Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, aka podcaster! It's so had to get a picture that you like! I have one from my 50th birthday that a friend took in Aspen when we were at dinner, and I use that for a bunch of my profiles (etsy, insta). Professionally, I did get a good one (as you know because you helped me pick it!) from the downtown photographer. Hopefully that will take me to the end of my career, LOL.

I'm between sessions right now (on lunch actually) and better head back to the conference center. I just wanted to hop in and let you know I'm still kickin'!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, it is hard to get a picture of yourself that you like. Unless, your one of "those" who thinks they are perfect no matter what. I rarely like pictures of myself. Your professional one for work, looks really nice. I did go check your other picture, it is a great picture of you. Those candid shots are often the best.

Did you drift off to sleep at the conference this afternoon? I am about ready for a nap right now and I don't take them. My hand/numbness/tingling/pain was talking to me far too much last night.

I worked on several posts today but punted on trying another podcast, I am too tired. I do have to go lift in a while too. I don't think I'll up the weights today.

Any more conference meetings tomorrow - or are you just flying home? Safe travels.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, are you back at the North Estate yet?

I got my second podcast done other than cutting a segment out of it where I goofed so just did that section again. Marty will have to show me what to do. Then I'm golden. Full steam ahead. I can't wait to be the next famous podcaster. Not!!!

I dug out a smaller brace that Marty picked up for me the day I broke my wrist and put it on about midnight when my hand, wrist and thumb started calling me names. I made it the rest of the night without having it yell at me, other than everything was stiff and needed wiggling a bit.

It's gorgeous here today. Yay.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope you arrived safely at the North Estate. And started packing all those orders you need to ship out.

Not much exciting going on here today. I am playing partially retired today. I met Marty for breakfast, picked up some fruit and only worked five hours. I have a vision issue right now - I don't "see" myself going back to work today.

We are getting a lovely rain and thunderstorm right now. When the clouds were building I went out on the deck with my 8mm fisheye lens to get a pictures of all the clouds. Bam the sun came out from behind a cloud. I glanced at it a few times accidentally. Phooey - it's my good eye too. Seems normal though so it should be okay.

I got out summer clothes today (which for me is long sleeve cotton tops rather than fleece or sweaters). They were too big for me. I told Marty when I met him for breakfast and he said "that's cute that you think you wear summer clothes". It's true, I have a sweater on already.

Any estate sales or auctions this weekend?

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, LOL on your vision issue! You are quite the podcast maven! See what happens when you're good at something -- they make you keep doing it whether you want to or not. If I were you'd I'd screw the next one up on purpose. How's your wrist doing now? Is you're good weather holding? We're enjoying a bit of nice spring weather here... which means we'll likely have a blizzard or something tomorrow... ha!

The trip back to The North Estate on Thursday went smoothly. I had twelve orders to pack by then, and two more came in while I was doing that. I got ten of them done... but it took me until about 1:45 in the morning, when I finally called it and hauled myself off to bed. Friday was a mix of work and packing stuff.

Yesterday was an adventure. I went to an estate sale early and snagged three good quilts. Then I headed to a local neighborhood sale that they run every spring at the "nice" houses over by the river. Well I think that this point anything good has been long gone for about a decade, although I did get a few sets of stemware and a cool pink cake plate.

After that I decided to shop my way home, going by a few estate sales, about half a dozen Salvation Armys and Goodwills, and a church rummage sale. I had a good karma moment in that process! At one of the Salvation Armys as I was being checked the manager came over to relieve the cashier and told her to go eat lunch while it was still hot. It turns out she'd ordered pizza for all the staff that day out of her own pocket. So I reached into MY pocket and gave her what it had cost, because even though she's the manager I'm sure she's not exactly rolling in the dough. She was really appreciative and I was happy to be able to do it. The very next place I went to was the ReStore (the Habitat for Humanity resale shop) and found a $250 cake plate for $8 just sitting there on a shelf. It's also one of my favorite lines, the Fenton blue opalescent hobnail, and I'm always so happy when I come across that anyway. Let's just say I might have squealed a little! At that point I decided I was DONE and headed back to the house.

Liam's cousin is up auctioning for the weekend and by the time I got here they had steaks on the grill and the prosecco open. It was quite a day!

Today I list. You can be that blue cake plate is going to be listing #1!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Yesterday I did a little listing, some order packing, and a WHOLE LOTTA washing! I dug into the boxes from the giant table of stuff Liam had bought when I was down helping my cowhide bag friend the other weekend. Holy guacamole! After all that I had to do my nails because I ordered some stuff that is supposed to work well on water spots. And it DID work pretty well... but it also took off some of my nail polish. My NO CHIP nap polish. What the ever loving he!! IS this stuff?!? Next time I'll wear rubber gloves!

I need to see if I can get Billy Ray into the local place for an oil change when I take him out of storage. Hopefully this week.

Not much else to report. Just trying to make it through another day of meetings, meetings and meetings here at the office. Oy.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

The needle on the excit-o-meter didn't move much yesterday. I worked a full day, stopped by the Porsche dealer on my way home to set up an appointment for Billy Ray next week (since they never called me back -- I will NOT be ignored!), packed two orders when I got home (one going to the Netherlands), put away about fifty pieces of glass, and went to bed.

Today I've got stuff queued up for eight or so listings. I also need to do a bunch of laundry.

Whew; things are Out of Control here at The North Estate!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Oh Oh, I'm days behind.

Dee Jay, that's what I'm afraid of, how did I get so busy working this 10 hours or so a week job? Glad I like the topic. We are having lovely spring weather too. We even had a nice thunderstorm with rain move through a while ago. We know Mother Nature will get even with us though before winter releases it's grip.

The wrist is better so sleeping with that brace on is helping. I don't want to do that, but sleeping is important. It still is falling asleep and tingling from something but not as bad.

That was very nice of you to pay for the pizzas at the Salvation Army. I am sure that lady appreciated that a lot. I can totally see why you'd squeal with delight to get that pretty blue cake plate at such a bargain. I immediately had to go look it up on the Deesite. I went through all your pages and again nodded my head that my mom had that pattern, and that pitcher and that stemware. Fond memories.

Darn that all that glassware washing required a new coating of nail polish. I polished my nails last night since I was venturing out in the real world today.

Sweet to get Billy Ray out. Marty had the Curbymobile up to 107 on our way to dinner Saturday night.

Your excite-o-meter sounds like it's registering about the same activity level as mine. I'll go check out your new listings when watching TV tonight.

We had a busy weekend. Marty pulled the trailer out front and being the laborious task of shortening the bed. It was a major chore. Took him most of two days. Also, since he isn't the best at cleaning up his mess, I picked up the assorted debris in the front yard as well as swept the garage twice. The bed is now short enough for me to set on, but I am not sure how the heck we will both sleep on a queen short as tall as he is as well as there is a little drawer and closet on each side of the bed that takes up more of the side of the bed than the bed. I will have to set on the end and scoot back. This would not have been my desired layout but this is his toy. So when I woke up at 2 am Monday morning, stewed about it for several hours. We will see what happens.

We went to the steak house north of town Saturday night for dinner and enjoyed one of their giant "bear balls". It's vanilla Hagaan Dazs ice cream rolled in crushed Oreos. It's delicious! Plus we had wine.

I am in talks with B at WF about upgrading two pairs of my earrings. I want to move my YG studs to platinum and see if I can get slightly larger diamonds in my YG dangle settings. Hey, Marty asked me what I wanted for my birthday. His mistake. In anticipation of that, I picked up my two FedEx boxes this morning to ship them in. I found a slightly larger pair of H ACA diamonds that will cost me under 2K to upgrade. I currently have F in them but around 1/2 carat and in YG - H should be fine.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, glad to see you're alive! You and Marty are going to have to be quite the contortionists to work out that sleeping arrangement! I've been contemplating dangle earrings a little bit lately. And that sounds like a pretty good deal for the upgrade. I'm sure the color will be totally fine. That bear ball sounds amazing!!!

Yesterday I took pics for about ten listings, put a bunch of things away, shipped a few orders, did the most boring webinar in the world (these people who derail group meetings with esoteric totally "what if" questions just to prove how smart they are make me want to reach through the computer and slap them!), and when Liam got home we took the Trans Am to Culvers for some custard. Oh. And there was laundry.

Today I'm in the office but I have a huge pile of stuff to read. Not too many meetings though, so that's a bonus.

Alright, off to put my nose to the grindstone!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

All of my good food intentions yesterday went right out the window when my coworker lured me to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. I saw the buffalo tots on the menu and it was all over! Boy of boy, they were FABULOUS! But I ate wayyyyyy too many of them. Around 3:30 I had to go walk around the building three times just to stay awake LOL.

Liam and I then went to the local BBQ place for dinner. Because... yanno... I hadn't had enough food!

I packed up one order last night and just as I was printing out the label I saw another order come through on my ebay account, so that made me pretty happy. At least I feel like I'm listing the right things there; of the 18 or so listings I've put up 4 have sold and another 4 sold off of etsy so I had to take those off of the ebay platform. I need to comb through a move some more over... but I'm not sure where the extra hours to make that happen will come from?!

Anyway, I've got a meeting here that starts in an hour so I better ready for that.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yes, bear balls are the best. Quite a delicious combo, but easy to make. And I am sure Marty and I will be kicking each other trying to sleep on a short queen mattress. We have a California King now and he barely fits on it length wise. I, of course, have no problem.

I am with you on the people that ask questions to prove they are so smart. They do need slapped. It's like those idiots in class that shoot up their hands as soon as the teacher says class dismissed.

So tell LIam I wanto to know how fast he has got the Trans Am up to? The guy down the street from us has an older black one ala Smokey and the Bandit. It looks quite nice. Mmm Culvers custard.

Your buffalo tots sound great. We have a BWW here, but they are awful. We forget then go there and they sadly remind us why we don't go there. I haven't been exactly good myself. I got an email from Pizza Hut saying happy birthday - have some free breadsticks. So naturally, since they are free, I had to order them along with a ham and pineapple pizza. So my carb supper last night made me quite hungry today. I begrudgingly sent Marty a text admitting he was right - all those carbs with little protein and now I'm hungry. I did tell him before he left for the gym not to EVER expect to hear that from me again. It was a moment of weakness.

That's nice the orders are rolling in. The blue cake plate is quite pretty. I really liked one of your new quilts too. It looked in really nice shape.

Well, I got my dangles shipped off to WF. I passed on moving my studs to platinum. Once they are in your ear, no one, including you, sees what color metal they are in. Plus, no way am I paying $300 plus new studs to have them look the same. I'm cheap. The dangles will be .50 carat now rather than .40. I'll know they are bigger. I'll text you a shot of the two diamonds I picked.

Laters,
Curby

P.S. My trip to FedEx was when school let out. I safely and slowly drove through two school zones without having flashing lights chase me down. Of course, the slow - er I mean people going the speed limit - in front of me were quite helpful with that.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, I looked at your diamonds again. The upgraded dangles are going to be stunners! Liam's Trans Am isn't exactly a rocket. But it LOOKS cool! I bet the quilt you like is the applique one on the white background... ? That is by far the nicest quilt I've bought. If I were a collector I'd definitely keep that one! I've also got two more quilts I need to list from last weekend. The most direct route to the local post office involves going past the school here. I try to make sure I go well after the kids get out, otherwise it's a lonnnnng slooooow drive even though it's not that far a stretch.

Yesterday I was pretty productive on the listing front! I also had an ebay sale that worked out pretty well. I am going through my etsy listings and trying to migrate over the ones that I think might sell (so not like generic vintage etched glasses, but named items). I listed a Fenton cranberry coin dot pitcher around 8 o'clock. Someone messaged me a couple of hours later asking me the lowest I would go. My listings are set up for Buy It Now, NOT Make An Offer. But of course people want to play that game. So I asked what the shipping zip code is since I can send things in the Midwest pretty inexpensively and then I actually can take a little off the price (as opposed to places like Washington, Oregon, California, etc., where I have to stop and donate a kidney on the way to the UPS store). While I was waiting for a reply I got a sale notification. Someone else bought it for full price while The Negotiator was getting back to me. And the buyer is just in Indiana so reasonable shipping too!

Today is the local auction. As always, I hope there's nothing there I want LOL. But there always is!

We're having my friend over for dinner tomorrow night. Steaks, baked potatoes, mushrooms, and sundaes for dessert. I'll have to run by Meijer at some point and pick up the ice cream. Really I should do that tomorrow so it's not sitting in the freezer tonight calling my name!

Alright, off to get this party started!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope I'll like the new diamonds in my dangles. Brittany said they were really sparkling from edge to edge. It's only a slight size increase, but since I wear them so much, I'll sure notice them. I did find today I should have turned in my assorted bracelets from that store in Denver to get a few links removed. I have on my pink sapphire bracelet today and it's close to falling off my hand. I went on a shorter chain hunt today and found a few of them in my jewelry pile but not ones I want to put on my diamonds. I'm also noticing clothes are getting quite baggy on me again. Pounds are not really moving much, but inches must be.

That's all that matters is the Trans Am looks cool. Vroom Vroom. Don't you hate those, long slow drives through the school zones? I know we'd never intentionally zip through there when the lights are blinking. However, Billy Ray and the Curbymobile idle faster than 20 mph. Just saying.

Yes, the white background quilt is the one I thought was pretty. I'm not a collector of them either, but I do see some pretty ones. Ladies at my old job make a quilt every year to donate to an Alzheimer's fund raiser. The majority of it is in their theme color purple. It is usually quite pretty. When our astronomy club hosted the big star party every summer, one of the faithful attendees had a wife who made an astronomy related quilt and donated it every year as a door prize.

Well, that worked out on the sale on Ebay. I think Ebay is more like a garage sale where you'll get people wanting to undercut the price. Etsy is more like a craft sale where people probably won't haggle with the price.

How was the local auction today? What treasures did you bring home. Dinner sounds great tomorrow. What time?

Wow, I'm yawning like I was on an all night bender. I stayed up maybe 45 minutes later than normal but not that much. I tried sleeping without my wrist brace and at 12:30 my hand yelled at me. So I reluctantly put it back on. I might try a few rows of mini me #2 today so see how that goes.

We went out for breakfast this morning and then Marty tried to heat our deck by leaving the door open and running his astro-camera through our solar scope on a mostly cloudy sky. He'd just get a glimpse of the sun to show on the computer and a cloud would cover it. All the computers and drives are old school technology and none of them work with Mac. He can use his work Windows based PC but it's probably 6+ year old technology.

I worked about an hour today but think I'll be retired for the day and watch TV. It's too darned chilly and very windy out there to venture outside much.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Mother's Day kids!

Curby, LOL on Marty heating the deck. I'm pretty sure we're living with the same man! Quilts are sooooo much work (the hand made ones anyway). My great grandmother was a big quilter. At night she'd sit in her chair and piece things together by hand. It was my job to sort through the pieces and pick out the color/ pattern that was next. I think your weather is about to hit us. For the past several days it's been in the 70s and sunny, but today we're looking at 50s and overcast.

Yesterday didn't turn out like I'd planned... (Oh how often I say that!) I ran over to the local auction and didn't find a single thing I was compelled to stay for, so I figured I'd go to an estate sale where I'd had my eye on a few things and then come home and list. Well... I went to that estate sale... and then three more, and also stopped at a few Salvation Army's on the way back home. When I got to The North Estate I was excited to wash up and list one particular set of glasses. It was just sheer luck those were the ones I was most interested in because when I unpacked them I realized I only had three of the four from the set. Depending on my backlog I often don't get to things for weeks (or months!), and by then it would have been far too late do do anything about it. I know exactly what happened -- the house was unusual (kitchen, dining room, two story living room on the bottom floor) and the glasses were all downstairs. After I'd picked them out I went into the sunroom to check out some other things and when I came back the glasses were half gone. I was like WTF? One of the estate sale ladies who didn't know me said she had to take them upstairs to the checkout so they could see what I was buying. Normally they just write me up a ticket and I wrap stuff right there so stuff doesn't get carried all over the house clinking around. But what could I do at that point? So I went up and had a big chat with the checkout lady while I was wrapping the stuff that had been brought up. Obviously one got missed. Liam came home right when I realized it, so we ran back to get the glass (they'd seen it of course right away once I'd left and set it aside). And then we went to another sale that I'd skipped the first time... and I got seven MORE sets of glasses LOL.

We stopped at a few more places on the way back, and by then our friends asked if we wanted to come over so hopped in the shower and zipped to their house.

I had another ebay sale yesterday where someone had been asking questions about a piece and of course wanted a discount, and then someone else swooped in and bought it for full price. The piece is ultimately going to Vietnam (through some sort of carrier arrangement, so I'm only shipping it to the west coast). You can be sure I'll be packing it to death in bubble wrap and peanuts!

I'm drinking coffee and awaiting some Mother's Day bacon in bed. Do I know how to live or what?!

 

[marcy]

Happy Mother's Day!

Dee Jay, it's lucky you noticed the missing glass. You did make the rounds yesterday and it sounds like you got quite a few new sets of glasses.

Yes, quilts are a lot of work. My grandmother made them but quit before I was aware of what was going on in the world. My mom made a few baby quilts. One of the Alzheimer quilts at work was king size and they did two inch squares. Lots of different ladies sewed pieces together by hand, but it was really pretty.

Wow, that will be quite the journey to get a package to Vietnam. Good plan to wrap it well.

We ventured out for breakfast a little after 7 this morning. I had a strawberry waffle. Not high in protein, but one of my favorites. They were crazy busy by the time we left. You'd think it was Mother's Day or something.

It's still chilly and rainy here. Marty has his morning gym session this morning so I'll lift while he's gone. I started laundry already and don't plan on doing much else today. I updated my night sky guide this morning, but that was quick.

I'm about to crank on the fireplace, I'm almost shivering. This being cold all the time is for the birds - which by the way are chirping outside right now.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, I can't even imagine all the work that went into a king size quilt made of two inch squares! Kudos to those ladies -- awesome!!! The box going to Vietnam has more bubble wrap than any other single thing I've ever shipped LOL. Breakfast in a restaurant on Mother's Day? You are one brave woman! Our weather was crappy on and off yesterday. At one point I had the A/C on, and by the time we went to sleep Liam had turned on the heat LOL.

I did a bunch of washing and listing yesterday then Liam and I cleaned up the house in anticipation of our friend coming over... and then he called and said he couldn't make it. Long story, but it's an ongoing health issue. So Liam and I ate the steak and mushrooms anyway and had sundaes for dessert.

Today my only direct report is in the office so she and I can go over a project she's been working on for me. At lunch I need to run Billy Ray to the dealer for annual maintenance. I suspect I also need a new battery because even though he was on a trickle charger all winter when I picked him up last week we had to jump him. Oh well, the battery is 10+ years old so it is what it is.

I think I'm going to take tomorrow and Wednesday as my work from home days this week since I need to be here on Friday to interview someone.

Alright, off to get ready for my project meeting!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I tried to find a picture of that quilt to show you, but couldn't. It was amazing. I found some of the other ones they made. Quite a few ladies take the squares and sew them together. They have a huge table in a conference room, so would meet during lunch to lay out the squares to arrange the pattern. It's quite the process.

Yes, I am glad we went out early since it was Mother's Day. Marty was giving me crap that on Mother's Day, the ladies get taken out to eat, but on Father's Day, the guys have to cook on the BBQ. Good thing we don't have kids, since we don't have to worry about these things. And yes, I forgot to reply - in many ways - it sounds like we are married to the same guy. Do you have to hang up his towel after a shower? Marty traveled too much because I tell him he must think he's in a hotel. His reply is so don't hang it up (he throws it on the side of the tub). But it bugs me, so I hang it back on the towel rack.

I bet your package to Vietnam was heavily bubble wrapped. I hope it arrives safe and sound. Our weather is the same as yours. We are getting much needed rain and it's chilly. I keep switching between AC and heat myself. Of course, then I put on more sweaters if the AC is running and just one sweater if the heat is on. Your part of the country is getting heavy smoke from fires in Canada.

Sorry to hear your friend has health issues. Glad you and Liam still enjoyed the dinner and dessert.

How did the meeting go with your direct report? One direct report isn't bad.

I'd suspect you do need a new battery for Billy Ray if it's ten years old. It'll be nice to get it serviced so you can run wild and free with it. When I get the Curbymobile serviced this summer, I'm checking on the price for the extended warranty. I really like this car.

I got up about 6 this morning so I could get an early start on work today. I was meeting a friend I worked with decades ago for lunch. I don't think I'd know her if I passed her on the street. We planned on meeting at the Olive Garden at 11:30. She messaged me on Facebook so I didn't even have her cell phone. I ordered my 9 ounces of wine when I got there. She wasn't there by 11:45 so I sent her a message on FB and told her good gag, I'm ordering my lunch now. About the time my food got served, I saw she messaged me back and was on her way. She had a doctor's appointment that ran long. So we visited for over an hour and then I came home and worked some more. After hearing her health ailments, assorted broken bones and issues, I feel lucky. I keep saying, I'm pretty healthy for an old, fat lady.

Looks like the sun is finally coming out here. Woo hoo!!! Too late, it's gone again.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I don't have to hang up Liam's towel, but he does take his clothes off and leave them in front of his vanity rather than putting them a couple of feet over into the hamper. WTF. My direct report is GREAT. And I think she's relieved to find that I'm not a micromanaging boss AT ALL. Just do your job and let me know when there's a problem or you need something from me and we'll be fine. When I took BR to the dealer yesterday they didn't say anything about a new battery at the check-in. But I'm betting dollars to donuts they call me at some point about it! LOL on feeling pretty good for an old fat lady! You are neither old nor fat! (Or I am too and refuse to admit it! )

Liam unexpectedly had to pick me up from the dealer at lunch and bring me home to get my car because they didn't have a loaner. I SWEAR we had the conversation about a loaner when I made the appointment, but whatever. Last night we made steak and mushrooms (again) and had ice cream sundaes for dessert (again) so my pants will be too tight today (again). (STILL!)

In the middle of the night I heard a bunch of whining coming from the furry monsters, even through my earplugs and with the white noise machine on, so I went down to investigate. The big one had been, shall we say, unwell. So I let them out and had to clean up the dog room, including throwing away the blankets that had been in the crate and moving the crate to clean it and under/around it. It was less than fun. But he seems OK today so hopefully it was just a one time thing. Probably ate something bad outside.

I'm working from home today and tomorrow since I have to go in Thursday and Friday. I've got lots of glasses queued up on the counter ready to go this morning!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Yesterday was pretty productive! I didn't have any orders to pack but I took a bunch of pics and packed stuff away. I also had an hour and a half meeting to talk about something that was already essentially done. Ugh.

Last night I got a wild bug up my a$$ to put together some mixed sets. I've got nine of them set out on the counter ready to go.

Someone is asking questions about the blue cake plate, and of course they want a discount. The shipping wouldn't be too bad based on their location but I'm not inclined to give too much off as it's getting a lot of interest. The delicate balance is that I CAN give a little discount on Ebay and not be any worse off than if someone buys it on Etsy and comes through outside adds (which imposed an additional 12% fee, and which I don't know about until the order is done). Who knows, maybe this will be like the other few items where someone asked questions and for a discount and then another person swooped in and bought it. We'll see!

The dealer called and said Billy Ray should be ready today. I think I'm going to try to have Liam drop me off there first thing in the morning tomorrow so I don't have do deal with the two car thing.

Waiting on my coffee. C'mon Liam!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yep we are married to the same guy. I sometimes just ignore his stack of clothes that can't quite make the hamper, sometimes I don't. When he reads a magazine, all the little inserts get put on the coffee table even though he can reach a trash can from where he is. Oh well . . .

Your direct report sounds great and you are my kind of boss. If you do your job, I'm leaving you alone.

Did you pick up BR? Vroom vroom! One of my little nephews is probably going to be low mechanic on the totem pole at an Audi dealer in Boulder. He is excited. He starts as the valet and lot boy. Sounds like they train him and he can work up to the repair shop. He spent two years getting all the certificates on car repair so I hope it works out for him.

Oh no for the furbaby being sick and ugh to cleaning everything up. I hope it's a one time deal.

Good idea to do some mixed sets. I like that. I bet you can get full price on the blue cake plate.

I worked ten hours yesterday and eight today. I put together a gallery of images without narration for my 3rd podcast so that was my afternoon.

I lifted. I picked up 75 pounds 15 times for dead lifts. Not that much yet on presses and rows.

I ventured to the grocery store this morning. I was out of fruit but had lots of chocolate. So I figured that was a good call.

I've slept two nights now without the brace on my wrist. About 5 am this morning, it got stiff but not bad. I'll see what night three is like especially after lifting.

Marty finally got a great astrophoto with his new equipment. I'll see if it is small enough to add here.

Laters.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, another thing Liam does that bugs the he!! out of me is he'll drink a glass of milk and put the empty down on the counter. Above the dishwasher. When I say, "Are you done with that?" He always say he might have more later. Bull. Sh!t. Put the damn glass in the dishwasher!!! BR is still vacationing with his family. There is one more thing they found -- a split in the windshield washer line. They ordered it but it won't come until tomorrow, and I can't pick up the car tomorrow or Saturday so Monday it is. Argh. I'm sure your nephew will be wrenching away in no time! How was your wrist last night after the lifting? What an AMAZING photo! The ferals will be up this weekend and I'm going to show it to YF. If I had chocolate but no fruit I'd still consider myself to be well stocked!

Yesterday I listed like mad. In the process I combined thirty-two glasses into mixed sets. Those were pieces just sitting around loose so any time I can do that it's a total score!

At lunch I need to scoot over the Wisconsin line and pick up the things I won in last night's auction, then I've got a charity dinner thing tonight. I really hope it doesn't go too late.

Tomorrow, even though it's Friday, I'll be in the office. We're interviewing a candidate for a high position and we're all doing a group lunch. Friday! WTF?!

This weekend the "markets" begin in earnest. There is a giant flea market that runs Saturday and Sunday and an antique market that is only on Sunday so I'll be planning my outings accordingly. On one hand I hope I find a ton of awesome stuff. On the other... I hope I don't find anything LOL. But it will likely be somewhere in between.

Alright, off to get ready for my first meeting. Joy oh joy.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yep, Marty does the same thing. And rinse a dish? Must be something he doesn't know how to do. He grilled himself a giant steak for breakfast this morning, he likes them med-rare. Gets up and for a change takes his plate to the sink and spills the steak juices all over the wooden floor. He gets paper towels and wipes it up but doesn't follow up next with a wet paper towel. I calmly finish my toast and get up to get a wet paper towel and he'd emptied the paper towel dispenser and didn't go get a new roll out. Sigh. Plus , I found a few more spots on the floor he missed. I told him he's such a boy.

Darn that BR wasn't able to come home. I hope the part gets in soon and it's not on a slow boat from Germany. I am hoping my nephew can fix the Curbymobile soon. Ha Ha.

I thought Marty's first picture turned out great.

My wrist wasn't bad last night. It started getting stiff and tingly about an hour before I woke up, but I didn't sleep with the wrist brace again. I might try knitting a few rows and see what happens.

Darn you have to go to the office on Friday. Are cocktails involved with lunch? It sounds like you'll be doing some serious shopping this weekend at flea markets. I have never been to one of those.

Off to "work". They been chatting since I got up. I feel like I'm on call again.

Laters,
Curby

And I'm still irritated about my earrings.

 

[marcy]

I just got a response to my email. I can pay in full now, if I wish to get my earrings, and they'll refund me credit then when the diamonds are verified. I replied: I wouldn't have chosen to do this if I knew. But I'll wait. I don't want to play that game of waiting to see if I get credit.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, You can pay now... ?!? Seriously. Something is going on -- going WRONG -- at WF. Speaking of which, have you heard how our friend is doing? How did working on Mini Me go last night? Sadly there won't be cocktails involved in today's lunch. I am never in the office on Fridays so I just asked the guy who sits outside my door if people stay until the bitter end. He said, "Infuriatingly, YES." Ba$stards! I guess I can't complain though because I spent a lot of yesterday out of the office.

My run up to Wisconsin to grab the glass from the auction went pretty quick so I swung by the packaging place and got two of my four slices of bubble wrap. Somehow I managed to spill coffee all over the suit jacket I was wearing since I dressed up a bit for the charity event last night, which I was going to right after work. I thought it would be OK (my jacket was tan, the coffee had cream in it, so basically the same color, I blotted it with water right away)... but it of course was NOT. So I had to go home and find another nice outfit to wear. That involved stopping at an estate sale where I got some really great salable glasses at a fantastic price. It was pretty strange -- the ones I bought were marked at $2 and $5 each and I can sell them for upwards of $20 each, but there were other things with essentially no value that were priced WAY high. The inconsistencies in stuff like that always astonish me!

The charity even was not bad. The keynote speaker had a pretty upbeat and entertaining delivery, but she got to a point where we were all like, OK lady, we've had enough now.

When I got home I corresponded with a lady about a listing, and I was able to pack that up this morning so Liam can take it to the post office. I also sold two other things (one order to Denmark) but I didn't have time to get to those. There's always tonight!

And tomorrow -- drum roll please! -- off to the big flea market first thing! If I'm efficient I am hoping to be in and out of there in just a few hours because god knows I've got enough to wash and list at home. I'm pretty behind though in that I've taken a ton of pics of stuff that I haven't even set up the listings for yet. I told Liam I need a day to do just that!

Alright, we're got a guy in the office I need to go and do the meet-n-greet with. Off like a prom dress!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yep, WF ain't what it used to be. Our friend is doing okay but still looking for employment. I didn't try mini me #2 last night. I was asked to learn how to zoom and pan in videos and I was almost as stressed at trying to figure that out as I got at my old job. My Powerpoint version does not have that particular option. Marty's might, he has the yearly subscription. I bought a five year license for far less than that. About bedtime last night I thought of checking another app I have that records movies and it does it quit easily. Yay. I tested it this morning so I'm good now. Podcasting was not in my job description.

Speaking of job, how did the alcohol-free lunch go? I hope it didn't last so long you are still there. It figures you'd spill something on your jacket so you had to go home and change. I got to the point that I'd throw an extra top in the car when we went to Denver. I'd generally spill something on myself at breakfast on the way there and need a clean shirt.

That is unusual to see such erratic pricing, maybe some people aren't as savvy as you about the value. One person's treasures . . . We saw a garage sale sign once that advertised their sale as "let our crap become your crap". We thought that was funny.

You are sure shipping things around the globe. Nice that your things are selling so well. What goods did you find at the estate sale?

That's nice the charity event speaker was upbeat and did go on and on.

Not much new with me. I only worked a little over six hours today. I met Marty for breakfast and now I plan on goofing off the rest of the day. I was going to venture out to the Botanic Gardens and get pictures of the spring flowers they planet but it's really smoky here and chilly. I made tacos for us for supper last night, so I have leftovers from that for supper. Not much planned for the weekend. It is supposed to be in the 70's. We are going for a quick drive to get a camping and park permit for the state parks.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Oh and Marty order ANOTHER astro camera. Seems like I need to buy something. Oh wait, I just did, they are held up for some silly reason.

And another oh - part deux - I have no slept four nights without a brace. The left hand and wrist are a bit stiff when I wake up, but not bad.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I knit one row on mini me #2 last night and called it quits. I put it up for a few weeks.

We had a lovely dinner out yesterday, steak, wine, crème brûlée, who can complain about that? We took a ride during the day and drove out and got state park passes for both vehicles and a camping permit for the truck. The smoke was bad but Marty took a few pictures. I never even tried. My camera just went along for the ride.

Last night I started watching the series 1883, a prequel to the TV show Yellowstone. They are currently heading out from Texas in a wagon train. Marty told me that I'd never have survived that trip. He knows me well, I've often said if I was on a wagon train, they would have shot me and left me on the side of the road to die. I'm not cut out for such a rough life, I'd be crying and whining all the time.

I did a bit of work today, then updated an old Powerpoint presentation for the astronomy meeting this week, followed by writing the June article for the paper. I lifted, got laundry done and picked up things for the cleaning lady tomorrow. Marty is cleaning his shop in the garage.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, that's awesome you found a program that would let you zoom and pan! Technology scares me so if I had to do something like that I'd just quit LOL. I survived the alcohol free lunch, but let's just say it could have been improved with a little prosecco -- as is the case with most things in life! I might have to adopt your idea of taking an extra top around with me. So you had to get a park permit for each vehicle? You can't move it from one car to another... ? A wagon train would have been the end of me too!

This weekend wore me the he!! out! On Saturday I was at the gate right around eight when they opened, and I'd spent $390 by 8:30. I came across some ladies selling the quilts from their aunt's estate. They are really really nice, and even have descriptions as they were appraised as a part of the estate. I bought six of them! Then I got a bunch of other things, but I had two fails along the way. One relates to cake stands -- I bought two from the same lady and they are not old at all (I'm just going to use them as photo props rather than sell them) and the other has to do with a cool retro drink set, but the metal caddy is 24" long. Shipping on that is going to be an absolute b!tch. I clearly was not thinking at all when I bought that!

Today I was at the other sale also around eight (this one started at seven though). It was twice as big at the one from Saturday and I swear I get lost every single time I go there. I spent a fair amount of money there too, although not as much as yesterday.

When I got home Liam's cousin, aunt and nephew were here for dinner. They'd all pulled in about 15 minutes before I did. We grilled steaks, and I was HUNGRY by that point.

I walked over 11,000 steps on Saturday and over 17,000 today. And I have some weird random patches of sunburn. Clearly I didn't do a very good job with the sunscreen! The part in my hair is sunburned too, and I'm sure it will get dry and flaky. Super. NOT.

Liam is off having dessert with some of our friends. I had had enough of people after this weekend so I'm fresh out of the shower with a nice big glass of prosecco here at the kitchen table.

Tomorrow I get to pick up BIlly Ray from the dealer! Vroom vroom!!!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I made my 3rd podcast today in less than three hours. I'm getting faster - not better - but faster. Yes, they get your car make and model and license plate on the park permits. I doubt they check. My day pass for the Curbymobile was only $24.

Darn no alcohol for lunch. I might meet some old friends for lunch this week and I am sure alcohol will be involved.

And the more I watch of 1883, the more I know I'd never survive being a pioneer woman.

You did have a very busy weekend including plenty of steps. You'll have a lot more glasses to wash up now and yes shipping a 24" metal caddy will be costly to ship and fun to pack. Phooey to getting a sunburn. Those burns on your scalp are not fun.

Did you get Billy Ray back today?

Not much new here today. I worked 9 hours and ordered myself a burger from Door Dash for supper. I was about ready to sign off from work when I got an email from the newspaper asking for June's article. Luckily, I had it mostly done except for a last check and edit. Got it done and have just been watching TV.

It was in the 70's today. Wow. I should get my flowers to plant this weekend.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I did get BR back yesterday. He smelled so good too -- whatever they used to clean the interior was wonderful! For planting flowers, here the rule is not until after Mother's day lest we get a frost. Given your weather, is there EVER a safe date? Maybe the 4th of July? Being a pioneer woman would have sucked for sure. Sometimes in 2023 I still feel like I'm roughing it at times LOL.

Yesterday I worked. Ugh. Then of course I picked up BR, and we had to run back to the dealer to then get my Audi. I had a successful on line auction, so now I have to arrange to go and pick everything up. I'm shooting for Thursday afternoon.

Not much else to report on the excit-o-meter.