Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi. I hope everyone had a great day!

Dee Jay, we saw a little black Porsche Cayenne at Sams Club tonight. I told Marty he needs one. I thought the exact same thing about braces. Great minds think alike, huh? The Mom gene skipped me too. I am still excited for you to go to Hawaii. Your weekend plans sound fun especially the gift wrapping party.

Deegee, that is so exciting that you and Matt are looking at some houses and have upped your price range. I am sure you’ll find a great place with main floor living. The foot trick is funny. I saw one of my employees doing it again today. Sorry to hear you had another bad day. Rats that you got stuck on the highway again today. I would hate that.

Sharon, I am a stress eater. Neither of our methods is good for us. We got out a small fiber optics tree last night. I think that is all we will put up this year since we are moving over Christmas. Good idea for Dee Jay to get us a PS discount on more juniors.

I had a busy day at work so the day flew by. I took a PB sandwich for lunch so I worked through my lunch. We got an email from the place buying out house wanting to confirm all our list of repairs are done and to say they want receipts. They will be stopping by to take a peak at our house a few days before closing. Naturally I am a worrier and immediately went to thoughts like “what if they don’t like how we ....”. At the new house they brought in the stuff to put in our sprinkler system, side rock and fence. We don’t know what they are doing inside but several people were over there working today.

We had supper at Olive Garden. I have some cheese raviolis and we split a dessert. After we drove by the house we wandered around Sams for awhile. Since we’ve been eating at home quite a bit lately we don’t go out and wander around at night. Of course that saves us money too.

Tomorrow is Friday!

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Deegee, that’s great that your DH increased your price range! And I hear you on the steps, having just come from a four story house of my own. When I tore my ACL it was a blessing and a curse—totally PITA to get around but I really think all those stairs were good for my rehab. Now I’m living in a one story place and I’m so happy! BTW, I feel like we guilted you into posting, so don’t feel like you have to come and talk to us if you don’t want to—ha ha!

Sharon, if it were up to me, I’d just GIVE Porsches to PSers… probably good for Porsche profits that it’s NOT up to me! As for stress non-eating, I WISH…

Marcy, I stopped at Costco on the way home to get some prosecco (and somehow managed to spent $250…???) so I am fully prepared! Do you know what day you are moving yet? Will you be in the new place for Christmas? When you say you’ve been eating at home a lot, is that because you’re trying to use up the food you have the in house? I do that whenever I move and it makes for some truly strange meals there toward the end… ! How is your mom doing?

So I’ve been keeping track from Nov. 1 to this morning I’m down 4.2 lbs for the month!!! I’m so glad I started to log it so I can see a bigger picture because otherwise I feel like I am always bouncing between the same few pounds. I have 8.8 lbs more to go to be happy, and 13.8 to be REALLY happy, but I’m not going to kill myself over those last 5.

 

[marcy]

Hi. Happy Friday. I am so excited I am drawing circles in the air with my right foot and trying to keep it going in the same direction while drawing 6 with my right hand. Bwhahahahahaha. Working 5 days this week seemed to take forever.

House status: they were putting in sprinklers and have delivered the brick to put on the columns. Marty said some of the interior doors have been installed. 3 weeks from today (if all goes well) we will be spending the first night in our new house.

I wandered around some stores at lunch and then again tonight. Yay for getting in some extra walking. I went to Hobby lobby at lunch and looked at Christmas stuff and storage bins. Tonight I wandered around Kohl’s. I had $45 in Kohls cash so I used it towards some Christmas gifts. I want to get them wrapped and delivered soon because I don’t want to move them.

Breakfast was cheerios. Lunch was a sandwich and supper was a taco. Too bad I had some Coke and chocolate. But hey I walked a lot.

Marty is playing poker tonight. I caught up on a few shows on the DVR and did a batch of laundry. I was in a massive panic because I couldn’t find my phone. Instead of calling it to help locate it; I decided I left it in the pocket of my jeans that were in the wash. Yes, I dug through all the wet clothing looking for my phone and only succeeded in making a mess. So then I called it and found it in my jacket. I am such a blonde sometimes.

Dee Jay, did you apply for that job? It is amazing how quickly your bill can add up at Costco. We are trying to clean out the pantry and freezer before we move so we are getting rather low on food. I am sure we’ll have some weird combos. I remember one time Marty had a buddy over here playing a video game and they were hungry and all I had to fix them was Kraft mac and cheese and frozen french fries. Neither one of them complained and they ate everything I cooked. My mom is about the same. Her knee is not bending as much as it was. We should be in our house before Christmas. Congratulations for being down 4.2 pounds this month. That is awesome.

My dryer is whining.

Have a great weekend.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi. Packing must burn calories! At least I feel like it should burn some calories. Marty got home from poker a little after midnight last night so we slept in this morning. I got up about 7:30 and Marty got up about 8:30. I made biscuits for breakfast and made Marty some eggs and bacon. We went by our house about 11 and no one was working on it so we went and got the key to look around. They have most of the tile done and it looks great. They still have to do the backsplash in the kitchen then the tile should be finished. The kitchen cupboards are all installed. They have dug most of the trenches for the sprinklers and sectioned off the areas that will have rock. We found a big gouge at the bottom of the front door; Marty wants it replaced. There are a lot of nicks, dents and scrapes that will need fixed. We spent almost an hour in there looking at things. We returned the key then had lunch. I had 1/2 of a french dip sandwich. We came home and started packing the kitchen. Holy tons of crap to pack!

We packed up all our glasses, coffee cups and stemware then I fixed some mac and cheese for supper and made Marty some sausage to go with it. While supper was cooking I pulled out more things to pack. Marty is still working on boxing them right now and I helped by taping up the bottom of the boxes. What a helper I am, huh? I have some china my grandmother had and we were really careful packing it. We put the cups and saucers wrapped up in tupperware. The set has pink rosebuds on it and she bought the entire set for $49 from the Montgomery Ward's catalog. We rarely use them but maybe we'll use them for our first real dinner in the new house. I took pictures of the cupboards and am trying to figure out where things will go in the new kitchen. I will have more drawers and more cupboards but my pantry won't be as big as the one I have now.

We didn't pack 2 wine glasses. You can't live without some things.

Marty is playing golf in Colorado tomorrow so I think I'll start working on our Christmas cards. I want to get them in the mail next week. I have to write my annual Christmas poem (my version of a form letter). I want to go over and visit my parents too.

Well, take care.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Howdy!

Marty is not back from his golf outing yet. I did laundry, bought groceries and worked on my annual Christmas poem. My employees have been whining they want me to make my famous death cookies so I baked a batch to take to work tomorrow. For those who haven't heard of my death cookies before, I fancy myself a real comedian sometimes. When I packed Marty's lunch I used to make poison and Skull and Crossbones stickers to put on baggies that I packed his food in. Once I started working where he did we would play cards at lunch with some people in his department so I would write on his baggies "with poison" and my bag had "without poison". Sometimes I would take in homemade chocolate chip cookies which everyone loved so they soon became known as death cookies because I would always put one of the poison stickers on them. I did eat some dough and hot cookies but I didn't eat much for lunch or breakfast. I think I'll make a grilled cheese sandwich for supper.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

marcy - ooohhh! I bet you're so excited! 3 weeks!!!! So, you're going to move in and immediately decorate for Christmas, right? Someone in our neighborhood did that last year. They moved in the week before Christmas. The very next day, they had the outside all decked out that it looked like they had lived there for years. They put us all to shame. And yes, packing burns major calories. That's serious work. That cracks me up that you haven't packed your wine glasses. Too funny. The builders will come back and repair all of the nicks and gouges, won't they? My dad has finally been cleared by all doctors, but doesn't want to have surgery this close to Christmas. I think he's going to call tomorrow to make an appointment for shots in his knees. The poor guy can't walk. Is your mom still in therapy? I wonder why her knee isn't bending as well as it was.

Dee*Jay - I'd love to have a 1-story house, but the only ones around here are OLD. I'd love to have a new 1-story in a nice neighborhood. Congrats on being down in weight around the holidays. You sound like a tiny person anyway... I always feel like such an elephant. I'm 5'9 and my best weight is 145-150. Strangely, when I'm in that range I can fit comfortably in my size 4 jeans. I have a pair of them on right now, but I can sure tell I'm not at my best weight! I feel like an elephant because my family is teeny tiny, and I have always been the largest of my mom and sisters, and now my nieces. I hate it. Oh well, they starve themselves and I like to eat...and drink.

We went to the farmers market yesterday and bought a Christmas tree, and then ate at the tasty local Italian restaurant located in the farmers market. Yummmm. Today we went to look at a house in town not expecting much but ended up being shocked at how gorgeous this house is inside. Unfortunately it is 5,000 sq ft, and the 2 of us absolutely don't need a 5,000 sq ft house. We'd be crazy. The owners built a smaller house right across the street to downsize, and their smaller house looks just as big on the outside as the house we looked at. They have already moved and they're offering the house at a steal. We'd be stupid not to make an offer, but we'd be stupid to buy such a big house for 2 people. Argh! We came home this evening intending to decorate our tree, but discovered that a good portion of the LED lights we bought last year aren't working. We'll have to stop for more lights tomorrow. Food has been ridiculously bad this weekend and I have had too much beer. I found a Magic Hat - Heart of Darkness beer that is super tasty. My weekend has not been healthy. Next week, I promise. Have a great Monday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Marcy, yes, I do believe packing burns plenty of calories! And NO WAY would I pack the wine glasses until the movers were actually hauling boxes onto the truck. Those are ESSENTIAL! Your willpower amazes me… all the baking you do and you are so damn good… !!! Plus, when you list out what you eat during the day I’m like, geez Marcy, that’s an APPETIZER for me – HA!

Deegee, I’m only living in a condo (which I rent from someone else) right now, but I must say that being on one floor as opposed to four is FANTASTIC! As for being tiny… it’s an odd thing. So I’m about five feet tall and right now I weight 134 lbs. I’m wearing size 2 or 4, but I think I have really dense bones because no one believes I weigh as much as I do. When I was really thin, around 120 a couple of years ago, a couple of girls in the gym were talking about how much they weigh and they were around 105, and I was smaller than they were. Weight is an odd thing.

And total aside, but here is something I just randomly remembered. Back in the 120 lb days I was at lunch with my best friend and she looked at me and said, “Remember that cartoon ‘Skelator’? Well you lose one more ounce babe and you’re there. Your head is too big for your body. EAT something.”

Had a good weekend, but not *quite* as productive as I had hoped… the presents are all wrapped (the ones I’ve received anyway, there are still a few in transit), but I didn’t get any boxes ready to ship. Oh well, I guess they will go out after I get home from Hawaii next week unless I have a sudden burst of energy when I get home from class tonight.

Am only up .2 lbs from Friday morning, so I guess my eating wasn’t TOO bad. And I had hard gym workouts both Saturday and Sunday (at the good gym, not the one in my building).

I did apply for the job BTW, but I don’t have much hope since I have ABSOLUTELY ZERO industry experience. I’m sure every control manager from ever other car company in the US pounced on this job listing when it came up. It was fun for a minute there though!

 

[marcy]

Hi!

Aak! House hassles are beginning. We have contacted our phone / internet provider 4 times and Marty went in today in person and they marked the request as “not serviceable” but never called us back to tell us that. Since we are in a new neighborhood and the first house on that street they can’t find the address on a map. Marty has to have high speed internet so this is going to be fun. I printed out a map and will go stand in line tomorrow and if I don’t get a satisfactory response I will ask to speak to a manager. We have seen their service trucks out there putting in lines.

I dropped some papers off at the mortgage company today and talked to the lady we talked to the first time. When I mentioned our up front money or closing costs she looked confused saying we didn’t need any. Her assistant has been telling me we need to bring some to closing for fees that can’t be financed. Of course we were initially told on VA loans you can finance everything as long as you aren’t financing more than the assessed value of the house.

The postoffice was asked to start forwarding our mail on December 21 but they are holding our mail instead. We haven’t had mail for 4 days and they couldn’t find it at the post office today. I am worried about missing bills but the only one’s I can’t find online are our water / sanitation bill and the lawn / yard service. I might have to call them.

I drove by the house on my errands and they were working on painting the trim outside (finally) and putting up the wire for the brick.

Yes, such stress resulted in me eating a few cc cookies that I took to work. I resisted them until about 2 though.

Deegee, naturally we must keep our wine glasses handy. Marty did send a list of the boo boos to the lady at the sales office today. All she said was she’d forward them to the contractor. That is great someone moved in to your neighborhood and decorated for Christmas right away. We probably won’t do that. I’ll be all worried about keeping things neat for a day or two That is good they finally cleared your dad for surgery. Those shots usually help for a few weeks so hopefully that will get him through the holidays. Poor guy. That is miserable waiting for surgery and not being able to walk. My mom is definitely not doing as well as she was in rehab. Do tell more about the house you looked. I agree that is a lot of square footage but who I to talk? We are going from 1026 sq feet to about 3700 square feet finished between main floor and basement. If it is a steal make a ridiculous offer and see if they accept. Is it one floor living? Is it closer to work?

Dee Jay, my willpower isn’t what is used to be but I always continue to try. LOL at only packing the wine glasses when the movers are hauling out the last boxes to the truck. Weight is an odd thing. You and Deegee are tiny. When do you leave for Hawaii? How many days are you staying there? Take pictures of the ocean for me. I hope you hear something on that job. That would be so exciting. That is nice your condo is only 1 floor. I will probably venture downstairs at out new place sometimes but my knees don’t like stairs.
Food today: toast, yogurt, cheerios, sandwich, cc cookies, some hamburger / pasta and veggies. We had some slow churned ice cream and Marty ate a few more cookies.

You know the bear / killer rabbit battles around our house? Well Marty posted on Facebook today how the killer rabbit was trying to pack the bears up to move and they kept getting out of the box. When I got home he had one of the teddy bears wrapped up in bubble wrap and the killer rabbit had the tape gun in his mouth. One of the other teddy bears was “crawling” out of the box trying to get away and the 3rd teddy bear was looking over the edge at the bubble wrapped teddy bear. Yes, Marty said he was busy today. I know he gets bored being home by himself all day.

Marty heads to NYC tomorrow. Boo.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hey kids!

Marcy, I have to get up at 3:30 tomorrow morning to make my flight. Yes, THREE… THIRTY… Talk about o'dark hundred... In your new house is there anything in the basement that you need (e.g., laundry)? Otherwise, let Marty have his man cave and you can be the Queen of the Upstairs! And LOL on what you ate yesterday… I swear, one of these day’s you’re just going to perish from lack of food!

Had a surprisingly productive night after I got home from class. The rest of my grandmother’s packages arrived so I wrapped those, and then I made the brilliant discovery that I could go to Fed Ex online, establish and account, print labels, and arrange a pick up for all the boxes sitting in my living room. Much easier to just push them down the hallway to the receiving office in my building and have them await pick-up than drag them down to my car, drive to the Fed Ex place, get them out of the car, and ship them there. Woo hoo for Fed Ex!!!!

Weight is holding steady at 134, even though I have been quite good for a few days now. Oh well, better than 234, especially at 5 feet tall!

Dropped the baby off this morning to have the radar detector installed while I’m in Maui. I hope Billy Ray has fund visiting with his friends while I’m gone.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-weight is a funny thing. I lost 70 pounds, and most people tell me they would have never figured I had 70 to lose. I guess I hide it well. Unfortunately I am top heavy, which also makes me feel like an elephant around my stick sisters! And surely you have no need for a radar detector. I mean really...in a Porsche? I bet that thing just chugs along! Barely makes it up hills. I so envy you with your shopping and wrapping. I still haven't bought anything. Yikes! Matt has to get up at 4:30 tomorrow to head out of town, so he's right there with you on the o'dark hundred.

Marcy-I could go on and on about the house. The highlights: huge rooms, 9 and 10 ft ceilings with crown mouldings in all rooms, some rooms have tray ceilings with crown mouldings, huge cherry kitchen with island and granite countertops, 3 car garage, gently curving cherry staircase in foyer and a back carpeted staircase, screened patio and huge composite deck, private back yard, solid cherry doors and trim, new carpet & fresh paint, media room with wet bar and custom designed equipment-all staying...I could keep going. Oh, the master closet...droolllll...I don't have that much stuff! Matt is heading out of town for the rest of the week, so we really can't do anything until next week. The funny thing is that I absolutely had to drag him to see this house, and now he wants to put an offer on it. He is totally not a impulsive kind of guy-he's an engineer for goodness sake! We weren't expecting to be so floored. I would like to see a few other houses for sanity's sake. This one will get sold quickly I'm sure, but I think we'll find something we like. I'm just happy that I found a neighborhood that he likes that is centrally located - 10 minutes to work for me and 15 for him. I didnt realize you were going up so much in house size. i don't feel so bad! And I agree with Dee*Jay. How do you survive on what you eat?

Work was crazy today. I got pulled into an emergency meeting while I was eating lunch, so that got cut short. While I'm waiting for Matt to get home, I decided to have an appetizer of wine and a miniature Reese cup. Okay I had two miniature Reese cups. And I'm all out of wine or I'd have more of that too. I plan to make homemade pizza for dinner. It's pouring rain so we won't be walking tonight. Lily is truly bouncing off the walls. Have a great day tomorrow! Dee*Jay-have a safe trip!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Dee Jay, getting up at o’dark thirty? Yuck! I always ask “is there even air out at that time of day?” I remember running Marty to the airport when he flew to Hong Kong and we’d have to be in the car by 3 am. Ugh. There will not be anything in the man cave I’ll need; the house will be main floor living. We will each have our own floor. There is no way I’ll waste away from lack of food. It always seems to find me. What a great idea to have Fed Ex pick up your packages. Billy Ray will miss you but at least he can hang out with his friends. We need a radar detector. Marty got a ticket about a week ago. He was pretty angry but has he quit speeding? No.

Deegee, people do carry weight very differently. I am bottom heavy - definitely pear shaped. Marty flew out today too but he didn’t leave here until a little before 7. He got the latest flight between Dee Jay and Matt. The house you looked at sounds marvelous and beautiful. I bet it does get snatched up quickly. You guys can make an offer with Matt out of town. We signed our contract when Marty was in London. How nice you both would be so much closer to work. I’ll be farther from work - more like 15 minutes away instead of 10. Yes, our new place will be quite a bit larger that is why I am pretty determined to have someone come in and clean it for us. I actually am gaining weight with what I eat so I need to change something up. I am very much looking forward to having a greenway out my back door. Wine and PB cups sounds great.

My dad was long, stressful and varied. I didn’t sleep well worrying about the internet and phone bit and wondering why my Dec. 1st house payment hadn’t cleared our account yet. Marty took off about 7. After I got to work the lady that we work through with our contractor emailed me a name and phone number at the phone / internet company. I called him and he was great. Reassured me they were getting lines put in on our street and that we’d be ready to go by the 20th. Then I called the mortgage company. I cancelled my auto withdrawal effective Jan. 1st. However since I deleted that option they didn’t withdraw the December 1st payment. I did a online payment for a fee of $5. It should show up today or tomorrow. It is not considered late until December 15. The right after Marty text me from the plane he is shutting his phone off I get a phone calls from the contractor. They want to know where we want the gate in the backyard and where we want the fence to start on the side of the house. Hopefully Marty agrees with my choices. Then they wanted us to pick our trees but she said we didn’t have to pick them today.

I drove by the house at lunch and found a swarm of people working. They were putting up the fence, painting, it looks like our hardwood flooring has arrived. This is pretty funny - I didn’t like the color we picked for the house. It is kind of a brown - yellow - green color and in certain lighting it looked like nasty mustard. I looked at the sample online again tonight and like it so maybe it was the lighting on that side or they only had one coat on it or something.

i picked up my gag Christmas cards. I will make a screen shot and post it. It has my 3 teddy bears and the killer rabbit all in Santa hats. Marty actually left the killer rabbit here this time; he is perched on one of the blades on our ceiling fan. I am quite happy with how they turned out.

Then I drove by the post office which look surprisingly slow for 12:45 pm so I went in to see about our mail. The guy up front had no idea where our mail was so he got a manager. He found our regular postman and found out they read the forward notice wrong so they will get out mail back (where ever that is) and it should be delivered tomorrow. I actually had some mail in our mailbox today. I ordered a Christmas Snoopy case for my cell phone so I am anxious to get it.

Food today was okay. Cheerios, yogurt, a small cinnamon roll, a sandwich and a few fries, mint, leftover beef pasta, raw veggies, toast and cottage cheese. Dessert was a ww frozen chocolate bar.

Take care!
Marcy

 

[marcy]

My Christmas Card. Bwhahahahahahahahahaha. I am going to leave one addressed to Marty on his desk.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your card is cute! I should do a cute card with my sweet Lily Pie and the kitties. I don't think any of them would cooperate though. I'm glad you got the Internet and phone situation worked out. I hope your flooring turns out to your liking. I'd forgotten you guys signed your contract with Marty in London. If our house was ready to put up for sale, I think we would make an offer. Unfortunately we need to finish painting, make a few repairs, finish a few other projects, and get new carpet. We're thinking we'll replace carpet after we move out and right before we put it up for sale. We talked about possibly building, but I couldn't even begin to pick everything out like you have! We'd never get finished.

Food today was okay. I had cottage cheese & berries for breakfast, a frozen Kashi meal for lunch, and grilled chicken, potatoes and green beans for dinner. I was going to make myself a bag of popcorn for a snack, but then I remembered I have an 8am dental appointment tomorrow, and i always feel like i still have popcorn stuck in my teeth the day after i eat it. I am finally getting that tooth I broke a few months ago looked at. Hopefully it will be a quick fix with no root canal necessary. Lily and I walked when I got home, and now my back is really cramping and spazzing. Too bad Matt isn't here to hear me whine! Speaking of wine, I stopped on the way home for a few bottles so I'm going to have a glass and go to bed. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Deegee, we got most of our house projects done in less than a month or I should say Marty got them done or arranged anyway. I did see the phone / internet company at the end of our street today with cables. Sweet. Sorry to hear your back is spazzing and cramping; I hope it feels better in the morning. Good luck at the dentist. I had a glass of wine with supper but I stopped at one.

I ran by the house before work, at lunch and after work. Our fence is up, they finished one of the columns with the brick so I guess that is progress. I liked the color a little better today.

Food was okay. Cheerios, yogurt, crackers, Arby's junior, some curly fries, 1/2 of a steak, 1/2 of a baked potato and some frozen TCBY yogurt. I met a friend for supper and then we went to Target and the mall.

I am off to work on Christmas cards.

Dee Jay, I hope you are enjoying Hawaii.

Marcy

 

[deegee]

Hello! My dentist appointment went really well. He fixed my tooth without numbing me. However, I did get a lecture about waiting too long to have it fixed, it could have started decaying, blah, blah blah. Work was busy. The project I desperately don't want to be on starts up on Jan 7, soi have been frantically trying to get my backlog of issues taken care of. The problem is, new issues that require research pop up every day and I feel like I'm not getting very much accomplished. Breakfast was cottage cheese and blackberries, lunch was Chinese vegetables, and dinner was a handful of peanutbutter m & m's, a skinny cow ice cream sandwich, a handful of peanuts, and Reese's miniature. Yep, one of those nights. And FYI-merlot doesn't go we'll with a skinny cow ice cream sandwich. Lily and I walked tonight, but only one mile again. My back was really starting to yell and I didn't want to push it.

Marcy-I'd be just like you stopping by the house as many times as I could during the day. I'm glad to hear it is coming along, especially since you only have a few more weeks. Yay! I'm dying to drive by the house we looked at Sunday, but I know it will be sold by the time we're ready to act so I'm making myself stay away. Matt and I are going to try to paint all we can the week after Christmas while we're both off, and then hire a painter to do the 2-story foyer and ceiling work. We really need to hire a handyman to do some of the repairs. They're not big things, but they need to be done. I hope Marty gets back home soon. Matt should be back tomorrow night.

I can't keep my eyes open, so I'm off to bed. Have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone!

Deegee, glad you got your tooth fixed; too bad you got a lecture too. Do they charge extra for unsolicited advice? Good idea to hire out some of your house fixes. We didn't regret doing that one bit. Marty gets back tomorrow but then heads to Brazil on Sunday. Aak. I am not happy about that. He'll get back Friday morning in time for our walk through. We are expecting a snow storm on Sunday the day he is leaving to go to the airport too. I guess I'll be packing next week by myself. I can pack but won't be able to stack boxes downstairs.

What a day! Work was a bit crazy. My parents called me and asked if I wanted to meet them at Olive Garden for lunch at noon. I knew it was a bad idea since they are slow and busy but 2 hours later I made it back to work. After work I took the interstate loop to drive by the house. They were still working on the brick. The poor guy working on the pillar on a scaffold was doing it in the dark and they had 2 cars shining headlights on the area for him. Most of the front of the garage is done and the lights were installed and on. COOL! So I drove down to Walgreens and picked up a few cards; drove by the house again then was on my way home when my phone starting chirping at me in the sound assigned to Marty. I pulled over and he was all worried why I wasn't answering his emails. I texted him back saying I'd be home in about 5 minutes. I got home, picked up our mail (which finally showed up), pulled in the trash can, carried in some set top boxes and he was calling me. He thought since I hadn't answered his email about having to go to Brazil that I was mad. Nope, I was driving and had no idea he was emailing me. He showed me the view out of this window. You could see a light in the distance which is the ball they are going to drop on New Year's Eve.

I finished my Christmas cards and since my mom called me in a panic about not being able to get to her email I ran to the post office, then by the house and then went to see what was wrong. Nothing was wrong but at least she is showing interest in emails for the first time in months. They've been paying for online service with their phone company for a couple of years but her PC isn't hooked up. I think they have a cable modem in that room but I have no idea how to hook it up. If I can get Marty to look at it on Saturday maybe he can figure it out; if not they''ll have to have their provider come out and hook them up. She's been using a dial up modem (that I've been paying for) for 2 years for nothing. She'll be amazed at high speed internet. I set up her email address already tonight.

Well, it is well past my bedtime.
Laters,
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Ooh. I can see myself living here soon.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Quick fly-by from Maui!

Deegee, I've had several dinners just like the one you described! That's why I can't have candy in the house...

Marcy, the house looks GREAT! And I'm glad your mom is taking an interest in email. Hope you and Marty get the technical issues figured out for her.

OK, off to the gym, and then some *shopping* today!

Aloha!!!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I have nothing to report b/c neither have I been eating well nor exercising. Yikes!

marcy--your house looks awesome!
deegee-- about the lecture at the dentist. But glad it was an easy fix.
DeeJay--enjoy your Maui vacay...everyone I know will be there soon! As ususal, Ii am jeali!

cheers--Sharon

 

[marcy]

Hi everyone Welcome to the weekend.

Dee Jay, how was shopping in Maui? I bet the weather there is divine. I was kind of glad to hear my mom was showing interest in doing email again. It sounded like it was my dad’s idea but she should like having faster internet access once we get her hooked up properly. Thanks on the house. I didn’t even go see it today.

Sharon, thanks. Did you get your kitchen done? I am anxious to hear how you like it.

Deegee, how is your back feeling? Is Matt home yet?

Work took forever today. Mostly because Marty got back to town about 2 and I wanted to come home then instead of waiting until 5. He has been working on his Brazil project since he got home. I hope he gets them done tonight so he can have one day before he heads off to Brazil.

Marty drove by the new house when he got to town and said they are done outside and the flooring company was working inside. They may be done by our walkthrough a week from today. We got a copy of the appraisal today so that is all good for closing. We tried to call and get our internet / phones moved in a few weeks and you guessed it - the system said our address is unserviceable. They finally agreed to send the request to the guy here in town I talked to yesterday. He is supposed to call me when he gets is arranged. If I don’t hear from him Monday morning you know where I am going to be during lunch on Monday.

Tomorrow I am going to call to arrange a few of our deliveries. I need to do laundry tomorrow to get Marty ready for his trip.

Winter is here. We are expecting really cold temperatures this weekend and some snow. Yuck. I’ve been wearing my polar fleece jacket. I think I need to get out my coat.

Well, take care. Have a wonderful weekend.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your house looks beautiful! What lousy timing for Marty to have to be gone. Did he know he'd be traveling so much when he took this job? Matt got home late last night and is thankfully finished traveling for the year. My back is still being really ugly. I will come clean and admit that I moved furniture back into my section at work after the carpet was replaced. Okay, not furniture, but those big 5-6 ft tall metal cabinets, which is what I was doing when I herniated 2 discs 6 years ago. Apparently I don't learn.

Dee*Jay-I hope you're having a blast on your trip! I'm jealous.

Sharon-I haven't been doing well with food or exercise either. I'm pretty upset with myself right now.

My parents are coming to visit today, so Matt and I had to do some emergency house cleaning this morning. Our cleaners will find a clen house when they get here on Monday! We're taking mom and dad out to eat and to the WV Symphony tonight for their Christmas show. They just pulled in...gotta go. Have a great weekend!

 

[marcy]

Deegee, we actually thought Marty would travel more than he does but it looks like next year he may travel more than he has this year. That is good Matt won't be traveling anymore this year. I am so sorry to hear your back is so bad. I hope you rest up this weekend. Enjoy the weekend with your parents.

We certainly woke up to cold weather. We had a little bit of snow (just enough to make it nasty). The wind cill is about 18. We had to go put little flags where we want some trees planted. It was brutal in the wind. No one was working on the house so we got the key and went in. They have quite a bit of the wooden floor down, quite a few of the lights in, the toilets are in and the outside appears to be done. Here is a collage of a few of the photos from today.

I am making homemade beef noodle soup for supper. It smells good.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Yes Marcy--kitchen is done but for the pantry door. It had two defects in it--chip in the Oak and chip in the glass. I don't expect a new one unitl the NY. All in all, it turned out very well and I am happy.

I have just booked the second (main) bathroom for reno's starting on Jan 2nd. Ran all over town looking for stuff. Was successful, but I find these type of errands tedious. Very tedious.

I will go to relaxation yoga class tomorrow. I do plan to get back to the pool/gym next week, my work schedule is light b/c I've planned it that way and my son is writing exams, so a little less stress than the last two weeks has seen.....

cheers--Sharon

 

[marcy]

Sharon that is great your kitchen reno turned out well. Hopefully they get your pantry door replaced soon. Nice you'll be starting on the second bathroom in the new year too. It is rather tedious to run around and pick out things. We usually one have 3 or 4 places to go here but it takes awhile. Enjoy a lighter schedule for a few weeks.

 

[marcy]

Hi. The cold really moved in today. Wind chill is about 20 below. The temps will improve as the week goes on. Send lots of PS dust that Marty's diesel starts when he gets back Friday. He is on the plane to Brazil right now. His first plane was late so he barely made his connecting flight since he had less than 20 minutes between flights.

I did some more cleaning out and packing today. I think I will work on the kitchen some this week too.

I got the January newsletter done for my club. I want to get as many things done as I can before we move.

I bought McDonald's sandwiches for breakfast. We had leftover soup for lunch and I had 2 pieces of a small microwave pizza for supper.

I am watching The Dark Knight Rises right now. It isn't bad. I am going to get out a blanket and watch the rest of it.

Have a great week.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your house looks beautiful. Is that stacked stone? Everything looks so modern. I love it. I'm excited to really start looking after Christmas. Matt keeps hounding me to give him gift ideas, and I told him the best gift of all was that he is willing to look at houses in Charleston, close to work and friends. Sounds hokey, but I really do mean it. You and Marty are going to have lots of packing to do when he gets home! I hope the rest of your new house journey goes smoothly for you.

Sharon-glad you're happy with your renovations. Matt and I have decided not to takcle any...we'll just move!

The symphony last night was beautiful. Lots of talented folks performing. My co-workers think it is hilarious that I go to the symphony when I regularly listen to hard rock at work. We went to a new Italian restaurant beforehand that was really good. Everything was fresh and homemade. Yummy. Matt and I spent most of the day today at the mall, and I have to say it is an evil, bad place. I got gifts for my side of the family taken care of AND an outfit tomwear to Matt's Christmas party this week. We just have to focus on his side of the family and we're through. We were there so long that I'm not so sure I'll be able to walk tomorrow. We have both pledged to straighten up next week with the food. For dinner I had the margarita grilled chicken at Chilis, and came home and had a few KY bourbon beers to, you know, help my back calm down. Off to bed...have a great day tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Thanks, Deegee. I am officially sick of packing. Good idea to ask for a new house for Christmas. I think the best part of moving closer to work is the extra time you'll have because of a shorter commute. The symphony sounds like a really nice time. The malls are evil, bad places right now. What a relief though to get a lotmofmyour shopping done. I need to work on that myself. Marty got a Tommy Bahamas $50 reward certificate that expires on December 30 so he wants to go to Denver and spend it right before Christmas. I am encouraging him to shop online. Then again they do have a Tumi store at that mall. I hope your back gets better.

I got out my jewel jet tonight. My rings were kind of smudgy even though I clean them everyday. I might leave my JJ on the edge of the tub on our new house. Neither of us take baths. I'll have to see though because I want to keep it uncluttered. Even though we packed our knick knacks I MIT get roof a lot of them. They are just dust collectors.

I cranked the electric blanket up so the bed will be warm when info to bed. It says it feels like -6 right now.

Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday! We had another chilly day. Marty sent me a picture of the view from his room in Brazil - it is looking down on a beach and the ocean. I called him a dirty name. He said it was pretty rough dealing with the 80 degree temperatures there.

Work was okay today but a little boring. I had a few meetings to attend which are never my idea of fun.

I didn't hear from the phone / internet guy by 2 pm today so I called his cell phone. He didn't answer the call but amazingly the guy I talked to on Friday called me 5 minutes later and transferred me to someone who set up our appointment. I also called and scheduled deliveries for our washer and dryer, bed, mattress and basement appliances as well. Let's hope we actually close on the 20th.

Food was Cheerios, yogurt, crackers, soup, junior cheeseburger, small fries and a WW chocolate bar. A friend of mine came by tonight with her daughter and we finished off a bottle of chardonnay. There was only enough left for each of us to have a small glass which was perfect. Her daughter is 4 and was shy at first but started having fun then didn't want to go home. She's funny. She always calls Marty my dad.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Hi kids! Only have a sec so sorry in advance for the quick post.

Marcy, I hear you on the packing. When I moved in June the company had packers come in for all my stuff. It made it easy… well, ALMOST easy. The bad news is next time I move it will be on my own dime and I will be chief packer. Ug.

Deegee, I hope the house is still on the market when you’re ready to make an offer and that you get it for a ridiculously low price! It might seem big now, but I think you would be surprised at how easily you can fill up a house (coming from a single person that just moved out of a four level three bedroom home, I know!)

Sharon, glad you survived the first round of renovations! Good for you for going back to the pool/gym. I am not going to get much working out in over the next few weeks and I’m already dreading what that will mean in terms of catch up come the first of the year.

Maui was GREAT! The weather was perfect, and I managed to work out 3 of the 5 days, and also go snorkeling one day, but was really bad with food… up 5 lbs… holy cow… Oh well, back on the wagon today!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Marcy--packing and Christmas doesn't seem to go together unless you are Santa!

Deegee--I'd move, but we are old. I'll leave that to the young folks like you two!

Deejay--I am jealous of those lovely pina colada's you drank--or just assuming you did.....I'd fly to Hawaii just to have two or twenty two of those creamy babies..... And as for working out-....pffffft....just working! Who does that? Yikes.

cheers--Sharon