Good morning and Happy Monday!

@quilteryoyo Grey cat passed away Memorial Day weekend...we just couldn't control the symptoms any longer of his heart failure.

Well, life has been a roller coaster for sure!

Overall things are going very well. We are happy, healthy and have all we need and/or want.

We started feeding the "neighborhood cat" who had been living around here for I guess a couple years. Unfortunately shortly after our neighbor who also helped feed her found her deceased...seems a dog got her. I felt so guilty because DH and I were coming around to the idea of "catnabbing" her.

We also got word that the trial date was vacated with no new date due to the defense finding some issue with "discovery" that evidently they "missed" in the last 6 months the trial had been scheduled. I learned that this a common tactic of these types of attorneys, ones that represent guilty people and specialize in getting them a reduced sentence. He is delaying in order to weaken the prosecutions witnesses and evidence through time...he is also a piece of work, he can really talk you into circles and confuse you...he tried that on the medical examiner and she shut him down LOL. But my 75 year old neighbor? He is going to be easy pickings. Thankfully there is a lot of physical evidence so maybe it won't be an issue...and with all the nitpicking...LS can't say he wasn't given fair or good representation. Next "meeting" is end of Oct.

We are supposed to hear this week on the approval of the property split! And hopefully we can collect our money back! It is not a moment too late ... our landlord says the owners want to move back into the house and keeps hinting that they would be happy to release us from the lease early. She even said they were thinking of moving into the "ADU" on the side of the house.. DH and I looked and it is a 2 car detached garage we aren't allowed to use, so not sure they know what their plans are. According the the landlord and former owner, this house is their dream house...IDK...I wouldn't want to live here forever LOL. We are pretty sure that the house next to us is involved in the cartel and ICE came and did a raid a couple weeks back and took a bunch of folks away. Then there are the crazy drivers racing on the streets and the evening fireworks every night...also not to mention when they launch from south base, this house SHAKES....It can't be good for it. It is an older home, but Vandenberg is now launching almost weekly vs every other month.

Started walking last week, just 3x a week. It is a lot more manageable than every day like when I first started. No weight loss but holding steady. I always had to work so hard to loose and maintain weight, perhaps it was not my "meant to be weight?"...IDK, but I don't like the weight I am carrying...but evidently not enough to do something serious about it LOL

My business is going well! A lot hinges on what the VA is going to give me on if it will be enough but my sales are climbing as I get more consistent...although sometimes I am pretty sure I work more now that I did with the military LOL.

I hope everyone has a great week and looking forward to fall! Thinking of ya'll.

@CMorning99 Sounds like things are going okay, except for the trial. I don't know that I could handle all of that nonsense. Walking 3 days a week is great! I hope you are able to keep that up. And, I know I work harder now that I am retired than I did when I was in the AF. You just seem to find things that have to be done and occupy all of you time - or more than the time you have. I hope the house building gets started soon and your current living arrangements work out - or you find something better.

@shanaber I'm glad that chemo is going better than you expected. Those "panic attacks" sound awful though. Also sorry to hear about the not so good PET scan results. I hope the biopsy went well and that you get some good news from it. Hugs and prayers.

@CMorning99 Sounds like things are going well. I think I would give up on California if I had to go through all of that to build a house. I think all we had to worry about was a septic tank permit. The rest was quick and easy. Deciding what to do after retirement is hard. The good thing is that you can try different things and don't HAVE to have the money, so you can move on to something else if it isn't for you. You'll figure it out. Just don't rush yourself. You have a lot of other things to worry about right now.... like all of the house stuff.

I think you are amazing with how you are handling everything @shanaber . Have you talked to your doctor about the sleep? They may be able to give you something to help. That trip up the coast sounds amazing.

@CMorning99 I'm glad I didn't have to go through all of that with the insurance when I retired. That is crazy, and, like you said, sounds like a total scam. That's just not right. Congrats on passing your drivers test. Those things are stressful. I'm glad your reselling is going well. Sounds like that may just continue to be a side kick for extra money and not your primary form of future income. Retirement is almost like being a senior in HS or College again - deciding on what you want to do with your future. The best part, though, as I said before, is that you have your retirement income already, so it's not like you don't have any income while you are deciding and, you can change your mind a lot easier. Great job on the walk. I need to start logging better too, but it's so hard when I am not cooking an have to guess at the serving size and calories. Hope you have a great week.

Forgot to mention that I got a new ‘exercise’ device that was recommended by one of our cousins who also went through cancer treatments. It was recommended by one of his doctors. It is called a vibration plate and you can use it to help strengthen muscles and balance and it helps with keeping your bones stronger. I did some research to see if it was something ‘real’ and not just a gimmick and was surprised to find actual studies and articles in NIH. We’ll see if it actually helps. I am hoping I can get DH to just stand on it a bit. Figure it can’t hurt 😊 even though the idea is you do actual exercises on it.

Good morning!

@shanaber Isn't medicine fascinating! Kudos to your doctor for knowing their stuff and just a "simple" tweak can make such a difference! So happy to hear you are up and moving and getting your chores done LOL. Apple stores are always such a cluster for sure no matter where you go. Ha ha...That machine made me laugh...I instantly had visions of those old 1950s? belt shaker machines. I see those plates you are talking about at the fairs a lot...seems to be a distributor type of company.

So what has been going on. Oof did we get hit with that heat! It got up to 90 in the house and it was so ick that when I went to open a door, the paint stuck to itself and it ripped the paint off the door jam. Thankfully that only lasted 3 days and now we are back to comfy.

I let the property manager (former owner of the house) know about the paint. We got to talking and she mentioned that the owner is going on (special assignment) for 9 months. I have no idea what that means, he is DoD but not active duty. His wife is looking to convert the separate garage into an ADU and live there while he is gone and then they both move here...she said POTENTIALLY we could work out a month to month lease depending on timelines for when our house will be ready.

I think the Life Insurance may have been fixed, I won't know for sure till next month. I called the rep and he was already tracking it and had put in a ticket for me. He said he watches all people he helps b/c the process is so f'd up. Heros do exist.

Black cat is doing well. He came in at 11lbs on his last chemo. He is feeling kinda meh after this dose which is a bit unusual so I am going to fry up some chicken thighs for him.

Trial: Oof...this was a punch is the gut. I got an email from the courts last Thursday that the defense was asking if we would offer the plea deal again of 1st Degree Murder, 25 to life. After all this POS has put me through to get his "sweetheart deal"...I was against it. But then I talked with the Prosecutor. She is the 3rd one assigned to this case. The first 2 you could tell loved going toe to toe in the ring and had said that if they declined the plea deal (we had offered it 2 years ago) we were going to trial and no second chances. This prosecutor is on loan from sex crimes and I can tell she is not too keen to go toe to toe. I think the issues are 1) she is not familiar with the case and evidence (even though she has had it for over 6 months). 2) Because she is not as comfortable she does not seem as confident in arguing the technicalites (example would be the legal definition of kidnaping is move someone min 10 ft to conceal a crime or prevent help or premeditation of the crime) and without hard evidence it is up to her to convince a jury that was his intent 3) Evidently when she did go through the evidence she found several pieces of "discovery" that had not been filed/shared correctly (the last trial cancellation) and claims it could have caused issues 4) She was not forthcoming with information for me and was vague so IDK it is obvious she is very in favor of the deal which she does not feel is a sweetheart deal. I see her arguments...it is hard to be sold on it though when I don't know how persuasive the arguments are and we all know the defense lawyer is good at what he does. I have a week to decide. Oh a one other tidbit - the old Lead Detective who still looks out for me called me on Monday to let me know that the defense lawyer had already told LS we had accepted the deal. Disgusting creature.

If we go to trial it will probably be another year. Or it could be done and possibly with the same outcome (or even better depending on the prosecutor) with the plea deal.

I haven't been walking or tracking calories. We did break out our Home Chef binder (we did that for almost 3 years) and have been using those recipes. It is nice b/c the have all the nutrition. Only issue is I was eating a lot more calories back then LOL

Well, about time to get on the road to mail sales and find cheap gas LOL

Good morning folks!

Wow, time is flying! Yet it has only been 7 weeks since retirement. Odd feeling.


Still been busy.

Trial: I did talk to the lead detective and he confirmed that the prosecutor accepted the plea deal without talking to me. He said it was bull$hit and that he didn't feel comfortable with LS being up for parole at 38 y/o. I told him the prosecution never told me that the deal was done before talking to me...he said it was "wrong". I think I am understanding why he moved to a different department...there were feelings about the DAs office between the lines when we talked. So I guess that is it...there will be sentencing but IDK.

Black Cat: His eating has dropped to about a 1/4 of what he was eating. He is still alert and active but eats about 3 bites and walks away. He has an appt with internal medicine tomorrow...I can't believe how much money we are spending on this cat LOL. But dang he is so cute and such a part of the daily life. The oncologist thinks it is either his new (he has been on it since Feb) chemo may be slowly not working again or he has mild pancreatitis. He is on 2 nausea meds and Prilosec and that isn't doing anything...so it is hard to say what it is.

House: We are still waiting on the bleeping surveyors to file the final map. Then I can fix the driveway and probably sell the half in Jan. And hopefully break ground in Feb. I am reluctant to put dates on things b/c I thought I would have been done by retirement LOL. The joke has been on me for 3 years!

Been feeling pretty tired lately. Not sure why, kinda like that I didn't sleep great tired but I can't fall asleep if I try to take a nap. Weighed myself again and I seem to have hit maintenance. I haven't gained over a month.

This week is busy with reselling, 2 vet appts, and housewifery stuff LOL. I never noticed how much my DH splatters water on the bathroom mirror! Best get to it, had a slow morning.

Till next time!

Hey There!
@CMorning99 - I suppose the agreements are between the defendant and the DA so approval by family of the victim isn't required but common courtesy would seem to dictate that they at least let you know. Pretty crappy actually the way they handled it. LS won't have the opportunity to get any earlier would he? I too hope when he does come up for parole you can make a statement and have it put aside.
I am sorry black cat is failing again. They are such a part of our lives that we would literally do almost anything for them. I know I feel that way for Hobbes.
Your husband and mine sound similar - we have separate bathrooms so I don't pay too much attention but when I do see it - it is like OMG! I can't imagine not just wiping it off when it happens. I mean how difficult can it be.

I am feeling better this week finally and we are in Pismo with a room looking right out at the ocean. The hotel isn't as great from a dog friendly perspective as they made it seem. To take them potty you have to go out and all the way around the hotel to a dirt area over on one side. The restaurant menu online was pretty extensive and the actual menu is very limited and very expensive. I brought snacks, cheese and crackers and the like so we had that for dinner while watching the football game. Tomorrow we will go to the grocery store and check out more of the local restaurants. The beach itself is pretty muddy but we are going to go down and take a walk on it to check it out. Not sure how they manage it but they do yoga on the beach and I thought it would be fun but I don't want to do it in the mud. We will make it all work just a little disappointing.

Ok - I need to fess up and admit I was wrong. The beach was muddy last night but when Hobbes and I went out to walk today I was delighted to discover the beach was mostly packed sand (and some avoidable) muddy spots. We took a lovely walk as far as we could go in one direction before the water blocked us at the cliffs. Then we came back around and walked back and past the hotel. There was a group doing some kind of water rescue training (FD I believe) and they looked like they were having a great time. We stopped and watched them for a while. Hobbes met so many people who loved up on him as well as playful pups.
Then we drove to find a grocery store and went to check out the butterfly grove. We will go back to the grove in the morning which we have been told is the best time to see them. We saw quite a few this afternoon but they were not where we could take any pictures of them.
I posted pictures from my walk on Strava but here are a couple and also from the butterfly grove

Good morning Folks!

@shanaber I am glad that Pismo didn't let you down (too much). I have never stayed down in any of the hotels on the beach and honestly I don't think I have even eaten down there. Mom had an oyster bar she liked to go to but I don't remember where. We don't even go to the beach usually b/c the parking is so bad (ongoing drama about that). Our vet is in Pismo and that is about as far as week go. Love all the pictures...looks like home LOL.

So what has been going on...

House/Property: I think all I did was write checks the past 2 weeks. We did learn we have to do another soils test for the driveway improvements...what do they think is going to change 900 ft from the last one? We did get the "official" signed letter saying they accepted our permit request for SB-9... no idea why that needed to happen.

Mom: Court happened on the 24th and LS plead guilty as planned. I don't think he will change it again, but I think he can. The DAs office is not responding to emails - I suspect they know they pissed me off. Yes it was a deal between the DA and LS but most people feel they took the easy way out vs doing the right thing. The Detective has access to all the mental health reports (4 Doctors) from when he plead insanity initially and there must be something in there that makes him nervous. Sentencing is in early Jan. The local news reported on the guilty plea so I have been getting a lot of texts from mom's friends who are not happy.

Black Cat: So we spent about $3K on that damn cat last month. The ultrasound showed his intestines and pancreas were quiet. He did test positive for a bacterial URI culture which I think he has had for awhile - the vet kept saying it was viral for the last 3 months. He is on 2 weeks of antibiotics and we upped his prednisone and we are now about 4 days in and he ate a bit more last night so hopefully it is working and that was the only issue. Hopefully this is just a flare and we can reduce the prednisone so we don't trigger his diabetes and make his kidneys work harder (he had significant kidney disease on ultrasound). He has definitely lost weight but hopefully we can reverse that soon.

Retirement: Reselling is moving. I didn't grow from Sep to Oct but all the youtuber resellers I watch say that there are platform issues. But I was able to pay myself what I wanted for the month. No word from the VA yet on a rating, I called the company that is putting together the claim for the VA and they have not even submitted it yet; so much for benefits delivered on discharge (their new moto) LOL. I got charged again for the life insurance...boo! I called but no one has called me back.

Health: Still maintaining. I have developed some breast pain on the side near my ribs, I think I have outgrown all my bras and need something a bit more supportive to carry the added weight. I was going to start walking again but brrrrrr! LOL. DH is also developing a bit of a gut so I guess now that I am home, I need to start thinking about healthier meals for us. I miss Home Chef LOL

Well, it is an inventory shopping day so best be moving!

Good morning and happy monday!

@quilteryoyo It is crazy expensive and complicated for sure! So much hurry up and wait. I was talking to a neighbor this past weekend at the property and about the same time I started with the building, they bought property in Sisters Oregon and planned to build. I asked how it was going and he said that Oregon is just as bad and after 2 years, they ended up just selling the land and buying another lot in Idaho. He said even there, he didn't expect to have a house for at least a year.

I would like to say we break ground in Feb but IDK...I think we have been waiting 2? 3? weeks for the new soils test for the driveway? Bah humbug. The house plans are about done and should go up to the county early Dec maybe. Hopefully they will be done by Feb...but not likely. Double bah humbug.

Black cat is hanging in there...he is losing weight but slowly. We are out of ideas . He has extreme IBS right now...we can hear him in the box from across the house with gas and poos. But if we give him pumpkin he gets constipated...there is no "normal" for him. He does feel a bit better after week of antibiotics but obv the URI was not the full cause of his ick.

Still no desire to fix myself yet. I have had some more energy lately though. I think I am bored. I don't know what I want though LOL. I had to have a profile picture taken for an appt a week back and I saw it and was horrified. I need a workout partner for sure.

I have a lots of errands today and then the rest of the week is pretty calm. Gotta keep working on reselling...sales are down so far for Nov.

@CMorning99 - I think anywhere you go (not just in CA) they have so many regulations, state, county, city, etc... that it takes forever to work through and even just to figure out who needs what and what needs to be done. It is no wonder that there is a housing shortage pretty much everywhere and especially affordable housing. The upfront cost to just get started and approved to build is overwhelming not even considering the actual building costs. I guess that is why building companies now have teams of lawyers to work through it all. I hope you can get started in February.

I did find it difficult to get into a regular routine after I retired. It was just so easy to put things off. It took a little while but I started basically doing what @quilteryoyo is suggesting, setting up small simple goals for each week like going for a short walk or doing a short strength workout (which I found so easy to not do...). I made myself dress for my walks as if I was going for a run and often times once I was out there I did go for a run and then I just built on it. Also I put everything on our shared calendar so I got reminders to go for my walk and my DH would say oh I see you are going for a walk today or something like that when he was figuring out what our day looked like. It made me feel like I was committed to getting out there - he knew, I knew and there it was reminding me.

I suspect people are waiting to buy and looking for deals. I was surprised to start getting emails for Black Friday sales, in October. It made me think some retailer was making up their own Black Friday date or something. Nope they were just starting early.

@quilteryoyo - with as active was you are, especially lately, I am amazed that you haven't lost weight. I do think you look great and fit just the way you are and I suspect most of that is muscle. It is always nice though to see it dip down below whatever baseline we have set.

I haven't been hungry much but I am trying to eat more and keep it mostly healthy. Having ice cream every night probably isn't the best. I am not even a huge fan of it but when my calories are so low I figure I need to eat something. Now that we have a working kitchen again I am also trying to cook more. I had found some recipes over the last couple of months that I want to try so I am planning to try making a pot roast in the IP this week and next week I am going to make a mushroom stroganoff. I love mushrooms and I love stroganoff so hopefully this will be a good veggie dinner.

I found out the other day that our DD is coming with her partner for Thanksgiving. I honestly don't remember the last time she was here for Thanksgiving and they are going to do the cooking or at least most of it. Our SIL and niece will also be over so it will be a nice little family gathering.

Good morning folks!

Glad to hear from folks and how you are doing!

Things are chugging along here.

House: Wrote more checks LOL. We did get the soils report and I have a meeting with Public Works to discuss the driveway with the contractor. He should be able to get the work done quickly, it is a small project. Then we just wait for the paperwork to catch up with the new parcel number. Even if it comes early, I am not going to sell till Jan so I don't have to worry about sorting all the paperwork for taxes yet LOL. The house plans are done but on hold until the driveway is done. If we had submitted them at the same time, they would have combined the "dirt moving" and we would have had to get a grading permit. If we do it separately, we don't. Go figure.

Black Cat: He is doing much better. He had chemo this week again and they did so much blood work and his weight is stable. The vet thought it was hilarious that I was cooking chicken thighs for him when he didn't feel like eating...really? Is that so strange? My Mom would buy turkeys when they went on super cheap sales, have them quartered and then put them in the pressure cooker till they dissolved (bones and all) and then put it in the blender quickly and freeze the "broth" for the dogs.

Retirement: I started taking my vitamins again, Iron and D and a multivitamin. IDK if it was placebo but I feel so much better. I wonder if my iron and D went down again and it is going to be a chronic thing. I haven't started walking or anything but I make myself get ready every day. I feel like I am pretty busy all day, I barely sit down. According to my business software, sales are up 11% so far this month. It was pretty rough the first 2 weeks and then I ran a small sale on eBay over Vets day and holy heck it was crazy!

Our landlord told us that they will be in fact moving back in in May so we will be homeless. I have been researching storage units and figuring out costs. We plan to just put everything in storage and then rent a small apt since their leasing is more flexible. I am dreading moving again..oof. I am going to have to figure out how to run my business too. I suspect we will need at least a 2 bed apt and one be my office and then rent ANOTHER storage unit near where we live for my inventory...ouch.

No movement on my VA claim. We resubmitted the paperwork to cancel the life insurance with a pen and ink change...I have to wait till my next check to see if they took it. If not, I am SOL for 1 year of premiums.

Health: I started tracking calories again, what a PITA. I weighed myself again and I am still maintaining. My body is very happy at 185 [insert horror face]. I honestly can't believe I am that heavy. I don't think I am eating poorly, but I was probably having a few too many snacks...and a lot of carbs LOL.

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Hope no one overate too terribly. My DD made a wonderful dinner and I had a little bit of everything. It was all delicious and of course we have leftovers 😁
Today we are going up to apple country. It is a quirky little area we used to go every year when DD was growing up. We aren't going for it but there is an Apple Butter Festival this weekend. I am just hoping the crowds aren't crazy. We need to get a piece of apple pie to share and some apple cider and of course some apple butter.