes help re the earring bling. Sigh. I wrote her back I don't think they are the earrings I am looking for but I am still unsure. Scandinavian, if you want maybe you can contact me on loupe troop so we can exchange emails. I don't post everything here (believe it or not LOL) and if you are interested I will include you in the email chain we have going. But if you are not please don't worry. No pressure at all. It's cool just to post here too! I will make a listing for you just in case though.

https://loupetroop.com/listings/other/for-scandinavian


Jimmianne, how did your day go yesterday? Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to comment on the latest pair of earrings but now we want to know how your "date" went and how your bling expedition went too. Hope you had fun. :appl:

I am still struggling with a particularly upsetting health issue and not sure whether I should go some invasive testing this Monday. I have to decide though soon because I cannot cancel last minute. I know no one can really tell me the right thing to do and right now I am leaning towards yes undergoing the testing because scared not to but I am scared to do it too if that makes sense. Don't want to make things worse but don't want to ignore them either as they can get worse if I do that too. Sometimes there really is no winning.

OK back to happy thoughts of bling and sunshine and birds and dogs and kitties too. Thinking of you all and hoping your week is going well! Have a great day girls. :wavey:
 
Missy, you are a true sweetheart :-) I don't understand loupetroop but I will contact you on FB. Trust you will recognise my dog ;))
 
Hi girls, I know I've been MIA for a bit…just a little busy this week…I don't think I can catch up totally but wanted to check in with everyone!

Missy, I'm glad the visit with Greg's family ended up going well and you had a nice time. Thanks for sharing the pic, everyone looks great! Thank you for your support about my mother, I'm hoping things fall into place fairly easily. My brother had a really rough time this past weekend so I just said to the both of them that mom is coming to my house for a visit. My mother seemed ok with the idea but who knows. At least things are out in the open now.

Love the pics of the kitties! The spooky eye shots are very cool. I really enjoyed the story of your first apartment. Also loved your proposal story. Thank goodness Greg didn't give up lol!

Lol to having some of the earrings on your watch list! I started thinking to myself "why doesn't missy just buy these?" :lol: I'm sorry I wasn't much help in the selection process, my problem is I love all things blingy and all the choices are so pretty. :oops:

Big giant hugs to you about your health issue, so sorry to read about it and I wish you good thoughts that you come to the best decision with regard to the testing. You know by now that your nirdis are here for you but I just wanted to say it again!

Jimmianne, I'm sorry your dd had a rough start to her trip but I'm happy she made it and I bet she is enjoying herself now that she's there. It was great you were there for her. Love the pic of Izzy, so sweet and such a beautiful face! :love: Your dangles look amazing on you, I really love them. I hope you had a lovely time with your friend, it sounds like a very fun outing. I'm excited about your jewelry making venture! thanks for sharing the story of your mother, the more I read about peoples' experiences the more I see that most of the time the situation has to reach somewhat of a crisis situation before a person is willing to make a change. :(sad I guess that is understandable but stressful for family members.

Scandinavian, love the pics of your doggie and the fireplace! So cozy and inviting. You sound like you are having a really lovely time with your family at the cabin. The pics of the scenery there are just beautiful.
Thank you for sharing your story about your father - I guess it is just scary for older people to face that they might be having a serious health issue. When my mother had the stroke she was alone - my brother called her and obviously knew something was very wrong and called for an ambulance but she refused to go with them. My brother had to call for another ambulance and have neighbors go over to make sure she went with them.
Thanks for asking about my mother! - she's doing ok, no major problems or issues.

Marcy, thanks for sharing your story about your mother, it's such a tough thing for a family to go through and a difficult decision to make and one with lots of emotions attached. Wow, Marty is doing great with his weight loss. Love the story of you and him clothes shopping! The stereotype is it's the other way around, with the man waiting on the woman lol! Wow, I am so sorry to hear you've gotten so much snow! Your pics are so pretty but I know you are completely sick of snow by now. I really loved your proposal story! I just love that the waitress pointed out the box to you, I think things like that make a proposal very memorable :clap: You and Marty always have such a good time together that somehow the story just fits you guys! The pic of the rabbit and the stuffing made me laugh out loud, thank you for the laugh!

Hi kristie, callie, sharon, and LLJsmom!

I know I've missed a ton of stuff but am thinking of all of you - my sister is staying with my mother this weekend so dh and I are going to the beach for a few days. He was in England this week and we are meeting at the Charleston airport so I have to head out soon for my flight. Looking forward to just being in a different place for a few days lol. I'll check back in over the weekend, big hugs to all!
 
Hi NIRDIs!

Missy, I used Uber Marty to get to work again today. He’s kind of mouthy for the fired help but what can you do? I would hate to say anything to my neighbor like please don’t shovel for us but for all I know the shoveling service will charge me for showing up and doing part of a driveway and the end of the street. Oh well as long as it gets done right? I hope you survived the busy day at work. Oh no to some scary health issues. I hope they figure out what is going on and it’s all behind you. Hugs to you!

Junebug, how fabulous you and your DH are going to enjoy a weekend at your beach house. You deserve to get away for sure. That’s nice your sister is going to stay with your mom. Marty is very patient shopping clothes with me but I am much quicker deciding what I want than he is - or maybe it just seems that way. He is doing really well on his work out, weight loss and eating healthy. I am eating less because of it so now if I could quit the stress junk food eating at work I’d be doing better. Yes, I am very sick of snow. I am delighted to hear the killer rabbit picture made you laugh. That’s always good for the soul.

Scandinavian, did you have sunshine today?

Hi Jimmianne, Kristie, LLJsmom and Sharon!

Our snow melted quite a bit today. Someone plowed the drift in the street by the time Marty went to the gym and then today sometime someone shoveled the spot in to our driveway (I think our shoveling service showed up finally) so I can drive myself to work tomorrow. :appl:

We had some cheese tortellini for supper and veggies. I'm still hungry. Rats.

Take care.
Marcy
 
Good morning from the mountains :-)
Yesterday was rest day for my dog

My DH had to work, so he stayed at the cabin with her whilst I went skiing to meet my dad. No roads in here this time of year, so it's a 16 km skiing trip to get here :-) You can take a visel - a bus on skis, lol. Looks kind of like a tanks. Will try to get a picture to show you, it is pretty war and quite charming. Bit that's mostly for the kids and luggage - so skiing it is :-) The children went with my mother to buy cinnamon buns at a lodge 3 km away. Nice little trip for our 4 year old.
I have read all you posts. But I will probably miss a lot of important stuff in my comments/ replay, so please forgive. To much people everywhere around me.. and trying to make breakfast at the same time lol.
Missy, very very sorry to read about your health issue. Please just to what is safest. Maybe that is to have the testing? Oh I am so sorry sweetie you really do not deserve this!
Marcy, your proposal story was just perfect and fun at the same time - you will never forget that one! Uber Mary was a good idea. Please keep safe in the snow. Driving when the roads are slippery can be scary. But ice is even worse than snow, so sometimes from bad to worse, at least here where we live! I hate icy roads! I love you killer rabbits! Always such a good laugh! And your dinner sounds jummy as always :-)
Jimmianne, so happy that you have not heard from your DD! Hope she is having a fantastic time! France can be oh so amazing! Maybe even a bit like spring there now :-) Do you know where she is exactly? Well off course you do, lol. Silly way to frame a question :-) I haven't been around France that much, just Paris and the riviera and Provance really. But love every place I've been :-)
Junebug, happy that you are well. A few days away sounds grest@ hope you are taking some pictures :-)
All the best!

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Hi everyone. :wavey:
Marcy, I hope the roads are getting better in the Wild West. How lucky to have an Uber Marty service close by!


June - yay that your Mom seems OK with things. I have such silly ideas about her move to your house, thinking what could make her laugh - maybe a big cuddly stuffed animal on her bed when she arrives. I dunno - just ignore me. haha

Missy, I am thinking you are officially an antique earring collector, yes? Is this observation correct. If he has not already, perhaps Greg could make you a display case in his new workshop.

I Skyped with DD & BF yesterday. It was late at night there so they were sleepy, but doing well. They are in Dijon where he is an intern, then they travel to Montreuil-Bellay, his home town, where he takes classes every other week.
My hoped for trip is ON for June if I want to go. woo hoo! I would go alone - DD & I cannot coordinate dates - but would overlap a little at the end of June. If anyone had told me a year ago that I would fly to France alone I would have thought they were delusional. :lol:

Scandinavian, I think I love France so much because it was my first exposure to Europe. It felt like home right away. I have not spent much time in Paris and wish I had the energy to do so, but the smaller towns are easier and still have the "flavor". The funny thing is, in the smaller towns everyone looks at you wherever you go. It's like being a movie star LOL
Your dog has the sweetest muzzle. It does remind me of Issy's. A puppy nose always. How ever did you exercise that dear dog enough to get it to nap?! lol
 
Good morning girls! Wishing for all of you who are observant the best wishes for this Good Friday. And Happy Easter weekend!

Junie, I am so pleased you are going away to your beach house for a little holiday! Seriously when I read that I got a smile on my face from ear to ear. You SO deserve this vacation. I hope you have a wonderful wonderful time at the beach and feel rejuvenated when you get back.

I'm glad your mom is onboard with coming to your house and I am sure your brother is a bit relieved too. Things will work out. Have you found a professional to help you take care of your mom yet?

Haha yes I wish I could buy all the earrings. Believe me I do. I keep vacillating back and forth b/w a few pairs but might get none because I am not sure any of them would scratch the itch. I think you kwim.

Scandinavian, your photos cheer me up. Your sweet dog and your beautiful backdrop. So peaceful and so harmonious. Makes me forget about things for a while. Thank you.

I can just picture you all skiing everywhere you need to go and I love that. Your small children quite capable getting around on their little skis. Adorable and efficient and so much fun. You must be so proud of them. I cannot imagine many 4 year olds here being so capable.

Ooh cinnamon buns sound delicious! :lickout: I better forget about those for a long while though. I weighed myself (at work) for the first time since last May and I am 16 lbs heavier!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG. It's OK I keep telling myself. I am still well within the healthy range but still. I mean I knew I gained weight but my clothes still fit and I was good with it but somehow getting on that scale makes it an unpleasant reality if you kwim. Greg prefers me this way as he says I am healthier but I keep thinking what are my doctors going to say when they see how much weight I have gained! :shock:
I need to join you Scandinavian because I know cross country skiing will get me right back to fighting weight! :!:

Marcy, haha uberMarty being mouthy. Oh well you cannot find good (unpaid) help these days. :lol: Yes I agree with you. Cannot say anything to your helpful neighbors. So glad we didn't get too much snow in NY this year. When we are full time at the beach house I wonder how we are going to deal with the snow.
We had our cleaning lady yesterday and the house is all clean for a day or 2 at least lol. Yummy to cheese tortellini and veggies. Right up my alley. Though I have not had pasta for a while and given my weight gain I guess we are not going to be going out for pizza or other pasta anytime soon. :(( Though I reserve the right to change my mind on that. 8) :cheeky:

Jimmianne, yes you have come a long way. Flying by yourself to France is impressive!!! You have a wonderful trip planned out to visit your DD and her FI. Your DD is similar to you in that way. Courageous and adventurous. Strong women the both of you!
I don't know that I am a collector of antique earrings/bling but if I had enough disposable income I could definitely see that path for me. I love all vintage things but especially bling.



Warning...having a good cry ahead so skip if you are not in the mood...I apologize ahead of time. It helps me to write it down and share it here.

Thank you for the hugs girls. Today is the last day I can cancel the appointment for Monday's endoscopy testing and I don't know what to do. It is invasive and there is risk involved and part of me says just don't and give it time and see what develops. Arghh. My doctor wants me off Oracea which is the only thing keeping my face calm at the moment. You might remember autumn 2014 how my face exploded being off Oracea and now I have to go off it again. I know you girls understand but honestly unless someone has gone through this same issue they cannot really get it. My face was hurting 24/7 and there was no relief from the pain. And there were red and angry paps all over my face and nothing provided relief. I looked like a freak for so many months and nothing got it under control until I went back on Oracea and now I have no choice but to go off this med again with nothing like it that will control my symptoms. I am to put it gently terrified but have no choice as something is causing a very bad reaction in my body and once again I have to play detective and hope my doctors and I can figure it out.

We were unsuccessful 2 years ago figuring it out (when I had the very same symptoms of all over body burning and weird pain in the chest symptoms) and not sure what has changed that might provide the answer but still hoping and praying it is something that proves not to be serious and something I can treat and/or control. I was chatting with a friend yesterday and she is going through big work issues and she said the only time of day she looks forward to now is when it is time to sleep as she can forget about all her problems. And I realized that is the same for me right now. When I am sleeping even the uneasy sleep I have been having lately is the only time I get some peace. It makes me sad but I also realize (and hope fervently) this too shall pass and things will become better. But they might get worse before they become better and that scares me.


OK onto happier thoughts. I received the ebay antique earrings yesterday a few days earlier than expected. They are sweet and for the price I am probably keeping them. They don't knock me over but what can you expect from sweet little earrings. I have not taken any photos myself yet but won't keep you waiting. Here are the vendor's photos of the earrings.

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I hope all of you have a wonderful day and thank you for listening and letting me share.

Also I am sending a special shout out to a very dear PSer. I don't know if you are still reading but I just wanted to say I am keeping you in my thoughts and I am so very sorry for your loss. I just want you to know I am keeping you and your sweet girl close to my heart and sending lots of love and gentle hugs your way.
 
First I am thinking why hasn't the NYT said anything about all the arrests in Belgium last-night/this morning ??? It was in La Monde very early : (

and, Missy. I wish I could say something helpful about your procedure. [I was scheduled for the same thing years ago when I was on an osteo drug. Chest and esophageal pain. I chickened out, so I did not get the procedure but went off the drug. That was the answer for me. Of course then I had to find another way to get help for the osteo.]
Is it pretty likely it's the drug causing the problem? If so, what else is the doctor hoping to accomplish with the test?

edit: I'm sorry I told you I chickened out. that was not very support : (
 
Jimmianne, you are always very supportive! Please don't apologize. You girls have saved me many times. Just by being here for me and listening and offering advice and comfort.

My dermatologist doesn't even know I scheduled this test. My GI doctor knows and tried to get me to also get a colonoscopy at the same visit to which I promptly and firmly said NO. He said he is going to convince me to schedule a colonoscopy when he sees me this Monday for the endoscopy.

I was anticipating my dermatologist saying he wouldn't consider Accutane (which is my only thought as to what can replace the Oracea but not sure that will help at all) until we made sure the Oracea hadn't caused ulceration of my esophagus. So I was being proactive in anticipation of what my derm would want me to and require me to do. Coupled with the pain I am feeling in that area I thoughts perhaps I needed to find out.

However I am not willing to go back on the proton pump inhibitors I was prescribed 2 years ago due to the esophagitis as those caused very bad side effects for me. So really there is no treatment (besides going off the suspected culprit medication) so I am thinking to what end am I getting this test. I have to go off the Oracea anyway to see if it helps diminish my symptoms.

Getting the endoscopy boils down to worse case scenario where if my esophagus is badly damaged then I would have no choice but to go on the PPIs despite the side effects. Ugh back and forth and back and forth. If I cancel and then I have an emergency worsening I will be out of luck (he only does endoscopies on Mondays and is usually booked way in advance but had this opening due to it being the Monday after Easter) so I was just being extra proactive but perhaps too proactive and I should just see what happens to my symptoms with time? It's just sometimes the pain in that area gets scary and I flash back to 2 plus years ago (feb 2014) when it was intolerable pain in the esophagus and I had to have the endoscopy to see what was going on. I cannot even properly explain how bad that was for me and how horrific a period in time that was in my life. Way worse than my broken leg believe it or not. I couldn't swallow right and I had the pain with me constantly for a long time. And the incessant burning which is happening again.

Then the burning which lasted months and months and months and they (and I) never figured it out. The thought was it was the Oracea but then 9 months later I had to go back on the med due to nothing else controlling the explosion of symptoms on my face and it took a number of months but finally my face symptoms got back under control. And I have been on the Oracea now for 15 months without any problems and BAM here we go again. Is it the Oracea? If so why when I went off the Oracea back in 2014 did my body burning symptoms not go away for many more months? And if it is the Oracea why was I able to tolerate it for another 15 months until now?

More questions than answers and I need some NIRDI wisdom to help me figure it out. I have had 2 endoscopies in 2014 and really would rather not go through it again unless I think it can help me somehow.

I am not sure my long winded explanation makes any sense but hoping you got the gist of what I was trying to say. Thanks for listening and for sharing any thoughts you have on this.
 
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