Birthday Monday!

charlotte989875 · July 2023

38 is not super exciting but I’m working from home and taking it pretty easy. I’m planning a nap at lunch.

Weekend was exhausting but good. We went to H’s camp with all his cousins and siblings on Saturday. It’s a 2 hour drive and we went down and back the same day. M loved every minute of it. When we took him in the canoe he re-enacted scenes from Moana. It was the best.

climbingsingle · July 2023

Happy birthday!!!! I hope you have a great day!

I had a nice relaxing weekend. Got a lot of stuff done around the house. Cooked some good meals. Floated in the pool. Mowed the lawn (which honestly I really enjoy - I know that's weird).

Ready for Friday already though because we're heading into the city to see Phish. Lots of friends will be there!

banana468 · July 2023

Happy birthday!

Weekend was decent.

Friday night we watched HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Saturday we had a low key night with MIL and FIL at the marina.

We finally got out on the boat yesterday for a river cruise in gorgeous weather and then started to revamp our play area in the family room. We're not done and the kids are not fans of having to go through bins of toys to throw out the stuff that they both won't use and isn't worth giving away but we're making progress. My hope is that it's in working order by Friday afternoon so we can be in better shape for the weekend when we have a sitter for Chiquito and the following week BIL and SIL are in town. I am assuming that our house may be in use at points because MIL and FIL are temporarily in an apartment.

STARMOON44 · July 2023

Happy birthday!!

Saw the Barbie movie Thursday and loved it! Highly recommend I will be seeing it again in theaters.

CharmedPam · July 2023

I’ve heard of people who like mowing @climbingsingle, I don’t understand it! Lol. I have to go early enough in the a.m. or later at night because I refuse to do it in the sun.

I’m wanting to see Barbie too, but when it’s not so crowded. Glad it got a good review!

Edit; and of course Happy Birthday @charlotte989875, glad you can do what you want to do.

Weekend was good. We drove to Nashville on Saturday to pick up my sister and nieces. We had some time to kill before their flight landed and stopped at a bar. I fell in love with Ole Smoky Whiskey brand of drink and… um… $170 dollars later I have a nice stock pile going. And I’ve cut down on drinking drastically in the last few years too so I’m not sure when I’m going to drink it. Party at my house!

mrsconn23 · July 2023

Happy Birthday @charlotte989875!!

I'm back! The trip was great. Exhausting, but we did have an excellent time. I don't feel the best though. I think the elevation, dry air, and go-go-go schedule did me in. Glad I WFH full-time now or I would have probably taken a sick day. I'll dig out my phone and post a few pics here soon.

DH took off for ATL this morning and is going to Raleigh later this week. I feel so bad for him because he had zero downtime since we didn't get to the house until 1am yesterday. We slept until about 1pm. He had to get BIL from the airport (BIL/SIL/nieces had an absolute garbage nightmare of a trip home) and then they had to prepare to travel for this trip

SSDD otherwise. Just trying to make it to the end of the day so I can take a nap.

short+sassy · July 2023

@charlotte989875, Happy Birthday! The drive sounds rough, but worth it. Especially since M had such a great time and was channeling his Moana love.

My H and I made some big decisions over the weekend. We are abandoning our plans to move to Ocala

. I'm sad about it because we had such grandiose visions of all the things we were going to do there. But I've always been worried about their insurance rates and the utter lack of job opportunities.

Long story short, we were originally thinking we could get away with having a self-sustaining business in about one year and wouldn't have to worry about getting W-2 jobs. But I don't think we're quite there yet and, with the economy so topsy-turvy at the moment, that felt like too much of a gamble.

Real estate is something we would like to stay involved in, but are no longer hinging where we move to it. Which actually opens up the country a lot. Now we are focusing on a lower COL area, with good job prospects.

So far, we like the Cincinnati, OH metro area and are planning to check it out over Labor Day weekend. Here's why:

Average house price is $240K and the average salary is $62K. Of course that's just a bird's eye view, but generally affordable.
I've already checked out current job listings for what I do. 200 job listings with a salary minimum set to what I currently make. I only had time to look at about the first 30, but most of them were at least 20% more than what I currently make. Big difference between job listings and getting a job, but a good sign.
Looks like an attractive city with a decent amount to do. Plus its along the Ohio River, which means there are riverfront parks and nice walking areas.
Weather trade-off to NOLA. Worse winters, better summers...and summers have just been getting progressively more evil. It's southern OH on the KY border, so winters don't sound too harsh. 21 days of snow/year on average. But it sounds like light snow. 15" total is the yearly average.
Older city than I originally thought. Some beautiful architecture. A lot of your typical ranch houses, but also some residential gems that are over 100 years old.
Crime stats. Eh. They rank 29th worst out of the top 100 largest metropolitan areas. But that's a good improvement over NOLA.
Food. Yeah. Hard to beat NOLA there. Especially concerning is that their signature dish is chili (boring to me)...on top of spaghetti, which is even funnier. But they seem to have it going on with their pub food and craft beer game. And German restaurants, which I'm excited about because there is hardly any of that here. I will reserve judgement until after my trip, lol.

mrsconn23 · July 2023

@short+sassy, BIL/SIL live in Cincy and it's a great city. Plenty to do, downtown area is really nice, some pretty awesome neighborhoods with a lot of personality, tons of cuisines/restaurants, easy to get to the east coast, other parts of the midwest, or the south, there's a ton of really neat parks, and lots of job opportunities (P+G is HQ'd there). And yes, they fall south of a lot of weather bands in the winter. Good luck, but if you're looking for a change, you can't go wrong with Cincy.

banana468 · July 2023

@short+sassy that sounds like a better idea given the current insurance issues that appear to be hitting Florida.

I've heard nice things about Cincinnati and their winters are still likely not too harsh compared to areas further north or by the lakes.

short+sassy · July 2023

mrsconn23 said:

@short+sassy, BIL/SIL live in Cincy and it's a great city. Plenty to do, downtown area is really nice, some pretty awesome neighborhoods with a lot of personality, tons of cuisines/restaurants, easy to get to the east coast, other parts of the midwest, or the south, there's a ton of really neat parks, and lots of job opportunities (P+G is HQ'd there). And yes, they fall south of a lot of weather bands in the winter. Good luck, but if you're looking for a change, you can't go wrong with Cincy.

Thanks so much for that info! It's one thing to look online at the stats and the pictures, but much more affirming to hear from people who live there or are familiar with the city.

That was another thing I had not cared for with Ocala. It has some amazing outdoor areas and is less than 90 minutes from the beach. But the city and surrounding area itself didn't have much personality, plus had a much lower population than I am used to.

Whereas Cincy and NOLA are similarly sized and I've always liked the size of NOLA. Small enough it doesn't feel overwhelming and you can still easily get around. But not so small that it gets boring. The greater metropolitan area is much larger for Cincy. 2.26M vs. 1.26M. Though NOLA is a bit larger for the "city proper", 380K vs. 300K.

MissKittyDanger · July 2023

@charlotte989875 happy birthday

re-enactments crack me up lol

@STARMOON44 did you cry? I've heard it a bit of a tear jerker

VarunaTT · July 2023

I am back at work. I did have a day where I might have googled, "How to become a rich widow without trying," but generally I'm okay with working. My brain feels much better, which I know sounds silly, but I don't know how else to describe it. I will say, my boss is as bad as my mother; he only called twice, both times were super valid, and both times the edible was hitting. Oh well, I made it through the conversations.

Otherwise, just back at the grind. I gamed a lot, watched a lot of TV and movies I'd been wanting to see, deep cleaned my apartment, slept a whole bunch, got high a lot, read a few books, and just generally relaxed. I only did what I wanted, when I wanted, and that was a true pleasure. While I missed my friend and pool time, I'm glad I didn't travel.

MissKittyDanger · July 2023

Weekend was so mixed.

I'll start with good.
Went to beach with my friend A and friend I know through her.
BK literally insisted that A take her out swimming lol it was super cute.

Sunday was lazy day. I definitely got a bit burn but also M thinks a touch of heat stroke.
I woke up with wicked headache - luckily we have gatorade so I drank water and gatorade and coffee lol
Shower and nap, and I felt fairly okay. It was mostly I felt tired and just overdone.

M also suggested it could be the news we got Saturday morning.

Which leads me to the rough news.

Kylo has a heart murmer.
Now, what does that mean?
No he's not in pain or need meds.
Yes he can still be same crazy kitten.

His life is significantly shortened - down to about 5-10 year life span. Surgery wouldn't guarantee anything anyways, and it's about 10K
They did suggest getting ultrasound to see details, but this may also mean he doesn't get neutrered.

Ultrasound is important for file in case something happens and he needs to have surgery.
Anesthesia is a huge risk, and vet basically said since Kylo is indoor can and Penny is long fixed.

*sigh* it's just a lot lately

Jen4948 · July 2023

Happy birthday @charlotte989875!

Mixed bag with me.

On Saturday night I was in a live theatrical show - first one for me in many years, since before the pandemic. It was lots of fun and hard work. Work is getting stressful again as tax season part 2 approaches. And it's sooooooooo hot - triple digits!

I hope the temperature goes down soon!

short+sassy · July 2023

@mrsconn23 and @VarunaTT, I'm glad you both had great vacations.

@MissKittyDanger, I'm sorry to hear about Kylo's medical condition! His life might be shorter, but I'm sure you all will fill it with love and happiness for him.

@Jen4948, I'm glad your show went well. Sounds like fun and I'm sure it was nice to get back into theatre after such a long break.

MissKittyDanger · July 2023

@short+sassy although we fully agree, it's just hard news. When Kylo is 5, Penny will be 16 - they could easily pass at the same time frame.
We did try to briefly explain to BK that Kylo won't live a super long life, but he's not sick or hurting, so he's still normal crazy-Kylo

ILoveBeachMusic · July 2023

Glad your vacations were good @mrsconn23 and @VarunaTT. Happy Birthday @charlotte989875.

@short+sassy my youngest son lives in Dayton (about an hour north of Cincy) and goes to Cincy a lot. He has two good friends that live there plus another friend that lives in a northern suburb. He loves it. He even thinks he wants to move to the northern Cincy suburb but I keep reminding him it will significantly increase his commute which is now about 3 minutes! He lives right across from where he works. The zoo there is fabulous and I have heard the food scene is pretty good.

Weekend was good. We had friends over for dinner Saturday night and drank way too much wine and limoncello. We did manage to get up and to church yesterday morning but the rest of the day was pretty lazy. Today I had personal training for the first time in two weeks (I was on vacation then my trainer was on vacation). I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. H made pizza tonight in his pizza oven. He is still trying to perfect cooking time so that the crust is just right.

Jen4948 · July 2023

MissKittyDanger said:

@short+sassy although we fully agree, it's just hard news. When Kylo is 5, Penny will be 16 - they could easily pass at the same time frame.
We did try to briefly explain to BK that Kylo won't live a super long life, but he's not sick or hurting, so he's still normal crazy-Kylo

I'm very sorry about Kylo. I hope you are able to enjoy him as long as possible.

STARMOON44 · July 2023

MissKittyDanger said:

Weekend was so mixed.

I'll start with good.
Went to beach with my friend A and friend I know through her.
BK literally insisted that A take her out swimming lol it was super cute.

Sunday was lazy day. I definitely got a bit burn but also M thinks a touch of heat stroke.
I woke up with wicked headache - luckily we have gatorade so I drank water and gatorade and coffee lol
Shower and nap, and I felt fairly okay. It was mostly I felt tired and just overdone.

M also suggested it could be the news we got Saturday morning.

Which leads me to the rough news.

Kylo has a heart murmer.
Now, what does that mean?
No he's not in pain or need meds.
Yes he can still be same crazy kitten.

His life is significantly shortened - down to about 5-10 year life span. Surgery wouldn't guarantee anything anyways, and it's about 10K
They did suggest getting ultrasound to see details, but this may also mean he doesn't get neutrered.

Ultrasound is important for file in case something happens and he needs to have surgery.
Anesthesia is a huge risk, and vet basically said since Kylo is indoor can and Penny is long fixed.

*sigh* it's just a lot lately

I’m so sorry to hear that! My cat dude also has a heart murmur and he’s fixed and 14. It’s just now progressed to the point where the vet might want to treat it, doing a heart ultrasound in a couple weeks. Annoyingly my dude is a second hand kitty and his first owner didn’t have insurance so his heart murmur is a pre existing condition but he’s still a lovely boy.

flantastic · July 2023

@short+sassy, my dad grew up in Cincinnati and most of my aunts and uncles are still there, so I've been there a lot. Cosign that I'd be willing to move there if it didn't put us 10 hours away from DH's family.

charlotte989875 · July 2023

Of the Ohio cities Cincinnati is one of the best! I didn’t live there but went a few times when we lived in Toledo and it seemed WAY cooler than where we lived.

MissKittyDanger · July 2023

STARMOON44 said:

MissKittyDanger said:

Weekend was so mixed.

I'll start with good.
Went to beach with my friend A and friend I know through her.
BK literally insisted that A take her out swimming lol it was super cute.

Sunday was lazy day. I definitely got a bit burn but also M thinks a touch of heat stroke.
I woke up with wicked headache - luckily we have gatorade so I drank water and gatorade and coffee lol
Shower and nap, and I felt fairly okay. It was mostly I felt tired and just overdone.

M also suggested it could be the news we got Saturday morning.

Which leads me to the rough news.

Kylo has a heart murmer.
Now, what does that mean?
No he's not in pain or need meds.
Yes he can still be same crazy kitten.

His life is significantly shortened - down to about 5-10 year life span. Surgery wouldn't guarantee anything anyways, and it's about 10K
They did suggest getting ultrasound to see details, but this may also mean he doesn't get neutrered.

Ultrasound is important for file in case something happens and he needs to have surgery.
Anesthesia is a huge risk, and vet basically said since Kylo is indoor can and Penny is long fixed.

*sigh* it's just a lot lately

I’m so sorry to hear that! My cat dude also has a heart murmur and he’s fixed and 14. It’s just now progressed to the point where the vet might want to treat it, doing a heart ultrasound in a couple weeks. Annoyingly my dude is a second hand kitty and his first owner didn’t have insurance so his heart murmur is a pre existing condition but he’s still a lovely boy.

We had a can that {age likely reason} had a heart murmur.
It did affect his life, but he was 20 so we had him put down.

Unfortunately since Kylo was born with it, insurance won't accept it either.
Which is fine, unless he needed meds etc.

We're doing ultrasound too just to get more details

short+sassy · July 2023

ILoveBeachMusic said:

Glad your vacations were good @mrsconn23 and @VarunaTT. Happy Birthday @charlotte989875.

@short+sassy my youngest son lives in Dayton (about an hour north of Cincy) and goes to Cincy a lot. He has two good friends that live there plus another friend that lives in a northern suburb. He loves it. He even thinks he wants to move to the northern Cincy suburb but I keep reminding him it will significantly increase his commute which is now about 3 minutes! He lives right across from where he works. The zoo there is fabulous and I have heard the food scene is pretty good.

Weekend was good. We had friends over for dinner Saturday night and drank way too much wine and limoncello. We did manage to get up and to church yesterday morning but the rest of the day was pretty lazy. Today I had personal training for the first time in two weeks (I was on vacation then my trainer was on vacation). I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. H made pizza tonight in his pizza oven. He is still trying to perfect cooking time so that the crust is just right.

It's the second oldest zoo in the US. Oregon Zoo in Portland is the oldest.

I was eating my heart out a couple nights ago. There is a great house for sale that is next door to the zoo's entrance. A fixer-upper, but large and seems like a good value because it needs work.

I had visions of getting an annual pass and then making my daily exercise walking around the zoo. How cool would that be! Unfortunately, by the time we are ready to buy it will be long gone.

charlotte989875 · July 2023

short+sassy said:

ILoveBeachMusic said:

Glad your vacations were good @mrsconn23 and @VarunaTT. Happy Birthday @charlotte989875.

@short+sassy my youngest son lives in Dayton (about an hour north of Cincy) and goes to Cincy a lot. He has two good friends that live there plus another friend that lives in a northern suburb. He loves it. He even thinks he wants to move to the northern Cincy suburb but I keep reminding him it will significantly increase his commute which is now about 3 minutes! He lives right across from where he works. The zoo there is fabulous and I have heard the food scene is pretty good.

Weekend was good. We had friends over for dinner Saturday night and drank way too much wine and limoncello. We did manage to get up and to church yesterday morning but the rest of the day was pretty lazy. Today I had personal training for the first time in two weeks (I was on vacation then my trainer was on vacation). I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. H made pizza tonight in his pizza oven. He is still trying to perfect cooking time so that the crust is just right.

It's the second oldest zoo in the US. Oregon Zoo in Portland is the oldest.

I was eating my heart out a couple nights ago. There is a great house for sale that is next door to the zoo's entrance. A fixer-upper, but large and seems like a good value because it needs work.

I had visions of getting an annual pass and then making my daily exercise walking around the zoo. How cool would that be! Unfortunately, by the time we are ready to buy it will be long gone.

We lived next to the zoo in Toledo and it was awesome!

Birthday Monday!

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