Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, when you get your printer issue figured out feel free to come and look at mine... I've STILL got a document that's been "waiting to print" for about six months now!

Deegee, hello girlfriend! Don't worry about buying to much stuff, we all do it from time to time! And LOL on being too tall for the Lexus... I've never been too tall for ANYTHING!

It was a busy long weekend! Saturday morning I woke at 5 am to find my dining room dripping water... THANK GOD I was home and not at TR's already for the weekend!!! The problem was easily found (HVAC thing came disconnected upstairs) and the owner of that unit is super reasonable so she'll take care of all the damage no problem. After that I went to Lexus to get a second key fob made (driving around for ten days with only one made me just SURE I was going to somehow lock it in the car!), worked out, and did a bunch of stuff around the house. Sunday I worked out and headed to TR's, where I put together Rick Bayless's tinga recipe in a crock pot and we let it go all day. It was really good, but even better the second day. Yesterday we did some shopping around and stuff, but nothing major. And then early to bed, early to rise for my killer damn commute. Ugh. At least I'm getting to enjoy Billy Ray!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, it's great to hear from you; I've been wondering how you are doing? Mowing a hilly yard is not fun; the house we had until I was about 6 had very steep hills; and while I never mowed it I know my parents sure didn't enjoy mowing it. At least it was a small yard. I hope Greg's knees don't hurt too bad. My knees are bad from arthritis and just hanging on by a thread. I am better this week; I did take it pretty easy this weekend and used some ice packs. I am glad you've had someone cleaning for you for years. Me too; I wouldn't give that up unless I had to for some reason. Thanks; I haven't been tending to my flowers for the last month but they are still blooming. If you are shopping small SUV I'll put out a suggestion to try the Macan. I love mine and Marty fits in it fine. Sorry you've had a rough summer; it's hard to get out of a funk sometimes especially if you can't figure out what's causing it. Good idea to read more and eating healthy.

Dee Jay, hopefully you aren't in a rush to get that document printed out. I found an article saying 1 in 10 air printers have issues finding the printer. There isn't even a driver you can install for Mac. I should have researched that in the first place but who would think you can't find a driver for Mac? Oh no to waking up fo dripping water; you've had more than your share of that. That's great your neighbor is taking care of it for you. Good deal your crock pot dish turned out so well; I like easy cooking too. I can see why you are enjoying driving Billy Ray.

I enjoyed driving my car to work this morning but that enjoyment dropped after walking in the door. I'm figuring the police are all watching school zones at 7:30 so I'm a little more likely to go fast. Sweet. My leftover kabob didn't heat up well and my pineapple leaked all over my lunch bag. I have a bag of peanut M&M's since I was still hungry - you know chocolate and some protein.

I keep looking at pink sapphire earrings tonight. The pair I like the best (just dangle lever backs) are probably only about 4 mm stones, I would rather have 5 to 6 mm size. I might email them and see if they would change out the dangle part. They can no more than tell me no.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-water dripping from the ceiling is never a good thing. We came home from grocery shopping right after we bought our house, and water was dripping from the light fixture above the kitchen island. The toilet in the bathroom directly upstairs had come unsealed. Luckily, it was a quick fix. Glad you’re enjoying your drive time with Billy Ray. So let me ask, why did you name it Billy Ray? I grew up in the same town as Billy Ray Cyrus, my brother in law went to high school with him, and my mind goes right there. Haha!

Marcy-our Porsche dealer went out of business. I drove by the location last weekend just to be sure. The closest dealer would probably be Pittsburgh, and that’s nearly 4 hours away. I was disappointed because I had that one on my list, in blue! Matt’s knees are bad because of sports. He had to have the ACL repaired and meniscus removed a few months after we started dating. I had to cart him around everywhere because he had a monster brace on his driving leg. Fast forward 24 years, and arthritis has set in. He wants to take care of the grass as long as he is able to, but he sure pays for it afterwards. I had my car wreck that caused the damage to my spine 20 years ago yesterday (not a happy anniversary), and I’ve never had a problem admitting I need help with housework! I think we hired the first cleaners while I was recovering, and I’ve had them ever since.

Work today was pretty quiet. I forced myself to leave right at 8 hours. Marcy, I’m trying my hardest to get there on time but I seem to be 8 minutes late everyday. If I would just get up one snooze earlier! I sliced my finger cutting up a fresh pineapple today. I need one of those pineapple peeler, cutter gadgets I think. The finger I cut tonight is next to the finger I maimed cutting up a butternut squash a few years ago. Seriously, my fingernail grows weird now. Knives are not my friends. Have a great Wednesday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy birthday to me kids!

Curby, I never thought about the cops being otherwise occupied in school zones at that time, LOL.

Deegee, at my first job in the financial industry I worked for a broker who had an old black whale tail named Billy Ray, as in Billy Ray Valentine, Capricorn, from Trading Places. I always said when I got my 911 I'd name him Billy Ray Jr., and now I'm not Billy Ray III!

So yesterday I got a lot done! My poor boss... I went into his office at 3:30 with a Pile O' Papers and didn't come out until about 5:30, ha ha. After that I worked out and then TR came down. We finally got the elliptical machine out of one of my friends' garage, and he took it home this morning. Of course now it's sitting in the garage and who knows how long it will take to get it actually in the basement, but baby steps, right?! This morning it was crazy steamy when I walked to work. Ugh. But it's supposed to cool off... and then there are thunderstorms predicted later. Double ugh. Welcome to a late Chicago summer!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay- a contract coworker of mine who is from India traveled to Chicago for the first time over the weekend, and now she’s ready to make it her home base in the US! The friend she stayed with lives in a high rise downtown, and she absolutely loved it. A lot of the people we worked with on this project were in the US for the first time, and they got stuck in Charleston WV. They weren’t sure what to make of such a small town.

Marcy-That is smart thinking about police & school zones! My start time is 9am though, and school is long in session by then. Actually, the reason I bumped my start time to 9 (other than me not being a morning person) is that I used to get stuck behind a bus that I swear stopped at every house, an apartment complex and a daycare for half of my drive in. It never pulled off the main road either. Just sat there with the stop sign out. Argh!

I’m trying my hardest not to take a nap. I so want a nap. Matt is at church with his youth group so the house is quiet. I had a salad and watermelon for dinner and now I’m going to try to hold my eyes open for a few hours to read. I am going through a spell of very bad insomnia, and I have had to quit taking sleeping pills because I’m too groggy in the morning. I sleep a good hour and 15 minutes every night, then I’m back awake. Sometimes I doze the rest of the night, and sometimes I’m just wide awake. Part of my funk is that I don’t sleep! I shop...and that’s bad... I have a new LV bag being delivered tomorrow. I ordered that in the middle of the night a few nights ago. Bad Dee! I’m off to read. Have a wonderful Thursday.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, how cool to kind of know a celebrity. I helped out quality checking some video on demand stuff at work and watched quite a few of the Hannah Montana episodes. Oh no that the Porsche dealer is 4 hours away. I couldn't be happier with my Macan; I continue to be impressed with how well it handles. My Porsche dealer is an hour away. I remember you telling us about Matt's knees and your accident; the abuse all of our bodies go through. That is definitely not a good anniversary either. I didn't clean our old house as much as I should. When we moved I cleaned our new place once and my knees gave me a serious chewing out so I decided to hire someone to clean for us then. Oh no for cutting your finger, i hope it's not too bad. Marty won't let me cut up things anymore; he says he doesn't have time to take me to the emergency room. I quit doing the snooze alarm bit; i get myself in trouble quickly. I hate to hear you are having trouble sleeping. Marty sometimes is up at 1 or 2 am; sometimes he sleeps in until 3 or 4. I hope you start getting more rest. Enjoy your new LV bag.

Dee Jay, Happy Birthday! I hope you had a fabulous birthday!!! Did you do any celebrating?
I'm not going to go crazy speeding but at 8 am they should be out watching those kiddos, right? Too funny that Billy Ray is from Trading Places. An entertaining movie. Good deal for getting so much done today. You'll enjoy having the bike at TR's place. We had fog here this morning and it sure felt like fall. Did you get the thunderstorms? Denver had a lot of rain; we didn't get anything here.

My number 1 challenging employee was out sick today; it made for a rather pleasant day at work. I had my work done by 3:30 and luckily something showed up about 4 pm to keep me busy. I picked up window food on the way home since I need to pick up for the cleaning lady tonight. Marty bought a new router today. This one has multi channels and can handle a lot of "traffic". There is a satellite receiver in the living room and the router is downstairs. He said right now we have 30 devices on the system. He assigned an IP address to the printer and it worked both times I used it tonight. Woo hoo! So far the internet hasn't dropped once tonight. Is it too early to ask - who's idea was it to replace the router? I know it never pays to get cocky.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

And naturally I did ask Marty why all the 'rabbit" ears we have setting around don't help with reception.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, we've gotten rain, rain, and more rain these past several days! I even took a Lyft to the gym this morning because it was really coming down and I didn't want to have to deal with wet shoes when I got there. I guess I could have worn my rain boots and carried my shoes, but I already feel like a pack mule half the time so I'm trying not to do so much carrying of stuff. I also bit the bullet and rented a locker at the gym today on a monthly basis. That way I can leave a second set of make up, hair stuff, etc., there and not have to worry about "Do I have this... ? Do I have that... ?" every time. I think it will be great!

Last night we had our Big Brothers / Big Sisters happy hour kick off for the season. Not the most fabulous of birthday celebrations, but at least there was processo, LOL. I did a load of laundry when I got home and a few other things, but I went to sleep pretty early. This morning I had a pretty good workout before I came to the office (where I normally shouldn't be on a Thursday anyway!). And when I got here I had the joy of spending over an hour and a half on hold with my dental insurance company because my dentist said they claim I don't have coverage (although nothing's changed since I got this coverage five and a half years ago... ?). They said, of course, I DO have coverage and the dentist should resubmit the bill. An Hour And A Fvcking Half for that. Whatever.

On the continuing education front, I've got an hour long webinar this afternoon, so that will leave me with only 7-1/2 hours after that. I'm like a bird pecking gravel off the side of a mountain getting this done, ha ha.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I think we must need a new router or something. Our internet has been cutting out way too much lately. Irritating! Glad to hear you had a quiet workday yesterday. Right now my employees are doing quite well. I’m proud of them! For a while I was short sfaffed. 2 on medical LOA. 1 vacancy and 1 employee who wasn’t doing her job. Now I’m all staffed, everyone has returned from LOA, and the lady who wasn’t doing her job had the fear of losing her job after I called her in my office nearly every day to go over mistakes. That did wonders! I remember you had issues with knives too. This cut is on my fingertip and it’s quite touchy. Has Marty found anything to help him sleep?

Dee*Jay-no way could I go somewhere to work out before work. I can barely get myself to work in the first place! Gotta love dealing with insurance. The last time I had to fight with them was when Matt had a very gory accident while on vacation at the Outer Banks (compound fracture nearly tearing his thumb off his hand), and insurance didn’t want to cover the ER visit because it was out of network. So we should have packed it in ice and drove 8 hours back to WV to the ER, I guess.

Yay! I felt like I had a present waiting for me when I got home. I had to have my LV bag delivered to Matt’s office because it required a signature, and we are forbidden from having anything personal delivered to work. He brought it home, so it felt like a gift! I’ve carried the Neverfull GM bag for the last 3 years, and that is one monsterous bag. I wanted something smaller that zipped, and hobo bags are my favorite. I like this pattern too because it’s less recognizable around here. I managed to stay awake until 11:30 last night, and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was back to being wide awake. I read for a few hours and then slept for about 2 hours. I’m so tired! I’m off to read for a while. Tomorrow is Friday. Thank goodness!!

 

[deegee]

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, good idea to get a lift to the gym so your feet aren't soaking wet when you get there. That makes sense to rent a locker to leave some things in so you won't have to pack things back and forth. Big Brothers and Big Sisters doesn't sound like a wild birthday party but a very nice thing to do for you and of course those kids. What a pain being on the phone so long for insurance you do already have. I am glad you got it worked out. That is awesome you are down to 7.5 hours to go on your continuing education. You really knocked that out this summer but I am sure you feel like it's been a long process.

Deegee, So far the new router is making all the difference in the world It really shocked me how many things that connect with wifi around the house. That is awesome you are fully staffed and everyone is doing well. I decided to try a new (old) method with my employees just to save my own sanity. I am just going to fix their little mistakes (if any) that I find. As long as they aren't process errors it is easier than the hassle of micro managing them and getting them agitated that I am nagging at them for something so little. I did that quite a while ago and it gave me something to do; but some of my whiners were going nuts being irradiated at their co-workers and causing problems. It's a vicious circle. I figure if they are all a bit happier we are all a bit happier. Ouch to the knife cut being at the tip of your finger; that will get your attention frequently. What a hassle about Matt's thumb and having to drive home to get it worked on. That's crazy! Your LV bag is great; I like it. Sorry you only slept 2 hours last night. Marty will get so tired he'll take Tylenol PM for awhile but won't do that for long. I think his many cups of espresso might contribute to his insomnia. His mom has it bad too. I did have to stop behind 2 school buses this morning. Darn.

I met a friend for lunch today; it was a nice break. Marty grilled some steaks and corn for supper and I'll take the rest of my steak in to work for lunch tomorrow. It's Friday already! Woo hoo!

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Deegee, I luuuuurve your new bag! And I really like the shape -- so much more fun that the neverful in my opinion! And let me say that when I work out before work I get in around 10 or 10:30 ish. Don't want it to sound like I'm getting up super early, because I'm not! I just leave my house at the regular time and go to the gym and then go to the office.

Curby, what if you fixed the little mistakes that your team makes but make a list of them and at the end of each week (or maybe at the beginning of the following week, because why muck up someone's Friday) git it to them and say, "Oh, BTW, these are the things that I fixed for you last week." Otherwise they might think they aren't MAKING mistakes because they won't otherwise be called to their attention. Just a thought... ?

Yesterday I was going to work late but then I got a bug up my a$$ to get my hair cut and the salon has an opening at 4:45 so I took it. I also did a bunch of laundry last night and a little cleaning up before going to bed early. The problem with that though was being wide awake at 1:30 am, so I read for an hour or so before I went back to sleep.

This morning I took a new class at the gym. I'm icing my knee now, which may not be 100% necessary because it doesn't hurt (yet), but better safe than sorry. Tomorrow I'm just going to do a regular (probably easy) workout before I do my open house.

I'm on the hunt for a backpack because my shoulders are killing me from toting so much stuff around in a regular purse on my shoulder. Something preferably convertible to a shoulder bag if I didn't want to go that route, and I think I like this one from Harveys, but it may not be quite big enough. I would just get solid black, but here are a few pics. So it's either a drawstring shoulder bag or a backpack. Debating... If you have any other ideas I'm all ears!

 

[Dee*Jay]

DUDES!!!!! I'M DONE!!!!! 120 hours of continuing education down the ol' rat hole!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Happy Weekend.

Dee Jay, congratulations for finishing your 120 hours of continuing education. Woo hoo!!!
Yes, I agree with you and I was going to let my team know if they are making mistakes but just cover them in our one on ones (every other week). If it's a bad mistake or a definite process error I'll get with them then and probably even have them fix it. I am just going to try it for awhile and see how it goes. I am frazzled with the constant battles. My boss is only going to here everything is fine because he over reacts to everything.
Good deal to get an appointment for a hair cut at the last minute. Darn that you woke up at 1:30. Good idea to ice your knee just to be safe; I've been using my ice backs on my knees at night; it seems to help. I hope your classes don't flare up your knee.
I like the idea of getting yourself a back pack. I've thought of doing that myself; I always seem to be carrying way too many things. When I was teaching that was mostly what all the students used.

I was so glad to wake up today knowing it was finally Friday. I was done with my work by about 3:45 again and luckily didn't have any problems arise at the last minute. I was out the door at 4:59 pm. I heated up a piece of pizza for supper and made us both a plate of raw veggies. Marty had some grilled pork loin left from lunch. Easy dishes. I did get my car up in the 80's twice today.

Have a great weekend.
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Happy Saturday.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-my problem employee works in the part of my department that handles death claims for the 9 retirement systems administered by the state. She was sending claim forms to people who weren’t the named benes, sending letters addressed to the deceased requesting their death certificates, giving out completely wrong benefit info, and, my favorite, didn’t set up voicemail for 8 months! I had no idea about the voicemail until everything blew up. She was sending out benefit packets (mostly wrong) with her contact info, and didn’t even have voicemail set up! I nearly fired her. This is a very difficult time for people, and my staff needs to do everything they can to make the benefit stuff easier as not cause more stress to beneficiaries. Love the cartoon. That’s how I feel! I’m so jealous of Dee*Jay and her working out so faithfully. I need a good kick in the pants to get going again. I’ve cut out coffee and all caffeinated drinks and tried prescription and OTC sleeping meds in hopes something would help me sleep, but nope! A sleeping pill taken with a bottle of wine somewhat works, but I decided I was going to turn into an alcoholic if I kept it up and I’ve quit both the sleeping pills and the wine. Sure wish I could sleep!

Dee*Jay-I admire your dedication to work out, even if it’s not at the crack of dawn! What motivated you to get started? I like the backpack idea. The last several years I was working on a project, and had no idea where I’d be from hour to hour. I had to have everything with me and ready to go from one building to the next, floor to floor, etc all day. That’s when I bought the Neverfull. I had regular purse stuff, breakfast, lunch, a liter of water, laptop with charger and extra long Ethernet cable, files, and a jacket crammed in there. The straps are thin, and I think I have permanent divots in my shoulder from where they dug in. A backpack would have been so much better!

I had a hair appt this morning to have my Brazilian blowout redone. I had it done in June, then my haircut lady butchered my hair in July. Absolutely butchered. I went back a few days later and told her she had to try to fix it, and she actually asked “did I do this?” She admitted she had been taking too many pain pills lately. She had to add about 1,000 layers and cut some off the length, which cut off my Brazilian blowout and let me with a ball of frizz. I’ve been ready to shave my head for 6 weeks. She redid the blowout at no charge this morning, and had to cut nearly 3 inches off the length to get the layers to blend better. So between her and the other lady I went to to try to fix it, I have lost about 6 inches in hair length and have a gazillion layers. Argh! The lesson here is...make sure your haircut person isn’t stoned when they are wielding scissors. Have a great weekend!

 

[marcy]

Deegee, that is pretty awful about your employee messing up things and information when dealing with someone dealing with a death. That is a hard time (as we sadly know) and any little this is challenging to handle let alone not getting the proper information. I will never forget getting the title on my dad's pickup transferred to my name. I looked online and got all the information and paperwork they said I needed, stood in line and this lady and I fill out all of the required paperwork and then when she went to stamp it she noticed my dad hadn't been dead 30 days yet; it had been 28. She gives me all the paperwork and tells me to come back on Monday. I truly wanted to ask - will he be more dead then? I go back on Monday, get a different lady who proceeds to tear up all the of the paperwork I brought back saying we filled out the wrong paperwork. I am sorry to hear nothing you've tried has helped you sleep. I hope you find something that works SOON. It sounds like you were hauling around a lot of stuff in your Neverfull. I had to lighten my purse because I started getting stiff necks if I walked around with it on my shoulder too long. How awful about those ladies messing up your haircut. Grr. I hope your hair grows fast. I sure can't find someone I really like.

The PB cookies turned out good but big. I only got 30 cookies out of a double batch but the cookies are about 3 inches or more; I put 2 of them in baggies and put $1.00 stickers on them. They are in the freezer now so hopefully I won't forget to take them with me on Monday.

Marcy / Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Happy National Teddy Bear Day.

Sunday is winding down. It seems like I was in the kitchen most of the day but our lasagna was delicious. Marty ate 1/3 of the pan. He said it was horrible but I noticed he went back for seconds. i always eat 1/12th of the pan. I still ended up with 7 suppers / lunches in leftover. We picked up a loaf of the store french bread to make garlic bread with it. I used some of that bread for a grilled ham and cheese for supper. I had that with a peach. I only have that pan to wash once it cools off; then it's dining out, fast food or microwave food until Friday.

Marty is on a plane heading for LA now. I am sure his thrillometer is pegged. I worked on my script ready for our astronomy meeting on Spitzer (the orbiting infrared telescope); now I just have to find about 8 images to go with some of it and I'm ready.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Laters,
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, I used to work out A LOT but pretty much quite when the CB and I were together because we settled into a routine that just didn't include the gym, and he also wouldn't pony up to go to the gym I like the most, which granted IS expensive ($195/month) but if you do it's worth it, right? Now that I have time again I really wanted to work on getting my knees going again and also strengthening my core so my back doesn't cause me so many problems.

Curby, TR and I had lasagna this weekend too! Ours used zucchini instead of noodles though, and it was pretty good! I think next time we've got to sub some mozzarella for the ricotta because it will help "bind" it all together, and hopefully add some more flavor.

I woke up about 3:30 yesterday morning with a puking migraine. Ugh. It's been a while since I've had one of those and I forgot what a joy they are... NOT. Yesterday was spent convalescing on the couch, but I did rouse myself to take a shower, which I counted as a major victory. Then, because I'd spent so much time lying around, when I went to bed last night I couldn't sleep and my hip was sore from doing nothing (oh the irony, right?!). I'm a bit better today, but still not 100%. Just powering through...

 

[deegee]

Marcy-what you experienced with handling things for your dad, what Pinto Bean went through, and my experience with my dad is exactly the reason I want my death team to be excellent. I have awesome employees in that section, especially now that my problem person has shaped up. Let me tell you, those are hard calls to take all day long. I handle them for our uniformed plans (police, fire, ambulance) because they have unique provisions depending on the nature of the death, and those calls can absolutely gut you. We’ve decided we need a comfort dog at work! Lily would be more than happy to come to work with me every day. She loves all people. Lasagna sounds so good. You might remember, I’m not what you would call a cook. I’ve never made homemade lasagna! Matt would love to move into your house. Cookies are his absolute favorite, and you bake a lot of cookies. You wouldn’t be able to get rid of him.

Dee*Jay- I had one of those headaches in July, and it had been a long time since I had one. I sympathize with you! Every time I get a little twinge in my head now, I think “oh please no!” and pop Excedrin migraine just to be safe. Are you taking magnesium oxide? I started after that headache in July. Wow, that is expensive for gym membership, but worth it since you’re using it. Matt and I need to do something because we’d both feel better if we excersided or worked out. We take Lilly for several walks a day, but they are short walks. Our old neighborhood was awesome for walking, but not our neighborhood now. It’s 3 dead end streets that intersect, and it’s all uphill/downhill and steep!

I stayed home from work today. My back told me this morning that I had better take it easy today, so I’ve been hanging out on the couch with the cats and dog. It has rained non-stop since Friday, but at least the temperature dropped from the 90’s to the 70’s and it isn’t so stuffy. Have a great evening!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, a good gym that you will use is worth the money. You had healthier lasagna than we did. I quit using ricotta because I find it kind of gritty. I use cottage cheese instead. I had another piece tonight; it was still tasty. I hope you are feeling better tonight. Migraines are no fun. Isn’t that annoying that you are sick and taking it easy only to get achy from not moving? Hopefully everything will be way better tomorrow.

Deegee, your job sounds gut wrenching dealing with people facing very difficult times. I know PB really went through the wringer getting things worked out. Like anyone needs hassles at that time of their life. I am glad you and your team are on top of things. I remember you don’t cook much. Tell Matt to come on over or should I say “Come to the dark side; we’ve got cookies.” I am sure he would get along great with Matt. I am a fan of Excedrin Migraine too; I find them very helpful. Our old neighborhood was better for walking too. Our neighborhood has a ton of walking paths but they are all uphill and downhill and my knees sure don’t like that. i hope resting up today helped your back; feel better!

I couldn’t find a reason to call in sick today (that’s good and bad, eh?) so I went to work. I started my day at the eye doctor. I swear that guy is so disorganized. Last month when they changed my prescription quite a bit they said to come back in a month to see how my vision was doing. So they check my vision and the eye doctor calls in to the room and says no she needs a retinal scan. They are tweaking my prescription in my new lenses and my retina scan showed my macula is starting to get the proper indentation in it. Woo hoo. Too bad that won’t fix the scar but should help my overall vision. I have no idea if I am supposed to go back for future retinal scans because he started talking about other things with his employees. My glasses from 2016 are clear as a bell so I’m wearing them now.

Feel better ladies!
Laters,
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Good morning kids.

Deegee, I started taking magnesium (Super Mangesium from GNC, 400 mg 3 X day) several years ago and I do think it helps with my migraines. I take the "ate" version instead of the "ide" version though because I understand it to be better absorbed in the body. Here's just one link: https://www.dietvsdisease.org/magnesium-citrate-oxide-benefits-dosage/ Who really knows though; it may be just as effective to pop pez!

Curby, I'm definitely on the upswing! And I can't remember the last time I called in sick... but one of these days I'm gonna do it! We all deserve a mental health day every now and then. That's good news about your vision! Do you notice a difference yourself or is the change so gradual that it's hard for you to gauge it?

Last night I worked a little late and then walked home. TR came down and jumped my neighbor's car so we could move it. He hasn't drive it in well over a year, but his spot is over one of the catch basins that we need to access on a periodic basis, usually in some sort of urgent situation. I swapped one of my spots with him so now he's parked somewhere that doesn't matter and I'll park my Lexus in the spot over the catch basin so I can move it any time we need to. TR also got out the 10' ladder and replaced two of the burned out light bulbs in my track lighting. We went to bed a little later than usual because that all took so long, and then a friend of mine that I was working with in the Sears Tower on 9/11 texted me at 5:14 this morning. I just kind of drifted in and out after that and ended up coming to work early because I was up. Not much else exciting to report.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, we do all deserve a mental health day and I am sure Marty would say I need one. Frequently. I am glad you are on the mend and feeling better. The edema continues to go down so that will improve my overall vision; the scar in the middle of my macula will still distort my vision and be a fuzzy spot. I'll post my images from a year ago and this week to show the change. In my uneducated mind it's like it was swollen and is going down. I have noticed recently the overall vision has improved but that stupid central smudge remains obvious. That is something one of the tenants there hasn't driven his car in over a year. Good plan to move it to a spot that doesn't cover the catch basin. Those high light bulbs are difficult to change. 9/11 doesn't seem like 17 years ago; it is so awful and tragic. i woke up about 5 too; I finally got up at 6.

I had a busy day at work but the day zipped by. I decided to eat supper at the mall and found Kay's has their St. Jude teddy bears already so I bought a bear and puppy to donate then of course I got a new teddy bear for me. Right now he is hanging out on Marty's couch but of course he's only safe there until Marty gets back from LA. He'll say something like "cool, new pillow' and plop right down on top of the bear.

Here are retina scans from this week and last year. The right eye is considered normal with that center indent. The left eye had fluid in it they called an edema and has gone down enough the center is starting to thin out and get an indent again. These are micrometers IRL.



Here is my new bear, Jack.


Tale care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-those scans are crazy looking! You can definitely tell the difference between this year and last. I’m glad your vision is improving. Do you know how it happened? I hurt my eye almost 3 years ago now and have a spot that I call the blob in my field of vision. I feel like I have a grease spot on my contact lens and it’s worse when I’m tired. There is a surgery to remove the scar tissue, but it doesn’t sound super successful so I haven’t looked any further into it.

Dee*Jay-thanks for the link. I’ll definitely read through it. I have had one migraine since the severe one in July, and it didn’t last as long and was nowhere near as bad. I’m being super careful and reading labels for evil food ingredients I need to avoid. I generally know my triggers. The headache in July came out of nowhere.

We took a coworker out tonight for a farewell dinner. We worked on this nightmare project for several years together with our desks in the same office, and got to know each other really well. I will really miss her. She is picking up and moving across the country to Seattle. She decided it was time for a change and she is making a fresh start. I’m jealous! I’d LOVE to quit my job and do something else. I have 5yr 8mos until I can retire and I’m holding on as best I can. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, your blob sounds very similar to mine. I tell people it's like someone put butter on the end of their finger and smudged it right on the center of my glasses on that eye. I've had the scar on my eye since going to that eye doctor. He said it could have always been there or I damaged it sometime. My guess is looking at the Sun sometime. He said since it's scar tissue they couldn't remove it. I know he also mentioned surgery doesn't always help. I used some anti inflammatory drops for about 7 months and they probably helped. How did you hurt your eye? How is your finger?
Moving to Seattle will be quite a change for your co-worker. Good luck holding on for 5+ more years with your job. I keep telling myself I can hang on with my job too. We can do it! Really!
Will you get any of the hurricane where you live?

My day picked up about 11:30 when I got an email from our shipping department saying they had a package come in for me. I went right down and picked it up. I do like my earrings. I ordered a cheese pizza for supper; I just didn't see myself cooking. Now I have several lunches to put in the freezer too.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

My earrings:

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Deegee, I know I've said this before but I'm "retiring" at 59-1/2. March 5, 2030. It's a Tuesday. There will be a party! By "retiring" I don't necessarily mean going home on day, taking up golf, learning to play bridge, and waiting to go to the great beyond. I mean that I will (hopefully) no longer (have to) make decisions for financial reasons. I will almost certainly still work, and maybe even where I am at the end of the career, but I hope I won't HAVE to!

Curby, your new earrings look GREAT! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has jewelry shipped to my office, LOL. The mail room guys are wondering what all my Fed Ex's are about lately!

I worked until about 10 last night. I could have stayed longer but the HR director was here and we decided to leave together because neither one of us wanted to be here by ourselves. I didn't set my alarm this morning on purpose... and then the alarm on my work phone went off at 5 am because I forgot I had it set for TR's yesterday morning. Ugh. I never went back to sleep well after that and finally got up about 7, threw the sheets in the washer, cleaned out my nespresso with vinegar because the plastic water bin was starting to smell weird, did a couple of other things, and then went to the gym and had my first workout since Saturday. I needed it! I finally strolled into my office about 10:30... Where I'm sure I'll be for the next 12 hours or so... ACK. But at least I'm making progress!

 

[deegee]

Marcy-your earrings are beautiful! It’s great that you can things delivered to work so you won’t have to worry about them sitting on your doorstep. Plus you don’t have to wait until you get home to open it! When Matt shows up at your house for cookies, I’ll be with him to try on all of your jewelry. I have a new found love of dangle/drop earrings thanks to Missy’s thread. I always wore my diamond studs, but I’ve branched out and now have a whopping 3 pairs of dangles/drops (ha-ha!), and never touch the studs anymore. I have an idea for making them into drops, of course! We’re going to get lots and lots of rain from the hurricane, which certainly means flooding. Our area still hasn’t recovered from the 2016 flood. Abandoned houses still need torn down, we still don’t have new schools, businesses still haven’t reopened. We have a house reserved in Hilton Head starting Friday the 21st. We’ll have to see how this storm plays out. I’m not complaining though, because missing a vacation doesn’t compare whatsoever with true losses and damage because of a hurricane.

Dee*Jay-I’ll be 56 when I can retire. I plan to find something else to do because there’s no way I can sit home. I’d turn into such a sloth! When I herniated discs in my spine and was only allowed to work 2-3 days a week, I didn’t get out of my jammies the other 4-5 days of the week. I got really depressed and gained a ton of weight. My doctor let me go back to work before I was physically ready because my mental state was in serious decline! I’ve decided I’m going to volunteer at the no-kill animal shelter when I retire. I love animals, but people...not so much.

Today was one of those days where I feel like I got nothing accomplished. On the way to work, I made my plan for the day and was determined to get started on a certain thing. As soon as I got to my desk and for the rest of the day, I had non-stop interruptions. I can’t shut my door because I’m a little claustrophobic even though I have a window, and a cracked door is an invite for people to knock once and come right in with their “quick question.” Most days seem to be like that. I have no idea what we’re having for dinner because we didn’t grocery shop last weekend. That probably means a frozen pizza. Have a wonderful Friday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! One more day till the weekend.

Dee Jay, I hope that you reach all your goal by or before March 5, 2030! Sounds like you've planned things out to the day; smart girl. I ship things to the office quite a bit too; we are never home. Well Marty is every other week but it never works out he's home on those delivery days. good idea to leave work last night when the other person was leaving. I used to get rather creeped out on school nights when I was the last one in the very dark parking lot. I usually walked through several buildings just to get to the door nearest my car. Darn that your alarm woke you up today. I usually wake up at the same time every day. Marty was recently cleaning his nespresso machine too; I could tell by the large vinegar jug he left out. Don't work too late tonight.

Deegee, you and Matt are welcome any time. What dangle earrings do you have? I like dangle earrings too but usually wear my studs. Missy has some great dangle earrings. That's not a bad idea to made your studs in to dangles; I've considered that myself. I have these new ones, some rhodolite garnets, some tri gold chain dangles and some round aqua leverbacks. I had .88 ctw diamond dangle leverbacks but traded the diamonds in for my 2 sapphire rings in May. Sorry to hear you will be getting a lot of rain; I remember the awful flood your area had in 2016 and hate to hear there is still so much damage left behind. It is so awful. When we stayed in that beach house in SC the property manager said people can't get home owners insurance anymore if they are within 5 miles of the ocean. Hopefully the storm surge and rain isn't as bad as predicted. Stay safe! Woo hoo for planning your retirement date too. I like the idea of helping animals; they are so much nicer to work with than people. Sorry that your day didn't go as planned. I hate those days when it's one thing after another.

Thanks for the compliments on my earrings. I enjoyed wearing them today. I even saw them a time or two under my hair. The called and said my glasses were ready to pick up. They are very different from what I've been wearing so I'm almost seeing double and kind of dizzy but I know I have to give them a few days for my brain to adjust. Marty is on a plane right now; he said the plane was older than he was so I told him then it knows the way. I grilled a burger for supper and ate my last peach with it.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Deegee, if I didn't have some sort of mission in live I'd go bat sh!t crazy! I've often thought about volunteering to do the accounting for an animal shelter when I retire... although I'd then be knows as the crazy numbers lady with a zillion dogs!

Curby, when I was studying for the CPA exam several years ago I would be here until 11, 12 at night on a regular basis. I would get a little creepy some times, but I guess I just got used to it since I did it so much.

This morning I went to the gym again on my way in. My boss moved my performance review up so I got that out of the way today -- woo hoo! I'm happy to report that I get more $... but I HAVE TO get the annual compliance review done sooner in future years or he's going to beat me, ha ha. OK, off to do one more thing and then I'm bailing for the day. Sister #2 is here for the weekend and we're going to go play!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Happy Weekend.

Dee Jay, I can totally see you bringing home a zillion dogs. Puppies everywhere! I am glad you never had any issues working late when you were studying for your CPA exam. Congratulations on more money at work. Woo hoo. Darn you HAVE to get the annual compliance review done sooner. Have a blast with Sister #2 in town.

Did you see the video of the guy from the Weather Channel out battling the wind in hurricane Florence and 2 people just casually stroll down the street in the background. We've been enjoying some videos making fun of it.

Work was fun yesterday. Our company has a tobacco free policy and the newer guy chews tobacco. Since April between me, HR, me, my senior manager and me he as been talked to many times about chewing and spitting in our room violating company policy. I walked in to my room about 10 am and saw him spitting in to a soda can. I am writing him up and presenting it was his final warning. The fun part will be that my boss and our senior manager both chew in the building too but they don't work for me. He's on vacation Monday and Tuesday; hopefully I can get the HR process done by then and give him his write up when he returns. Employees.

Marty and I went out to dinner last night then we went to the mall. I might get an iPad Pro. My iPad is 5 years old; I didn't think it was that old but I hunted up my receipt. I notice the battery runs down more than before; the sooner I trade in my iPad the more I'll get for it, right? Looks like i could get $140 right now. Marty ordered a new MacBook Pro today. It should arrive next week sometime. He had to spend about $150 for adapters and dongles to run everything. I kind of hated needing dongles when I first got my MBP a few years ago but i'm used to it now.

I am on my last 2 batches of laundry then hopefully tomorrow will be a quiet, lazy day.

Take care,
Curby