Saturday January 28

[Shirlv]

Morning All, it’s 43°and suppose to be sunny. It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday. Construction continues across the road. They are laying huge pipes in the gutters. The road is only two lanes and no shoulders and I cringe every time irresponsible drivers do not even slow down as they pass by the construction. I assembled the new plant stand yesterday and was a challenge, no tools needed just push and clip. I had clips shooting all over the room. It helps if you read the directions. Lol. I’m pleased with results, now I have space for more plants. Karen, I bought an anthurium last year, it was blooming then and hasn’t since. I’m still eating out of the freezer so undecided about dinner. Take trash to the dumpster, get mail, do a load of laundry, same old. Be safe

[BirdbyBird]

Sunny here in SW Ohio, too. I little warmer than yesterday but I am still not considering it take a dog for a walk sort of weather. I did invite Lark to ride over to the local Rural King to help me pick up more puppy food for Rowan. Lark enjoyed several customers asking permission to pet her and she got to practice her wait for permission manners. I have puppy food that I used when I switch Jane over to the higher protein content half way through the gestation period but it was shredded chicken in it and Rowan isn't quite ready to chew through that yet. She is managing the water moistened puppy kibble just fine though. She turns 6 weeks old on Tuesday. Luckily Jane will play with her since she has no siblings to wrestle with. I let her out of the x-pen several times a day so she can romp and ramble her in the office under supervision. She is usually good for a nap after 10 minutes of play.
Haven't been doing much but watching puppy grown and reading. I finally got the Chrysler Town and Country van back for getting the transmission replaced. May it last another ten years. This week I had to pick up the the RoadTrek with its new water pump and new seals for the oil.... Good thing I stayed home with puppy this winter. The saving account/travel funds have taken a huge hit and I need a few cheap budget months to begin to the damage. No traveling and no dog shows helps.

I do head over to our Y that is only a couple miles for the house and for the first time in my life I am participating in several classes. Two gentle yoga classes and a couple of nice water aerobic classes that work for me because the water make everything nicer on the joints..... More stuff going on here and there but nothing that need sharing.

I was disappointed that I had to cancel my reservations for the Hardy Lake's GTG in Florida that starts Feb 1 but puppy is too young to go and the money was happy to return to the account. I will miss seeing everyone there. Hope that they have good weather.

[MandysMom]

It's just after 10 am here and only 48° in sunny but soon to be cloudy in my area of northern California . Not much exciting here. Plodding along catering to dear Stormy cat, who turned 18 early this week. Her favorite time of day is around 03 am, when she yells to wake me then purrs and nuzzles my hands and hair up at head of my bed, using my Cpap stand to make it easier to get up. She had a home vet visit about 10 days ago and, unlike when she's a terror at the vet office, she sat in vets arms, half out of her bed and allowed blood to be drawn. No hissing, no panic, like a different cat from any visit to vet office since she was 18 weeks old. I am so grateful to have found this young vet! blood work looks pretty good including perfect kidney numbers but slightly elevated pancreas number, which we will monitor. She still loves her raw chicken legs, though a daily treat of Gerber purée chicken is much enjoyed too. At moment she's declining her much enjoyed sirloin bites.
I have put together my own routine, after Curves moved to other side of city, making it a 15 to 20 min through heavy traffic each way. I joined Body Groove after seeing a Facebook ad (and doing some investigation and lots of reading). Cost for a year was $20 less than one month of Curves-Win, $780 a year savings! Then I walk on treadmill 30-40 min, followed at least 3 times a week by weight training on Total Gym. It works for me! And the online group for BG have been warm and supportive and welcoming. Kind of shocking how much cost of actually going to most gyms has gotten. From a low of $30 a month for no frills and one part time coach at Planet Fitness to over $200 a month at a few Pilates and equipment based places in town!
Handyman to start doing limited projects here again. He's skating on this ice with me, having disappeared more than a few times, leaving projects uncompleted.
That's about it for me. No trips planned as Stormy is the focus of my caregiving for now.
Velda

[OregonLuvr]

We have sun here today also. Seems like fairly good weather all over for us right now....BUT supposed to be 18 and 21 Sunday and Monday but again it changes daily. I really doubt it will be that cold but we shall see.

Not much going on here this morning. Henry did his vacuuming on schedule so that is a plus. Going to wash the kitchen floor today after all my cooking last week. I am making a spice, apple, and walnut cake this morning. Will share with my neighbors as I only want a piece or two. Then will just have some lunch and relax.

[Bethers]

This came across my FB feed the other day and it has remained in my mind. I believe I feel it stronger now than all those years ago.

[BirdbyBird]

The Y near my home was originally build almost 40 years ago and has been added to over the years. I belonged years ago when the kids were young and I think it is now considered one of the largest in the country. It has multiple pools by now The original inside pools were for competition and instruction. Later they added a large inside water play area for winter and also a lovely senior pool and gathering center was added for those 50 and over. The water in this one is kept about 88 degrees. All the classes I attend are free as would be access to any of the exercise equipment. My Senior membership is paid for through my AARP United Healthcare Supplemental insurance. I won't admit how many years I have had the United Supplement and never asked about any special discounts I might have at gyms nearby. But I have had to admit that my body can not maintain itself with a leash and a dog anymore. My back does not cooperate and my tolerance for temperature ranges beyond 65-75 isn't what it used to be.

[JudyJB]

Enjoying my view of the desert and mountains north of Phoenix. It is sunny and a tad higher so I actually have windows open to enjoy the breeze. Still sweater weather, however, with very cold nights. Headed to Lake Pleasant again tomorrow for a few days and will enjoy similar views there, with maybe a visiting burro.

My main task today is to make a pot of iced tea and to do some sewing on a pair of shorts that are fairly new, but did not wear until yesterday. They are quite long, and like a lot of shorts, they came with option of the hems rolled up or not. But if i don't put a few stitches in the rolled up hem at the seams, they will drive me nuts getting unrolled, so I ironed them rolled up last night and am putting in a couple of stitches on each side and the inseam. I am short, so they look and feel better with a rolled hem. Have done this with almost all of my shorts.

I went for a fairly long (for me) walk to the visitor center yesterday, and a couple of days ago spent the day at the Desert Botanical Gardens, so got some walking in. Before dark, I will get out and walk around campground to get more exercise.

[Cudedog]

This came across my FB feed the other day and it has remained in my mind. I believe I feel it stronger now than all those years ago.

Thank you for that, Beth. "Back in the day" I was a real Beatles fan. Even my adult children appreciate their music today, which, in a way, is a bit surprising. I guess that makes The Beatles timeless.

I ponder on the meaning of "love songs" and the like now and again. I have never been blessed with a long-term human relationship that ended well. That's just the way it goes, I guess.

Which is why I think I love dogs so much. Of course, as we all know, just as we are thinking we are enjoying a long-time relationship with a special one. . . they are gone. Too quick. Too many of them for me over the years. They each have taken a big piece of my heart with them when they go - a piece I never get back.

Which is why, maybe, when I hear a sad or melancholy love song, I realize how appropriate the song is to the feelings I have always had for my dogs.

I hope everyone doesn't think this is just too weird.

I think some songs come closer to this idea of mine, than other songs might; here are a couple of examples of those I like. Of course, there are ever more examples if one chooses to hear a song in a "dog frame of mind".

"This Life"
by Collin Raye

For every mountain I have climbed
Every raging river crossed
You were the treasure that I longed to find

Let the world stop turning
Let the sun stop burning
Let them tell me love's not worth going through
But when it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart
That the only dream that mattered really did come true
For I know in this life I was loved by you

and

"Crying"
by the Great Roy Orbison (apologies to Mr. Orbison for changing his lyrics just a tiny bit)

I was alright, for a while
I could smile. . . for a while
But I saw you again last night, you leaned up against me so tight
Did you come just to say, "Hello"?
I know you wish me well, but you couldn't tell
That I'd been crying over you
And now that you're gone
From this moment on
I'll be crying
Crying, yeah crying
Crying over you

There are many, many other love songs that when I hear them (these are just the two I can think of at the moment), I can't help but remember my long-ago canine friends, and the wonderful and beautiful times we always had together.

Anne

[Acadianmom]

I managed to get Sugar's food today since I went to town just for that.

I wish we had a Y here with swimming pools. There is one fitness place in Lafayette that has a pool but it is expensive. The college I went to had an indoor heated pool and I would swim laps at night often. Two of my PE's were swimming and life saving. A lot of schools have gotten rid of PE so I wonder if colleges still have them. I have slacked off on my dog walks because of the weather. Today the wind is blowing hard and tomorrow we are supposed to get wind and rain again. I sure hope it's not as bad as the other night.

It doesn't look like there is going to be much on TV tonight.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Very tired tonight! I did 14 haircuts in 5 hours today! My back and down to my knee were in severe pain as the day went on. I could barely walk out of there. Thank God I didn't have to work the full 9 hours today! I stopped for spaghetti on the way home and had some before laying down on my heating pad. I ate too much too fast and got a tummy ache but it was sure good! Took a little nap with Romeow and now will get up, snack a little (salted caramel ice cream! ) and watch a little TV before going to bed early. I have a headache now too.

My manager saw the mat by my chair this morning and told me I couldn't use it. He said it is a tripping hazard!

I really liked Curves when I was a member there but they were expensive and their hours weren't compatible with my work schedule. I don't know why they couldn't be a 24/7 fitness center like so many others have done. I think it is a big mistake for the schools to do away with PE. Kids need to get daily exercise and with their techy toys, they don't get much, if any, of that after school. And they wonder why kids are overweight and unmotivated nowdays. When I was a kid, we were running around all over keeping busy outside every night after school. Nowdays, the kids who are out "running around" are just getting into trouble.

Ann, I think a lot of us can relate to having lost furbaby loves that meant the world to us. The love of an animal is a lot more unconditional, faithful, and forgiving than most, if not all, human love. I have never been good at human relationships and have gotten so much more from my furkids' love.

I have tomorrow off and have one haircut to do in the park at noon.

Have a good night!

[snowball]

I think the clouds make a person just not want to do anything... I don't think we got much snow with this "watch" but it's not over till tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.
I finished my book it was the last of the series have enjoyed it ... it took place in Death Valley
did talk with Kerry for a bit and wished her happy birthday and then visited with my #1 dd.... for awhile... it was nice .... I was doing a word search and the page I was working on was dances... ever heard of hmm now I can't recall it... darn it was one I'd not heard off dd read a description of it oh my sounds like it made Dirty Dancing tame... it's fun to do them and downloaded a Mahong game haven't played it for a long time so have been doing a game or two a day ... all this takes up quite a bit of time
glad you got your dog food Martha I didn't get my tortilla shells so no enchiladas had taco soup instead tasted really good...
I really need to dig into the freezer and rearrange it so that it doesn't fall out on one when the door is opened (it's a side by side) I've decided I don't like it but that is beside the point... I think that it makes them both smaller
that was my day did crochet...
you all have a great day
sheila