Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, oh no! The quick onset of the flu (or whatever it is) sounds absolutely awful. I am glad you made it home okay and slept for a while. I hate those times when you feel so bad you’d have to get better to die. I hope you get better very soon. Soup sounds like the perfect supper for you. Take it easy.

Rod, darn that it didn’t turn out you get a tax refund. I like to break as close to even as possible. I hope you don’t owe too much. When I had my teaching job our taxes were very painful. I hope you get more placements at work.

I am quite bummed out about my sapphires. When the jeweler called and started the conversation with I’ve got really bad news I was sure one of them broke when he was trying to mount them. I didn’t see it changed colors coming. He was very nice about it. He said I won’t owe him anything but I think I’ll give him a few $20’s for his trouble.

We had our Valentine’s supper tonight but the little tenderized steaks I picked out for beef parmesan weren’t very good. They tasted okay but were very tough.

I guess we are going to look at a small business office tomorrow that rents for $375 a month including utilities. That train is coming I may as well get onboard. I told Marty he needs to check on theft and liability insurance and become more frugal at spending money. Funny thing is it sounds like a lot of projects may be coming his way at work. Times, they are a changing. As I heard my mother’s voice say in my head a few weeks ago – what the heck are you doing Marcy? Quit feeling sorry for yourself and get on with your life.

I was up late last night watching WF and CBI diamond videos mostly looking at HIJ colored diamonds to see if I think they are white enough. I think I like the thrill of the hunt more than having new jewelry.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

P.S. I did run over a curb last night but I think I just went over it and didn’t hit anything. Ssh.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hey kids, I'm alive!

Whew, that was ROUGH but I swear I'm pretty much totally fine right now. How is that even possible...?

Curby, that is just terrible about your stones, but it was so nice of the jeweler to say don't worry about payment. I would probably do the same thing you said though and give him something anyway.

Rod, I have a date with my tax guy (who I LOVE) on Monday. I'm sure I owe because I owe every year... I do have more withheld from my paychecks to offset my real estate income but no matter how much I plan I still always end up sending a couple grand to the Feds and something to the State too. Ugh.

Not much else to report... just trying to live through the day without a repeat of yesterday LOL!

 

[Dee*Jay]

.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Curby, I finally remembered to post a pic of my pendant for you. It's a bezeled MRB in a teardrop style setting. I forgot how much I like this pendant until I got it out to take this pic -- I should wear it some time!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am glad to hear you are feeling so much better. Hopefully your taxes come out even or they turn out that you’ll get a refund. I don’t want to get big refunds; I figure I’d rather spend my money foolishly than let the government do that for me. Glad you have a tax guy you love.

I really like that pendant. Is the diamond prong mounted? I was looking at pendant mountings earlier today.

I met Marty this morning at the office space he found. It is pretty decent. The rent is $375 a month including utilities. It is an L shape about 300 square feet. There would be 2 spots to set up racks for lifting. They would accept a 6-month contract and offer some kind of insurance for $14 a month. He would definitely need to make sure liability is included.

After we checked out the office I stopped and picked up my sapphires. The one that changed colors is definitely lighter yellow; not washed out but certainly not the vibrant yellow it was before. I asked again if I couldn’t pay him and he said if I would pay him $100 towards the parts he’d already used he would appreciate it. Considering it was custom I didn’t think that was bad. I got an email from the sapphire vendor who claims any jeweler who knows what they are doing wouldn’t use heat on a colored gemstone. He even said “what was he doing that he used heat on the stone?” I’m no jeweler but I am pretty sure they have to heat the metal to mount things. I guess I got 2 sapphires for my gem jar and learned once again why you don’t spend more on custom jewelry than you are willing to lose.

It was gorgeous here today. Breezy and over 60. Wow what a nice day for February in Wyoming.

Dee Jay, there might be a PS bug going around. I couldn’t finish my supper and I think an alka seltzer has my name on it.

Marty is still really sick with a cold. He got up about midnight looking for some cold meds and couldn’t find anything. I knew right where they were but of course I was sleeping. I noticed stuff out of place in my basket under the sink so I figured that was what he was looking for; I dug them out for him tonight. Poor guy has a conference call for work at 10 pm tonight but then plans on sleeping in our guest room and hopefully sleep all night.

One more day at work this week. Woo hoo!

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, you answered my question. It is a very pretty pendant. What size diamond is that?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Curby, I'm guessing it's about .4 or so...? Let me know if you want a neck shot BTW. It has quite a bit of presence for not being a huge diamond and the white gold bezel makes it look bigger inside the yellow gold mounting. I got this at a gem show many years ago and was just THRILLED when I came across it!

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I'd love a neck shot. Kays is having a remount sale Saturday I might go look.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Rod--I know you don't venture out to "Hangout" much, but there is a thread on recruiters I thought you might be interested in.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

I started a post earlier and got distracted in my rage against Sprint. Have been to the Sprint store now three days in a row so they can keep telling me there's nothing wrong with my phone. Trust me m0therfvcker -- if there was nothing wrong with my phone I wouldn't keep coming to the damn Sprint store! (Yes, that *may* be a direct quote from my last visit there... )

They are now offering me some outrageously good deal (even my IT guys were impressed with my "negotiating skills") but I'm pretty over them. I get a 22% discount with AT&T and an 18% discount with Verizon through my work but I was just hoping to avoid switching...

Anyway, Curby, I will post a neck shot for you with the caveat that you May Not laugh at my wrinkled old neck!

Sharon, I saw your name pop up on this thread and I thought, Rut Ro! Dee's in trouble AGAIN!

Rod, hope you and Charlie have a fabulous weekend planned!

OK, off like a prom dress!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Hi Sharon.

Dee Jay, that really sucks about your phone and lack of customer service to get it fixed. We have Verizon mostly because it's the most likely carrier to get service in the wilds of Wyoming.

I won't laugh or make any comments about your neck; I've got no room to talk. Not only am I wrinkled, my skin is all dry and red. That's why I drink - to forget. Forget what?

I found your mounting (I think) at Adwar but they only have it for a 1 carat. Funny thing is it's very similar to the WG pendant I bought from Jared. It's a 1/4 carat but looks like a 1/3 carat. It's an IGL or something like that ideal cut. I didn't know any better when I bought it but I really like it. I always wished I could have the same thing with a larger diamond but since I don't want to trade it in at Jared's I may as well keep it and maybe get a different pendant style for my new diamond.

I have a video appointment sometime next week with Wink to see a .76 F Si1 and a .8 I VS1 (I think that is what the I is anyway. I 'll post the links. I am worried about the feathers in the F but I doubt CBI would sell a diamond that is likely to fracture from feathers.

http://highperformancediamonds.com/shop/f/HPD8346/?shop=yes
http://highperformancediamonds.com/shop/i/HPD8323/?shop=yes

Off to the astronomy meeting. I completely forgot about it so it was a quick supper and I am leaving dishes to do later. That is something I NEVER do.

Laters
Marcy / Curby

 

[Rod]

Hi Sharon. I don't ever lurk outside this thread, but I'll check out the thread in Hangout. Thanks for the recommendation.

DeeJay, it sounds like Sprint hasn't helped you much. We've been with AT&T forever and have been extremely happy with the service and customer support.

Marcy, that setting does look a lot like DeeJay's. The video call to look over those diamonds sounds like fun. I'll look forward to seeing pics.

No one on my team did any work today. The boss was out all day and since they don't have any filters on our internet, lot's of videos were watched, that's for sure. LOL We met our friends as usual for Friday night Sushi. Tomorrow, we'll just have a free day to do whatever we want.

My first cousins husband passed away today. He's been very sick for a long time with congestive heart failure. They live about 3 hours from here. So far, there are no service plans. I never was very close to him as he was very distant when we did get together as a family. This afternoon about 3, my cousin sent out a text invite to I guess everyone she knows in Florida that anyone who wants to drop by tonight for a drink and a hug, would be welcome. My brother called at 3 and said he'd pick us up to ride with them. He never even considered I was at work and really couldn't just leave and go for a 3 hour drive. My brother has no schedule and doesn't seem to remember I work full time. He's never had a job job, where he reports to anyone. He really doesn't get the be at the office at 8:30 and work all day till 5:30 or 6.

I hope you have a great weekend!

 

[marcy]

I posted the wrong i diamond

http://highperformancediamonds.com/shop/i/HPD8437/?shop=yes

 

[marcy]

Hi Rod! I was kind of amazed that Dee Jay and I have similar pendants. The YG one i am thinking about getting for my new pendant is similar but not exactly like it.

I am sorry to hear about your cousin's husband. Did your brother go visit even if you couldn't go? I know it's always such and hard and sad thing to do but it's kind of nice to get together.

I know what you mean about your brother not knowing what it's like to be in the office and work regular hours. I've noticed Marty has even lost track of what that's like. He'll text me at work and sometimes I just can't answer or chat.

I am excited for my diamond video next week.

Here is the pendant I think I'll get.

 

[Rod]

Marcy, the stone looks like it should be stunning! I also like the setting you've selected.

Yes, my brother and SIL did go. I haven't spoken with them this morning to see how the visit was. I imagine they got home very late last night. I still think I must have missed something about why Marty is going to lease an office?

Sharon, I did go to Hangout and provided, I hope, a good response to the question posed in the thread. Read it and let me know when you have a free minute, would you?

We slept until almost 10 AM this morning. Such a wonderful treat. Yes it is!

We heard about a great seafood shop, that isn't too far from us. We're thinking of going there and maybe get something interesting to cook for dinner. We'll likely spend less and get something better than we would if went out to eat.

It's kind of cloudy today. They say it'll be in the mid-70s, with a chance of rain later in the afternoon, early evening. We're just going to have a lazy day.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, I am hoping the F diamond is eye clean. I prefer colorless diamonds. Probably comes from my years as a photo printer and inspector – I always took one yellow out of all of the photos I printed. Marty wants to rent an office to set up a place for strength training and see if he can get some clients. Nice you guys that slept in until 10 am today. That is always a treat. I hope you did end up enjoying a nice, lazy day. Did you go try the seafood shop? You can definitely have a better dinner for less money cooking at home. We were near 60 here again today. Glad you had some cooler weather but still sounds warm to me.

I stayed up until about 1:30 watching videos and goofing off online. Marty slept in our guest bedroom again after taking a dose of Nyquil. I heard him rattling pans about 9 so I sent him a text and said “ssh, you woke up the teddies”. That got some unwanted attention right away.

My sister and BIL came to town today so she could pick up one of her sapphire rings. It turned out pretty. She had him make a square halo for it; it didn’t turn out as she expected but does like it. We all went out to lunch then my sister and I went to a remount show at Kays and Marty and my BIL went to some hardware stores. We watched an IMAX movies in 4K before they went one.

The Kays remount show was interesting. They are proud of those unique rings and pendants they bring; holy cow I wouldn’t pay those prices. I wanted to see a ¾ carat against my neck but I guess they sensed I was only browsing so I never got them to open the seal on a less than attractive diamond. Oh well, my sister go some ideas for rings for her sapphires.

It was a fun day.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I don’t have tomorrow off so I am counting on all of you who do have the day off to have some fun for me.

I finished laundry today and we went out to lunch. Not much else going on today.

I watched a video about CBI diamonds and it looks like I’d get a picture of the rough diamond before they cut it. That would be so awesome.

Have a fabulous day and long weekend.

Curby

 

[Rod]

Marcy, I wouldn't get that caught up in F color. G is virtually indistinguishable and you get can a bit larger stone in the same price point. I don't have tomorrow off either. In our world, we only get the major holidays. I'll have clients closed tomorrow, but it's a full work day for me as well. How exciting that Marty is going to open a weight fitness place. It's become his passion, so when you're passionate about something, it will be a joy for him. Is he hoping to give up his day job for this? We saw a video about a coffee shop in LA. It's a coffee shop where the humane society keeps lots of cats and kittens. People can come have coffee and play with cats or kittens they can adopt. I said to Charlie we should open something like this and call it Kitn'Brew!

We did go to that seafood shop yesterday. It was terrific. If you like fish, they have the most amazing selection of whole fresh caught fish I've ever seen. What we bought was jumbo (I mean really big) shrimp and scallops that are larger than I've seen before. 8 scallops were 1.25 pounds. So, we sauteed some spinach, mushrooms and onion. Drained that so it wasn't soupy. I sauteed the shrimp and scallops in butter, Old Bay and cracked red pepper. We cooked some linquine and then I made a sauce of olive oil, butter and garlic. Mixed it all together and I'm a telling you, you couldn't get something this great at any restaurant. No you couldn't.

Today we slept in again, this time just till 9:00 AM. Charlie decided he wanted pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We usually only have fresh fruit for breakfast, so this was just the best treat. We took a spa sample to the pool store and it's always terrific when the water is perfectly balanced, and it was today. Yesterday, I got a golf type shirt from Tommy Bahama at the Rack (love love love Nordstrom Rack!). It's the softest, nicest fabric and they're usually $98, but were on sale for $39. Today, we went back and I got two more. With summer weather coming up, they'll be the perfect work shirt for me. We decided to grill Filet Mignon, with a romaine lettuce salad and sauteed mushrooms. Everything was so good, but the shrooms were extra good. Charlie sauteed them with butter, wine, sea salt, pepper and garlic, while I was outside grilling. We certainly ate well this weekend!

Boo to Monday, but at least it lets me eat well.

 

[Rod]

Happy Presidents Day!

I wouldn't normally say this, but I had to pop in for a second. I got up this morning, took my shower, while Charlie made my fruit smoothy. I came downstairs, drank it down with my vitamins, when I hear a text beep on my phone. I look at my phone and what to my wondering eyes did I see? The boss gave us the day off. I'm celebrating with Glee!

So, I'm sipping my morning coffee on the couch and I have the entire day to do as I please! We might go see the movie Lion. Everyone I know who has seen it really really liked it.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Not My Presiden'ts Day kids!

Curby, it's a shame that Kay's didn't let you try on some stones. I mean, I know and YOU know that you weren't going to buy from them, but THEY didn't know that. It's a well known fact that people who don't seem like they are going to make a purchase suddenly pull out the platinum American Express card and say "I'll take it."

Rod, that's a great deal on the Tommy Bahama shirts! I Nordstrom Rack has some nice things at nice prices and I've been known to drop a pretty penny in there. Last season I got some long cashmere tunics in three colors and I wear them All The Time. They had a fourth color and for the life of me I can't figure out why I didn't buy it too... ???

Yesterday I went and met again with the woman who has a lovely little cottage business making hair-on-hide cowhide purses and other accessories. I met her at the One Of A Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in December and we've become huge friends. She's amazingly creative but she's really got the business sense of a Boston Fern. I think I can help her with the biz side of things but she resists even the most basic organization and marketing ideas that take any sort of administrative effort. I'm going to give it a bit of a go but I'm not going to kill myself over it because I can see it being a very frustrating experience for me and not yielding a ton of results for her if she doesn't really get the need. We'll see.

When I got home the CB made the absolute most delicious thing Ev Eh! He cooked bone-in short ribs with carrots and onions and little red potatoes on the side. They were AMAZING! And we've got tons of left overs. Yum!

Today I've got my annual meeting with my accountant (dear god, please let me not owe TOO much this year... ) and then I'm going over to the Not My President's Day Rally at Trump Tower. It's 65 and sunny here -- a perfect day to RESIST!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Rod, we were posting at the same time. What an excellent surprise! An unexpected day off is a gift indeed!!!

 

[Rod]

DeeJay, the short ribs sound so yummy!

I checked and can't find a "not my president" rally in Tampa, today. I'd go if I knew there was one.

What is it they say? "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink," sounds like a good fit for your friend.

Hope your accountant doesn't cause much pain. I was a little annoyed at our accountant. We've had him for years and he usually does a great job for us. I read where you can deduct the taxes on necessary purchases for a new home. I asked him after he did our taxes, if that was true, because he never asked us about what we bought. Like all new appliances, etc. So he had to redo them and it saved us a few hundred dollars. He knew we bought a new house, so why didn't he ask us for receipts for these purchases to begin with??

 

[Dee*Jay]

Rod, I'm not sure of your accountant's process but mine sends a checklist every year with a whole slew of questions, including whether you have purchased/sold/refinanced a property, and if so he requests the closing statement. There's also a bunch of other stuff on the checklist of course, and I find it to be very thorough. You KNOW how anal I am, being a CPA and all... !

 

[Rod]

DeeJay, he sends a checklist as well. We sent in the closing statement, etc., What his checklist never asked was whether we purchased necessities for the home, like a refrigerator, washer dryer, stove, etc. If I hadn't read that the taxes paid on those items were deductible, I would have never known. And that makes me wonder if there's anything else he missed.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Ah... gotcha. I have also had to ask my accountant to correct things over the years but I am hopeful he's getting more right than wrong LOL.

 

[Rod]

I'm telling you, an unexpected day off is simply the best.

We had coffee and I got to watch a couple Jerry Springer episodes. Yes, they are so scripted, stupid and raunchy. It's a guilty pleasure. Shhh, don't tell anyone. Then we stopped by our optical store to order clip on sunglasses for our new glasses, which evidently have to be custom made, but we're getting them anyway. We then went to see the movie Lion. O M G! If you haven't seen it, I can't say enough great things about this movie. It's a true story, and it's simply awesome. Hint: Take tissues with you. Tear Jerker isn't strong enough. I cried for about the last 20 minutes. Such an amazing story..........

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Rod, I would get a G diamond and maybe even an H. I can see color pretty easily though so I highly doubt I’d go with an I diamond. But never say never, huh? Kitn’ Brew is a fabulous name. That is a great idea! Marty certainly has a passion about his strength training. He is going to compete in April and asked me today if I wanted to come with him because he wants someone to help him out (remind him to eat, tell him where to go next). Sounds right up my alley but I know nothing about what he’s doing in a competition. No, he is not giving up his day job.

Good deal you did end up having the day off. Sweet.

I bet you’ll be going back to that fish market. Marty would be excited to have a shop like that nearby.

TB shirts are very nice and that is a great price. I should tell Marty to check online.

Rats, I wish I knew you could deduct taxes on essentials you buy for a new home. That would have come in handy a few years ago.

Is Lion about lions? Animal shows always make me cry. ETA: Never mind - I went and looked up what that movie was about. It sounds good.

Dee Jay, the same guy always comes to the Kay’s remount show and he is kind of a jerk. You are so right you can never tell who is going to buy something and maybe they even can pay you in cash.

That is nice of you to help out your friend with organizing her business.

Your short rib dinner sounds fabulous.

I hope you enjoyed your lovely day.

I had another fun filled day at my babysitting job today. One of my employees asked me if I’d heard when we’d get our merit increases or if those went away since we are moving to the other company. So one of my @#$$%^&^ PITA employees pipes up and says “I’m not expecting anything because all we ever hear is we suck”. WTH? I immediately said “no one ever said you suck”. So then she repeats some things my boss has said to the group about finding ways to be more efficient, to not waste time, to continue to improve and get better the longer you’ve been on the job. I replied all he was saying is he expects to see growth and improvement the longer you’ve been on the job. Then I said every one of us in this room including me has room for improvement. So then she says well I’m not saying anymore. The rest of the day she was happy as can be; she got to stir up the pooh in front of everyone. I am going to tell her if she is so unhappy with her job it’s time for her to look elsewhere. Her next one on one is a week from tomorrow but I’m hoping I catch her complaining again – I’ve had it. Grr.

I didn’t hear from Wink or his assistant today about when or if those diamonds will arrive for a video conference. Rats.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[Rod]

Marcy, you're employee sounds like a true whiner. They're everywhere these days.

No, Lion isn't about an animal. It's about a little boy, in India, who is from a very poor family, who winds up on a train for a couple days, to the other side of India. He can't remember the name of the town he's from, so he winds up in an orphanage (all the while showing the abject poverty he was born into) and ultimately adopted by a loving family in Australia. It takes him 25 years to find his way back to the village and his natural mother. I'm giving you a very short synopsis. It's simply an awesomely amazing movie. And again, it's all based on a true story. I encourage you to go see it. I really do.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Curvy, neck shot of my pendant. (Will do a long post to you and Rod separately, just want to post this pic first.)

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday night kids!

Curby, I see my auto correct changed your name to Curvy on the last post! Sorry it took me so long to post the pic -- I kept forgetting to do it.

Rod, it sounds like you had an awesome day! And LOL on the guilty pleasure of daytime TV. We all have our vices!

My meeting with my accountant went better than expected. I figured I owed about three grand and it's only going to be about $2,200 so I'm happy about that! Then I went to the rally. It was mid-60s and just a little overcast, which was nice since it wasn't glaring sun. A good friend of mine came down too and then we went to lunch afterwards. I posted a thread in hangout with a bunch of pics. Some of the people making signs are so creative! Before I went today I wrote the number of the ACLU on my arm in sharpie marker *just in case* I ended up getting arrested (which I had ABSOLUTELY no intention of, but I figured better safe than sorry!) and it was a real b!tch to get it off! After I came home I had to take a nap (!) and then the CB heated up leftover short ribs for dinner.

Edited because when this posted there were emotis at the top that I didn't put in there... ?!?