Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, that’d be great to get your own beachfront house. You’d be popular too. I am glad Ruby enjoyed herself too. What a nice gift for your mom. I am anxiously waiting for my laptop to show up. There are many options for you to choose from. How is your eye doing? I’ve had eyelashes get caught under my eyelid before. It’s very uncomfortable. You had a long day at the office. Those last few days will race by - and drag - before the big day.

Dee Jay, I hope you are feeling better today. Do you plan on helping out that estate lady all the time? You get a sneak peak ahead of time before the estate sale. I wish there’d been an estate sale business in town when we cleaned out my parents house. I see ads for them now.

My test results were okay. The thyroid was a little high on one side and a little low on the other - so basically no change from before. He didn’t run a full blood work - which I thought was surprising - but had two things just a bit low or high so the results were listed as blood chemistry okay. I did have an incident last night though. My right knee is in awful shape and has been clicking for quite a while and kind of giving out on me when I’m just standing. I was getting some water out of the fridge door and it collapsed on me and I feel on my butt - at least I had a padded landing. I am sore today but don’t think I did any serious damage. I do see a bruise on my right foot and up my right leg. Guess I need to see a doctor about that.

I worked most of the day but did venture out to get my BP bills from Walgreens. I decided to go through their pharmacy drive-up. I didn’t want to do a face plant in the store if I had to stand in line.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

marcy-oh no for your knee incident! I hope your foot and leg are okay. Have you had shots in your knee? I know that won’t help the stability though. That happened to mom a few years ago while she was in her garden and none of us were there. And she didn’t have her phone. Luckily I had put a lawn chair in the garden, so she was able to use it as a crutch to get back to the house. She was all set for another knee replacement, but then she hurt her back really bad and had to have surgery, then a hip replacement where she ended up with complications. She’s 87 and she said no more surgeries, but I know her knee is a mess. Good idea to go through the drive up for your prescriptions.

I woke up yesterday with a migraine so I ended up taking the morning off and working from home in the afternoon and today. I have a hair appointment in a few hours. I always feel like my hair is yellow/gold. She promised last time she added something to tone that down, but I’m not seeing a difference. I’ve even been using purple shampoo. I think she has decided what color I’m going to get and that’s that! Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, I have not tried the shots in my knees. I’m allergic to so many things, I don’t do injections. Your poor mom, sounds like everything hit her at once. I get reaching a point where you say you are done with surgery. I’ve worn some compression knee sleeves for most of the day yesterday and today, it seems to help a bit but that knee is shot. My right foot is slightly agitated, but not all the time. I lifted this afternoon and keep imagining doing a face plant on the bar. Luckily, I didn’t.

I hope your migraine is better. I agree many hair stylists seem to have a mind of their own, no matter what you tell them you want. I’ve even taken in pictures before and it didn’t help.

Not much going on here. My new laptop got delivered to our old address. I’m guessing Marty’s online Apple account doesn’t have our new address. Luckily, the guy who bought our house called Marty to let him know. I can’t blame Marty for missing that, I did it once myself since we moved here. We get our new recliners tomorrow. We only paid a deposit so far, so I am rather surprised they didn’t call us and say come pay the balance before we deliver them. Maybe they’ll collect the check tomorrow.

My old laptop is copying things over to my new laptop now. It is nice and big compared to the 14”. It weighs about 5 pounds. I’ll be carrying that with two hands, not because it’s 5 pounds, but because I have tiny hands and it’s well established I am a klutz.

We had some clear skies tonight so I got this shot of the moon. Then clouds moved in. Darn.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

We had a nice weekend. Marty ran to Denver and bought a used mount for telescopes. He got home, took the other mount apart, removed the cameras and scope, started to install the new one then realized he didn’t have the necessary plate for the new mount to hold his telescope. Oops. So he put the old one back in place and ordered the plate. That night I got one picture taken with my toy but I couldn’t connect with it anymore. The wind apparently knocked the WiFi router off the wall in there. It doesn’t have a restart or power on option in its software, so I went to bed. Marty got it restarted the next day.

I did some work both days this weekend so I took off work early today and got my lifting done before 3:15. Yay. Then I hauled several bags of trash out to the dumpster. They were piling up in the garage and the tall guy was ignoring them.

We are having lovely weather for a few days. It got over 80 today. It’s like spring has finally arrived.

Take care.
Curby

Here’s my only picture. This is Messier 13 - or the Hercules Globular star cluster. And there’s a distant galaxy on the left. The weather for tonight looks promising.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, do you have a calendar up in your office that you're putting big red Xs on as the days tick by?! Let me and Curby know when our rooms are ready at your new beach house.

Curby, it hit 80 here today and I was HOT when I went to the post office. How are the new recliners? Liam mentioned over dinner again tonight that the big leather sectional in the family room is worn out. Ugh. I can feel some furniture shopping in the near future...

Well I had a miserable trip to Connecticut. The pollen was at a level I've never even conceived it. My sinuses slammed shut the instant I got off the plane and I sneezed so much I was sure my eyeballs where just going to pop out of my head. It's really not much better here at The North Estate right now either. #springsucks

I've been doing some catch-up on laundry and house stuff, and I need to get a bunch of accounting done too. Plus, for the first time in ages, I haven't been putting listings up. No idea if that's why my sales are slow or if it's just the state of consumer shopping in general.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and upgraded my phone. My old one was an 11 and I got it right before I went on Safari in 2019. The whole process was just miserable and I was there for about four hours. By the time I left there I was just Over The Whole Thing. This is why I only upgrade my phone about once ever five years! I haven't even tried to take a picture with the new phone yet so I hope the camera is good for my needs.

Not much else to report. Gotta go switch some laundry from the washer to the dryer for my last official act of the day.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, we had some 80 degree weather and now it;s raining and in the 40’s. As usual I have on two sweatshirts and am covered with a fleece blanket.

Ugh to furniture shopping. I think we need new cushions for our couch and loveseat. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t new either. They are Flexsteel so they are wearing well other than that. Furniture shopping isn’t bad here, there’s only one furniture store that had good furniture. The other two are pretty crappy.

I hate to hear your allergies were bad in Connecticut. And not much better at home. I feel your pain.

It doesn’t seem like your safari was six years ago. Time flies. What phone did you get? I have the iPhone 15 pro. I usually order it from Apple and use their option to drop off my old phone at the UPS store. Waiting at the store sucks.

I did get another galaxy picture the other night before the storms rolled in. It’s a cute little spiral. I’m surprisingly caught up at work so I am getting some of my videos for next month started already. That’ll make the end of the month easier. I have to get three to five videos ready for the beginning of the month the last few days of the month so since I have the time, I worked on the two that take the most time today.

We had a guy come out today for an estimate on permanent decorative Christmas lighting. They are warrantied for life and we like the idea that Marty never has to climb on ladders to put them up and take them down. You can program them with different colors and patterns. Fun. They are a bit pricey, but I voted yes already. We still need to finish the bathroom in the basement, get rocks around the house and buy trees. All of those should get done before lights, but I like sparkly things.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

We had another hurricane force wind “blow” through here today. It was nuts. As you probably know, Marty and I are shennanegators and play jokes on each other all the time. When I was taking my shower I kept hearing noises and thought Marty was in the bathroom and going to mess with me. I kept stopping and looking around, I hurried to finish my shower. Once I turned off the water I realized it was vents clacking in the roof. Just knowing Marty would mess would me got me nervous and he wasn’t even there picking on me. He was amused by the whole thing too.

After surviving my shower - without incident - I spent most of my day working on videos and going through some design samples of that book we’ve been working on for far too long. At this point in time - it’s out of our hands. Yay. I got my lifting done. No chance of taking photos tonight. It’s cloudy.

Laters,
Curby

Deegee, how many days are left of work? How exciting. Dee Jay and I are looking forward to our visit to your beach house.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kid!

Curby, Permanent lighting is a great idea! Our neighbors have that and they change the colors out frequently. I got the 16e. Tomorrow I'll try to take pics with it for the first time. Fingers crossed I didn't make a mistake with my choice! LOL to you and Marty playing tricks on each other. There are things on our roof too that make noise in the wind. Scares the he!! out of me every time.

We had some weather sweep through yesterday afternoon. The power went out around 4:30 and was off and on for about the next twelve hours. Liam and I went out to dinner because there wasn't really anything we could do here. I slept with the bedroom balcony door open, but it was pretty warm and humid without even the ceiling fan, so I didn't sleep much.

This morning I got up early and made the rounds for the first time in ages. I hit three estate sales, a Salvation Army, and three garage sales. All in, I got four big boxes of glass. After I got home I remembered there was another set of glasses I wanted at one of the sales, but I'm not going back to get them.

I need to get back on the listing train in a big big way. My sales have gone absolutely in the toilet these past few weeks, which coincides with when I pretty much ran out of new listings to put up. Could be coincidence... but I'm guessing not. So this is motivation to get going again. Liam tried to entice me with an auction about 45 minutes away, and there is some stuff in the pics that I would buy if I was standing right there, but I'm not sure it's enough to get me to go there for it.

Alright, off to wash up a bunch of stuff and make a plan!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Reporting in from Listing Land! As often happens, I didn't get as much done as I'd like, but I did manage to find a set of glasses that I "lost" the other day, which is good because I started out with those four and now I have twelve so I wanted to take a new picture.

Between doing photos, running to the post office and an estate sale, making a taco fiesta for dinner, going for an hour long walk and trying a 30 minute chair pilates video, the day is pretty much over.

Tomorrow, more listings and then a graduation party for a friend of YF and OF.

As you can see, the Excite-O-Meter is pegged in the red here at The North Estate!

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-seriously, how did you ever have time for a career? Sorry your trip to Connecticut was miserable! Something is in the air here because I can’t walk outside without sneezing my head off. I upgraded to the iPhone 16 pro max in November, and I ordered it and set everything up myself. The last time I got one at a store, we were there forever. Bummer for no electricity. I have always been thankful that the woman who used to live in our house was kind of a princess and insisted they install a whole home generator. If the electricity cuts off for 5 seconds, that wonderful generator kicks on. The longest it had to run was 48 hours straight.

Marcy-permanent lighting would be awesome. We haven’t put out lights the last 2 years, and we’ve never put lights on the house since we have lived in our current house. The front of the house is 3 stories high, and Matt says he isn’t risking his life so I can have pretty lights up. Sheesh, how selfish of him! Do you lift every day? I really enjoy the space pictures you post. Matt and I don’t prank each other often, but one time at a beach house we found a plastic spider. We kept moving that thing around the house for the other person to find. Somehow it made it home with us, because I found it when I opened a drawer in the kitchen. Scared the crap out of me! We returned it to the beach house the next trip for some lucky soul to stumble upon in the future.

19 workdays left until retirement!!! We just got a legal opinion at work on an issue that is going to necessitate big changes to our operating system, and legislation passed on another issue that is going to necessitate massive changes. Basically a redesign of some important functionality. Guess who’s NOT going to be working on it?? It’s going to be painful for my successor for sure. I’ll be happily walking dogs at the animal shelter. Off to the park for a good walk with Ruby, and probably to sneeze my head off. Have a great day!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Deegee, I'm counting the days for you! How are they ever going to get by... ? If I were you I'd change my phone number and not give them the new one! Sneezing central here too. Ugh. A lady at a graduation party yester told me Xyzal saved her, so I picked some up today on the way back from the chiro. You're supposed to take it at night and it's a 24 hour pill so I'm going to try the first one before I got to bed. I will be SO glad if this works!

I have a huuuuuuuuge technology b!tch. I upgraded my phone from at 11 to a 16 eight days ago thinking the pics on the new phone would be fabulous. NO. They SUCK. And my biggest problem is that when I take a pic that I've adjusted to death so it finally looks OK and then add the text of my shop name it FURTHER adjusts the photo so it become dark and grainy, even though the only thing I'm doing at that point is adding the words. I was up until god knows what time this morning reading all the threads on this. It's unclear whether the newer cameras are the problem or the ios updates starting with 18. I'm just beside myself, and so MAD. I mean, I had a phone that took perfectly adequate pics and in an effort to do better I ruined my entire system. I went to Best Buy this morning and talked to the photo expert, but the additional steps involved in using a real camera, uploading them to my computer, and then making the adjustments from there are ridiculously time consuming. I remembered a few hours ago that we have an old ipad sitting around so I'm charging that now to see if I can make that solution work. Otherwise, I really don't know what I'm going to do. I realize people take pics, upload them, adjust them, and post them every day on all sorts of platforms, but the system I had was just so SEAMLESS... and I ruined it. Kicking myself. I was actually so frustrated this morning I was on the verge of tears -- and I am NOT a crier. Why, Apple, WHY?????

Alright, off to do something else while I wait for the ipad to finish charging. Fingers crossed Liam can remember the password when he gets home.

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-i know what you mean about the iPhone pics! I was expecting my new iPhone to have greatly improved pictures, but Matt’s 4yr old Samsung Galaxy takes much better pics. I got a new to me Tiffany band to go with my ring, and I can’t get a decent picture. I imagine it’s extremely frustrating for you since you really NEED good pictures! Good luck with the iPad. My mom uses her iPad Pro to take pics. I’ll have to look for the xyzal. I’ve been out playing with ruby and we both came in coughing and sneezing.

Hi Marcy!

I worked from home today but will for sure be going in tomorrow, at least in the afternoon, for a meeting. Tomorrow’s forecast is more nasty storms, and I hope they steer clear of here. Matt was out of town last weekend and we had so many tornado watches and warnings. Ruby and I were on high alert. She’s actually terrified of thunder. A house down the street had a tree fall through and demolish their 2nd floor. I’m from KY and nearly settled in London, KY and the devastation is there unbelievable. Everyone will be relieved when storm season is over.

Here’s a cute pic of Ruby getting ready for a good walk at the park. It’s blurry, but it’s a still from a video I was attempting while trying not to drop my phone. Have a great evening!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Sounds like we are all not enjoying allergy season. I wish I could take allergy meds, it turns me in to a crybaby b*tch. Really.

Dee Jay, I saw Chicago had a horrible dust storm the other day. We had funnels spotted around town yesterday and small hail. North of here had 2 inch hail. Oh no to losing power. Good deal you found the lost glasses. My excite-O-meter is pretty low as well. That’s awful about your iPhone.They generally take great pictures? WTH? I wonder if the camera has a flaw? I have the 15 Pro and it takes great pictures. The iPad can take good pictures, but I struggle with taking picture on it because of the size. And yes, using a camera and doing stuff on the PC is kind of a pain. Some cameras can be set to transfer photos to your PC through Bluetooth of WiFi, but my Canon requires either a cord to connect them or removing the SD card and sticking it in my laptop. So many laptops don’t have SD card slots anymore either. Good luck with that!

Deegee, the big day is close. Woo hoo! Good deal your house has a generator. We looked around the neighborhood out here to see if anyone had one. We didn’t see one, so we didn’t buy one. We did have one power outage that lasted several hours. I agree that putting up lights looks a bit dangerous. We have some high peaks at our last house and it never failed the weather was awful after Christmas when he had to take them down. I think the money to have permanent lights is worth it. Love your spider story. When I visited some relatives in Alabama once, there was a milk chocolate colored spider on the bed (I was staying in my cousin’s bedroom) and I thought real funny, Brett, but when I went to pick it up, it moved. Yes, I screamed. Spiders are dark brown or black here. Sweet the new operating system won’t be your problem. Ooh, I’d love to see your new Tiffany band. My Etoile is too big for me now and it can’t be sized. I wear another skinny band on the outside of it so I can wear it sometimes. I saw the horrible damage in Kentucky. Severe thunderstorm season is certainly here. Poor Ruby hating thunderstorms.

Not much new here. We met some family in Colorado yesterday for a late lunch and drove home in a bad storm. At least the heavy rain and hail had already passed through and we just saw the remains along the highway.

Marty stayed home from the gym tonight, he is getting a migraine. IMO, he needs to do something about his blood pressure and get more sleep. But he’ll have to figure that out for himself.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, can you exchange your phone? Seems like they allow that within 30 days. The iPhone 16 Pro might work better for what you do. I was curious and just checked the stats. It has more lenses and features than the e. I think they charge a restocking fee, but it seems like they’ll offer that option.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Deegee, the ipad was a bust. I did finally get it set up, but the older version (and this thing is ollllld!) doesn't have the functionality I need. Oh well, at least I tried! I took my first Xyzal before bed but it's been raining here all day so no idea if it actually helped or if the rain is just keeping everything down. Ruby looks like one very happy pupper!!!

Curby, thank you A TON for all the advice last night on the phone options! The people at both T-Mobile and Best Buy deserve medals for all the hoops they jumped through yesterday and today! So far the 15 pro max is miles above the 16e, and I was even able to work on some previous pics a bit so they are at least usable and I hopefully won't have to retake any.

It's rainy and miserable here so this was a good day to undergo round three of the phone (mis)adventure -- if there IS a good day for something like that! The bad news is my four day streak of walking 10,000 steps has come to a wet end. Oh well, maybe it will be nicer tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, the estate sale lady asked me to go over to the warehouse in the morning and take a look at a bunch of glass she just got in. Oy. See, THIS is why I never get out from under the backlog!

Alright, off to figure out the dinner situation. There was a place we used to go to on Tuesday nights for have priced wings but they are now closed so we have to find a new mid week option. Ugh. I hate trying to come up with new ideas like this!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, darn that the iPad was a bust. I have a hard time taking pictures of checks to deposit with it. I hope your new phone / camera works well for you. That’s great you can save some of the other images. You’re welcome for the help. Just don’t tell anyone my password. Ha Ha. We shop at Best Buy a lot and they are always helpful. I hope the allergy meds help. My SIL always says she wants to see my mood change on allergy medicine, Marty says “no you don’t”. It’s like my opposite from an evil parallel universe takes possession of me.

We just have hurricane winds today, no rain to go with it. I blame Marty for buying me that little scope to take pictures with. It guarantees months of cloudy weather now.

Maybe the new bunch of glass is full of treasures for you.

Where did you go for dinner? I made myself some noodles, gravy and cut up leftover sirloin to warm up in the gravy. It was adequate at best. Good thing I had chocolate ice cream for dessert.

I worked on videos all day and had a meeting with the graphic designer and publisher on that book we’ve been working on. We didn’t get everything discussed in an hour so now there’s an hour meeting scheduled for tomorrow. The publisher hopes to get it out before Christmas. Me and my boss are thinking “good luck with that.” The author has been challenging to work with.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

We might have clear skies tonight. Yay. I worked on videos most of the day and had another meeting with that publisher on the book we are editing. They did listen to me their font is TOO small. I know I have poor vision, but even with reading glasses on, it’s difficult for me to read it.

How many days left, Deegee? Woo hoo!!

Dee Jay, I hope your new phone works great for you.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, did you get some pictures taken? That is nuts that adding text softens and darkens the pictures. I think the sharpening and exposure tweaks should work fine. I don’t edit pictures a lot on my phone or iPad, but I do sometimes.

We got our row of seedlings planted today. Marty is out watering them now. That means we’ll get rain. They are coming to put up our permanent decoration lights tomorrow morning. Marty agreed that 7 a.m. is okay to start. WTH? They probably want to get going before it gets too hot or windy. Marty is at the gym in the morning, so I need to get around before then and get my car out of the garage. Phooey. But it’s a good thing for me to get around early because hopefully the dentist can get me in. I cracked a tooth. Fun for me. It’s the same tooth (on the opposite side) that cracked past the gum a few years ago. I hope that isn’t the case on this one. I was making myself oven nachos and cooked them too long. I use 3 ounces of hamburger, cheese and two broken up crispy taco shells and bake them in the oven. Guess, I won’t make that for supper anymore. Gosh darn it. The tooth doesn’t hurt but I am aware of it. I hate to try and jiggle it around much to see what’s going on.

I worked on videos most of the day and got my lifting done. Yay.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, the camera saga continues. The photo editing app that we were texting about yesterday has very limited functionality in terms of text, so I might look into something else. But I had an idea about adding the text and editing the photo all at once on my phone, so I think I'm going to try that. Did the lights all get put up? And OH NO about the tooth! We ordered a gluten free pizza for Liam a few weeks ago and the crust is made of something so hard I think NASA uses it to construct the space shuttles LOL. He was like, I'm enjoying the FLAVOR... but I'm afraid to BITE DOWN!

We went to OF's graduation last night. Due to last name he was literally #2 on the list. I was really hoping to sneak out early, but we ended up staying to the bitter end. Today I'm cleaning a bunch of stuff up around the house. I've got a call with my financial guy at 1:00 so we can b!tch about the market, and then I'm going to swing by an estate sale. I'm actually kind of afraid to go to that sale because there is SO much glass in the pictures I might need to rent a U-Haul!

Alright, off to get this cleaning party started!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Well... I did go to that sale yesterday afternoon... and left with eight boxes of glass LOL. All really great stuff though, and she gives me half off so it's all good. Today I went to the local auction and came home with three sets of glasses, mostly because I was standing around talking to people when the lots came up so I just bought them, not because they were anything spectacular. And then the lady from yesterday called and said if I wanted to come back I could have my run of the house again at an ever deeper discount... so of course I went. Oy!!!!!

Liam's at an auction about and hour and a half south of here. It's on an old farm and I haven't heard a peep out of him for several hours now so that usually indicates he's going to arrive back in the driveway with a big load of stuff.

I need to review a commercial lease for someone and maybe motivate to do some other things, but at this point I'm just TIRED! Hopefully a shower and an iced coffee will perk me up a bit!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, it sounds like you scored big on glassware this weekend. That’s nice you get a discount. Darn to sticking around through the entire graduation ceremony. That’s what we do though …

Did Liam come home with a truck full of goodies? I know farm sales are big around here and in Colorado. It’s like it’s farm country around here too.

That stinks you can’t edit your pictures on your phone the way you used to do. They must have updated software and messed up those features. I am sure you’ll figure it out. The video app I use online for work makes changes all the time and I swear one new feature equals two other things missing or broke.

The light guys were supposed to show up at 7 yesterday so I got around early thinking that works perfectly since the dentist opens at 7 on Friday and they are only there until noon. No show of the lights guy by 8, Marty is still at the gym so I text him to see if he knew if they were still planing on showing up. I guess the were showing up after lunch now. So I called the dentist and she said she’d call me back. She worked me in at 11. One-fourth of the tooth was broke off past the gum line and 3mm in to the bone. My options were a temp patch and then figure out what to do later, pull it and get an implant later, or patch it and see if a periodontist can lengthen the tooth and do a crown. I chose the last option. That’s exactly what happened on the same tooth on the other side. It kind of works, and I still have the tooth. The dentist said held confer with the periodontist next week to see if they thought it was possible and get back to me. After that, I topped of my gas tank and took a decoration to the cemetery. I had such a bad headache when I got home - and my mouth was numb from dental work - so I didn’t do any more work yesterday. I worked on some videos this morning though. I should have recorded audio for a video with a numb mouth. That would have been funny.

The light guys are still working today and I don’t think they are half finished. I see why they charge what they do. His helper is pretty lame, on his phone all the time and stands around a lot. Someone is in their SUV in the driveway. Very strange.

Marty got a hole dug today and did the cement for our new flagpole. The ground here is really hard. It rained quite a bit so he thought that might help. It did not. Now he’s out in the observatory attaching some computer to the wall. I’m still out of luck using my scope until he replaces the router. We’ve got cloudy skies and rain anyway.

We’re meeting some friends for supper in a while. Then it’s a long weekend. Yay.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, are the lights done yet? Boy, your three options on the tooth all sound less than fabulous... but it seems like you picked the best of the choices. Liam did come home with a truck full of stuff, but it was all pretty big, not like the flats of tiny things he sometimes come in with. Did your weather clear up? I shouldn't even say this, but we're having absolutely perfect weather for a Memorial Day weekend. Shhhhh... don't tell the weather gods or they'll send hail and wind my way!

I'm ankle deep in picture taking, fingers always crossed now that they will be useable. I had an epiphany last night about my constant battle with the lighting and the white background curtain and decided I'm going to order some backdrop boards. Nothing fancy, just some versions of marble with grey and tan veining. I just mocked up the size with some boxes on the counter to make sure 24 X 24 is big enough, and it seems like it is. If this doesn't work I'm not out very much money, so I'm willing to give it a try.

We had/have a loose plan about going to get Billy Ray this evening, but not sure if that's actually going to happen. My guess is we'll have to revisit that idea tomorrow.

Liam and YF just got back with Meijer because I said I wanted hot dogs for dinner. We are VERY fancy here at The North Estate!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I'm remembering and honoring those who gave their all for us today.

Dee Jay, you are risking having Mother Nature show you a thing or two. We just had a storm move through about an hour ago.

So Liam made a haul at at the auction. They always draw crowds around here too. My BIL that is a farmer probably is quite familiar with them. Of course, he's married to my sister who is great at virtual signaling and a perfect example of a "Karen" so I hear how much EVERYTHING costs them. And how hard they work - and they do. But, I don't feel bad for them because they pay cash for everything so they must be doing okay.

It sounds like you are planning ahead on lighting. I hope they work. I was going to suggest a big white poster board covered with a cloth and some small lights shining on them from the front or side. I have a lamp and a Lume light I shine on the white wall when I'm on livestreams. It lights up my face really well.

I rarely crave a hot dog, but if I do, I like mine burnt. We had pizza last night. It was too windy and cold to grill steaks.

Marty got our flagpole - version 2 up today. It's shorter and hopefully stronger than the one that snapped off. The brackets for the flags spin around on the pole rather than have the flags wrap around the pole. Right now they look broke. We must be in a vortex, no wind at all. But earlier I got this great shot of them with the storm moving in.

I planned on reading today but just got done working. I was uttering many colorful metaphors earlier. That book we are editing, the boss didn't remember what she asked me to do so that changed my plans. I spent 4 to 5 hours on that and had other things to do anyway.

We had a quiet weekend. The lights are done and turned out well.

Laters,
Curby

Here's the house all lit up and the storm today:

 

[deegee]

marcy-I love the lights!! And the flag pole too! Can you change the colors on the lights depending on the season or holiday? My dad served in the Air Force, and I love to see the flags on the graves of the servicemen at the cemetery.

Hi Dee*jay!

Quick check in because I’m pooped. We decided to go to the New River Gorge national park today and took a hike! It was only around 3 miles, but let me tell you…I’m out of shape! The hills really get me. The views were gorgeous and it was a great day. We stopped at a dog friendly restaurant in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and the food was delicious. It’s definitely going to be an early night for all of us, even Ruby.

Pic is Matt and Ruby, and I’m dragging up the rear!

 

[marcy]

Deegee, the lights have a lot of pre-programmed options and you can customize them. This is version 2 of the flagpole. I hope this one holds up better - and longer - than version 1 that the wind snapped off a few inches above the ground.

I think it’s great someone always puts wreaths on the military graves. It sure looks nice and I am glad they honor them for their service. I’ve been getting flag pinwheels for the cemetery - built in sticks.

Your hike looks like a fun and pretty place. What day are you officially retired?

I planned on reading today and not working much. It didn’t turn out that way. More book editing headaches. I got my lifting done though.

Laters,
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I just went back and read where you broke your tooth. Oh no!! I hope the option you chose will work. What a pain to have to deal with! I had an implant in 2020 because I cracked the tooth vertically, all the way down. It had to be removed, then a bone graft which had to heal for months before the implant surgery. It took nearly a year to be done with the whole thing. I’m sure I’ve whined about it to you before. Teeth are a huge PITA when they don’t cooperate!!

I really like the lights and I hope flagpole 2.0 can handle the wind. My dad was always very patriotic. He had been stationed in many other countries and was so happy to live here, and he always had a flag flying at our house during the day.

You and dee*jay are incredibly busy for retired people. 13 more workdays for me! Book editing sounds like a tough task!

Funny how your unsizeable band is too big for you and mine is too small! My finger was a 6 for as long as I remember. I could still wear my high school class ring before I broke my finger 2 years ago. The band I really like is a 6.25 and I can get it on, but getting it back off at the end of the day is a different story. I have another band I like (I think you have the same one) but it is a little too wide and is uncomfortable as my finger swells during the day. It’s a channel set band from WF. I don’t like any of my other bands with my new ring. The Tiffany band I bought is nothing exciting- a thin, half circle channel set diamond platinum band. I think it was discontinued right about the time I wanted to buy one, so I found one on eBay for a good price and it had the authenticity guarantee. It was sent to GIA in California for that. It’s too big, but I never know what that finger is going to do though out the day, so it’s fine. I really screwed that finger up.

Off to figure out something for dinner. Have a great evening!

 

[deegee]

Here’s my Tiffany band. I like it because it’s thin and sits low.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, the lights are fabulous! And that weather photo looks like the apocalypse is coming! Fingers crossed Flagpole V2 performs better than V1. I like my hotdogs burnt too. When I was a kid my great grandmother would slice them longways (but not the whole way through -- there was just enough left to hold the two pieces together) and fry them up flat so they were nice and crispy all over.

Deegee, you're so CLOSE to being done!!! Do you have a lot of stuff to pack up and and bring home from your office? It sounds like you work mostly from home, but it's amazing how things accumulate. Even though I was only in my last job for a year and a half (and in the current office for just 9 months after moving to that floor) I still had quite a bit to bring home. Wow -- I really love that band with your ring! I can only imagine how pooped you, Ruby and Matt must have been after that hike.

Well I had quite day yesterday! Liam pointed out an auction with a TON of glassware about a hundred miles south of here. I never would have seen it because my range is set at fifty miles, but he looks farther. Anyway, it was too good to resist, so I got up at the a$$ crack of dawn and drove two hours. It might be one of the best auctions I've ever been to! I got an absolute LOAD of stuff! So much that I really wasn't sure it was going to fit in the car -- seriously. A lot of it was still in the original boxes, some pieces never even opened. I did have to pay up for a couple of things, but I got pretty much all the lots I wanted. At the end there was still quite a bit left and the auctioneer goes, "And all the remaining glass goes to #72 for one dollar." I was like -- WAIT! I'M NUMBER 72!?! And that was that LOL. It took me about two hours to pack it all up, and I was just FILTHY when I finally got out of there. Boy was I glad to get home, unpack the car, and take a SHOWER.

Today I helped my estate sale friend and did a couple of other things, including spending $174 at Costco... all I went for was a damn rotisserie chicken, haha.

My photo backgrounds got delivered today, but I'm too tired to even open them right now. That will be Project Number One tomorrow!

 

[deegee]

dee*jay- I picture you buried under lots and lots of glass! Did this Etsy store spring out of you having so many wine glasses? That’s awesome you got the lots you wanted AND all of that other glass for $1. That’s crazy! I love the pics you post on fb. I’m pretty antisocial on fb so I don’t have many friends there. A like & share by me would get you nothing! I pretty much just follow animal rescues and dog pages. Oh yeah, and beach realty companies. I’m a real thrill! I took advantage of our agency moving 2 to a new building years ago and brought almost all of my personal stuff home. The only things left are a blanket and small desk fan, because it’s either the frozen tundra or the tropics in that place, a pair of slippers for when I wear sandals & my feet get cold, a zippered hoodie (it’s cold in there more than hot), and a few sundries like deodorant, tooth brush & tooth paste, and Advil. I can be cleared out in no time!

Nothing exciting at all to report today. I worked from home, and Matt grilled burgers for lunch. He didn’t even realize it is national hamburger day! I logged out of work kind of late and Ruby and I have been outside playing fetch in the rain. That girl needs to RUN. I stand at the bottom of the hill in our back yard and tell her to go long. She runs halfway up the hill and catches the toy with a crazy acrobatic jump. If only I had 1/4 of that energy! Have a wonderful evening!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Deegee, your image isn't far from reality, LOL! Yes, my Etsy store started because I collected about a zillion vintage wine glasses of my own and then it all grew from there. I hear ya about being antisocial on FB. Frankly, if it wasn't a requirement to have a person account to be able to establish a business account (because they want to make sure you're a real human), I definitely wouldn't have a personal account at all. It's good you don't have too much to bring home. I can't imagine what people who have spent like 30 years in the same place do when they leave... hire a U-Haul?! Do you use a Chuck It or something like that to throw the ball for Ruby? I have no arm at all, so without that I'd never get a ball more than ten feet from me ha ha.

I spent all of yesterday screwing around with the photo backdrops (as poor Curby knows because she had to live through it with me!)... only to think that maybe my best option is to just improve the current curtain situation and add more layers in an effort to combat the over-exposure. I made an appointment at the Genius Bar at the Apple store tomorrow just to make sure I'm not missing something obvious. I can't believe what an utter PITA this has turned into.

Today I worked for the estate sale lady. The customers were pretty steady, but we were never "swamped." Liam and I went out for Indian food for dinner. I enjoy that wayyyyyyyy to much!

Alright, I need to go clean up the kitchen and throw in a load of laundry. Then I'm going to bed EARLY.