Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 8/3

Hi Deb, Josie, Valerie, Lori, and Judy--

This morning I did Cardio Supersets (41:30), and last night took Max for a 3 mile walk.

Deb, the chickens went to the USDA facility early this morning (about 3 AM), so the hawk fledgling has nothing to attack. Very funny--when I was leaving at about noon I could hear the fledgling shrieking and flying over the pasture in hopes of getting the chickens out of their shelter (hawks have this very irritating cry which they use to set game in motion). Haha!--there were no chickens to be had. I don't know if the current chicks in the brooder will inspire DH to get a sky dancer or not. He lost 25 out of the 225 chickens he had, some to the hawk, some to just early death.

Yes, Valerie, money is often a family issue. Is there any particular reason he feels that he should be the one in charge? Is it because he is the principal caretaker?

Hi to Lori, Judy, and Josie!
 
Good evening ladies!

So busy at work. Supposed to start vacation tomorrow but need to go in for a bit. We leave on Saturday for West Yarmouth. We really need this vacation!

Today did some Barre at work then MMA boxing tonight using the heavy bag for the entire workout. Been doing Barre everyday this week. It is the perfect lunchtime workout. No equipment, I feel worked and I do not get all sweaty which is a huge factor for me as we discussed in a prior thread!

Valerie...I wish you luck with the finances. I see this happen again and again. Hopefully he will see that it is best left how it is currently handled. I have no spanx. I would love to try some but whenever I see them I just can not justify the price. I guess if I would try them on I probably would fall in love with them and then be willing to pay double!! Lol!

Deb...nice car purchase! Congrats! Outback is 4 wheel drive correct? I have never worn Lucky Jeans. I pretty much have always been Levi's. Only the past couple of years I went with INC at Macys and the ANA from JCP. Plus I buy them on sale. Too cheap to pay tons on Jeans. Kills me to pay more than $50 for a pair.

Lynda...no thunderstorms for us but boy did it pour today. I chuckled about the hawk and can imagine him flying all over totally confused as to why there are no chickens. I know you do FlexTrain alot. I think this is one of the workouts I am bringing to the Cape. Only bringing 8lb dumbells but I think it will still be challenging.

Hi to Josie and Judy!
 
It's dry and sunny here day after day. I'm so tired of it! I want some rain. I must sound crazy but it's the truth.

More fallout over the financial business. I haven't typed much about it because it's complicated. My brother had our mother sign over control to him. DH and I managed her biggest asset for 16 yrs. we talked to her at length. she thinks whoever pours her Ensure is looking out for her best interests, no matter what you tell her. demented but not by definition, incompetent.
I always knew she was not bright but this is a sledgehammer! brother and conniving wife get the money and can manage it. Mostly, my (our) sister, disabled and destitute, will be cut off.
brother and wife have not the faintest clue of what they're doing financially. they will likely lose it. I can't stop them. he deceived me about getting the paperwork done and never even read it. ...even after I spent $56 to overnight the forms to him, probably the 5th time in 2 years.... forms never got even read, mush less done. he has no idea what he's doing, none. not diddley squat.
DH and I did massive MASSIVE (over 16 years) amounts of work to keep this did fair and above board, generating a lot of new money safely. told him tonight the ball is in his court, we're out of it. I did not tell him this but basically .. GFY. I am so disgusted I am without words.... Mother will likely run out of funds soon because brother and wife are paying their salaries out of her remaining funds... but can't stop it. brother/wife are in it for their own benefit or else TSTL. can't believe they can be this stupid and gullible... she's 94.5 yo, just got out of a dicey stay in a nursing home, and they are investing ALL the money with some guy who says they can avoid taxes in 5 years if they give him all the money ?? who is this stupid?? I can tell you who.... they won't listen to me. excuse me for venting....
 
Good morning and Happy Friday to the working stiffs here LOL

Just need to get through today and then 2 lovely days off. I need to retire. Have I mentioned that before? :)

Valerie, that's horrible! I don't understand why all of a sudden your brother wants to take over the finances. It sounds like they are being scammed by that guy. Is there a way to find out if he is legit? Is he from a financial institution of some kind or a lone person? It is doubly hard since you are so far away. I mentioned to John and he said you should get a local lawyer (where your mother is,) and have the POA that she signed revoked, as she is in diminished capacity and is not able sign. I really like my current Forester, it's just the basic model, I wanted one with more comfort options. I may have that back up camera thing on my new car, he mentioned it when we were test driving, but I'm not sure...I would not specifically look for a car with it, but if it's there, it's there.

Lynda, LOL on the poor hawk fledgling...oh well, he will have to actually go hunt something rather than have those poor baby chicks all in a bunch for him to stalk. Max must me relieved, his duties are suspended for a bit. :)

Lori, don't you hate when you are supposed to be off and have to go to work? Ugh. Well once you are on the road it will be great. do you take the dogs with you? Yes. I got the Forester and it is All Wheel Drive. Like Valerie mentioned, it goes through anything, and I feel safe driving it in the winter around here. I should go back to Levi's, I used to wear them exclusively. Also, someone over at MFP mentioned a style that they have at Old Navy ( which I never shop at) that is specifically for petite curvy women. Lots of comments on how great they were and only around $25. I have a black slip that has a Spanx like liner that I use when I wear a knitted or fitted dress. Keeps the "bumps and bulges" in. I really don't like it and feel so uncomfortable all the while I have it on.

Hi to Josie, and Judy,

No class tonight so work, then relaxing, aahhh....love the weekends.

Take care,
 
Deb we're done with it. my mother is not very smart about money especially. but she's not incompetent. my brother is nuts, crazy about "dodging taxes".

DH and I had different priorities for this not vast sum of money. we wanted it invested safely, accessible if needed and not being drained off on a bunch of fees and services, or locked up for periods of time like 6 mon to 1 yr. DH is quite good at doing his own investing. I don't think the lawyer they're seeing is a crook but he's ex pensive and whatever he does to avoid taxes won't even be effective until 5 years from now and she's 94.5 yo now. I have lost sleep for more than a week over this and I am walking away from it. I told him yesterday, ball is in your court. I'm (we) are done. our mother agrees with him and signed the documents. we had funds thru Merrill Lynch and now my mother said she feels better "now that her money is back in WI" just to give you an idea of her understanding of this.

Deb I have one of those spanx garments too. mine was called a body shaper. it's quite uncomfortable and rides up all the time. I don't like wearing it. I have one pair of the spanx pants for under pants, those are OK and fairly comfy.

off to do a ride.

more later...
 
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Hi Deb, Josie, Valerie, Lori, and Judy--

This morning I did XTrain ch, ba, sh (51:15), and last night I took Max for a 3 mile walk.

Valerie, that sounds very messy. I can't imagine paying myself a salary for taking care of my mother. All you can do now is hope your brother doesn't totally screw up and lose all of her money. If he does, the burden is his to carry. I take it your mother has no will and that's why your sister will get nothing, if there is anything left when your mom dies (?).

Deb, yes, you definitely need to retire! Or, maybe, just cut back to a shorter week (?).

Have a great vacation Lori! The weather sounds like it's going to be excellent.

Tonight is a big family party for FIL who will be 90 tomorrow. Tomorrow is my last time at Jacob's Pillow--Pacific Northwest Ballet. Weather promises to be lovely. We have really lucked out this year.

Hi to Josie and Judy!
 
I'm sorry to bore you with more of this sorry story. I filled my sister in and she's OK with it. somehow they thought I could do something but that's not the case. when "mom" rolls over and undermines it, you can't "counter" that. she didn't even say thank you for managing her funds for the last 16 years... just blew it off. If I get any money out of this mess, I will pass on to my sister, if she's still alive.
emotional stuff is hard. I didn't think my brother was sneaky and devious. it' s hard to see that in someone you thought was different from you, but still "okay". and my mother. she has basically dumped my sister (especially) and me to cover her own ass. family is not what it's cracked up to be. I am disgusted. if she died tomorrow I'm not sure I'd going to the funeral. even DH was surprised because she was so cold about my sister... difficult person, but major health problems. I don't know what to think.

We did a nice 30 mile ride today. pleasant temps.

we did a hike yesterday. pleasant and nice, maybe 7 miles RT. work but not a killer. I'm not pleased anymore with hiking in summer. too many people. flowers are lovely but you can't get 10m minutes without someone walking up on you wherever you go. so far, cool enough to not have flies which are a deal killer for me. mosquitos are manageable, black flies are not.
 
Good morning ladies!!

VACATION!!!!!! Bring it on!!!!!

No workout today as we are packing and loading up the car. I will consider that my workout. ;)

Deb...we do not bring the dogs. i wish we could but no pets allowed. My son and his girlfriend are here for the week so I feel they are in good hands.

Valerie...I am so sorry to hear what is going on in your family. Money does this to people. I would be the same way would just give it away. Its good that you are able to get some hikes and rides in. I am sure this helps you emotionally with all this stuff going on.

Lynda...wow 90years old! Bless him. Enjoy your last Jacob's Pillow!

Hi to Josie and Judy!!!
 
Good morning,

It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend here. Love it!

We stopped at the dealership last night to drop off a copy of John's license ( long story there) and they said my car had come in yesterday afternoon. For some reason they had not called me (?), but anyway, I will be picking it up Monday around 5:00. So excited!


Valerie, I completely understand your frustration and agree that the best thing you can do now is back out completely. So sad though that you and your DH did all that planning and investing and now they are going to throw it all away.

Lynda, Happy Birthday to your FIL! Wow, 90! If I could stay where I am and work part time I would do it, however that is not an option. I am in a position that is not able to be part time, and where they they would never let me move down to a part time job. I would love to go to another FedEx company, like FedEx Office and work part time, however they have this rule that if you retire from a FX company, and work at another one, you can't work more than 70 hours a month or you loose your retirement payment...so strange, I never could understand that. 70 hours would be plenty for me , but most PT jobs at FX are 20 hours a week. Figures right?

Lori, have a great vacation!

Hi to Josie & Judy,
 
Yes, money does this to people, Lori. my brother is a ridiculously cheap penny pincher. he even dumpster dives at night at grocery store discard bins...plenty of odd things. like I said, we're different. but I don't live near there and never will, so it managing the money was a way for me to contribute. I did other things too, including medical and other advice. I feel completely unappreciated they are acting like we did nothing but keep the money from them and didn't come up with some silly tax dodge and nothing could be further from the truth. .
Lynda, I am a little uncomfortable with my brother paying himself, but our mother agreed to it. it is not a huge amount and it takes a lot of time to do everything so I feel it's OK. I am getting more a sense that he does it to make sure he gets most of the money as it won't be spent on nursing home expenses. mother has a will but only my brother has seen it and they made some changes to it last week. I've asked for a copy but doubt I'll see that happen. last I heard her assets were divided between the 3 of us, but if it's spent down to nothing... ?? plus I heard hints that she wanted to include SIL in the will directly. no idea what will mean other than my brother & wife would then get 50%. anyway, I'm done with this.

Lori, great you can have family watch your pets. I used to take my dog to a kennel all the time ...got pretty old and expensive. happy vacation!
Lynda, Happy 90th to your FIL.
Deb, you will love the forester . what color did you get?
Deb, I keep forgetting to mention I did watch The Shield. remember the characters pretty well. it was OK. the usual cop thing....special unit guys not in uniform, always doing things their own way, getting in trouble for it, and dodging consequences, doing things not entirely above board. Not wonderful, not awful. I watched it once quite a long time ago. lots of good people in it as regulars and guests.
 
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Valerie-I am so sorry you have to deal with this :( I'm thankful that we haven't had this happen to our family yet.
 
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