Healthy Living Thread

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I’ve had grilled hot dogs split too. They cook better that way. I don’t recall the last time I had a hot dog though. That sounds like me going to get a chicken and then I buy out the store. Sweet you scored so many treasures going to that auction. And nice to get the last batch for a dollar. I am glad you got it all in your car. I hope the picture taking project is going well. Good idea to go get some tips from the Genius Bar. Marty got me a little portable Lume light that’s on a 3 go 4 inch tripod that has different shades and intensities of light that I use when I’m on a video. I point it at a white wall behind me and use a desk lamp on the other side doing the same. With the white background it brightens the wall and lights up my face. I’m just throwing that out there in case something like that would help light up your glassware. You do a very nice job staging them. And I am always glad to help.

Deegee, I have heard implants aren’t anyone’s idea of fun. Right now that temp tooth is doing fine. Can’t I just keep that? I bet you are counting down the hours by now. Sweet. My dad served in Korea, he was always very patriotic too. And that’s not a bad thing. Your band looks great with your diamond ring. A perfect match. That is too bad about your finger swelling. I have that problem in the summer when it’s hot. In the morning I can barely get a ring on and then it’s falling around on my fingers later in the day. Yes, we do have the same bands from WF. I have the one like yours and also a 1/3 ctw. I wear them both. My original scattered band from WF is a bit too large, but I wear it as well. I didn’t know it was national burger day. I had one for supper though. I am sure Ruby enjoyed fetching the ball for you. I had a ton of stuff to pack out when I retired. I worked on it some each day for a few weeks. Ironically, my desk here looks very similar.

Speaking of videos, I have been working on them - but it’s only audio from me, I am not on camera. I THINK my boss has given up on asking me to be a host and hasn’t invited me back yet as a guest. And I don’t mind.

More progress on the book we are editing. We should be writing captions soon and I think we’ll be done with our end,

I got my hair cut yesterday and need to go to the bank tomorrow. WOW, two outings in the week for me. Marty is buying some pine lumber - or something like that - for his bathroom downstairs from some friend of a friend so I need to go get some cash for that deal.

The lights are still going strong and V2 of the flagpole is still standing. We had spells of no wind today - short lived, of course - so I kept telling Marty the flagpole was broken. He doesn’t think I am funny. I wonder why?

We finally had some clear skies tonight. Here’s a shot of the crescent moon. I am going to shoot another galaxy photo until Marty shuts down the observatory.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, LOL on two outings in one week. I swear, I fell the same way! Is Marty putting in a full bath downstairs? I can't remember -- is the basement area finished? Wow, you're really whipping through your part of the work on the book! That crescent moon shot is SO cool! We had a really neat moon last night, but there's no way I can ever get a pic as good as yours.

As you know, I spent a two solid hours at he Genius Bar today and left with another $1,200 worth of stuff. Oy. I'm frankly too tired to even break the seal on the boxes ... but I plan on trying it all out tomorrow. I also have a new different photo set up involving white sheers on rolling garment racks... and that required an amazon order and two trips to Walmart, ha ha. That's also going to get tested out tomorrow. My goal is to have everything sorted out and be able to take pictures again by the end of this weekend. The estate sale lady is going on vacation for two weeks starting tomorrow so I'll have some down time.

Not much else to report... I think I'm heading to bead early!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, that was something for me venturing out twice this week. Marty is building a bathroom will a full vanity but isn’t putting in a shower. The basement shower was never used once in the old house. We are coming along on that book, but still have quite a bit to do. The author responded to the publisher with a long email today. He’s 87 and still very set in his ways.

The moon was pretty last night. I got a few other shots last night but it sky was kind of mucky.

Good luck tomorrow with the new setup and iPad. I know what you mean about perfect lighting. The the house before the last had the best sunlight to get back light on jewelry. I’ve never quite been able to find that angle again.

Good plan to go to bed early.

I had a very sucky night last night. I woke up at 2 a.m. for an unknown reason. My heart beat was going pretty fast. I think the most likely thing is something startled me and triggered it. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I finally got up and looked to see if I took my beta blocker because that is why I take them is a rapid heart beat. Ironically, I’d taken my blood pressure at about 10 and it was 111/69 with a heartbeat of 67 so I know it was okay earlier. I was awake for over two hours. Those episodes just wear me out. Marty’s friend who hooked him up with the guy he’s buying the lumber from is going with him in the morning to pick it up so I plan on sleeping in and then making myself some homemade biscuits for breakfast.

I did to get Marty’s cash this morning but other than that I worked on articles and videos.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, LOL on the 87 year old author being set in his ways. Not likely to change that at this point! I wonder what woke you up the other night. Maybe one of the many critters wandering around was knocking on the window looking for a snack. (That thought is the direct result of how ridiculously many raccoon reels I get in my Instagram feed!) I love homemade biscuits! Not much chance of that around here right now with Liam's gluten issue, but I did pick up a box of gluten free Red Lobster Cheesy Biscuits at the store a few weeks ago. I'll break those out some night as a surprise.

The weekend flew by! I spent all of Saturday d!cking around with the new curtains and getting a good photo set-up, then yesterday I took a bunch of pics. I think they're OK, and the process with adding the text on the iPad seems to work, but I still maintain that my 11 took better pictures!

Billy Ray went to the dealer this morning for his annual oil change. I'm channeling you, sporting a white Macan for the the next few hours! I've got two orders to pack, and some cleaning up to do before they call me to come and get BR. The guy said it would be around noon, so I've got plenty of time.

Alright, off to get this party rolling!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope the gluten free Red Lobster biscuits are good. That’s about the only thing I like at Red Lobster. I am not a fan is fish. I love the hot rolls they have a Texas Roadhouse. I always swear I am only eating one, that doesn’t happen. Then I eat my salad and have no room for my dinner.

How are the raccoons? I haven’t seen any antelope lately. But some of the big rabbits are still hoping around and some cat comes to visit our patio almost nightly.

That author continues to be a challenge, he wrote a huge response to the publisher’s email. I am glad our part is almost done.

I hope your new photo process gets smoother once you get your routine down. I am still puzzled that the pictures from the new phone are not as good as your older one. You must have had the pick of the liter on that one.

We were twins today for a few hours. Did they get Billy Ray all tuned up? That reminds me I need to make an appointment for my annual service. They are usually booked for months. I wish we had a local dealer.

I was a temp fill in today for a livestream, but luckily they didn’t need me. I had fun writing a new article though and the lady who is a “real editor” did the second edit on it and she said I did a nice job. I feel bad for her, she edits my scripts for videos and is always tweaking punctuation and verb tenses. I told her my days of grammar school were a LONG time ago.

I didn’t get to bed very early last night, I was playing with the software I used to process astrophotos and some of the images won’t process right. I think I am missing some star databases. I probably lost them moving to the new computer a few weeks ago.

We had another thunderstorm this afternoon. It got foggy so the world outside disappeared.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, are you enjoying your retirement?

Dee Jay, how are the photos going?

We had temps in the 40’s today. No rain though. Yay.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, Billy Ray's trip to the dealer turned out to be exxxxpennnnsivvvve. Oil change (which is already an over $600 ordeal) PLUS a new battery PLUS three new tires because they were over six years old (and which they ordered but won't be in until the end of this week/beginning of next) was about $2,800. Ack! I also need to get the hood struts replaced, but I'll wait until right before I am ready for storage this fall to do that. As I always say, nobody ever bought a 911 to save money! We had a huge thunderstorm yesterday afternoon too. I knew something big was coming because poor Blue started acted squirrelly, and a few minutes later the thunder and lightening started. Liam picked the worst possible moment to come home to grab a quick Coke and a granola bar and he got soaked just going from his truck to the house. Our temps have been really good these past few days though, and when Liam and I went for a walk after dinner tonight we both agreed that if it were like this all the time we wouldn't be so keen to move!

The picture taking continues... I got quite a few done yesterday before the rain hit, but only a few today. That's OK though because I dug into a couple of boxes from the really good auction weekend before last and washed up a bunch of pieces for tomorrow. Every box is like Christmas because I ended up with so much stuff that I didn't even know I was buying LOL.

I did so much laundry today I told Liam that he had to take it upstairs because I'm afraid the hanging racks in the laundry room are going to snap under all the weight!

Alright, off to call it an early night.

 

[marcy]

Hi KIds!

Dee Jay, exactly - we didn’t buy Porsches because they are cheap to maintain. I have brand new tires in the garage we can put back on the car when we sell it. I am not a fan of Goodyear, so I bought Michelins within a week of buying the car. I was thinking I might need a new battery now that the car is 4 years old. We had more heavy rain this afternoon but no hail this time. Now that I don’t have flower pots, small hail doesn’t bother me. Our weeds seem to survive fine. I am glad you like the weather now.

That’s exciting to be opening boxes not knowing exactly what treasures you will find. It’s like all the boxes in our basement I still need to crack open. All my photos - and you can imagine the pile of photos I have - are downstairs. I don’t have any place to put them.

Laundry can be heavy especially hanging up. We had the option here for racks to hang laundry or cupboards. I chose cupboards. If I have something to dry I hang it up in the spare closest and leave trash bags on the spare bed to dry things that need to lay flat. I’m such a home body I generally wear sweats anyway instead of my sweaters.

I kind of had fun today writing a new story. One of my jobs is to continually update older articles with current information. Who know that Friday the 13th has so many varieties I and reasons for when they occur. It’s based on a few things - what day of the week January 1 is on, then any month that its 1st day is on a Sunday is when there’ll be a Friday the 13th. In 2025 we have one Friday the 13th and it’s June, but we didn’t have a previous article for June so I got to do the research on that. I enjoyed that. Something new. I did work on videos too.

I was quite frustrated that my software I use to process my astrophotos was giving me errors messages. Marty supposedly fixed it, but then I had the same issues again. But I THINK it’s fixed now. Of course, the rain continues so it’s not like I will get any new pictures.

I fried up five pounds of hamburger tonight. That’s four meals for each of us. Marty gets four pounds and I get one pound. That’s why I say Marty eats for four.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

Hi ladies! Quick check in. I’m at the salon with #8 dye with blue violet modifiers to hopefully tone down the yellow. She promised I wouldn’t leave with purple hair! My skin is so cool toned, yellow hair really washes me out.

I stopped by the shelter on the way home yesterday to visit a dog who was surrendered when his owner died at about the time we got Ruby. He was still there and getting really depressed. I was going to bring him home to see if he and Ruby would be good buds, but he was getting adopted as I walked in! I am so happy for him.

We get lots of coyote appearances on our security cameras. They always swing by between 12:30-1:30 am. Also lots of deer chowing on the landscaping.

Marcy-I have 6 workdays left. Lawdy, the last 2 weeks have been dragging! I went into the office yesterday for my office mate’s farewell lunch and I’ll go tomorrow because it’s his last day. I need to make myself go in every day next week, but that probably won’t happen. I just realized my last day is Friday the 13th! Sounds like you enjoyed your research project. I love to do research on things I find interesting. I sure couldn’t edit a book. Kudos to you! I write the brochures and website information for our agency and update after each legislative session, and it’s THE most boring stuff.

Dee*Jay-I hate spending money on car stuff. My last BMW was the M version and the suspension ate through tires. The tires couldn’t be rotated, so I had to get new tires at least one a year. Since I’m being frugal for retirement, my current BMW isn’t a performance model and those tires darn well better last. We don’t have a Porsche dealer anywhere near us. I really wanted to test drive the Cayenne and Macan. I could have joined your and Marcy’s Porsche club! I am going to have to go checkout your store for all the new stuff you’re posting. Have you heard of Blenko glass? It’s not far and they posted a picture of some gorgeous colors. Has controlling gluten taken care of Liam’s skin issue?

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!



Curby, I wear either workout tights or velour lounge pants (purchased at Costco many years ago – I paid more to have them hemmed than I paid for the actual pants!) and a T-shirt as my daily uniform now. If I have to leave the house (GASP!) I miiiiiight put on a pair of stretchy jeans and some cute(r) tennis shoes, but that’s about it. We’ve always got a pound of hamburger ready to go in the fridge (brought up from the giant stash in the basement freezer) so we can whip up tacos or burgers or sloppy Joes or… you get the picture!

Deegee, SIX DAYS!!! I think I’m as excited as you are LOL!!! My one year retirement anniversary is tomorrow. I should kick off the day with champagne! Liam’s issues have SIGNIFICANTLY abated. BUT… he decided to eat the crust on pizza last night “to test things out” and I have no idea what the result was because I went to bed. The big bottle of Benedryl is on the counter right by the coffee pot though, so I’m guessing the “test” was a failure. It’s funny you mention Blenko! I see the pieces every now and then, but they usually go for $$$ so I don’t typically buy them. Well at the good auction a few weeks ago there were two amberina pitchers and I had to pay up for them but I bought both. (Amberina is when things go from red to yellow; think color fade.) I took pictures just a few hours ago and I’ll likely post them some time next week. I’ll let you know when I do because I’d like to know what you think of them.

So ladies, I need your opinion! I try to put up a post every day, and it’s always some nice staged pic. But what do you think of “The Monday Morning Recap” when I would have all (or really, SOME) of the stuff bought that weekend that I had washed up and gotten ready for pics? It’s definitely a less formal format, but would allow me to throw out a bunch of “coming soon” sort of stuff. Does that sound goofy? Or should I just stick with my current style?

When I went to visit sister #2 last month I had gotten some powdered French vanilla latte mix. Sister #1 ended up taking care of the coffee situation so I didn’t have to use it. Well… I just made one to see how it is. Uhhhhhhh. NOPE. I hate to throw a perfect good container of “food” away, but this stuff is going straight in the garbage!

I got a bunch of pics done today, and as soon as I get done with this post I’m going to take all that stuff downstairs and dig into the mystery boxes some more. Let the adventure continue!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, you are getting close to joining us retired ladies. Are you going to take up a second "job" like we did? That is awesome that pup got adopted. What color did your hair turn out? Oh no to coyotes there. A neighbor posted a picture or one around here recently. I have not seen one though. I did enjoy the research on how Friday the 13th falls and all sorts of interesting things. The book right now it out of our hands. We'll jump in again when it's to the graphic designer to write captions.

Dee Jay, we may as well be comfortable since we are retired, right? And hamburger is a good go-to for dinner. I hope Liam didn't supper from eating pizza last night. I like the idea of an upcoming teaser on Monday. You'll know soon enough if it works. You can find a collage app on the iPad and use it to make the image. Your teaser could say something like be the first to let me know you are interested ... Darn the vanilla latte wasn't any good. I am a vanilla fan.

Not much new here. I had groceries delivered today. Marty used valet service from Ford to get his pickup serviced. Ooh, fancy. Too bad Porsche doesn't do that for me. Marty is skipping coaching tonight so I will lift tomorrow. He's still working and I don't want to be downstairs clanging weights around.

We got some rain and I got this picture of a rainbow over the observatory.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, that pic of the full rainbow is amazing! Did you find pots of gold at both ends or just one? Our Porsche dealer here is so small they don't have an official valet service either, but on the occasion they didn't have a loaner for me one of the guys drove me home in his personal car. I guess there something to be said for "small town service" LOL. The rain we got a few days ago supercharged growth in everything. I swear the grass is up an inch and the corn half a foot this week!

I've been going to bed and sleeping late these past few days. No idea if it's because I've been getting my 10K steps in after dinner or if I'm just lazy! Of course the middle of the night messages back and forth with my customers don't help.

I'm going to try something new for dinner and thinly slice the leftover pork chops from last night to put with veggies in a stir fry. I can't imagine it will be much different than when I do it with chicken. BTW, Liam took THREE pre-emptory Benedryl the other night before eating he pizza crust so no idea if he had a reaction or if the drugs tamped it down.

Only pics for one listing today, but I've got a bunch of stuff organized for tomorrow (or Sunday, depending on what happens at the local auction in the morning. I am (so far) successfully avoiding any and all estate sales this week!

Alright, off to continue the laundry migration from the laundry room up to the bedroom. In my next house I really really want the laundry on the same floor as the bedrooms!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kid!

Dee Jay, I looked for my pots of gold but only found mud puddles. We had almost an inch of rain yesterday and the same today. Our weeds are happy. We went to pickup the pickup at Ford and the interstate had standing water everywhere. The Curbymobile laughed at that though. That’s nice your local Porsche dealer does that for you. Our salesman promised me he would arrange it for my yearly maintenance, but I am too nice to remind him.

You’re retired. You can sleep as much as you want. I sleep more than I ever have. I don’t know why. I still go to bed after 11 and wake up between 5 and 6 (plus several times each night) but I try to go back to sleep. Sometimes it works, sometimes it’s a waste of time. Then I waster 30 plus minutes on social media.

How did your pork chop stir fry turn out? I can’t imagine it wouldn’t work. We have several chuck roasts left from our 1/2 beef. I am thinking of baking one slowly in the oven then making some BBQ beef out of it. Neither of us like things cooked in the crock pot anymore, it seems to be too greasy. Then again, as much butter as Marty uses on things he might like it again.

Did you get your laundry upstairs? I miss the layout we had at our last house. The walk-in closet was right by the laundry room. I had to roll the hamper maybe 6 feet at most and about the same distance with the basket of full clothes to hang up. Marty’s stuff required walking to our bedroom. Here our closet is off our bathroom. So Have to roll the hamper through the master bath, bedroom, dining room and kitchen. WTH?

Nothing new here today. I quit work earlier than I usually do, because it just seemed like it was 4 p.m. I was shocked to see it was 2 p.m. I should go find a good book.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Dee Jay, a nice collection of 911’s at a Porsche gathering in Colorado today. I saw this on FB.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, LOVE the pic! And WOW on that bright green one! I'm always tempted to do a crazy color when I'm buying a new car... but then common sense prevails and I go with silver/gunmetal gray/black, LOL. Who are these dingbats who put the laundry a labyrinth traverse away from where the clothes GO? Seriously, there should be some sort of law against it. I agree with you on crockpot stuff tending to be greasy. Most of what I make is with hamburger, and I fry that up and get all the grease off before I put it in there, but whenever we do any sort of roast I have to get the turkey baster out and siphon all the grease off a couple of times or else I wouldn't even consider eating it.

I've had a full day! This morning I went over to the local auction, saw a couple of things I wanted but they were going to be several hours in, so I came home and worked on listings. Liam called me as they were getting close and asked me to bring YF back with me, which was my first clue he'd gotten A LOT. So I returned, got a set of x-mas dishes (shocker!!!), three sets of glassware, and won two things Liam asked me to bid on because he was in the other ring buying even MORE stuff. Between the two of us, we barely fit everything in both vehicles! As one point I told YF I was going to have to strap him to my roof rack. We left there and went straight to Culvers because we were all starving by then. My car has been unloaded, and Liam's is partially done, but I think we're worn out for the day. Now I'm sitting here in my jammies (which I put on after I took a much needed shower) having a cocktail.

No idea what tomorrow will bring, but there is rain in the forecast so pics are unlikely, and I'm certainly not going to go stand outside and get soaked at an auction. Maybe this is my clue to clean the house.

 

[deegee]

dee*jay-I just can’t even imagine the storage space you need for all of this stuff you get at auctions! I like the Monday morning recap idea. Sometimes Jocelyn (Gilded Lane) posts a pic of a bunch of jewelry piled together before she cleans things and puts them up for sale. That always fascinates me for some reason. Blenko is kind of pricey. Sometimes I think I’ll support them because they’re a local company and then I change my mind when I see prices! I’ll check your store for the Amberina pieces. When I retire, I bet your sleeping in is what I consider getting up early!

Marcy-awesome pics! I love the full rainbow. There aren’t many places here to see a full rainbow because of the hills, but we see a lot of double rainbows. And that pic of the Porsche gathering. Wowza! Our laundry room is on the complete other side of the house, but I’m glad it’s on the same floor as our bedroom. How is your tooth fix coming along? Matt has had 7:30am dental appointments 2 weeks in a row. He broke a tooth but luckily all he needed was a crown. I think he is up to 16 crowns now! We have a small fortune invested in his teeth. I like my hair color much better. It’s a dark blonde/light brown color with cool undertones.

Ladies-the valet service is amazing! I have used it a few times and it will really spoil a person. They drop off a nice car and take yours back for service, then bring it back. Can’t beat that! And it’s so funny to hear you talk about your retirement wardrobe. I stopped by Kohls Friday to look for some comfy non-work clothes for volunteering at the animal shelter and taking walks. I need some lightweight pants because it’s been so freaking hot and humid here, and I never wear shorts. My exit interview is scheduled for 2pm Friday and I cannot wait! I plan to drag myself to the office this week, at least for half days, to work with my successor. This feels like it’s going to be a weird but exciting week for me! Have a great afternoon!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Deegee, between Liam and me we take up the entire basement with our inventory! I have more space than he does at this point, but he has the shed and an off-site storage space so I'm calling it even LOL. When I was in Kansas City the dealer had a valet service and I really liked the lady who would ferry me back and forth. She was a hoot! My exit interview from my last job may have put the HR lady into therapy ha ha. I was verrrrrry honest. Definitely not mean, but frank. I can't believe how excited I am for you Deegee!!! This is going to be quite the week!

Today I finished listing all the stuff on the counter and packed up three orders before Liam and I went over the border for sushi. Now he's out box hunting because he sold something big and I'm contemplating queuing up listings for the week.

You all have inspired me -- I'm going to do a Monday Morning Recap post. Fingers crossed it's not a big flop.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, good idea on the turkey baster for the crock pot. I might try a wire rack (if I have one that fits inside). Of course, I have no idea where stuff is in this house that I don’t generally use. It sounds like Liam made a haul at the auction. I swear I picture the north estate as packed with stuff ready to sell. Or maybe like our basement and garage. Marty did clean out the RV this weekend. More stuff to find a place to “stick it”. I generally like blue cars, but this Curbymobile with black matte panels won me over. Cool idea to do a Monday morning recap. It sounds fun.

Deegee, nice you get valet service. I wish my dealer offered valet service. Mercedes and BMW offer it from Denver and it’s twice as far as the Porsche dealer I go to. I was looked at Cadillac SUV last night and Marty noticed it. I want a local dealer, but don’t want to sell my Porsche. I guess we’ll have to move. My tooth is still a temp, it’s tender but doing fine. The dentist called me on Friday and said the periodontist didn’t think it was a good idea to lengthen the tooth. It’s so deep they’d have to cut out about half of the bone and if it didn’t work or hold, there’s not enough bone left for an implant. Right now, I am not making any decision. I hope Matt’s new wisdom tooth is all done and doing fine. I am glad you like your hair color.

It’s funny you both mentioned exit interviews. I didn’t get one. They were probably just glad to get rid of me. They usually do one too. Seems like the senior manager asked me if I wanted one and I said no. It was the week of Christmas so probably no one was around anyway. I wouldn’t have said much either way.

Marty got the RV ready for his trip in a few weeks. I guess the SIL is showing up tomorrow. She - and Marty’s family - are not planners so she and he have no idea how long she’ll be here. Her TINY - and I do mean TINY - RV doesn’t have any facilities at all so she’ll probably stay in our guest bedroom. You’d have to kill me to live in that.

We stayed up super last last night taking some photos. Then I woke up at 4 and couldn’t go back to sleep until 5:30. I got up an hour later. And here I am again, taking some pictures and not ready for bed. I got assorted none work chores done today including that long trip back and forth between our closet and laundry room. I can hear my mom now saying “a man must have designed this” on many things in the house.

Here’s one photo from tonight of the moon.

Laters,
Curby

 

[deegee]

dee*Jay- I wonder if they got anything from your exit interview, but good for you giving your honest opinion! I had a horrible professor in college, and on the last day when you get to rate the professor, only 1 person did a quickie review and left. The rest of us were there for over an hour. The professor did not teach a class the next semester and I like to think those of us who have honest reviews were the reason! I liked your Monday recap post! The yellow/red pieces are pretty, and the set you posted today is so cheerful.

Marcy-oh no about your tooth but good idea not to make a decision right away. Teeth are such a pain! And too funny your mom would have said designed by a man about things in your house. I say that often too! How far did your SIL travel in her RV? I’d have to have one of those fancy ones with bedrooms and full facilities before I could commit to one of those. And I think I’d still choose staying in a hotel.

3 days left, ladies. 3 DAYS!!! I worked from home today, and plan to go to in the next 3 days. My boss asked me yesterday if I was sad. Umm…no. Honestly I broke last year from work stress and then my sweet Lily died. Honestly, I’m just DONE with that place and ready to spend time doing things I enjoy. I’m 57 and I’ve worked for 41 years! (44 years if you count all the babysitting gigs I had before I got my first real job at 16.) I’m looking forward to handing in my badge and laptop. Have a great evening!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, you mean your SIL's RV doesn't have a potty... ? HELLS NO! That is my first and foremost requirement! You reminded me that I'm overdue for a cleaning. I'm moving to my dentist's north suburban office so I don't have to go downtown and this location apparently isn't as good at reminders. I'm sure this is a vastly stupid question, but what is the temperature on the moon?

Deegee, SOOOOO close! My work history sounds similar to yours. I started babysitting around 12 or 13 and never stopped working from that point forward. Most of the time I've even had two "jobs" (usually one full time and one side gig). I have to confess, even though I'm busy, retirement still feels like a vacation to me, even a year in!

Thanks ladies for the feedback on the Monday recap! I have to confess I've cheated (already!) and took a pic last weekend to use NEXT Monday. I guess this isn't going to be an exact science LOL.

Yesterday and today I helped the estate sale lady. Tomorrow I'm going into the city and having lunch with my best friend. We're making a swanky outing to *Red Lobster* -- yes, really!

I should be washing up glasses right now... but I think I'm going to bed early. It's not like they won't be there tomorrow night!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, I am so excited for you on retiring. That's a good thing if the university got rid of a bad teacher. I sure had some lazy "tenured" professors in college. Easy A, but not worth the money you pay to take their classes. My SIL put a lot of miles on her class C motorhome. She's had this small one for a few months, but towed it around most of the western U.S. since March. I'm with you on starting work before I was 16. My dad had an auto repair shop and his mom had a gas station. I was working for both of them as soon as they found things I could do. And I babysit a lot as well.

Dee Jay, good idea to switch to a local dentist. So far, that temp tooth is holding okay. The moon is WAY too cold for me. At the equator in daylight it's -208 F, at night it's -424 F. And I'm with you on no bathroom. Hell not. How was lunch at the swanky restaurant. I was contemplating Taco Johns for supper just because we were talking about their potato oles last night. Screw the tacos, I want those tasty little taters. I've usually had multiple jobs too. I think the astronomy club stuff counts as well.

We've been having more rain, but I did get a few pictures the other night. My SIL arrived Monday and she has a broken toe. Monday morning she tripped in her friend's garage and went flying and hit some cement thing. It dislocated her big toe and broke it. She is definitely related to her brother because she is hardly wearing her big boot they gave her and did not go see an orthopedic surgeon per instruction from the ER doc. They suggested she use crutches too. She is walking around without the boot. Didn't get crutches and at least puts on the boot to go out.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Day-Before-Deegee's-Retirement kids!

Curby, I had no idea the moon was so cold! No thanks -- I guess I'll stay here! Lunch was good, but I ate wayyyyyy too much. Those damn biscuits! It took me FOREVER to get downtown and FOREVER AND A DAY to get back. Thank god I sold my place downtown because I'd need a helicopter to make the commute at this point. Oh no to the broken toe!

Deegee, Alllllllllmosssssst!!!!!

Last night after I finished my 10K steps I did the May accounting for one of the nonprofits. It actually wasn't that bad, but of course there were a few mystery items so I'll need to have a zoom with the guy who manages it to clear those up.

We've got a big tray of stuffed peppers in the oven from Costco. Another ten minutes and dinner will be SERVED!

Alright, off to throw a load in the washer and get out some plates and silverware.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Retirement day to DeeGee!!!

Today turned out OK, but not in any way I'd planned! I was supposed to help the estate sale late go pick through a house, but that got cancelled after I was already up and dressed so I washed up a bunch of glass and took pics. Then I ran to the post office and to the store, and whipped up some pork medallions from Costco for dinner.

Liam just got back from picking up YF, and while he was gone I got in the last of my 10K steps while I talked to Sister #2 about her job hunt, selling her house, and a whole bunch of other stuff -- including the fact that she has a FLYING SQUIRREL that has taken up residence. YIKES!

Tomorrow we area heading up to Wisconsin for Liam's best friend's daughter's wedding. I still don't know what I'm going to wear... as of now I have three options laid out on the bed LOL.

I've got a picture all ready to post in DeeGee's honor tomorrow for the first day of her retirement!

Alright, off to bed early because my knee is kind of squawking at me and I think laying down with an ice pack might do it some good.

 

[deegee]

Woo-hoo people, I’m unemployed! Matt tells me to quit saying that because there’s a difference between unemployed and retired. It’s been a long time since I didn’t have a job. I didn’t tear up at all today. I requested no retirement party, but my boss insisted in taking me out to lunch and she invited some coworkers. We had a nice time, and people were stopping by all day to say bye and give me a hug. Still didn’t tear up at all. One of the gifts I got was a Blenko vase/water bottle. I love it! And I thought it was funny because we had talked about Blenko here just this week and I had actually saved a picture of the Facebook post they did about them. Mine is teal. I worked a lot of hours this week and ended up working late today after getting there early this morning. I can’t hold my eyes open any longer and I’m going to bed. Yay, retirement!!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Deegee, check out "your" post -- I just put it up on FB and Insta. I hope you have either (a) nothing, or (b) only fabulous things planned today. LOVE that Blenko pic BTW! You, Curby and I are going to have to rename our "club" to the Klutzy Retirees LOL.

Off to get a few things done before we have to head north for the wedding. At least I've narrowed my outfit choices down to two, and I'll make a final decision based on the weather once we get there.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee I am so excited for you! Congratulations on your retirement. LOL on being unemployed. That’s good. You did good on your last day not tearing up. I did a bit, but not much. Some people were harder to say goodbye to than others. Keep up the good work being unemployed.

Dee Jay, Mars is warmer than the moon, but not by much. I can barely stand the cold weather in Wyoming. Yay for getting in your 10K steps. Oh no to sister #2 and a flying squirrel. Squirrels can be a major PITA. I hope the wedding was nice. I think the Klutzy Retirees fits us well. My carpel tunnel is kind of talking to me again. I knit 10 rows on that scarf the other night and it’s been agitated since then. Grr.

We had a busy weekend. I hardly remember what we did though. My SIL headed north on Sunday. I spent most of Sunday doing laundry. I didn’t get it all done and put away until after supper. I messed around trying to figure out how to do livestreams on OBS (some software I use now to record audio). This isn’t for work, it’s for the upcoming astronomy club meeting.

We’ve had thunderstorms daily. And some bird had decided the dome of our allsky camera is its outhouse. Marty has gone out and cleaned it off twice and hasn’t rushed out to take care of the 3rd calling card.

I worked and lifted today, not much else.

#thrilometer = 0

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, the wedding was nice, but my footwear choice was a mistake. High heels and a long walk across a lawn do not go well. I also ate two things that I shouldn’t have (mediocre dinner rolls — I was starving by the point! — and some gelato that I should have skipped in lieu of better desserts inside). Oh well, none of it killed me! I saw your instagram post today; that is some CRAZY weather you’ve got there! Can you put something spiky around the camera to keep the birds away from it… ?

Not much exciting going on here at The North Estate. We came back from the hotel pretty early on Sunday, but I didn’t really get a lot done. There was a giant pizza dinner in honor of Father’s Day, of course. Yesterday I helped set up a house for a sale this weekend, and today I worked in the estate sale lady’s warehouse, which is just BURSTING with inventory right now. I have no idea how we’re going to move out of that space starting next month.

Tomorrow I’ve got a zoom call early for one of the non-profits, and I need to get some listing pics done. Hamster, meet wheel!

I’m being pretty good about getting my 10K steps in, although I seem to miss it about once a week. Some is better than none though, right?!

OK, off to finishing drafting some listings and then to do some internetting. Later gators!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

We have some technology excitement here at The North Estate. Earlier Liam said to me, "Did you turn the TV off last night?" I was like.. uh... not last night or ANY night. I wouldn't how to turn it on, off, or anything else, if you gave me a million dollars. Apparently the TV in the living room decided that it had had a nice long life of ten years and it was DONE. So this morning there was a trip to Best Buy resulting in a new 75" TV (up ten inches from the one that was there, but not as big as the 84" that Liam is now kicking himself for not buying at an auction last week. Frankly I'm not sure an 84" would even FIT on that wall, but the point is moot. And currently, after some assistance from YF and OF, and a bit of screaming and grumbling from all parties involved, I hear the sounds of entertainment coming from in there. (I am safely and firmly planted here in the kitchen, playing ABSOLUTELY NO PART in this process whatsoever!)

I've been working on listings today and (as usual) trying to clear up the dining room. Same thing on the schedule tomorrow, and I'm helping out at an estate sale on Saturday. There was a gleeful trip to Costco a few hours ago when I saw that packing tape was on sale, and an even better discount than usual, so I bolted over there to get some. Do I know how to live or what?

Other than that, not much to report!

 

[deegee]

Hi ladies!! I feel like I’m on a staycation right now. I did get out my summer clothes and out my winter clothes away. I found some summer shirts from last year with tags still on them. Oops! It’s been so freaking hot and humid here, nothing is cool enough to wear. And we have thunderstorms every day and it’s steamy! On Tuesday I ran some errands and went to an eye appointment in the middle of the day. I’m one of those people now! I spent yesterday at the shelter and came home with a dog (Darla) to foster and possibly adopt. She’s a smarty pants. She is a graduate of the shelter’s paws to prison program, where they pair a shelter dog with an inmate who is in charge of them and trains them for several months. She was adopted in December but surrendered back to the shelter a few weeks ago. The lady who adopted her is disabled and lives in a 4th floor apartment by herself and only had a caregiver 28hrs a week. She realized she couldn’t take care of her. They gave me a 2-page note from the lady and I could tell she’s really heartbroken. Ruby and Darla played really well last night, but Darla seems sad today. I’m sure she’s missing her person. She hasn’t left my side all day.

Marcy-your allsky camera takes amazing pictures! You could tell us the bird droppings were a comet or meteor or something, and we’d never know! I’d love to learn to knit. Best I can do is crochet and I only know 2 stitches. Not terribly exciting! I hope your carpal tunnel settles down. I don’t care for this getting old stuff. How’s your tooth?

Dee*Jay-I went to an outdoor wedding wearing heels once and learned my lesson really quickly. Two weddings last year were outside, and I had proper shoes. No sinking in the ground this time! I love your Monday recap posts. Everything looks so pretty. Do you have your camera issue all figured out?

 

[deegee]

Darla-house trained, cat friendly, and a graduate of training school. She is very well behaved and very sweet. I hope she can decompress and relax. Her name has to stay Darla because she knows it and is very responsive to it.