My father’s day song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmDxJrggie8
What I needed to hear, Shawbridge. Thank you.
I now have 3 pages of “things to do”. When one thing is crossed off two more go on.
We are in the mist of spending $$ on a drainage issue in our side yard. The yard cannot be seen
from anywhere in the house and is accessed through the laundry room or by walking all the way around
the front. But man is it going to look great! 
. Half of the issue is the water from our upper neighbor
but he is impossible to deal with so we are footing the bill. The up side is that we are impressed
the company we hired–good workers.
Summer is here with a heat wave. Mixed feelings about that. Nice to see a blue sky.
Picking up a test cake for D tonight. Her BFF is coming to dinner so we can decide for D who is in Boston.
Lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd and a vanilla butter cream frosting. D plans on plopping some flowers
on it and calling it done. Oh, that would be me decorating…she does not have talent in that area.
D received her white coat indicating she is a full doctor last night. FSIL sent a ton of pictures and videos.
My Mah Jongg group I put together through NextDoor is a huge success thanks to 3 people who
decided to help us. 10 being taught now and another 12 begin in August. Then we hope to use the local community center for weekly games. I am improving but my brain is super challenged and I am done at hour 2
while the teachers play 4-5 hours 3 times a week. yikes.
Hi all. Just catching up – been on the crazy busy track since vacation in May. We went to Spain and France for 16 days. D26 came with us and it was a blast. Loved, loved, loved Barcelona, and surprisingly enjoyed driving around France. Ended up stopping at what turned out to be a fabulous restaurant on Victory in Europe Day with a special menu and many families turned out to celebrate. 72 years on and it is clearly still an important holiday. We saw several memorial wreaths in town squares and one very moving ceremony with many old soldiers.
Other than that, not much. We had a heck of a heat wave that finally broke late last week, so I’m happy that we’re getting back to more normal temperatures. 99 is not a number I want to see on a thermometer.
Sounds like a great trip Arabrab. Spain is on the bucket list for sure.Glad you checked in.
Mah Jongg today-wish me jokers er I mean luck.
The work that is being completed on our side yard is lovely.
Just about 14 years past when we should have done it.
Good news the one neighbor agreed to pay 1/2 of the cost of cutting the limbs
hanging over the fence. Technically he does not have to but I think he planted way
to close to the fence so it seems fair to me.
Planning a trip to Maine after the wedding. The wedding is just a little bit too far out
to feel the pressure but too close to relax. I know I must go shopping for myself but
am really not interested.
arabrab, what a nice trip! Barcelona was a bit of a mess for us when we were there as
D’s BF had his emergency appendectomy just days prior. D was determined to
shop so that is what she and I spent our time doing.
Made an offer on a house today. A dilapidated house with a failed septic with 330’ of frontage on a pond and with no neighbors visible from the pond side and yet is an 8 minute walk to a town center. So, it feels like you are in the middle of rural Vermont and yet you are in the middle of town. 8 minute walk to the train station. The pond used to be swimmable but it is shallow and vegetation has gotten thick there. But, you can canoe, kayak, skate, fish, etc. Struck me as a fabulous place for grandkids (not that we have any news on engagements to report).
Lots to be negotiated with the town if we get it. We had environmental engineers, sewer people, an architect, a builder look at the site with us. We engaged a friend who is primarily a real estate developer to work as our real estate agent. Wise move – he knew the right professionals to call and the people in the various town offices and the right questions to ask. however, we are competing against 1-2 other well-heeled bidders.
Good luck, @shawbridge.
I wish we’d done more on the landscaping front ten years ago, but somehow it was never a priority. I’d like to rip out the lawn, but Mr. Arabrab seems to be fond of it for no great reason.
Fingers crossed, Shaw!
Hope everyone has a fab July 4th. I’m prepping for our big biz party in two weeks time and just now dispatched weekend guests, so I’m aiming for a quite but task-oriented 4th.
I do have excellent news to share. By some miracle, mcson’s gf, who as you may recall dropped out of art school, actually landed a decent, full time job. One that shouldn’t exacerbate her RA, which does make life miserable for Er during flares.
I am delighted that my kiddo will not be the sole decent earner…and am delighted for her that she pulled this off. Its a very respectable wage for a gal who deserves it, but did not finish college.
Mcson has also shared that he’s commissioning an engagement ring, but doesn’t plan to give it to her/make the ask until early 2018. They’ve discussed marriage so it won’t be a total surprise, but they’ve decided they want to return to Canada in 2019 and get married there.
Alas, we didn’t get the house. There were three other bidders. We had made an escalating bid starting at $2K above asking and topping the highest bid by $5K until $62K above asking. The winning bidder had learned who we were (and vice versa) and asked several people who knew ShawWife if we were wealthy. The wife also tried to pretend she was ShawWife and called the sewer engineer we were dealing with to see what the cost of connecting to the sewer would be, although the engineer called our agent who was sitting with us and said we hadn’t called and to give them no info. Anyway, they obviously desperately wanted it and their starting bid was at least $100K higher than the top bid we signalled, so we were out of the running (so their opening bid was at least $162K higher than asking). Not sure if we made a mistake or not. I suspect these guys would have gone a few hundred thousand higher as it is pretty unique. But, I wanted to make sure we were not feeling house poor at the end as I still want to rent or buy in California each year and do our traveling. OTOH, we missed out on a unique spot (beautiful waterfront property in walking distance of our town center). Need to do a little more thinking before the next opportunity comes up.
But, unlike the winning bidders, who sold their house this month, we have a nice house and studio and don’t have to leave.
Early congrats kmc. Did the GF also go to school with him in Canada? Is she Canadian? I’ve always been a big believer that if you are not trying to be the best in the world at what you do or at least are highly ambitious, the quality of life in Canada is vastly higher than the quality of life in the US. ShawWife, who is highly ambitious as an artist, and I wouldn’t trade our lives for what we would have in Canada. I don’t think ShawSon, who is probably more ambitious than I am/was (he’s already starting his second company) with Silicon Valley VC money behind him this time, would be happy in Canada. But, ShawD would probably be happier there – she wants to do a very good job at what she does and has high standards, but really wants to balance career with life and motherhood. Alas for Canada, her BF is doing very well working for one of the tech giants in the speech recognition/AI space and will likely end up living in the Bay area, Seattle, or Boulder if they leave the Northeast. She was over for a belated Father’s Day yesterday and was thinking that they should live together in Boston first before they consider moving to another city. So, somewhat serious, I’d guess, and also suggest she probably won’t head to Canada despite the fact that it would fit her well.
^She went to school here in the states to a very competitive art/design program, but dropped out due to problems with her arthritis and artwork studio time 
McSon actually went to University of Michigan, but is Canadian-born. A dear friend of his lives in Toronto and over the last few years of visits, mcson and gf have expressed a desire to live there, as the quality of life for the size of city suits them. So this year they set a goal date of May 2019 to move, and are saving up. Mcson is also applying for full US citizenship right now (like me, he’s a PR) because he needs to have the freedom to return to the US to work and to inherit unhindered. Currently, a permanent resident looses status if they leave the country/work elsewhere for more than six months.
As you mentioned and particularly for those in the arts, the quality of life is better is unless your plan is scaled to either international acclaim or, I’d say, entrepreneurially-focused in nature. Both of them seems to favor social justice and a social contract above great heights of personal fiscal achievement at this point in their lives, so it’s a good fit
On Saturday I shopped for clothes a size larger. Boy, is that depressing. Everyone who is working on this mega-transaction is gaining weight. Even the president of the company - who has a lean, elegant build - said he had to buy pants a size larger. It’s easy to say “make time to work out” but when you get home at 11 pm and leave for work at 7 am, sleep seems more important.
MP - I actually read a study recently that said getting more sleep will actually help with weight gain as much if not more than working out. For me - I just eat to much when I’m at work. I eat less as in forget to eat lunch etc. when I’m home. 
I think really I get bored at work and the work doesn’t keep me focused as much as things at home do and I’m more active at home since at work I sit a lot. That is coming from someone who just spent 1.5 weeks at home on vacation.
Back in the office today. Trying to not eat that much! I really need to lose some weight!!!
Just was home for vacation - cleaning, cooking, doing wedding stuff. Nothing “fun”.
Sorry about the house , shaw. Hopefully something else will come up for sale soon.
Good to hear about mck S and his gf.
I’m sorry about your job, MP. I agree that when you work those type of hours all of the time there really is no time for anything else. Hopefully that will end soon for you.
I have news to share - well actually a few things. The latest is that I have accepted another job in my company. Same location,different department. It is a lateral move in job level, salary, etc. but should be less stressful and regular hours.I was looking to do something different anyway. And honestly I have been working at what should be another level higher in both title and salary for some time now and it isn’t happening. I have mixed feelings of being excited about a new position, looking forward to a better work/life balance but I will miss the team of terrific people I work with now (although I will still see them every day). And truthfully I had hoped to move up, I do like/thrive in the world of work, but it’s hasn’t happened and I had to make a decision. I knew my 10 years out of the workforce would set me back and I was willing to start over at the bottom, but sometimes I felt as if I was never allowed to get much past that no matter what and felt not the “glass ceiling” but the proverbial “sticky floor”. I really have mixed emotions but I know this is what I need to do. Another upside is that the two people I will be working closely with are friends of mine (who also do great work at their jobs).
Other things going on: S is (so far) liking his internship in London (Big 4, on the management consulting side), hopefully he can turn it into a job offer, D is working on applications for MBA programs and my mom is moving into assisted living soon. We had a recent dishwasher flood so will be doing some repairs/upgrades to the house. I thought that with an empty nest, a H who travels and no longer a dog owner I would not be busy- ha!
Good luck on the new job, FG! Glad your S is enjoying his London internship. Sorry about the dishwasher flood.
MP, when we implemented some software several years ago, we all gained a ton of weight. We were working all the time, and I also had a second job and two young children. Hope you all survive.
Oregon, congrats on the white coat! Good luck with all the wedding prep.
Sorry about the house that got away, shaw.
kmc, congrats to mcson’s gf! And early congrats on the pending engagement!
arabrab, my s and his gf went to Barcelona in March and loved it. Sounds like you had a fabulous trip.
RM, H and I are trying hard to lose some weight. He has a lot less to lose than I do. I also tried to tell him that what works for him doesn’t necessarily work for me. For example, I am hungry during the day, but not as much later on. He’s the opposite. So far (a whole 3 days) we’re each just doing our thing and I’m no longer worrying about cooking meals for him.
So, we survived the move out of the church-provided housing. It took longer than anticipated; the moving truck that was suppose to arrive between noon and 2 pm arrived at 4:30 pm, and the storage place closed at 8 pm, so that limited how much we could accomplish. We needed an extra day, but luckily S doesn’t work on Fridays (and we got permission to stay an extra day) and we rented a U-Haul and got the rest done.
We went down to Florida to stay with my parents for a couple of weeks. My father had just been hospitalized, and was released to a close by rehab facility. My mother is ready to move into assisted living, so we were working on exploring options while we were there. I think my father expected to come back home, but they are recommending he move to assisted living (which my mother wants anyway). She knows she can’t take care of him, and can barely take care of herself.
While I was there I did all the cooking. We ate a little too well, which is another reason H and I are trying to lose weight. But my mother had lost weight and I enjoyed cooking her favorites.
Now we are back in NYC - some friends go away for July and August and offered us their place. It’s a couple of blocks from where we were, so we know the neighborhood. H is still having interviews but the process is incredibly slow. He got a small consulting job so that will help a bit… Since I work remotely, I have been working pretty much the whole time (took a few days off for moving).
So it’s kind of a crazy time, but we are focusing on the positive.
FG - good luck on the changes! Hopefully this will be a stepping stone for you. Sounds like you S and D are on the path for the next step in their lives as well.
CQ - seems like things are busy with you! How long will it be until you know where you will be next?
So on the weight loss front. No change at ALL last week during the week. Worked out, ate healthy, went to work etc. I weighed myself on Friday morning (we are currently on a 4 day work week - 4 10 hours days if we so want and I like having the extra day off. This is only for the summer). On Friday morning I weighed the exact same as I did on Sunday morning. Home Friday - Sunday - didn’t go to the gym, did cleaning, cooking, sewing, nothing spectacular. Weighed myself this morning and I’m down 5 lbs. I really think it’s cause I slept more. Guess that means that I have less time to eat. I do eat more of a “meal” on the weekends for lunch than I do at work also. I don’t really get it. Glad do be down 5 just don’t know how I did it.
Hi all!
Shaw, having recovered a foreclosed pastoral haven, I offer both condolences and congrats on not getting the offer I will send you house hunting mojo for something of equal potential with less rehab and fewer nosy competitors
FallGirl, congrats on the new work-life balance move
CQ…sending mojo for your transition! You seem better than me at going with the flow!
RM, I like the notion of the sleep diet. I’ll have to give that a try;)
In actual life, I started intermittent fasting in Jan. and until the last few weeks of house guests and big meals, was averaging about a pound or more a week (still down 32, but quite a bit of party backsliding.) i do 16/8 and check n with my doc every six weeks. He’s impressed b/c I lowered my bp quite a bit so-doing.
In other news, very first world problem, but I’m gonna have to rethink continuance of my annual business network pool party given the size the group has grown to. I’ve ended up with 70 RSVPs. Good thing I have background in party planning from the dinosaur age to manage it, but still a huge distraction of ordering, prep, and now this year, constructing a small sound stage because group founder pulled together a band for the occasion. Fun but another dimension of pita
I’ve always provided Beergaritas and BBQ etc. and have that part under control (in college i did a stint as a caterer) but the number is a bit big for resources such as parking, changing swimsuits, rain accommodation, etc. We’ve now hired a shuttle service and hope some agree to use it!
Because of the pool and the “bowl” shape of my terraced yard, I’ve only got room for a 16x16 tent, so if it rains I’ll have to move people into house, pool house, under deck canopy and tent for dining, plus ill have to move the band into the poolhouse.
The rest of my 2.5 acres is up the hill, forested, and too far away from the action for a larger tent.
So say a little prayer for me NO RAIN FRIDAY and especially no T-storm/winds
kmc, doing the rain chant. Will make it may mantra until your wildly successful party is over.
And what a compliment to you! That said, I gave a huge sigh of relief when we decided we are
not doing a meet and greet for extended family friends for D’s wedding. She agreed and the is off of
my plate. Maybe when they move here in July 2018 we will have a welcome party. My current details
have been things like getting the window cleaners and carpet cleaners lined up. You party sounds like fun!
cq, wow, just wow. Glad you are doing Ok. Also, thank you as you gave me a brilliant idea. I have now
told H that I will plan and prepare the protein and the veggies for our dinners but he is on his own for
his daily 2,000 calories of deserts and breads. I will not to even buy them for him unless he asks me.
This came after he told me “I don’t need all of that” (never does a bite go uneaten and he is underweight). And I do not need to think about any of that as I do not eat it anyway. So thanks as this came from your situation where
you and your H are making your own meals.
RM, that is great news–whatever you are doing is working! I am determined to lose 15 before the wedding.
So far into it just a week and down 3. It has been a part time job.
FG, what great news!!! Keep us posted!
shaw, drat. But there will turn out to be silver lining…
We looked at a condo on the river a week ago. It would have been a very good purchase
but we are not ready yet and I was put off by the lack of repairs on the exterior. It was sold within days.
I bet there was a price war.
mp, sleep is so very important. When I get a good night sleep (which means for me the ability to sleep late in the morning) I am able to eat less. And buying another size must have been such a downer. You got me thinking
about an outfit I wore for years even as it got tighter. I finally let it go but wish in retrospect that I had
understood the future and dealt with myself then. Keeping the weight down is so much harder now.
When does this situation end for you?
RM, we don’t know when we’ll know. There’s no formal process in place - it’s just applying for individual jobs, hoping to find a good fit and get hired. H has an interview next week for a position he applied for in November, so the process can be very, very slow.
Wow - Nov! That is slow!
Wedding plans are moving in the right direction. Being on the 4 10 hour days is helping me get things done on the weekends. Shower invitations were sent out. First fitting for her dress and not many changes were needed which was nice - basically shorter and need the shoulders moved up a bit and bustle it. All in all not bad!
KMC best wishes for nice weather!!!
I decided that I like going out and run/walking during the morning hours so I’m doing that in the morning on some days instead of going to the gym. Much prefer being outside although this morning was a bit humid here. Still nicer to get out and do something instead of being stuck in the gym.