Crone Cronies - It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. Week of 12/1.

[Laura S.]

It was another busy day and it felt good to get quite a bit done. I woke up early and fixed myself a pan of baked oatmeal. I baked oatmeal.

Then, I recorded a couple of videos - (1) a longer video (12-13 minutes) on formatting numbers in Excel and (2) a shorter video (4ish minutes) on formatting numbers as text in Excel. I downloaded them and will edit them soon, probably when it turns rainy again. (I'm trying to film videos while it's sunny. They just look better.) Plus, I signed up for an online tutoring site to do software tutoring. I had to take a couple of tests - Excel and PowerPoint - to prove that I know how to use them. We'll see if anyone signs up for my services. I can tutor in this area or online.

I also did some checking on the shingles shot I'm scheduled for on Friday. I'm getting the new one. Insurance covers it and the doctor has it in stock. And, I took DH to a chiropractor's appointment across the city and, since we were in that quadrant of the city, we went to Wegmans and got a bunch of gluten-free stuff for DH. And, we've done two loads of laundry.

Tonight, I need to start working on my lesson plan for Thursday evening. The small group leader is having a super busy week and I'll lead the Bible study. The church provides a lesson plan of sorts with too much stuff to do, so it's just a matter of sorting through their stuff and deciding what will work for our group.

Whew! I'm tired...


Anita - I've been in NC way too long. Highs in the 30s are cold... That black ice is scary! I'm glad you are okay. Hopefully, the rising temperatures will take care of it.

Paula - Congrats on getting the boat to a home and the fact that the paperwork is done. Yeah, Mom was a high school math teacher until after I graduated from college. And, math was never, ever my topic, so it was rather a surprise when we were able to work together.

[ddj]

Anita, lol on the 20s and 30s not being cold! I'm glad nothing bad happened to you with the black ice. Around here, the city pretty much shuts down in those kinds of conditions.

Laura, no wonder you're tired! You did a lot.

Paula, I have no problem with December. It's January and February I can do without. I envy you getting to fly to Catalina for hikes. Sounds wonderful.

Mary, I don't want hurricanes or snowstorms. I know it's been a tough year for you, but at least you were able to move on fairly quickly. I think about poor Lynn and all she went through. I wonder how she is doing.

Well, I managed to hurt my shoulder - again. I was trying to pull apart two stuck-together shopping carts and felt and heard something pop. I'm not quite sure where it is. It's on the side of my shoulder or toward the back. It has popped several more times since then. When I was pulling off a sock, while tying a drawstring trash bag, while pulling on the covers making the bed; basically when I pull at something. I don't even have to pull very hard. I don't know what this is going to do to my upper body weight work, what little I can do. I don't know what else I can do to this poor shoulder.

Tomorrow is a shopping day. I'm going to try to get out and about early. Even though I get up at five, I have trouble getting out of the house. But with the crazy holiday traffic, I need to hit it.

Everyone have a great evening!

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Karen Voight's Get Firm Fast followed by Yoga with Adriene Morning Fresh.

Relaxed day, I started putting up some Christmas decorations - got the mantle done and it looks pretty good - needs a couple small poinsettas to set it off. I'm going to wait awhile on those. If you buy them too early they die before Christmas.

Anita, your driving situation does sound so scary. I'm not good at driving in the winter and your experience just cements my decision to stay in California in the heart of winter.

Laura, congratualtions on getting so much done, you're really buzzing along on your new career. I hope on-line tutoring works for you. Thanks for reminding me about the shingles shot. My doctor authorized a new vacination it is two shots. I got the first and forgot to go back in for the second. I need to get that done.

Dede, I've been thinking of Lynn too. Her divorce took a long time as they we at odds over their daughter and money. She did go through a lot, wish we'd hear from her I'd love to hear how she is doing. I wonder if you have some damage to the bone in your shoulder? Sounds a lot like what another friend of mine went through with her hip - turned out she had lost bone. She had a hip replacement and is doing well now but it was difficult even walking for a while. {{hugs}}

[boakley]

Hi All! Busy busy here, and sick with a head cold on top of it all We are having friends in for a potluck on Saturday night. First time hosting a group for quite some time other than family and we are looking forward to it. SO in preparation for that I got the house cleaned, decorated inside including getting our tree and putting it up, some food prepped, etc. We also got out to a concert on Friday night which was nice - City & Colour. Different from our usual as they are more of a soft rock band, but Dallas Green, the singer, has an amazing voice He also did some songs solo with just his acoustic which was lovely.

Workouts have been sporadic, but some of the cleaning that I did definitely counts I'm trying to keep up with my glute/hip and core strengthening so I can get back into running. I'm doing a 5K Santa Shuffle with my SIL Saturday morning - we are walking

I have to run as work is busy too. I just didn't want to let another day go without popping in to say hi! Waves to all.

Beth

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Planning on getting my tires rotated this morning then running some errands around town. Giving Gus a walk also this afternoon. Supposedly we'll have a snow plow down our street today also - pretty worthless as everything has been packed down to a rutty sheet of ice.

Laura, you'll have to invest in a sun reflector type light - that's what they do with professional videos to keep the lighting consistent when filming. If you can only record on good sunny days, fine, but this gives you more options. I got my two shingles shots a few years ago - they were supposedly rare at the time, but I didn't have to deal with wait periods. I didn't have any bad side effects from the shot either other than some local "I got a shot" type pain - not bad. My mom suffered with shingles and I don't ever want to go through that! That's cool that you were able to pair with your mom and teach together. My mom was a chemistry professor at the college level and I felt she was a better teacher than I was when I gave lectures at vet school. We never tried doing anything on the teaching front together.

Dede, sounds like you're up for a visit to a orthopedic clinic to look at that shoulder and maybe get a MRI (and maybe a cortisone shot). I should make an appointment also to get a hip looked at... Good luck on your shopping day!

Paula, I'm trying to revive a poinsettia plant from last year. I trimmed it down after it finished blooming last year, and had it grow back. I've tried to control its light exposure to get colored leaves again, but only have one meager pinkish leaf on the plant - all else is a nice healthy green .

Beth, have fun with your friends potluck! I mostly entertain friends in summer when I can use the back porch for more room and seating spaces. I might have my brother and his wife up in January, so looking forward to that! Yay on doing the Santa Shuffle! I have to admit I'm lazy if I didn't have Gus wanting his walks every day .

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

Another busy day, but not as busy as yesterday. I spent quite a bit of time on one cover letter this morning for a work-from-home position working with a company owner (I get the impression it's a new company?) working on social media marketing and administrative tasks. It's 20 hours a week and it sounds like it could be long term and go in a number of different directions. I wanted to get the cover letter just right, so it took a while.

Then, I went to the gym and did a long cardio workout and filmed one video and took DH to an appointment and we ate dinner out.

Anita - I have lights designed for video filming on my Christmas wish list. So, I'm hoping the dependence on the sun will end soon. I do have one table lamp in front of me when I film and an overhead light, so I do add some lighting currently. It would be nice to have some more specialized lighting. I have had a lot of women tell me that they could never work with their mom like that. I teased Mom when it was happening that the only reason it worked was that I grew up to be more like Dad than her. And, she can handle Dad. My mom had shingles this year - that's what triggered me getting the vaccine.

Dede - OUCH! I hope you get some relief for the shoulder soon. How discouraging it had to be when you heard that POP.

Beth - It sounds like you have had a lot to do. I hope that you all have a good time with your friends.

Paula - No problem on the reminder about the shingles vaccine. It sounds like a good way to decorate for Christmas. Keep the pace at a good pace and it won't seem crazed. We're leaving early enough that we do not have a lot of motivation to go all out on decoration.

[ddj]

Well, I was right about which part of my shoulder I injured. I tried my customized upper body routine today and did okay until I got to rear delts. I was only using 5s, but it bothered me. But trying to do one-arm rows with a 25? Not happening. I had some trouble with my shoulder while doing things like opening the car door or pulling on something. Most of the time it doesn't bother me.

Anita, I'm sorry about the snow. Is it bad that you've had to wait this long to get a snowplow on your street? I live in the boonies, so it takes a while to get one in our neighborhood, but I figured you get so much snow you'd have a fleet of snowplows ready to go.

Laura, I hope the job works out and you get what you want for Christmas.

Hi, Beth. Glad you checked in. Walking a 5K is great. Enjoy the potluck.

Paula, we don't do a bunch of decorating, but we do like lights. I string them anywhere I can. I even have some on my computer monitor.

Today I did my upper body routine and two miles of a Leslie Walk 15 DVD. During the holidays, I don't do much. I hope I can pick back up with more in January. I'm feeling like a slug. I see both the primary and the endo next week. Dreading what the endo has to say about my weight.

Everyone have a good evening.

[Paula]

Good evening. Workout this morning was Yoga Foundations #3 with Travis Eliot.

Beth, good to see you and share some of your busy life. Enjoy your potluck on Saturday. Enjoy the 5K with your SIL.

Anita, we had an oil change and tire rotation today too. Thanks for mentioning the shingles shot, I really do need to get in for the second one.
Your Mom was a Chemistry professor, I'm impressed. I'm trying to revive a poinsetta too. I had to prune it deeply but it's come back nicely. The leaves are full dark green and turning red. I keep it in an area that gets what I'd call light shade - no direct sun, that would burn it up.

Laura, good luck on the part time job. At 20 hours per week it would leave you time to work on your own projects. I may stop with the decorating here, not sure if I want to bother with a tree this year. I got two small poinsettas for the mantle today, they brighten it up.

Dede, Good for you to keep doing what exercise you can. It's also good you have identified the problem area. Maybe this will help in developing a rountine for recovery. Do you enjoy the snow. If you live in a rural area you are probably used to being snowed in for long stretches.

[sciencelady]

Good morning!

Planning on doing some chair yoga, running some errands, walking Gus and having a good day. Today is likely to be the last warm day in the 20s and 30s for a while then we're single digits and below... brrrr!

Laura, would you be going in for work or working from home if you get this job?

Dede, this city is weird with snow plowing compared to all the other northern cities I've lived in. They do the main roads on the day/night of a snowstorm, but not the residential streets till a day or two later. People obviously have to drive on the unplowed streets to get to their homes so we get very rutty streets that get packed down with tire pressure. The snowplows do get the parking areas if people move their cars like they should. It is one reason I want to get out of this area for senior living where I can get around easier - the suburbs do their residential streets. I am feeling sorry for Duluth as they are still plowing out from 22 inches of snow - people can't get their cars off the streets so plows can get through. Sorry about your shoulder pain... at least you know which areas are affected when you see the doctor.

Paula, I've kept my revived poinsettia with the orchids which are under a grow light - I think the timing for the orchids isn't working as well for the poinsettia. I've always heard they need very specific light timing for colors to develop. I did put up and decorate my small Christmas tree - it is a Japanese bonsai style that is about two feet high. I do only use it as a Christmas tree even though it is intended for year round display.

Waves to all!

Anita

[Laura S.]

Today just sort of melted away. This morning, I went to the Y and got in an interval treadmill workout and some strength work in afterward. DH needed food, so I spent time cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. I got some random things done on the computer, but nothing critical. Tonight, I will lead the Bible study in my small group.

Anita - Huh. That's weird about the snowplows in a place that regularly gets snow. When we lived in NY, they plowed our side residential street twice a day whether it needed it or not. Of course, that was 35-40 years ago now... I think I'd work from home most of the time unless I had a meeting.

Paula - Yeah, I can't get the enthusiasm up for decorating at this point. We will leave for Huntington in less than two weeks. It just doesn't seem worth it.

Dede - You said you heard a pop. Is it something that needs medical intervention or something that will heal on its own? I hope it's the latter and that you see improvement.