Hi folks,

Kat - I'm so sorry to hear about the flooding - what a nightmare! I hope there wasn't too much damage to things. You are coping with it so very well. I hope that you're not too stressed in the midst of everything.

New York as a final destination sounds like a great idea. It seems like a place with such a vibrant life, and I am sure you'll meet more kindred spirits there. I love the heat and the sunshine, but we all need friends, particularly when we're single. Isn't it good when clients become friends - and I'm sure that's how they see you. You don't have much longer before you must leave, so I hope you have time to make the most of it, and do all those things which you never get around to - galleries, walks, sightseeing, etc., not to mention saying a last goodbye to everyone.

Jay, thanks for the encouragement. It's hard to make choices like that, I have to say, and it has got me down a bit this week, but on the positive side, we've got a few much-needed things done, plus I had a enough energy for a few leisure activities, which made a wonderful change - I feel very boring if all I've done is visit my parents then recover for most of the year.

Curling! Fine until you fall.. lol. Your meditation sounds so inspiring and restful. It made me realise how tense I feel. Gotta cut the caffeine. I hope the weather's fine where you are.. It's nice here - blue skies and sunshine, with a little powdering of snow.

My Be good to my bod goals for today are:

spend less time on the computer
get a bit of fresh air at a window
spend 15 mins on decluttering in the spare room
spend 15 minutes planning my next kitchen improvement
limit my caffeine intake so I go to bed earlier
spend lots of time on a hobby

So achievable!

Have a nice day, folks.

Hi Kirsteen,

You don't sound boring at all. I totally agree that you must put your energy levels first. You do many interesting things. Concerts etc etc.

It's indoor curling in a hall at the leisure centre so no chance of slipping on ice. Great fun though as we have two teams. It's all very friendly and we laugh a lot, but at times a bit of competitiveness shows through. All good fun.

We are going away tonight. It's a CHRISTMAS present and we are being driven to Kenilworth in Warwicksire and having dinner, bed and breakfast at the Loch Fyne Hotel. Not Scotland, but we have been to that one.

Lots of snow fell yesterday and last night and we have four or five inches here.Fortunately it isn't widespread so we will be okay for our journey.

Have a lovely weekend everyone

Jay

Hi Jay..

I didn't know that you could curl on anything other than ice. I've only done it on ice - also indoors. It's a bit like grass bowling.. I used to play that on Sundays sometimes when I was a student - it's a wonderful game for relaxing on a sunny afternoon.

We tend to only go to concerts during the Edinburgh festival, when I suspend my visits to my parents for a few weeks..

I think I will make a point this year of doing one thing every month which is arts/interests related. I've only got a couple of days of January left... Better dive off to see what's on.

Have a lovely time on your weekend away - it sounds wonderful. I hope the roads stay clear for you.

Have a good weekend, all.

Jay have a lovely time on your holiday present! That sound so nice...Can't wait to hear about it.

Kirsteen, what a nice idea, to do one arts type thing a month. How fun and bound to be interesting too.

I've really enjoyed my time here in Idaho - animals take up a lot of time but they are really nice pets and it's very rewarding. I particularly enjoy walking/playing with the border collie twice a day - we walk around the entire pasture - a good walk (8 acres) and we throw the Frisbee all the way around too... My be good to me has been to make sure I do this and enjoy the scenery here, and the dog who is good company. I've been losing some weight here and it feels good. It's cold, but we bundle up!
Kat

Kirsteen, thank you - I have some paperwork (3 boxes) that got wet and I'm not sure what else - I think most of what was left of my stuff was ok. I'll know when I got home Monday night. I did get stressed - when I am really stressed my upper lip flares up - hate that. It is red, and cracked - I forgot the cream I have for it from the dr at home - didn't think I'd need it! So really trying to keep the stress level low - finding out my truck needed a transmission on the financial end also had me really worried but I am working on eating well, enough sleep (challenging some nights here) and staying calm. Laughing is good - watching Lost in Austen on Hulu Plus here.
I have done the goodbye to friends already - now it will just be working and the final trips to storage and cleaning up. Getting the truck fixed and ready to go. I have 11 days that I need to find a place to stay, and other than that I'm done.
I am looking forward to getting things settled for myself. What is ahead of me is a little daunting but the things that keep happening here are enough to make me want to leave and never come back!
Kat

Hi Kirsteen and Kat

Just to let you know I had a wonderful time at the Loch Fyne Hotel in Kenilworth, Warwickshire. The food was amazing and so delicious. Starters - prawns in chilli and garlic, main - fish grill which consisted of salmon, bream, scallops, prawns, mussels, new potatoes and spinach. Dessert - creme brûlée. Rose wine. I have never tried mussels before. Everything was perfectly cooked and presented. Although the main course sounds huge, it was small pieces of fish. Wide choice of foods for breakfast, but I chose full English. The hotel was lovely. We had perfect company. The journey was good. No snow. It did me so much good. An absolutely delightful time.

Jay

Jay, I am so happy you had a wonderful time - the food sounds delicious. So glad everything was perfect for you. I will have to look that hotel up - would love to "see" it.

Hi Kirsteen! Hope things are well.

My be good to me today is simple: I made a LC pizza for myself for the Superbowl yesterday, and have leftovers, which my people won't eat - so I am freezing it and taking it with me on the plane so I have food to eat when I get hungry - LC food and the airport food nonsense won't affect me. I will indulge in the free wine though on Alaskan Airlines Headed home this evening and start petsitting for main clients again - I will also make sure I keep up my exercise - my living space was also a gym and I don't know where that equipment went.. ideally it is set up in the house or garage but it probably isn't...
See you all later,
Kat

Hi Kat,

The hotel is very old, part of it from the 1500's so the rooms are not huge. Originally, the hotel was built around an oak tree. The part of the tree still remaining is painted dark brown/blackish and is the same as the beams. It stands on which was the main road from Coventry to Kenilworth Castle. I have also stayed at the Loch Fyne hotel in Scotland.

Your lc pizza sounds good. It will be good on the plane. Especially tasty with the wine. When do you fly? You are doing well with your exercise.

We have had some snow here. The sunshine has melted it on the roads, but it is still in the garden.

Have fun

Jay

Hi Jay! Wow - 1500! I don't think I've ever been in a building that old. St Petersburg Russia probably had some old buildings but I think you have that beat! How interesting that part of the tree is still there! I bet it was a great place to stay.

I did enjoy my wine on the flight back. Not all flights offer wine for free - most don't. Well the LC pizza got eaten before I went and I wasn't hungry on the way back. I flew back Monday evening. It's been hectic here ever since - I have to get my stuff to storage before they come back Saturday night. I have the day off tomorrow so will take it over then.

Speaking of your garden - it's spring here in CA already...the first jonquils are up, fruit trees are in bloom and the lilacs are budding. It's been unseasonably warm here and the plants are confused... so am I - always too early for me although I love the flowers. Do you have any "winter" plants like flowering kale or helebore?

My be good to my bod is to exfoliate tonight - I have a buff "cloth" and intend to have a great session in the shower...I rarely have time to fuss but we got off work early today. Then I'll lotion up!!!

Kat

Hi Kat,

Glad you enjoyed your wine on your flight. Your lc pizza must have been very tempting to eat it before your flight. Hope you get your stuff sorted.

Not much in the garden at the moment. Some daffodils are shooting up. I have some spring flowers in tubs. Pansies, violas etc. I also have two hanging baskets with spring flowers. We have had several sunny days, but very cold as either snow or frost has been hanging around. Nice for you that it's warmer than usual where you are.

What's the snow been like in Scotland Kirsteen? Some of the weather forecasts didn't look good.

Your be good to your body sounds good Kat. I am still meditating and feeling good about myself.

Have fun

Jay

Today, I want to go for a walk! The sun is out, unusually.

LOTS to do! (heading out of town on Wed. and I have work thing tonight, yes, Sunday)

Step one: put the computer down!

J

Hi Jamackarch,

Walking sounds good, as does putting the computer down. It is a dull cold day here. Walking would be good, but the car sounds tempting.

I will have to up my exercise, especially walking when it gets a bit warmer. Meanwhile, indoor curling twice a week keeps me going. It's fun and I have a laugh with friends which is always good.

Hope you are fine Kat and Kirsteen.

Jay

Hi folks, and welcome to the thread, Jamackarsh,

Kat, I hope all's going well. I don't know how you manage such a gypsy existence.. I guess you just need to keep your possessions to a minimum. I hope all your furry charges are behaving themselves. My darling and I have signed up to foster animals on behalf of people who are taken to hospital or prison. We just have to have a home visit now, and then we'll be set to go.

I love the sound of the CA warmth and the spring flowers. I'd love to visit that neck of the woods. Here we've had plenty of lovely sunny days with blue skies this year, and my snowdrops are pushing up fast. I have daphne flowering at my back door, and a white camellia blooming further down the garden. A large yellow dogwood is a splash of colour in the winter. I love the birds best, though - they bring the garden to life in the winter - bathing in the bath, visiting the feeders, and pecking around looking for tasty treats. A heap of shredded material has some interesting looking holes - maybe a hedgehog has taken refuge in there. I'd love to get my top garden landscaped as a winter garden with lots of silver and white (especially white hellebores), plus a small water feature but there are too many higher priorities. I'll feel I've accomplished a lot if I can manage to get the hellebores put in.

Syria, I loved to hear about your visit to the hotel. The food sounds gorgeous.. It's such a lovely treat to go away somewhere different. I should follow your lead, and book a night or two away - somewhere like Perth, which has a theatre, lovely buildings, and beautiful countryside and castles nearby.

Jamackarch, I hope you enjoyed your walk. It's such a great idea to get out on good winter days. One of our recent sunny days, my boyfriend and I went to a nearby hill with a folly and swans in a little loch, then a meal out.. It was a lovely treat.

Given what I've been writing above, my "Be good to my bod" goal for this week is to improve my view of my garden - maybe buy those hellebores finally, and find someone to put them in for me.

Hi all! Hey Jammie!!! I miss walking. Very little time lately.

Jay, what do you do when you meditate? I find I am very restless and full of monkey mind. I do better with guided meditations.
Your pansies and violas sound lovely - they are so pretty. We have some in our pots outside work...our receptionist plants and tends to them.

Kirsteen, I can see your garden - what a lovely description! Aren't camillias the perfect flowers? They look like wax - so perfect. I love hellebore. And what a great idea to foster animals...It's a lot to take on, since many foster situations involve animals who have had trauma or illness...a wonderful service. My sister has fostered dogs and cats for 20 years.

My be good to me this week was earlier: I went to a new ForkLift grocery (run by Nugget) and really enjoyed looking at all the great colorful organic produce, the yogurts you can't find anywhere in town, - a bigger vegetarian/vegan selection. I got 3 kinds of French and other organic yogurts in cute glass jars...some baked Indian Curry flavor tofu - I found that flavor and Morracan flavor have less carbs in them then teriyaki and other flavors.
Kat

Happy Valentine's Day weekend everyone!

I have a suggestion for being good to yourself: I did it tonight and many do it already but I don't - set yourself a nice place setting and sit down to dinner. If it's just you, make something special out of your food, instead of letting it be boring.

I am petsitting. It's always busy for me but tonight I have a little break - only one house. Leftovers left for me: Shredded roast beef, some diced white onion. What I normally would have done - stood at the counter and eaten the beef cold out of the tupperware. Maybe had a slice of cheese and some nuts and called it dinner. What I did: sauteed the onion in butter and truffle oil, added chopped garlic, then added the meat, put it on low and let the meat get really moist and tender. I went out to the garden (CA - it always has something growing in it) - picked some fresh Swiss Chard, ribboned it and wilted it in a pan. Added truffle salt and pepper. I shredded some cheddar over the meat and I put this on a very decorative plate. This is huge for me! I really enjoyed my meal and the pretty plate!
Kat