Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Here is a picture of some cool clouds this morning. There is one that looks like a rabbit in the middle.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I called the RV dealer today. I got a "I was going to call you today". Sure. They haven't payed off our RV yet - a week later. I'm okay with they want my share of the payoff first but not bothering to tell me that? Wow, this guy has got to be related to my the very lame realtor we used when we bought this house.

Marty's flight to Denver was an hour late. He is working out tonight and hopefully they can start moving his sister tonight. By the time he gets back tomorrow he'll only be home about 18 hours. He has to blow out our sprinklers; it is going to snow and get pretty cold Monday and Tuesday.

It's the weekend. Woo hoo! Have a good one.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy early Saturday morning kids!

Curby, that cloud DOES look like a rabbit! As for the RV dealer saying 'I was going to call you today," what BS. I'm so happy you are almost done with those clowns -- but not as happy I'm sure as YOU are!

Yesterday I did some cleaning up and a litttttttle bit of closet cleaning. The CB came home mid-afternoon and we headed to MI. The traffic was worse than usual anc instead of the normal hour and fifteen minutes GPS said and hour and FIFTY minutes. The first Friday of every month in Michigan City (the town in Indiana right before you cross the Michigan border) does what they call an Art Walk. We'd never been to it and since we were in no hurry we decided to stop. The weather was kind of crappy (raining a little and getting cool) and I heard people in several places say there are usually more people but the climate must have been keeping them away. I'm not sure how much ART goes on there because mostly what we noticed was stores having extended hours. It was fine though because we normally don't go over to that old downtown and it was fun to visit some of the places. Everywhere we went people commented on my cowhide bag and in this cute antique store that we went into the owners just went NUTS for it. I always carry a collection of my friend's bags in the car so I brought them in... and sold two tote bags, a messenger bag, a clutch and a phone case... !!! The CB and the store owners were laughing like mad. They said only I would come into a STORE and SELL thing, ha ha! One of the owners is also opening a hair salon in early November and he is interested in carrying the bags in there, so that could work out well!

Today the the little town my boathouse is in is having the annual Harvest and Wine Fest. I'll be wearing my wine shirt (you may have seen the pic I posted of it in another thread a few weeks ago, if no let me know and I'll post one here) and of course carrying one of my cow bags!

Not sure why I'm awake and this god awful hour BTW because I was up until almost two reading a really good scary book. I'm sure there will be a nap somewhere in my afternoon...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, well I am done with those RV clowns at a noticeable fee of $15,279. That includes the $1152 they charged me to get it ready to sell including labor. Plus the guy I worked with was out sick again (3 times in 3 weeks that I know of) so I left a check and account info with someone else who put it under the receptionists keyboard. Yes, I feel confident with that. This place will be right up there with the realtor we had for this house - if someone wants a recommendation for someone good I'll say not them. I'll be watching for that account to be closed out and then I'm done. Woo hoo!

That town sounds like a fun stop and visit. Reminds me of the little shops in Cherry Creek (Denver). That is pretty funny you sold some cowhide bags and might event up finding your friend a customer. You are the best spokes lady ever!

The annual Harvest and wine festival sounds fun too. I'll try to find your post with your wine shirt.

I am sorry you had a short night. I slept pretty well and slept in. I ran errands this morning after forking over all that money to the RV dealer. I'm baking a potato for lunch and think I'll grill a ground sirloin burger.

Have a fabulous weekend.
Curby

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, I didn't find your picture so yes I'd love to see your wine shirt. The new PS doesn't list all your posts; just all your threads.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Sunday afternoon rolls around too fast. Marty is on his way to the airport. The snow is moving in soon and should be an icy mess in the morning. Woo hoo!!! I made some snickerdoodles for a lady at work tomorrow. Not much else exciting. I am trying to get a book finished today and worked on a program for this month's astronomy meeting.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, I have the pic of my wine shirt on my phone. I'll find it for you and post it! On Saturday night we had dinner sitting at the bar of our favorite restaurant in Michigan and a lady thought the top was just great, LOL.

So this weekend was pretty uneventful. Saturday we walked over to the festival they had in the town the boathouse is in. There really wasn't much going on; I think we were inside the gates all of about 15 minutes. Then we had lunch and stopped for ice cream. That morning I'd woken up super early so we headed back to the house for a nap... which the CB took but I ended up just reading.

Yesterday we drove about 30 minutes to another town that had some antique store in it. We also had (a lousy) lunch, and there was nothing really we wanted to buy. Back home (again) for a nap (CB) and reading (me!). Last night we went over to a casino that's in the same small town. It's on an Indiana reservation and you have to take a bunch of windy roads to get there. It was surprisingly big. We ate at the Hard Rock there and then took a walk through the whole place, but didn't put so much as a nickel in a slot machine, so I think that means we came out winners, ha ha.

This morning we got up crazy early -- we were on the road by 5:28 Michigan time... 4:28 Chicago time!!! In the past when we've done this the CB has dropped me off at home before going to work and then I just continue on with getting ready and going to work myself, but not this morning! I went back to sleep for over a solid hour and it was marvelous!

 

[Dee*Jay]

'
Wine shirt!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I love your wine shirt. That is fabulous. I can see why it would draw attention. Your weekend sounds fun and relaxing. That's great you go a nice nap in this morning. I hate those early morning road trips. I always give Marty crap "is there even air out at that time of day?" I was going to try and finish a book this weekend but spent time going off on other things.

We ended up with about 6" of that white stuff but the streets were only slushy this morning. I was hoping for drifts so high I could work from home today. No such luck.

I made some mini pizzas for supper tonight and froze 3 of them. Tomorrow is PBJ day for lunch though. Less dishes that way.

Have a great day.
Curby

 

[PintoBean]

Interrupting bean (pffftttt).

Guess what? I started Tai Chi on Thursday! My teacher lectured for an hour though. Brutal. Second hour we got to learn a posture. My teacher had on a silver satin outfit. It was eye catching. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. The teacher is kinda like yoda meets physics professor teaching tai chi. I'm the youngest in the class. The veterans who've been with the teacher for years are in great shape. They may have decades on me in age but they could kick my butt in a street fight (of course I'd blind them first with bling...)

Bye!

Oh yeah got my first order from Hungry Root. It's so veggie this pinto bean may sprout! Can't wait to try the meals.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I cannot believe you are talking white stuff already... UGH! How to do you reheat your frozen pizzas? (Or maybe you just made them up and they aren't cooked yet...?) A waiter in a French restaurant one time told me the secret to reheating pizza and french fries is to put them in a non-stick skillet with no extra oil or anything on medium and let them crisp up. It works! And that's the only cooking tip I know, LOL.

Beanie, that's awesome that you started Tai Chi! A silver satin outfit... hmmm... I'm painting a vision in my mind here, ha ha! As for street fights, let's just stay out of those, shall we?! What is Hungry Root? The CB keeps talking about trying Blue Apron; is it like that?

Last night a friend of mine and I went up to see the cow bag lady. I had to restock my inventory since I'd sold those things last weekend, and my friend ended up getting six things, some of which *may* end up being gifts (but I bet maybe not!). It was later than I liked when I got home (after 10) and the CB was already dead asleep. I am still tired this morning from yesterday!

Today there is definitely fall in the air! Glad it's cool though because I've got that pumpkin sitting in the back of my car and I don't it to get soft and mush like it did last year -- ICK!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

PB, I hope you'll enjoy Tai Chi! That's great to hear the veterans in the class are so healthy. It must work! I haven't heard of Hungry Root either. Getting meals delivered sounds pretty nice.

Dee Jay, glad to hear the cool weather will help keep your pumpkin in good shape. You are certainly helping your friend sell her cow bags. It sounds like a fun evening but darn that you had a late night. I am yawning right now and it's only 8 pm.

What I did with my pizzas was make enough dough for one regular sized pizza and then I cut the dough in to four pieces. I made 4 little pizzas and froze the other 3 to bake later. I got some of those 8" tin pans with lids, put parchment paper in the bottom of them and put the pizzas in the pans. Now that they are frozen I'll move the pizzas to a freezer bag. It worked great the last time I tried it.

Thanks for the tip on reheating fries and pizza. I always bring home 1/2 of a steak and found if I slice it up and heat it up in a pan of gravy it works pretty well. Everything else I've tried dries it out.

At least our white stuff has mostly melted already.

I need to paint my nails tonight. I used some of my regular polish the other day and it looks awful already. My nails are splitting now too that I've been keeping polish on them. Darn.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy rainy Wednesday kids!

Curby, what kind of gravy do you use to reheat your steak? Microwaving it dries it out so I typically cut it up and throw it in a nonstick pan too, but I'm definitely willing to try the gravy trick!

Last night I was tired! The CB picked me up right at five. We had leftovers and then I took a little nap on the couch before I read for a while. When I went to bed I read some more so I didn't really go to sleep until about midnight and I was out like a light when my alarm went off this morning. I sat around in bed reading the news and contemplating the rain before I finally got up, and I didn't get to my office until about 9:20. Some of the people in my firm at at on off-site today and the rest of this week so it will be nice and quiet here!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I use Knorr brown gravy mixes and after the gravy starts boiling I turn it down to low and add the cut up pieces of steak. I let it simmer about 2 minutes. I works great. Doesn't dry out the steak at all. Sometimes I'll put it on noodles or just eat it with a potato or something. I've done the same thing to make French dip sandwiches just thin the gravy a little bit. The frozen crusty rolls by Rhodws works great for French dip sandwiches. Plus it's easy.

Sounds like you had a relaxing evening last night and nice that you lounged around a bit this morning as well.

I was late this morning but not from lounging around. Our power went out overnight and I had some stuff that didn't come back on this morning. Of course all of it was on one power strip in the basement on the top shelf that is eye level for Marty but over my head. All the boxes are black and the cords are zip tied. I am trying to pull stuff down to see it and can't figure anything out. I finally called Marty and had him talk me through some things. I had to come back up to the garage and check the fuse box. The lighting in that part of the basement isn't great and Marty has "stuff" around that was blocking me and my light. Turned out to be that little CGI or whatever it's called on the outlet had popped out. Good thing I didn't have a retinal exam today as I am sure my blood pressure was pegged.

I get to work about 9 and found one of my dear passive aggressive employees texted one of her co-workers she was staying home sick. I'm telling her if she pulls that crap again it's a no call no show and that means HR is involved. I am so sick of their crap. She thinks I am mean to her - she is the one I highlighted the deflecting finger pointing sentence last week and sent back to her. She hasn't talked to me much since then.

The RV dealer (the saga that won't end) called me and said I needed to sign a release form for the title. You guessed it that haven't sent the payoff yet. I went out about 4:30 today and then he says "oh we need the account number". Good thing it was already on the payoff sheet I took them. Marty has to go sign the release on Saturday. The guy swears they are sending the payoff today and sending it overnight.

But hey I got to drive a Porsche home so I feel WAY better now.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, thanks for the gravy tip! As for the power being out, stuff like that only happens when the men are gone, ha ha. The RV dealer is a genuine pill Once this is all over can you leave them a bad review or something?

Yesterday was busy! I went up to see the cowhide bag lady and she was just a MESS. Her son is getting married tomorrow and there's heavy rain the forecast so the outdoor pics that were planned will likely have to be moved elsewhere, involving everyone getting on a bus and going to a different location. It will be a logistical PITA.

Then I went to one of our suburbs to returns some things and stop at Costco. In Chicago we have three "taxes" I avoid like the plague: a five cent a bottle tax on bottled water (so if you pay $3.99 for a 40 pack at Costco in the city it's really $5.99, raising the price by 50%), a penny an ounce tax on sweetened beverages (so on soda and a whole slew of other things that got captured in the tax bill -- and that one is all of Cook County, not just Chicago, now I buy all my pop in Indiana since we have to drive through there anyway to get to Michigan. That tax is being repealed as of Dec. 1 though for a variety of political reasons.), and a 7 cent bag tax (so if you go to the grocery store and buy five bags worth of groceries that's an extra 35 cents). Well none of this is very much in terms of real $ but it just p!sses me off to no end because all of these "taxes" are being used to shore up bloated pension funds that shouldn't exist in the first place, or to make up for revenue shortfalls that would be there if the money was well managed. So long story short (too late I know!) I go out of my way to avoid these as a matter of pure principal. The thing that the city and count have come to learn BTW is that people like me who go out of our way to avoid the taxes do ALL of our shopping elsewhere, so not only are we buying water and pop outside of the area, we are dong ALL of our shopping there, therefore they are actually LOSING quite a bit of money of the taxes that aren't being received on general grocery shopping. I could have told them that in the first place! But of course they didn't ask me...

After my little foray into the 'burbs I stopped to see the lady at the shoe store do so some accounting for the week. And after all that I had dinner with my best friend at a local steak place. Whew, what a day!

Today I need to do laundry and some general cleaning up, but nothing really pressing. The CB hopes to get out of work early/mid afternoon so we can head over to the boathouse.

 

[Dee*Jay]

No idea what's going on with my PS this morning -- my post shows up three times!

 

[Dee*Jay]

No idea what's going on with my PS this morning -- my post shows up three times!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, the gravy trick has worked well for me. I have never been a fan of cold beef sandwiches but hate to waste half of a steak that I paid good money for; I'm cheap. Yes, stuff always happens when the guys are out of town.

I hope the cow bag lady's daughter was able to have her wedding outside. What a worry. We went to a wedding in Vail in October a few years ago that was planned for outside and of course it was snowing there. They still had the ceremony outside then moved everything else inside. She was from California so I guess she wasn't aware of winter weather in the mountains of Colorado.

As i mentioned above I am cheap so I totally get going somewhere to buy things where you don't have to pay taxes. They get you coming and going any way they can.

You did have a very busy day yesterday but it sounds fun.

I am having issues posting too - they either don't show or show multiple times and then I can't delete the extra ones.

Marty got home today. He changed his gym's name because he thinks Killer Rabbit in the title isn't serious enough. I stopped by the gym after work to say hi to him. I've got potatoes baking for us and trying to thaw out a few burgers in a hurry.

I made chocolate chip cookies last night to take to work today. I heard quite a few comments about people missing out on the snickerdoodles I gave that lady so I put a tub by my boss's office for his team and a tub in my team's room. I also have to make another batch of snickerdoodles since people are asking me for some. I've backed myself in to a cookie baking corner.

I stayed up a little late last night to finish a book. Now i have to find a new one.
Take care.
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

My question of the day is why can't everybody be responsible like we are? My cleaning lady was "supposed" to show at 7 and I hesitated to agree to that but I foolishly did. At 7:35 and no response from my text or phone call; Marty and I headed out for breakfast We stopped at the store. I apparently got a text from her at 9:35 saying sorry I forgot to set my alarm do you still want me to clean. I found that at 11 and responded not today. If I keep these 2 ladies no more agreeing to anything before 8 am. Poor Marty slept in for the first time in probably a month and had to get up early for her not to show up.

I made some more cookies for work today and hopefully I'll be done with making cookies until Christmas. I enjoyed a few hot ones but froze the rest.

I studied my program for the astronomy meeting this week. I was mostly lazy today and attribute that to getting up at 6 am on Sunday.

Have a great day.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, I am so frustrated FOR YOU with your cleaning lady! If it were me the next time she doesn't show up on time I would wait 15 minutes and leave the house (locked, of course, assuming she doesn't have a key). If she does show up and asks what's going on I would reply that you had plans made that didn't include her being late. Or, if she hasn't shown up yet but instead texts you more than 15 minutes after the time she's due just reply "We made other plans." And if she asks you what those other plans are -- because presumably that could mean you've engaged another cleaning person -- don't even respond. I bet it only has to happen once and she'll get the message.

This weekend didn't turn out like we'd planned... Friday night we went over to the boathouse. Saturday we were going to go to an art fair in a town about half an hour away. It was supposed to rain off and on all day, but it was really ON -- and sometimes CRAZY hard. Came down in BUCKETS! I had gotten a few messages from people in my condo building about leaks and about six o'clock I was worried about everything that was going on here and couldn't take it any more so we came home. I spent half the night cleaning the leaves off the manhole covers in the parking lot so it would drain, and also cleaning the ones in the street in front of our building because that was flooded too. The next morning dawned absolutely gorgeous, of course, and you would have never known what it was like the day before.

It was good to be home on Sunday though because we took advantage of the day to clear everything out of the clothes closet, take up the rubber matting I had put down on the floor, and lay carpet tiles. It is SO much better! I also have a bunch of things to take to the Salvation Army now too (not clothes, but an old small stereo, a ton of CDs, a carpet cleaning machine, etc.) so that will be a big donation trip.

We went to bed early because we were both sore and tired from doing the closet. Today my back is sore from all that bending over. Getting old sucks!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am thinking about looking in to another cleaning lady or even hiring a service. I am torn right now. It's such a hassle to find someone that does a good job and I feel comfortable with them cleaning our house. She doesn't have a key.

Darn you had so much rain this weekend. Oh no to leaks at the condo; glad everything looks good today.

That's nice the carpet tiles turned out well in your clothes closet. And now your closet is lighter too; that's also a bonus.

I hope your back feels better now.

It seemed like a long day at work but my boss reassured me that I'm doing good as far as he is concerned (not that it matters in the long run there) and I told my senior person she needs to be doing these extra things in addition to her normal work if she wants to get a passable appraisal. She took it in stride.

It was nice here today; near 70 degrees.
Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, it's good that you got positive feedback from your boss! And also good that the person you talked to about doing more things was receptive. Isn't that always a pleasant surprise?!

Last night I stayed a little late and then did not much of anything a home, LOL. Well, I did type up a new list for mail room because we've had quite a few people come and go since I did it a few years ago, and we've also got a new mail person so I noticed a lot of mail was being left out on the shelf in there because the mail person couldn't figure out what box to put it in. So that was my big accomplishment of the evening, ha ha.

Nothing else exciting to report, just chugging along...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, so far I have a job. I'll take it. I have to admit it was a pleasant surprise that lady took her new tasks so well and what I said to her; she was working on her projects today. Interesting development the senior manager of all of our departments likes to swap people around and he may move one of my employees and give me a guy who worked in there before. He was actually very good at the job - maybe he's my replacement. Who knows what will happen. Time will tell.

That was very nice of you to type up a new list for the mail room; I am sure it will be helpful to the new mail person. That reminds me I never check my department's mail box at work. Those pesky bills follow me every where.

Chugging along; that's the best we can do. I amused myself at work today by watching a clip from Despicable Me 2; I love the fire alarm segment. Have you watched that movie? Pure silliness. It amuses me a lot. To be fair - I am very easily amused.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I haven't seen that movie, but I'm all for pure silliness! My mail at work gets delivered every day by one of our interns. Fortunately I don't have bills following me here, or if they do show up on my dest I promptly hand them off to someone else, LOL.

Last night the CB made mini-burgers for dinner. I cleaned up a bit and went to bed and read for a while. For some reason I was then awake at 3 am until after the CB left at 5:30. NOT HAPPY. Of course then I had to dragggggg myself up when the time came. Ugh.

Today is the official kick off to the Big Brothers/Big Sisters season and we all meet our new kids today. Mine for the last two years was so great that she set the bar HIGH. I doubt I could get that lucky again, but fingers crossed!

One of our finance people is leaving and I *may* go spend at extra day a week doing finance stuff. Very preliminary on that front, but I think I would enjoy it. Yet to be determined...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, if you like movies like Monsters, Inc. I think you'd like the Minion movies. They sure make me laugh for some reason. That's nice an intern delivers mail to you every day. I don't get bills at work either which is a good thing because I'd definitely have to pass them on to someone else.

Mini burgers sound good. I see buns for them all the time and think that would be a fun dinner. Tell CB good choice.

Darn you woke up so early I bet you were dragging most of the day. Marty was up sometime between 4 and 5. Poor guy just can't get a decent night sleep anymore.

I hope your little sister and CB's little brother turn out to be a great fit for both of you. That's really nice you do that every year.

You would probably like doing a day of finance stuff at work.

My day was uneventful. I had a busy day at work. No news on an employee swap. We had steak, potatoes and salad for supper. I might have to go online shopping tonight. I got a catalog with Snoopy stuff in it. Oh oh.

Have a great day.
Curby

 

[marcy]

I got free shipping and cut my order back to $164.74. I had it close to $300 at one point. See I'm saving money.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, I "save" money the same way you do! Funny though, neither Bill nor the CB seem to understand how that works... ???

Yesterday I got my new kid for Big Bros/Big Sisters. She *seems* like another good one, so I am very hopeful! Afterwards we had a happy hour with the people from my firm and the people from the other company that joined together to be mentors. It was fun, and the best part was the BBBS program lady came too so we got to got to her a bit outside of the program.

Today I am going to run by the shoe lady and do some quick things and then go to Costco and the liquor store to get things for tomorrow's pumpkin carving party. I also had an idea about how to organize a few things in the house that I think will free up some more space in the closets, so I'm going to try to get to that today too. As you can tell, the excitement just ABOUNDS in my life!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I don't see why the guys don't see it our way on saving money. It totally makes sense to me!

That's great your new little sister seems like a good one. Very cool! I hope you'll have a lot of fun together.
Your happy hour outing with the firm and the other company turned out to be fun and beneficial socializing the BBBS lady.

Tomorrow is the big day for pumpkin carving. Nice! I'll be anxiously waiting for a picture.

I hope you are able to free up some more closet space. That is always a plus.

My RV nightmare isn't over. We got a bill - without any explanation of the charges - for $2200 today. That is that guys commission so I bet they are going to say we didn't pay that. I printed out copies of our cancelled checks (in case it is for service but more than I paid them). I am pretty ticked off. I think the BBB may hear from me after this. As far as I'm concerned they are a shady outfit and cost us thousands and thousands of dollars.

My day was pleasant until I came home and saw what was in the mail. I had 2 lunches today and yet was still hungry for supper. I met a friend for lunch and had 2 tacos. Then they had a pizza party for a guy at work who is retiring so I had a piece of cheese pizza. I bought assorted cookies to take in for the pizza party and had a few of them. So supper was a bacon, egg and cheese English muffin sandwich.

Tomorrow is Friday.
Laters,
Curby the angry frustrated former RV owner

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, how did the pumpkin carving go tonight?

The RV is taken care of again - maybe. It was a bill for the commission and they assured me it would be taken care of now.

We had our astronomy meeting tonight. I gave a program on the Milky Way in different wavelengths. I took in a chart I made for my students when I was teaching and went over that with everyone. It was a popular topic. Marty pulled up a bunch of images from the eclipse so we were there several houses. Fun evening. We had mini dark chocolate Milky Ways too.

I have no idea what we are dong this weekend. I have a stack of laundry for sure. The cleaning lady is coming Sunday. Hopefully.
Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

I'll post more later, but here's a pumpkin pic!