What's up?

[Rokia]

Out there in HDA:TS land?

It's gotten quiet after an initial rush, just thought I'd see how everyone's doing!

[laurie]

I just got too busy at work this week to say more than boo to the people I live with, but I'm still right here. (And for me that's saying something! I figured out I've been in 53 countries in the last 3 years! Think I'm more settled at least for a while, though.

[Deleted]

Getting over being sick, not much else going on. Took two trips, back to back. Writting.

[JD]

I saw an eagle being chased by three crows today -- heard the crows yelling and figured they were after a red-tailed hawk, but when I saw them, it was DEFINITELY not a hawk -- saw the white head and tail feathers!  That's exciting; hawks we have a-plenty, but seeing an eagle is rare!

[Nancy]

That sounds neat, JD!!! Unexpected wildlife recently appeared here too... there was a bear spotted in a neighbourhood a few streets away! Considering we live in the true suburbs, that was very odd!!! They finally found him sleeping in a tree in someone's front yard, tranqilized him and moved him way up north where he belonged. Everyone is wondering how he got this far away from his natural home though... did he hitch a ride in some camper's truck or something?

[cheryl]

Vacationing briefly on the Jersey shore!

[skyhappysal]

I've been busy in the garden. After being neglected for so long it's starting to look like a garden again! ☺ I promised myself that when I retired I'd plant a vegetable garden. And I  did! Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and beans. It's just a teeny garden, but I thought I better ease myself back into "farming". 😛

A bear, Nancy??!! I've seen them on the drive to cottage country,  but never that far south! Scary and cool at the same time. We have a growing coyote population around here. They're pretty shy and take off if you make a loud noise. But they can get a little more bold if you have a dog with you. Not sure if it's curiosity or territory based.

I've seen an eagle only once, JD, but I read that they're moving back into the area after being gone for a very long time. So maybe we'll be seeing more. ☺

[Rokia]

Ooh those all sounds nifty - eagles and bears even .

You have been to a BUNCH of countries Laurie! Glad you're getting to stay closer to home for a little while.

One time on a ferry trip through the Tongass Narrows (Alaska) we had a 'sight-the-bald-eagles' contest... I think between all the passengers taking part we saw 18... (I saw ONE lol...)

Get over your cold Katie!

I had a great day at church today .

[aussiehbfan]

Been busy with my uni course. I'm either busy with placements or work. Don't really have a day off. Otherwise I've been watching dvds to relax.

[Stormwatcher]

Watching the weather a good deal lately, and not for the usual reason; we were due to get some TS Cindy remnants. Fortunately, they went mostly north of us. Apart from that, doing some beach-type shopping. We're taking 4 days near Myrtle Beach in mid-July for a friend's wedding. : D

[fflurcadwgawn]

Trying to start a nonprofit cultural heritage management firm that is the first of its kind in the entire state has taken way more effort than I thought it would. On the plus side, there are three major state level offices in support of it including my senator and the very divisions I needed, so yay!

Doesn't help the massive amount of writing I have, though. 160,000 words for about 8 known blogs I need to research and write, a 35+ page cultural landscape study, an equally massive impact study, and that's not counting all the public appearances, international interviews, website management, and animal care and DOT paperwork since this will involve the use of search and rescue/cadaver dogs and company vehicles.

Good thing I love this stuff.

However, between this and working at the law firm I crash almost as soon as I get home and don't feel like dealing with people much unless it's a weekend.

[PaulinaAnn]

School got out and I went almost immediately on a mini-vacay for 4 days, then to my mom's, back home for a week and now getting ready for a 10 day vacation.  Well, let me call it time away from home. Yes, I will have some fun, but most of it is with the in-laws doing the same things we do every year. All for memory building for our little boy with his grandparents. I'll be on and off the board for the next two weeks.

[Nancy]

Just finished tiling my kitchen backsplash & I'm rather proud of it! 😀

[JD]

Wow!  You did it yourself?!     SO impressed!  

[Stormwatcher]

Nancy, that's great, such a nice tile pattern. And it looks like you made a lovely neat job of it. (Something I cannot quite say about our bathroom renovation. The previous owners had wallpaper up all over, including IN the SHOWER and it was getting nasty, so a strip and repaint was overdue. And while we were at it, we decided to replace the ceiling as well. Ambitious, we are. And messy. :examines paint-spotted feet: Very.)

[JD]

I really can't imagine anyone with a lick of sense putting wallpaper INSIDE a shower!  

[Rokia]

WOW Nancy - and WOW! That is awesome. Beautifully done!

[Nancy]

Thanks!!! I keep feeling like I've walked into the wrong kitchen, it looks so different, LOL.

I love to visit open houses, so I've seen some weird decor, but wallpaper in the shower is a new one!!!

[Stormwatcher]

It was a new one on us, too. Even granted that it was only the top third of the wall, above the tiling, it was all around the shower head, the window, and the back wall. And of course the inevitable happened; it all started peeling off and going moldy, and spreading mold into the ceiling. So, out it all went! Turns out, painting a ceiling is actually pretty tough work. Walls are much easier.

[Rokia]

I've painted ceilings before - I thought my arms were going to fall off!

[alaina]

Let's see... work. Work. More work. Taking a laptop home so I can work on the weekend. And then a little more work... Taking a laptop home so I can work at night. Then, let's see... oh yeah... MORE WORK!!!   They pay great money for overtime but I'd like to work it because I WANT to, not because I HAVE to.  I did put one foot down and tell them I will not come in to the office on the weekend  but if they want to give me a laptop I  will do some work from home.

I have kept a promise to myself not to miss my twice a week workouts at Orangetheory Fitness, though. (Yes, I still work out at home the other 5 days.) I think that's the only thing that has kept me sane. Although on Thursday night my heart rate monitor wasn't working properly. I was on the treadmill running my butt off and it kept saying my heart rate percentage was only 68.  WTF??? I'm normally over 100% of my target once we start running the treadmill. They got me a new monitor, it went up to 72 but got stuck there. Went to floor work and after doing 800 meters on the rower I'm only at 81 (should be around 103 by now). They get me a new chest strap too. I drop down to 61. Seriously??  They get me a wrist monitor instead. We're back on the treadmill running hills at top speed. I should be at 110 by now. All of a sudden, on the screen that shows everyone's heart rate percentages, my little block goes completely black and says '0%'. The girl on the treadmill next to me turns and says "Apparently you're dead." Apparently so... by that time there was only 15 minutes left in a 60 minute class so I took off the monitor and finished class without it. I think when I washed my strap last week I must have gotten some water in the part that reads the monitor and made it very unhappy. They have some gel that they put on the monitor and the strap connections that is supposed to dry out any water (or built up sweat!) in there. We'll see on Tuesday if it worked of if I need to buy a new one. 

Helped my niece and her hubby move into their new house a few weeks ago. It was one of the hottest days of the year so far. But their house is beautiful. And they have a huge, fenced in yard which will be a big help with a 3 1/2 year old, a 2 year old and a dog!

Planning to take a day off at the end of July and hook up with my buddy Cheryl!

Other than that, just looking forward to my trip to Disney World in October for the Food and Wine Festival.

Nancy, that back splash is gorgeous!!  I saw some back splash tile at Home Depot that has a sticky backing so you just press it on the wall in square blocks.  I was thinking of putting that in my kitchen.  You know, in my spare time... 

[JD]

Good grief, Alaina, are you their only employee these days?  Why are you having to put in so much overtime?!?  
So apparently you're dead...well, that's not good news, is it?     If they got you a new monitor and a new strap and then a wrist monitor, whether or not you got your equipment wet shouldn't have made the slightest bit of difference, at that point!  I think you'd better go with being dead.

[Rokia]

Eeep Alaina! They should not work you to death like that. I'm glad to hear from you though because I missed you bunches!

Keep putting that foot down (on occasion at least). You gotta breathe!

::hugs::

[Stormwatcher]

Echoing that; what's up with all that overtime and homework, Alaina? I know you're indispensable, but really.

Fitness-wise, though, I'd suspect what happened is you killed the monitor. It was just trying to take you with it!

[Joyce]

Well, I just got back from a week's vacation.

Yep, you heard that right. A WEEK! ALL OF IT VACATION! Not a week off and part of it vacation. Not a week of intended vacation that got cut short. Not a week's vacation but spending the entirety of it getting my daughter married and watching grandkids while the newly married go off on their honeymoon... A week of VACATION!



I'm just a bit happy about that.

Laura spend the week with my folks. The last time I tried taking her camping, she had such a bad meltdown that I left three days early. Mary spend the first part of the week on Mackinac Island with the church youth group. I went up the same day and camped at a state campground nearby. Mid-week, I picked her up as the Youth group was getting ready to head home. I got to RELAX (something that teenagers just don't understand) for the first few days and then we did some outings. She's a history nut like me so we headed to the Colonial Michilimackinac in Mackinac City and back to the island and Fort Mackinac there. (The difference between the two is that Colonial Michilimackinac has the British army and the fort on the island is the Americans.) We also went to the Upper Peninsula. Mary has never been there and I've never been in the driver's seat when crossing the Mackinac Bridge. It was pretty awesome! We ate pasties there (a local historical food - meat, potatoes, onions, etc wrapped in a pastry - MMMMMMmmmm!) and generally had fun.

All in all, a great week. Back to work tomorrow.