Wednesday, Feb. 8th

[Colliemom]

Good Morning,

Heading for mid February already, bit over two weeks and into March we go. Last full month of winter for us in the north. Some nasty weather in the south yesterday. Hope non of our forum sisters were in those areas. Really a mes in New Orleans.

Seems everybody's keeping busy, Barbie, nice that you sold your trailer. Certainly hope you feel better so you can head back north this week. Judy, good that you are heading out of FL eventually. Those mosquitos are a different strain than those we have north here as they are carrying that Zika virus down there, so may be some of your trouble too. Might be time to move a bit more north in FL and away from the swampy areas. Hardee Lakes GTG looks to be having fun and some nice campfires too.

Kitchen area is coming along nicely here. Got some things done yesterday and will do some later today. Decorating. Have appt. in town this morning, so will also stop at Home Depot. Ordered some cabinet knobs yesterday but want to get my drawer pulls locally where I can see actual size etc. Will check Lowes as well. Have looked before, but was concentrating on knobs more than pulls.

[bluepinecones]

Good morning
Just a quick note to say all is going well at Hardee Lakes. Well everything except for the bitting bugs in evening - got me and others already.
Going to attempt to get a couple of photos posted in the Hrdee Lakes gtg section while I have a little signal on hot spot.

[avalen]

Good morning ladies
Going to be a fun day, having breakfast with a friend from Colorado that
flew into town to compete in a bus roadeo. Haven't seen her in 16 years, but
I keep up with my old co-worker friends on fb. Turns out the company put her
up in a motel just down the street. Too bad she doesn't get to stay awhile, I could
show her around.
I did buy Barbie's little trailer, it will be perfect for rocking on the jeep trails when i get my jeep.
Sorting empty tubs from the shed is on the agenda, keeping ones that fit in storage bay, pack up duplicate and extra stuff. That alone will be a fun project.
Went over to the charter company yesterday to fill out paperwork to get my paycheck.
Still have to do a p test today as the place was closed yesterday. Told them I would be happy to do an assignment one or two days a month as long as I'm in town. They are
happy to have me on board. At $200 a day how can I say no, and then there's the tips too!
Dermatologist took a big chunk out of my leg for biopsy, that's itchy and sore, but it will
heal eventually.
Seems this retirement thing is keeping me pretty busy just remembering what I have to do. I haven't cleaned house in awhile now, haven't had time!! Lol
OK, guess I'll get this posted before it disappears. Hoping to see a post from Martha to
know she's OK from the tornados.
Y'all have a great day, be safe.

[Queen]

Morning all.

Not much doing today, my leg is acting up (I think because of the 40 degree weather change we're in the midst of). so it's a home/prop/ice day for me.

Had fun last night as Mary and I sat down and worked out her retirement date. We still have to meet with the folks from the state retirement center to get solid info, but it's looking like the end of this year!!

We're taking a two week driving trip this summer to see how we feel about being out on the road, and if we enjoy it, we'll go ahead and get a camper. If we still have the condo in FL we'll use it as a home base and travel, if it's sold we'll put stuff in storage and full time for a bit. Kind of nice to have a framework and soft plans to work with.

[bluepinecones]

Took forever but I did finally get the photos to post in Hardee Lakes gtg thread. May be the only photos you get until I have better Internet signal

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning gals!
Still not feeling too good but need to get up and going here. Lots to do again today.

Ava, I hope you enjoy your new little trailer. It should work great for your rockhounding expeditions!

Another beautiful day today, sunny and 75*. Perfect! Will be a couple more months before it gets like that back in MN so I need to relish it while I can!

I think Lola is escaping from my room because she feels so cooped up in here. I feel bad for her. I know she will be much happier when we get back to MN and she has a nice big house to roam around in and a huge deck to sit out on with lots of birds and squirrels to watch.

I have been really ready to find a place to settle down for long term and was hoping that place in California would be good for a few years at least. Now I will be in transient mode for awhile longer. Depending on how much I get from the house, I would like to maybe buy a condo or mobile home in CA. Will have to see since HOA and lot rents are very high there. Just tired of moving all the time.

Have a good day!

[Queen]

...
I have been really ready to find a place to settle down for long term and was hoping that place in California would be good for a few years at least. Now I will be in transient mode for awhile longer. Depending on how much I get from the house, I would like to maybe buy a condo or mobile home in CA. Will have to see since HOA and lot rents are very high there. Just tired of moving all the time.

I hear you Barbie. We thought the move to FL would be the one and we would be DONE! I'm tired of packing and unpacking and never being settled. It gets very old.

[JudyJB]

Had a wonderful time at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and saw a lot of birds I don't see often. Just updated my blog if you are interested.

Only bad thing about my trip to the Corkscrew is that I stopped at Camping World to see about the toilet they had supposedly ordered, so I got home just about sunset. Had to dump my tanks, and got five more mosquito bites, which kept my up most of last night. All are really stinging and itching. All have red center about size of dime, but four also have a lighter red circle around them about size of a quarter. I will have to wear long pants and long sleeves at Hillsborough!!

Going to make this a short one because I need to move around today to distract myself, so I am headed out to do some shopping. Ice packs are helping my bites a little, so I will pick up a couple more of the flexible ones.

[Acadianmom]

We were on the back side of the tornado watch box and only got about 5 minutes of rain. The wind was really bad all day and it looks like it's still windy. I think all the bad weather was East of us. My step-daughter lives in Algiers, across the river from downtown New Orleans and they were ok too. It is suppose to be 80 today and then a cold front comes in and it's 60 tomorrow.

Judy, have you ever tried Vicks on insect bits that itch. On my last trip I thought I got into some chiggers and my ankles were itching so I put Vicks on them. It seems to help me. I woke up this morning with a mosquito on my arm bitting me. Most of the time the ones here don't bother me much. Hope you get your toilet soon. I'm sure that's a PIA. I changed one years ago and it wasn't hard. The hardest thing is trying to work on something with no room.

Ava, that's a nice option to have a part time job that pays so well. Sometimes I think I should have gotten another job the last time I was laid off since I can't travel like I want.

I'm trying to decide if I should call the vet about CC. He has the worst breath of any cat I have ever had. I think he's too young to have dental issues. His breath smells like what I remember a sinus infection smelling like. He doesn't act like he's sick or have a discharge from his nose. He's out terrorizing the outside cats now. I would rather he didn't go out but we need a break sometimes.

Martha

[BarbaraRose]

Got my oil changed this morning. The place was really hard to find back behind some industrial area. Probably why no one was there, so I got in and out right away. Everything looks good.

My whole family back home has the same crud I have. Must have picked it up at the hospital maybe. Hope it goes away soon! I need more energy to get stuff done.

Had three dreams last night about my dad and in all three I was with him and he all of a sudden just disappeared. Then I realized he was never coming back and started crying. Probably part of the grieving process since I have been too busy to really let it sink in too much.

Gotta start in on the next thing on my list here...

[OregonLuvr]

Today was a travel day...again. Was never so glad to get north of Sacramento. I have never seen such bad roads full of potholes and it was raining hard. Remodeled parts of my RV I am sure. The North State roads (the real Northern California) are a piece of heaven. Was windy but had a tail wind most of the way. Staying in the Casino RV Park and it is real nice for $28 a night. No cable or wifi but so far wifi has been pretty non existent even when they say they have it. I am just using my Jetpack. Good over the air tv and my Satellite is working great. Windy and starting to rain but I am settled here for a couple of nights as not so good weather predicted. Then onward again towards home sweet home..

Meatloaf in the convection oven as the wind is rockin' and rollin' me but only light rain right now. Nothing but flooding on the news....I am thinking California's drought is over LOL

karen

Hope you dont get caught in this storm Barbie, keep an eye on the weather as it is supposed to be over by this weekend.

[MandysMom]

Yes Karen, you would think the drought over but water board voted today to keep drought conservation rules in effect. Lake Oroville, 70 miles north of here, the dam spillway had a massive concrete failure and is scrambling because the lake is going to reach 100% by Saturday, they say, and because it is for flood control. That's a problem if they have uncontrolled release over the dirt emergency spillway. And still the rain comes, to the point of nearing the most rain in a year ever recorded!
Meanwhile, I'm in bed with flu ( yes I got vaccine last fall). I need to get well because the last scan showed tiny spots felt to be return of cancer in Mel's lungs. So, next Monday he has PET scan. Wednesday a lung biopsy under sedation, Thursday the lung cancer DR, and Friday his Primary Care Dr at VA. I really don't want a relapse.
Velda

[BarbaraRose]

Yes, Karen, I saw that storm system coming. I will hold up if necessary. I think this may be a flu that I have too (and I also got a flu shot last fall). Still 100* temps (altho it is hard to take it when I keep coughing the thermometer out of my mouth!).

Got new better plastic up on my Jeep window but that's about all I got done today after the oil change. Going to bed early and hoping I feel better tomorrow. Haven't even started packing yet...

Also found out we have 6 months to get the house sold (per the reverse mortgage company). . That shouldn't be a problem with the house being on a great piece of land on the lake and listing it in the spring. That is more time than I thought we would have.

[JudyJB]

Warning! Graphic photos.

I wasn't going to bother, but I ended up going to urgent care today and got three prescriptions: prednisone, antibiotic, and antiseptic soap to wash with for 10 days. I also picked up some more soft ice packs because they seem to help.

My immune system is not doing well these days, but these are definitely allergic reactions. Apparently my body is over-reacting because it thinks it is being invaded, so everything is going into overdrive. It is hard to see, but there is a lighter pink area larger than a quarter around each one. Those just showed up this morning. The urgent care doctor thought the lighter pink rings were the start of cellulitis, so he gave me the antibiotics for that and a surgical soap wash for my whole body. The prednisone will calm my body's over-reaction to a teeny, tiny bit of mosquito saliva!!! The second photo shows a larger reaction near my elbow, but it is not as red. All are hot and swollen and very itchy and sore, and driving me crazy. Please excuse my ugly elbow!

[BarbaraRose]

Judy, I think you need to head north and away from those mosquitoes as soon as possible! I would hate that!