Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Happy Christmas Eve Indeed!

Dee Jay, your visit with your friend sounds very busy and enjoyable. I have a friend who definitely has the FOMO. She almost can’t stand to spend a quiet night at home with her family. I think we need to add Tahoe to our list of places to visit. My employee wasn’t too bad today. She started her yammering about her personal life right off the bad and I waited about 3 minutes then interrupted and said okay we’ve got a lot to do today so get after your work and then see if you can help someone else get their stuff done. I then said I can’t promise we’ll get to go home early but we can hope. She actually got her work done in what I considered a timely manner (unusual for her) and did help out the new girl. We got to leave at 3 pm. Marty and I have our Christmas present hanging on the wall, the latest Snoopy print but we got each other stocking stuffers. I can see a cute little Snoopy on top of my stocking. We often open gifts on Christmas Eve but I think I’d rather wait until tomorrow. Your shopping method with Bill worked well for both of you; you picked your present and he got you exactly what you wanted. We usually pick our own big presents. Surprises are still fun though.

Deegee, how is your beautiful sapphire ring today?

I stopped by the cemetery on the way home today. Busy place. The reason I am mentioning it is because someone bought wreaths for every grave in the veteran section. How nice is that? The cemetery offered to place evergreen wreaths or blankets for a fee and I ordered one of the blankets. I went out on the weekend they said they would be placed and the veteran’s section that day maybe had a few of the blankets and about 20 wreaths. I told Marty someone had to buy them all because I can’t imagine every single grave had the same order. I thought that was very nice.

We had chips and salsa this afternoon now I won’t be hungry for supper but Marty is eyeballing the clock so I’d best get busy.

Have a great Christmas Eve and a wonderful Christmas day tomorrow!

Marcy / Curby

 

[deegee]

Merry Christmas!

Dee*Jay-I found a tacky sweater and then added Santa socks and dangly Santa earrings to enhance the whole tacky experience. We looked precious! The kids got a kick out of it, so it was worth it. Matt and I ended up eating at the spaghetti warehouse somewhere downtown Pittsburgh when we went to the concert. I hope you're having a great time with your friend. Wasn't it last year that there was a critter in the tree? I wore my new ring to our family Christmas thing today and got complements from everyone except the one sister who either ignores when I get something new, or makes some kind of dig about it. She pretended to ignore it, but I saw her checking it out. Matt had made up his mind if she had been rude (as usual), he was going to say something to her. I don't know why she feels the need, but she usually gets at least one insult in per visit. She has always been this way so I ignore it, but it makes Matt mad.

Marcy-that was super nice for someone to buy wreaths for the graves in the veterans section. Very touching. That's a good idea for me to ask Vera to pass my email along to you. I'll have to remember that! I'm glad you got to leave a little early today! Marty's 5 second commute is shorter than Matt's 5 minute commute, and I'm jealous of both of them. Mine is only 20 minutes, which is great compared to what it used to be. I have permission to work from home as necessary, and you better believe on icy days I'll be taking advantage of it.

I've decided I need to find our real camera to try to take a few pics of my new ring. The blue is so...ahhhh! Matt has zero interest in jewelry. The most I've ever gotten from him for any jewelry purchase is "yeah, looks nice." Most of what I have now is ACA stuff, so it is nice! Anyway, he grabbed my hand at the restaurant last night and said (with actual excitement) that the stones were an amazing, sparkly royal blue. I wish I could get a good picture for you. We're at my parents' house right now. We do our family gift exchange on Christmas Eve and tomorrow we'll have a big dinner. I took a big dose of NyQuil so I'm off to dreamland. Have a wonderful Christmas Day!

 

[marcy]

Merry Christmas! I hope Santa was good to you.

Deegee, I am glad the tacky sweaters turned out to be fun. I a glad your pretty ring was a hit at the family Christmas. Too funny you have a sister that always has to get in a nasty dig; she and my “bitter” sister (as I call her) would get along great. They just can’t help themselves or so it seems. What size (mm) are your sapphires? The color of your sapphires reminds me of my first sapphire ring. It was only a 4 x 6mm oval, had the royal blue color and that gemstone just glowed. I kind of regret trading it for a larger gemstone. That is pretty cool that Matt is excited about your new ring too. I just sent Vera an email telling her that she can give you my email too. My commute is about 20 minutes as well but during storms and blizzards it seems much longer. Matt and Marty have it made. We can work from home too but my boss sure frowns on it.

We had homemade biscuits for breakfast then ran to the post office and Walgreens. I had a card I wanted to get mailed and our milk expired on December 20 so I didn’t want to use it anymore.

Our snowstorm started before we got up so it was already icy when we were out this morning. They are expecting 10” by Saturday. I am glad we can stay home for a few days.

I’ve got baked potatoes in the oven and we’ll have steaks with that. Tomorrow I am making homemade beef noodle soup.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy day after kids!

Curby, love the card! Pretty soon you're going to have to put an addition on the house to accommodate the growing number of furry creatures in your household!

Deegee, your sister sounds... *special*! Every family has a couple of characters in it. If I started describing mine your sister would sound downright lovely!

Yesterday we went to my friend's neighbors for breakfast and then she and I opened gifts, had a nap, and took the dog for a long walk. Not much really, but I was exhausted by the time I feel into bed. Speaking of the dog, any romantic harborings I may have had about the idea of a puppy are long gone. This dog is super sweet, but so undisciplined that it makes me crazy to be around him. I remind myself over and over that he is not my dog, but I really just want to launch into some obedience training! Plus the noise factor -- he barks at everything, including his own reflection in the windows, and has these toys that make the most god awful squeaks ever, especially after he comes in from an early morning walk full of energy and wanting to play. I like Otis but man, what a lot of racket!

Today I'm going to clean up a bit because there are some more guests coming for a few days and I may walk into Truckee to do a little post-xmas shopping, but the weather is pretty cold today so I may just stay in and work on my continuing education.

 

[marcy]

Happy Snowy Friday!

Deegee, I definitely have to use the couch now to get all the teddies, Snoopys and killer rabbits in one place. Too funny all 3 of us have one of “those” type of sisters. Good thing we turned out so well. So Otis has cured you of the desire to get a puppy, huh? They are a lot of work for sure. Did you end up going shopping today or stay in where it’s warm? I’ve been browsing online hoping to find a ludicrous deal on my Christmas china pattern but nothing I’m willing to spend. I don’t know why pasta bowls or cereal bowls are so darned expensive. If I order enough bowls at the best price I can find it’s over $400. Maybe I’ll go with paper plates next year. Doing dishes is so MUCH quicker that way.

I woke up to a coughing attack at 4:30. Ugh. I’ve been coughing off and on ever since. I made homemade soup for lunch so hopefully that will help.

Marty actually ventured out to a friend’s house to help him work on his car this afternoon. I thought of giving him our shopping list but didn’t. I’ll be stir crazy by tomorrow so we can go out then.

We ended up with 12.5 inches of snow so far. We can get more snow today and again on Monday and Tuesday. I have been telling people mother nature was going to get even with us for a mild and dry November / December.

Have a great weekend.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-cute card! Your furry family is growing. I like the little guy in blue! I was lazy when I decided to keep my ring. I called the store owner instead of going into town, and he's going to mail the paperwork to me. All I know is there are 4 natural sapphires totaling 2.2 ct and .45 ctw of full cut diamonds. I'm absolutely loving the royal blue. Love it. So, do you clean sapphires the same way as everything else? Can I use the jewel jet on it? If I were you, I'd be hibernating with all that s* word outside. That is funny we all have one of those sisters. My sister has always made snarky remarks to me for as long as I can remember, but I don't know why. Must be bitter about something, like your sister!

Dee*Jay-I can't even begin to describe my sister. She's about as uptight as you can get! Her 12-yr old daughter is staying with me right now, and I asked her today if she had seen the pretty ring uncle Matt bought for me. She said her mommy says I probably bought it for myself. See, I knew my sister noticed it even though she didn't say a word to me about it! Matt told me to pick something out since he's clueless when it comes to jewelry and he'd rather I pick it out and love it rather than him picking something out and me feeling obligated to keep it. She always has to get that dig in though. I don't blame you about a puppy. If ever I get another dog, it will already be house trained for sure. Lily is such a good dog, and she seldom barks at anything. She's a border collie mix, so she's a smarty pants.

My niece is staying with me for a few days. At her request, we ate lunch at Cracker Barrel and went to see the new Night At The Museum movie today. Very cute! We ordered pizza for dinner, and played x-box games and watched Christmas movies all evening. Is 3:35 am, so I'm off to bed. Have a great Saturday!

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

Deegee, I need to go to Kays in a few weeks and see if they have any of the blue bears left. I think they are pretty cute. I could hide them in Marty’s windows. Surprise! There is nothing like a nice royal blue sapphire. I guessed well on size too; your sapphires are about 5mm each. It’s like I’ve bought a bunch of jewelry or something. That gives me a better idea of how big your ring would look in person. It is so pretty. Yes, you can clean sapphires like diamonds. Are the diamonds prong set, pave or bead set? If they are prong mounted you could clean them in the jewel jet but if they are pave or bead set I wouldn’t. You could probably blast the underside of the sapphires but I’d worry about blasting the diamonds from the top. Is your snarky sister the middle child? Mine is. I swear she harbors grudges from infancy or so it seems. She is always a bit holier than though and sure worries how someone spends his or her money. That is funny your niece filled you in on what her mom said about your ring. Marty and I definitely pick out our own presents for the same reason, we may was well get exactly what we want. Have fun with your niece this weekend.

I decided to sleep in one of our spare bedrooms last night. Lucky for Marty I was up about once an hour. I was freezing at first so I got out an electric blanket and hooked it all up but felt like I had a ton of covers on top of me so didn’t sleep well (between coughing attacks). Then about 3 I was too warm so I kicked the electric blanket to the side. Marty got up about 7 so I ventured over to our bed; it is much more comfortable. Marty did our grocery shopping. What a nice guy.

It’s almost noon I think I’ll see if I can handle a shower.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Deegee, your sister sounds like a real peach! And of course she noticed your new stunner, but what a snarky think to say to your niece! You weren't lazy by getting the guy at the store to send you the paperwork -- you were *efficient*!

Curby, I don't think I would have had the gumption to put together the electric blanket and get it all up and running in the middle of the night. Once I'm in bed I'll suffer through A LOT before I'll get out and make anything happen!

So I've spent the past few days scouring ebay for a new rug for under my bed and a runner for the hallway. I found a rug that I LOVE but it's 13' and I only have 12'5" to work with. Grrr... I am leary of buying a rug off the internet but if the price was right and if there was a return policy I would seriously consider it. There's a place called Ginger Blossom just south of the Wisconsin border (so about an hour away) that the CB and I stumbled upon when we were in Lake Geneva a few months ago. They give a 20% discount to interior designers and I just emailed them and said I was a real estate agent who helps a lot of her clients with the design of their new space (which is 100% true -- you wouldn't believe how many rugs, sofas, curtains, etc., I've helped people buy over the years) and asked if I could get the discount even though I'm not an "official" designer. They said sure, so I'm going to go up there in the next few weeks and see what they've got. Here's a link to their rug page snapshot: http://gingerblossom.com/rugs.html.. Last time I was up there I fell in love with a rug that was about $3600 so with the 20% off it's only little more than what I like the best on ebay, and I would of course rather buy something I can see in person. Not sure of the dimensions on that specific rug though, or even if they still have it, so I'll just have to see what I find when we go. I love me a good rug!!!

My friends are off skiing right now. I SHOULD be doing my continuing education... but here I am!

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

Dee Jay, I was so cold when I got in bed last night I thought the electric blanket sounded like a good idea. Sadly I didn’t like the bulky blanket on top of me. That is fabulous you can get 20% off at Ginger Blossom. I agree it’s better to see rugs in person. What classes are you doing for continuing education? I can’t say I am surprised you are taking classes since you are a busy lady.

Hi Deegee!

I have been super lazy today. I emptied the dishwasher, loaded it again and put away the electric blanket. That’s about it.

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I have an older sister who seems to neither care nor worry about anything. I'm the middle, and of course I think I'm the most well adjusted, and my snarky sister is the baby. She worries and frets about everything and is so tightly wound I don't think she has a clue about how to relax. Sorry you have one of those sisters too! You are a good guesser when it comes to jewelry. I'll be in the car for a couple of hours tomorrow, so maybe I can get some decent shots of my ring. It seems like things sparkle great in the car. Your day today sounds divine. I hate to hear you have the hacking cough. It seems like mine dies down during the day but comes on strong at night. I have my prescription Tessalon Perles that I have been saving for nighttime, and I usually take a big dose of NyQuil too. That usually gets me a good 4 hours of sleep. Did you try the Vicks on the feet thing? I hope you feel better.

Dee*Jay-that's so awesome you help your clients with decor (and you can get that discount too). Our realtor gave us lots of good recommendations for local things, like where to have window treatments made, who to call for landscaping and grass mowing, and a list of numbers to call to set up utilities. I bet she could have helped me with decor. She lives pretty close and the note in her Christmas card did say "let's do dinner". Hee-hee...I should take her up on that and then drag her back here for advice! Good luck with rug shopping. Do you need your continuing education credits for the end of the calendar year? Matt is always scrambling near the end of the fiscal year to get his together for his PE license.

We met my sister and her husband for dinner at Chilis (and to return their daughter) in Huntington, which is halfway between our house and theirs. On the way back we stopped at the Lexus and BMW dealerships. Dee*Jay-I'm adding the RX 450 to my list of possibilities. That's similar to yours, right? I looked at the BMW X3 and X5. Matt is discouraging me from BMW because of the reliability thing. It would be my luck to insist on one and the one I got ended up being a lemon! I need to do research on the Lexus and the Audi Q5. Good grief, it takes me forever to buy stuff (which makes it even more surprising to me that I bought this ring without researching the fun out of it). Food today-orange juice for breakfast and about 1/3 of a margarita chicken bowl at Chilis. I snacked on popcorn when I got home. I think we're heading to Cincinnati tomorrow for that dreaded visit with my MIL and FIL. Wish me luck. Have a great Sunday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, I know you're right about seeing the rugs in person but I have an itch to do some internet shopping and right now that's the only thing catching my eye. Maybe I should look for some new boots instead because the "waterproof" ones I brought with me are definitely NOT waterproof, as I discovered on a long and slushy walk the other day. Boots will be easier to return than giant rugs if need be!

Deegee, I love my Lexus! I've got the RX330. It will be eleven years old in a few days and I've never had ONE BIT of trouble from it. Seriously, I can't even find a good reason to trade it in for a Porsche SUV, and you know how much I would love to do that! Plus, being old and a little dinged up, I have no qualms about parking it anywhere or throwing a big piece of plywood in from Home Depot, or anything like that. Love it!

Today I MUST MUST MUST do some more CE! My friend is taking her puppy for a big walk in the snow and I was dying to go with her but there's not putting this off any more. I just completed a two hour module in 35 minutes, but it was on a topic that I'm very familiar with (Bank Agency Regulation) so that wasn't too bad, but I am not as hopeful about being that speedy on the topics I'm not as well versed in. OK, time to brew up another cup of coffee and get cracking!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, I know you're right about seeing the rugs in person but I have an itch to do some internet shopping and right now that's the only thing catching my eye. Maybe I should look for some new boots instead because the "waterproof" ones I brought with me are definitely NOT waterproof, as I discovered on a long and slushy walk the other day. Boots will be easier to return than giant rugs if need be!

Deegee, I love my Lexus! I've got the RX330. It will be eleven years old in a few days and I've never had ONE BIT of trouble from it. Seriously, I can't even find a good reason to trade it in for a Porsche SUV, and you know how much I would love to do that! Plus, being old and a little dinged up, I have no qualms about parking it anywhere or throwing a big piece of plywood in from Home Depot, or anything like that. Love it!

Today I MUST MUST MUST do some more CE! My friend is taking her puppy for a big walk in the snow and I was dying to go with her but there's not putting this off any more. I just completed a two hour module in 35 minutes, but it was on a topic that I'm very familiar with (Bank Agency Regulation) so that wasn't too bad, but I am not as hopeful about being that speedy on the topics I'm not as well versed in. OK, time to brew up another cup of coffee and get cracking!

 

[deegee]

Howdy all! We ended up not heading to Cincinnati today, so I got a brief reprieve! The weather is nasty today and Matt said he didn't feel like driving in it. Plus he's really upset with his mom right now, and I don't think he's in a huge hurry to visit. So far today I have had a glass of orange juice and a slice of ham. I didn't really have the whole slice because I had 3 animals up in my face drooling, so I gave each of them a piece. They sure come running when they smell ham.

Dee*Jay-the RX wasn't on my list Initially because there are just so many of them on the road around here. It looks like the size I want, and I know it is a very good, reliable car. Our Porsche dealer is no more! It used to be in with the Audi dealership, but it's gone now. I wanted to look at the new SUV. Good luck finding boots. I had a wonderful pair of Merrell waterproof boots that have always kept my tootsies nice and dry, but they met with an unfortunate end this year as the seam on top split, making them no longer waterproof. I replaced them with a pair of Timberland boots (which my sister promptly insulted), but I stupidly forgot to look for waterproof. Oh well, they're comfy! Good luck finishing up your CE's. Fun!

Have a great evening!

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday Evening.

Dee Jay, IMO I would order both the boots and rugs. I am always willing to help you spend money. I’m a giver like that! It sounds like your Lexus has been a trooper for you; good cars are hard to part with. You are being very diligent about doing your CE. I keep thinking of taking an online course but just haven’t done it yet. I think they offer PS Elements online that would be fun for me.

Deegee, that is a good thing you are the well adjusted one of your sisters. That would be me as well. Bitter sister sounds like your snarky one and my other sister is way over-sensitive and avoids reality/making hard decisions. I have not tried the Vicks thing on the bottom of my feet all I can picture is it causing me to skid across the shower floor in the morning and I crack my head open on the tile. I am klutzy you know. That’s great the weather gave you and Matt a viable opt out of driving to Cincinnati. I was rooting for the Bengals tonight for Matt. Too cute the kids come running when you are eating ham. You and Dee Jay made me realize I need some new winter boots.

I’ve self diagnosed what’s wrong with me. It’s obviously Tourette’s. Everytime I cough a stream of curse words come flowing out of my mouth.

Last night I took one of the 2 Nyquil tablets (Marty got me the severe cold and flu and I usually take cold) so I was leery of a full dose of a pill I’ve never tried before. It didn’t help me one bit. I drove poor Marty out of the room by midnight with my second round of coughing. I did get about 4 hours of solid sleep at one point though. Tonight I am trying some nighttime cough syrup and will sleep in one of the spare bedrooms. If we weren’t so darn busy at work this week I’d stay home tomorrow but I am kind of getting cabin fever. I think I’ll have Marty drive me to work this week. We are expecting more snow and very cold temps. From what I understand the roads are really icy from this past storm.

I made homemade scalloped potatoes and mini meatloaves today. We had late lunch early supper so only had 2 meals today. I’m kind of hungry now but it’s almost 10 so I think I’ll go to bed early.

Have a great day tomorrow.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Deegee, I see the Bengals made the wild card round. Sweet. Matt is probably excited!

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday!

I feel better tonight and haven’t been coughing as much as last night. I have a stupid toothache but since my sinuses are giving me grief with this crud I think that is why that tooth hurts. If not I’ll be at the doctor and dentist too.

Marty was working when I was ready to leave for work this morning so I sent him a text and asked if he was still going to drive me to work and he responded “you seriously aren’t going to work are you?” Since it was well below zero today I didn’t want to come out to a cold car and wait for it to warm up on the way home. Tomorrow we are going to have wind chills to about 40 below so he’ll take me to work again. Wednesday we are going to be back near 20; it will be like a heat wave!

We had mini cheese raviolis for supper with some crusty dinner rolls. Marty bought a new Playstation game so he’s man caving it tonight. He keeps saying to stay away from him; he doesn’t want my crud.

What are your plans for NYE? We are planning our menu for NYE. We are doing potluck with some friends and will play some card games. I am doing BBQ ribs in the crock pot, Marty made a spicy cheese ball and will make some Ethiopian dish he likes (it’s bread you dip in some sauce but not sure), fresh pineapple and whatever everyone else brings. It should be fun.

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I'm glad you're feeling better, but you aren't allowed to have a toothache! I hope the pain goes away as your sinuses get better. Matt is happy the Bengals squeaked in, but he's learned from all the previous heartaches he's been through not to get his hopes up. The WV Mointaineers lost their bowl game today and he was pretty bummed about that. I don't think I could get used to your weather. It's 27 and windy right now, and we act like we're in the arctic! Your NYE dinner sounds tasty. I have been adventurous (for me) lately trying the Indian food my coworkers have been making. I'm curious about the Ethiopian dish. Matt and I have been traveling and visiting so much, we're looking forward to a quiet evening at home on NYE. Stay warm and get well

We're in Cincinnati now and just left Matt's parents house and checked into the hotel. (We don't stay with them for sanity reasons) My MIL told me at dinner that the sapphires in my ring weren't real because sapphires weren't bright blue. Then she said "this is what a real sapphire looks like" and proceeded to shove her ring with nearly black sapphire slivers and dull grey diamonds in my face. I said "Sapphires come in many beautiful colors" and changed the subject. (She once told me my ACA diamond ering couldn't be real because diamonds weren't that sparkly.) The longer you're around her, you find yourself snapping back at her and I accomplished a monumental feat his evening by not letting anything she said bother me. We're going to visit Matt's brother tomorrow (the one with 5 boys), and I hope we're there all day with no visit to his parents. I just don't know how long I can be nice around her. I had a smile plastered on my face all day and my cheeks are starting to hurt! Have a great day tomorrow!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I hope you're feeling better! Your potluck NYE sounds a little like the one we have planned. There's a progressive party in the neighborhood which is supposed to end up here at my friend's house for dessert and to ring in the new year.

Deegee,, WTF is wrong with your MIL? You're a nicer person than I am, for sure! And I think it's wise of you to stay in a hotel. Some people INSIST on staying with family (or vice versa, the family INSISTS on they staying) and it can turn out so wrong...

I've finished all of my continuing education with the exception of the seven case studies that just will not work on my computer. Somewhere in the magic land of technology my computer and the software used for the cases do not like each other and, well, I'm just kind of over it so I decided I'll deal with it next week. The technology help lady about had a heart attack when I said, OK, thanks, I'm just going to go have a glass of wine now and I'll think about this again in a few days. She was like - NO! It HAS to be done by the end of the year! Um... guess what... I've decided it DOESN'T.

Now the big decision of the day: Should I have lunch first and then take a nap, or take a nap and then have lunch?

 

[marcy]

Happy NYE Eve! Right now it says we have a wind chill of -36.

Deegee, Matt and I have suffered through the same excitement and pain for our teams. I believe we both remain loyal fans in spite of those disappointments. I’ll be excited to see 27 degrees again. I’ll break out my suntan lotion. Ha Ha. Marty is making Tibs; it is beef and spices and you scoop it up with bread; he is using naan as his bread because he couldn’t find Ethiopian flour. He is very excited. I hope you and Matt have a nice, quiet NYE. Your MIL sounds like the bitter sister of her siblings. I can understand why you would snap at her sometimes. I think I’d have to say something like this to her sapphire comment; no that is what crappy sapphires look like. My MIL told me when I bought my first AGS0 diamond (it was a half carat) “we couldn’t afford anything nice until we’d been married 25 years so maybe you’ll get something nice then.” Good call staying at a hotel instead of with the in-laws. I am impressed you and Matt hold up so well when you spend time with them. I can see Marty and I catching a smirk in one another’s face and just loosing it. You just want to say, “do you hear yourself?”

Dee Jay, the progressive dinner party sounds fun too. It’s too cold to migrate houses here so I’m glad we are hosting the party. I can stay warm. Are you taking anything for dinner? Is there going to be wine too? That’s great you finished most of your CE and yes those few case studies will be waiting for you next year when you get home. The suspense is killing me; did you eat lunch first or nap? Did Otis help? You are living right, girl!

Marty made us pizza for supper. It’s going to be rough when my cook leaves on Monday.

I think I am doing better today. The cough syrup worked great last night; I slept all night. Sadly it kind of gave me a stomachache but I felt better after I had soup and crackers for lunch. My teeth are better too. I wasn’t wheezing last night lying down so that’s a big improvement. Marty says it’s the evil coming out of me.

I couldn’t bring myself to wake Marty up this morning. He never gets to sleep in. So I start kind of making noise, opening doors, saying “honey it’s time to take me to work” but he slept right through it all so I bundled up and drove myself to work. He texted me when he woke up and said I was a putz for not waking him up. I am already under strict instructions to get him up tomorrow when I’m out of the shower. I was a good kid and covered my mouth with a scarf so I wouldn’t breathe in the cold air.

I was sure mad at the guy that followed me in to our neighborhood tonight. Our community has those decorative dividers between lanes, which look pretty but are very impractical where it snows and is windy enough to drift. I had to turn at an angle, the corner was drifted and the street was icy plus it’s uphill. He was in a big pickup and right on my butt; lucky for him the Audi does fine on snow and ice but it still ticked me off. If my car had slid or got stuck he would have hit me for sure.

Have a great day tomorrow!
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy new years eve kids!

Curby, there will be food and wine galore at this party! The crowning glory is chocolate martinis for dessert (or as one of the many dessert options, to be more accurate!) and we've been working on perfecting the recipe for a few nights in a row now. I'm sure there is a box for that on the Betty Ford application...

Downfall (please check the largest contributing factor):
- Wine
- Beer
- Liquor
- Chocolate martinis

!!!

My job today is to clean up the house a bit, including washing the dozens of new wine and champagne glasses bought from Ikea for this event. I've got a load in the dishwasher now and I think I can probably get them all done with two more loads. Better than hand washing!

So... the rug I've been washing on Ebay that was origially $2,200 is down 15% to $1,870. Argh -- they're killing me!!! I want to go up to Ginger Blossom on Sunday to see if there's anything there I like, but this is SUCH a good price... What to do?!?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy new year kids!!!

Curby, you are a bad bad influence! I decided that I am going to drive up to Ginger Blossom on Sunday and if something doesn't catch my eye I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to order the rug we've been emailing about (the one that actually fits in the space, not the other one -- ha!). Enablers R Us...!

Deegee, hope you and Matt had a marvelous time ringing in the new year!

Last night was great! We had appetizers are one house, salad at another, main course at another, and then came back to my friend's for dessert. I am going to do some cleaning up here today (mostly stuff like putting the clean wine glasses back in the boxes in the garage, that sort of thing) and then I need to do laundry and pack because I'm going home tomorrow morning. Whew -- I feel like I've been on vacation forever!

Merry 2015 to us all!!!!!!!!!!

 

[marcy]

Happy New Year!

Dee Jay, I would run all those glasses through the dishwasher too. I do almost anything to avoid doing dishes. I use a lot of non-stick foil so I don’t have to wash pans. I am still laughing about the Betty Ford app. You are too funny. I am glad the progressive dinner went so well last night. I’ll be anxious to hear what you find at Ginger Blossom. We are proud to be enablers. It’s only money! I am glad you had a wonderful time on your vacation but I bet you are anxious to get home.

Deegee, I hope you and Matt had a nice NYE.

Our potluck and card games party was fun last night. We played Cards Against Humanity for hours. That game is so wrong. Laughing makes me cough so I was coughing a lot during that game. Then we played a few round of cribbage. Most people were here until about 12:45 then I loaded one batch of dishes in the dishwasher and rinsed everything else before going to bed. I hate getting up and having some dirty, smelly dishes in the kitchen. I got to bed by 2 but couldn’t sleep.

I had to run in to work for about an hour today because my work laptop says my password is invalid. I can get to everywhere on the work network except to where I actually do the work. I could have paged our conditional access department and had them reset it but I hated to do that on a holiday.

I got our astronomy newsletter for January posted and worked on cleaning the house today. My crud is still whining at me so I plan on being lazy the rest of the day. Next week is going to stink working 5 entire days.

We were going to run to Denver tomorrow and pick up Marty’s watch (that new one he bought a few months ago that had a screw come out of his band) but that jeweler is closed until Jan. 5.

I hope we have a wonderful 2015!

Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Friday!

Dee Jay, did you make it home safely?

Deegee, have you recovered from your too close encounters with the in-laws?

We ran errands today and both of us bought boots. Of course I had to pick up some new socks, gloves and hat to go with my giant tub of other hats, gloves and socks.

I got the laundry done and Marty is in the final stages right now of taking down the tree. No more Christmas decorations. I did however get a new Snoopy decoration in the mail that is Christmas related but it's going on the mantel. It is Snoopy riding a snow machine and pulling a Christmas tree.

I started another Lee Child book (Jack Reacher series) so it's been keeping me busy today.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-your progressive party sounds like lots of fun, and your friend's house got to serve the best course! And yes, order that rug if you don't find one at the other place. I like vicariously through you for decorating, you know. Matt and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary this month, and in all of those years we've never once stayed with his parents. His mom always acts hurt, and he always tells her we need our privacy-which isn't exactly true, but it shuts her up and probably makes her wonder what we're doing that we need that privacy. Hee-hee! I hope today finds you home and resting up from your travels!

Marcy-glad to hear your potluck went well and everyone had a good time! Sorry to hear you're still coughing too. I hope you're still feeling better. Your response to my MIl's comment was almost identical to my SIL's when I told her. Matt's parents have been acting particularly ugly lately and Matt has been really bothered it, so I really tried not to snap even though she gave me lots of opportunities. GRRR. He is such a good guy and his parents are so mean. So wrong! Sounds like your MIL has done the same to you. I don't get people. Glad you bought all the necessities for winter. Good grief, sounds like you need them already! Our "Polar Vortex" hits this weekend. Boo.

Matt and I put up decorations gradually over a two-week period, and then decided to take them all down today. I'm exhausted! I swear we worked all day and my house is so sad and undecorated now. I have to buy house stuff, but I suck at picking house stuff out! I have kind of messed myself up from coughing and my dr thinks I might have a hiatal hernia. I have never in my life had stomach problems except for the occasional bug, so this is really throwing me for a loop! I'm trying to get it under control with diet, but there doesn't seem to be much to eat. Any advice? This is not how I want to lose weight! I'm still absolutely loving my sapphire ring and am determined to get a few good pics. I can't find the real camera. D'oh! (marcy-it's all prong set so I can blast it with the jewel jet. Yay!) Have a great Saturday!!

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday!

Dee Jay, did you go to Ginger Blossom?

Deegee, let your MIL’s imagination run wild about your “privacy”. That is actually pretty funny. I know you’ve told us before how mean Matt’s parents are to him; I am glad he rose above it and turned out to be such a nice guy. He saw not “not to act” by watching them. Watch out for the cold; it’s been pretty mean to me. Oh no you might have a hiatal hernia; I have no knowledge or advice about that. Hernia’s are pretty easy to repair. I’ll be waiting for those pictures of your beautiful sapphires. I am glad the diamonds are prong mounted so you can jewel jet them.

We slept in a little later than normal today. We went out to pick up glasses for Marty that came in; get some light bulbs and pick up some groceries. It’s snowy again today with wind chill near zero. The forecast calls for above freezing temperatures most of next week. I won’t know how to behave!

Well I’d best go get supper going. Marty is nibbling on stuff in the pantry.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-the temp today got near 70 and it's supposed to be the same tomorrow, and then 20 on Monday. Does your weather get to you? My perfect temp is 70-75. Matt, on the other hand, prefers 50-55. That's too darn cold for me! You have food allergies, right? Do you pretty much know what to stay away from? My problem right now is constant acid reflux and my esophagus just might be on fire (sorry for TMI), and the list of what I can have is way shorter than what I can't have! Even though I haven't been eating much, I found out I have been eating and drinking exactly what I shouldn't have been so now that I have a list and some direction, I'm hoping to get this under control ASAP. The moral of the story is get good prescription cough medicine to help avoid a hernia! Who knew? My ring was begging to have its picture taken tonight at Kohls, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I envisioned someone watching security cameras uploading videos to YouTube of me trying to take pics of my ring! Not everybody understands the jewelry picture thing. What kind of boots did you buy? I love my new black boots, but I think I'm going to need to buy another pair that's waterproof.

Today was a big ole day of doing nothing. Matt watchd football all day and I read. And napped. I intended to do laundry, but the couch wouldn't let me up! I didn't have breakfast, for lunch I had apple juice and crackers, and I went wild for dinner with a piece of grilled chicken, broccoli, and salad. I only had to take medicine once, so that's already an improvement. We're heading to KY tomorrow for my niece's 23rd birthday dinner and then I guess it's back to work on Monday. Wow, vacation went fast! Have a great Sunday!!

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday!

Deegee, tell Matt I am sorry his team lost today. I would say 70 to 75 is my perfect temperature range too. I don’t like going out in bad weather but the wind, snow and ice don’t bother me unless I am out in it. It is sunny here more days than not so that is a plus. Yes, I have a lot of food allergies and my list of what I eat is shorter than what I can’t eat. Your doctor thinks you gave yourself a hiatal hernia from coughing? Marty had a lot of trouble with acid reflux; I know fried, dry or tomato things bothered him. I had a hernia but it was along where I had an incision from surgery. I hope you feel better soon. Too funny the lighting in Kohl’s showed the colors of your sapphires well but you didn’t want to take pictures in there. I am sure people would wonder what you were doing but it gives them something to talk about, right? I think the brand of boot I got was Itsaca. They were at Sportman’s Warehouse. How was the birthday celebration for your niece? I can’t say I’m thrilled to return to work tomorrow either. Ugh!

I took both Nyquil tablets last night and slept until almost 8. I made breakfast and then read most of the day. Marty met a friend for a drink about 2 so I made spaghetti and meatballs while he was gone and we ate about 4:30 when he got home.

Have a great week!

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-After the 2nd quarter of the game, Matt and the kids went outside to play basketball because watching the football game was too frustrating. My niece's birthday celebration went well. I can't believe she is 23! I was there when she was born, and it sure doesn't seem like it was that long ago. I was really sick the week after thanksgiving, and I have had some bad coughing fits. When I cough hard, I gag, then I throw up. (Again, sorry for tmi) I have done that so much in the past 3 weeks, the dr thinks all that pressure on my stomach muscles may have caused a hiatal hernia, which is causing the acid reflux problem. I feel like I should have rock hard abs by now, but that hasn't happened! I have good medicine to control the lingering cough and I am being careful with food. Yep, nothing spicy, greasy, oily, carbonated, citrus, tomato based, caffeinated...basically a bland food diet. Does marty still have problems? I bet he would have a hard time finding bland foods with all the traveling he does. Our temp fell 30 degrees today from noon to 6pm, and by morning it will be nice and icy outside. Got to love winter. I hope your weather is good for your drive in to work. Glad to hear your car does pretty well in lousy weather!

Food today-a green smoothie (as yummy as it sounds) for breakfast, a (shouldn't have had) small piece of pizza at the bday party for lunch, a salad with grilled chicken on top for dinner and a bowl of rainbow sherbet for dessert. I'm hurting some from the pizza, but not too bad. We were about to be taken over by the dirty clothes beast living in the closet, so something had to give and I've been working on laundry all evening. Matt's pile of un-ironed shirts were about to get him, so he took an armload to his man room and has been ironing for hours. I'm determined to get to bed early. Have a great Monday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy first Monday of the new year kids!

Curby, the CB’s daughter gave me Cards Against Humanity for x-mas. I can’t wait to play! We did go to Ginger Blossom yesterday… in a blizzard… The poor CB! “Hey honey, I have a GREAT idea! I know it’s snowing like a mo fo out there, but how ‘bout if you drive me to this store on the Wisconsin border so I can do some totally unnecessary shopping!” Ha ha! There was one rug there that I love (which I also loved the first time I saw it back in October) but is over four grand, even though they give me a pretty substantial designer discount, and I just can’t justify it. I’m still mulling over the one on ebay but it’s just such a crap shoot ordering a rug from the internet… Hmmm… However I DID solve (at least temporarily) my art dilemma for the dining room wall. I got three large silk scarves (almost 3 feet wide and about 9 feet long) and I’m going to put those up. I put them up temporarily last night with painter’s tape just to see what they would look like before I commit and start putting holes in the wall and I think they’ll be OK.

Deegee, isn’t it amazing how time flies?!? I saw some kids over the holiday that I last saw in Bali four years ago and I swear they are completely different! If I had run into them on the street I never in a million years would have known them! And it’s awesome that you are close to your nieces! LOL on wanting to take pictures of your ring at Kohl’s… I totally would have done it! Stores have THE BEST lighting for that sort of thing! I love wearing my diamonds to Home Depot – oh, don’t mind me while I stand here in the middle of the plumbing fixtures isle and admire my jewelry! And it’s great to let your MIL wonder what’s going on that you and Matt need your privacy. You should “accidentally” let a pair of fur covered handcuffs fall out of your purse or something next time you visit.

Today I am back and work and really looking forward to it (as crazy as that sounds). I realize how lucky I am to have a job I enjoy and colleagues (including my great boss) that I love working with. There were a bunch of people over the holidays that I heard complaining about their work or their colleagues and I just don’t know how they do it, being so unhappy day after day… ack.

And this week I HAVE to clean up my house. The plan was to get the big closet behind the book cases cleaned out when I came home over the weekend, but somehow that just didn’t happen! I should also go through the x-mas stuff and figure out what’s really going on there rather than just jam the lids back on the big plastic bins and push them to the far reaches of the closet, but we’ll see if THAT really happens!

OK, off to do something productive!

 

[deegee]

Good evening!

Dee*Jay-great idea to go shopping in a blizzard! I'm trying to envision the scarf thing...I'm gonna need a picture. I have zero ideas for what to do with my family room. I need to download HOUZZ (is that right?) again to get ideas. Matt says we need to work because without work, we turn into total sloths. I agree because there were a several days in the last two weeks where we kept our jammies on all day, snacked all day, and got a whole lot of nothing accomplished!

Hi Marcy!

I spent most of the day at work cleaning up email and trying to get myself reorganized. Tomorrow I have to get actual work done. My ring announced itself today without me specifically showing anyone. It's so blue, and everyone knows how much I love bright blue. I ended up taking it off so people could pass it around. Food today-fruit smoothie for breakfast, 1/2 salad for lunch, and grilled chicken and noodles for dinner. I'm drinking chamomile tea and seriously thinking about a bowl of sherbet for a snack. That seemed to work okay last night and I'm actually feeling a little hungry for the first time in weeks. I had one of those nights last night where you fall asleep really hard and sleep for about an hour, wake up disoriented and confused, and then can't get back to sleep. Maybe I should skip that bowl of sherbet and go to bed. Good night!