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Post by nov21987 on May 16, 2021 17:43:48 GMT
Hi! Whelp, we bought the house...OMG! After some back and forth with the architect (he is also the seller) last week we all signed the final contract yesterday. I go between moments of excitment of the newness of the house and how nice it is and sadness at leaving our condo. The thing is our condo is more than 15 years old now and it is time to replace certain things, paint, etc. I was hoping to buy another condo (lots of them going up in the city right now). SO says Tucson, may be just a vacation house and we can get another one somewhere else the following year...he is thinking San Diego and I, of course, am thinking Philly!!! I do think it will eventually be in Philly again because I will be back to visit often. Right now we won't be putting our condo on the market until next spring at the very earliest. I'm disappointed about not doing the cruise (a lot of our friends will be on) but, 178 is very long time and in the first 2 legs of the trip there are many stops in Australia, and as of now Australia is saying they won't open to tourists until the end of 2022. I think they will have to revise the itinerary. We still have 2 more cruises reserved, one in the fall of 2022 and another really, really exciting one 70+ days in Jan 2023 that is going to St Georges Island and Antarctica! I feel like after a year of not going out, SO and I have done so much the last month! Holly, hope going to the chiropractor is making a difference. Congrats on finishing school! SO looked up the restaurants in the area and the 7th best place was Red Lobster  I told him I will be ordering from this service that just started last year, it delivers food from restaurants all over the country - pricey, but that's what it is. Jojo, so good to see you on here again. Glad you are finally feeling good physically, it took a long time. Sorry the Franklin get together is virtual this year, it would have been great to see you and your DH this summer. I have been watching Outlander on Netflix, but Netflix is a year behind Starz in rolling out the episodes. So you and Joan both have new neighbors! Joan, you are doing so amazing with your weight loss, wow! What is it that is making the difference? You are really seeing a lot of your family! Definitely come visit us in our new house in Tucson Our realtor in Tucson is really, really nice. Was a chess prodigy when he was young, even played against some Russian grand master (and won). Gave it up because otherwise he thought he might have gone mad with mental problems. We had dinner with a couple we became friend with on our last cruise, they live primarily in Tuscon. They just sold their house in Hawaii and just flew there for the settlement. Yesterday, SO and I went over to my sister's house for the first time since Christmas of 2019 for dinner. I brought over a ton of Japanese food, I didn't want my sister to have to do anything. The last 2 weeks had been really difficult for her and family. My BIL's mother passed away the day before we left for Tucson. It was not unexpected, she had been deteriorating the past few months, but it was still hard on my BIL. My 2 youngest nephews were there, as well as my mom. Philly is waiting awhile before following new CDC mask guidelines. Fine with me, I would still wear mask if I walk into stores, etc. I do feel comfortable with maskless while outside. I know that many restaurant workers here would prefer to keep wearing their masks for their own protection. So this Tues SO and I are going to a walk through reception of a new condo building in the city. It is one that I had been interested in for a few years now and the realtor keeps me informed. We're just checking it out for comparison purposes. There are 2 other condo buildings planned that SO thinks he likes better, but they are a couple of years behind this one. Wed I'm going out to dinner with my Sue and Sue friends! We are going to a middle eastern restaurant and have reserved a garden table, it is really beautiful environment. |
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Post by nov21987 on May 16, 2021 19:24:33 GMT
meant to say South Georgia Island!
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on May 17, 2021 14:12:46 GMT
Wow—oh wow, Sue! A whole new adventure for you both! How exciting—I hope you can negotiate getting a condo in Philly so that you have both options available to you! I’ve always wanted a small house/condo in CA near DD but I don’t want a house payment and we couldn’t pay cash so we just look and fantasize being able to spend time in both places! I can’t wait to come see your new home—we promised our neighbors we would take a trip to Tucson so now I have two good reasons!!
Yes, I’m feeling so good about my weight—just so comfortable—and I feel lighter today—not because of weight but I’ve been cleaning out two closets—the guest bedroom and the office—wow—I’m getting rid of many, many things—toys we had stored for the grandkids, Christmas sewing projects never started (with wonderful fabrics to do them), fabrics for baby items (I used to sell them), and several other things. In the process I found the Pendleton wool “car coat” my mother bought many, many years ago—the one item I have of hers that I literally could wear should I ever fit it again—and oh my gosh, it fits—comfortably! It is a beautiful large plaid in gorgeous Pendleton colors—looks fashionable even tho it’s from the mid 50’s—timeless! A rain coat that has a zip in winter lining, London Fog, that I bought way back when I lost lots of weight about 12 years ago now fits perfectly as well—this coming winter a trip to NY might find me in that! So fun!
I gave my gym teacher a collection of Hot Wheels cars for her 4 year old grandson—and a neat race track that our GK’s absolutely loved—she was so excited.
And yesterday it rained in Vegas—oh my gosh, we were excited like little kids!! It smelled so, so fresh and it cleaned all the pollen from the air, the trees and the streets.
Today I see my hand doctor who did my carpal tunnel surgery years ago—I am developing a trigger finger and am worried about my clay work.
Ok, gotta’ go walk—have a great week everyone!
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Post by holly2007 on May 18, 2021 15:31:31 GMT
Hi All,
Not much happening here. I have squash and green beans growing in the garden. Hoping to get the rest this weekend for summer planting. Getting a bit restless now that things are opening up again.
Good to hear from you, Jo Anne. Our church didn’t start meeting in person until Palm Sunday. I still watch it online though for now. KnitPicks is having a flash sale this week if you need any more yarn.
Congrats on the house, Sue! Didn’t you and SO help design your current condo building? Who knows when I’ll get to travel again. I’d like to go back to Europe next.
Joan, congrats on the weight loss. What weight loss system did you use? Hawaii sounds exciting.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on May 31, 2021 23:59:17 GMT
Happy Memorial Day from Salt Lake City! We drove up Friday—have had three wonderful dinners made by DS and his SO—have a couple new recipes—SO is a great cook—all things from the farm she volunteers at—she made her own goat cheese and it is so wonderful—hard to believe the difference. Makes her own yogurt too. We had farm raised smoked grilled turkey last night—yum. We have walked over 14,000 steps every day—most at elevations of 9000 and up. Amazingly DH and I have not been huffing and puffing—in fact I cannot believe what we have been able to do. Today we hiked at Brighton ski resort, then over the pass on some trails and then walked all over Park City—which is climbing and downhill and back up. Had a wonderful lunch at a distillery. We leave tomorrow at 6:30 and will stop and see my former school psychologist in Provo—have breakfast with her. Then home with a stop at a clay studio in St George, UT on the way.
dread leaving as SLC is high so nice and cool—sitting on the front porch the past hour—an intensive heat wave is hitting CA and the whole west—we will be 104 in Vegas. It is dangerous for CA as they are talking 108–not sure Sacramento has ever been that hot! DSIL from CA will stay with us tomorrow through Friday as he is visiting his mom and brothers in Vegas.
I will miss the high elevation walking—we are thinking once a week we will drive to Mt Charleston and walk up there to keep this up—so good for stamina/lung capacity, etc.
Price of houses here has skyrocketed—a tiny house across the street is in contract for over 400,000 and it’s not even updated—these houses were build in 1912–DS has transformed his house—if that is worth that much his is probably getting close to 600,000 as he has a huge garage/workshop, and an additional work shed and has dug out the basement and is nearly finished redoing it—it has a workout room, laundry, sports storage and a larger room he’s finishing. He has made the outside so beautiful—crazy—we gave him 10,000 to buy this house back in 2000 and I think it was about 80,000 then. It was a mess. His SO has a full front yard garden—flower s and vegetables but it’s beautifully laid out.
It sounds as tho the entire country is in crisis with housing—nothing affordable left and very little that’s not affordable! Insane.
Every flower you can name is in full spring bloom here—walking has been such a visual treat!
We got to tour the house DS has been remodeling for over 2 years—the people had him do a kitchen in their former house—and they keep finding more and more they want done on this one—it’s up in a canyon—the ones the Mormons came down through and settled on SLC—it’s is so spectacular—his work is just amazing. They wanted one of the fireplaces framed in wood but there was no molding large enough for the scale so he literally made the molding—and it is beautiful ==carved and put together is such a gorgeous way. He rebuilt roof lines and made huge view windows so you see the mountains everywhere. He is burned out tho—so tired of working there but has enough work left till September yet. By the time he is done he will have redone every single room in this huge house/basement. They lived in the basement while he did the upstairs and now he’s down there ==all but two rooms are done. Was so fun to see his work.
Hope you all had a nice weekend.
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Post by nov21987 on Jun 3, 2021 23:17:45 GMT
Hi!
Well, SO and I have been going out almost once a week. Last night we went out with an ex-colleague for dinner. He came over for a drink and then we walked to the restaurant a French bistro nearby. We ate outside. I'm so impressed by how well the restaurants in the city were able to accomodate outside dining.
Last week was SO's birthday and we walked farther (about 3 miles to and from) to the restaurant. So it was good exercise.
Joan, I wish my mom would have kept our old toys, especially our Barbie collection, they would be valuable now I think.
Sounds like you had a great time in SLC! Your DS is very skilled/talented. I think he got it from you!
Holly, SO and I made some changes to our condo. I did all the drawings, it was like having a second part time job, it took up so much time.
It took another week of negotiation after we signed the contract for everything to be finalized. There were some legal issues (seller wanted us to sign an owner/architect agreement, which had all sorts of liability issues). We had to hire a lawyer in Tucson and we decided we're not going to make any major changes to the design, other than replacing some flooring material from carpet to stone. It is now becoming real! We're now picking out furniture and getting quotes. SO is the type that just has to get things done asap. The furniture is coming from Italy so we need to order way in advance. We also need to order the automated shades in advance as well.
It's concerning how hot/dry it is in the west. Tucson is also seeing hotter than normal temps, but it is cooler than Phoenix/Scottsdale. When we were there it was hotter than normal during the day but by late afternoon, sunset in the house it was very comfortable.
I have got to buckle down and start losing weight. I have not been able to shake the 10 lbs I gained during past year.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jun 8, 2021 22:35:54 GMT
How exciting about the furniture—were you able to sit in any of it in a showroom? When we did this house we chose a tile from Italy—at the same time one of the hotels chose it for an area—totally delayed the order but we have always loved the tile we got—doesn’t seem to get dated.
I have picked up a flu—OMG, sick for the first time in years—and I’ve really been flat on my back for two days—cannot eat—extreme nausea, bloating, aching, headache, slight fever—so got a fast covid test today and I’m negative. However, a student of mine who is head pharmacist at one of the largest hospitals said that people who are being hospitalized for covid typically are coming in with both covid and this flu—I cannot imagine! She said they are very, very sick. BF has it too—we were playing cards here Sat. Night—but no clue how we both got it at the same time the DH’s do not have it yet.
Luckily I worked with clay all day Sunday—and part of Saturday—it had been so long! I made a ton of test tiles to bisque fire here and test glazes on these two new clays I am using.
sad about missing the outdoors as we are having a cool spell after our extreme heat—extreme heat will be back by Sunday! Yuk. I think the US is in for a terrible summer with global warming and drought. It is so so dry. In The mountains right up where we used to have our cabin in UT there is a fire—only about a mile from the cabin—my niece and her partner and friends were evacuated. 0% containment so far.
I am making little beach bowls for all 19 people going to Hawaii—well, 18–they are cute—put little footprints in the sand all around the outside—and leaving the speckled white clay raw so it looks like sand—ocean inside. I only have four done but as soon as feeling better I will build about 3 a day.
I have tons of peppers on my pepper plants, Holly, but after they are about 3 inches long they develop a brown spot and then won’t mature—just start rotting. No clue why. The tomatoes are coming along great tho. My cherry tomatoes this year are like eating candy. I’ve asked DH to rip out all the raised beds and get me large pots—nothing will grow in the raised beds any more and I hate squatting down to manage it all. Everything does better in pots here it seems.
DH is very OCD—It’s driving me nuts. He ordered this trailer which he will get next spring—but he keeps researching other things and keeps threatening to start all over—of course, every time it’s something more pricey—finally today, I just said, Stop—he just cannot get a grip on it when he starts that! Yikes. I dont’ want a big investment because I don’t plan to be in it very often—it really is not my thing. And when we agreed he could go ahead it was on the basis that if he could accept that fact and go off occasionally on an adventure by himself and not resent my not going, getting it was fine. Sometimes this marriage compromise thing is a challenge.
I am supposed to weigh tomorrow—I doubt the scale is down much but I keep feeling more space in my clothes. These past two days of not eating may shut down my metabolism tho—sometimes that really backfires. Of course, if I’m not well, I can’t go to the appt anyway.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jun 8, 2021 22:42:10 GMT
Updated my profile to show the actual wrinkles and current glasses—LOL
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Post by holly2007 on Jun 9, 2021 1:48:08 GMT
Joan, hope you feel better. I think with all of the let up on restrictions, common colds and the flu are coming back with a vengeance. I wonder if it it’s because it is so dry in Vegas. Peppers really drink water. I have some squash that should be ready this week. Deer were lurking around my garden today. I need to get someone to help me put up some fencing.
Sue, sounds like it is all coming together. I will probably end up with more furniture from my parents who have my grandparents’ and great grandparents’ antiques. I have one of my great uncle’s cabinets that is an 1898 piece. I am getting someone to make me a couple of nightstands using cabinet doors that were left over from the kitchen renovation.
My family is at the beach this week. I’m more of a mountain person and enjoy the beach more in the fall. It is also nice to have the house to myself for a week. I need to work on weight stuff too. It is just really hard to get motivated after the craziness of the past year.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jun 10, 2021 2:29:30 GMT
Down a total of 20 pounds—now I am at the very lowest I ever made it in WW. I want to lose 5 more pounds—would still be considered overweight but I dont think at my age that I want to get two skinny—then if I get something I’m too easily at frail.
The flu definitely took off a couple more pounds this week—and I’m still not able to eat much. I tried a bit of ground bison tonight as I’ve not had any protein for two days other than broth.
this time I am getting rid of larger clothes==started sorting out dresses this morning and a few tops that are just too baggy to look decent.
I watched the Amy Tan documentary on Netflix—oh so good. Then today I watched again the Joy Luck Club—I wish her other books had been made into movies as I loved them!
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jun 11, 2021 19:58:32 GMT
Happy Birthday, Sue—Are you going out to eat or doing some entertaining for your birthday weekend?
I am finally feeling recovered—started normal eating yesterday and today but a little lighter than ordinary. Neighbors want to go out to dinner—DH wants me to accept—ugh—I’d really like to stay home and enjoy an evening not feeling bad just at home—I think I’m getting stunted on my desire to go out. So I will call and accept—hoping it’s somewhere really simple.
I ate my first ripe beefsteak tomato—this one was not big but super delicious with a bit of balsamic and a few leaves of basil from the garden.
I made two more mugs today—my new design—I saw a picture of some that were either at Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters and wanted to make them so badly—finally made up a pattern yesterday and it worked—made 4 so far—I call them gratitude mugs—they have a clay label on them that the word gratitude is stamped into—I’m going to vary the design a bit next week and make some that say other things and have a diagonal label and texture. Will texture the two I made this morning this afternoon—trying to get a bit done before housecleaning tomorrow so I can clear out of the laundry room and get it well cleaned.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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Post by nov21987 on Jun 15, 2021 22:35:00 GMT
Hi!
Thanks for the birthday wish! We went out with a couple from our condo, his birthday is the same day! We went to a restaurant that is fairly new in that it opened shortly before the pandemic. The chef couple used to work at another Italian restaurant that we all love. And, so funny, it was our waitress's birthday too!
Unfortunately, she made a big mistake and did not put our complete order in. We waited more than an hour for our main course and eventually we just left without it. It was too late at night for SO and the other guy to eat. The manager was very apologetic and we made sure to tell her we understand, it is a tough time right now in the food industry. We also made sure to give our waitress a huge tip.
All my nephews got in touch with me to wish me happy birthday! And all except the youngest did not have to be reminded to do so by my sister, haha. That is a first.
On Sunday I spent the day with my mom and sister.
Joan, strange that you got the flue in the summer. Did you get the flu shot last year?
Good job on being 5 lbs from goal!
Holly, I never thought of myself as a mountain person, but the views in Tucson are stunning.
It is nice that you have all these family antiques. SO's parents stuff went to his brothers, and now are with the nephews. We have some family heirlooms that SO will leave to his nephews some day.
We have a little over half a shipping container filled with furniture order from Italy. We haven't been to a showroom to actually sit in the sofas, etc. But our current bedroom set (that we've had for 16 years) is from the same company so we are pretty sure of the quality. SO found a place in Italy that gave us the best price compared to a dealer here (a couple of blocks from where we live), and the architect in Tucson who is also an official dealer. That is why all the kitchen, closet cabinetry and built in shelves in the new house is from this same company, he is probably getting a great deal. The furniture is very minimalist and modern, very much our style. SO is now trying to find other stuff to buy to fill the container since we are paying for the whole thing. We need so much, outdoor furniture, lighting, rugs. We're buying a new dining set, 2 bedroom sets, new living room furniture. We're planning on using our current living room set in the new house's den. Our glass topped dining table now will be used as desk in SO's future library/study.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jun 19, 2021 22:37:00 GMT
Happy Juneteenth!
I have been making little ceramic beach bowls—the inside looks like the ocean and there are footprints all around the outside of the bowl looking like someone walked the beach—the clay fired looks like white sandy beach—I will lightly glaze the area where the footprints are and then that will look like wet sand—a bit of ocean will be spilling over the edge of the bowl—my little prototype looked so cute—these are small like a dessert dish—I’ll take one for each of the 19 of us going to Hawaii—will be their souvenir—stamped it ‘21. So fun. Today I made nine—I have five more to do! None but the prototype are glaze fired yet. Three will get fired next week. We hope to fire this week as we are to have three days in the very low 100’s and getting down to low 80 at night making a fire in the kiln workable.
I had book club here on Wed. Night—=ate at a foodie friend’s house for luncheon on Tuesday—was hard but I did it — had the friend’s dessert so as not to offend anyone—it caused such a sugar rush I swear I could feel it in my heart! Not comfy.
I did have a flu shot—they say this is some other flu going around. It’s nasty! Finally went back to the gym this week and only occasionally get a little wave of nausea—so does BF—it’s like it really upset the balance in the digestive tract.
Lots of decisions about your house, Sue! I can’t wait to get a chance to see it!
We have been walking at 5:30 am and still it is over 90º—very, very dry. This heat dome effect that is hanging over the west is brutal. Everything is parched!
We are going to play cards tonight at BF’s—she is making dinner—hoping I can eat within my calorie limits. The nutritionist wants me to work at normalizing my food attitude—it’s hard not to be afraid of sliding backwards.
We have been getting tomatoes—so glad I didn’t plant a lot as we can only eat so many—I may have to roast some cause the beefsteak one is loaded—if the heat doesn’t stop it or ruin them, we will have a ton. I have two big ones in the fridge that we should be eating tonight. Oh well.
Looks like the whole family will be in Hawaii—for four of the seven days anyway. Found out that all the bedrooms are air conditioned—we didn’t know about the extra building ones—so thankful! If you can sleep well, you can have way more fun!! Last time we were in Hawaii it was so hot we were just fried.
Our book club was in person—first one since Feb, 2020–was so fun—we all read a different book and took turns pitching it to everyone else.
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Post by holly2007 on Jun 26, 2021 17:56:23 GMT
Hi all,
Things are ok here. The garden is doing well. I just picked a bunch of green beans. The tomatoes should be ready soon. I am getting a lot of exercise at work. We’re removing a lot of books and magazines that are outdated. My weight doesn’t seems to budge like it used to whenever I get more exercise.
Sue, is SO taking all of his books with him? I have a room in my house that has all of my books in it on built ins and I plan to turn it into an office when my sister moves out.
Joan, I read that the western states are under an extreme drought right now. I hope there is not another devastating fire season ahead.
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jmg44
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Post by jmg44 on Jul 2, 2021 4:44:17 GMT
Holly, my beefsteak tomatoes have been fabulous—worried tho as the hot weather is now back and I will have to pick them before completely red or they literally cook on the vine! They have great flavor.
I have been struggling with my left arm and shoulder for a few weeks and cannot get to see a should dr for at least another week or two—so today I got in with a friend’s osteopath—a Dr. Lok—oh my gosh, he was so great. He did an ultrasound and found two tears—one in each the bicep and tricep tendons! Tomorrow I go for an X-ray and then he will order and MRI to check to see if rotator cuff is okay or torn. Next week I go back—he uses a lot of different therapies—some injections of dextrose into the inflammation to get the body to sense more inflammation and send more “troops” to deal with it. He also does acupuncture. He’s young and just brilliant. I am so happy to finally be getting some answers.
Gary and I will quit going to the gym—I can’t because of my arm anyway for at least a week but we will quit till school starts—they have kids camp for summer break and 6 kids have covid and 2 staff members and they sent four home for testing today===they are closing for two days and have hired deep cleaning company—but we are just going to stay away—back to isolation until our trip to be safe!
BF’s friend who got covid even tho vaccinated is on day 11 in hospital—full oxygen and still they can’t get his levels back up—I guess today they were going to do a CT scan cause they think he may now have blood clots. So scary.
My weight stayed the same this week—I think loss will be very slow now—body is trying to fight it to get back to old status—not giving in tho—I feel so good at this weight—I bought three Hawaiian Rip Skirts and wore one all day today—so comfy and so much cooler than pants or shorts!
Have fired my baby kiln three days in a row now—doing six more beach bowls tonight—they are turning out so cute. I have four left to do after this batch.
Gotta’ go get to bed—waking up at 5 to walk before the heat ! Yikes—it’s late al=ready for that!
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