***Welcome To The New Cruise Countdown Club***

[timeormoney]

Ha ha Kathy, thats one way to get a dinner out! Boy can't things happen fast, glad it turned out ok, just a little fixing up and it sounds like everything will be fine. What do you think happened, must have been a malfunction on the grills part don't you think for it to get that out of hand?

 

There are all kinds of boat trips, you should look it up on the computer to see which ones would work the best for you. It was a good time. Also a little closer is Lake Geneva. They have daily boat trips around the lake. They also have dinner cruises, ice cream cruises and one where they deliver the mail and the gal or guy jumps off the moving boat, puts the mail in the box and jumps back on before it gets to far away. When we were on that one, close to the end, the gal didn't make it and fell in the water! Groupon and Social network has had reduced tickets but they have sold out before I could get any.

 

Good Zumba class today, our leader was a tad tired as she had taken her kids to see the last Harry Potter movie at 12:30 am. So she didn't get much sleep last night.

 

Don't know what this weekend will be for us, guess just play it by ear. You be careful and have a good weekend, try staying cool.

[timeormoney]

 

 

 

Here are some pictures I took yesterday.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, are you going out to your usual spot for dancing and socializing? There was nothing wrong with the grill other than I had not ever cleaned the try and it started a huge grease fire. Got to pay more attention to the little details so they don't turn into a major thing. I think 1 more minute and someone would have called the fire department. It was a fire that almost got way out of hand fast.

 

I will have to check on some companies where we could perhaps take a bus from downtown Chicago for a cruise. I would much rather do a bus where we would not have to drive.

Yes, it is really going to be very hot over the weekend. You stay cool as well.

 

Nice pictures, name tags and all.

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

Staying home tonight, Bill just feels kinda overwhelmed and stressed. I just came back from a short walk with Tinker and its still really nice outside. Sure do hate to see the 90 degree heat come back.

 

Yes we like the bus, that way we can both look at the scenery and on the way back even snooze a little. The gal in charge from the bank always has bottled water and snacks both going and coming home. Some times she has a game or quiz but its all optional if you want to do anything. We find that we like to sit no more than half way back in the bus because there are some pretty loud talking and laughing going on in the back. After a while you get kind of tired of listening to it. We usually have the same bus driver too and he is great. He always says "I'll give you a ride you won't forget" and to the men...."guys I don't care how good you think you are, you are not good enough" in reference to using the toliet while the bus is moving. Yes we always have to wear name tags, I guess so if we get lost someone will know where to return us, ha ha

 

OK going to watch a little tv and then hit the shower.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, probably a good idea to stay home tonight with all that you have been doing. I went out in the hot tub last night. Went and ordered take out from Applebees last night. Bill went and bought a new grill at Menards yesterday. He said they will deliver it on Monday. He also went and got the fire extinguishers refilled.

 

Well I will definitely look into someplace where we can take a bus trip to. It is going to be real hot over the next week. Stay cool and enjoy the weekend.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

A little hot tub and some Applebees sounds like a great way to spend a night. So you will have a new grill and just in case, filled extinquishers, sounds like thats all taken care of too. Today we went uptown to pick out some flower designs for the funeral and then went to the very small farmers market. New this week was a gal grilling veggies. She said you cut up, peppers, mushrooms, onions add cherry tomatoes and put them all in a baggie with some Italian dressing overnight. Then the next day you grill them on a piece of aluminum foil on the grill. She gave us samples and they were very tasty. I told her I usually cut up veggies and we dip them in light ranch dressing, but she said sometimes you end up eating more dressing than you had planned to. She may be right, I do like to dip them, so I think we will try it her way next time. Found out the wake is on Monday night and the funeral is on Tuesday. Bill's other daughter who had the surgery is doing better, very sore, but at least kidneys are working and she is not swollen up anymore. She said she would be there Mon and Tues. So nothing planned for tonight, Bill seems to be doing better, but I've been through it and you really never get over losing a child, no matter what age they are. Somehow you just live through it and it takes a while to get to that mind set.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, I will say a prayer that Bill will get through and with your support hopefully he will have piece. I worked outside this morning before it got too hot. We are just going to stay inside and stay cool. I was looking at someplace to take a river cruise and for us the closest place to go is Peoria. Things like you did were organized by someone and you were able to get enough to sign up to go. Otherwise we would have to drive ourselves and pick the type of river cruise we would want to take.

 

Such as day trips or 2,3, or 5, day river cruises. So I think we will just pick out a date when we can go to just do a 1 day river cruise. They leave around 9:30 and return around 5:30. For instance you might leave from Starved Rock and cruise to Peoria and then get bused back to Starved Rock. Something to look into.

 

Also we are looking into going to Branson, MO for a couple of days. Looking at flying into Springfield, MO and driving to Branson, as it is about a 45 minute drive. It sounds like you did good at the market today. The lady knows how to put things together.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

You can get a Branson book by going to their website and requesting it, I just got one. It has all the hotels and restaurants and shows and anything and everything you would want to know. I think some time in Nov they have all the Christmas lights on. I have been thinking about signing up for a 3 day trip to Nashville with the Van Galder bus line.They go to the Grand Old Opry for a show and stay at that really nice hotel that I cant think of the name right now. Its in the first part of Dec. I think that Tinker can handle that long without us, she wont like it though.

[mstrc1]

Yes, there is much to do in Branson and now is the busiest time of year to go. Today is the start of the intense heat. I think we are just going to stay inside and stay cool. At some point this week Bill is going to have to drain water out of the pond and put fresh cooler water so the fish do not get over heated.

 

A bus trip to TN sounds good. Probably the Grand Old Opra. Relax and enjoy the day and stay cool.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

Yes this is the day the heats supposed to really come in. Went to church this morning but we don't have anything else planned to do so probably will stay inside also. I bet those fish would like some cooler water, with the sun it must really heat it up or do you have alot of shade. Do you have some kind of pump to keep the water moving?

[mstrc1]

Sharon, we have 2 pumps going all of the time. There is not much shade with the pond facing east/west. So by Tuesday he plans to do a partial water change to cool it down and to put fresh water in for them. It is just too hot to stay outside for an extended period of time.

 

The fence people come on Tuesday to give an estimate to replace 1 section of the fence. The new grill is supposed to come on Monday.

 

Stay cool.

 

 

Kathy

[mstrc1]

Sharon, with this excessive heat are you still planning to do Zumba this week? How about going to the pool is that something you might do. I lowered the temp in the hot tub last night.

 

It sure would be nice to just stay inside. Tonight I am just going for the weigh-in and getting out of there. This place where they meet does not have any air conditioning.

 

Stay cool.

 

 

Kathy

[mstrc1]

Sharon, last night at weigh-in I gained 1.8 lbs. It was not good. I never have gained that much and when you combine last week .6 things are not going well for me just now.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

Kathy, are you over the WW limit or were you under far enough to still qualify for the free meeting? Sometimes its just hard to judge if what you are eating is right or not. I had broke the 150 barrier the other day but today was back up with .8 added to it. Guess I deserve it though because we went out to eat on Sat & Sun, and always eat too much it seems.

 

Yesterday I went to Zumba and even though she had on the air and fans it was really hot, but then again doing Zumba I always get very hot. Then I came home and showered, changed clothes and picked up Bill and went to the wake. We didn't leave there until around 7:30 then stopped for dinner on the way home, it was almost 10 by the time we got here. Then today we left at 9 and got up there about 10:30. After the funeral the church ladies put on a big buffet for everyone. We visited afterwards for an hour or so and got home around 3 pm. Bill was pretty good through the funeral service but when the choir sang How Great Thou Art, he lost it for a while. I almost did too because of him feeling so bad. So now her husband and 4 sons will have the real job of learning to live without her.

 

Pretty soon you will the fence back to normal and the new grill and hopefully soon you can look back and laugh at what happened. To bad you didn't have someone video it and send it in to Funniest home Videos.

 

Boy is it ever hot outside, I'm going to wait a little longer and go out and water some of my flowers, they are really wilting and don't know if they will make it if I don't. I have been watering them it every day but its just so hot, sure do need some rain, an all nighter would be great.

 

Did you see the new casino opened in Des Plaines and within the first hour they had the 5500 capacity crowd. People had to wait outside for someone to come out before they could go in!

[mstrc1]

Sharon, I am glad that things went well as expected at the services. Yes, it will be different for them to survive without her now. That is very funny about filming the fire. However I am sure someone would have said wouldn't have been better to just put it out before filming the event. lol

 

Our air took a crap last night, so I may just stay here at work all day. The repair men will not come until this afternoon. Bill went to the ice house yesterday and bought 5, 25 lb blocks to cool the pond off yesterday. Today he is draining 50% of the water and replacing it with fresh water. Then again on Friday he will buy 8 blocks of ice. This is something we have to do to keep the water from getting too hot. Otherwise the fish will die.

 

Are you planing on going to the pool at all this week. Yes, I am still in the free membership as I have not left the range. But also I have never gained this much before. When I first got into this last year at some points I was loosing that much but not gaining. It sounds like we both are going through some changes.

 

Yes, I did see that mess yestrday. One of the members from our club sells to the casinos. But I could not believe people got so crazy over that.

 

Stay cool.

 

 

Kathy

Edited July 20, 2011 by mstrc1

[timeormoney]

Ha Ha when I started to read your post I thought you were going to say Bill put the blocks of ice in front of a fan to cool the house! But I guess the fish need it too. Good thing the guy is coming this afternoon, hope he made it, it is really hard to sleep when its hot. Our has been running and runnning, but its nice and cool in the house.

 

I haven't been swimming at all, ever since my "friend" did that to me I haven't talked to her or even wanted to. I think she has enough friends without me so I'd rather not do anything with her anymore. The good news is that Bill's knees are healing up, from when he got on the other house's roof to paint a spot a couple of months ago. He had such bad blisters that they took this long to heal up and he didn't want to go into the hot tub or pool until they were all better.

 

I went to Zumba, we had 6 people today, then went to the mall. I found 3 dresses, they were all on sale. One from Bergners was $89 but on sale for only $17. The other two are from Penny's and I save $69. I had a dress I bought several months ago for the wedding we are going to next weekend, but when I tried it on yesterday, it still didn't fit like I wanted it to. So now I have a couple of choices. One Bill says is sexy, the other matronly, so I guess I'll wear the sexy one! I don't think the one looks matronly, maybe only on the hanger.

[timeormoney]

Hot again today, yesterday I had stopped by Bill's on the way home and helped him put the air conditioner in the window. Don't know why he hadn't done it before, only had a fan on and the windows open which in this heat doesn't do much good. So it should be feeling better in there today.

 

Its starting to cloud up here a bit, hope it rains we sure could use it. I've been watering the tomato and pepper plants every night. I've gotten quite a few of the sweet banana peppers so far and only 3 cherry tomatoes. There was one really nice big tomato but a little stripped chipmunk/gofer or whatever he is, ate it! Twin Garden farms has a lot of fields of the Mairi(sp) sweet corn around here and has just started sellilng it. I think I will run up to the stand and get some of it for dinner, its extra sweet.

 

Hope the guy got your air working yesterday....

[mstrc1]

Sharon, I was downtown all day today at McCormick Place for a trade show that my boss wanted me to attend. Today was not the best day to be driving a long distance. So Bill drained 40% of the pond water and replaced it with fresh water. By doing that he lower the temp 10 degrees. Now tomorrow he will go early to the ice house and he said he is going to get 8 blocks of ice this time. Those days of putting a block in front of a fan are over for me . Also the days when you would put a block of ice in the ice box to cool everything. How did we ever survive back in those days. lol

 

Did you get storms today? I heard that Mc Henry was getting hit earlier. So the air was fixed yesterday afternoon. It was only a small electrical part and they were in and out in 15 minutes. I am glad that Bill is getting better and hopefully you both can enjoy the pool. I do not blame you at all for not wanting to go with that lady ever again. I thought you might go alone, but now you will be able to go with Bill.

 

Good deal on the dresses. It seems like you are always finding good deals smeplace. I sure do not know how Bill could survive in his office witout air. It is good that you got it in.

 

Wow 2 days in a row in the 100's, stay cool.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

No didn't get the rain, it looked promising for a while this afternoon, but the clouds passed over and the sun came back out. Just finished watering the flowers and veggies again, now time to hit the shower.

 

The fish are probably getting very happy with their cooler water, do you have a picture of the pond?

 

Was the trade show kinda fun to look around, it was probably sports equipment wasn't it?

[timeormoney]

Finally got some rain, Friday morning about 3 inches and last night and this morning a little more. The grass drank it up as quick as it could come down.

 

I went up to the farmers market and got 2 yellow squash and 1 zucchini, I have that coupon book so I just tore out a $3 coupon and got it for free. I love to mix them together for a nice colorful vegetable.

 

Feels a little cooler so far, but I think its going to get right back up there to the uncomfortable temp. Bill had to go up to the apartments and fix some lights that were out. When he comes back we plan on going up to the Chevy dealer in town. They are celebrating their re-grand opening after redoing their showroom and service areas. They are having a cookout, we'll see when he gets back if there is anything left sometimes these quick fixes turn out to be all day fixes.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, I will try to figure out how to take pictures of the pond and post. I don't know how much rain fell in your area but they said yesterday 7 inches fell at O'Hara. Then we got a bunch more this morning. I know there were many places flooded and many roadways closed as well. But yes it has cooled of and the grass and plants are happy.

 

I cooked steaks on the new grill yesterday. Then I worked in the yard most of the afternoon. This afternoon we are going to our club as they are having a dedication for the 45 year anniversary of the plane crash that killed professional golfer Tony Lema and his wife and the pilot.

 

It sounds great that all you have to do is give coupons to go to the farmers market. They have some good stuff. How was the cook out yesterday at the dealer?

 

Enjoy the rest of the day.

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

Steaks on the grill sound really good, i have just been using the George Foreman grill on the counter for brats, its been easier than running in and out. We did not get to the dealership yesterday, as I had thought, Bill didn't get back home till 2:30 and the event was over by then. We did go to the dance place last night and met some other friends. We had a great time, the band played old country songs and it was not real crowded. She even convienced me to have a lemon drop shot and a cherry cheesecake shot, haven't done that for a long long time. We are going to their sons wedding next Sat. They are very against him marrying her, they don't like her at all, so I hope eveything goes ok at the reception

Bill cleaned out some gutters this afternoon and I did some weeding, now just cooling off in the house.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, I have thought about getting one of those grills that you have as well. Everyone I know who has one says nothing but good things. Too bad you were not able to get to the cookout at the dealership. It sounds like you had a great time at your dance place.

 

It was a very nice event at the club yesterday. This Tony Lema his nick name was Champagne Tony. Because after all of his tournaments he would toast a glass of champagne. So everyone toasted champagne to Tony. Like I had said earlier, yesterday was the 45th anniversary of the crash where Tony and his wife and 2 pilots were killed in the crash. Tony was 32 and his wife was 30 at the time.

 

Should be a nice day today. Enjoy,

 

 

Kathy

[timeormoney]

Wow 45 years and they are still remembering and celebrating him, must have been some golfer! Too bad they crashed though both of them so young.

 

Had Zumba this morning, dropped some stuff off at Goodwill, bought some peaches and sweet corn from the farm stand and now am home. I have one spot on the side of the hill that I never got around to weeding, think I might try to get some of that done today. Not nearly the humidity so far today and that makes it much nicer out.

[mstrc1]

Sharon, last night at weigh-in I once again gained .4 lbs. This is 3 weeks in a row that I have been gaining and not loosing. The weather has been nice these past few days. You are getting some good stuff at the farm stand.

 

Things have been very hectic at work and there has been much stress on me. You are doing very well at Zumba. Are you looking forward to the wedding this weekend. Let's hope that there are no incidents with them not liking the one who is getting married.

 

 

Kathy