Hi all.

Jaz---Oh yeah, I would have so sent that prime rib back. The other night I ordered a cheeseburger medium rare. It came well done. Back it went. Too expensive out there to accept sub standard food. I'm not picky but then you can't chew your meat for grizzle and fat, or they don't do it to your specification then, NOPE. Tip for next time.

HA. The only thing worse than my scale would be one that talks!

Lori---Too bad about all the rain during your visit. I'd say too bad about that creamery too but ah... Hard for me to stay on plan on vacation. Heh, lately hard for me to stay on plan not on vacation.

Trigger---Yay for your Dell coming back to life, and yay for the old back up!

Funny about the Chop and his open wallet and you with yours nailed shut.
Good balance though. Worst is when both love to spend money. No seat belt. Had a pal who married a guy who loved to shop as much as she did. Got them in plenty of trouble w/their finances, and they made good money.

I am always grateful for hubby's restraining influence. I'm a mix in that I'm a bargain shopper and very price aware. It's just that I want lots of bargains. Hubby used to say stop saving us so much money. But new life, big changes. I am now Blue scrooge. To heck with Tiny Tim's issues.

Nic---Thanx for the Hamilton review. Of course it's fab. But I'm w/you---it's almost obscene what those tickets cost. And a whole family? 7 year olds who won't get most of it? NOPE, says B.Scrooge.

You're right NYC is darn expensive, but I think mostly in lodgings. It is possible to eat fabulously there at a cost akin to home w/better food, if you stay away from the fancy and tourist joints. Some Asian, East Indian, Latina joints and delis there are amazing. In my experience, MUCH better than ethnic food joints here. Trouble is you have to know someone to direct you to the best locals joints that aren't so pricey, but there really are a lot of them. I bet there's a site about that somewhere.

And yeah, Jaz, you should go just once. Great thing about NYC to me is it's like New Orleans. You don't need to stay long. You can pack a lot in 3 days. OMG, I love the French Quarter. We used to go every year over Halloween, which was such a blast. NEVER go during Mardi Gras. Think when we free up some money from the house a 3 day trip to New Orleans will be happening. Not cheap, but cheaper than NYC, and so...atmospheric and romantic. Have you guys ever been there?

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I had a productive Monday, and feeling good about it. Again, got some things done for move. Not big things, just the drip, drip, drip.

What I'm feeling really good about is 2 things. First of all, I talked to "college hunks." So surprisingly reasonable. They don't charge by the hour, weight, or location/gas, they charge by how much you fill up their truck---max price for truck, you fill up half, you pay half, etc. They will sort out recyclables, are willing to pack junk into boxes,(if you provide the boxes which we so can) will take useables to the Good Will and give you the receipt for taxes. They will do basements, garages and attics. I thought it would be a lot more expensive. I think this is going to be a Godsend for us, and well worth the money. Will probably have them come next week or the week after.

Hubby wants to fight me on it as he limps around, but he ran out of gas pretty fast. He so doesn't want to spend the money, even though again, in the scheme of things, it's SO reasonable, thinks he can do it himself, and I love him for that. But y'know, he just can't. Every day he says this is the day I can get back up in the attic, and then his knee starts to really hurt after a couple trips up and down the stairs loaded down w/stuff. My wrist got so much better at first, but now it is liking watching that progress bar when trying to get to some sites. Starts fast and whips along, then all of a sudden slows down and begins to creeps. No way I can lift these boxes.

Second thing is---OMG, I know, y'all are going to think what took you so long---I went to our local library today and got myself a card. Got help there for how to use it for Kindle downloads. Figuring out fast how it works. Almost everything is on hold, but some with less "holders" than others. I came home and used my hold max, and got 3 available books to read. I took my wish list on Amazon and put every one of them in, so the 3 books I got were on my list to pay for. FREE. Once I get in the rhythm of it and my holds start coming thru, it's going to save me a lot of money. I read fast and often and have too much time to do so these days.

Save the ickiest for last of course. I stayed true to my word and got on my scale, but forgot about it till mid afternoon, so didn't do it first thing in the morning, which I always do for obvious reasons.

Anywho, my thankfully MUTE scale showed I was up 4 pounds. And gals, I know this is NOT bloat. This is ME. I can feel it and I can see it. Frankly, thought it might be even worse. But after holding my same weight for a long time while getting away with stuff, that train has come to halt.

I have no doubt if I don't get a hold on it, it will keep right on going up. Something broke that long stasis of my body wanting to stay at its weight, even if I wasn't being as true to my woe.

Have some real thinking and reckoning to do on this. Oh yeah, I know the answers. Just have to get my mojo up and working on one more thing. That feels so hard right now, as it's not just the house, it's searching for work, which I put off today. Every day is a list of things I don't want to do, and a long one. SIGH. But I do feel better when I do them. Will be same with the woe, just gotta lift her up and get going!