SHOPAHOLICS: ONE DAY AT A TIME (FRIDAY)

A Facebook message from George Simonton:

Dear friends, I will be back on the Q on Saturday Jan 25th at 8am 'AM Style' as a guest and Monday Jan 27th at 6am 'Fashionably Early' with 4 new designs! And then Wednesday Jan 29th at 2am for a full hour show and 11am for another full hour show with lots of new George Simonton designs. Please tune in if all possible! God bless, George

I really enjoy George's clothing as the fit is great for me and looks good on me.

Good Morning/Afternoon! Thanks for getting us started Jean. Sorry about your weather and lack of income/work. I know that you enjoy working very much, not just for the money, but the money is good as well. Hope things improve pronto.

I never cared for winter either, and it is nice that we don't have much of a winter out here. I know that many couldn't stand our warmer months, but I'm adjusting okay so far. Check back with me in June. LOL

DH and I enjoyed the lecture last night -- turned out to be mostly a recruiting session for men to get involved in a clinical trial for a new medical device. DH has decided not to participate, but I was interested in the subject and the way they conduct medical device trials. Working at FDA, I was pretty familiar with drug trials, but not device. We enjoyed our Mexican dinner after the lecture.

We are headed out to COSTCO and Trader Joe's now, and have a free movie to attend this evening. Pretty exciting day for me.

Waves to Kathleen (stay safe in the ice), Sonya (feel better soon), Arlene, Rosa, Susan, Marijane, Twinny, Gayle, Nancy, LindaR, Karen (praying for you and your son), Kathy, Val, and all of our posters and readers.

Have a good day everyone!

Hugs,

Linda

Linda--The income is one thing but lack of interaction with people is another. This is what is driving people to extreme levels of frustration because they can't get out and be with other people unless it is at work. Many of them have their vehicles parked on the main road and walk from their homes to the vehicles so they can get to work. The students are really having problems, when they are wanting school to be back in session so they can see their friends.

It sounds as if the evening lecture was interesting but I would be reluctant to participate in a trial of the device. I think your day of being at Costco and a free movie this evening is exciting compared to "entrapment."

LindaR--Ice can be tricky so when people are not used to driving on it, it can be a challenge. It is a good idea that the schools were closed. If they hadn't and a bus wrecked with injuries involved, major lawsuits would follow. It is always good to think of the children first! You are doing fabulously with your shopping habits.

I saw Sonya is not feeling well and will have to cancel a planned trip. I do hope she improves soon. Also, Twinny, I understand what you mean about going some place in the winter but spending the time worrying about what is happening to the pipes, etc. I did that once when I spent Christmas in Hawaii...and we had a spell here like we are now.

I'll leave the thread starting to someone else as it needs a fresh viewpoint. I will say that it is amazing to see how small the balance is on the card I pay in full each month.

KonaKat,

Too bad you are not in school again today. You sound like you really like your job. Here in S. WI it is brutal today, but will be very brutal next Monday-Thursday becdause of the wind chill factors. I am expecting schools to be closed most of next week here too. We are allowed 2 snow days but so far they have about 5 and more coming. Since it is a state law that public schools can't start before Labor Day, school never gets out until the 2nd week in June.

Sonya, hope you feel better soon. LL sounds like an interesting forum with DH last night and the Mexican dinner sounded good too.

Karen, prayers for you & your son. Hi to Arlene, Karen, Susan, Marijane, Gayle,

Nancy, Linda, Kathy, Val and all other posters & readers. Sometimes I just read so I don't bore you guys to death.

I think my DH & I will purge my sewing room next week. Too cold to go outside, so we might as well be useful inside. Too 2 large boxes and one large bag to St. Vincent's that we purged from our guest bedroom a couple of days ago. That room looks like a delight once again.

Took my DM grocery shopping today. She is 93 and can no longer drive and has been cooped up all week too. She is used to going to the senior center 3 times a week, but her friend across the street had car trouble all week. I hate summer worse than winter, so I need to just grin & bear it!

Stay safe everyone.

Hi girls!

It's another freezing cold day; the schools opened two hours late because of the cold, and when I went out to feed the dogs (has to be done outside, otherwise the kitties steal their food) I found that the canned dog food - which I keep in cases on the back porch - was frozen solid! I have the outside faucet dripping, so the ferals have a source of drinking water (and the dripping should keep the pipe from freezing again); I put water out for Angel & Autumn a little while ago so they can drink, but they're only outside for a couple of hours at a time (at their own whining request), so if it freezes before I bring them back it it's not crucial.

I feel your pain on lost income, Jean. I went by the tax office last night for a bit more training, and finally got my schedule for next week - about 20 hours. As much as I hate to, I think I'm going to have to buy a new vacuum cleaner, but the lady who I'm working with said she's going to have her husband look at my car heater to see if he can fix it. Fortunately, the office is only about 3 minutes from my home, so I don't have to drive far in a freezing cold car. Since I haven't been able to go out much, I still have almost a half tank of gas from the beginning of the month.

A woman came in to have her taxes done last night, and I'd have sworn she was about 70 but no, she was 45. Poor thing must have had a hard life. Anyway, she had income of only a few thousand dollars, and I was appalled to see what she was charged for a simple tax return - over $400, which comes out of her refund. (Because of EIC she'll get a fair amount of money back.) I couldn't believe it - what a rip-off! Granted, I appreciate having a job, but more and more I'm seeing how companies are all about profit; they don't care about paying their employees well, nor do they care about the customers. So sad...

Jean, your cartoon is weird in its timing - last night I was dreaming about not shaving my legs in a while, and I was seeing an old BF whom I still care about. I can relate to not having interaction with other people for days; sometimes - especially when the weather is bad - I'll go a couple of days without seeing anyone. That's when I call my BFF and tell her, "I haven't spoken to a human in three days, but you'll do!"

LindaR, I can't imagine having to be at a school bus stop at 6:30 - even as a child I was a night owl, and it was hard enough to be up at 8 to be at school by 9! Then when I went to high school I had to be up earlier, as I had to take the subway to school, but nothing as ridiculous as that.

Twinny, are you a twin? Actually, I have a picture of you in my mind wearing a twin sweater set and pearls for some reason.

Well, I have an exam to take for both classes; other than that (and church) there are no plans for the weekend - it's too cold to do anything, although the next two days are supposed to be a bit warmer. Oh, I do have to return a turkey tenderloin to Aldi - it was in some sort of horrible marinade or something, very garlicky, and I didn't like it at all - and $6 is too expensive to just toss it out. (I can't even give it to the critters because of the garlic.)

Have a blessed day, everyone!

Funky Hula Girl,

Yes I am a twin and we will be 66 years old January 27th. When we were born, it was very cold like right now. We were born 6 weeks early and weighed 4# 11 Oz & 4# 13 oz. Back in those days my parents were told it would be a boy. What a complete surprise to get two little girls! When we were in H.S. we dressed alike every day. Now I would never do that. I wanted so bad to go away for the day, but the weather is very cold now and they are saying snowing & blowing tonight & Saturday night. Then they say the highs will have a chill factor of below zero until at least next Thursday. My twin lives 400 miles away.

I also like twin sets and do have some nice Honora pearls too!

Hi ladies! We put off DD's appointment to have wisdom teeth done, but the Dr couldn't make it so they cancelled. It was noon when they called and we were almost there so we had a nice lunch at Red Lobster (Sonya I can't believe how many calories those cheesy biscuits have, thought of you as I logged my food) went to the grocery and back home.

DH went in for a little bit and now he's home too. We are picking Kayla up in the morning and heading to Temple. His friend passed early this week so we are all going to the funeral together.

So I am putting around the house trying to add some steps here and there.

Twinny--Are you an identical twin? We have two boys in school who are identical. The frustrating thing is that some days they choose to wear the same thing to school...and they have been known to switch classes just to see if the teachers can tell. There is a slight personality difference; one is more outgoing than the other and has a different way of smiling.

Arlene--I used to work for H&R Block. It totally amazed me the number of people who had simple returns but would come in to have a return done. The people need to wise up that the computer programs for many tax prep services do the same thing...and don't charge for every little form. It doesn't take a math wizard to take two or three W-2 forms and add them to find total income, yet they are charged for each one of those forms to enter the info into the computer...something they could do themselves.

We are looking forward to four inches of snow tomorrow and single digit temps and sub-zero wind chills for the weekend and Monday. We have been out 8 days of school so far this month. Last January, we were out 2 days. Waste Management keeps delaying trash service because of the weather.

Tomorrow is AM Style which I enjoy watching. Perhaps the hermit lifestyle will motivate me to watch...and buy.