Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Yesterday wore me out! More specifically, the six hours I spent in the basement packing glass after dinner wore me out! I had one order for a dozen glasses that I put in a box while Liam was cooking, and then I went down there and just had at it with the bubble wrap and paper for the large order. Made it through sixteen of the nineteen listings before I finally called it! The last three sets should be "easy" and I know where they are, which is always a bonus (unlike the 6" blue bowl that I had failed to note a location for when I listed it and I had to tear both bookcase and the credenza apart -- twice -- to locate... ). According to tracking, both box orders I placed yesterday are out for delivery. Of course now it's snowing so the porch will be wet. I'm not sure how these boxes will come, but I really really hope they're wrapped in plastic!

I've got a haircut scheduled for noon today. I'm going to call over there about 11:30 and see if she's running on time because I don't have the luxury of arriving there and just sitting if she's behind.

Other than that, just work work work today. And when I get home... pack pack PACK!!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

OMG am I tired... On Wednesday I had to drive an order over an hour north (so about a three hour round trip) on a night that I didn't have three hours to spare. Then I packed up the rest of the giant order and put it in boxes. As I was finishing that the Lenox spice village sold... so I packed that too. Big wooden rack and the 24 little porcelain houses, all separate. What did I go to bed you ask? Three. Forty. Five. No joke. My alarm was set for nine because I wanted to head downtown around 10:30, but I was awake at 7:30 so I just got up. Good thing too because I had two other orders come in in the interim that I wanted to get to the post office.

I finally made it downtown around 1:30 and I friend and I spent the next five and half hours getting her booth ready for the show. Then I had to go back to The North Estate because I hadn't had time to get my clothes and everything for the rest of the weekend together before I left that morning. Plus I had two other orders come in. Ugh. I went to bed around midnight, was in the shower this morning at 6:45, and barely made it to the show at when it opened thanks to god awful traffic.

The show was busy in fits and starts today. And there was some theft, including a $275 bag in the largest size she makes. Our best guess is that someone tried it on during the rush and just walked away with it. I am always shocked by how much thievery there is at these things!

Tonight I'm staying downtown (and for the next two (possibly three) nights also. Sister #2 comes in tomorrow and she's going to head to my place from the airport to drop her stuff and then come over to the show.

I just at some tuna on semi-stale crackers for dinner and I'm drinking a ginger beer. As you can tell, the larder is rather bare downtown here!

What's going on with your house situation? Are you packing up to move yet?!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am glad you liked the card. Marty got some more pictures this week, in spite of being really sick with the crud. It was nice when Marty couldn’t talk. Monday, his voice was really deep so I kept trying to get hIm to say CNN. I do crack myself up.

Nice that you got 30% off on those earrings. I really like them. I am anxious to see them when you get them.

Packing up that many glasses to ship to Japan sounds like a chore. Too funny you need Liam to bring up glasses in his pickup. I was thinking we have so many bar glasses that I wish you lived closer.- I’d say - Dee Jay, come get some of these glasses.

So about the house, our offer was rejected and countered at $5,000 less than listing price. At one point his listing agent told our realtor he’d knock almost $45,000 off the price since it’s been on the market since spring of ‘22. Marty and I rejected it the counter offer and took our house off the market. I thought Marty’s offer was too low to be accepted so I was not surprised. By now, probably the seller and Marty are too stubborn to budge. Our realtor offered to lower her commission and she said she’d ask the listing agent if he’d do the same to bring us about half way between their counter offer and our offer. Marty said no. Interest rates are 6.25 so they are better than they were. I think we should wait and see if they drop more. That just makes more sense to me. And he wants that walkout basement which is hard to find. Onward through the fog … at least I can slowly work at cleaning out stuff around here. I was in a panic yesterday and during a bout of insomnia about everything we have to do. We have too much stuff.

I was so distracted yesterday that I barely worked. Chris and I finally put up the Christmas tree. She’s not as tall as Marty but definitely taller than me so was able to reach the top of our tree.

I was better today and figured after we rejected the offer Marty would let things go for a while. Nope. He pulled up new houses on Zillow tonight.

I started the front of my vest. Yay.

Laters,
Curby #notmoving soon

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Well, I made it through the last two days with some wine. Ha Ha. I met a friend for lunch at a bar yesterday - and got home about supper time. Ha Ha. We spent a great day of today driving around looking at lots. We are thinking let’s find a lot, and get a smaller house built that meets our requirements but is truly downsizing. We had supper at the steak house north of town - why not since we were there. I left my phone in the bathroom so had to run back and pick it up. Oops.

I’ve been working on my vest and videos in between running around. I have a strange pain in my left leg / calf area telling me “hey, you aren‘t 20 anymore”. My SIL is going to Denver for the day tomorrow.

Marty is still coughing a lot, whatever he has is pretty nasty.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I like the idea of finding a smaller house that is actually what you want. As for those strange pains... I'm with you! After five days of standing on a concrete floor for hour hours every day my right knee is clicking and my ankles are the size of cantaloupes. I guess I'm not 20 any more either! How's Marty doing?

To recap the rest of the show... Friday was BUSY. The elevator doors opened at 10:00 and by 10:01 there were wild shoppers running around with flames shooting off of their American Express cards. Sister #2 came over after dropping her stuff at my place. She said by the time she got from the elevators to the booth she was "overwhelmed." Yep! When you take a full floor of the Merchandise Mart and fill it with 10 x 10 booths, every one selling something different, it's a bit crazy. She did manage to do a little shopping, and when the show closed she and I went to dinner. The next morning she headed to the 'burbs to see some other friends of ours. Saturday and Sunday were pretty consistent with customer flow, and by the time we closed up shop at five on Sunday night we were ready to drop. It took them a few hours to get to us to load everything out, and then I headed back to The North Estate. Good thing I took yesterday off because not only was I worn the he!! out, I had ten orders to pack. That became fourteen (or maybe fifteen) by the time I was done yesterday. Ack. I think my busy time is likely almost over though because ordering stuff on the 12th is cutting it close. We'll see.

Anyway, now I'm back at work -- and damn glad to be sitting down!!!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, darn those pesky reminders we aren’t 20 anymore. If only I knew then what I k now now. Ha Ha.

Marty is better but still coughing some at night. He at least went back to the gym this week. He’s crazy busy at work.

It sounds like you and sister #2 were quite busy. My sister does craft shows for her doll clothes. They are a lot of work. You had a lot of orders to pack up when you got back to the North Estate. I totally remember looking forward to return to work to rest up from a long weekend.

I don’t know what - if any - progress Marty has made on a lot or having a house built but I think it’s a good idea.

I’ve been busy on videos this week. The boss wanted me to split my weekly Up across two videos but didn’t really give me what direction she wanted them to go. So naturally my first attempts were nothing like she had in mind. So most of my day today was spent on that.

We had snow with ice underneath so I dreaded venturing out to the periodontist this morning, but the roads were fine and the sidewalks at the office building were melted so no problems were encountered on my outing. My teeth are improving so I only have to go in every four months now. Yay.

Tomorrow I’m heading to my old job for a two hour help sign Christmas card adventure. It’ll be fun to see some people.

I have about seven inches done on the front of my vest.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, did your old company try to lure you back?! How's Marty's cough? Depending on the booth fee, I can't imagine how many doll clothes your sister would have to sell to make it worthwhile to do a show. Ack. Glad you survived the trip to the periodontist without breaking anything!

I'm so exhausted it's not even funny! Yesterday I worked late, packed up three orders, wrapped presents, and did some laundry in between. I went to Binny's (the big liquor store) yesterday at lunch because they had prosecco on sale for $8.99/bottle, plus they give a discount for buying by the case, so it came out to about eight bucks each. I got three cases LOL. To be fair, I will give about a case of it away to folks for x-mas, but still...

My plan is to run to Chico's at lunch and see if I can get a gift for Mom. She's pretty much the last person I have to buy for, except of course for Liam who can't think of a damn thing he wants... He did buy me an expensive diamond bracelet, so I need to get him SOMETHING good. Any ideas???

I hope to get the x-mas cards in the mail tomorrow. Fingers crossed I can find the damn labels because I've got the address all pre-set and for some reason I can't find the size I always use. God knows I'm NOT hand writing them!

Alright, off to do something productive before I have to do training in 20 minutes. It never ends... !!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Yesterday was jam packed. I worked, ran home at lunch to pack and ship an order, and worked some more. After dinner I got a box of gifts ready to ship and gathered my stuff together for today since I wanted to come downtown early. I was in bed by nine o'clock and asleep by 9:15! It was GLORIOUS! The drive in this morning wasn't too bad (under two hours, which is the benchmark for "not too bad" LOL) and I'm going to work from my condo until I head out to the retirement party for my old assistant later. I also need to get my x-mas cards in the mail. Fortunately I found the stickers I use as address labels last night and printed those out so I'm going to assemble them in between meetings.

Tomorrow I'll head up to The North Estate early and work on wrapping gifts that stay local (e.g., for the ferals and some friends). There is one more thing coming today that has to get shipped, but that will be a quickie to prepare. And then I need to do some listing photos! I haven't taken any for weeks and I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel. Hopefully I'll slam out a bunch of pictures this weekend. I should also spend some serious time cleaning up downstairs because my priority has been packing and shipping things and it's gotten pretty messy.

Alright, off to get this downtown party started!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I didn’t venture out to my old job. We had freezing drizzle and fog covered with a few inches of snow. It was quite icy out there so I decided to stay home. I really was looking forward to going out there. They recently let about 20% of the staff go so I doubt they’d beg me to come back.

Marty is better.

My sister always pays for the booth and her son and daughter in law and a friend always have tuff to sell as well. I think her friend has been splitting the booth fees with her. I am not sure she clears enough to cover the booth sometimes but she enjoys doing it. I am not sure what her profits end up being, but she isn’t in negatives at the end of the year.

You scored big on Prosecco. I’m excited when I find my favorite wine on sale.

I don’t have any ideas for Liam. Did you come up with something? Marty picked his own - assorted things for his astrophotos. I got my iPhone 15 Pro yesterday and got it all set up last night.

How was the downtown party? Sweet you made good time getting to town. How nice you had a good night’s sleep. Those seem fleeting to me these days.

Woo hoo for finding your stickers and can get your cards in the mail.

Not much new with us. Work and getting ready for Christmas. It’s been quite cold, snowy and icy so I haven’t ventured out too far but did brave walking over to the mailbox today to get our mail.

Laters,
Curby

From my new phone. Two pictures I tried to load are too big.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, I recognize that ornament! Good idea to skip the party given the conditions. I probably would have done the same! The downtown party was great, but I could have done without those last few glasses of prosecco... and probably the cigar too. Still no good ideas for Liam. Last night he said he wants a dispenser that hangs on the want for garbage bags. Uh... OK... So I ordered it and I'm going to wrap the damn thing and put it under the tree!

I am sitting in bed with coffee waiting for impending bacon. Then I need to take a shower, run to Chico's (I have no good gift for mom... ) and to Great Clips to get Liam a gift card (his other "great" idea, and finally I'll have to brave Costco. On the Saturday before Christmas. YIKES. But we are Out Of Toilet Paper. Every bathroom is on the last roll. In between all that I have to wrap a slew of gifts and make some attempt to clean up this disaster of a house.

Not much else to report except that I'm worn out by now! The good news is I think my Christmas shoppers are done by this point so I don't really anticipate any orders for a few days. But I do remember a rush right after Christmas last year so maybe that will happen.

Alright, off like a prom dress!

 

[Dee*Jay]

I forgot to say, I'll have to run downtown next week to drop off some presents for people, and Ilya texted me yesterday that he's got a gift for me so I'll swing by I&R. Of course me going there to pick up my gift always results in me also buying something, LOL. The one bracelet I kind like is still on his website and maybe if I see it in person it will speak to me. My earrings are currently in production (the most recent notification says they're in the "setting and polishing stage"). I ordered these on the fourth, assuming they were pre-made and would just be drop shipped or something, but it sounds like they're actually being made... ? Anyway, I hope I love them! And I also hope they ship SOON or else I'm going to have to make a special trip down to my condo to get them since I had them shipped there to assure secure delivery.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, LOL to having a cigar. I can’t say I’ve ever tried one, but did smoke cigarettes for a while during my college days. At least you go something wrapped for Liam under the tree.

How nice Ilya has a gift for you. Good way to get you in the store. I am sure - if you’re like me - you’ll find something you can’t live without. I am anxious to see those earrings. If I still have a bezel set bracelet, I’d order a pair too. I really like them. I do need to get some bracelets shortened. I have a tri-gold bracelet that I’ve been pulling off and on my wrist without using the clasp. Sadly, it fell off last night when I pulled a sweatshirt off. I decided to not wear it until I get a link or two removed.

I think I’m doing Christmas shopping too. I have to return my old iPhone to Apple and that should be my last trip to the UPS store. I ran a few errands this morning, one of which was dropping off a Prime return to Kohl’s. Of course, their 20% off coupon led to picking up some chocolate for Marty and Chris’s stockings and me a new pair of PJ’s and sweatshirt.

Marty started on the Christmas lights and decorations outside today. My new Snoopy inflatable on a motorcycle is awesome. He got tired and didn’t finish all the lights a rough the arch and windows.

I just ordered us dinner from Outback. We are going to the Civic Center tonight for the Nutcracker. I don’t know if it‘s a local production or a traveling one. Tickets were way cheaper than the Charlie Brown production so I’m guessing it’s local. I haven’t been to a Nutcracker show since a friend of mine was dancing in it.

I worked about 5 hours today getting round 1 of all the January night sky charts done.

Laters,
Curby

M81 with Marty’s new scope (aka Christmas present).

 

[marcy]

The Snoopy’s out front.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, your Snoopys look GREAT!!! How was the Nutcracker? I have a funny story (well funny to ME anyway!)... When I was in law school my best friend told me he wanted a nutcracker for x-mas. I had no idea what the big deal was, but I went all out and got him one of those squirrels where you put the nut somewhere (I can't remember now where... between its paws maybe... ?) and pull a lever and it cracked the nut. When he opened it and showed pure bewilderment it became apparent we'd had a miscommunication LOL. He's still got that thing somewhere in his house! I'm so impressed you have the iPhone 15. I've still got the max (at least I think that's what it was called... ) and don't plan on upgrading until this one sh!ts the bed. And when that DOES happen I have the 12 from my old company, which they let me keep when I left. So bottom line, I don't really anticipate shopping for a new phone any time soon!

Yesterday morning I was a shopping MACHINE! I went to Great Clips and got Liam's gift card, picked up three bottles of Blanc de Bleu Cuvee for Ilya's shop at Binny's, was in Chico's at the stroke of ten (where the girl had to ring me up three separate times because she kept over charging me for things... and then she got mad AT ME for pointing it out), and took a $253 whirl through Costco, getting home just after eleven with a car full of stuff.

Then I proceeded to wrap the rest of the gifts that are in the house (with the exception of one gift for YF that I know got delivered and simply CANNOT locate) and organized what I'm taking to Missouri next week. I also went through all three giant bags of boxes, gift bags and and tissue paper and organized those, throwing about a quarter of it all away in the process. I really need to do something with all the rolls of ribbon and the massive stockpile of bows too, but I was out of time at that point because he had to got over to our friends for a party.

Today I'd like to take some pics for listings because I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel, I have an order to wrap up (I communicated with the lady and let her know there was no way the glasses were getting to her before x-mas short of me hopping on a plan and taking them to Texas myself -- fortunately she was OK with that), and updating my resume for the other private equity job I talked to the recruiter about on Friday.

So nothing exciting is going to happen here today, but The North Estate will be a busy place nonetheless!

 

[marcy]

“‘Twas over a week before Christmas
And chez Curby’s house was lit up

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, your nutcracker story is pretty funny. Ironically, I thought the same thing about 8 years ago when some new girl at work kept saying she liked nutcrackers. I was confused. Then I saw one on her desk and got it. The ballet was pretty good. Some culture in our small city.

I’m bad. I usually get a new phone at least every other time a new one comes out and sometimes every time. I took a few pictures with my 13 pro and Marty’s 15 pro and his turned out better so I was sold on it.

You had a busy weekend. I hope you find YF’s gift. When I used to shop year around for the entire family, I’d forget where I put something and end up with extra presents.

That’s good the lady is Texas okay with her glasses not showing up for Christmas. I need to drop my phone off tomorrow to go back to Apple for the trade-in so I hope the lines aren’t long.

We had another busy weekend. Marty got the lights up outside. Chris helped him quite a bit and I’ did some. He finished today. We went to an open house and looked at another house nearby. They are around 1500 - 1600 square feet per floor. We like one plan better but the master bedroom is probably a bit small for our giant bedroom set. We will see.

We picked up a 7 cubic foot freezer chest today. We are buying a 1/4 of a cow so we needed one. No more problems storing my Christmas cookies. If only I’d get around and make them. As a retired person you’d think I‘d have time to bake more.

We all had tomahawk steaks for supper. Marty finished his. Chris and I not so much. They were a bit too fatty for my taste but the lean meat was good.

I am almost up to the arm holes on the front of my vest. Yay. I might get it finished for Christmas.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, your house looks super festive!!! Can the building modify the size of the master bedroom in the house you like better? I realize that could be house of cards... changing the size of one room changes the size of another... and so on and so on...! We've always got part of a dead cow in the freezer, LOL. I think we've finally finished all the hamburger from 2021 and now we're on to 2022. Ha!

Yesterday the weather was complete crap and taking pictures was pretty much pointless. I did get some done for three listings because I had to, but they aren't the best. I also wrapped the x-mas gifts for the the kids in Iowa, even though we're not going there until the 30th just so I could get the stuff cleaned up and out of the kitchen. Somewhere in between there I took a nap!

Last week I picked up some chili mix that had everything in it by the meat so yesterday afternoon I decided to try the white chicken chili. Well.... I didn't realize step one was to soak the beans over night, or four hours at a minimum. So I did that and then put everything else in the crock pot around seven, figuring it would be done by the time I went to bed and I'd just scoop it all into lunch sized contains and chuck them in the freezer. At ten the beans were still hard as a rock. By 11:30 they were somewhat edible and I just gave up. So now I've got six containers of this stuff and frankly I might end up throwing them all out depending on how the first one is after I heat it up. WTF. This was supposed to be EASIER than my regular process!

Just when I thought I was in the clear last night I got an order for my biggest PITA thing (a big drink carrier with eight glasses). And he wanted it gift wrapped. I barely got it into a box that made sense, and even then it cost me almost thirty bucks to ship it. I messaged the guy that he's not likely to get this by x-mas, but I never heard back so off it goes to UPS today. It is what it is.

Speaking of shipping snafus, I sent a package to Michigan last week. It was taking a while to get there and the tracking wasn't updating so I put in a locate request. It popped up last night. In SACRAMENTO. No joke. You can't make this stuff up.

I did my nails last night with a different brand of the gel strips. I think I like these better in terms of size/shape and how they went on, but I'm reserving judgment to see if they last. The color was also strange. When I opened the package they were kind of a deep deep fuchsia, which is NOT what I wanted, but once I got them on and cured they are a dark red. That's closer to the dark wine I though they would be, but not exactly. I have another color of this brand too and who knows what that will really turn out to be.

Anyway, I'm at work now, and it's a ghost town. Maybe I'll be able to get something done!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, thanks. Marty did a nice job decorating outside. I even photo-shopped Chris's Jeep out of the driveway. Such mad skills.

Yes, we can get things moved on a custom build of course that always ups the price. We ran out at lunch today and looked at four different floor plan houses with a different builder. In fact, they built the house we have. We like 2 of them pretty well. One was similar to the other place we liked yesterday. Sounds like Marty is making decisions. What he has "yet" to realize is this will cost more than the counter-offer he turned down. We will see what happens ...

Too funny about going through the older hamburger. We still have a giant package of hamburger in the freezer part of the refrigerator downstairs from 2020. D'oh!

Phooey on not being able to take pictures. I bet you'll be getting lots of last minute orders and a few whiners they won't get it before Christmas. That's a bit nuts the package for Michigan is in California. Maybe a regional post office switch. They are moving ours to Colorado and the Casper one to Montana. Huh? I had to go to the UPS store to drop off my return iPhone and they luckily had a line where I was "next" for return shipping only. Woo hoo! I did a rush shipping on something from Snapfish. I wanted to get Marty a 15 oz. black coffee mug with that galaxy picture for him. Did you come up with more ideas for Liam?

It was in the 50's here today so I topped off my gas tank while I was out. I am not a fan off filling the tank in sub-zero weather.

Phooey on the beans. I know they take forever to cook. I hope you don't have to throw out what you made but I get it - no point keeping it if it doesn't taste good.

That's great the new gel nails worked so well for you. I need to paint my nails.

I love those quiet days at work.

I worked most of the day, more of those "greeted with chats for things the boss wants me to change". You know, something completely opposite than last week. Management 101 - don't greet your employees with negatives or complaints the minute they show up (or open the chat). Some of the crap she wanted "fixed" she removed from my video because I still have the link to the preview. Oh well ...

Chris is picking up Culver's for us now. Off to get plates out.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, any progress on the house front? If you have something built how long do you think it will take to be done? How much did a rush order on Snapfish cost? After doing that book on Shutterfly I can only imagine... YOWCH! So far so good on the new nail stuff. I did screw up the tip of my thumb this morning, but it was my own fault for having something heavy slip through my hand so I think anything I had on there would have done the same thing.

Today has been a whirlwind! I drove downtown, but at seven-ish, not five thirty like I sometimes do. It took me two hours to get to my condo, and sadly I wasn't surprised by that. I worked for a little while and then went to see Ilya. I bought the 2.5 ct bezel bracelet in white gold. It is smaller than I had thought it would be, but it's growing on me. He's also brining in a 3 ct four prong in white gold for me, and hopefully that will be here by Thursday. And then I think my stack is DONE! If I can't find a couple of pieces to mix and match for any occasion out of FIVE then shame on me! I'm sitting here right now with four on and it's a little ridiculous LOL.

I dropped off presents for my old neighbors and zipped back here to The North Estate so I could ship a set of glasses. Now I'm working a little and trying to decide if taking a nap this late in the day would be a bad idea!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Forgot to say, I'm annoyed with the earring people. I think they won't be delivered until the 22nd, and by then I'll be headed to Missouri so I asked if they could redirect the shipment to the house down there. Nope. They can only redirect to a FedEx location. Ok, so then I asked for them to ship to the FedEx up here and Liam can pick them up when while gone. BUT. They can't add a second name to the order for pick up. And then I got a confirmation that my order would be shipped to my condo address. I was like... WTF?! So I have no idea what's going on or when these things will show up. I really really hope I like them after all this hassle!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, the house and lot search continues. Who knows where it’ll end. The FUN part was almost getting high centered in a ditch trying to drive on to a lot. The tilt of the pickup was especially fun. Thank you 4WD and Ford for being able to get us out of there. The realtor wants us to set down with assorted builders and get pricing. Funny, the 2 companies I talked to and asked them to call or send us info has not followed up with us. However, one of the builders did call our realtor about getting us all together. At least rates continue to come down.

The rush order from Snapfish was maybe $18 as opposed to their normal gouge of $15. It is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Marty also sent me some obscure text today that he bought me a washing machine for Christmas? After 3 counter responses and questions, he said he didn’t feel like he bought me a real Christmas present - an in my new phone - and he wanted to get me something nice. So I ordered a 1/2 ctw white gold heart pendant since I’ve been wanting one anyway. He suggested I get the 1 ctw but I declined. Sometimes those are too big (for my taste) and then if I liked it, I wouldn’t like my 1/2 ctw YG heart pendant. It should arrive Friday.

You’ll have to send me a pic of your new bracelet(s) from Ilya and your stacks. I like to wear 2 bracelets at a time, but on the thinner side. So many of the need a link or two removed.

What a PITA about your earrings. I hope you LOVE them and they are worth the wait.

We keep running out and looking at houses and lots. We found one plan we liked so went and saw it again.

Last night I had a pizza party with friends from my job post college. I worked there about 21 years before moving to my last job. I’ve kept in touch with one of those ladies but not the rest of them so much. There were 7 of us including my sister-in-law. It was fun reliving old times and catching up with each other. I had two pieces of pizza and some cookies and some wine so stayed up late knowing I’d pay for it once I get in bed.

My SIL and I went and ate at Culver’s tonight then I drove us around looking at Christmas lights. I DID get my vest almost done tonight. The front and back are knit, now I just have to sew on shoulder together and knit the ribbing around the armholes and the neck. Yay. Then, I need to figure out my next project. I should find a poncho pattern I like, since I’m cold all the time, that would come in handy.

Marty’s crud seems to be returning with a vengeance. He had a coughing attack last night and only ended up with about an hour of sleep. He did get in a nap before us running out to look at lots this afternoon.

I got 3 videos done and scheduled today. It took most of the day too. I lifted before we went to Culver’s.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, holy cow to getting high centered! That's not too bad on the Snapfish order; definitely better than my photo book. I can't wait to see your pendant! Do you think you'll move forward with the plan you like? Poor Marty. That seems to be the MO lately... people get sick, get better, and then the crud rebounds with a vengeance. Yay to almost being done with your vest!

So... the jewelry saga continues... First the earrings. They have been shipped to the FedEx location up here. Arrival TOMORROW. Of course. And Liam's name is not on the label so I don't think he can get them. I'll call there and ask if he can retrieve them for me if I send him with my passport or something.

Now for the bracelets... I decided the 2.5 ct bezel really is too small. The guy had a 4 ct version a few weeks ago and Ilya said he'd get it in for me. But apparently it sold and now he's only got a 6 ct one. Uh... NO. So I'll have to wait for another 4 ct to be made I was also going to look at the 3 ct 4 prong, but I don't think he's going to get that in until the 4 ct bezel comes too, so now I've got the 2.5 ct bezel that I'm not going to wear for fear of damaging it and I need to return that to Ilya when everything else is ready to look at. So much for my grand stacking plan. But I'll text you a pic later anyway so you can see me channeling Elizabeth Taylor. Or maybe Liberace.

I'm working from home today. Translation: trying to clean some of this crap up and doing laundry in anticipation of the trip to Missouri tomorrow. I also need to do some actual work. Meh. Plus pack an order and check out two sets of glasses for a lady to confirm their condition. I always put in the listing if I notice any issues, but sometimes people want me to double check. And then half the time after I get them out and go over them with a fine tooth comb they don't buy. Whatever!

On the good news front, the package going from Illinois to Michigan via California is now at the Detroit distribution center. Progress! Estimated delivery is tomorrow. I really really hope so...

Alright, off to get his party started!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Merry Christmas!

Dee Jay, darn you missed getting to see your earrings. Marty went to bed already so I was over at my stocking eyeing my pendant. I still can't tell if it hangs funny but I'll know in the morning. Your Christmas tree photo certainly has a lot of presents. Our tree isn't lacking as well.

Yes, Shutterfly charges a lot for shipping too. I try to buy things on sale at Snapfish but they have high shipping costs.

I can't imagine how big a 6 carat bracelet would be. Marty tried to get me to buy the 5 carat bracelet when I got the 4 carat. I seemed huge to me. LOL to channeling Liberace or Liz Taylor. Sometime you should search on YouTube for the Lucy episode where she gets Liz Taylors huge diamond ring stuck on her finger. I think it was a the Lucy Show not I Love Lucy, but I don't remember for sure.

Hopefully that package made it to Michigan in time. It took the scenic route to get there.

We were lazy today. We got just enough snow to make things nasty. I made homemade biscuits for breakfast and Chris cooked bacon and eggs. I did my usual Sunday chores and got my January article sent off to the local paper. The retirement home where we hold our astronomy club meetings checked to make sure I still planned on giving a talk to them on Wednesday this week. I am glad they reminded me. I had completely forgot. The calendar appointment would pop up on Wednesday afternoon and I'd be going "CRAP!"

We've chased around and looked at lots some more. I believe it is narrowed down to 2 of them. One is really high so will be a windy spot - but then again, what isn't where I live? The view would be pretty good from there sky wise. The other one is an odd shaped lot and off a dirt road (just for a little bit). It's right off a main road too. I think I'd prefer the other one.

I got a few more cookies made. I should have just pasted them on my hips instead of eating some, but they were good. I got the cheesecake for tomorrow baked this afternoon.

Take care.
Merry Christmas!

Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I hope you survived Christmas day and Santa was good to you.

We had a lovely day. I got a lot of Snoopy stuff - shocking, I know. Who saw that coming? Chris likes her go-pro we got her for her Jeep and RV. Marty's favorite gift appears to be his buffalo leather lifting belt. Luckily I got both Chris and Marty some windup flashlights because the power just went out about 15 minutes ago. I was in the middle of trying to take my red sweater to the far back bedroom to dry. I always wash red sweaters by themselves. I guess a transformer blew near the mall.

We had dinner at a friend's house, played a game then came home at about 5 p.m. It was a lovely day.

The hurricane force winds going on outside is whistling and bitterly cold. I hope the power comes back on sometime during the night. Marty and Chris went to bed already but it's not even 8 p.m. yet. If I try to go to sleep now, I'll be up at the crack of 2 a.m.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Merry Christmas kids!

Curby, how's the pendant hanging? My earrings are a little odd -- I think the problem is that my holes face a bit to the sides and not to the front, but I'm pretty sure I can fix it. Liam said the new earrings are OK but they aren't the "headlights" he's used to seeing on me. Well that was kind of the point -- I was looking for some "casual" diamond drops. If I wanted "headlights" I'd just wear my 3.2 ct studs... right?! I'll have to look for that Lucy episode! From the descriptions I think I prefer the first of the two lots. Let me know when it's time to come and pick out decorations for my bedroom.

We were posting a the same time! So your power is out? Oh no! I hope that doesn't last long. I save red/pink/orange stuff up until I have a load (although it's never a big load) and wash those things together too.

This morning we were on the road early-ish, but it rained The Whole Way. So dreary. I was happy to finally get back to The North Estate and open a bottle of prosecco while I hacked through the boxes to get to my earrings LOL. I'll send you pics tomorrow.

I've got three orders to pack up and we're having a friend over for dinner. Plus, a whole bunch of stuff needs to make it back down to the basement. I keep hoping one of these days I can REST... but that never seems to happen!

Liam just went up to take a shower, and I'm about ready to climb into bed too.

Ho ho ho -- merry Xmas!!!

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, glad you made it home okay. I’m with you on wanting some smaller earrings sometimes. I am anxious to see them. I have small ear lobes and one of them bends down a bit, so sometimes earrings don’t look or hang right on me. Of course, no one sees my earrings anyway. My pendant hangs fine. I was worried the chain was attached to the back, but it goes through the heart pendant. I did move it to a 20” chain tonight. The 18” fits fine, but I tend to like pendants on longer chains.

At dinner, Marty also said he was leaning towards that 1st lot. He told the realtor we wanted to set down with a few builders to get pricing. I shudder to think of moving everything though. If you pick out decorations for your room, at least I can make you move them. Ha Ha.

We had several glasses of wine this afternoon with dinner and during the game we played. It hit the spot.

The power came back on about 20 minutes ago. Yay. Heat.

Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

We've got blizzard conditions here and tomorrow doesn't look much better. Not a lot of snow but what we have sure gets whipped up in to drifts. I call it semi-tipping windy.

I worked most of the day. I'm wearing my new vest and necklace though.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, the snow seems to be moving this way. Mom in Missouri sent a video this morning of the back yard covered in the white stuff and there's no end in sight. I think it will hit here by about Thursday. I'm curious to hear how the meetings go with builders! I had a dream last night about the power being out, but I can't really remember much more. I also had a dream that I was at an estate sale and there was a diamond ring for $540 that I loved and decided to buy but while I was off looking at something else another person got it. I was so mad!!!!! I demanded that they call that lady and tell her to come back with it because I had already committed to it LOL.

I have no idea how yesterday went by so quickly! I messed around with some paperwork for Etsy. They are requiring shops to verify their business status, which I did when I first opened in 2021, but there is an issue because they can't seem to confirm my file number with the state. I got a message on Christmas Eve telling me if it's not verified by December 31 my shop will be suspended. So I gathered every piece of paper I could find proving my business existence as a legitimate entity and sent it to them. Of course there was no resolution and it had to be "escalated," but all that non-progress took a long time nonetheless. And who knows what will happen come the 31st...

Anyway, after that I packed five orders, ran to the post office and UPS, and did some cleaning up around the house because my friend was coming for dinner. The place was barely passable when he walked in, but I don't think he minded. After dinner I was suddenly EXHAUSTED. I walked him to the door when he left and continued straight up the stairs to bed! This morning I got up a little early to pack an order before work (that I was too tired to pack last night) and now I'm here toiling away.

I actually hoping to get a bunch done today and tomorrow!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, did the snow show up? It was kind of nice here today, so maybe that is coming your way. Too funny about the diamond ring dream. How rude of someone else buying it first. And phooey to the power going out in your dream.

Sounds like Etsy is as organized as ever. Good thing you save documents.

It's a tiring season with so much to do.

We met with a builder yesterday and the price came to about what I expected. We are meeting two other builders this week and I doubt the prices will be much better. I am betting interest rates come down next year before the election, but who knows. It's rough to give up a nice house with low interest rates, for a smaller - but nice house - and larger payment. Speaking of which, the buy-down rates looks like more of a scam than not. What do you think of said things as a realtor? If we did that, I'd rather do the permanent one. As Marty keeps saying, he wants to retire at some point so doesn't want to be worrying about a huge house payment.

That said, we took friends out to the lot we like today. Time will tell ...

Tomorrow is family day at Curby's house. There will be 19 of us. I have cookies and cheesecakes baked. I confirmed our catering delivery. I got out dishes, cutlery and glasses. I am as ready as I am ever going to be.

While we were out yesterday, I picked up some yarn for a vest to make for a friend's birthday. Yay. Another knitting project.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, We did get snow yesterday, but it's pretty much gone. I got an email back from Etsy telling me to go in and verify my biz info on the system... Which is exactly the thing I told them wasn't working and that's my I reached out to them in the first place. W.T.F. I have no idea what goes on there. I am bracing myself for being shut down on the 31st. By a buy down rate, do you mean paying points to get a lower rate... ? If so, that's not uncommon, and probably not a bad idea in this high rate environment. (But if you mean something else let me know.) Nineteen people at your house?! Woah!!!

Today was busy. I ran downtown today and took a friend to see two condos and then we had lunch and talked things over. She wanted to write an offer on one of them so I handed her off to another agent I deal with since my current job prohibits me from being an agent on any deals (but I can get referral commission). Fingers crossed this goes through for her because she's lost out on about eight deals by now (being outbid, all cash buyers, etc.). Then I came back to The North Estate.

Liam and I took a trip to Dick's to see if I could get a knee brace because I am in some SERIOUS discomfort. I got two and brought them home. One didn't work At All. The other worked in the beginning, but after half an hour it was pressing on the part of my knee that hurts the most, so I guess they are both going back.

Tomorrow we're going to Iowa for family x-mas.

Alright, time of hobble over to the fridge for the last of the prosecco, and then I'm going to bed early!