Thursday, September 2, 2021

Coffee Talk

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Let's catch up over coffee! What are you drinking? I'm having my old favorite, Dunkin original with a scoop of GLG collagen and a splash of half and half. It's always a treat. I can't believe it's been a month since we last shared a cuppa.

If we were having coffee... I'd share that on my way home from Alabama last month, my luggage was flagged by the TSA and searched. I knew it! I told the agent I packed some Conecuh sausage to take home. Fortunately, they didn't confiscate it.  All the agents were in agreement: you can't go home from Alabama without some Conecuh sausage. By the way, they also made me remove my boot and send it through the xray machine. 

Maybe this would have been better than packing it?

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that I was ghosted by the cleaning lady and her crew. Remember last month when I told you I hired a cleaning crew? We set up a time for them to return this past Monday. When I didn't hear from her, I called her. She played dumb, even though I reminded her that she was here when I penciled it on the calendar. "I call you back", she said, with no intention of ever calling back. Even though I had to clean my house myself, wearing my boot and all, I feel like I dodged some kind of bullet. She kind of scared me.

If we were having coffee... I'd update you on the home renovations. The roadwork is done and we have a new driveway too! We also have new carpet up the stairs and in the bedrooms. I swear, it's like a new house. Ok, not quite, but it sure feels fresh. I'm still waiting for my new mattress. We'll move my old bed into my son's room, where I have new bedding waiting. It feels so good!

Not my driveway, thank goodness!

If we were having coffee... I'd tell you that last weekend, I got to see both of my boys. On Saturday, the hubs and I drove to a brewpub that's on the Wisconsin River. My youngest drove up from Madison to join us. On Sunday, we drove to Chicago to have lunch with my oldest. We ate at a restaurant in his neighborhood called BiXi Beer. It's an Asian fusion place that brews their own beer and it was delicious! When I mentioned it to my youngest, he said he had been there earlier that week when he was visiting his brother. Where was my oldest? Sleeping. Should I did find it odd that my oldest didn't say anything about that when we were at lunch?


If we were having coffee, I'd share that while running is still not happening, I signed up for the Ice Age Trail Mammoth Challenge. This 41 mile hiking challenge takes place over 2 weeks in October. It may be a little ambitious for me, but I'm willing to give it a go. There will have to be some road trips up to Wisconsin on my days off to get my miles in. This will give me an opportunity to visit a few segments that I haven't been to. 


What would you tell me over coffee? Have you ever had anything confiscated by the TSA? Do you have a cleaning crew and are they reliable? Any home improvements? Do you have any races or challenges coming up?

I'm linking up with Coco and Deborah for the Ultimate Coffee Date and with the ladies of Fit Five Friday:  DarleneMichelleReneeJenn, and Zenaida.








34 comments :

  1. Obviously it's been a very long time since I flew anywhere, and we're still debating what to do about Mr. Judy's mother out west. But they constantly search my luggage. It's just a given!

    Usually when we fix up a house the next thing we know we're moving & don't get to enjoy it. It's happened a few times!

    Good luck with the hiking challenge! It'll be beautiful, I'm sure.

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    1. I guess that's a good reason not to fix up your house, lol. We're doing the things we will need to do to eventually sell and move.

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  2. Since 2016, when I had the incident, I have problems at the airports because of the "iron" in my right shoulder. Everytime I waste a lot of time to explain the situation to the security.
    Good luck with the hiking challenge!

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    1. My dad carries a card from his surgeon to show to the TSA about all his hardware.

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  3. We haven’t had a cleaning service in decades. Between them breaking things and us having dogs, it wasn’t worth it.

    I don’t think TSA has confiscated anything but I have had my checked luggage search — they left me a nice card saying “TSA was here” - sort of.

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    1. I don't check my bags, so I haven't gotten that card. But when I brought my waterski back, I checked it and the box was covered with TSA tape.

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  4. She ghosted you? Ugh. It's probably for the best. We'll be needing a very deep clean here once the kitchen is done. TSA confiscated my Stick on the way to the Boston Marathon of all places. Jerks.

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  5. I've used the same cleaning company for the last 19 years. They still scare me, but it's been amazing to have my entire house clean at the same time once every two weeks. I'm just not capable of that on my own. That hiking adventure sounds fun! The older I get, the more I'm loving non-running challenges.

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  6. Ha ha, love that picture of the driveway- I did think it was yours at first and was wondering why you weren't livid.
    Great idea to sign up for the hiking challenge! It will be a fun thing to focus on for the next month. Maybe it will be a good transition for your foot, back to running. And your trips up to WI to get ready will be super fun.

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    1. It will be a challenge to get those miles done in 2 weeks, though!

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  7. I have had my luggage searched for protein powder apparently that's a red flag! Remember when I took 50# of weights to aruba last year? Apparently, that is weird! ha! Home renovations are always good enjoy your new space. Now that kids are gone, I've moved my cleaning to every 2 weeks. We have had the same person for over 15 years. Great to catch up!

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    1. I still need my boys to come and purge their stuff. My youngest has this idea that he can bring his favorite couch home from school and store it here. Um, no....

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  8. That's a bummer about the cleaning lady, and so unprofessional. but like you said, you probably dodged a bullet.

    I need to know more about this sausage because I've never had it before but now I feel like I must try it at least once.

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    1. Oh Kim, Conecuh sausage is so good!!! They eat it with everything down there. There's nothing like it.

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  9. How odd that the cleaning lady ghosted you, but it's probably for the best. Nice that your home reno projects are going well. I'm working on convincing my husband we need a new kitchen - wish me luck!

    I once had TSA try to confiscate my stick on my way to the Philly Half - I talked them out of it LOL! I agree with Kim, I must know more about this sausage.

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    1. Good luck with the new kitchen! We did ours 21 years ago--I went conservatively with cherry cabinets, but it does need some updating.

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  10. Lion toasted coconut coffee for the win today! They're having a Labor Day sale with $5 flat rate shipping (their coffee is worth full price.) https://www.hawaiicoffeecompany.com/c/save/sale/)

    Les gets his bags searched a lot because he's usually traveling with a bike and bike tools.

    We don't have a cleaning crew but we had a yard crew that we got rid of. They still do 2 houses across the street from us and I'm usually out working in our yard while they're mowing and blowing.

    I just got an email from Hawaiian airlines for the Holoholo Challenge. It's the entire month of October with a variety of challenges that I'm trying to decide if I want to tackle.

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  11. That hiking challenge sounds awesome. You can do it!!!

    My cleaning lady picked up and moved to Fla without telling me!! Finally she did after many texts and missed appts.

    I got NYS maple syrup confiscated on my trip to Panama City - it was for Holly and it was wrapped. They told me that I should have frozen it and they'd let it Huh?

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    1. What the what? Don't you feel like they made that one up on the spot?

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  12. The Mammoth Challenge sounds fun! I’m looking forward to doing the virtual AFB 10K, believe it or not. I have the perfect “course” for it, and am excited for my friend to conquer that distance (it’s a new, longer distance for her in her running journey).

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  13. That Duck!!!! Classic - Its 5:50pm For Me So Drinking A Serra Nevada Imperial , Thinking About Those Folks Because Its Burning Up - All The Best With The Mammoth Run - Stay Strong

    Cheers

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    1. Calamity everywhere, right? We're sandwiched between the fires and the floods...

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  14. hahaha, I'm so glad they didn't confiscate your sausage!

    Totally thought that was your driveway for a moment and was horrified (looks just like something my duckies would have done, hahaha). I'm glad yours does not look like that. :P

    That's great that you were able to see both your sons!

    The hiking challenge sounds like fun! I need to get on one of those at some point. It's been super super smoky this summer, so I haven't been able to get out as much as I'd like.

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  15. I wish I could hire a cleaning crew! I literally hate to clean. I pretty much hate any cleaning or cooking or domestic chores. If I won the lottery I'd 100% hire someone to do all of that for me lol.

    I got TSA pre-check and it's the best $85 I've ever spent. It's so easy to go through security the last few times I flew. No shoes off and they barely check my stuff- they usually take my contact solution out but that's it.

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    1. I hate cleaning too. I had a cleaning woman for years--she was part of the family. But she's my age and now she's taking care of her grandchildren. I get it. But boy do i miss her.

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  16. I haven't been on a plane since my accident, but I am interested to see if my leg lights up the machine.

    We do have a housekeeping team. They come every two weeks to do more of the deep cleaning. We hired them after my accident, and they are amazing and very reliable.

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    1. I need that deep cleaning about once a month. The blinds, the ceiling fans, the dusting--that stuff. Off to find some new people...

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  17. Sausage in your luggage, that's a new one...lol.
    Glad that is not your driveway but I sure would like to have that garage!
    We finally finished up a backsplash in our kitchen. We were short one tile. The tile cost $1.29 but $15 to ship it. Go figure! Is that ice age trail a "do on your own" race thing?

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    1. It's more of a challenge--complete 41 miles over 2 weeks and visit 3 different IAT communities. It will be a challenge for me to get all those miles in since I don't live close to any of the segments. But it will make me go to some that are new to me.

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