Healthy Living Thread

[zoebartlett]

Thank you for the info, Rod! I appreciate your help. D. talked to his boss today and told her that we were't in a position to move. I hope your clients find placements soon.

Thinking of you, Deegee.

Dee*Jay, you're Superwoman, no matter how much you try to downplay your schedule. Oh, and thank you. Sometimes one just needs to vent. What a crazy situation in your building the other night! I hope your back feels better soon.

Thank you, Marcy. It's been a hard few months. As sad as it's all been (and this might sound odd), I'm trying to find the positives. Out of something bad comes something good (or so I tell myself), and I'm trying to find and grab onto those things. I hope that makes sense because when I read it, it sounds a bit cold. Obviously, that's not my intention.

The beginning of my vacation week began with D. finding out about his job transfer, so it hasn't been the most relaxing vacation for me. D., on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber. He doesn't get phased by much, and he said it's too early to worry. Tell my stomach that. It's been in knots all week. He's now officially looking for new opportunities in the healthcare/IT field. He seems very confident that something will come about soon. Gotta love his optimism!

On a more positive note, there are 61 days until I meet my niece! Not that I'm counting down the days or anything! That's definitely something to look forward to.

We're now in the last couple months of our school year, and I'm learning about all the things I need to do before school ends in my new district. The list is pretty long but it will all get done.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thank you for the info, Rod! I appreciate your help. D. talked to his boss today and told her that we were't in a position to move. I hope your clients find placements soon.

Thinking of you, Deegee.

Dee*Jay, you're Superwoman, no matter how much you try to downplay your schedule. Oh, and thank you. Sometimes one just needs to vent. What a crazy situation in your building the other night! I hope your back feels better soon.

Thank you, Marcy. It's been a hard few months. As sad as it's all been (and this might sound odd), I'm trying to find the positives. Out of something bad comes something good (or so I tell myself), and I'm trying to find and grab onto those things. I hope that makes sense because when I read it, it sounds a bit cold. Obviously, that's not my intention.

The beginning of my vacation week began with D. finding out about his job transfer, so it hasn't been the most relaxing vacation for me. D., on the other hand, is cool as a cucumber. He doesn't get phased by much, and he said it's too early to worry. Tell my stomach that. It's been in knots all week. He's now officially looking for new opportunities in the healthcare/IT field. He seems very confident that something will come about soon. Gotta love his optimism!

On a more positive note, there are 61 days until I meet my niece! Not that I'm counting down the days or anything! That's definitely something to look forward to.

We're now in the last couple months of our school year, and I'm learning about all the things I need to do before school ends in my new district. The list is pretty long but it will all get done.

 

[Rod]

Zoe, I wonder what D's boss thought about losing such a great employee.

DeeJay, I have a really bad back, so I know exactly how much pain one can experience. I have a back brace, which you can get from any Chiropractor's office or even likely from Dicks Sporting Goods or Sports Authority. I'd really recommend you get one, especially with a difficult day ahead of you.

I have a bit of a cold I managed to get from a co-worker. I'm coughing a lot, but not really feeling too poorly.

We got a link to our wedding pictures tonight and they're fantastic. I'll go through them and see if I can upload a couple here.

On a sad note, the vet called to tell us Sakai's remains are ready to be picked up. We'll go get them tomorrow, but it's going to really upset Charlie a lot, of that I am sure........

 

[marcy]

Happy Sunday!

Dee Jay, your client should buy a powerball ticket – if he got a letter to help his situation from the IRS he’s sitting on a lucky horseshoe. I hope it all works out soon and you can set a closing date. Wow, that is quite a story about your neighbor, the FBI breaking in and taking him away. I agree it’s more comforting to know your neighbor is a white collar criminal instead of a violent criminal but still. Such excitement. Ouch! Sorry to hear about your back, how are you doing this weekend? I hope it is better.

Zoe, I completely understand where you are coming from on looking on and focusing on the positives. I did that frequently myself when my parents died and it helped me out. Of course you’ll have some bad days when that doesn’t work. I think we all have to find what works for us to deal with such difficult times. Glad to hear your husband is calm about looking for another job. Marty remains relaxed like that too but when he was looking for another job I was a bundle of nerves. I am sending mega job-hunting dust his way. You’ll be meeting your niece before you know it.

Rod, hugs to you and Charlie with picking up Sakai’s remains. Is there a pet cemetery there? That will be so difficult. I hope your cold gets better soon. I will be anxious to see some of your wedding photos.

Deegee, thinking of you and your family.

We had a busy weekend. Friday night I realized I hadn’t done my astronomy newsletter yet so I worked on that and get it posted; it was still May 1st but just more towards the end of the day.

Yesterday my sister and BIL came to town to pick up her benitoite ring and we went out for lunch. After golf Marty and I made some stuff to take to a cribbage tournament and then watch the fight. Sadly I took 3rd in the cribbage tournament and was bored watching the fight but we had a fun time. My friend’s sister had her 3-month-old baby girl there; she is a cutie. She is a happy baby and never fussed at all even when she got tired.

Today I slept in and did my dreaded grocery shopping. I am working on laundry and wishing there was one more day this weekend.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Rod]

Hey.........

It was a very nice weekend weather-wise. We did pick up Sakai's remains yesterday. It was sad and Marcy, I don't know if there is a pet cemetery, but we would never bury any of our pets. We have all four cats remains in a secure place in our condo.

Afterwards, we did some shopping, then we had a nice dinner at a restaurant on the water we enjoy, followed by a nice 4 mile walk along the Riverwalk. It was a beautiful evening to take a walk and now maybe we can put Sakai further out of our immediate thoughts, but never out of our minds.

Today was a typical Sunday, with a visit to my father at the nursing home. He's been hallucinating lately, which isn't easy for any of us. We had Maryland Steamed Blue Crabs for dinner. I get up early on Sunday morning to go to a little remote place where the crabber's come in with live crabs and since we're from Maryland, we get blue crabs often. I steamed them for dinner with Old Bay and Red Pepper and they were simply terrific.

We got our wedding photos this weekend. Here are a couple I thought were very special!

 

[marcy]

Rod, your wedding pictures are wonderful. You both look so happy.

I am sure picking up Sakai's remains, that makes sense to put them is a secure place at your condo. Hugs to both you and Charlie. You are right she will never be out of your minds.

Marty and his brother were talking last week about the blue crabs from Maryland. That's cool you can go get fresh ones as they come in. I am glad you enjoyed some nice weather and a long walk too.

We had a rainstorm this afternoon. Lots of lightning and thunder for a while too.

I am cold and tired. It's only 8:50.

Have a great Monday!
Marcy / Curby

 

[zoebartlett]

Rod, I LOVE your wedding photos! Thanks for posting a few.

Marcy, it sounds like you had a busy weekend. Thanks for the job hunting dust.

I'm back to work after after a week's vacation. It was hard getting up so early again, but I'm ready to go back. It will be a busy week full of meetings. I'm hoping my husband's headhunter call this week with a few possible opportunities. Not much else going on here. We have my uncle's dog for the week, so that's fun. The weather is supposed to be great, temperature wise. 70s and 80s! Cloudy and showers at times, but I can deal with that.

 

[zoebartlett]

Rod, I LOVE your wedding photos! Thanks for posting a few.

Marcy, it sounds like you had a busy weekend. Thanks for the job hunting dust.

I'm back to work after after a week's vacation. It was hard getting up so early again, but I'm ready to go back. It will be a busy week full of meetings. I'm hoping my husband's headhunter call this week with a few possible opportunities. Not much else going on here. We have my uncle's dog for the week, so that's fun. The weather is supposed to be great, temperature wise. 70s and 80s! Cloudy and showers at times, but I can deal with that.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Zoe, my complex is certainly full of interesting people! I feel more like a babysitter than anything else most of the time, especially now that I'm the president and therefore responsible for keeping the inmates in check, ha ha!

Rod, your wedding pictures are WONDERFUL! You and Charlie look you you’re having so much fun, and the setting is so beautiful. BTW, I'm planning on making my trip to Florida a day longer this year so I can come down and see you guys. I'll have firm dates soon.

Curby, there’s still one thing the underwriter needs and then we can get a “clear to close” on this deal. It would be so ironic if the clients did buy a lotto ticket because of their good luck with the IRS and then WIN the lottery, which would mean they wouldn’t need the mortgage anymore – ha!

Friday night I spent fourteen solid hours on the couch (from 6 pm to 8 am Saturday morning) and I felt a lot better on Saturday, but getting in and out 8 times of the car was VERY painful. I came home and lay down on the couch for about an hour and then one of the CB’s friends called and said they were in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by. Well apparently all my muscles were in revolt after moving around in the morning/afternoon and then laying down so when I tried to get up I literally couldn’t. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to the end of the couch so I could use the arm and the coffee table to eventually get up. It was HORRIBLE. Yesterday was a bit better and I took the same clients to see two more things and then some friends came over with their kids and we ordered dinner in. I love them dearly but I was happy to see them leave at around 8:30 and I promptly got back on the couch, where I stayed until 7:00 this morning. It was still painful getting into the car this morning but I’m much more mobile. Getting old is HELL!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Zoe, it does stink to go back to work after vacation but once you are there you’ll be right back in to your routine. I hope your husband has good luck with his headhunter. The weather sounds great there.

Dee Jay, you definitely need to keep an eye on what’s going on in your complex since you are President Dee Jay! That would be nice to win the lottery; it would sure brighten my day. ACA’s all around for us! Sorry to hear you are still in so much pain. Getting old isn’t for sissies. I put aspercreme on my knees this morning. I did way too much this weekend.

We are finally slowing down at work to a manageable workload. Next week I’m putting our newer employee who is painfully slow with someone else to see if she can pick up some time saving tips and fill in some gaps. If she isn’t better in a month I told my boss today I am going to request he find someone else and move her to a different department. My senior employee is going to be out on paternity leave for about 6 weeks next fall when we are busy so I need someone who knows what they are doing. We are slow through August so that gives us all some time to see if she improves.

Marty made chicken alfredo for supper. I am allergic to chicken but can eat small amounts with food allergy medicine. I think I took too much though it is really buzzing me and my lips keep tingling. Weird. But having chicken for dinner was worth it. Mmm. I only took 4 little strips of chicken though.

We are going to have daily thunderstorms for a few weeks here and cooler temperatures. Hopefully no more snow though.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Sorry for the very short check in, but I've caught a rotten cold and am just plain miserable.

I hope you are all doing better than me today.

 

[marcy]

Feel better, Rod! Summer colds are the worst.

 

[zoebartlett]

Back pain, right Dee*Jay? I hope you feel better soon. Have you ever tried PT or a prescription for pain meds? That might help.

Feel better soon, Rod!

Marcy, hopefully things improve with your coworker and you won't need to look for someone else.

Thinking of you, Deegee!

I have a third appt. with my dietician this afternoon. I've been feeling sick kind of off and on, so I may need to tweak my already restrictive diet. Yay. It was great to get back into the swing of things at school. My kids are ready for first grade, and it's so fun to see how far they've come since the beginning of the year. They're reading, and they get SO excited to read a book to the class. We're making a Mother's Day craft project today. We're breaking out the finger paint!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, tell me more about this aspercreme! What’s in it? Does it really work?

Rod, sorry to hear your under the weather. I woke up this morning with a stuffy nose but I think it’s allergies.

Zoe, when this first happened to me I went to a chiropractor and he have me some core strengthening exercises, but of course I haven’t kept up with them…

Last night I worked a little late and then the CB and I have leftovers for dinner from the night before when my clients were over. I am still sleeping on the couch, and probably will be for a few more nights, and I SWEAR I heard dripping somewhere when it was raining, so needless to say I was wide awake for many hours last night… yawwwwwwn…

 

[Rod]

Thanks Marcy, Zoe and DeeJay. Yes summer colds are awful. This cold has stayed in my chest and the cough is awful. It's not productive at all and last night in the middle of the night, I woke up coughing so hard that I hurt my ribs a bit. It's a bit better today, so hopefully I'm past the worst of it.

DeeJay, I hope your back is feeling better. I can certainly sympathize as I have hurt my back (doing absolutely nothing) to the point I couldn't walk.

Zoe, I hope the dietician can help regulate your diet. A diet shouldn't make you feel sick. No it shouldn't.

Marcy, I'm glad things are calming down at work some. Fingers crossed snow won't be in your forecast until next winter.

 

[marcy]

Happy Tuesday!

Zoe, I sure hope things work out for my employee too; I dread finding someone new and training them. We had a weird job; you have to remember a million things and everything has an exception. I bet your students have really changed and progressed over the school year. How cool to see all those positive results from your class. The Mother’s Day project will be fun for them. Good luck at the dietician.

Dee Jay, Aspercreme is a topical pain relief crème. It doesn’t smell and helps relieve my aches and pains. I think it helps me. I hope you are feeling better tonight. Oh no to hearing dripping water. I imagine you couldn’t sleep after hearing that. I hear dripping water (or so I think) in our laundry room and have heard it since we moved in here. We’ve never found any leaks though.

Rod, your cold sounds awful. I hope you continue to get better every day. I sure hope our snow is finished for the year. We had really dense fog today; at least they didn’t have any big accidents on the highway west of here in that mess.

I didn’t feel too good this morning but went to work. I got really cold and started to get a major headache. I combed through they filing cabinet looking for this fabulous pain medicine they used to have at work (I think it’s closest to Excedrin Migraine) and took it and felt better in about 30 minutes and have continued to get better as the day goes by. I have a dentist appointment in the morning so I hope my headache is gone by then.

I updated about 40 discrepancy charts for work today. Being the mean boss I am when someone asks a question I am going to refer them to the discrepancy charts first. Ha!

I heard from my consultant at Whiteflash. They won’t price match on the 2 EC diamonds I found but will give me $100 off for being a repeat customer. That puts it about ½ in the middle of the price difference. They would bring in the diamonds and take the pictures and light analysis which might be worth it since you can’t really tell about an EC by the numbers. Decisions, decisions. I am looking at images online tonight of different styles of EC earrings. I was leaning towards dangles on lever backs but I like some other styles as well.

Marty cooked corn, steak and potatoes on the grill for supper. It was delicious and very few dishes. Sweet.

Take care.

Marcy / Curby

 

[marcy]

This is my favorite dangle earrings that I found. I think round, baguette or princess cut might work for the smaller diamond. This is on wires not lever backs. I know I can wear a little rubber back to keep them secure. My EC ring has baguettes so I am kind of leaning towards them but the 3mm rounds will add some sparkle. I don't think I'd go bezel set; just standard 4 prong basket settings. Ideas and suggestions welcome.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Rod, I made the mistake of not taking a muscle relaxer last night because I was feeling so much better and I was sore again this morning when I woke up. Ugh. Lesson learned!

Curby, I really like the dangle idea! I don’t know if I would go with baguettes because they might look too similar (unless the baguette is a lot smaller than the EC). My vote would be rounds. And are you *sure* you don’t want bezels? I’m a sucker for a good bezel!

Last night the CB and I went to dinner at a Chinese place near us and we were disappointed… again. They are very inconsistent, and I don’t think we’ll be going back.

My toilet started running in my small bathroom and the CB knows exactly what the problem is but he needs to replace a part to make it stop. I spent the whole night waiting for the water alarm to go off becuase I was just CONVINCED I was going to have another flood. These new fancy toilets are so complicated – when I took the tank lid off it was almost like looking at Billy Ray’s engine! Remember when toilets were *simple*…?!?

 

[marcy]

Happy Wednesday!

Dee Jay, is your back feeling better tonight? I am glad CB can fix your fancy toilet. I haven't looked inside our toilets, now I'm curious. Of course the old ones baffled me too. I remember we had one that you had to pull up the little floatie thing on top. That's my technical term for that.

I started me day at the dentist. I passed. SWEET!

I enjoyed going to work 2 hours late, got my work done by about 3 and enjoyed a quiet afternoon.

My quote came in for the dangle earrings. Since these are occasional wear earrings I am going with studs because no way no how am I paying that much for custom earrings and two 3mm diamonds. I will still have them bring in the studs and see what they look like. I can do dangles or studs; those are in my willing to pay price range.

There is snow in our forecast. Rats.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Snow? It's May for crying out loud? I'm glad you had a good visit to the dentist. My visits lately haven't been too great. About $2,000/visit. I grind my teeth and even though I wear a night guard, I keep cracking teeth, requiring crown after crown.

DeeJay, I hope your back is still mending. Back pain is simply the absolute worst.

My cough has quieted down, but now the cold moved to a more northern climate (my nose) and I can't breath or taste anything.

We have a Chinese Take out near us and we'd never tried it and we found out the owners live in our condo and they deliver so that's what we had for dinner. While I couldn't taste much, Charlie said it was really really good.

 

[marcy]

Rod, I have seen snow here every month of the year. Yet it is amazingly sunny here in spite of all the nasty weather. I was totally expecting to need repair or replacement of a crown today and yes they are horribly expensive. At Christmas someone brought in peanut brittle and I was polite and took a piece; it was as hard as a brick. I felt something slip, move, hurt or all of the above on one of my crowns and that tooth hurt me for days. Since then it seems like that tooth gets sore and needs extra attention flossing. They X-rayed it this morning and said it looked fine. It's sore tonight from the cleaning.

I am glad your cold is at least running it's course; hopefully it will be gone in a few more days. That's great you found a new place for Chinese take-out and they deliver. Marty would be happy about that too.

Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

We had more rain today. Snow is definitely expected Saturday night in to Sunday. Boo.

I wired money to Whiteflash today for my emerald cut diamond studs. The basic 4 prong baskets were more in my price range. I'll spend silly amounts of money on rings but I am cheap with earrings. The diamonds should reach WF tomorrow and they will take the assorted images of them and send to me. I have NO IDEA on what's good for an EC because I just know what I like when I see it. I will defer to their judgement. Honestly I wear studs 95% of the time anyway so no big loss on the dangles. I was already thinking of looking for some lavender sapphires and have the bench guy downtown make those earrings for me in rose gold to match my lavender sapphire ring. It would definitely be much cheaper.

Marty made BBQ beef sandwiches for supper with peas and cottage cheese. There is a ton of it left so I told him we'd have an instant replay tomorrow night since he is having a poker night.

I hope all of you are doing well.

Take care.

Curby / Marcy

 

[Rod]

Sorry Marcy, but snow during what should be warm months is simply wrong. Wrong I'm telling you! Sorry to hear you have my teeth. I figure I've purchased a few cars for my dentist over the years. He's actually a Prosthedontist and he makes the crown in the first sitting and it's permanent when you walk out. He's also the sweetest man on the planet.

Yay for getting the EC's from Whiteflash. I really really like them and I think I've mentioned I've helped three young men get thie engagement rings custom made through Whiteflash. They even sent me a $300 voucher for a future project as a thank you. I will use it sometime for sure. They'll send you Sarin and Asset Images and really give you a great understanding of how the diamonds will perform. Please share what they send you........

I'm feeling better today. The cough is nearly gone and while I was so congested when I got up this morning and into this afternoon, I can actually breath tonight. YAY!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod,

It's cold and raining here today. I went to the cemetery at lunch, parked kind of in the wrong spot and couldn't find the gravesite at first. It's raining on me, my feet and pants are getting soaked but I finally found it. Didn't stay long. Got my mom a pretty spring assortment of flowers for Mother's Day.

I met Marty for lunch.

We are getting 3 to 6 inches of snow tomorrow in to Sunday so should be a lazy weekend. I think I'll make rolls.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Here is a collage of my images from Whiteflash. My gemologist said they have great performance and she was very happy with them so I waived my right to see them before they are set. I am so excited.

The left column is E .41 ct VVS2 5.21 x 3.62 x 2.36
The right column is E .40 ct VVS1 5.21 x 3.62 x 2.29

 

[Rod]

They're simply STUNNING Marcy! Very excited for you!!

 

[marcy]

Thank you Rod. It's hard to find samples of the ASET and Idealscope images for EC but from what I see these look good.

 

[Rod]

They look better than good Marcy! I'm sure you're very excited and you should be!!

 

[deegee]

Marcy-seriously? You've seen snow all months of a year? I agree with Rod...that's so wrong! Your earrings are going to be so pretty! I know nothing about emerald cuts so I wouldn't know where to begin if I ever decided to get one. I hope things work out with your employee. The hiring and training process is sure a pain! I hope the redesigned Audi I'm considering comes out in September. That's not too terribly long to wait. I definitely need a smaller vehicle since the parking lot at work has such tight spots. Last week I had to park kind of far away,which I don't mind so much in the morning, it's super creepy walking that far in the evening though. I'm sorry the weather was bad for visiting your mother at the cemetery. Hugs to you.

Dee*Jay- your poor back. I have discovered vodka or red wine helps my back the most. Of course, that's no help for during the day if you're at work! Has your chiropractor mentioned Biofreeze? It doesn't help me, but Matt seems to get some relief with it. Do you have a tens unit? I pull mine out when my pain level ramps up a notch or two. Hopefully you're feeling better!

Zoe-how are things going with your hubby's job search? When Matt lost his job 15 years ago, I remember freaking out but he was very calm. He even asked for more money when he got job offers. I probably would have taken the first offer that came along! When is school out for you? I think the kids around here go through he first week in June. My favorite grade to teach was first grade. They were needy at the first of the year and pretty independent by the end of the year. It was fun to see the transformation.

Rod-I love the pictures you posted! You both look so happy. It looks like it was a beautiful, fun day. I hope your cold is better. I have been faithfully taking my allergy medicine and vitamin c tablets. I hope that helps keep stuff away! I once asked my dentist if I could take his new Aston Martin for a spin since I helped him pay for it. Ha! He handed me the keys and said "good luck trying to back it out of its spot!" Apparently when the car was delivered, it was accompanied by an instructor to show him how to drive the darn thing. But hey-I had the keys to a $300,000 car in my hot little hand!

It doesn't pay to go on vacation, does it? I've been working long days and bringing work home at night. I overdid it and ended up with a migraine yesterday. I ended up staying home and sleeping the entire day. I know better to work such long hours, but I seem to do it anyway! I'm feeling worlds better today. I've been working on laundry and trying to clean up the landscaping a little. I need to call the landscaper because I sure don't like that outside work! We'll be heading home to KY tomorrow. My parents have a huge yard to take care of, so it's all hands on deck to get it done for them. We have convinced them not to open the pool this year...too much to take care of and of. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[marcy]

Yes it has started. Big old wet snow flakes.