Check in | Pad Patter 6.16

[IntenseMagic]

Happy Sunday and Happy Father's Day to all the Pad Daddies!

I thought it might be nice to just have a little check-in with everyone. How are you? What's going on in your world?

I've been out of school for about a week and a half but I really haven't accomplished much of anything. We are going out of town on Wednesday and I'm feeling the crunch right now. We spent the weekend celebrating my son-in-law's birthday and Father's Day, and we also went to a baseball game. On the way there, I ended up with a screw in my tire. I'm thankful that my youngest works and Walmart and was able to take it and have it fixed when he went to work today. The weather is beautiful and hot, and supposed to stay that way all week with record highs. Other than that, I'm just trying to get caught up on some things I've neglected for the last few months lol.

How are you?

 

[Angela Toucan]

we're in the home stretch of our crazy whirlwind. My youngest has finished her exams and now left school. My son still has 2 weeks of exams left before leaving 6th form. And TJ is home for the summer and applying for student summer jobs locally. She's just had her first interview.

 

[Karen]

Yay for summer break for you Jan! Enjoy! I'm glad you're seeing the home stretch for your kids exams Angela! I bet they are too!

We are in a lovely slower paced bit of summer finally. Our youngest graduated in May and we had his party already, so all the stressful stuff is over now. Yay!

We are going to have a super hot week around here too... it's going to be in the 90s (32°C) which is really unusual for our area. The heat index is going to be over 100 (38°C)! Yikes! I pray our AC doesn't die!

 

[jk703]

Wooo hooo for summer! My fave!

Shayne is out of school and has been working at the shore for a little over a month. Out of training, and making a bunch of money. He's at a seafood restaurant, and they do a ton of business being by the beach! Hanging with friends, visiting his girlfriend, and getting annoyed over the summer by me!

Colin is working at the town pool and finishing up school tomorrow. Track season went great, and he will be a junior next year! He decided not to continue with soccer, so I'm a little bummed about that, but I'll get over it. Hopefully, he can pick up a few more hours at work! He's also going to get annoyed by me this summer a lot!

DH is working... then I slightly strong arm him (haha) to go out a few times, a shows or two... or just a hang out with friends in the neighborhood backyards. He gets a little more homebody as he gets older, and I get a little less homebody. We find the happy middle.

Me... Work, play and go, go, go! Concert season is upon us - 2 this week and maybe 20-25 more through September! This lawn pass will be well worth it when I'm finished! Possible to be less than $10 a concert! If not concerting, I'll be at the beach, all up in my kids business/following my kids social lives, or hanging out in a backyard somewhere!

 

[Scrapping with Liz]

I feel like I'm finally getting into summer. We've wrapped up all of our end of year stuff and are finally starting to do some summer things.

My oldest came home for a couple weeks! Yay. So we are enjoying that.

 

[IntenseMagic]

we're in the home stretch of our crazy whirlwind. My youngest has finished her exams and now left school. My son still has 2 weeks of exams left before leaving 6th form. And TJ is home for the summer and applying for student summer jobs locally. She's just had her first interview.

Good luck to TJ! Hope you have a wonderful summer after the whirlwind!!

Yay for summer break for you Jan! Enjoy! I'm glad you're seeing the home stretch for your kids exams Angela! I bet they are too!

We are in a lovely slower paced bit of summer finally. Our youngest graduated in May and we had his party already, so all the stressful stuff is over now. Yay!

We are going to have a super hot week around here too... it's going to be in the 90s (32°C) which is really unusual for our area. The heat index is going to be over 100 (38°C)! Yikes! I pray our AC doesn't die!

I'm ready for the slower paced. Between all my kids and my son-in-law's birthday, it seems like all we've done is have celebrations haha. Once we get back from this quick little vacay, I'm all in for some down time!

Wooo hooo for summer! My fave!

Shayne is out of school and has been working at the shore for a little over a month. Out of training, and making a bunch of money. He's at a seafood restaurant, and they do a ton of business being by the beach! Hanging with friends, visiting his girlfriend, and getting annoyed over the summer by me!

Colin is working at the town pool and finishing up school tomorrow. Track season went great, and he will be a junior next year! He decided not to continue with soccer, so I'm a little bummed about that, but I'll get over it. Hopefully, he can pick up a few more hours at work! He's also going to get annoyed by me this summer a lot!

DH is working... then I slightly strong arm him (haha) to go out a few times, a shows or two... or just a hang out with friends in the neighborhood backyards. He gets a little more homebody as he gets older, and I get a little less homebody. We find the happy middle.

Me... Work, play and go, go, go! Concert season is upon us - 2 this week and maybe 20-25 more through September! This lawn pass will be well worth it when I'm finished! Possible to be less than $10 a concert! If not concerting, I'll be at the beach, all up in my kids business/following my kids social lives, or hanging out in a backyard somewhere!

Oooh I bet a seafood restaurant at the beach is an amazing place to work! He sounds like mine...work, visit girlfriend, get annoyed by me LOL.
My DH is a total homebody these days and I am trying to get in to the empty nester/do some things phase. He can't hang.

I feel like I'm finally getting into summer. We've wrapped up all of our end of year stuff and are finally starting to do some summer things.

My oldest came home for a couple weeks! Yay. So we are enjoying that.

Yay for summer things!! Enjoy your visit!!

 

[umyesh]

I’m sorry about the screw in your tire Jan! That’s the worst!

I’m enjoying the last few weeks of softball for me and my oldest. My game was canceled last night though because of crazy wind. I play on a family team with my little sister and one of my older brothers so it’s fun.

I’ve also been helping DH with electrical in our basement. It’s nowhere near done but we’re making progress! The bad thing is now he wants to do it all so framing and sheetrock might be next.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

Weather wise, it has been warmer than normal for June. And, this week is HOT! Got to 93 yesterday and is already 82 at 9:30 this morning. And, I love it!!!

Thankfully I'm not running to doctor's appointments or medical testing this summer like last year. I can actually enjoy it. Got my patio furniture out this year (didn't last year) and Peyton is loving that. She likes to lay out in the sun and uses a chair.

I am going to lunch with 3 of my classmates on Thursday. We graduated 50 years ago! Our class reunion isn't until September although I don't think I'm going to go. I can't handle large groups of people with the tinnitus I have. If I do go, it will be after dinner and for maybe an hour.

Next week, I'm going to do some genealogy research at a big genealogical library in Fort Wayne. So I've been getting ready by deciding what I want to focus on that day.

 

[Memaw2Wm]

I'm gearing up for my niece's wedding Saturday evening ... black tie optional, in the Cathedral of St. Matthew in D.C., reception at the Four Seasons. I hate driving in DC ... there's no parking at the Cathedral ... I hate dressing up ... I hate large groups. And it's costing me a small fortune b/c my granddaughter is a bridesmaid and I've paid all of her expenses, plus having to buy appropriate clothing/shoes for myself.

I've skipped her bridal shower and am skipping the rehearsal dinner ... again in DC ... wish I could skip the wedding or at least the reception, but my sister has already been snarky about my grandsons not coming.

Otherwise it's the same old/same old for me ... work, then hanging out at home.

 

[IntenseMagic]

I’m sorry about the screw in your tire Jan! That’s the worst!

I’m enjoying the last few weeks of softball for me and my oldest. My game was canceled last night though because of crazy wind. I play on a family team with my little sister and one of my older brothers so it’s fun.

I’ve also been helping DH with electrical in our basement. It’s nowhere near done but we’re making progress! The bad thing is now he wants to do it all so framing and sheetrock might be next.

Woo hoo for DIY! I love that you have a family softball team..so fun!!

Weather wise, it has been warmer than normal for June. And, this week is HOT! Got to 93 yesterday and is already 82 at 9:30 this morning. And, I love it!!!

Thankfully I'm not running to doctor's appointments or medical testing this summer like last year. I can actually enjoy it. Got my patio furniture out this year (didn't last year) and Peyton is loving that. She likes to lay out in the sun and uses a chair.

I am going to lunch with 3 of my classmates on Thursday. We graduated 50 years ago! Our class reunion isn't until September although I don't think I'm going to go. I can't handle large groups of people with the tinnitus I have. If I do go, it will be after dinner and for maybe an hour.

Next week, I'm going to do some genealogy research at a big genealogical library in Fort Wayne. So I've been getting ready by deciding what I want to focus on that day.

Same here with the heat. Glad to hear that you are not running to all the drs this year and are able to enjoy your patio furniture!! It's 40 years out of high school for me this year, but no one planned anything. Now we are shooting for next year. I totally get the tinnitus. I have it as well.

I'm gearing up for my niece's wedding Saturday evening ... black tie optional, in the Cathedral of St. Matthew in D.C., reception at the Four Seasons. I hate driving in DC ... there's no parking at the Cathedral ... I hate dressing up ... I hate large groups. And it's costing me a small fortune b/c my granddaughter is a bridesmaid and I've paid all of her expenses, plus having to buy appropriate clothing/shoes for myself.

I've skipped her bridal shower and am skipping the rehearsal dinner ... again in DC ... wish I could skip the wedding or at least the reception, but my sister has already been snarky about my grandsons not coming.

Otherwise it's the same old/same old for me ... work, then hanging out at home.

I think the driving in DC would be enough for me to not want to go, and I also hate large groups and dressing up lol. Good luck!! I hope it all goes well.

 

[KayTeaPea]

Thanks for the check in idea! I have been feeling a bit under the weather for the past couple of months and my poor puppy Toby (he is a golden retriever and will be 8 on July 11th) ended up having a tumor (benign) removed from his inner eyelid the day after Memorial Day, so I haven't been on here much. He is healing up great and had the stitches out last week.

My husband mountain bikes and his group of bikers help keep the trails cleared in our local State Park. A couple of weeks ago, he was out alone, almost an hour walk from the parking area, and he accidently cut his leg with his chainsaw while getting a downed tree off of the trail. Thankfully, he carries a first aid pack and he had some kind of expanding gauze that is used by soldiers in combat (it is called "QuickClot), so he was able to get the wound filled with that so he could walk back to his vehicle. (There isn't great cell coverage on the backside of the mountain where he was.)
He went to the ER where they were pretty impressed with the QuickClot and he only needed 8 or 9 stitches, which he enjoyed watching them put in his leg. This week he got the stitches out and he was super looking forward to riding his mountain bike on his day off yesterday for Juneteenth-- and he ended up breaking a wheel spoke about 30 minutes into his ride! So grateful that he wasn't hurt again, and that the spoke can be replaced quickly (he is an engineer and loves working on his mountain bike!)

Our son was gone for a couple of weeks for his summer commitment to the Air National Guard- last year they went to northern (mainland) Michigan and this summer his wing went to Puerto Rico. He wished he had studied Spanish more, but was excited by the beauty and kind residents while in PR!

I have been dealing with trouble breathing while exercising, feeling like I can't catch my breath fully after about 10 minutes of working out. I was frustrated that after finishing the Couch to 5k program in early April and not having an issue running for 30 minutes (after the training- when I started in January I was struggling with running longer than 60 seconds!), and then after we took a weekend trip to the beach the end of April (where I ran for 30 minutes) since we got back I haven't been able to run longer than 10ish minutes without needing to walk to catch my breath. I also have had to cut back on my gym classes, I was doing Zumba and BodyPump back to back 2 days a week but lately I have been struggling with the first class and not able to even start the second class due to feeling so fatigued. I ran the 5k race that I had trained for on Memorial Day and wasn't able to run for most of that race-- I walked a lot of it with some jogging and a few spurts of running. It was great to finish it but frustrating that I felt bad while doing so. I am working with my medical team to figure out what is going on, but it is so frustrating to feel like I am going backwards in my health/fitness journey.

 

[littlekiwi]

I am doing well, had a bit of a chronic health flare up at the beginning of the month but now all ok. Job hunting....well the less said about that the better. It's normally pretty quiet from 4/1 to 6/30 anyway - end of government financial year so jobs tend to be scarce. This year it's ten fold. Last year we had a change of government from centre left, social democracy to centre right, conservatism/liberalism and they've made major job cuts in many of our government departments which has made job hunting even worse. To add to that, they've also slashed quite a bit of funding for services & policies that directly affect people with disabilities which impacts on employment opportunities within the sector (I have a degree in disability studies).Currently I have one application from a few days ago, one application I doubt I'll ever hear back from (job has been up since March with no closing date or contact details - I applied in April) and to be honest I'm not sure I'm even interested anymore given the silence and one job application that closes in about 2 weeks.
Family wise everyone is doing the best they can - we did think my mum may have brought COVID home earlier in the month but it ended up being negative which was good as the last thing she needed was COVID on top of Long COVID (she's had Long CoVID since late 2022)

 

[StefanieS]

I am doing well too. have lost 15kgs (dare I say again?) using intermittent fasting and keto. I am walking every day and enjoying Pilates. It has been 18 years since I have been this weight and probably never felt so fit and strong.

We have had family staying for the last couple of weeks, lots of cooking and cleaning happening. I am enjoying DD's 10 days of leave.

Voting Day went well and we are hopeful that the new government of national unity will be able to make some changes for the good. On the plus side we haven't had load shedding for some months.

We have plans to do a little road trip at the end of next week, hubby has clients to see and I will be along for the ride.
It is really cold here now and I know we still need more rain.

 

[Karen]

Thanks for the check in idea! I have been feeling a bit under the weather for the past couple of months and my poor puppy Toby (he is a golden retriever and will be 8 on July 11th) ended up having a tumor (benign) removed from his inner eyelid the day after Memorial Day, so I haven't been on here much. He is healing up great and had the stitches out last week.

My husband mountain bikes and his group of bikers help keep the trails cleared in our local State Park. A couple of weeks ago, he was out alone, almost an hour walk from the parking area, and he accidently cut his leg with his chainsaw while getting a downed tree off of the trail. Thankfully, he carries a first aid pack and he had some kind of expanding gauze that is used by soldiers in combat (it is called "QuickClot), so he was able to get the wound filled with that so he could walk back to his vehicle. (There isn't great cell coverage on the backside of the mountain where he was.)
He went to the ER where they were pretty impressed with the QuickClot and he only needed 8 or 9 stitches, which he enjoyed watching them put in his leg. This week he got the stitches out and he was super looking forward to riding his mountain bike on his day off yesterday for Juneteenth-- and he ended up breaking a wheel spoke about 30 minutes into his ride! So grateful that he wasn't hurt again, and that the spoke can be replaced quickly (he is an engineer and loves working on his mountain bike!)

Our son was gone for a couple of weeks for his summer commitment to the Air National Guard- last year they went to northern (mainland) Michigan and this summer his wing went to Puerto Rico. He wished he had studied Spanish more, but was excited by the beauty and kind residents while in PR!

I have been dealing with trouble breathing while exercising, feeling like I can't catch my breath fully after about 10 minutes of working out. I was frustrated that after finishing the Couch to 5k program in early April and not having an issue running for 30 minutes (after the training- when I started in January I was struggling with running longer than 60 seconds!), and then after we took a weekend trip to the beach the end of April (where I ran for 30 minutes) since we got back I haven't been able to run longer than 10ish minutes without needing to walk to catch my breath. I also have had to cut back on my gym classes, I was doing Zumba and BodyPump back to back 2 days a week but lately I have been struggling with the first class and not able to even start the second class due to feeling so fatigued. I ran the 5k race that I had trained for on Memorial Day and wasn't able to run for most of that race-- I walked a lot of it with some jogging and a few spurts of running. It was great to finish it but frustrating that I felt bad while doing so. I am working with my medical team to figure out what is going on, but it is so frustrating to feel like I am going backwards in my health/fitness journey.

Oh my gosh! I'm so impressed (and thankful) that your hubby was able to treat himself after that scary injury and thank God he had the first aid kit with him!

 

[Angela Toucan]

Last exam today, then that's my son finished with 6th form education. My youngest has now finished school and has had her introduction to 6th form day (going to the same one her siblings attended) Saying goodbye to her friends who are going into apprenticeships or technical colleges (I think you call them trade schools in the USA) was rather emotional, on a plus side her bestie is going to 6th form with her. Seeing Joy in business dress instead of school uniform was strange.