Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy last day of 2023 kids!

We had a successful trip to Iowa and back yesterday. Food and presents and family, oh my! When we got home I washed up some stuff to take pictures for the first time in aggggggges. Of course today the light is total crap, but I've got to do it. Liam and YF are going to the Bears game. I hope they have enough clothes on because sitting there doing nothing in the cold can be absolutely miserable.

I dug my old knee brace out from when I tore my ACL many years ago. I've actually got a few of them, starting with the one that goes hip to ankle, then a couple that are about 8 inches long with hinges, and then just the neoprene sleeves. I think the winner is one of the 8 inches with hinges. I wore it last night while I was washing stuff up and it helped a lot. Ugh. I really really don't want to live through another bad knee situation!

No big plans for tonight, which is absolutely fine with me!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy 2024 kids!

It's after ten and I'm still in bed! Not due to any big party action last night, that's for sure. I did stay up until about 11:30, and really was still awake at midnight, but was internetting and not whooping it up. Liam and the ferals watched the ball drop in NY but that was enough for them in terms of TV festivities and I think they were on to some movie by the time midnight here rolled along.

We are supposed to go to a friend's today for brunch, but I'm kind of stuffed up and I wonder if I'm better off staying home in case i really do have something. It would be a shame because I picked up a bunch of appetizer type stuff at the store yesterday to take. Oh well, I guess we can eat it here.

I ended the year up 15.5% over last year, but that includes sales from Ebay and my website as well as Etsy. I was up 6.3% just on Etsy. My last sale of the year was that giant red vase! I packed it so well that if the UPS truck dropped it off the back it would just bounce from all the bubble wrap LOL.

Today YF has four friends coming over to spend the night so there will be some cleaning up in the living room and family room. I don't know if I'll get around to taking any pics today, but I did a slew of them yesterday so I'm in pretty good shape for the next week or so.

Alright, off to wordle with the family and then I need to get up!

 

[marcy]

Happy New Year, Kids!

Dee Jay, did you ring in the new year with prosecco? We had popcorn while watching movies. And chocolate.

Did Etsy cut you off on the 31st?

Yes, I guess that is buy down points. Sellers are doing 2-1 or 3-2-1 buy downs but they are 2 points the first year then one the second year, then it goes back to original rate. I’m for a fixed rate.

I hate to hear the knee braces aren’t working. I always found the same thing, they just make my sore knees more sore. I hope you are doing better by now.

How was the family X-mas? People arrived her by 11 a.m. Saturday. The 3 of us had everything out and set up by 10 that day. It was 19 of us total, instead of hauling chairs and a table upstairs, we set up 9 places in the man cave and had 10 at our dining room table and did a buffet. That worked GREAT. The BBQ we had catered in was on time and quite delicious. Plus there was plenty of leftovers. No drama unfolded that day. Yay. One of my nieces had news - she was recently engaged. I dug out my steam cleaner and cleaned her ring, Which led to all the ladies handing me their rings and earrings. I had a regular production going.

Sunday and Monday, Marty and I lazed around, watched movies and didn’t do much of anything. My SIL was in Denver from Sunday morning until early today. That was nice. She is planning on heading out on Friday.

I got my Snoopy village taken down and put away. I was going to start on the ornaments on the tree, but didn’t get that far yet.

Tomorrow we meet with builder #2 and then builder #3 on Thursday. Plus I am getting a haircut that day. I only ended up working 163 hours in December. See, I’m cutting back. Of course between holidays, stuff to do for the holidays and trying not to completely ignore my SIL, I didn’t work as many hours.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Oops, I missed you latest 2 posts. I bet the Bears game was cold for Liam and the YF.

Yay for profits in 2023. That reminds me, I need to do reconciliation on Marty’s gym. I know I need to make my 4th quarter payment and one for the gym as well. I am kind of nervous. A friend of mine googled our tax lady and found where her business was closed. I emailed her this weekend but she hasn’t responded yet. She’s in her 50’s, very overweight and seems quite unhealthy. I hope she is okay. She works by herself so there’s no associate that would have our records. I guess I will call in the morning.

I hope you aren’t getting sick, and if so, you are on the mend already. Marty is STILL coughing.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, your big dinner sounds great, and good idea to put some people down in the man cave! I agree with you on a fixed rate. The comfort of knowing your rate isn't going to change is priceless! You worked more in December than I did, LOL. Oh no to the tax lady's business being closed. The guy I've been with since I incorporated ages ago sold his biz to a local tax place too. I got an email that said nothing would change... and then I got an email saying I would get a link to upload all my documents. Well THAT'S a change! Normally I sit down and have my Hour Of Power with Larry and walk out of there kinda knowing the state of the union. Now I'm supposed to upload everything into a black hole and hope for the best. I think I'm going to look at doing my own taxes this year. Yikes.

Well I finally gave in and scheduled an appointment with the knee guy for tomorrow morning. Ugh. I really don't want to be laid up again! I'm heading to Aspen at the end of next week and Switzerland two weeks after that.

Work is about to get super busy. Not looking forward to the rest of this month!

I have a call today with a lady I know from the Chief Compliance Office group about a role. I interviewed with that company when I first started looking buy the couldn't afford me for the position that was open then. Maybe they can for this one as it's a much higher level. Plus it can be remote. Finger's crossed!

Alright, off to find some more coffee and make something happen.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope the knee appointment goes well and it’s an easy fix. I sure need to get my knees addressed at some point.

Oh no, that your tax preparer is electronic uploads now. Marty dropped off our 4th quarter payment today. I called and our tax lady is alive and doing well. I guess Google has her listed as closed all the tine. She calls them and they want her to pay for advertising so she shows up in their searches. A friend and I both sent in a notice that the business is open and it was changed, I wonder how long it will last though.

Maybe that new position will work out. Good luck with that.

The builder we met with today seemed decent. It’s a small group and we think they built a house we really liked west of town. Not sure though. He got my attention at heated floors. Ha Ha. We are meeting one more builder tomorrow. Lots by the air base here came available today that are a bit cheaper than the one out north. Not quite as dark skies and off dirt road though. But good view of the mountains and I can watch the Thunderbirds from there.

I did work today. Mostly on videos and saving charts to use in articles.

We got pretty much all the Christmas decorations down. The lights on the garage need changed back from green to white and the tree needs taken down. I got all the ornaments and lights off it today. Bye, bye till next year.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, welllllllll.... I'm going to try to limp along (no pun intended!) with some PT and elephant strength anti-inflammatory and using the knee brace when I need to. The real answer is knee replacement, but I don't want to do it this young and then have to do it a second time. Ugh. That's terrible that Google shows the business as closed in an effort to grab advertising dollars! Wouldn't that be illegal if they are intentionally publishing false information? I've got a follow up call with the internal recruiter at the other firm based on the call I had with the CCO contact, so that seems like good news. Heated floors -- YES! Is the timing of your real estate inventory very calendar dependent? A lot of people list here after the first of the year and then there's a real flood after the Super Bowl. Good for you on getting decorations down. I'm pretty sure our x-mas tree will still be sitting in the living room on the Fourth of July...

I've had two orders roll in already this morning. I don't think I'll run home at lunch and pack them though because they're both eight pieces and I think it would take more than an hour to get there, do them both, and get back. Oh well, I guess they'll be on the way come tomorrow!

Not much else exciting to report. I'm in the office today and need to get some real work done. Don't these people know it's Friday?!

OK -- progress, here I come!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

It was another excitement filled weekend at The North Estate -- NOT!

On Friday night I queued up a bunch of stuff for pics. Saturday Liam went to the local auction, and I ended up stopping over there after taking some orders to the post office because he said there were a couple of quilts (which he'd actually bought for me by the time I got there LOL). I didn't end up with anything else because people paid crazy money for the few things I would have wanted.

Yesterday I took more pics, packed up four orders, and did my nails. In between there was a load of laundry and a crockpot of chili (to be fair, Liam got that started so my contribution was pretty ancillary). I gotta say (again), I'm really liking these gel nail polish strips! I jut ordered three more sets. The only downside is the colors are a crap shoot, but I figure I'm safe if I just stay in the pink/mauve family. I tried what I thought was a dark burgundy red in the last order and it turned out to be RED RED RED. I don't know what that color is actually called but it SHOULD be named "I charge by the hour."

I'm in the office today and we're supposed to get some snow starting tonight through all of tomorrow. They say 6-10", but who knows. The temp is predicted to be right around 32, and that's what I hate. Ugh. Winter in the midwest!

Off to get some salad. Someone brought food in for us and I'm trying to be good.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, how is that the frigid weather, wind and snow there? We had horizontal snow this morning. We aren’t getting as much snow as you, but it’;s colder.

How is your knee doing? My right one was not happy with me yesterday. It’s back to usual stiff and sore today.

I am sure big tech has enough lawyers to brush off any attempt to get restitution for false info online. I keep meaning to go see if they still list her business as open. That’s good news to get a follow up call from the other firm. Hopefully, it’ll work out for you.

Nice that the gel nail polish strips are working out for you. I need to paint my nails again. I’m getting the dry splits again on my thumb. I haven’t been able to knit for a few days. Phooey.

My SIL left on Friday. I caught up on my new episodes of shows I’ve been watching on streaming most of the day. Saturday we ran around and looked at lots again. Yesterday we went to open houses. I completely misunderstood Marty when we stopped to eat lunch that he wanted to put in an offer on one house. I kind of let my inner turmoil spill out of my mouth and got all stressed about it. It’s all good now. We want to see one other floor plan but I sure get the feeling they don’t want to bother with us rif-raf.

I got some new videos out today and watched the horizontal snow outside.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I think the worst of our weather is over now... but there was an SUV nose-down in the ditch this morning at the bottom of the first (and only!) hill I go over on my way to work. The little bit of ice right there unfortunately got him. My knee is "OK" (translation: I can walk, but it ain't great). Yesterday we had a big meeting and when I stoop up there was a sharp CRACK. Everyone in the conference room heard it and was was like WTF? I just gritted my teeth and limped away. Yowch. Does the house feel empty now that your SIL is gone? Are you making any progress with the builder and looking at different floorplans? Don't forget, my room needs to be on the first floor!

This week is flying by! Monday night I sold two sets of ten etched footed glasses. I packed one set, printed out the label, taped the box shut... and realized it was the wrong label on the wrong set. Thank god I figured it out then and was able to fix everything. It's unusual to sell virtually the same thing twice in one day like that and my brain was on vacation as I finished thing up. Ack!

Yesterday I had three sales, two of them off of ebay within minutes of posting the things. I've never had that happen before! I keep telling myself I need to put more stuff on that platform... but I never seem to have extra time to make that happen. Maybe someday... !!!

Today I've got meetings, meetings, and more meetings. At lunch I need to zip over to the packaging place because I'm almost out of bubble wrap again. When I get home tonight I've got an order to pack (and who knows what else will come in as the day goes on), but most importantly I need to do laundry and throw things in a suitcase because we have to leave for the airport around six tomorrow morning. I hate these early morning flights, but I'd rather get up early and take a non-stop than go later and have to switch planes.

Alright, off to get some stuff done!

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDI’s!

Dee Jay, glad the worst of your weather is over. Are you getting sub-zero temps? We are heading down each down for about a week. And the wind is nuts for ever Wyoming. I feel bad for the car you saw upside in the ditch. Not a fun drive for them. Your knee sounds like mine, it functions - barely. Darn those knees. Oh no to the big crack, that isn’t good.

I’m enjoying my #nohouseguest house. As for the house hunting, it continues. I thought Marty was going to put in an offer on a house we saw this weekend but I completely misunderstood him and kind of freaked out a bit. It’s 15 miles west of town and by a sea of large power windmills with blinking red lights. The house is what he considers reasonably priced but would need the basement finished. My thought is get it done now, he wants to do it later. And so it goes. We are looking at 2 more houses tomorrow to see those floor plans. I just want a decision made. Your room will be on the 1st floor. LOL.

Luckily you figured out the label on the footed glasses. I’ve torn open.boxes or envelopes before to make sure I put the correct thing in the box / envelope or to put something in I left out.

We always do the early morning non-stop flights too. Our knees appreciate that too.

I’m out of cookies and have 2 mini cheesecakes left from holiday treats. I am eating better this week.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, if you find a floorplan you like and have to build how long would that take? (I might have asked that before, but I can't remember... ) Thanks for making sure my room will be main level! The only other time I've had a package/label freak out was my first Christmas selling season when I had the idea of packing up multiple orders and then printing the labels all at one time. I had put little notes on each box about what was in there... but I still had an issue about not being 100% comfortable on a few of them. That was the first and last time I did that! Now I pack and label and then go on to the next order! I THOUGHT I was eating better... but the scale doesn't appear to agree with me. Ugh.

I'm at ORD waiting to board for Aspen. When I got here this morning the like was CRAZY. I'm sure some of that is "catch up" from people who probably couldn't get out the few days this week with terrible weather. Actually though the line went really fast so it wasn't an issue at all.

Sister #2 changed her flight so she'll arrive around 3:30 now (as opposed to later in the evening) but I'll still have most of the day to tool around town once I drop my stuff off at the hotel.

Not much else to report, but I'll keep you posted on any good jewelry finds that I might need some guidance on! And I'll try to remember to wave at you from the camera on the corner!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, we really like one of the places we looked at today. Just their basic build would be enough to move in and then finish some stuff in the basement later. It’s 1612 square feet, so about 500 square feet smaller than this on the mail floor, but definitely doable. Sounds like if we go with one of the lots the builder already owns means a more reasonable price on the lot, but we’ll see. We are meeting with them on Tuesday morning. If we go with that lot, Marty can’t have the walkout basement, but that saves money too. Most builders are saying 6-8 months after we say go.

That’s a good way to make sure you get the right label on orders, do one at a time and complete the order. Once I get distracted, I have no idea what I just did.

Glad you got through the line at the airport quickly and nice that sister #2 got an earlier flight. Jewelry shopping commence. And drinking and eating … I’ve been scared to look at the scale but I have been eating normal again this week. All the Door Dash and Christmas cookies are good - or bad - memories now.

Definitely wave at me on the camera. That was fun.

Not much going on today. I tried to work but was kind of distracted. We were gone about 2 hours looking at 2 houses. I got my lifting done while I baked my supper. Tonight I started on the lace stitch pattern on a vest, screwed it up by row 2, but since I’d only knit about 2 inches, I just threw it away and started over.

This weekend will be frigid and snowy. Yay.

Have a great time.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, that's good that you found a floorplan you like! And if you can get the lot for less through the same builder then win win! Six to eight months actually seems like a pretty good timeframe -- not toooooo long, but long enough to get all your other ducks in a row with the current house. I'll keep you posted on the camera situation. Someone told me yesterday that it can get covered over with snow so I need to look at see what the view is like after yesterday's weather. Frigid and snowy here too, but #2 and friends headed up the mountain this morning. Personally I think they're crazy LOL. I'm sitting here typing to you from bed with a cup of coffee on the nightstand!

Well #2 did make it yesterday... but one of her bags was delayed. They had to send some luggage on a later plane due to weight issues for the current weather conditions. And then it took until late last night for them to deliver it from the airport to the hotel. She was pretty antsy because the heater cord for her ski boots was in that bag and she knew she needed those charged up for today. Oh well; all's well that ends well I guess.

I did some light shopping and came across a couple of vintage pieces yesterday. One is a 1.6 carat alexandrite in a ballerina selling. The stone has GIA paper and the whole ring is under $10K. Tempting... I'll text you a pic. The other ring is a 1920s art deco with diamonds. I think the main stone must have been replaced at some point because I looks like a MRB (to be fair I didn't loupe it, but even at a distance that's what I think it is).

There are some work things I should deal with this today... but I don't wanna!!! Maybe after I take a shower I'll be more inclined. Then again, maybe not.

Etsy shut my store down yesterday. I got an email saying I needed to provide some info related to my business entity, which I did immediately. Then they asked for a copy of my driver's license. Which I provided immediately. Then they asked for a BETTER COLOR copy of my driver's license. Which I provided immediately. Then they sent me an email saying everything was good. Then they suspended my store with a saying saying I would not be open for business until everything was uploaded and verified. W.T.F. I lost my sh!t. But of course that does no good because there is no way to get to a human. I fired off a slew of messages and it looks like I'm open again, but I am really really p!ssed off. If I recall correctly anyone who owns stock is entitled to speak publicly at a shareholder meeting. I swear I am tempted to buy a share and show up at the next meeting in June. They will NOT be happy.

On the cautiously optimistic front, I have a second showing at my condo coming up on Monday. All fingers and toes crossed for that!!!

Alright, off to take a shower and brave the day.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy frigid Saturday kids!

Yesterday was a lovely lazy day. I tooled around town, bought a cashmere sweater (no way -- Dee bought a cashmere sweater?! but it was on SALE so I had to!), met my friends for lunch (which lasted about four hours LOL), and later #2 and I had appetizers for dinner at a new hotel bar that just opened a few weeks ago. And five glasses of prosecco. On top of the two glasses I had at lunch. Holy cannoli... But strangely enough I feel just fine?!

#2 took the bus over to Snowmass this morning to ski and I'm going to go over and meet everyone for lunch. My guess is it won't be a late one today because I think it's probably brutal out there. At least here on Ajax you can warm up in the enclosed gondola going back up the mountain, but over there it's open air chair lifts. No thank you!

Not much else to report, just eating drinking and shopping!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday from the Aspen airport kids!

Curby, are you going to go ahead with the house/lot you sent me pics of yesterday? I'm available for consultation on layout and finishes. My fee can be paid in wine.

So my flight... It was supposed to be 1:40... and then they kept bumping it out 30 mins at a time until it was around 4:00... and then they walked it back a little and now it's allegedly 3:30. I think this is really going to happen -- fingers crossed. I especially don't want to give up on this flight because my upgrade came through so I'm in First Class. Yay! More wine!!!

Yesterday's purchase was pure craziness LOL. It's a giant down poncho -- think rectangle with snaps you can undo for your head. It can actually be laid flat to make a blanket. I LOVE it. Frankly I'm about a foot too short to even consider something this voluminous, but I don't care. I'm going to ROCK this thing. I'll send you pics.

I'm looking for compression socks because I think they would be good for me walking/hiking around Switzerland in a few weeks. I found some I like online but they are long and I'm pretty sure they will go beyond the bottom of my knee. You're not supposed to fold them down either. I have one pair that I think I got at Heathrow on my way back from London several years ago and I really like them. They are a good length don't squeeze me tooooo much, but of course there is no brand on them and they're just solid black so I doubt I'll ever figure out what they are.

Alright, off to track my incoming plane and see when it's going to land. There's quite bit of snow blowing around out there right now, but the weather app says it will stop in the next half hour or so.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, your weekend sounds fun and cold. That down poncho sounds wonderful. I need to find one of those myself. I’ve been wearing thermal underwear this weekend. It has kept me pretty warm. I only have two sets though, so I washed the one I wore yesterday this morning. I bought a poncho from Amazon when I broke my wrist and it turned out too big and I guess is sheds so I’ve never washed it or worn it. I might dig it out though. Or find another one …

I still have no idea what Marty / we are doing. Apparently there are a lot of open lots out west of town and they are anywhere from 40 to 85 thousand cheaper than the lots up north. I did finally figure out why I don’t want to live out that direction. Over the years I’ve know quite a few people that got killed in car accidents on that road. Of course, they were alcohol related or storm related. Guess, I’ll get over it. The skies are darker there than up north. The wildlife would be fun to see.

So you made it out of there without any new jewelry? Amazing. I hope your flight(s) went smoothly.

That is nuts Etsy shut your site down for a while. Such a pain.

Friday we went to a local home show. It wasn’t very big, maybe only about 3 dozen businesses were there but Marty talked to a few people about building an observatory and then to two businesses that sell little tractors for moving acreage. I’ll need a golf cart or little 4 wheeler to drive out to the observatory. Ha Ha.

Saturday we ventured out inspite of the subzero temps to look at a few open houses then ate an early supper while we were out. Today, I made homemade beef noodle soup. Since we found out there are more lots out west, I figured Marty would be out there looking at lots today, but he only ventured out to use the snow blower on our side walk and driveway.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids! Day Two sitting in the Aspen airport, pretty sure going nowhere.

Curby, we have a road near us that Liam has said I am absolutely not supposed to drive on. Right before x-mas a lady I work with was T-boned at the intersection by a guy who blew the stop sign going 45 MPH. The only saving grace is that he was driving a old sedan and not a giant truck, which is the prevalent vehicle around here. She would have likely been killed. No jewelry purchases on this trip. And I've actually been thinking of selling a few pieces that I never wear, including a ring I bought here several years ago and don't think I've ever put on again LOL. Is Marty out looking at the lots to the West?

So I have very little (quickly become NO... ) hope of leaving here today. As of now I'm booked through Phoenix, but we're having a blizzard. At five this morning I'd already gotten notification that my flight from Phoenix to O'Hare this afternoon was already delayed. The flight I'm supposed to get on in eight minutes TO Phoenix is on it's third circle of the airport and I'm pretty sure it's going to get diverted to Grand Junction any minute now.

Anyway, not much else to report.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, how fun to be waiting to fly out of Aspen. Hopefully you get out of there sooner than later. Or already.

That’s really lucky that lady didn’t get killed. Some intersections are just bad. There’s a spot between the Wyoming and Colorado border where a lot of people have been killed. It’s a 2-lane state highway and at a fairly high elevation. It’s hard to predict what the other guy is going to do.

Sweet you got out of there without buying some jewelry. I think I remember that ring. I do that too, impulse buy then it never comes out of the jewelry box. Marty is trying to sell a few watches to pay for his astronomy equipment habit. Yes, he wants more.

He did not go look at lots yesterday which really surprised me. He was sure trying to find online elevation maps for the area though. Since it’s in the country, there isn’t much out there. We are meeting a builder tomorrow.

We almost got up to zero today with more snow. Most of the people I work with live in California or Texas and they were complaining this morning about snow and a freeze - I wanted to send them the John McClain clip from Die Hard “welcome to the party, pal”. Ha Ha.

It was a crazy busy day. We’re going to do a daily countdown video to the April solar eclipse. I’m involved but was busy working on an update to comets in 2024 article so I missed a bunch of it then found all these chats @Curby do this, do that. Great. I probably missed half of it.

I did get my lifting done too. Yay..

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Travel update... Everything got diverted and cancelled again today. The next available option to fly out for me is Thursday (if that even goes) so I set up a car rental that I'm picking up when they open tomorrow morning at 10. And then I'm driving back to O'Hare. No joke. And WTF. If all goes well it looks to be about 18 hours and I'll probably stop around Omaha-ish for the night. But I'm not going to push it in these conditions. This is such a PITA. I am almost always late getting out of here, but not usually many DAYS late! I've got a bunch of audio books downloaded and a couple of friends queued up to talk to me when I get bored. Fingers crossed for a smooth drive home.

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, good luck. You taking I-70 east or I-80? If you end up in Curbyville the guest room is open. Both routes have their drawbacks.

 

[Dee*Jay]

New plan! I'm driving to DEN and currently booked on a flight to ORD at the a$$ crack of dawn tomorrow. Waiting now for the taxi to take me to the Aspen airport to get the rental car. Seriously. This is like planes, trains and automobiles. Will keep you posted!

 

[marcy]

Good plan. Let’s hope you don’t ride in the back of Owen’s pickup.

 

[marcy]

Good plan. Let’s hope you don’t ride in the back of Owen’s pickup.

CDOT has I-70 listed as icy and snow packed. Almost typical this time of year.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am glad you made it to Denver okay and hope you get out of DIA in a timely manner tomorrow and arrive safely home. What an long process to get home. This isn't even a major blizzard but the frigid temperatures really made it a nasty storm.

I was hoping your drive took you through Curbyville - I was going to load you up with a bunch of glasses. I've got to get rid of some stuff because sooner or later, we're moving.

We did meet with another builder today. He owns one of the lots up north and we can get it for a better price than what they are selling for now so maybe ... Marty thinks it has potential for a walkout and his observatory. We will see.

I am still working between being gone most of the day and sleeping in this morning. What a slacker I am, it's like I'm retired.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am glad you made it home okay. And funny - Planes, Trains and Automobiles ended up in Chicago.

I worked on videos most of the day. Marty met with the builder we talked to yesterday at a lot he owns up north and he came home quite pleased with it. Maybe we'll be happy with his offer. We do like a floor plan he has and his basic includes a 3 car garage plus finished basement.

We got an estimate from another builder that's about $20,000 less than a different company gave us for the same plan. And supposedly another company we met with is going to make us a better offer than what they told us a few weeks ago. If they all start competing with each other maybe everyone will drop their estimate a bit. This guy Marty met with today is a small builder and seems to build good houses a bit cheaper. The lots he bout around town were 3 years ago so apparently he passes on the price he paid rather than what they are going for now. Time will tell.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, your house situation is starting to sound pretty good! I'm not gonna lie -- I did look a the map to see where you were in relation to my path LOL.

The past four days have been so miserable I'm almost happy to be at work today. The flight home from Denver was uneventful. I was so tired I fell asleep before we took off and didn't wake up again until about half an hour before we landed. I really needed that! When I got home I packed up the five outstanding orders, took a shower and a nap, and went to my first PT session. It went pretty well and I really like the people there. I need to stop after work and get a couple of things so I can do the exercises at home on the days I'm not going to PT. The other big adventure last night was doing my nails. I made a mistake on the last set I did... they were so long that I filed them down a bunch the other day (which was several days after I'd initially done them). That "broke the seal" on the ends and they went downhill from there. Last night I put on the gel strips, cured them, filed them down a whole bunch, and then put on top coat and sealed the ends. I even cobbled a few together from left over strips from prior manis just to get one more set out of them, and I think it worked pretty well. We'll see, but I'm hopeful!

I'm toying with the idea of resetting Pinkie. I've got a faux ruby that I bought at Macy's in a teenie tiny double halo. It was one of my original ideas, but I obviously didn't go in that direction. I find the ring and send you a pic. Thinking it over... we'll see if I ever get around to pulling the trigger...

Not much else to report, just working working working today. Lots to catch up on!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I was expecting you to be knocking on my door. I swear I would have filled your rental with glassware. I won’t have to move it. Ha Ha.

Nice you fell asleep on the flight from Denver. That makes the trip goes fast. I am usually so cold on planes, I could never fall asleep. You had 4 long days. Isn’t it amazing how sometimes it’s nice to go back to work to rest up? We had blizzard conditions this morning with lots of drifting. I placed a grocery order and the girl got stuck getting in to our neighborhood. Her husband came to get her and he dropped her off with the groceries. Our neighborhood is popular at Halloween and known for having the worst streets in town during the winter. They put islands between the in and out lanes coming in to the neighborhood. So, of course, they drift bad.

Ooh, resetting Pinkie does sound fun. I can’t believe how much I like my ruby after moving it to a halo setting. It is only 6x4 mm emerald cut but a fabulous color. I can never find a larger stone I like as well so the halo made it perfect. I did email Tiffany to see if I can get my Etoile band sized. They responded right away and asked for my paperwork which I promptly sent them a PDF of my receipt. We’ll see what happens.

I wondered how your knee was doing. I hope PT helps.

I spent my day working on videos. My boss never likes my audio that I record in the afternoon. She says I always sound tired. My voice gets scratchy and a bit horse the more I talk and I think it’s my thyroid that does it. Who knows. So I have two audios to record in the morning.

We’re doing countdown videos for the April 8 eclipse. One video a day and she’s in a panic to get a bunch of them done. The lady that made the list for us didn’t check a calendar, she skipped this is a leap year. So the few videos we made already were off one day. Luckily I hadn’t finished any of my videos yet.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, you aren't the first one to threaten to load up my car with glass. There's a reason I lock my doors when I visit people. Send me a pic of your ruby. I think I remember it, but not sure. That's awesome if you can get Tiffany to resize your band! My knee felt better yesterday than it has for ages, which surprised me since I worked it the night before. I did the exercises at home last night and I'm a little sore this morning, but not bad. I totally didn't realize this is a leap year -- glad you reminded me!

Yesterday I got some good work done! I was still toiling away at 6:30 when Liam called and said let's meet at the Holiday Inn Bar (yes, we're THAT fancy!) and I had chicken fingers for dinner. When I got home I had some candle sticks to pack, and I made myself go down in the basement and do it. When I came up I had already turned off the lights in the kitchen and was headed toward the bedroom when my phone went CHA CHING again. Ugh. But back into the basement I went. Just a set of salt and pepper shakers though, so it was an easy pack.

Today I need to keep going down the line of productivity. There's SO much to do and not enough hours in the day to get it done!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I swear I'd load your car up with stuff. I am going to tell Marty he needs to throw away at least one coffee mug a week until we "move". If that ever happens.

Woo hoo the PT is helping your knee. I am toying with trying to walk up a step with my right knee, I haven't used it for years on steps. I'd probably fall on my face. I can walk up steps with my left knee okay. I noticed my left foot is really pigeon-toed and twisted. I was that way as a kid but it seems to be getting more pronounced. I see toddlers that walk better than me.

Nice to get your orders packed up and also go to the bar. I am ready for some wine. Maybe it's dinner out tomorrow night. But there's that pesky snow and ice out there.

Speaking of candles, I missed my Christmas lights so I ordered a pair of LED candles. I put one in this decorated mason car and set the other one by it on the mantle. It even has a remote. And the earring color is brighter than they appear in the picture. I matches the ring really well.

Laters,
Curby

Here's my ruby ring and earrings. The earrings were 4mm studs of Burma rubies. After getting the halo ring made, I had WF make halo studs out of the rubies. I totally lucked out on getting those stones. I was in a jewelry store when his gem/settings salesman was in the store and he was showing him rubies at the time. I think he sold me the 4mm rounds at $80 a piece.