Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Today is an "At Sea" day. We will start with a walk then be fairly lazy for the remainder of the afternoon. We are having dinner at the Italian specialty restaurant. Good show last night. The grandchildren did well watching it though I don't think they were enamored.

DS has started decorating for Christmas on Cape Cod - he keeps sending status pictures LOL. I am looking forward to decorating in Florida when we get back this weekend.

My friends on FB seem to think this is a romantic getaway. I guess it can seem that way when we are alone but most of the time we are with family including the Ex.

We are sitting on the balcony watching and listening to the waves go by. Not much else to report. Have a terrific Tuesday!

We made it home!

The puppy's name is Kirby. Many of the airplane passengers helped me pick and agreed. So sweet! He was excellent in the airport and the airplane. Awake about 2/3rds of the flight, but the flight attendants were very kind and let me put the carrier on my lap with the top open. He loved getting petted by my seatmate and chewing on his fingers. He is an excellent advertisement Two people asked for his breeder info, one was looking at their website on the plane. People were coming up from coach to take pictures of him. He really is adorable and so well behaved for a puppy. Loads of socialization!

Then the tribulations began. We got to the car and I put some potty pads down in the back to see if he would go. He just wanted to eat them. So I loaded him up and off we went. We were not out of the airport when he started screaming and had a catastrophic blowout in his carrier. On him, his collar, his toy, the bottom (covered in a pee pad) and up the sides (not covered). I stopped in. Scary neighborhood gas station to try to clean him up as best I could and contain the stench. He couldn't go back in the carrier, so I put him on the passenger floor on a towel. We started again and he threw up. I don't blame him. My car reeks. So I stopped and cleaned that up and we made it the 2.5 hours with no further incidents.

He doesn't like his crate or play pen. Really anything confined. He screams and howls. But confined is safer for him and my furniture and floors. So we need to work on that. Very little sleep last night! Hopefully that improves soon. He's been napping for over an hour and a half at my feet... lucky pup.

He has the biggest beefy paws and long eyelashes!

So, so sweet. As you know he and you will adjust but I wish you patience and sleep to get through the beginning. Basically a new baby!

KIRBY!!!! Congratulations CC! He's divine! Welcome little man to our pack!

Holy mother of Mary! I'm actually down a pound. Is it age or is it simply the lack of being willing to go into hard core deprivation mode that makes weight loss so slow now? Probably all of the above.

My lap top is soon to be 7 years old. It is beginning to show signs of giving up the ghost. Apps crash for no apparent reason, sometimes it takes a charge, other times not so much (it's a port and cord issue...), battery needs replacing - doesn't hold a charge, and the keyboard is going once again. Booooo..... Thinking I will replace it right before I retire.

OMG! Speaking of retirement... too many different opinions on how to approach it - physically, financially, and emotionally. UGH. If I follow my brother's rules I will never ever have enough money to retire. LOL! As an attorney he was able to bank considerable amounts for his retirement and is holding my meager teacher salary to the same standards as his national law firm partnership income. HA! Sorry, bro, I will never, ever have 3+ million in cash reserves! People who spent their working lives earning more than they can possibly spend don't seem to quite understand the difference in living the way I did for many, many years. It wasn't until I inherited some money that I felt I could ease up and breathe!

Project eat more fruit and veggies is going well. Always nice to have something on the plus side of things.

Costco and dog trimming on the docket for today. Oh yes, and of course the puppies!

My laptop is.about 9 years old so I need to decide if I am going to replace it. I use it so rarely though that I am thinking of just managing with an iPad. I have Excel and Word on my iPad and really don't need anything on a laptop unless I am using a finicky website that doesn't work well under Safari. But even then most work under Chrome and it happens less and less often now.

Kirby!!! I love it. Also a name Minnesotans of a certain age hold dear, as in Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins baseball player who played in two World Series wins for the twins, and seemingly a heck of a nice guy. May your Kirby be a champion, beloved by many :) Sound like he already is.

Liz, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about the big cruise ship vs Windstar Experience. I've been on 3 big ship cruises and only the one small ship cruise. The big ship worked well when we were a larger group (13) of mixed ages. The mix of activities was embraced by my kids who were in high school at the time. If you want a really well priced vacation I think the big ships can be very economical if you can resist all the add ons. DH and I would prefer if just us, Windstar type cruises, but when we're retired we'll consider the big ships if the itinerary and price are right.

Retirement, my retirement funds would be considered a pittance by most standards. I don't think working a few more years would significantly change that. For whatever reasons, some luck, some choices, I've never made much money. And still I am happy. And anticipate I will be happy in retirement too. Without 3 million saved. Although if somehow I ended up with 3 million, I would not protest!

I have a school issued iPad and a MacBook. I have never warmed up to the iPad, and rarely use it. I love the MacBook and will probably buy one when I retire.

This is the week my weight goes down a bit. If I follow the same pattern as before, I will lose a little more, than nothing for several weeks, then a little more again. Part of me would like to take a Tamoxifen vacation and see what impact that would have on my rate of loss. Probably not prudent.

Glorious break, 5 days to get as much sleep as I crave and best of all, be with my kiddos.

Greetings all

Welcome Kirby! Sorry the last leg of the trip was a bit tarnished. All will pass. But CC be careful of those puppy pads. Our puppy Walter did eat part of one and ended up with a vet visit. Not cool. Enjoy HRH Kirby. Bet he settles right in. Glad you are home safe. Did he sleep last night and did you?

Liz the cruise sounds great. Is it one of those 2000 passenger ships or something less? Big enough so the EX can be elsewhere. You are so good to put up with that for the sake of family.

DD enjoy your kids and time off. Holidays are indeed about family.

So we go to the grown up friends. Today I stopped to buy cauliflower for our offering plus parmesan cheese. I got extra because our gallery is having an anniversary party Saturday and I may be called to make more crisps.

It's sunny and beautiful here today. I played scrabble. I was moments away from beating The Shark when he bingoed out on his last play and got 78 points plus I had 20 points in penalties. Rats rats rats. But I won my two other games. Bonus is that I came home with some home squeezed apple juice. It is so good with no sugar or other crap added. Just juice.

DH is trying to get Tesla to use the stairs. She is having none of it. Stairs are now leading to his recliner which is the favorite dog spot. Still not working.

Tuna salad tonight. Deli chicken tomorrow. Turkey day and leftovers after that. Several days of kitchen freedom.

Peps a 7 year old lap top is pretty old. But good on you for starting retirement planning now. I took nearly a year to plan what was really my "escape" rather than retirement. played out pretty well. 3 Million? Nah. I spend so much less on clothing and lunches out. At age 72 I am finally having to spend retirement savings because the law makes me.

Gallery membership meeting tonight on zoom. Glad it's on zoom because I can sit and drink wine from a coffee cup. There is this one annoying person who has now twice demanded amendments to the last meeting minutes. I think she wants to be a board member. If that happens, we are doomed....

Diane S