I don't always finish books... and sometimes I keep renewing it or return it late. But my library has a policy that started several months ago where if it's from one of our branches (as opposed to from one of our partners) there's no late fee. Right now I have like 3 audio books I haven't had time to listen to! One is for therapy about the method my therapist uses. And I just got a paperback book yesterday that I forgot I put on hold til I got the notification. These are primarily non-fiction books, where I'm reading for knowledge. So it's not like I'm left wondering what happened to a character. ---- I have a pile of used ink cartridges that I keep saying I will mail off to a recycling place and get a small amount of money lol. Then I have some from my HP ink service which I'm supposed to mail back in sets of 2-3 and I just forget. Clutter.

My pedometer came in the mail and the directions aren't very user-friendly. I don't know how to reset it to zero (do you do that each morning?) and I can't get it out of military time or change the weight. I don't know why weight is even on there, but I guess it helps calculate calories based on weight. That's my guess, anyway. Moving items into the new home. We've made one trip so far (my dad came to town yesterday). I still need to finish painting a few baseboards. I'll have the kids' rooms ready by Monday when they come over, but not sure about some of the other things.

I'm only doing them from the knees but my back doesn't stay straight. Maybe I'm just too weak to make a plank! I don't know. Very annoying.

Leg looks normal today, minus the tiny red dot where I was stung. It was a little itchy last night, but mostly I was able to ignore it. Today barely noticeable as well... or I'm just too distracted to pay it much attention lol.

35 min on bike

Wed before I went to bed (but after midnight) I got my HIIT exercise in. I don't think I have the right posture for push ups and some of the ladies don't even match each other. I think you're supposed to tuck your elbows but some of them are doing the wide arm stance. Then I think when I try to pull myself up I am arching too much (due to weak upper body strength) so I'm wondering if I'm doing any good or potentially hurting myself with those. I tried to learn Sun Salutations A. I'm not cut out for that haha. There's one part where they say you can put hands on shins if you can't reach your feet, but then how would you do the hop if your hands are still resting on your legs, not the mat? I have very limited flexibility so I think that's one of the reasons I've never really been drawn to yoga. I mean eventually maybe it makes you flexible but I get too discouraged. Today I ran errands and then was exhausted when I got home and got stung by a wasp just before I came home. My dad came to town to help me with my move and when I walked in the door he was ready to go to pickleball and I was like seriously lol. I said I don't have much energy, I'd only want to play like one game and then I don't want to stand around watching everyone play for hours. So I urged him to just go without. Then I took a nap. It's already 10 pm so I don't know if I'll get a bike ride in or not, but maybe. @Ali in ORregarding blood pressure -- I'm in a similar boat. They are having me do a 6 month checkup instead of annual because of my last BP. It was 129/92. A nurse friend of mine said to cut back on sodium so I've been a lot more conscious about that. Plus, I've been drinking more water and mostly eating better plus exercising. Since I started focusing more on health (roughly the past 6 weeks) I've lost 12 pounds. It would be cool if I get a few more down before my visit (Aug. 3).

Yikes Yes, I think that's what this is. Local reaction. I don't have any of the other symptoms. I did wash it with water and soap earlier and never found a stinger so I don't think one was left behind. I did ice it, but apparently not as long as recommended.

Well I would get an additional $200 winning in small claims court according to what I read online. No, legal aid didn't want to do anything for me so I'm not calling them back. I was on hold forever last time, too. Today I sent a cashier's check with the final month's rent/utilities (utilities overlap months so I may get one more fee) and a letter with today's date and check images and a screen grab from our text exchange where he said the painting was complete and I asked if the shower rod was up so I could drive over and sleep there that night (April 28). In the letter I said that per state law he needs to return the deposit within 45 days of me leaving or send an itemized list of what the sec deposit is used for and painting doesn't count since we didn't mark up the walls. I also said he may not take the plumbing out of the security deposit. Then I said if he failed to do this I would take legal action. I left my current PO Box. Hell no, I'm not giving him my new address. I will probably be moved out before he even gets the letter. I sent it certified, it has to go to the main distribution center then to the local PO then he usually takes his sweet time visiting the PO (since he has two homes) and sign for it during business hours. I included a list of things wrong with the home that he may need to address before the new tenant moves in. I included the list mainly so that I have documentation. This is like the 4th certified letter I have sent him. My current landlords said I could move in this weekend with no July charge because I've been painting. I asked about the cleaning lady (because I hate to move in and then she hasn't even come). They were able to bump up her date to this afternoon!! My dad drove up from the coast a few hours away to help me. I have had an ongoing issue with my washing machine that never was fully resolved and I had so many issues getting in touch with GE for a follow up because their phone number directs you to the website and the website would always reject my account or log in. I work best on deadlines so I told myself to deal with this before I move the washer. After three phone calls and explaining that yes, I'm slightly out of the one year warranty, I got them to agree to come look at it tomorrow as if it's still under warranty/no charge. This time tomorrow I might be sleeping in a house with a/c. My sister lives in England and had to deal with the heat wave and I was like oh yeah sounds like my house all the time lol. This is my living room temp with two fans and a window unit going. I am covered in sweat. Ds' room, where my dad is staying was like 94 degrees when he arrived.

Like something out of a horror movie, a swarm of wasps attacked when the librarian and I opened the book drop. We both got stung. I got stung on my thigh a few hours ago and when I woke up from my nap the area had spread. I just realized I have some Benadryl here I can take, but I don't have any hydrocortisone. Any one have experience with these? I don't know if I had an allergic reaction or if it's normal, but the red area is huge, like the size of a coaster. Honestly, if I don't think about it too much I don't notice the area. It's just visually really bad. The initial pain/stinging was earlier. Oh and I used the "Bug Bite Thing" device on it as soon as I got home but I don't even think that device works.

I saw a video clip the other day that said it's actually normal for us to focus on the bad and we have to consciously do otherwise. We're wired to look for danger/bad. People go through rough patches. I hope things improve soon. I don't know how the CASA thing works, but maybe you can take a break. I don't know if you're actively working with a child already?

If he's stubborn and unwilling, I'm not sure there's much you can do, but perhaps you can get "doctor's orders" as an excuse to make him work on exercises that help with balance. And maybe he needs a cane or walker now, rather than later. My mom had a bad fall once and broke a hip. It was awful. That was after a Parkinson's diagnosis, but before she'd been using anything to help with her gait and she was walking on her toes (neurological thing). Look at his feet next time you see him in person to see how he's walking. My dad does Tai Chi for balance, but I think that sounds hard for someone that is already struggling.

All I did Tuesday was paint inside my new home and locate the little walking track in that town. I didn’t eat much so I think it all evened out as far as me not being super active. And I’m sure I burned some calories just moving around the home and dragging a mattress inside. I reconfirmed my dislike of Sonic when out of desperation I went there to eat and they’ve discontinued 2 items I used to order and said the only way to order a jr burger is to order the kids’ meal. I didn’t want the calories or the price tag on their other burgers so I got a corn dog and drank my water.

I found an old text saying what day I came to the house and where he said the painting on the home was complete (a few days before May which I knew). I saved it. I’m getting closer to my move-in date at the new place. It’s not totally ready but they gave me a key. The painter either didn’t paint the baseboards or didn’t do a good job, at least on the bedrooms, and he’s not returning. The landlords didn’t think they would be doing them all so I volunteered. Kinda crazy but I just wanted the place to feel more done. I took today off work and I have no idea how painters work so fast. I didn’t find rolling out the painter’s tape straight from the roll to give a satisfactory alignment with the baseboard and protect the wood floors so I’ve taken a lot longer. I even tried using a poster board. I didn’t even get to every bedroom. I’m going home soon. I transported my bed and frame here. But I won’t bring much because they still have a woman coming to clean and my kids still need stuff at the current home when they come over again this summer (dd and I will share a bed so I moved mine early). The a/c here works. That’s the most important thing 🤣

Today I did my HIIT (I guess this will be considered week three of Phase 1). The schedule I'm trying to stick to is Mon (legs), Wed (chest & back) and Friday (shoulders & arms). Although they are labeled that way, they kinda mix things up within the exercises. 30 min on the bike I don't know why my last pedometer was so awful, maybe it was defective. The original listing is gone but others by the same name/photo say nothing about the annoying noise. I'm trying again with a brand new one I just ordered from Amazon. I put a velcro closure on one of my shorts' pockets so my phone would stay secure when I did my YouTube walking the other day lol. I'm taking tomorrow off from work to do a little painting and moving into my new home. Everyone, please give us updates. So many things going on here.

I had read about discounted pencils on the Penny Pincher Facebook post recently. I don't know if these are still considered sale prices: https://www.amazon.com/Ticonderoga-Wood-Cased-Graphite-Pencils-13872/dp/B00125Q75Y/ref=sr_1_6?crid=VVWEVBRTSA59&keywords=tric+pencils&qid=1658174048&sprefix=tric+pencils%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-6

Username: heartlikealion Pronounced: Heart Like a Lion Origin: reference to an old Oi! song Likes: painting ceramics, sewing, boots, bargain shopping, punk and goth culture Dislikes: Environments where feedback is reprimanded, the expression, "I turned out fine" to justify questionable practices, extensive driving, onions Frequents threads about: car seat safety, (currently) well-trained bodies & frugalistas threads, mental health, misc

Do you use one? Did you ever get to cash out? I've signed up for a couple and they have all been terrible. How is SweatCoin even ranked high? I have never gotten anything out of it. Walgreens kept changing theirs. I have the Miles app which logs miles by bike, car, foot... but as much as I drive I still only have enough points to cash out a ONE DOLLAR Amazon gift card. Ridiciulous. So has anyone used an app that actually pays out for movement?

The app isn't really useful to me but maybe it will help someone else more? There's an app called Upside and it offers discounts on certain gas stations. I typically just fill up at Sam's Club.

I buy bottled water and can't always find the jugs. This weekend I went a town over just to get jugs and then I was like ok enough is enough I need to invest in a water pitcher thing. I know last time I was skeptical about how well it filtered things because I'd still see flakes sometimes in the dispenser, but I think the flakes stayed above the filter line and could have been charcoal from the filter?? I'm kicking myself a little for not thinking to look at them on Prime Day, but I ordered one from Target online and it will be here in a few days. I'm drinking a lot more now that I'm exercising regularly and trying to drink more water in general. Used my Target card to save 5% and get free shipping. ds didn't feel well this weekend so we skipped our outing to the movies. That was disappointing, but on the plus side saved me gas and money on the concession stand. I have a few free movie passes I've been saving for the latest minions movie. Maybe it will still be playing next time they come over. I went to the nearest church for Mass and brought a few items to move into the new house. The landlord gave me the key so I can come and go as I please now. I'm going over this week to touch up some baseboards and built in bookcases (the painter may have done one coat but they look really rough either from not enough paint or because they got damaged when the flooring was spruced up). The landlords weren't going to get around to addressing all those things so I offered (they have the supplies there). When I go back over I will take out dd's booster and fold the seats down to pack up more items. My moving will be a series of trips to the house since I don't think I'm getting a UHaul. The kids went crazy with my internet this week. I ran out of data for my phone (probably from dd playing on it) and I'm almost out of data for my house wifi (ds couldn't use his own cell phone data because their service doesn't work at my house. He was using my home service while being on his phone all day long). I asked the kids to cut back on the internet and even bought dd a bird house to paint ($3) but we never got around to painting it. Ds offered to pay extra and basically refused to cut back his internet time. I gave up. I also didn't want to take his money. I have 3 days left of this month and I'm at 89.6% used data. I will probably find some DVDs to watch so I'm less tempted to stream. And I won't be using as much data the day I take off to go paint. If I can make it through these next couple days without going over, I won't have to pay a $10 fee for extra 100GB which will be useless by then. I read that sausage has skyrocketed in price, but the only thing I really buy is the little boxes of breakfast sausage links that are $1.25 at Dollar Tree. For milk, I buy the $1.25 boxes at DT and keep in my cupboard til I need them. I barely use milk, it's for the kids or cooking mostly so I hate to buy a huge jug. I don't know if you have DT near you @mommyoffive

@Soror sorry, that sounds stressful Sunday I didn’t go to the parish hall after church so no temptation of sweets. I biked 30 min and did some step exercise with Rick on YouTube. Got 3440 steps from that. I would lose interest in a song and hopped between a few different videos. I need more upbeat music and some just drag on or only have a beat and no variation. I’m going to freeze leftover sausages & scrambled eggs from the kids’ visit. The sausages are very high calorie. I finally bought a filter dispenser. Maybe I’ll save money and stop wasting plastic. It will be here in a few days. Apparently I missed out on the Prime Day deal ugh. I found a 30 gal PUR brand from Target. I know spending money on my water consumption sometimes has held me back from drinking as much.

I only learned, within the last few months, how to access a QR code app on my phone. I went through a drive-thru and they advertised some rewards and a code. I asked the employee how to get my phone to scan it and she said to pull up my shortcut but there was no shortcut (beside my flashlight app etc) we discovered so she helped me get the QR app there. So that begs the question for me… does everyone else just have this set up? I have an iPhone 11 and I was clueless. OP, I can see both sides. I think paper is nice but I’d have to weigh the cost of the invitations + stamps vs my time I guess.

Oh cool. I watched it on another streaming channel when it was still “new.” And I’ve seen Psych (certain seasons are free) on Peacock. I think we also owned some of the dvds of Psych. These shows could appeal to both my parents and us: Psych, The Middle, and Young Sheldon. YS earlier seasons are on HBO Max. Newer ones are on Paramount+ and season 6 will air in Sept but not sure it will be available for streaming.

Scratch that. The sexual content can be over the top at times.

We’re all sorta shaming in a way. I’ve never actually told a woman her lack of bra made me uncomfortable but apparently even thinking it makes me a shaming person that needs to get over it/has a hang up. Ok then. what about men wearing sweatpants that show a lot haha there are countless references to this. I remember as a young girl attending a free throw contest and I was uncomfortable because this man there tossing is the ball had on very revealing sweatpants. Don’t ask me to explain. While I’d never expect a grown man to necessarily know/think full coverage pants are revealing it’s just one of those things — like c@mel toe. TMI even though everything is covered. I won’t approach a woman about her c@mel toe or breasts or a man about his bulge. But I’m allowed to feel uncomfortable for them or around them.

I don't know how many seasons are free, but they could try Brooklyn Nine-Nine on Peacock.