wholefoodnut's Journal, 21 Aug 15

Not surprised that your GD made the varsity squad as a freshman given your commitment and dedication to exercise and strengthening even in 'maintenance' as far as your weight loss goal. I hope the older squad members are welcoming to her vs. being 'jealous' or treating her like she doesn't 'belong' or has taken the spot of a friend/classmate. 

You do not know how much I look forward to a few things changing for me in the not too distant future and that is cooking (and having the tools to do it) and a regular workout schedule. It is 73F here and 87% humidity so still feels sticky despite the cooler temps. Tomorrow 80F 66% Humidity and more rain in the forecast for Sun-Wed next week 60% chance. Just as well it will keep me focused on the business.... 

Kelly, I would be going nuts with no kitchen. If I can ever figure out a regular workout schedule it will be amazing! I think that's why the suspension trainer @ home has helped me so much, I can squeeze it between other things. I need to get to the gym as well. Leigh, Kinzie is a go-getter but a real sweetheart. I don't think there is alot of jealousy with the older girls, maybe some with her classmates. She is the one who challenged me to match her 6 pack.  

I hate when summer is nearly gone up here in the North Country! It means cold and eventually that horrible four letter word...snow. 

HCB, fall always makes me sad even though it is pretty. I want to hibernate for the winter.  

Jeri, you just need to get some winter sun. We go off to Spain now, but even when we were working we used to take our holidays in the winter and head south for a week or three. Breaking up the winter makes a big difference, makes it seem shorter. We both have birthdays in February, so that was our favourite time to go away. Before Christmas isn't so bad anyway, with the holidays to look forward to. 

Must be nice Heidi. I have to work and little vacation time is allowed from Dec - the end of April. I try to squeeze a couple days here and there. I wouldn't be able to afford trips south anyway.  

That's a shame! You'll have to get a different job, one that pays better and lets you have holidays, or sends you to Florida on business, but only in the winter. 

Heidi, I actually get 4 weeks vacation and a bunch of holidays off. It's just that Dec-April is our really busy time so we are stuck with that. I have another week off in September and a long weekend in Dec. Glen, I would love your weather but miss my family , especially the grandkids.  

It left off the word would before miss. system is trying to garble things on me.  

What does your company do, Jeri? And 4 weeks holiday plus extras is pretty good for the States, I think? 

Heidi, I do have good benefits, not many companies have 4 weeks vacation after 6 years. The company I work for has many divisions. My area is part of what is called a transfer agent for mutual funds. We handle recordkeeping and customer service for various mutual funds, this includes doing the actual trading for them based on specific instructions. I often deal with many millions of dollars during a day. I am in an incoming call center and talk to shareholders, financial advisors, and other institutions all day on the phone. We assist them with trades, web site access, forms, death claims, etc. etc. it runs the gamut. December-April is our busy time of the year due to tax issues as here in the states we have to file income taxes by April 15th. December is busy due to people trying to get things done before the end of the year. The company severely limits or blocks vacation time during those months. I try to take a long weekend in Dec. and another in March to give myself a slight break. We do have a couple long weekends in Jan and Feb due to holidays, so they help as well.  

Glen.. my sentiments exactly. I love the Winter temps.. It's still in the 100's here in the AZ desert. Whew, I'm so glad to have air conditioning. 

AZ winter temps a bit different than here in the heartland...LOL  

Our tax year runs till April 6th, Jeri. I used to work in local government where the financial year runs till end of March. On financial projects, the deadlines were always around that time, which meant for many of us long nights slaving over a hot computer. I was a programmer, later a systems analyst. I hated that time of year then! When we were in our 30s, Mike and I took a career break and went to India and Nepal for six months. It was an amazing experience, and also gave us pause to think about what we were doing with our lives. When we got home, we changed a few things. One thing I did was get out of project work and into maintenance - less kudos, but same pay, similar responsibility, maybe even more in a way, more autonomy, but without the peaks of stress. So glad I did that! And I do understand where you're coming from! 

Heidi, good for you on career choices!! At 66 I will stick with my job, hard to find anything if you are older even though there is supposedly laws on age discrimination. It pays my bills. My job is always interesting, I love my hours 7-3:30 unless we have overtime and my benefits. I can leave my job at work unlike when I was in management in other positions. When I "retire" I may do something else. Retire doesn't mean stagnate and do nothing to me, it means doing something I enjoy, learn something new every single day and may also provide additional income. After almost 8 years I am pretty comfy in my position and knowledgeable about what I do so living with the craziness is OK. Kinda toying with getting certified as a personal trainer for seniors as a supplemental income at that point. MMMM just in initial stages of checking into that, little tickle in my brain. Actually a suggestion from a grandson. I can always get back into quilting for others but in that realm would prefer to teach. I spent 5 years quilting for others and dealing with trying to turn people's awful techniques and messes into something beautiful. More stressful than dealing with millions of $$$ LOL When I have time I plan on getting into doing more artistic quilts and possibly getting back into some competition once I get my house done. I have won a number of best of show etc local ribbons with my quilting. I think that would be interesting and fun to eventually enter some national shows/competitions.  

Glad to hear you are happy with your job. It does sound interesting, and you would be lucky to get those benefits anywhere else. Your retirement plans sound great, I think you'd make an excellent personnel trainer or lifestyle coach 😀 and quilting sounds like a great hobby. Not one I've tried, as I think it needs a high level of skill. Would love to see pics of your quilts if you have some. It's not a thing people do much over here, but they have a good collection in the American Museum near Bath. 

I hear that from many people Glen, I do not like Missouri winters but it's OK. I talk to lots of retirees in that area with my job. You know how special grandkids are, mine are all here within 2 hours drive. Had a blast last night with them. Most of mine aren't bity like yours now, only one but they are so much fun! I'll live with the winters and get to go to the volleyball and basketball games, the wrestling meets, just goofing off with the kids, or managing to sprain or bruise this or that going ice skating-- I used to bounce--no more. LOL Hey my world is OK. Like anywhere you live there are good things and not so good, I've lived in I think 11 states several of them more than once, I get that concept.  

Heidi, not a dream job but it is good for me now. It's one I can live with and be content as I no longer have the ambition to be a rising star and advance in the company. I really don't need that aggravation, I've previously been the boss, don't need that any longer. Do my job well and go home, it does not define me as a person, it pays the bills, my life outside of work is much more important to me at this point in my life.  

I like Virginia and the seasonal changes. I try to dress colorful in the winter to keep me from feeling blah. Ha Ha! I used to have a country French farmhouse theme with blue and white and yellow and it kept me from getting depressed in the winter. Don't have that anymore. Boo Hoo!