Cherry on Top Fabulous Friday Conga Prep for the Fourth! PWYC

[Twins' Mom]

I hope Cathy doesn't mind the extended U.S. holiday weekend here. A conga line is called for - prep for the weekend, the end of a busy week, the peace of knowing things are in order!

Join the line, the music is starting! Hear the drums? Just jump in whenever...I'm doing laundry, cleaning up bonus room, and planning...

[Nancy]

LIme -it is one of my fav. flavors. LucyL. mentioned it in a packet!
I mix mine with my cranberry juice, I get the diet sug. free ones at the W store in a can or jug.

Up sneezing a bit today.
Wheat harvest is nearly ready here.
I made a list of things I used to have as a kid for the forth / to compare with what I have now.
It was quite long. What do you remember for the 4th as a kid compared to now that you eat / don't eat.

I have soup to make and freeze up on my mind.
I was glad I did not hang fabric up on the deck and bright in the other tea towel,
A slight skunky-ness after we'd been up a while.

What are you up to today?

[Harriet]

Hoping everyone's day feels like a cherry on top of the week, a good day. The morning was slightly frantic here, when guys came for the car 3 hours earlier than we'd been told. I raced and got a photo of the car to send to ds for dgsW, to let him know we appreciated having it detailed - ds delivered it back to us after dark yesterday. HRH went out with the guys so that he could honestly say he'd seen the detailing job.

Nancy, I didn't even hold a sparkler until my late dh bought them after we were married, and that was probably at the military base. Just reared so far out in the country, I guess. But he would buy them for the children to enjoy in the '80s. It was also his family's influence that had us doing anything like formally planning to cook out for the 4th - his was a military family.

I was embarrassed because the trunk of the car was really cluttered. Sigh. Had no idea that was going to happen yesterday - that anyone was going to even think about opening it.

LadyM, do you credit your researched plan for working with your dr on meds for most of your success with lipid profile, or mostly credit changes in diet or other? Have you heard from ds on his long trip? I'm sure the grandparents are delighted to have this nice visit.

Had been out to get some morning watering going - now they are saying 100 today, 100 tomorrow

Next Up some cooking, and healthy brunch

[Harriet]

The great minds of Twins' Mom and Nancy were posting at the very minute together this a.m., thinking alike. Here's a blend

[Twins' Mom]

I've congo-ed around the circle twice in the heat with the ddog. It's hot. Already feels like 97 degrees. I'm so hoping for those T-storms this afternoon. Any hope of rain blew right by us yesterday, unfortunately.

Dh has gone to A and V's for an early boat ride on the river. I'm really trying to stay out of the heat when I can. We're supposed to eat out tonight. We had dinner out with ds last night and I did talk to dd for awhile yesterday for birthdays.

On my mind for today:
-pick up stuff at Michaels
-check HOA mailbox at post office
-clean up/straighten up my office room
-run roomba in office room
-water plants'
-pick tomatoes - I sent at the picked tomatoes home with dcleaning lady yesterday
-laundry. Sheets from upstairs bed need washing, and need to wash a load of our clothing. I already one to hang up to dry.
-what else?

Nancy, many years were were camping with family for the 4 July holiday, and it was traditionally when we cut our first watermelon of the summer. My parents believed they weren't properly ripe until then - of course, back then most were more local and there certainly wasn't year round watermelon.

My parents also didn't care for fireworks so we could admire but not participate. When dh and dkids and I were on the mountain, we had a wonderful neighbor who did fireworks on our cul-de-sac each year, so they got to safely try our sparklers. I do recall that one year when dkids were young, we were at the ballpark on the fourth, and one of them was terrified by the sounds. And of course, the year that dkids were born I was still in hospital after a c-section - the ballpark was near and I could see fireworks out the window from the hospital!

[Lady Maverick]

Good morning

Sonic, Braums, and Whataburger are all top choices around here for fast food according to the teenagers. DH and I prefer the local mom & pop type eating places.

Just when I thought we would get to experience 3 days of child free living. Nope. Didn't happen. DD50 has been here this morning already and stayed to talk for about 30 minutes. DS17 has called twice already. Once was to tell me that Trae was coming to pull the bumper off the pickup in the shop today. I veto'd that. I don't want other teenagers here working in our shop without DS17 being present.

Paperwork is getting some of my attention. I'm adding a couple more categories to the NOK binder.

Cholesterol chatter - I've tried every prescription and OTC medication available to bring down my cholesterol. (except the PCSK9 every 6 month shot....the family doctor pushed me to try it but I declined because the possibility of having 6 months of the painful side effects.) I have familial hypercholesterolemia so can't be control by diet alone.
What I did different this time is start with 2 prescriptions (rosuvastatin & ezetimibe) in the smallest dose available. Then I cut the pills in half. I took 1/2 of the pill every other day. So one day I had 1/2 rosuvastatin and the next day I had 1/2 ezetimibe pill. Keeping the dose so low meant i didn't have the side effects of crippling muscle pain that was so bad that I couldn't turn over in bed without the pain waking me up. After a month of alternating 1/2 dose, then i started taking a half dose of both meds each day. I did that for a month without any side effects. After 2 months of slowly increasing the dosage I was able to take a full dose of each meds every day. Taking the smallest dose available has resulted in cutting cholesterol numbers in half AND no side effects.
The doctor has always prescribed high dose cholesterol prescriptions because my numbers are so high. This time I refused high dose and asked for the lowest dose available and could tell they were reluctant to give me that low of a dose. I didn't tell them I was going to cut it and extend the time between doses. Once I got the great report and found out my experiment worked then I told them what I did. They were thrilled with results and told me to keep doing it because it is working for my body.

[Twins' Mom]

I'm setting a timer at :45 after the hour to work to :30 after - for a forty-five minute conga! Anyone going with me? I'm just doing what comes to mind and what I notice - mixture of laundry, a.m. routine, and whatever I see that needs doing.

So smart, LadyM! You started low and let your body acclimate to the meds. Congrats on those great numbers!

[Lady Maverick]

DH sits outside everyday and watchs the cattle on the other side of our yard fence and he makes sure their water trough stays full. It is something that is enjoyable to DH and doesn't require any effort other than turning water faucet on/off. The owners have never asked DH to do this, but they are aware that he does it. This morning the owners of the cattle just brought a big bag of frozen meat as a thank you gift to DH. I looked through the bag and saw steaks, roast, chicken fry, sausages and ground beef. That was so thoughtful of them to recognize DH contributions to their daily care of cattle. It is these small things that keeps DH feeling useful.

Twins - I'm working with you. My effort is done in hourly timeframes. Each hour I try to go outside to walk, garden & mow then come inside to cool down and do at least one SHE card. Then I rest & relax for the remainder of the hour. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

[CathyS]

Hi!

Nothing like "We'll be there in 20 minutes!" to get my rear in gear. The PSW is training a new guy and he called to let me know his ETA. Yikes.

I don't mind hearing/reading what "y'all" are doing. Better to read about it than to experience a shared long weekend on the main tourist street in Niagara Falls like my ex and I did well over 20 years ago. July 1st was a Friday and the 4th was the Monday. Ex just wanted to see the fireworks. He didn't realize that ALL the tourists would be everywhere we went all weekend. Our room also overlooked Clifton Hill, so we didn't get much sleep that weekend. Now I stay far away from that sort of crowded type of place.

We had one heck of a thunderstorm last night. We had another one a couple of hours ago. The fruit farmers around here will be so happy.

Dh has lots of leftovers for lunch. We are having ramen with chicken tonight.

[Twins' Mom]

That's a good plan, LadyM. I got a lot done - ddog is on bed so I'm leaving her for the moment and not making it up. I'm going to head out and go to post office, MIchaels and CVS, all in the same area.