Hey!! Hello!! Happy (Goodbye Ruby) Tuesday to you

Hi Margaret and the rest of my OFF Family from Sunny and warmer Florida!

Nice to wake up to your post and as has already been said, we like to read about what is going on in one another's lives and I deluged these wonderful people with my pre-surgery goings ons and they offered me lots of support.

Anyway, I hope you don't have to have any surgery that you don't really want to and as for therapy, it's great to have someone help us, awareness is the first step towards working through things, so I'm sure in time you will get where you want to. . .

Well, I've been sooo busy and sooo much has happened in the last couple of weeks since I posted, the addition on my home is framed and roofed, the electrical work is being done and by Christmas it should be done.  There were a bunch of layoffs at my company and I still have a job, which is good thing in today's world, I have to go back to working 5 days a week come January to accommodate anyone who needs my assistance, so the positive of that is (a) I have a job and (b) I go back to making my full salary.  I also traded my Corolla in for the 2009 model, got a really good deal and it only increased my payments by what amounts to a cup of coffee a day.  Well that is some of what has had me busy. 

This past Friday, I drove, first to NC to visit with my Uncle and Aunt and now I am sitting at the computer in my daughter's house in Florida, here to celebrate Thanksgiving with my two daughters, my older two grandchildren, her cute little doggies and their friends and Saturday afternoon I will be heading back home to NJ.

One last thing. . .  I have recently made a connection with a manager of a Comfort Inn in Manhattan and in the coming weeks I will be looking for those of you who want to come to NYC for a gathering in the Fall of 09 to let me know, so that I can see what his best rate will be.  The location of the place is 9th Avenue and 36th Street and by summer it will have been totally refurbished, so stay tuned and save those pennies!

Prayers and positive thoughts for all, Laureen

Hi Margaret, i guess all of us think our daily lives are boreing but that is what this board is for so you can talk about what you need to talk about.

Joe, my husband had surgery on his cervical spine friday, he is doing really good he got to come home on Saturday...they took out 3 disc and replaced them with bone from the bone bank and them used a metal piece to screw them down so they will fuse together;;they say he will have most all of his neck movement back but looking straight up...so they said if there is a job to do that involves looking up for a long extended amount of time like painting a ceiling then he isnt to that...lol he said that is good he doesnt like doing that anyway...

I had our support meeting last night , i had 27 people there and we talked about our Christmas party we will have next month in place of the meeting. hopefully we can squeeze in a little bit of meeting , i think i will use (what is your most memorable wow moment since surgery) think that will fit into the party mode ...

i have all my tender plants and all my house plants put in the green house and they are all doing well , my mandavieas think they are in the tropics and are growing all over the rafters and blooming so pretty. so it is like a bright red and green umbrella already dont know what or how i will get those out of there without just cutting them off ...i wish there was some way i could keep them outside but it gets way to cold here for that.

Thanksgiving we are having kids, grandkids,great grand kids and a niece and her two babies with us also Joes brother...i will make all the normal thanksgiving meal exceptthere will be several items that will have splenda replace sugar so i can eat some of a lot of things. lol who am i kidding..i still can barely eat any more than a half cup at a time of all things all togethe in. I am not trying to make myself eat more than that because i see with some of the girls at my support  meetings they keep pushing and pushing till they can eat more and more....hopefully this will keep my weight from going back up...i have been basicly the same weight for a year. 159 to 162 i fit into size 10s and boy would i love to fit into 8s maybe when i have the panni area removed i will be able to. hopefully i am going to get that done after the first of the year. along with left knee replacement

Sounds like EVERYONE is headed to NC.  We are eating around 2 on Thursday and there is always plenty if you want to stop by.

Got an EOB in the mail yesterday for my DH's eye exam.  He has diabetes so Medicare will pay for his exam, ONLY IF YOU GET YOUR EYES DILATED, but they won't pay for the dilation.  We paid for the dilation.  The EOB shows that our secondary ins, DID pay for part of the dilation.  So I will be calling them this morning asking for my $38.  ALSO, they billed Medicare and the Med Sup for his eye appt in 2006!!  My husband did not have his eyes dilated back then, so we just paid for the exam and told them not to bother billing Medicare.  The eye place billed for a dilation at his 2006 exam, and our med sup paid part of it!  Medicare said it was too late to file a claim on the exam.  So they ALSO owe our med sup $38!  That's why our insurance premiums are so high!

Today is dedicated to updating my address data base for relatives and friends.  I'll be calling Mom and Aunt Betty for the relatives, and e-mailing 2 friends for their new addresses.  There have also been some deaths and divorces so I have to take names off a few.  Then  I'll be making labels and making out Christmas cards.  I like to have them in the mail the day after Thanksgiving.

A gorgeous day here!  Except I have 3 dogs laying around under my feet, and one or all of them has awful gas!  Not sure why, since I am feeding them the dog food my DIL sent down, but I have sent them to the den to visit my DH twice and he keeps sending them back to me!