Everyday Chatting & Waffling {2023} Let's get to know each other!

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Rae, good luck with all the unpacking!

Alyssa, CONGRATS!

Lynnie, glad you were able to get some photos to scrap. I know what it’s like to be at the mercy of others and HOPE they take photos.

We had wedding in Missouri over the weekend. It was the second marriage for both the bride and groom, and the attendees were a slightly older group. They exchanged vows over a wine barrel at a local winery, and then had a catered meal. There was a little dancing, but a lot of visiting. And the reception closed down about 10 p.m. (much earlier than we anticipated), but I wasn’t sad that I got to turn in for the night and get some sleep! LOL! We also attended a Dia de los Muertos event and I captured some photos of some people dressed up with amazing costumes. We would have stayed longer, but it started to rain and I wasn’t excited about getting soaked. LOL!

This week, I’ve had meetings so have been on the road. Today, I’m taking sweet hubby to the doctor for a scan. He’s been fighting stomach issues. My guess is that his gall bladder is the culprit, so we’ll know for sure by later today.

The weather here has been thick-as-soup fog in the mornings, and gorgeous fall weather in the afternoons (mid 70s). So I’m happy that I’ve been able to get out and go for a walk in such pretty weather. I know the snow will be here before too long, so we’re taking advantage of the nice weather while we can.

Hope you all have a marvelous day!
 
Happy Veteran's/Remembrance Day! Whenever this holiday rolls around, I wonder how I survived 20 years of deployments and TDY's (temporary duties). But there were lots of good times, too, and I wouldn't change the experience of my husband's career. I learned a lot and have lots of good friends that I wouldn't have met otherwise.

So what's everyone up to this weekend? We're going to see the high school play tonight. Tomorrow we'll do the usual shopping and errands, make more applesauce (really, we're almost done), and go to Eren's college's basketball game. They are in the pep band and I hope we are seated close to them. Sunday is church and Christmas choir practice.
 
I got an unexpected day off babysitting, so I took a shower this morning and put on some clean pajamas and am sitting here all toasty and happy. I have a lot on my todo list, but I can do it all from my comfy chair. :)
 
Happy Saturday everyone! Our basement reno's are all done except the carpet installation, that will not be until the end of the month. Now we have to paint the whole basement before then, then my guest room (my son's old room) by December 11th when he comes home for Christmas.

This week I sorted more of my Mom's stuff to give away or sell. She had so much paper scrapbooking stuff and I hate to give it all away. I am making up two starter boxes and hopefully I can sell them otherwise I may donate to the school or daycares in our area. It is so hard to sort her belongings that I knew meant so much to her, I wish I could keep most of it.
 
We do wish we could keep it all. I remember after my son, Chris, died, I kept boxes and boxes of his stuff. It was so hard to get rid of it, but after a while, I realized they weren't helping bring him back to me. They were just sitting in boxes, and I wasn't looking at them. I ended up keeping a small box of precious stuff and I do look at that box from time to time.

Good that the reno is done - and how exciting about the carpet :) All good news.
 
Route66 said:
Happy Saturday everyone! Our basement reno's are all done except the carpet installation, that will not be until the end of the month. Now we have to paint the whole basement before then, then my guest room (my son's old room) by December 11th when he comes home for Christmas.

This week I sorted more of my Mom's stuff to give away or sell. She had so much paper scrapbooking stuff and I hate to give it all away. I am making up two starter boxes and hopefully I can sell them otherwise I may donate to the school or daycares in our area. It is so hard to sort her belongings that I knew meant so much to her, I wish I could keep most of it.
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Does Winnipeg have a Ronald McDonald house? I’ve donated supplies there, Aldo assisted living homes
 
I got my hair cut yesterday. Weird to think that it’s been done three times now since I got out of hospital. Days after getting home, just before surgery, and now. Why don’t I feel better? It’s so frustrating.
 
How are you feeling compared to before the surgery, though, Sherri? You were in terrible shape then, and I really think you sound better than you were. It is going to take a long time to get over what you went through, but I am sure you are better than before! Big hugs, though, it must be so frustrating to have such a low energy level.
 
Hubby wasn't feeling well (and we are STILL waiting for the Dr. to call us with the results of his scan last week). So we ended up cancelling all our weekend plans. Honestly, I was thankful to just be able to stay home. Hubby rested for most of the weekend, but he did help me put the numbers on the house (that we purchased years ago... good grief).

When we lost my mom to cancer, she was able to give me direction as to where she wanted some of her belongings to go (all her clothes went to one sweet lady who struggled financially, her jewelry was divided among us kids, etc.). So that was helpful to have her direction on her belongings. Everything else, we just left with my dad. However, now that he's remarried to a woman who doesn't like the fact that he has kids, I wish I had claimed some of the decorative items, her favorite cookbook, and a few other things. Alas. When we lost our son due to a auto accident at college, that was a different story. I cleaned out his dorm room, and then boxed up the items in his bedroom in our home. I donated what I could (clothes, etc.), and I invited his girlfriend and best friends to come and take a memento (most took one of his ball caps). But we still have boxes of his toys and baby items that he had been saving for his own children. Hubby can't bear to part with those boxes yet. So they sit in our basement collecting dust. We also have all of his video games. I've tried to donate those, but again, Hubby wasn't ready to let those go even though no one plays those games. Grief is hard.

I love the idea of donating to the Ronald McDonald Houses. I gave them a box of kids books, which they so appreciated. We also selected them as a recipient of a community service project (they mostly needed food items and gift cards at that time). One of my employee groups that has meetings twice a year has started the tradition of having a community service project in the town where we meet. Sometimes, the project is passive and we are simply asked to donate items or money. Sometimes, the project is active and we go help serve meals to the homeless, or one time we removed old security cameras and wiring throughout an entire school that catered to troubled teens. They had installed new security cameras, but the installers had just left the old ones there. So about 15 of us went to the school after hours and traveled from classroom to classroom pulling out old cables and wires. It didn't take us long, and the school admins were tickled.

Hope everyone has a happy Monday and a lovely week! :)
 
I have been inspired.... :36_1_33: DebraB reminded me of the Spicy Motivators I started back at the end of 2021 and then early in 2022. It all stopped so suddenly but then that was the end of February when my life took an unexpected turn ( our home was flooded and we lost most of our belongings etc. ) . I had forgotten all about it so it is now started up so even feel the need to be motivated for would like to help motivate others come and join us HERE
 
Anne-Marie, I've joined the motivators! And it's already helping... I made sure to work on my personal goals after work yesterday. I went for a long walk and I completed two layouts. So THANK YOU!!!!
 
We do not have a Ronald McDonald house but I think I will give then to our homeless community, we do have a few places that will take them and distribute throughout the city.

Yesterday we went shopping for a new bed for my guest room, the prices are ridiculous but we managed to get one under $1000. Next on the list is new living furniture, hoping that we can find a black Friday sale so we don't break the bank.

My new walking group does a lot of charity work for the community, so proud to join them this year. We are doing shoeboxes for women in need so I am happy to create the cards for them.

The weather here has been nice the past few days and almost all our snow has melted, happy to see green again (at least for a little while).

Well I guess I better get on with the day, many chores to do. Take care everyone!
 
We've been working hard over here too. Yesterday we raked our backyard. Surprisingly it only took about 45 minutes. Our tree back there has lost all its leaves, so there's no more back there to rake (until our neighbor's oak drops its leaves). We also made our last batch of applesauce, which were going to turn into apple butter I think. We still have the front yard to rake up--that tree has also dropped all of its leaves. Maybe that will be tomorrow.

Karen, I donated all my paper scrapping and stamping supplies to a teacher I know. She's going to share with her fellow teachers, which is awesome.
 
I had a lovely day with my best friend, Tina. We have been friends since 1976 - 47 years! The intent was a day of paper scrapping, but that was not to be. She was having some trouble backing up her photos off her phone. We had the worst time getting them off her phone. I finally used software on my computer to access and back them up, then moved them to a USB stick. She had a thousand duplicates, and we were able to clear them all up. She was so relieved. I saved her days of work. It took most of the day to sort out everything that was wrong, but we managed.

I didn't get any of my stuff done, but we watched a lovely movie, cooked a nice meal and snacks, and laughed a lot. Yesterday was my book club. We have an interesting little group, just four of us. Pam (age 77), me (69), Tina (64), and Chelsea (39). Yes, a lovely 39-year-old wants to hang out with the crazy ladies. She is actually our hair stylist and an old soul. We all get our hair done on Chelsea's day off and have our book club. It is fabulous. I got to see Tina two days in a row, and Pam (who is my other very best friend)! Pam used to live around the corner and moved 1-1/2 hours away. I miss her so much. I did see her last Wednesday, though, which was terrific. She broke her shoulder recently and is struggling a lot. It was wonderful for us all to be together.
 
I have to ask Lynnie, what app do you use to get rid of duplicate pix? I'm sure I have at least that many on my EHD, but I don't have time to go through them all. I have an app, but I'm not totally happy with it and I don't really want to spend any $$. Thanks for whatever help you can give.
 
Lynnie, I bet your friend was thrilled to have had your help!

Ane, that was a great idea to donate supplies to teachers. I bet they appreciated that greatly.

It's another beautiful fall day here, and I hope to get home early enough to walk before it gets dark. My body is not used to it getting dark so early, and I was ready to go to bed around 6 p.m. last night. LOL!
 
Lynnie - haircut and book club, what a great combo! There is a book club in the new town we are going to so I hope to join them.

I'm still sick (lung/sinus infection) and busy packing/purging/organizing for the move in two weeks. Time is flying by. We dropped down close to freezing and am getting our first snow of the year (just a dusting). Sure looks pretty. I keep watching the weather, hoping there won't be any big winter storms around the time of our move to Alberta. So far the weather looks ok. Got my winter tires put on today and oil changed, so the vehicle is ready for the move.

I may get a page or two scrapped before I shut down my computer and pack it away next wkend but if not, that's OK, I know I'll be back in December some time. I'm so excited to be in the new house for Xmas.
 
minicooper452 said:
I have to ask Lynnie, what app do you use to get rid of duplicate pix? I'm sure I have at least that many on my EHD, but I don't have time to go through them all. I have an app, but I'm not totally happy with it and I don't really want to spend any $$. Thanks for whatever help you can give.
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I use ALLDUP and I think it is free. I have had it for a while, so I don't remember, but it is such an awesome, powerful program.
https://www.alldup.de/alldup_help/alldup.php

You can match based on percentage, too, so it will bring back all pictures that are very similar. I love it. I can look a my similar pictures and decide which I want to keep (you can double click and see them full-size).
 
It's been a crazy couple of weeks. My daughter got an oil change about 3 weeks ago. A couple of days later her check oil light came on. Her not knowing any better thought she could go a day or two before checking it. Low and behold, the mechanic never put oil in her car. Her engine froze. Thank goodness she was able to get to the side of the road. My husband's friend has a friend that is a mechanic. He can only do work on weekends because of his full time job. So it's been three weeks where the three of us are sharing 2 cars. That makes for interesting moving things needed from one car to the other and who is picking up whom and at what times. Hopefully, the new engine will be put in the car on Saturday. I'm tired of this mess. All to save a couple of hundred dollars. I wonder if it was worth the hassle.

What's everyone doing for Thanksgiving? We are having a Friendsgiving on Saturday 11.25. We are not making the traditional turkey. As of now it's pasta and meatballs and a bunch of appetizers. Appetizers are always a big hit with this crowd of friends! One guest is a friend I've had since High School. My husband invites a few of his friends and my kids and Molly's boyfriend complete our bunch.

Stay safe and enjoy the holidays!
 
LilyAnn said:
What's everyone doing for Thanksgiving?
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So sorry to hear about the car engine. We've been there and it's not much fun.

I am hosting Thanksgiving for the first time in about 12 years. It's just going to be five of us but by golly I have a 20 pound turkey! In my defense, it was 98 cents per pound so I got a good deal. We'll freeze the majority of it to eat later since our adult kids no longer are at home.

Lynnie - thank you for sharing that software, I'm going to have to look into it!
 
OH NO, LilyAnn! That's terrible! Were you able to go back to the company that was supposed to put in the oil and at least get a refund for the oil change? I mean, they couldn't do anything about your daughter driving with her light on. BUMMER. But I get having a "mechanic friend". Fixes always take longer.

Thanks for the info Lynnie! I will check it out.

Our Thanksgiving will be somewhat quiet, with only part of the family. Haven't wanted to post much because it's a bit painful. The wedding was wonderful. The aftermath was horrible. Our fur-baby ended up in the UofMN emergency vet while we were gone so we were taking care of him when we got home. We got colds on the way home too. Anne had a bit of a meltdown about three weeks after we got home and hasn't spoken to her sister since. It's just been a major clusterF all around. We're trying to navigate the holidays with our family sort of torn apart right now.

Prayers would be appreciated.
 
Carla, sorry to hear about the family situation. My siblings fractured after we lost Mom, and this year I am TRYING to host a FULL family holiday on Dec. 30. It's been 15 years since we've had a family holiday, and everyone seems to like the idea. But there is already snipping going on regarding such petty things like "who was told about the event first" and crap like that. I love my family, but I've learned decades ago to have strong boundaries with them. So I'm hosting the event at a hotel (one I work with all the time). That way, the grandkids and great-grandkids can swim in the pool. There's plenty of parking. Everyone will have their own room to return to, and we'll have one big common room for the meal, games, and hanging out. The hotel shares a parking lot with a new movie theater and several restaurants, so there are things to do. The hotel even has a fire pit, so we could bring ingredients to make s'mores! And.... if people start getting catty... Randy and I can leave and go home! LOL!!!

Lynnie, thanks for the lead on that photo program!

Lily Ann, so sorry to hear about the engine. Not good. I want to know, too, if the business that didn't put the oil back in is going to do anything to make things right for you!

For Thanksgiving, Randy and I had originally planned to travel and just get away. But one of my nephews has selected that weekend to get married. So we will travel about three hours for that event. It will be massive. My brother (his dad) is all about showing off, even if it puts him in crippling debt. Last I heard, there were close to 800 people who had RSVPd for the wedding reception. This is the same brother who causes most of the friction in the family... and I know that we will be treated as regular guests, not family. So we won't be asked for any additional events, photos, etc. So I've made plans to visit with some of our cousins while we are in town, which will be lovely. Yeah... I think I could write a book about family dysfunction and the importance of boundaries. Oh my.
 
Lily Ane, Sorry too to hear about your daughter's car, hope the mechanic makes things right for her.

Lynnie, thanks for the link, it will come in handy.

DJ, we had an uneventful Thanksgiving in October (Canada) hope you enjoyed all the leftover turkey.

Shana, I know the family drama at holiday time. My Mom was the rock in the family and this will be our first Christmas without her, it will be hard. My brother seems to think he should take over all the holiday functions since he is the oldest...not sure we want all that hoopla this year, he tends to go overboard on everything. I love him for his efforts but it is always too much. My younger son is coming home for a week just before Christmas so my older son and family will get together then and perhaps we will do Christmas at the in-laws since we missed Thanksgiving. I will try to get together sometime during the holidays with the rest of the family on a smaller scale.

I am working on Christmas cards for shoeboxes for my walking group. We are doing 5 shoeboxes with personal hygiene products, candy and cards. It has been therapeutic for me to work on my doll cards again.

Today it is snowing hard, looks pretty and the high is 8c today so I am sure it will be melted before the end of the day into a wet mess. That's fine with me as I am starting to paint the whole house today, uggg, can't wait for it to be done already.

Have a great day everyone.
 
Lynnie, thanks for sharing the link to that software- I can make good use of it for sure!

Lily Ann- For sure the guy at the oil change shop screwed up and they should at least reimburse for the oil change they didn't do.

DJ- We bought a 25 lb turkey even though there's only going to be 3 of us. What can I say? Hubby likes turkey LOL!

Carla, sorry to hear about your family woes! We had a similar event back in March. Luckily fences got mended, but it changed how we do family vacations in the future. Sigh.

Shana, you are the brave one for hosting Thanksgiving! Good on you- I hope it works out!

Karen, prayers for going through the holidays without your mom. You are lucky to have options for Christmas- none of us can afford to go anywhere then, though we may have to help our oldest move in December. I wish we had snow, but we've had highs near 70 this week!

We'll just have Eren with us for Thanksgiving, which is fine, though I'll miss seeing my boys & their families. We'll do the usual dishes and enjoy the long weekend together, though if Eren wants to do stuff with friends, I'm ok with that too. :)
 
I have been browsing the store for a kit ...anyone have any ideas for a fancy kit for when I went for tea at Fortnum & Mason in London?
 
I am glad you will find that link useful. I have one other that has been a lifesaver for me.

Lily Ann, I agree with Ane. Shouldn't the oil folks at the shop fix this issue, or reimburse you.

DJ- Our turkey is small, I am hoping it stretches. We won't have much left over, that is for sure. I did get another free turkey, so we can make a second one if we need to.

Shana, your family event in December sounds wonderful (yet scary, given the disagreements)

Karen, Sounds as though you have lots of options for the holidays. How nice to have choices.

It sounds as though we have a lot of broken families here. That is so sad. I know my husband and his older sister are estranged and I am so sorry for it. I wish they would let bygones be bygones and put it behind them. My family has always been close with no real fractions. I had a falling out with my daughter recently that was tough, but it lasted hours, not years!

We have a small Thanksgiving this year. Just 8 adults. My husband and I; son Steven, his wife, and children; grandson Mark and his girlfriend; and my friend Lois. I have ordered a meal from Sprouts and will supplement it with extra mashed potatoes and our traditional carrots and turnips. It is way cheaper and a lot less work and it is very tasty. I love to cook, but I need a break this year.

I have a lot of planning done for Christmas so far. I am pretty pleased with how much I have got done so far.
 
Happy Monday, all!

Lynnie… you’re right. There are broken families, but it’s allowed me to develop really strong boundaries and very much enjoy the family relationships that are healthy and happy. I remember the day I chose to go “no contact” with the older brother. It was heart wrenching at the time, but honestly, it was the best thing I could have done for my own mental health. Now here we are 15 years later, he’s offering an olive branch, and we now have an opportunity to rebuild a healthier relationship. We will see what happens.

Karen, did you find a fancy kit to showcase your photos?

Hubby had a two-hour scan on Friday, and it looks like the gall bladder is indeed the culprit of his health woes. Waiting for the dr to call back and hopefully schedule the procedure to have it removed.

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving this week, do you have any fun plans? I think we’re skipping the actual holiday as we have a family wedding this weekend.
 
I, too, have a broken family. I understand what you all are going through. I'll keep you in my prayers for healing.

Our Thanksgiving plans are just us and our kids, so only five people total. We don't count the three dogs even though they could wolf down our entire 20 lb turkey in 2 minutes flat with no leftovers. I am on staycation this week so enjoying my time cleaning up my scrapbook files and getting some crochet stuff done.

I hope everyone has a great week!
 
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