Healthy Living Thread

[deegee]

Hi Stacy! I lost weight on weight watchers a few years ago and have gained a few pounds back due to my sheer laziness in tracking my food every day. The last 2 weeks have been really bad food-wise, so today I fired up the weight watchers app and started tracking again. Once I get back in the habit of doing that every day and taking long walks with my dog after work, I will start losing the weight I gained. I haven't been motivated lately, but the last 2 weeks of really bad eating has left me craving healthy foods, salads, fresh veggies and fruit.

Zoe - I'm sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well. I always wonder about the work out thing too when I'm having a flare up with my spine. My doctor always tells me to rest a few days and then start exercising again slowly. I don't know if that would be the same for you. Unfortunately for me, when I take breaks from exercise I have the hardest time getting myself back in the habit.

marcy - gosh, here was feeling sorry for myself that my next day off is Memorial Day after today! The nice thing about working for the government is that you get a bunch of holidays. The pay is lousy and raises never come, so you get lots of holidays to make up for it. Marty is a keeper. That would have been awesome if you could have gone on this part of the trip with him. I think I would have passed on the first leg of the trip. Matt is heading to his Louisville office in the morning. He is supposed to go one week each month, but he was just there week before last so that's an extra trip this month. I hope Marty's trip is over soon and that he stays put for a while.

I had a very productive day off. I did a few loads of laundry and then went to Kohl's to take advantage of my 30% off coupon and my $40 Kohl's cash. I bought lots of different flavors of K-cups for my Keurig. I was careful not to buy many of the already sweetened coffees because I could get in trouble there. I took all the animals to the vet for their yearly shots, flea and heartworm medicines. That visit was as much as my house payment! I came home and stained the cabinet door that I had experimented on in the past. Why don't things come out the way they do on HGTV? I think I got it back to close to its original color so it shouldn't stand out too bad from the rest of the doors on the vanity in the master bath. We painted the small bathroom downstairs on Saturday and installed the new vanity yesterday. For years I have wanted to get rid of the pedestal sink for years and put a real vanity with a cabinet in there. It's DONE! Tonight we'll get the mirror up and install the new towel thingie. Today I have had a bowl of vegetable soup and 5 Ritz crackers. I made spaghetti for dinner and am waiting for Matt to get home to eat. I have plenty of points left and have worked hard today (and it's a nice evening so we'll walk Lily later), so I am going to have a glass of wine. I bought a new kind - I hope its good. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Zoe, sorry to hear you haven’t felt well lately. I am glad you are doing better. That was awesome you passed on Valentine’s cookies and enjoyed the nice apple your students brought you. I think it depends on how sick you are and what is wrong with you on whether or not it’s a good idea to go to the gym. My boss has asthma and he does weights and I think he makes himself worse by pushing through working out everyday. He is out sick quite a bit.

Welcome, Stacy! I think going to classes near your house near your house. That sounds fun and convenient. There is a website I like that is a good place to get started - sparkpeople.com. It’s free and you can track your food and exercise there. They have helpful forums you can join. The weight watchers website is great too. I know there are several good phone and tablet apps too.

Deegee, I hope you enjoyed the day off for me. I just realized awhile ago Marty has today off but since he is in the UK he went to work; their offices wouldn’t take President’s Day off. Boo for Matt being gone this week. I have no idea if Marty has another trip planned soon; so many of them are within a week’s notice. I told him today I’d had enough. I was sad he was gone. How exciting to get your vanity put in and some things painted. Progress. Did you get out to look at any houses? I had some wine with supper too.

I reluctantly got up and went to work this morning. My morning was uneventful but my afternoon was full of meetings. I have to spend a lot of time tomorrow on paperwork.

I got emails from Marty today but didn’t talk to him. I will tell him tomorrow he missed his holiday today.

Food was not bad today. I had cherrios for breakfast. a mini muffin for snack, leftover meatloaf and potatoes for lunch and 2 tacos for supper (plus a glass of wine).

Snow is heading out way this week. Boo.

Laters
Marcy

 

[zoebartlett]

Marcy, I hope Marty has a good flight home. I'm sure you'll be glad to see him after all his travels. Will he get some down time now or will he be flying out somewhere else soon?

I went to the gym today and did 40 minutes on the bike. I was hoping to catch Ellen's show but when I arrived, there was an older man who was enjoying the silence. It made the workout very boring.

I've gotten back in the swing of writing down what I'm eating, and I'm up to 1370 calories today. That's an improvement from the 881 calories yesterday and roughly that the day before. That could have been why I felt shaky in the morning and ended up at our nurse'd office. She gave me oatmeal and crackers, and I felt better afterwards. It's weird, sometimes I just don't feel like eating, while other days, I could easily eat everything in sight.

I hope everyone's doing well!

 

[deegee]

Zoe - hopefully I'm ending one of those periods where I eat everything in sight. For the last few weeks I've been starving! Too bad there was a guy enjoying his silence during the workout. That would make it very boring. Did you take it easy?

marcy - good idea to tell Marty he missed a holiday. I'm sure he'll love that! Matt didn't get that day off. He wasn't sure if he was headed to South Carolina or Louisville this week until he went to work on Monday. For a short time on Monday he thought he was going to have to leave work to go home and pack, and then return to head to South Carolina that afternoon. I don't blame you for telling Marty he's not allowed to go on any more trips. Last week I emailed the realtor we had been talking with to find out if a house we were interested in was still for sale. Zillow shows that it sold in December, but it is still on the realty company's website as for sale. I haven't heard back from her, which makes me have visions of your realtor in my head! Nooo!

I had to drop Matt off at the park-n-ride early this morning, so I got to work over an hour early. I decided to leave an hour early at the end of the day, and ended up spending that hour plus some stuck in wreck traffic on the interstate. It was still daylight when I got home, so Lily and I headed out for our 3-mile walk right away. I had cottage cheese and blackberries for breakfast, leftover spaghetti and salad for lunch (at 3pm!), and vegetable soup and salad for dinner. I have plenty of points for a snack, but don't know what I want. I finished the laundry this evening. The only things left to wash in this house are the clothes I'm wearing. The cleaners came today, which always freaks me out when Matt is out of town. My house doesn't look like it did when I left and my bed is made. That always messes with me. I'm off to read a bit and then hopefully to bed early. My all-day meetings start back up tomorrow. Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! Snow is coming back tomorrow. Nooooooo!!! It’s like winter or something. Weird.

Zoe, sadly Marty is going to Atlanta next week. I’ll show him - I am going to a jewelry remount sale on the 26th. Ha! Yay for getting a nice workout in today. Good idea to eat more calories. Somedays it’s hard to get in enough calories and other days it’s hard not to get in way too many calories. I usually found when I was really hungry I was losing weight. Glad to hear the nurse gave you some food to pep you up. That is great you are writing down and tracking your food. Speaking of Ellen I watched “Finding Nemo” on Sunday. Ellen is so funny in that.

Deegee, I agree, working out in silence is very boring. I like using my nano for walking. Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to tell Marty no more trips for awhile. He sent me an email while I was innocently sleeping that he is headed to Atlanta next week. The girl coming to clean tomorrow won’t think we’ve been here for 2 weeks. Sounds like they dispatched Matt at the last minute too. Our guys are just popular. How nice to come home to a clean house! Woo hoo for getting to go home an hour early. I sure hope your realtor is not like mine. They closed on our old house 11 days ago and I haven’t heard a word about what if any more we get from the proceeds. Since she isn’t getting any money from us anymore she probably isn’t too motivated to get that little portion of the sale addressed. Zillow does seem to keep up to date on houses but you would think the realtor would too. Did you and Lily enjoy your walk?

I made it to work with 1 minute to spare. Life is good, eh? I worked about 3 hours on paperwork which was boring but kept busy at other times with notes, updates and emailing Marty. Since it is still light at 5 now I took the interstate home and got home about the same time but enjoyed less traffic that way plus I can drive faster.

I was really hungry at lunch so I went to Sharis and ordered a sandwich and fruit and put 1/2 of my sandwich away for lunch tomorrow. Then I ordered a piece of warm apple pie and ate the apple part and some crust. For supper I had a lean cuisine pizza plus a glass of wine.

Naturally the Teddy Bears and Killer Rabbit have their own email accounts so we entertained ourselves today by having “them” send “each other” emails today. It quickly spiraled out of control. The KR claims that Marcy is holding them all hostages and never feeds them. I busted out laughing though when the rabbit wrote the Teddy Bear back saying “well you are a tad bit overweight so you must smuggle in food from somewhere while Marty and I are working”. We are so weird. It did brighten my day which is all that matters.

Well, take care. I must get my dishes loaded. I don’t have to pick up anything for the cleaning lady tomorrow. Woo hoo!

Hi Dee Jay, Stacy, Sharon and Skippy.

Marcy

 

[marcy]

Marcy's Bad Idea 101. So I decide to combine a too light and a too dark nail polish together. I pour one in to the other. Put the lid back on and a bunch of it oozes out of the lid. What a mess. At least it was all over my hand, paper towels and the nail,polish bottle. I like my new color though. The things I will think of to do when I am bored.

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Thanks for the welcome, ladies! I looked into the local yoga classes, which I'm really excited about. There is one tonight, but I'm planning to go see my Granddaddy..hmm, maybe I can reschedule for tomorrow instead. I REALLY want to check it out. Also, I just added the fit bit app to my phone (recommended by a friend) and plan to start that today!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy hump day kids! Please forgive the mass post but I have a quarterly board meeting starting in 21 minutes! Long weekend in Chicago was good, but still waiting for my offer from the private equity firm. Head hunter says they're working on putting it together. Work faster people!!! The explosion in the Kansas City Plaza last night was about 2 blocks from my apartment. I almost walked down to Starbucks to do my homework, but decided at the last minute it was too cold or I would have been going right by there when it happened. The blast rattled the pictures on my walls and made the balcony door jump in its track. Scared the living he!! out of me!

Food was good yesterday (not over the weekend though!) and I'm still looking forward to an opportunity to work out... Scale has me down within a pound of where I was on Friday though, so I'm not complaining!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Stacy, glad you found a phone app you like. They have so many great apps to help us out to track food and exercise. I hope you had a nice visit with your granddaddy.

Dee Jay, how awful about the explosion there. I am VERY glad you decided to stay home instead of walking down to Starbucks. Yay for a good report card from your scale. I hope you get an awesome offer you don’t want to refuse.

I have a case of the Monday’s. Too bad it’s Tuesday. I did drink a big glass of wine with supper but so far it didn’t help.

My cleaning lady cancelled at the last minute. Her little girl is sick and on antibiotics but they wouldn’t take her at daycare. I got to work late then and found a mess when I got there. Got that fixed then had a software freaking out issue this afternoon. After several calls and phone calls I finally restarted everything and it magically went away. I left work a bit early, stopped at the store and then got home about 4:30. I baked a potato and decided to try to bake a steak. The potato turned out great; I wouldn’t recommend the steak. I ate raw veggie and sipped on wine while supper was cooking.

The snow storm is here. We are only expecting at the most 5 inches. DIA is going to get about 8”. I hope Marty’s diesel that has been there for 2 weeks starts on Friday. I saw an article that rabbits are crawling up in engines there and eating wires on cars at DIA. Marty won’t think his rabbit is so cute if that happens. Marty never calls our bank to let them know he is going out of the country and he can’t get cash at ATM’s with his debit card. I called today about it but they never called me back. Yay for customer service, huh? He always forgets to change some money for local currency at airports. I best start nagging him when he text me from an airport.

Well, take care!
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - Wow, that blast was close to you. Scary! Glad you stayed home. I hope they're putting together a sweet offer for you in Chicago. You haven't been in KC for too long, have you?

Stacy - glad you found a good app. I'd love to try yoga, but I don't have any extra time in the day to actually go somewhere. Let us know how it goes.

Marcy - your polish incident reminds me of the time I did that with a too light and a too dark foundation. My result wasn't usable. Too bad your cleaning lady had to cancel. I actually bumped mine a day this week because I was off on Monday (their usual day), and I wanted to sleep in! Too bad you had such a lousy day at work. Hopefully tomorrow will work out better for you. I hope the rabbits leave Marty's truck alone!

It took forever and a day to get to work this morning. A truck hauling logs overturned on the interstate at 3:30 this morning, and all eastbound lanes of the interstate were closed until after 9:30. Of course I didn't listen for a traffic report before I got on the road so I was seriously stuck. It took most of us coming from the west over 2 1/2 hours to get there, even the people who tried coming in on back roads. I had cottage cheese and a banana for breakfast, the roast beef from an Arby's roast beef sandwich for lunch, and I made chili and a grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. Lily and I walked 3 miles and now she's sacked out on the floor. I'd like to have a glass of wine, but I finished a bottle off last night and my hands aren't cooperating enough today to open a new bottle. Bummer. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Phew, you ladies are BUSY! I feel like I've been running around all week, so instead of crafting with a friend, I'm staying in to clean and do some laundry tonight.

I ended up opting to go to the yoga class and I'm so glad I did! It was awesome and I feel nice and subtly worked out, but it was so relaxing! I will definitely be attending regularly and at a cost of $5 per class, I am getting a great deal too! Woohoo!! Also, the app is working well and I like that it will add or take away calories that I can eat based on working out/activity for the day.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy blizzard kids! We got a ton of snow today, and I think there’s more in the forecast. Super… The morons here already can’t drive under the BEST of circumstances, and now this!

Stacy, I’m glad you had such a good time at your yoga class! The key for me is finding something that I really enjoy so that I stick with it.

Deegee, I’ve been in Kansas City since June. The longest 8 months and 6 days of my life—but who’s counting?!

Marcy, what’s your snow situation? And that’s crazy about the rabbits! I really hope Marty doesn’t come home to find a whole family of bunnies under his hood!

Food has been all over the place, but the scale is being kind, so it is what it is. I just found some applesauce in the back of the fridge and I was THRILLED, LOL. Given how empty my fridge is you wouldn’t think anything could hide in there, but it was hunkered down behind a couple of bottles of prosecco. Now if only there were some fine chocolates and a pool boy in there too…

Anyway….. I think I’ve just accepted a new job!!!!! We came to terms on compensation and number of days per week, and I will likely be starting there on March 25. That gives me two weeks to wrap up here, and two weeks to go to Aspen and relax. As for finding a new place to live—well, there’s no time for that! Really, I’ll be swamped with school until the beginning of May, so I may just crash with one of my best friends during the week and the Chicago Boyfriend on the weekends and deal with wrapping up my apartment here once the quarter is over.

Off to do some homework, and then I think I may just have a little celebratory glass of wine!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! One more day till the weekend. Sweet.

Deegee, foundation combos are a challenge. I hate to waste things which of course leads to trying to combine things. Good idea to move our cleaning lady back so you could sleep in on your holiday. Marty said he parks on the top row in the garage so I doubt if many bunnies hang out there. Sorry you got caught setting while cleaning up an accident. Rats that your hangs wouldn’t cooperate to open wine. My thumb joints are in serious need of repair and get so bad sometimes I can’t pull up jeans or hold a phone. Jar lids are a serious problem for me especially if they are bigger than my hand.

Stacy, you’ve had a busy week. It’s nice to get cleaning and laundry done during the week so those pesky tasks are slowing you down on the weekend. Glad you liked your yoga class.

Dee Jay, stay away from all those non-snow driving people. How much snow did you get? If Marty does find bunnies in his truck I’d tell him it was the Killer Rabbit’s idea. Woo hoo and congratulations on getting and accepting a job offer. You will be busy finishing up things in KC and moving. Good plan to not find a place to live right away. That takes a big thing off you list of things to do.

Our snow total was about 2 inches but with fog and warm ground we have lots of ice. Of course here in open prairie land is an icy mess. I passed on getting the mail when I got home - I didn’t have my skates with me.

Work was okay today. We were busy. One of my employees had a birthday so we had the new Pizza Hut sliders and some cake. I was ILL after eating that kind of stuff. I had raw veggies for supper.

Marty will be home by now tomorrow. Yippee.

Well, for the 2nd time tonight I have to go do some work. I love dialing in from home instead of having to run in or send in my person on call. Especially on cold and icy nights.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - Yay! Congratulations!!! I bet you're really excited. How many days a week will you work? I'm jealous. Sounds like you can't wait to get back to Chicago. I know you're bored in the midwest, but I betcha it has lots more to do than where I live in West Virginia. You must be doing something right for the scale to be cooperating so well. I am still avoiding the scale, but my clothes are feeling better. Maybe I didn't do as bad the last few weeks as I thought I did.

Stacy - glad you enjoyed yoga. $5 is a good deal!

Marcy - I know what you mean about the thumb joints. I'm used to a certain level of pain all over, but right now my thumb joints, elbows, hips, and big toe joints are actually screaming louder than my back. I can't hold on to anything right now. My right hand hurts really bad so I have worn my hand brace this week. I'm limping too, so everyone at work has to be sure to ask me what I've done to myself. Argh. I'm so glad to hear Marty will be back tomorrow. Yay! Matt got home earlier tonight. We're planning to take tomorrow afternoon off to go do something fun. Glad you didn't have much snow, but yuck on the ice. I'd rather have snow.

We're back meeting 9-4 every day, so I'm only in my office 8:15-9 and 4-4:30. Believe it or not, I can't get much done! It is supposed to start freezing rain soon and continue through the night, so it will be another fun commute in the morning. I had cottage cheese and blackberries for breakfast, a Kashi meal for lunch, and grilled chicken, green beans, potatoes, and a salad for dinner. Matt brought me KY Bourbon Barrel beer back from Louisville, so I had one of those for my evening snack. We walked 3 miles this evening. I was actually in bed but decided to get my lazy rear up and walk. While I was losing weight, we walked at least 6 days a week without fail, no matter how lousy the weather was. We have walked 3 miles every night this week, so I'm off to a decent start to getting back in that habit. Have a great Friday!

 

[zoebartlett]

Wow, I feel like I'm really behind here and need to catch up. I found out yesterday that my position is being cut at the end of the year. I'm really, really sad. My head is spinning and I feel horrible. I can't stop crying, and I think I only got 2-3 hours of sleep last night. I feel like a Mack truck hit me. I have to get through today and then we'll be on vacation for a week. I was planning on relaxing at home but now I'll start putting my resume packet together and beginning a job search. It hurts because I know I'm at the right place to work but apparently, others feel differently.

Sorry, I had to get that out. I'll try to be back later to read through the latest posts.

 

[marcy]

Hugs to you Zoe. That really stinks.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Zoe, I'm so sorry about your position (and I didn't know when I posted about the Chicago thing--I apologize for my lousy timing). Also sending you big hugs and positive thoughts. If there's anything we can do, including just using us an a sounding board, don't hold back. And June is a long time away, so hopefully you will have something new tucked in your pocket long before that comes around.

Marcy, I can't really tell how much snow we got because it's so drifted. My best guess is less than a foot, but it's really quite high in a lot of places. And I was so hoping they would plow and clean up the roads well last night, but they did a p!ss poor job of it. I say forget this finance thing--I should be in charge of roadways! Did Marty make it back yet?

Deegee, I've negotiated thee days a week, which gives me time to take care of the four classes I'm taking next quarter (have to get the educational requirements taken care of before the state changes the rule son June 28 or else there are a bunch of other things I need to do). And definitely pay more attention to your clothes than the scale!

I deleted the spreadsheet that I keep track of my calories on and so I didn't have running total during the day. When I finally added it all up at the end I was surprised by the number, so there is something to be said for seeing a current calculation! I know there are times when I say, "Ok, you've got X calories left. That's a lean cuisine and a big glass of wine, or a quarter of a frozen pizza and a small glass of wine... or just TWO REALLY BIG glasses of wine... and then I make my decision accordingly!"

I've got some homework to do this weekend (but honestly not a terrible load) so maybe I will start packing a bit.

Happy Friday!!!!!

 

[deegee]

Zoe - I'm so sorry about your position. Big hugs to you. Sometimes it seems like life loves to throw crappy things our way and we have to figure out how to get around it and move on. I'm sending lots of positive thoughts your way.

Dee*Jay - 3 days a week sounds awesome, and it also sounds like you'll be super busy with school on the other days! Sometimes I feel really bad budgeting ww points for extra booze, but some days that's what I'd rather have! So, about the wine. I've been buying Merlot (because I read it has the most of whatever makes it good for you...I'm going with that angle.) Does an aerator really make a big difference in the taste? I may need to buy one.

Marcy - I hope Marty is back home safe and sound, and the bunnies left his truck alone. He's probably exhausted, but will be out golfing first thing in the morning.

We had an ice storm last night but it wasn't too bad this morning. Dee*Jay - our road crews actually got out last night before the storm and salted, and then continued to salt throughout the night. You must have made a phone call! Matt picked me up early today, and we did a few drive-by's of houses that were on my list to go see. All of them are now off my list. They're beautiful houses, but unfortunately everything newer is built into the hillsides because all of the flat land was gobbled up many, many years ago. I had an egg beater and a slice of ham on light bread for breakfast. We went to Olive Garden for lunch to use a gift card. I had the linguine with marinara sauce and salad for lunch, and then a salad with grilled chicken on top for dinner. We're getting ready to take our walk. It's weird that we had an ice storm last night, and tonight it is 60 degrees. We have decided to take a break from the home improvements for the weekend, but we don't have anything else planned. We'll see what comes up. Have a great Saturday!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone. My “stalker” app tells me Marty is about 35 minutes out. Woo hoo! His day started before midnight last night out time. His flight out of London was delayed 1 hour and 45 minutes; sadly his connecting flight took off before he landed in Houston. They got him on a later flight in the 2nd to last row of the plane crammed in the middle seat. He said he was miserable and the lady in front of him crammed her seat right back on his knees. He finally got insistent enough she put her seat up. You gotta love people, huh?

Zoe, thinking of you.

Dee Jay, so KC drifts like Wyoming? A friend of mine moved to Pennsylvania and the first time it was snowing she had to call me. She said “I’ve never seen snow come straight down. It’s weird.” I wonder if they have enough snow plows there to do a decent job clearing everyone off? That is great you get to work 3 days so you can take your classes too. LOL at deciding how much food vs wine you can squeeze in to your calories. Ugh to packing. Good luck there!

Deegee, I’ll butt in on your aerator question. Yes it does make a difference. We have one and it does an amazing job. We have the Vinturi. If you get one; try the wine first without running it through the aerator then try some that you run through it. It really smooths out the taste. The bunnies left Marty’s truck alone but it almost didn’t start. He said he had one more turn before it was completely dead. You’d think DIA would have places to plug in diesels. Glad the ice storm went away so quickly. I hate ice as I am sure you do too. Are you looking for main floor living in your new house? Our walkout lot turned out to be perfect. The front of the house has a small angle up then the drop starts about 1/3 of the way in to the lot and our back yard is perfectly flat. Are there many lots available that might work for a new place? Once they get the greenway put in on the south side of our house I think it will be easier for me to walk around on it to go in our basement than go down the stairs.

Work was painfully slow today mostly because I was anxious for Marty to get home. The cleaning lady was a little bit late this morning but I didn’t mind since I was just watching TV till she got here. I came home at lunch to pay her and lock up. Marty’s 3 new killer rabbits arrived in the mail so I hid them around the house I also taped up the box and wrote on it “refused, return to sender”. They are kind of funny because they are a little smashed up and one of them can’t even stand up. They were all sealed in plastic bags so I am going to tell Marty they must have brain damage and that is why the can't stand up straight. Ooh garage door opening.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

I made pancakes for breakfast. I cut up some strawberries for both of us and made Marty some bacon. For lunch we had some rice with some cut up roast beef and steak and veggies. We are going to a party tonight.

Marty got his new iPad set up, got his dual monitors working finally and set up the old iPad for my parents.

Snow is coming back tonight or tomorrow. Boo.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy weekend kids!

Marcy, I'm glad Marty is back safe and sound! I'm sorry he had such a miserable flight home. Because I'm so short the person in front of me reclining doesn't generally matter to me, but if I am using my laptop on the tray table and the personin front tilts back I sometimes have to take my computer off the table and put it on my knees to get enough clearance for the screen to stay upright enough that I can easily read it.

Deegee, an aerater makes in a difference with GOOD wine, but not with "run of the mill wine." Just my own humble opinion, but remember an aerater is designed to speed the process of letting wine "breath," so wine that doesn't NEED to breath won't benefit much. A lot of the wine you buy today is ready to be drunk today, so unless you have an older vintage that would really benefit from a traditional decanting an aerater is just an extra step that doesn't get you anywhere.

I didn't sleep that well last night so I skipped the Porsche club breakfast this morning. My big accomplishment of the day involved packing FIVE BOXES of wine, champagne and martini glasses. And there are more boxes in my storage locker that never got UNpacked. I could really open my own bar...

Tomorrow I should go to my income tax class study group, but I'm going to try to just do the homework myself and same the drive. Plus, it takes forever to get the problems done in a group (although the answers may be better due to more input), so I am thinking I'll skip it.

I have been looking at apartments and condos online. I *know* the logical thing to do is rent right away, but there are a couple of estate sales in the Gold Coast that are so cheap I could write checks for them... hmmmmm...

 

[zoebartlett]

Dee*Jay, I'm soooo happy for you! (Oh, and don't worry about the timing of your post. To be honest, I hadn't even read it yet before posting mine, but if I had, I would have begun by congratulating you on your big news. That's awesome!) When do you start, in May once school ends, or earlier? Aspen should be fun!

Marcy, pancakes sound amazing.

Hi Deegee!

Sorry for the long novel below. I want to get my thoughts out but if your eyes glaze over, I won't be offended.

Thanks for the good thoughts, everyone. I really appreciate it. My parents had family visiting for a few days, so we went out to dinner with them last night and it was a good distraction. I'm trying to put my feelings aside and focus on what I need to do next week while on vacation (make a list of places I want to apply, photocopy my packet and get paperwork in order, request recommendation letters, etc.,). I figure if I keep busy and focus on actions and not feelings, it won't be so overwhelming and painful. All I've done since finding out on Thursday is THINK about it (and cry!) and it's driving me crazy. My husband has been awesome about everything and he keeps reassuring me we'll get through it. We went through this 4 years ago when he was laid off, and we made it through that. It's hard though. I like when everything is settled and in its place, so to speak, and I really don't like having everything be up in the air.

So many school districts are dealing with budget cuts and/or declining enrollment, and it's not the best time to be looking for another position. I'm hoping a little luck will come my way though. The good thing, if there is one, is that my husband works in a different area of our state than where we live. I'm planning on looking for positions in the area he works as well as the area we're in. If we had to move again (about an hour away), it wouldn't be the end of the world. We're renting where we are now, and our tenant is still living in the condo we own. I LOVE our rental condo but I'd give it up if we had to.

It's snowing buckets right now and it's beautiful. I think we're supposed to get 4-6", but because it's snowing so hard, I wouldn't be surprised if we get more. We're going to make chili later today. It's become our weekend staple. We may cancel our cleaning lady to save $. I'll feel bad if we do because we just hired her almost a month and a half ago. We might also cancel the majority of our trip to PA this April. I'm in a wedding, so we'll still go, but we might just spend the weekend there instead of the whole week and skip sightseeing in the city.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Zoe, you are so gracious--I felt just terrible about my post when I read yours. If there were some way to help you with your resume or other materials, I would gladly do it! I plan on starting March 25, but there is A LOT that needs to happen between now and then... I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

This morning I MADE myself go into the party room here and do my homework. It took about two hours, but I know it would have taken much longer if I didn't go into a location with nothing else to do. After that I packed another box of glasses (just the everday ones) and did my nails. I do the chipless manicure and I love it, but I'm totally OCD when it starts growing out at the cuticle. And I took Billy Ray for a drive because the poor baby hadn't been outside in two weeks. The roads were a little sloppy so I gave him a bath when I got back, totally soaking myself from the knees down in the process. I don't remember getting wet like that the last time I have him a bath, so I must have been really careless this time.

I have a project due in one of my classes a week from Wednesday, so I think I'll work on that... after a nap!!!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone! I cracked today and cranked the heat back up. It is far too cold and snowy outside to try and cut down on our gas and light bill.

Dee Jay, most of the seats on planes are just too darned close. I am claustrophobic and can’t stand it when the seat in front of me is in my face but poor Marty barely fits at 6’3”. Thanks for the info about wine and aerators. I know we only use ours on red wine but it does make an amazing difference when you first open the bottle of wine. It worked out well for you that you haven’t unpacked some boxes yet; less to pack. How fun to pay cash for a house. Are you still a realtor in Chicago? You could sell a house to yourself.

Zoe, that is a very good idea to focus on what you need to do and trying to keep feelings out of it. I know it is rough. Having things up in the air is very stressful. It sounds like you have a good plan of attack and several areas to look for a new position. How much snow did you get? We’ve only had about 4 inches but DIA is expecting 12 inches – too bad Marty has to be there by 8 am tomorrow. How was your chili?

I woke up way too early today. Marty got up about 4 am (he is still on European time) and then I couldn’t really go back to sleep. Marty met a friend for breakfast about 7 so I had cereal for breakfast. I made pasta for lunch and have potatoes and London broil baking right now for supper.

Take care. Stay safe and warm!
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Hello! Where'd the weekend go?

Zoe - Many years ago, Matt was laid off due to company downsizing a week or two before we had planned to leave on a trip to Virginia Beach. We decided to go anyway, and it ended up being a very good decision. I think the change of scenery really helped him get his mind off of things for a while, and he was in a good frame of mind when he started looking for another job upon our return. He has mentioned many times over the years that he is glad we went on the trip and had really nice together time. Enjoy your time in PA in April - it might help clear your mind! Chili has become a staple for us too in the winter.

Dee*Jay - I doubt any wine I have bought would be classified as "good" wine. I'm more of a craft beer connoisseur. I'm having my 2nd bottle of KY Bourbon Barrel Ale as we speak - brewed at a microbrewery in Louisville, KY. Wine - I have no idea what I'm doing! I have a friend who always seems to pick a wonderful bottle for us to share over dinner at a restaurant, but I'm clueless. I remember when you moved from Chicago, you had a zillion glasses to unpack. Does the Porsche club meet every Saturday for breakfast? They'll miss you when you move away! That would be awesome to be able to pay for a house with ca$h. If we sold our house first, we'd have a hefty downpayment on an upgrade. Since we're not having luck in our search, we don't plan to put the house up for sale until we actually get another house - which lessens our downpayment on a new house, but doesn't put us in any kind of a bind.

marcy - I'm so glad Marty is home safe & sound! The last time I flew on a commercial flight (My last 9 flights have been on the private plane - man, I'm spoiled), I sat beside a lady who was so large, she took up most of my seat. She spilled over the arm rest both on the top and bottom, and one very large leg took up the spot for my legs. I had to turn completely sideways with both of my legs in the aisle. The flight attendant gave me a sympathetic look, but the plane was full and I was stuck. Luckily it was a short 1 1/2 hour trip to Chicago. The seat was actually Matt's, but he's 6'3 and 230 lbs, and there was absolutely no way that was going to work out. I don't blame you one bit for turning up the heat! I'm sitting in front of the gas logs right now, and it's really not that cold outside. I'd love to find a one story house wih a basement or a 2-story with a first floor master. I have found a few, but the locations are horrible! There aren't many good lots for sale either. We may end up not moving after all. I'm bummed about that.

2 of my nieces (10 & 13) stayed with us for the weekend. We had a great time shopping. I bought them each 2 outfits, and all I got was a few lousy pairs of socks from the GoldToe store. Kids are expensive! And they eat a ton too. We took them back to KY today and had our family get-together at my parents' house. We had delicious soup, sandwiches, too many desserts, and played a rousing game of wiffleball... the first game of our 2013 season. I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier, but my 21 year old niece was in a car accident last week. Hit and run - the other person took off. She has whiplash and a sore back, but somehow managed to hit a few homeruns today and was on the winning team. I have a picture of her from last year in a cast up to her knee, playing wiffleball. My family is a bunch of nuts. Have a great Monday everyone!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, I first read your post to say that you were on your second bottle of KY bourbon… ! I was like, “Hats off to you girlfriend, I would have been passed out on the floor after half of the first one. That’s a capacity I aspire to some day!” HA! And I hope my post about the aerator didn’t come off with the wrong tone. When I read it again it sounded preachy, but I was just trying to save you from extra useless effort. My philosophy is, why put more time and energy between myself and a glass of wine than is absolutely necessary?!

Marcy, I am still a realtor, and I’m hopeful my business will start back up again. While I’ve been here I’ve had to refer out so many clients who contacted me, so I’m looking forward to keeping them for myself again! As I look at the units though, and then peruse the rental sites, I’m thinking I might rent for at least the first year back. I haven’t had this much freedom since I bought my first piece of property in 1993 (at the ripe old age of 22), and I’m really enjoying the feeling that I can pick up and go if I want to.

Zoe, I had a dream about your tulips last night. It had something to do with the groundhog seeing his shadow, but I was like, “Wait--Zoe has tulips in her avatar! It’s spring and that rodent is WRONG!” Hmmm… spring fever anyone?!?

Nothing exciting to report. I had big plans for the evening that involved packing some more and reading the annual report for a shipping company for an accounting class project I have due next Wednesday… but it didn’t really happen… Oops.

Rumor has it we’re in for more snow. Yuck.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay - 2 glasses of bourbon might put me under! The next time I go with Matt to Louisville, I'm taking the bourbon tour. I hear you get free samples. Your post about the aerator didn't come off wrong - I readily admit I'm afraid to spend much on a bottle of wine. My most expensive bottle to date was $30, but I'm getting braver and going up a little each time. Renting for a while is probably a good idea. It would give you lots of time to find something really awesome. A lot of Matt's chemical engineer coworkers rent and have no plans to buy. The freedom thing is big.

I went to the eye doctor today and had a significant change in my prescription, unfortunately not for the better. My left eye, which is already uncorrectable with contacts, got even worse during the year. Right now I have in a sample lens that puts me pretty close to where I need to be in that eye...stronger than last year's prescription, but still not as strong as I need it. I wear daily disposables, so this pair will be trash tonight and the world will be fuzzy again for another week when hopefully my new lenses will be in. Today I ate cottage cheese and a banana for breakfast, a cup of leftover potato soup for lunch, and then we stopped for dinner on the way home. I had turkey, potatoes, and green beans. Tasty. We walked 3 miles, and now I'm figuring out how to use up my 7 remaining points for the day. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Blizzard #2 in a week!!! Last week I made the treacherous drive in to work with all the snow and freezing rain, this week I made the not-so-treacherous move from the bedroom to the living room, and this is where I’ll stay! I’m thinking any trip to Chicago this weekend to look for apartments is not going to happen because all this weather will screw up travel for several days, so I’ll just have to go next week. Oh well, that’s more time to work on packing up front.

Deegee, I’m sorry to hear about the change in your prescription. When I was in Havana I did a rum tour. Yes, there were samples… I also toured a cigar factory, but there were no samples…

So my plan is to finish the project I have due next Wednesday and try to get a bunch more things in boxes. I stopped on the way home and got some more packing tape so there’s no excuse for not getting a lot done today!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay- I like the not so treacherous move from the bedroom to the living room! I wish I had listened to that voice inside of me that told me to get myself back in my warm bed this morning. I got stuck on the interstate for nearly 2 hours again on the way to work. I end up using a bunch of vacation time every year due to the lousy driving skills of others. You made a very wise decision to stay home. Plus I saw your buggy of supplies in the random comments thread. Good to see you have your priorities straight! Stay safe.

Hi Marcy! I hope all is well with you.

Today was a day, and that's about all I can say. I had my usual cottage cheese & blueberries for breakfast, a salad with grilled chicken for lunch, and I made spaghetti and salad for dinner. I have 12 points left, and that gets me 13 oz of wine which I will soon be consuming. I may dip into my weekly points and have more. It's pouring rain, so I can see a very early to bed night for me. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone from snowy, blowy, icy Wyoming. I am tired of this winter stuff. It’s like December around here.

Deegee, I am with Dee Jay – that is what I read as well - that you are on your second bottle of bourbon. LOL. Being crammed in a seat on a plane is no fun for anyone. Sorry to hear you are having difficulties finding a house or lot that you like. I know it takes a very long time to find what you want. The weekend with your nieces sounds very fun. How awful about your other niece getting in an accident and getting hurt. Stupid hit and run drivers. Rats that your glass prescription changed that much. I know I need to get in to my eye doctor too. My distance vision is kind of iffy at times. That is great you got in a nice long walk.

Dee Jay, I assume you are taking junior with you back to Chicago. Do you need one of us to come drive it for you? That is great you can start back up your realtor business. I think renting is a good idea so you have time to look for what you want. I heard where KC was expecting 18” of snow out of this latest storm. Good plan to stay at home and work on your project.

Work has been a bit crazy with weird issues and problems. Marty left for Atlanta and will be home Friday. We got a text alert and email this afternoon from Verizon today saying we are past our monthly limit on our plan so we needed to contact them or they'll shut off our phones. Marty’s roaming charges for being out of the country for 3 weeks added up quickly. That is kind of funny they have a credit limit on your monthly fees. They probably implemented that after people got bills for thousands of dollars because their kids sent too many text. Marty had already talked to them and we are fine but I logged in and paid them tonight anyway. His company gave him a phone when he started with them but he hated carrying 2 phones so he turned it back in and expenses his roaming charges.

I was going to stop at the mall on the way home tonight for a remount sale but it was far too icy to go anywhere. I have a marquis ruby ring that I no longer like the style and I have some ruby studs and I thought I might see about having them put in a new ring – probably a 5 stone ring with diamond accents on the outside. Oh well, I saved money by not going out to look. Usually those remount sales are way over priced.

Laters,
Marcy